Lofat Diet – Day 1

The first day of my diet has started! I woke up anticipating my box of food would arrive before i got out to work but it didn’t so i had to have breakfast on my own this morning…

Which diet did i choose?!

I went with the LoFat Diet 😀

I signed up for the silver subscribtion of breakfast + lunch + dessert for two weeks. It cost me 79 KD

All i had to do is phone them up, they faxed me their silver two weeks plan menu… they had TONS of things to choose from, and for the daily main dishes there are more than one vegetarian option and they are all mouthwatering. I chose what i wanted without having to see a dietritian and take a blood test and wait and be weighed and all that hoopla! Within 5 minutes i was ready to subscribe and start my diet and they offered to send me their mandoob to take the menu and the money but i have decided to make the trip my self and pay them my self…

The variety of food is great. The ease of subscribing is fascinating, i made a decision on the whim to subscribe and that’s it… no fuss no mess… all i have to do now is wait for my lovely package to arrive and start the diet process (after i finsh devouring those digestive biscuits for breakfast… they ARE low fat!)

I will be making a photographic diary of my Diet on daily basis and posting about the dishes i recieve. I am supposed to recieve lunch today (Koshary + Salad + Om Ali) and breakfast for tommorow (pancakes with maple syrup, fruit kebab, and fruit yoghurt) … i cannot wait 😀

New Year Breakfast @ Prime & Toast!

On the first morning of the year 2011 we decided it was a fine day to go out for breakfast. I woke up with a sore throat but i thought what the heck a good breakfast would surely battle away the flu symptoms…

Bent El Deera’s Yummy Zerda!

After my Zerda post asking for zerda recipes my dear fellow blogger Bent El Deera contacted me to let me know she has a home made zerda for me!!!

For those of you who do not know Bent El Deera… she is an AMAZING cook masha2 Allah la elaha ella Allah tabaraka il ra7man…her blog “Aklati” is all about her cooking and i really trust her taste in food… So to have the pleasure of having a Zerda from her is something extraordinary indeed…

Thank you hon for the delicious zerda! We enjoyed it very much at home :*

A trip to hungry bunny Alkhafji…

We took a quick road trip to Khafji in KSA for the sole purpose of two reasons: 1- Find the book Hind wal 3askar i am searching for and 2- Visit Hungry Bunny for a nostalgic childhood

Bloggerettes Night & Fourme’s Noon

Where was i yesterday? Busy & Not posting?!

A dinner gathering was held in honour of FourMe’s recovery from Cancer 😀 The dinner was hosted in her bestie Shoso‘s place and bloggerette Walladah brought over a Noon she had vowed to throw on FourMe when she goes into remission and she was true to her word 😀

A lovely & very yummy spread of food was available… much

Home Berry Frozen Yoghurt…

I was feeling a bit cranky yesterday at 9:30… and i was also craving some frozen yoghurt… for some reason New Q8 Bride’s post kept popping into my head so i went to my mother and sister and asked if they want any frozen yoghurt? You should have seen my mother’s beam when i said they deliver it to your door step!!!

Do you know Qer9 Moqla?!

Once upon a time very long ago, we gathered in the tent in front of the dowwa in the then freezing Q8y winter… one of my aunts would bring a little pan (moqla)… mix some eggs milk saffron cardamom & flour with sugar, then pour the mix into the pan and over the coal she would make us something that tastes like a cross between a pancake and a qers 3qaili…. and it was so SO good and warm and sweet and fulfilling… the ultimate quick winter quick comfort food!

I remember my mother calling it qers moqla… I remember my mother trying to recreate it later on and making a fairly good version but not quite the same… so i cannot rely on my mothers recipe. I tried to google the recipe online but guess what? Apparently no one knows much about qer9 moqla or makes it!!! Let alone have a picture of it…

Have you heard or had qer9 moqla before?! Now if you did can you please get me the recipe?! I just can’t stop thinking about it…

Blast from the Past: After 8 Chocolate Mints!

Whenever i see the dark green box of After 8 chocolate mints something comes over me and i grab my self a box for me to enjoy later. It is not the best tasting chocolate on earth but there is something different about it’s dark colors and posh feel and it’s tangy minty taste is quite special to my heart for it pulls me back in time to my 80’s childhood… my father would bring home a box and i would hover around waiting for his fingers to hand me the little elegant dark paper pouch containing a little sliver of chocolate with sugary mint center! I always hated how tiny and thin the chocolate portion was… i always wanted it to be bigger for i wasn’t allowed to eat the whole box in one go… but now i am allowed to so i don’t mind at all 😀

Do you like After 8 mints?! Do you have any childhood memories attached to it?

