Danderma's Blog, page 69

LoFat Vegetarian Diet – Day 9

 

Day nine of my trying LoFat’s vegetarian diet menu started with a breakfast of vegetarian pizza, low fat Laban (buttermilk), and fruit skewers.

For lunch I received the lentils spaghetti with walnuts with a side of beetroot and asparagus salad.

The pasta was different, a new combination I’ve never tried before but it was good.

The salad was sweet and crunchy with a winner combination. I liked it a lot.

For Dessert I received the… Creme brûlée!!! I’ve wanted to try it  from the moment I checked the box next to it on the menu. When it arrived however, it didn’t look much like a creme brûlée. Taste wise? Delicious! I enjoyed every spoon with a nice happy mmmm sound. All that was missing was the crunchy burned sugar on top but I could live without it for the sake of dieting.

As for dinner, I received an chickpea stew with rice and pumpkin soup.

The chickpea stew was OK. Not bad, not exceptionally good. It was warm and served its purpose.

The pumpkin soup however was excellent! Rich, creamy, and warm. This soup I like.

The creme brûlée really made my day. If it was up to me, I’d have one big giant tub for one day’s worth of meals

To learn more about LoFat’s diet menu plans you can call them 22250650 on ,check their website (link), like their facebook page (link), follow them on Twitter (@LoFatGroup), or instagram (@LoFatGroup).

LoFat Vegetarian Diet – Day 8

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On day 8 of my LoFat Vegetarian Diet, which is also the first day in the second week of the diet, I had a breakfast meal of pita pockets with cheese, fruit skewers, and low fat Laban (buttermilk).

Nothing special. In fact they were a little blah considering I’ve eaten a bagel with the same filling yesterday. I’d prefer the bagel any day.

For lunch I got a vegan enchilada casserole and a white bean salad with Zaatar.

I’m not sure how this dish became an vegan enchilada, for one thing it was topped with cheese so it can’t be vegan. Also, it had lasagna sheets and penne pasta baked in tomato sauce with black beans and chopped veggies. If anything I’d call it a baked vegetable pasta with cheese instead of an enchilada. Weird name, good warm fulfilling main dish.

The salad was fresh and crunchy. Though its supposed to be white bean with zaatar (thyme) all I could taste was coriander and not zaatar at all. Personally I cannot stand coriander and had I known that with each bite a strong whiff of coriander would overwhelm the salad instead of the taste of thyme, I wouldn’t have chosen it. LoFat should either lose the pungent coriander or rename the salad into a white bean with coriander instead of zaatar salad.

For dessert, a delicious looking creamy mango mousse that I had with a cup of white tea.

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The mango mousse looked so good, I began day dreaming about it all day long. Taste wise? Creamy yes, taste wise very blah. I could barely feel the taste of mango in it. Too bad.

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For dinner I got a small Margarita pizza with a cream of basil soup.

The Margarita was good as usual and I enjoyed every bite.

The cream of basil soup was different, creamy, warm, and good. However, it was a bit on the salty side just like the mushroom millet soup I’ve had before on day 1! If only the salt was a tad less, it would have been the perfect soup.

And the first day in the second week is gone! Usually at the end of my first week of dieting I have a long list of cravings I can’t wait to devour on my free day. This time, I have no cravings and I don’t really think I want a free day. Interesting…

To learn more about LoFat’s diet menu plans you can call them 22250650 on ,check their website (link), like their facebook page (link), follow them on Twitter (@LoFatGroup), or instagram (@LoFatGroup).

 

 

My Book Featured in a Year of Reading the World Project

A while back I was contacted by Ann Morgan, a journalist from the UK who working on a project to read a book from differnt countries in around the world in one year. Her project attracted attention from CNN, two newspapers in the UK, and made it to the UNESCO’s list of list of initiatives for World Book Day. Her book reading journey is document on her website www.aYearofReadingtheWorld.com

Guess what book she read and featured from Kuwait? My humble Dathra’s book! Let me tell you this, having my little book read in a worldwide reading project and actually making a good impression was -and still is- a bit surreal. I still cannot believe it but I think it this calls for a little celebration. What a nice way to end 2012 and start 2013!

