Hi everyone,

I've been poring over recipe books looking for something inspiring for tomorrow evenings meal at my B/Fs house. He's working long days (5am to 10pm) most days and this is a rare evening off to relax. I want to make dinner a relaxing treat, but also to keep it healthy given that he's exhausted and needs every little bit of help I can offer. I found a tasty almond pate which would be great with veggie crudites as a starter, and he can eat the leftovers on sandwhich the next day as it keeps roughly three days in the fridge.

Almond Pate

200g whole almonds soaked overnight in water (black dot for explorer but he loves them!)
75g of walnuts - again soaked in water overnight (you could have cashews, pinenuts, pecans or any compliant nut of your choice)
2 tbspn lemon juice (or lime)
2 tbspn water
2 tbspn extra virgin olive oil (rice bran, ghee or other oil to suit you)
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
3 tbspn fresh basil, chopped (you could substitute cilantro/coriander leaf, parsley or any herb you like)

Drain the nuts, blend in a food processor with the other ingredients but add 2 tbspns of water. You will have scrape the sides a bit to keep the mix going and to ensure it comes out smooth rather than gritty. Refridgerate until required and serve either as a spread or a dip.

Optional: I like to add 1 tsp garam masala, or 1/2 tsp each cumin/turmeric, and it's great with a bit of cayenne if you like it spicy. It's also very good with a tsp of chaat marsala added.

The main course will be the greek style lamb I posted a few weeks ago, he loves it and I can prepare it hours ahead and make it look like I've been cooking for a week

I've posted this a few times on the BTD forums. It's one I absolutely love. It's warming, full of flavour, satisfying; goes with meat, vegetables, salad leaves or with compliant bread. And typical of my style of cooking, it's spicy! Not hot, although you can make it into hot stuff very easily. The spices are added in to halves, this gives layers of flavour rather than one 'hit' of taste, and adding the garlic at the end with the hot ghee gives such a clean taste that I'm sure you'll love it too.

Chana Daal (sort of...)

Ingredients:
1 cup yellow split peas for type O's, Explorers or Gatherers (or besan/chana daal/Chick Peas for other blood types)
7 cups of water
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder (a black dot for gatherers but hey it's essential!)
1 tblsp Cilantro (coriander leaf)
1 tblsp Parsley both herbs to be finely chopped
1 tblsp ghee, extra virgin olive oil or suitable oil for you
1/4 tsp black mustard seeds
1 chopped garlic clove (I put mine through one of those crusher thingies)

Method:
Soak the split peas in 4 cup water for 2-3 hours (or however long your choice of pulse needs) then wash and drain well. Boil 3 cups of water and the salt in a pan. Add the yellow split peas, 1/4 of the garlic, half the spices except the remaining garlic and mustard seeds, cover the pan and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes or until soft. Stir the dal when cooked.
Add the remaining cayenne, turmeric, cumin, coriander, herbs. Stir well and allow to simmer uncovered while you heat the oil/ghee. Add the herbs to the daal and stir well.
In a separate frying pan, ghee/oil over low heat and add the mustard seeds and chopped garlic to it. The seeds should spit and pop. When the oil gets hot, add the oil mixture to the simmering pot of daal.
Cover the Daal and for another few minutes. Cook uncovered for another 5 minutes and the chana daal is ready to be served with rice, vegetables or bread.

Hi Everyone, it's been another busy week, with little time to plan food carefully and both B/F and I have rushed around like headless chickens. Now it's weekend and I'm trying to plan ahead for next week, which hopefully won't be as rushed as this one.

I'm making my shopping list, cross referencing from Explorer to Gatherer as I go along, adding in foods from the AB inflammation protocols as his back muscles are inflamed due to over doing it at work this week.

It's good that we can share some veggies but I'm not worrying so much about a few of my black dot veggies which were formerly beneficials on the O diet for me, I'll eat them as part of our meal, they're diamond foods for B/F and with the hours he's working he needs all the help I can quietly provide and I so love Kale that it's proving hard to give up. I like Collards (spring greens to us Brits), but they're not as satisfying to me. Kale just has a kick to it that I love.

I've been doing Hip Hop Abs this week, recommended by Mayflowers on the BTD boards, thanks so much for that, as I LOVE IT. Such great fun, who'd have guess that exercise challenged me would not only enjoy it, but actually have the co-ordination to keep up and do the moves right and in time with everyone else?

I used to dance a lot as a child and into my teens, not sure why I stopped really? Maybe to fit in, or because of study etc at the time. Either way, it's so good to get back to actually shaking my booty in time to the music.

It's taken me a while, and a few wasted £s to find the right DVD workout for me, and it's been frustrating to watch some of the usual suspects, the Rosemary Conleys and the like, doing the 'same old same old'. Don't get me wrong, if you don't have wheat or dairy issues, I'm sure the diets are okay, but for me they're akin to a slow, lingering death. I look ill if I eat low cal, low fat, no taste food and most dairy/wheat is toxic to me. I need essential fatty acids, good quality proteins, delicious, organic veggies and fruits, and to restrict my grains. Thinking I'm a nonnie here girls. And now I'm starting to kick the sugar fest I had (long, long story), I find I'm craving better foods.

Following a recommendation on the BTD boards, I tried CandidaCleanse by Now, that seems to be working for me, although I'll try to rotate remedies and give one that Victoria recommended a go for a month, then swap back so that the evil yeast doesn't get used to it!