How are you spending this New Year’s Eve?

With 4 days left to go i have absolutely no idea what to do this new year eve… i usually am in London this time of year celebrating by staying home and having a good meal and watching telly… i used to love the idea of celebrating in a restaurant that is until i realized the food they serve is too overpriced and uncustomizable to my needs and somehow the service deteriorates and the food is less appetizing than usual and you end up cranky rather than enjoying your time so i stopped.

How will you be celebrating this new year’s eve? I really wanted a nice family gathering with a good BBQ outdoors and people enjoying their time and eating till midnight. SInce that is not going to happen i think i’ll settle on utilizing the roof top of our house by putting my chair there and having something really good to eat… i am wishing on a mini vegetarian friendly BBQ for one person (aka chai o kastana o qer9 moqla) to follow afterwards… sitting down under the stars eating and counting my blesssings: I am alive. I am healthy. I have a roof over my head. I have enough money to feed and dress me. I have a family that adores me and friends i cannot live without.

Maybe i will add a tub of ice cream to spice things up. I am not sure what to order for my dinner yet.

What are you going to do on New Year’s Eve?!

Crimson Garden’s Zerda “Muhalbiyat”

The Bodouir commented on my Zerda Post the other day that Crismon Garden makes something similar to the dessert i described. I had to see for my self of course so on Friday i went with my mom and my husband to Crimson Garden Spoons… the weather was amazing and we sat outside, people watching and eating their yummy food… at the end of the meal we ordered tea and their “m7lbiyat” which was described as having 7alwa at the bottom and m7lbiya on top with… it came and it looked so very good!

It was topped with caramalized almonds, pistachios, and rose petal flakes… the m7lbiya was really good but the bottom 7alwa was a bit harder than the zerda i have tried… all together it is a good dessert that is very similar to the Zerda i am looking for… if you pass by Crimson Garden i would highly recommend it 😀

Do you know the dessert Zerda?!

I was introduced to this dessert for the first time last week when i had it at a family dinner… Apparently Zerdah is a rice based pudding thing like 7alwat 3aish… infused with cinnamon, sugar, and nuts… and it sits on top of a m7albiya like base that is sugar less… you would have to have a bite of both m7lbiya and the yellow top to get the full taste of the dessert and i would have to say it was really good and pretty different yet familiar at the same time!

I went online and couldn’t find any recipes in google for Zerdah… have you by any chance had the pleasure of tasting zerdah before?! Do you know someone who can give me the recipe? Much obliged 😀

Are you a 7alwa fan!?

One guilty pleasure i cannot resist is the orangy translucant gooey texture of 7alwa infused with saffron and nuts… just smelling it makes my heart melt… i cannot resist it… yet i run away from it… when i go to bahrain i make sure to go to the old souk early in the morning when they roll out the halwa carts then start pouring it in plastic containers… it would stay warm until evening and tastes so fresh… However, the best 7alwa i have ever tasted was an Omani Halwa sent by Sultan Qaboos of Oman to an Emiraty family in Dubai… we were visiting the Emiraty Family in 1996 and they presented us with that 7alwa… OMG!!!

and as much as i love 7alwa i hate rahash… i cannot stand it’s muddy texture and weird bold taste!!! Sadly 7alwa in Q8 is horrible in comparision to it’s khaleji ones 😦

Are you a 7alwa fan?! If you are where do you get your fix from?!

Koshary Take 2: Koshary Jo7a’s

Yesterday afternoon as i got out of my orthodontists appointment i had to eat something soft to eat… and since i was craving Koshary anyways i thought let me make the trip to the alleys of Hawalli to get my self some…

I honked and yelled and cursed all the way Koshary Jo7a in 7awalli, the behind Fotokina on the same street as Hasan Abuls & Alshaye3… don’t know the street’s name though… i got there, ordered my self a koshary for two and came back home…

I already had some chickpeas… so i mixed the stuff up and took the picture… Boy does it look different from the one i got the other day! It was more appetizing and much more fresh! Tasted amazing too!!!

Highly recommended for a first Koshary Trial 😀

Things 2 Do in London: Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food!

Since i get so nervous on the day i am travelling back to Q8 i usually only have breakfast and skip lunch… therefore by the time i go past customs into the tax free area in Heathrow Terminal 5 i would be STARVING…

Knowing that the only meal that would await me on the plane is hours away and is actually a gooey greasy mushroom rissotto… i would