Lead Gen, Associate, and SEO Guru Adam Torkildson

Preparation Of Basic Foods: Dairy Produce.

Eggs: Part 2

Poaching: boil 40mm water in a frying pan; add a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of vinegar. Crack egg into cup, inspect and tip into water. Turn down the heat. Gather the white around the unbroken yolk with a spoon and simmer for 3-4 mins. Lift out with a fish slice, drain and serve on hot buttered toast.

Scrambling: beat the eggs well; add salt, pepper to taste and a dash of milk. Melt enough butter to cover the bottom of a small pan. Fry the eggs slowly, stirring continuously. Cook in a basin floating in boiling water, if preferred. Serve when almost completely set, in about 5 mins.

Fried: Melt enough fat to easily cover the base of (a|the shallow pan. Tip egg in gently and gather the whites around the yolks. When the white has solidified, baste the yolk to taste and remove whole with a draining spoon.

Baked: lightly grease a fireproof dish and pour the eggs gently into it. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and butter to taste. Bake in a medium oven and serve in the same bowl after the whites have set.

Omelette: buy a pan and keep it only for omelettes! The base should be smooth and clean. Allow two eggs per person; beat lightly and add salt and pepper to taste. Heat enough butter to cover the base of the pan. When the fat is hot, pour in the eggs; as it sets, raise the handle up and draw set mixture up, allowing the liquid egg to run down onto the hot pan. When all is set, tilt the pan forward and roll the omelette over. Serve immediately on a hot plate. It can be filled with almost anything, before being rolled over.

Pouring Custard: beat 2-3 eggs for every one pint of milk lightly. Heat the milk and pour gradually over the eggs; add sugar and flavouring to taste; cook in a double pan or jug and hot water until the required thickness has been achieved. If it is not to be served immediately, pour a thin layer of water onto it to prevent a skin forming.

Baked Custard: start as above and then transfer the custard into a greased dish; sprinkle lightly with nutmeg and place dish in water to halfway up its sides. Bake at 350 F for 35-45 mins; test its solidity by inserting a knife – it should be clean on withdrawal.

Steamed Custard: as baked custard, but cook in a steamer or pan of boiling water. The cooking time is about the same too.

Custard Tarts: pour pouring custard into unbaked pastry cases and bake in the oven for 40-50 mins. A little jam can be placed in the bottom of the case first, if desired.

When I first came across an Atkins Diet book, I was working in an office in south Wales. I had been working there for five or six years and had accumulated quite a bit of excess weight. I had never enjoyed participating in sport, but my previous job had been working on building sites, which entailed a certain amount of physical activity ” just enough to keep me in reasonable shape. After five years as office-wallah, I weighed 18 stone 12 pounds (264 lbs or 120 kg), three stones more than before and neither I nor my physician were happy about it.

One day a representative of some accounting firm came in for a scheduled appointment, and, while we were awaiting the other directors, we got to talking about working in an office and its tendency to make one put on a stone or two. He said that he had had the same problem before this new, more mobile, job that he had and that now he made sure he got out of the office regularly and walked everywhere he could, time permitting. He also said that he’d read an interesting book on dieting while on holiday in the United States and that he would send me a copy when he got back to his home town. I didn’t think anything more of it and never saw the man again. I think his name was Mr. Blackwell.

The book duly arrived as promised, but it stayed on my desk unread for months, until one day, I had a dental appointment and had forgotten to take a book to work to read while I was waiting ” the magazines are always so old and boring. Anyway, I read several chapters that day and I was fascinated. I had never been on a real diet before and I thought I’d give it a try. I had stopped eating pastry, cakes and chocolate months ago, but it didn’t seem to have had much effect and my weight was still rising, albeit more slowly.

It occurred to me that the Atkins diet was a ‘thinking person’s’ diet There is a vast amount of scope for individual tastes and lifestyles and the usual problem of self-discipline did not seem to be much of a problem because for that reason. The book warned of addictions and fads and how best to overcome or prevent them. These did not seem to be an issue for me either – I liked coffee, but could take it or leave it and I had already given up chocolate. I knew that maybe beer and bread would be my biggest problem.

The only requirement in the seven-fourteen day induction phase is to eat not more than 20 gram of carbohydrate per day. The book has a clear list of almost every foodstuff and their carbohydrate content. I found it really very easy. In fact, I was eating in a more healthy way in the induction stage than I had been eating before it! I bought a carton of Ketone sticks from the local chemist to make sure that the Atkins Diet was working and I found that I was in ketosis on the third day. It was very gratifying to know that I would be slimming down whatever I did and wherever I was all day long from now on.

I gave up bread (and Guinness!) for a fortnight and felt great. I actually felt ‘springy’ or ‘bouncy’ like a boxer in the ring before a fight. I had no trouble whatsoever staying within the 20 gram limit, although I did miss fruit more than I’d expected or some fruits anyway. But I found ways to make up for everything. There are many, many recipes and recommendations in the book so I won’t go into them here, but I started eating breakfast before I went to work and dinner in the evenings. I really took great care and attention over preparing lunch for work the next day, usually consisting of a salad, some cheese and various nuts to snack on. You can eat a few strawberries too. In the evening, I would cook up something like a curry (no flour) eating it with green beans instead of rice; or a traditional British meal without potatoes followed by cheese and strawberries and cream. I lost 18 pounds in two weeks and felt really great.