H, once i'm close to my goal weight i'll start exercising again (i'm already biking to town quite often already), i'm just careful cause i don't want to ruin my joints with jogging whilst i'm still carrying too much weight.

once i'm at my goal weight i'll slowly start increasing my calorie intake (about 100 more/day each week) and when i notice that i'm starting to put on weight again then i'll know to keep under that amount. also, once i start exercising again i'll be able to eat more cause i'll be burning more

Olivia, I will have a go at that (good old tomato puree!). It sounds very nice already.

Swantje, let us know when you get there! We'll celebrate with you.

@ juno, let me know how it turns out!
@swantje, I admire you for all that work! Anyone who can maintain a strict eating and exercise programme whilst doing a PhD is very dedicated to all of those!

olivia, i'm doing an MA right now, PhD starts in september (i hope, i'm starting to get worried i won't be able to manage everything in time, especially finishing off the damn thesis...).

Today, I am mostly thinking about:

1) Holland and Barrett Fruit Suprise (reasonably healthy, that one)
2) Yoghurt banana chips
3) Boterkoek

One more week to go...

Tacos Supreme at Taco Bell....
why has the UK been invaded with things like McDonalds and Subway and KFC...but NOT TACO BELL??!!

When I asked some American undergrads what the first thing they would so upon getting home was, they answered "Go to Taco Bell"!

What is the allure? I have never been to one of them, though I have had a home made Old El Paso taco.

It's fast food mexican food. I got indigestion when I had it a few months ago.

lol

I love mexican food though.

Mexican seems under-represented here. I've only ever seen one Mexican take-away in the UK.

I am very partial to an enchilada.

The American students played me a song by some US band, in support of their Taco Bell fantasies. I think these are the lyrics (from a quick Google):

"Hi, can I help you?
I would like a basket of chips,
a beef chimichanga with a side of sour cream.
I would like some guacamole on my chimichanga
with a casadia of tomato, onion, and vegetables.
I should like a burrito with beef, beans, and
I would like a carne assado taco.
Could you put some hot sauce on that for me?
No, inside the taco. Not on the side.
Yes, can I have a carne assado taco?
Not a pollo assado, we don't have chicken.
Do you have guacamole?
Can you make me some guacamole?
I have guacamole.
Ok, on my burrito I would like the muchaco beef and the shredded pork.
And some more cheese, please".

Yes...you probably had to be there.

I think that Mexican ( probably more accurately Tex-Mex) is a late comer to the UK fast food scene. I don't know why--perhaps its just not popular over the pond? Or people have not tried to expand in the UK market? Given the popularity of fastfood in the UK, with the like of KFC, McDonalds, Subway, etc...I wonder that Taco Bell has not made the jump over the pond. Of course I think that KFC and Pizza Hut and some others have the same large corporate owner.

I am not sure you could replicate Taco Bell at home. Its secret I think is in rich sauces and so forth...like Taco Supremes, or the wonderful Burrito Supreme...I think perhaps a lot of sour cream, mixed in with salsa and spices...a unique taste, a lot of variety, like their yummy Rice bowls...

Proper Mexican is different to Tex-Mex fast food--its got more cilantro and lime and not the rich sauces that make the Tex Mex so popular with Americans. Proper Mexican is still very good--my hometown has lots of little Mexican restuarants, nothing fancy, just a hole in the wall, where you can get carne asada tacos, chicken mole--if you have never had mole ( pronounced Mo LAY) you have not had good food! mouth watering...beats the heck out of mushy peas!

chicken mole ( that would be pollo mole--po YO mo LAY)
fajita ( fa HEE ta, not fa JI ta as I have heard it said--cringe--sounds like a body part, something out of a Shirley Valentine scene!)
Beef Burrito Supreme from Taco Bell...


oh...best food I have had in the UK is in El Piano in York...

http://www.el-piano.com/

York is marvelous, but El Piano is simply divine!!!

I have made mole poblano for a party, Olivia: that was pretty good but a lot of people had reservations about the idea of a savoury chocolate sauce. But I liked it.