You can read Ann Morgan’s quest in tracking down a Kuwaiti book written in English to include in her book and her thoughts regarding my book here (link). I’m typing this with a big stupid grin on my face and if you are a Dathra fan, you might feel a nice tingling sensation in your heart as you read Ann Morgan’s words too and see Kuwait featured in the list. Also, I’m interested in the other book from around the world that were read and featured in the project, a nice way to add a few more international books to my shelves.

Thank you Ann Morgan, you totally made my day and the rest of 2012 for me, I’m glad to have been of service. Much obliged

Shraykom?

LoFat Vegetarian Diet – Day 7

Day seven started with a breakfast of a brown bagel with cheese, fruit skewers, and low fat laban.

The bagel was good and medium in size. Inside was one slice of cheese and a piece of lettuce with some white sauce that might be mayonnaise.

Lunch was Fettucini Alfredo and the delicious Nachos salad I’ve received before.

As for the fettucini alfredo, well… it was actually a Fettucini alfredo with mushroom and chicken! CHICKEN!

How is it that this is a vegetarian menu I’m trying, with all vegetarian options, yet I ended up with a Fettucini Alfredo with Chicken? and what’s with the onion skin decorating it? Needless to say I was very disappointed and had only the salad for lunch which didn’t make me happy.

Moving on, for dessert I received an Oreo biscuit and I had it with white tea. The biscuit was more like a biscotti with a bit of oreo crumbs on top. Its very dry, very small, and you can’t feel the Oreo taste at all. I’ve had much better desserts at LoFat before so don’t choose it unless you really love biscuits.

For dinner I received vegetable enchilada with a French onion soup.

The vegetable enchilada was nice and a welcome warm dinner on these cold winter nights.

The French onion soup was ok, nothing special. Usually in restaurants its dressed up with a slice of cristy baguette and tons of melted mozarella cheese. This one had none so its just the soup and the onion slices.

And that commences the end of the first week of my vegetarian Lofat diet menu trial. Still baffled by the arrival of the chicken fettucini alfredo though, I hope this doesn’t happen again in the upcoming 3 weeks of my trial.

To learn more about LoFat’s diet menu plans you can call them 22250650 on ,check their website (link), like their facebook page (link), follow them on Twitter (@LoFatGroup), or instagram (@LoFatGroup).

Did You Ever Win in a Draw or Raffle?

Did you ever win anything in a raffle or a draw?

I never did! Not when I forced down one bottle of soft drinks after the other in the 80′s and looked underneath the bottles caps, not when the SMS draws started where you’d send an SMS and enter some draw, not when I opened a draw and prizes deposit account in every single bank in Kuwait, not when I  filled one thousand and one draw cupons, all the around the globe, to enter my name in some kind of draw. Not when I attended an event and held up a raffle ticket while numbers were called out. I never won, ever!

Am I the only one still unlucky enough to win anything? Or are there others like me. Come to think about it, I’m now absolutely sure before every raffle, draw, or cupon that I won’t win so I’ve developed a why bother attitude towards it. But sometimes, when the names of the draw are out or the ticket numbers are called, I have this little teeny hopeful ray inside of me that today might be the day I actually win something. The day didn’t arrive yet and my luck’s bad reputation is maintained still.

I wonder if you are one of the lucky ones who won anything? Do please share If you’ve ever won something, small or big. Maybe some of your luck will rub of main and change the status quo :p

LoFat Vegetarian Diet – Day 6

On the 6th day of my Lofat Vegetarian diet I received small folded Nuttella crepe, fruit skewers,  low fat Laban (buttermilk), and white tea for breakfast.

The crepe was good and a refreshing change but the portion was tiny. Then again I’m supposed to be on a diet so the portions must be small.

For lunch I got the mixed vegetable noodles with a side of chickpea salad.

  When I first tried LoFat before I adored their vegetable noodles. The ones I tasted this time are equally delicious but unbelievable oily! So oily, oil was running down the plastic bowl it came in. I wish LoFat would fix that, it was too oily.

The chickpea salad was delicious with one minor thing, the chickpeas were canned or pre-boiled therefore were a bit harder that the chickpeas we are used to and buy from the co-op. Some people might not like it, others might prefer it. Personally I’m used to the softer chickpeas so I think it would have tasted better if it was the soft kind.

For dessert I got LoFat’s famous Talia (post)! I know many who like it and buy it for dessert from LoFat’s fridges in the co-ops and its perhaps one of LoFat’s most successful desserts. I was really happy to see that it was on my meals list that day. I had it with a cup of white tea.