We'll head off to the supermarket later, to pick up fresh fruits, more veggies, lamb, beef, turkey and anything else I can find on our joint lists and then I can cook up a storm. I'm thinking a curry of some sort, maybe with a split pea daal (see recipes in BTD database for Chana Daal), some spinach, bit of kale and then followed by a homemade cheescake of sorts, using ricotta, raspberries and whatever else I find

Have a great weekend, if I do make the cheesecake, I'll post the recipe. Mmmmmm delicious.

I love spices, as anyone who has read my recipes on the BTD forums will tell you. Anything with robust flavours appeals to me. I think in some way it makes up for having to remove sugar from my diet. I know that eating sweets will make me put on massive amounts of weight and could cause diabetes or worse, so I avoid them, but what to have instead?

I've tried to develop a savoury tooth instead of a sweet one. I really do notice even a small amount of sugar in a dish these days as it seems to spike my blood sugar almost instantly lol.

Each week I make a batch of my mock Chana Daal (see message boards for recipe), which is basically made with yellow or green split peas and indian spices, a bit of cilantro (coriander) leaf, ghee, water and salt. It's delicious hot or cold, or even as a dip and is a wonderful side dish to a tasty lamb curry. It contains garlic (a favourite!), sometimes coriander (a black dot but hey it's sooooo tasty I'll risk it), cumin, mustard seeds and is packed with taste, a real 'knock your socks off' flavour. Perfect for a Gatherer non taster

Sometimes I make a millet roti bread (a flat pancake-ish thing) to dip in and give me that kind of wheat type texture which I do miss.

I made the lamb (greek style) the other day and it was so good I had it warmed up the next day with spring greens (collards), onions, mushrooms and wolfed it down for my breakfast. Lots of lovely protein, a garlic kick, oregano (to die for.... mmm) and still screamingly tasty even when cold. I guess it would be good with a salad or even in an omelette.

This weekend presents a sugary challenge, the BF (as lovely as he is) is still struggling to give up sweet things, wheat and potatoes. I've planned our eating to make sure he still gets some (albeit a smaller portion) of his favourites and tried to keep desserts to diamonds and/or superfoods for both of us.

The blood test kit for my son (aged 7 going on a 100) should be here Monday, then we can ascertain his blood type although I expect he'll either be an O like me, or an A like his father. Then the fun begins, BF is AB- Explorer, I'm O+ Gatherer and son could be anything lol.

I'm looking forward to the new challenges, increasing the diamonds/supers in our eating, gradually reducing the avoids. First thing tomorrow I'll be searching for fruits, spices and herbs which excite our tastebuds and help to replace the wheat/sugar fest which seems so popular with the masses? Perhaps I'll try my indian style rice pudding, with basmati for me and brown rice for BF, though I may have to play with the spices to suit each of our plans.

The new Gatherer supplements are available here, so I've ordered a set, can't wait to try them and see what difference they make. I know that when I take deflect I feel better on the occasions I can't avoid an avoid (does that makes sense?).

Next week my LegMagic should arrive, not sure how I'll get on with it, but I do need the exercise so I'm going to stick with it I'm a typical pear shape so it's an area I'd like to target and get moving.

Well, back to packing the car and then on the road. Enjoy your weekend everyone. I know we will.

I love lamb, it's one of my favourite meats and as a Gatherer it's a regular food in this house. I love the taste, the texture, the smell as it cooks and the knowledge that every bite is 'doing me good' in some way.

My Mother gave me this recipe, it's a greek disk called I think, Lamb Kleftiko, and is very heavily seasoned. It's wonderful hot (ideally made with potatoes - boo, hiss...) but is also nice with celariac, turnip (rutabaga) or similar root veggies. The trick is cooking it long and slow. I do admit that I prefer a gravy so I add more liquid and top it up regularly so there is something to 'dip into' as I eat my veggies.

2 tablespoons oil or ghee
2kg diced lamb or mutton
1lb of root vegetables cut into chunks (ideally potatoes, celariac, fennel, parsnip or similar - and yes I know it's not the same as potato but a girl has to do what a girl has to do!)
juice of two large lemons (three if they are small)
2 tablespoons oregano (1 of dried, 1 of fresh, or just used 1.5T dried) - yes it's a lot
3 to 6 bayleaves
salt to taste
stock (optional)
water 100ml (add more during cooking if you need or want to)
1 head of garlic cut across the centre - not peeled, just let it infuse the mix

I sometimes add onions, mushrooms or anything else I fancy.

Brown the lamb in a good casserole dish with the oil, add any onions after this stage and lightly cook them if using. Add the root veggies (potatoes etc), lemon juice, herbs, garlic, bayleaves, seasons, stock (if using to make 'gravy') and water.

Bring to a simmer and then cover the top of the casserole with foil, then put on the lid, you want to trap as much moisture as you can. Put into a preheated over at 180 degrees c, checking regularly and topping up with moisture as needed. The original recipe is for a dry dish, but as a Brit I prefer more liquid, do it whichever way suits you best. Remember to reseal the top of the casserole with foil and put the lid back on prior to putting back into the oven. Keeps the moisture in

I cook it for a couple of hours so the lamb is tender, the veggies have soaked up the juices and the house smells of herby, fragrant, garlic lamb - delicious.

Hope you enjoy it. I'm sure it'd be okay for Explorers as well as gatherers, just check your herb lists and swap where need be, however, I think the oregano is integral to the dish but at a push rosemary would be nice.