TBK Cooks -Joe Wicks ( The Body Coach) Reduced Carb Recipes

 

"Who is Joe Wicks?" I hear you ask

Well he is a British Chef/ Author/ Fitness Guru who came to fame as "the UK went into COV 19 lockdown.  Joe launched PE with Joe on his YouTube channel with the aim of keeping kids and families moving, healthy and positive. Almost a million families around the world tuned in to the first workout, and Joe quickly became known as the nation’s favourite PE teacher. But Joe isn’t just known for his family-friendly lockdown workouts. "

"His first cookbook, Lean in 15 – The Shift Plan is the best-selling diet book of all time. Since then he has published plenty more diet books. Combining food and exercise, Joe Wicks helps people kickstart and maintain a healthy lifestyle. His recipe books are based on quick, easy, and affordable meals"

Source : https://www.panmacmillan.com/blogs/lifestyle-wellbeing/joe-wicks-books-the-body-coach#:~:text=Joe's%20Lean%20in%2015%20books,your%20own%20body's%20energy%20expenditure. ( accessed 16.2.23)

I was introduced to him by Miss Andrea in Bahrain and I bought JOE WICKS LEAN IN 15 in August 2020 and used it extensively at the end of August 2020 as I worked for my last few months in Bahrain.  

In December 2020 all my recipe books were packed and sent to Palawan ready for my planned move in February 2021 ( before COV 19 delayed things by a year!) . I looked on line and found another recipe book by Joe Wickes ( Reduced Carb Meals) which we printed and this is the one I will use for this weeks blog to further try and reduce my weight.

                    My Joe Wicks Reduced Carb Menu in February 2023

Each week I go through one of my Recipe books and decide what I will eat the following week and make my menu for each day for Breakfast, lunch and Dinner. Then I write my shopping list of the ingredients I need, which I type and send to Jhoanna who buys and delivers the food on a Friday, and I pay her for it . Then I highlight anything she was unable to get and go in search of those items at the weekend!

                             An example of my weekly shopping list

My regular readers will know I love Steak, even though it's bad for me , so imagine my joy when I found this recipe at the start of Joe Wicks reduced carb recipe book- I decided to kick the week off with it as my Monday breakfast!

It was a bit fiddly to make requiring 3 pans and having to peel, dice and cook the potatoes, onions and pepper and then make the steak and the eggs- but it was very tasty and very filling. 

For lunch I had Tuscan Salad ( which you will find in the Low GI Blog next week) . On Monday night Frythy and Noel were here and we finished off the Cauliflower, Chicken and Coconut curry from the "Eating Well" Recipe book. I was busy editing their videos from Surya beach into a vlog and putting their photos ( oh so many, but very good) into a blog so we did not get out for a walk.

On Tuesday I had Boiled Eggs for breakfast but as we are reduced carb this week I missed out on the Pandesal! I also kept off the fizzy drinks and the boys and I drank chilled water. For lunch I ate Prawn and Chorizio stir fry :

I had a friend visit from Narra in the morning then I took Chester to the vet. He took some samples from his ears and skin rashes and showed me on the microscope and said he had ear mites inside his ears ( the worst case he had ever seen) and Malassezia yeast on his skin, which he may have caught from other dogs. The nurse showed me how to apply the ear drops and I had to buy a load of medication ( total cost 3000 peso!) and then we went next door to the pet food supply shop ( synergy!) and got next weeks dog food, treats and another new orange ball to replace the one we lost at Surya! 

Next was a trip to Deli Mart to get some salmon, smoked salmon, herbs and other items for this weeks cooking. There was a nice young man serving and he carried my things to the car (another 5,000 peso worth - we are well over budget on food this month!) . In the evening I prepared the Tupa kebabs so they could marinade overnight and made the Tzatziki for tomorrow's dinner.

After making the boys food I made and ate the Aubergine Parmigiana. This is a simple dish to make in one frying pan with Aubergine ( eggplant as it is know in the Philippines ,or Talong in Tagalog), crushed tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and hard cheese ( I used goats cheese- Kamping in Tagalog!). Once you fry the ingredients you put it in the oven to cook and it tastes absolutely delicious            (sarap). Then it was time to apply Chester's eardrops and clean his rashes with some antifungal soap and after checking emails etc we went to bed early at 8 pm.

                                  My Aubergine Parmigiana

I was rudely awoken at 430 am on Wednesday by Chester and when I did not get out of bed quick enough he did a huge wee all over my bedroom floor! A great way to start the day. I cleaned up his mess then showered then fed him and applied his medication before having coffee, my breakfast ( Muesli) and updating several blogs like this that I have been working on. 

I had the Chicken Cashew curry ,which I made a few days ago, for lunch which was very tasty and then I finished the Lamb Kebabs which we ate for dinner.

The Lamb and Tzatziki reminded me of when I worked in Greece when I was 20 years old.