For dinner I got half a mixed vegetables burger with a vegetables and corn soup.

The burger was OK. Not exceptionally good and not bad. It was fine and filling for dinner. For once, the soup wasn’t spicy at all. I still don’t like most of LoFat’s soups so I think I’m going to stay away from them for the last two weeks of the diet.

All in all it was a delicious day with lots of interesting options. If only the noodles weren’t so oily.

To learn more about LoFat’s diet menu plans you can call them 22250650 on ,check their website (link), like their facebook page (link), follow them on Twitter (@LoFatGroup), or instagram (@LoFatGroup).

What to do When your iPhone Goes Missing?

I was exausted after a long day, hungry and on a diet, and my teeth hurt from wearing my retainers. All I wanted to do was to be home, change into my pjs and fall a sleep. I did reach home, however as I was getting out of the car my iPhone slipped and fell out, through the water drain to the sewers below!!!

In my panic I tried everything to get the iPhone out. My precious iPhone, the portal to my social media life! Only the iPhone was no where to be seen and after an hour of trying I gave up. I went inside, changed all my passwords and disabled my SIM. I cried all night long and I couldn’t sleep, knowing that I will be buying a replacement in the morning for my iPhone laying deep in the sewers two meters away from me.

This morning however a friend of my husband tells him that his brother’s iPhone fell through the storm drain too and he called the Ministry of Public Work’s hotline and they came and fetched it for him. Skeptic, he called the hot number 112 and he was transfered to a guy called Sameer. Within one hour of his call this morning workers from the ministry came to the drain, opened it up, fetched for the iphone and took it out! Its now sleeping safely at home waiting to be reunited with me once more. Big fat PHEW!

I am lucky my iPhone was retrieved. I feel so relieved and I think it will still be working since I kept calling it all night and it was connecting. However, I don’t think I’ll be able to use it again after submerging it in Clorex. In my case, one of my nightmares of losing my iPhone became a reality last night and in my panic I kept searching online on what to do. My worst nightmare would be if my phone wasn’t lost in the sewers, it would be if it was stolen by some thief. In anycase, here are the steps I found on the net -and I followed- to react in case your iPhone was lost or stolen:

1- Before you disable your SIM, you can go to iCloud.com or to any of your other Mac devices and try to locate your iPhone. In order to do so of course you should have enabled the Find My Phone feature and iCloud on the iPhone itself. If you haven’t, do so NOW. You never know what might happen in the next 5 minutes. I mean it, NOW.


2- If you locate your iPhone in a familiar place and you can retrieve it, fine, do so then. If you can’t or if it was stolen. Use the Wipe iPhone using the Use my iPhone app which will wipe all the apps and data from your iPhone and no one can use them otherwise.  You can retrieve your data from your iCloud and your backups.


3- Now call your telecommunication company and have them disable your SIM. After you’ve tried to locate it and wiping your iPhone clean. May I also suggest that you act swiftly and quickly in case you thought the iPhone was stolen? Panic will make you go lightning bolt fast.


4- Change all your applications passwords, starting with the iTunes one. Its a big drag but if you are serious about identity theft and don’t want anyone tweeting/instagramming/facebooking on your behalf, you should. Some applications like email allow you to revoke access you’ve given to the iPhone, do revoke all accesses when the option is given.

And basically that’s it, that’s what I’ve done myself yesterday. If you have anymore steps to add to the list please do share. May you never experience the loss of losing your prized iPhone or its peers. Big thanks to the Ministry of Public Works and to Mr. Sameer for their unbelievable swift service, I’m very grateful and deeply impressed.

LoFat Vegetarian Diet – Day 5

On day five of my Lofat vegetrian diet for my breakfast I got Zaatar Fatayer with the fruit skewers and low fat Laban (buttermilk).

I enjoyed every single bite of my zaatar fatayer. It was good and left me full for a long time

For lunch I got Vegetable Pilaf with a side of Warm lentil salad with grapes and feta cheese.

The Vegetable pilaf was OK. Nothing special. Its basically rice with veggies like carrots and courgettes with some cashews. I must remember not to schedule so many rice dishes for my meals days in a row.

