This is no diet blog - not today, that's for sure!

A busy day today. Heading for an early matinee, then this evening Doug is taking me out to dinner with another couple at the restaurant Glo that I've been wanting to visit. I started slow...
Coffee and one serving of milk chocolate Whey Gourmet protein shake.


We're always looking for something to have during a movie. Especially when movies and their previews seem to last forever. We found this at the corner store of all places... it's a small (45g/1.6oz) bag of popcorn with a coating made of maltitol and whey protein powder. Power Pop sounds like a bit of a gimmick but it has a lot going for it and I think many people with various dietary restrictions may find it a useful occasional snack. I like the chocolate and Doug's favorite flavour is the lemon meringue.

After the movie - Hairspray - and it was fabulous! We stopped in at our favorite family run Greek place in the mall for a couple of skewers of souvlaki to keep us going until our 7pm reservation. About 50g each of seasoned pork and chicken and just enough tzatziki to dip.We started our meal with an appetizer of Brie stuffed Venison patties with a Saskatoon berry jus. I had one and Doug the other two.
I ordered one of the day's specials from the featured menu. Glo Paella. The grey muck in the top left corner is the sauted red onion from Doug's burger so please disregard. Otherwise it was a beautiful presentation. Four big mussels, four big prawns, several chunks of chicken and half a dozen large slices of chorizo all surrounded by a spicy rice with chunks of tomatoes and some barely wilted spinach. It was just about the tastiest thing I've had all year.

I also had one fry from Doug's plate. They make very good coffee too.

Now desserts. The desserts were ridiculous. Dope. Sick etc. etc. Brian ordered the Chocolate espresso torte. It was huge and the thick ganache on top was to die for!
Kathleen ordered the Creme brule. It was very rich, soft and creamy and the caramelized top was perfect.
Doug had the Lemon mousse - although I don't remember the word parfait from the menu. The presentation was great with layers of graham crumbs reminiscent of cheesecake crust and lots of whipped cream.
I ordered the Sticky toffee pudding and I think we all agreed that it was absolutely fabulous! There was a big dollop of whipped cream and a scoop of ice cream, two big pieces of a lovely dark sponge and the best toffee sauce I've ever had. The caramelized sugar flavour and the richness of it blew all of us away. I ate most of one bit of the cake, almost all the ice cream and rather a lot of the sauce. I also had a small bite of everyone else's dessert. I felt a little ill afterwards but rather than the "I shouldn't have eaten so much feeling" we both agreed that this time it really was worth it.
Calories: astronomical. Carbohydrates: astronomical + 1. One more day of birthday celebrating then back to normal.

Another restaurant meal, hoo boy.

Coffee.Wasn't really hungry for breakfast, had two scoops of my new chocolate flavoured Whey Gourmet protein shake.

By 2pm I really had the growlies. Had four of the paper thin slices of dry cured ham and a little cheese together weighing in at 50g.
Because that wasn't really enough to keep me going until a late dinner - so two fried eggs.
I didn't know that parking a scooter could be so hard but it's tourist season (does that mean we can shoot them - *rim shot*) and I ended up sharing a smart car spot with a motorcycle then after finding that one of our party had taken a big car space much nearer the restaurant, went back and moved it so I'd feel a little less worried about leaving my baby on the street downtown.

After all that confusion I opted for a light beer (Kokanee, I think).
I had the Santa Fe Chicken Salad. Mixed greens, seasoned grilled chicken, avocado, feta (very southern is feta), black beens, corn, bits of dates, and crisp bits of tortilla that had been julienned. And a squeeze of lime on top. Now while trying to eat low-carb I don't have bread very often but I have corn even less. What a fantastic treat. It was delicious and I probably shouldn't have, but I ate the whole thing!
For dessert we ordered what the menu called a Pavlova (because the birthday girl really needed a taste of something sweet on her day) and six spoons. They did a deconstructed style pav which could have been better called discombobulated. From the bottom up we had lemon curd, blueberries and strawberries, a berry gelato and a semi-soft meringue perched on top. It was pretty much a catastrophe in the sharing department. With some effort I did get one spoonful with a little of each ingredient in it. It really wasn't all that - especially at $7.00!
Lots of carbs, lots of calories going to do some sit-ups now...