Olive oil crackers

Here is the recipe for the olive oil crackers that I made last week. These are really quite good and very simple to make. Please give them a try ...

Ingredients:

1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 2/3 cups flour (I used 1 cup white and 2/3 cup spelt)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
A pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
Dried rosemary and/or sea salt

Place the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Add water and olive oil and work until the dough forms a ball. Place the dough in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about 1 hour.

Next, rework the dough and divide into balls of approximately 1 tablespoon size. This works out to about 16 balls. Place the balls under an overturned bowl to keep them from drying out.

On a floured surface, roll balls as thin as possible. Sprinkle additional flour on the thin dough to keep it from sticking to the rolling pin. Place on a large un-greased baking sheet.

Brush each lightly with olive oil, then sprinkle with sea salt and rosemary to taste. Pre-heat oven to 400 F and bake until dry and golden, about 6 or 7 minutes.

When you're done you should have about 16 crisp and tasty olive oil crackers. You can roll them oblong, round or use your imagination.

They have the slightest hint of 'heat' due to the black and cayenne pepper. Add more if you want them a bit spicier.

I hope you enjoy them!

End of October update

I find it hard to believe that I've only completed 5 months on the 100 meter diet. It feels like a lot longer and I'm starting to think that I should have made this a 6 month challenge instead of a full year :)

Even with my continued effort to take in more calories I still ended up losing 2 more pounds. I'm now down to 156 pounds bringing my total weight loss up to 40 pounds.

The weight loss is certainly slowing down but I would like to see it stop all together. I hope that in November I see my weight stabilize so I don't have to consider any changes to my rules. Please keep your fingers crossed for me.

Even while I'm still slowly shrinking the farm is slowly expanding. We picked up this little guy yesterday. He's a young billy goat (an Alpine / Toggenburg cross). He was advertised as being 8 months old but I suspect he's likely only around 5 months.

He's very skittish and nervous but I'm sure he'll settle in quickly. The hope is that he matures quickly and will be able to father our next batch of kids. We'll see ...

By the way, we decided to name him Donkey because we thought he looked more like a donkey than a goat.

Welcome to the homestead Donkey!

A week on the 100 meter diet - Day 7

Breakfast: 2 slices of toast with red currant jam and a glass of goat milk.

Lunch: The last 2 muffins, a yogurt and a glass of goat milk.

I was busy outside working after breakfast and I didn't have any time to make a substantial lunch.

Dinner: Chicken and egg noodles with a tomato sauce.

In the afternoon I spent a few minutes making a simple tomato sauce and I added the remaining chicken. It hit the spot.

I threw all the chicken bones and scraps in a pot of water and made some chicken stock. I haven't had the time yet to turn it into a chicken noodle soup but I'm half way there.

So day 7 marks the end of the tour of my 100 meter diet. This diet can be repetitive at times but I do try to keep things interesting. I try to use my imagination as often as I can but usually my biggest issue is time .... I don't have enough of it.

Speaking of time ... I'm being pulled away to get messy and start carving some Halloween pumpkins with the kids.

Have a happy Halloween!

A week on the 100 meter diet - Day 6

The week ended on a busy note so my meals went on auto pilot as a result. My breakfast for day 6 was a yogurt and two more muffins. I only have two muffins left and they'll be gone tomorrow I'm sure.

Lunch was left over chicken dinner with my last piece of cake.

Dinner was the same as lunch .. more chicken, potatoes and butternut squash. It's surprising how many meals I can squeeze out of a scrawny rooster.

I will likely turn the remaining leftovers into a chicken noodle soup for Day 7. I'm getting a bit bored of the same meal for lunch and dinner plus the weather is getting colder and a hot soup sounds just about perfect.

The highlight of my day was my late night snack. My wife found some of my frozen pizza in the freezer ... I had totally forgotten that it was there. She warmed it up and brought it to me ... I was so thankful to have it.

Nothing like watching Friday night tv with a goat meat pizza. A perfect way to end the day ;)

A week on the 100 meter diet - Day 5

Breakfast : 2 red currant muffins with yogurt and a tall glass of goat milk.

These muffins are going fast!

Having them around means I can get a few extra minutes of sleep in the morning since I don't have to get up and make something to eat. I appreciate those mornings.

The rest of the day was a bit hectic so I wasn't able to get any pictures of my lunch and dinner.


Lunch: I had the last of my egg noodles with goat meat, potatoes and onions. A slice of anglefood cake for dessert.

I'm surprised the anglefood cake has lasted this long. The kids are in the habit of asking if things are "100 meter" ... they don't want to eat too much of 'my' food even though I encourage it.

Dinner: 2 chicken drum sticks with potatoes, butternut squash and a side of pickled zucchini. A big glass of cold milk to was it all down.

My wife cooked up one of our summer roosters. He was fairly scrawny but decently tender. Chicken will be on the menu for a few days until it's all gone.

As usual, my night time snack consisted of a couple more muffins. Like I said at the beginning .... the muffins aren't going to last very long :)

A week on the 100 meter diet - Day 4

Eggs, eggs and more eggs .....

Breakfast: A thick slice of French toast with maple syrup and a large glass of goat milk.

French toast is one of my favourite breakfast meals. It only takes a few minutes to make and it doesn't feel like you're eating eggs. Since I tend to eat a lot of eggs it can get a bit monotonous.

Take today for instance, you can plainly see it's mostly egg based foods. But if you hide the eggs in french toast and egg noodles you hardly notice it at all.

Lunch: Left overs from last night's meal (fried egg noodles with goat meat, potatoes and onions).

Dinner: Two fried eggs, sunny side up, with a piece of toast for dipping.

I made a nice rustic log cabin out of the toast strips ... just like I do when I make the kids their dip in eggs. It's a shame my computer 'ate' the picture.

My wife made these red currant muffins for me as a treat ... Mmmmm. She made them with soft spelt flour and I ate three for my night time snack, along with a slice of anglefood cake, a tall glass of milk and two yogurts.

I think she saved my day .... She always seems to know exactly when I need a little extra help :)

The yogurt maker is running again now, making more yogurt for the rest of the week.

A week on the 100 meter diet - Day 3

Breakfast: 2 slices of toast with some red currant jam and a large glass of goat milk.

We have two red currant bushes on our property that produce a bountiful supply of red currants every year.

We've created a tradition with some friends of ours where we supply the red currants and they lend a helping hand to turn the currants into jam or jelly. We share the spoils between us.


Lunch: 2 fried egg sandwiches.

A very boring lunch, I admit, but I'm fine with that.

Dinner: A Hungarian inspired dish (which I can't spell). Fried egg noodles, potatoes, onions and goat meat. I had a glass of goat milk and more anglefood cake for dessert.

This is one of the simplest
and most delicious dishes that I know. My wife makes it from time to time but instead of goat meat she uses bacon.

You simply chop and fry some onions and then add some cubed potatoes, cooked egg noodles and salt and pepper to taste. I have enough leftovers for two more meals.

For my night time snack I had 2 goat yogurts and a glass of milk.