The warm lentil salad with grapes and feta cheese was very interesting. Unlike anything I’ve had before. Frankly I’d rather have it as a main meal with a side of leafy green salad instead of rice. I recommend this salad if you want something different.

For dessert I got the Fruit Star tart which, needless to say, I was anxious to devour the moment I set my eyes on it in the morning. I adore strawberry or fruit tarts.

This one didn’t disappoint at all. I enjoyed every bite. I had it with a side of white tea.

For dinner it was vegetable pizza with a side of Moroccan vegetable soup.

The pizza was good. I just wish the portion was bigger but then the idea is to eat less by learning to control your food portions.

The soup didn’t look that appetizing at all. Its more of a consommé with bits of crunchy vegetables floating in but it did taste better than it looks with strong hints of lemon. I’m just not that crazy about LoFat’s soup. I’d rather have a salad with my dinner instead.

The pizza, zaatar fatayer, fruit tart, and warm lentil and grapes salad made this dieting day seem like a cheat day! Dieting doesn’t seem to be so hard after all!

To learn more about LoFat’s diet menu plans you can call them 22250650 on ,check their website (link), like their facebook page (link), follow them on Twitter (@LoFatGroup), or instagram (@LoFatGroup).

LoFat Vegetarian Diet – Day 4

Day four of LoFat’s vegetarian diet started with a breakfast of French toast, fruit skewers and low fat laban. The French toast was as good as I remembered it from my previous LoFat dieting days. It came with a tiny amount of maple syrup, about a tablespoon, which turned out more than enough for the amount of French toast provided.

Lunch was risotto de legumes and a red pepper and black bean vegetable salad.

The black bean and vegetables salad was very delicious. Its officially my second favorite LoFat salad after their nachos salad. It came nicely decorated as well which made it even more appetizing.

The risotto was good too and I enjoyed every bite. But I think the mushroom risotto tasted better. Mushroom and risotto go so much better together than peas and carrots.

Dessert was a biscuit with banana pudding. A tiny square of irregular and unappetizing looking biscuit surrounding some banana mush that I had with black coffee.

I almost didn’t eat the banana biscuit but in my desperation for something sweet with my coffee I did and I have to say I really did enjoy it a lot! Pity it didn’t look that appetizing. It really tastes way better than it looks.

For dinner I received a baked eggplant parmesan and red pepper and balsamic soup.

The baked eggplant parmesan was good! Really good indeed. So rich and delicious and the eggplants cooked right.

The soup was good and different. The balsamic clearly provided a sour tinge but still the soup was peppery. Almost all of the soups I’ve tried so far had too much black pepper except for the mushroom millet. I wish LoFat would work on that .

Day four was much better than day three and the meals were more delicious. I have to remember not to choose two risottos two days in a row next time though so I don’t get bored.

To learn more about LoFat’s diet menu plans you can call them 22250650 on ,check their website (link), like their facebook page (link), follow them on Twitter (@LoFatGroup), or instagram (@LoFatGroup).

Zain’s BBQ Night

Last week I received the cutest invitation ever to attend Zain’s BBQ night. A small bag filled with tiny ketchup, tabasco sauce, and mustard tied around a spatula! The BBQ, as expected, was a blast!

Choosing a BBQ for a social media event during the gorgeous weather was a spot on decision. Everybody in Kuwait is having BBQ gatherings and enjoying the weather outdoors. It was only natural that we’d look forward to attend a BBQ in Zain’s headquarters. Good weather, food, entertainment, and meeting up with friends! What could be more fun?

We arrived to gorgeous weather, pink lights, blazing fires, live music, and people’s chit chat.

We took our seats around a round dining table and enjoyed the weather. It was a bit cold but heaters were scattered around and small cups of hot chocolate was passed to keep us warm.

Guess who sat at our table and tried to drink my hot chocolate?

Before dinner Zain held a raffle but my ticket didn’t win 7safa! They also had great offers for iPhone 5 and a new 4G router thing.

As for the BBQ, it was quite a spread! Salads, sausages, vegetables, hot dogs, burgers, the works!

I, however, I’m proud to announce that I returned home to my LoFat diet dinner after a long battle of trying to resist those grilled corn cobs and those soft looking hot dog buns. I’m proud of myself!

Thank you Zain for inviting me to your BBQ night. It was a great night and we had so much fun