"I bet you could tell us a few stories about that , Mr P!" 

" Sure, Mr G"

It was 1980 and I had just finished my years Industrial release ( or OJT/ Intern they call it here) at the Cumberland Hotel in London. Whist working there I met an Australian Waitress called Annie and we got the "Magic Bus" which took 3 days and nights to drive from London to Athens in Greece. Then we got a ferry and visited several Greek Islands ending up on Ios. By then Annie and I had run out of money so we got jobs, me cleaning rooms at Petros Place and Annie working in a Travel Agency. The weather was hot and sunny, I was a mere 10 stone (63 kg) and after work we would meet up and eat steak and Tzatziki, Greek Salad and Watermelon.

                      Neil in Ios back in 1980- 62 kg, Mr Pogi!

Then we saved enough to travel back to the UK by boat and then train arriving back in time for my 21st Birthday. Annie asked if she could live with me in Huddersfield where I was at University which she did, but eventually she returned to Australia. We still keep in touch , 43 years later, and she just retired - she is married with three grown up children !

Once again I was too tired to go out on Wednesday afternoon so I made some more dishes and then had a nap. For my Thursday dinner I had chosen the Salmon with Roast Broccoli and beans with a Tahini dressing. The nice people at Deli Mart cut me two pieces of salmon and I cooked the smaller 140 g portion for this dish. Then you roast some Cauliflower with garlic, green beans and half a red chilli. While that is cooking you mix some lemon juice and Tahini and cook some brown rice . 

When I was trying to find some room in my fridge I found some chicken which I had not cooked ( 5 days old) so I decided to make the Roast Cauliflower salad with chicken.

Here are all the ingredients set out ( as Chef Coco taught me- Mis en Place!)

Below is the finished dish which I managed to squeeze in my fridge and will eat later this week.

Looks good eh!

Next week we are going back to my old Low GI recipe book and I will explain all about the Glycaemic Index in next weeks blog. But right now I need a nap after this mornings early awakening. Her is Joe's recipe for the Salmon dish I added the picture for above:

On Thursday Kevin came to help me film two short vlogs to promote the new recipes that will appear online in April and May. He made a cake for Chester and Gazpacho, a cold Spanish soup. I got him fruit salad and he finished off the Beef Goulash. I ate the Vietnamese steak with smashed cucumber salad. 

On Thursday night we went to the Microtel as I had no load on my WIFI at home and Jhoanna was busy doing her OJT. I had a fresh fruit platter and water while Kevin had Sizzling Pork Sisig and Garlic Rice with a Coke. Chester ran wild and went to the sea and upset one of the gests by doing pee pee next to where he was sunbathing, and chased after the local dogs. Whist we ate and he played I edited and uploaded the Gazpacho Vlog. Then when we got home at 8 pm Jhoanna and Jullymar arrived with next weeks food, added my load and washed up- thanks guys! Then Chester and I went to bed , exhausted, after another busy day.

                      My Orange berry Smoothie- simple, delicious and healthy

Friday was a public holiday and we slept till 7 am and then I had Orange Berry smoothie from the "Eating Well" recipe book as I finally found Pomegranate juice and frozen mixed berries at Robinson's yesterday morning. For lunch I finished the Chickpea Shakshuka I made 9 days ago ( also from the "Eating Well" recipe book.)  

I had a Berry and Coconut Chia pudding which I made with the mixed frozen berries. 

On Friday night I had the final Joe Wickes recipe of the week which was his Chicken Jalfrezi. It was very spicy but very tasty. I avoided having rice with it to reduce my carbohydrate intake further. However we did not get much exercise today - only 721 steps. We must go for a long walk tomorrow and I have arranged another day at the beach next week. 

For some reason I only had the ingredients part of the recipe but I searched on line and found another version:

BBC Good Food-Chicken Jalfrezi

This is what my version looked like:

              My Chicken Jalfrezi - from Reduced carb Recipes by Joe Wickes

Saturday started with a Smoked Salmon and Scrambled egg recipe from the "Low GI" recipe book we will be using next week . At noon I took Joven to Rustic Café for my favourite Roast Chicken dinner as a treat for him and thank you for all his hard work ironing and keeping the car clean inside and out!

                                              Joven taking selfies
 

I hope you have tried some of the nine of Joe's reduced carb dishes  that I shared in this blog. Thanks to Chef Poochie for suggesting I had some reduced carb food. Thanks to Noel and Frythy for washing up and Deli Mart for cutting the Salmon for me. Finally thanks to Joe for all the wonderful healthy recipes.

All that remains is to tell you if I lost more weight and what happened to my blood sugar this week. 

I have good and bad news- Blood sugar down from 85 to 81

Weight up from 118 to 119 kg

Total steps walked 18,263 this week, which is an average of 2,609 steps a day as opposed to ouur target of 5,000 steps a day

VERDICT- Must try harder next week!