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Love Yourself recently got in touch and asked me to try their Keto Plan. I’d previously enjoyed trying their Low Carb Diet plan.

What is the Keto Diet and How Does it Work?

The Keto Diet is a weight loss diet that focuses on a higher fat and protein foods and very low carbohydrate intake.  The higher fat and protein content of the diet helps stop you feeling hungry and you don’t crave carbs as a result.

Keto diet is based on limiting your carbs and eating more fats and proteins, which induces a process called ketosis. During ketosis, the body becomes more efficient in burning fat instead of carbohydrates as a source of energy, resulting in weight loss and effective weight management. It also turns fat into ketones in the liver, which can supply energy for the brain. By limiting your carbohydrate intake to less than 22g total each day your body uses its fat stores as a source of energy, which increases the body’s metabolism and boosts weight loss with a higher concentration of fat being burnt. It is a great way to burn fat and gain lean muscle at the same time.

Pros of a Keto Diet

People chose to follow a keto diet for different reasons, but some of the main advantages of a keto diet include the following.

• Efficient fat burn & increased metabolism
• Higher in protein, so ideal for a muscle building diet and lean muscle gain
• Increased physical and mental energy levels are often reported
• Plenty of naturally occurring amino acids

Keto with Love Yourself

One of the downsides for me of a keto diet is working out what I need to eat.  It seems to be quite an effective diet for me, so I like to eat that way if I can.  I find it does help me lose weight and as I do a lot of swimming, it does provide me with the raw materials for muscle building.  I would normally eat a lot of carbs, but with a keto diet I don’t crave them at all.  Love Yourself’s Keto Plan really does make following a keto diet very easy.

I love the fact that you can order your food by the day, a five day pack or even longer.  You’ll get three meals a day and a snack.  I had some lovely food when I tried the keto plan for a few days.  A typical breakfast might be scrambled eggs with bacon and parmesan.  I loved the smoked salmon salad and the grilled turkey with vegetable stew.  I felt I was getting a good range of protein and vegetables.  When I try keto for myself, it’s usually heavy on the protein, but this way there were plenty of vegetables included.  This was it’s so easy and your five a day is delivered in a tasty way.

The food quickly arrived by courier.  A lot of effort went into keeping the meals cool whilst they were transported and the packages were well insulated. Thoughtfully the packaging has been chosen to be from sustainable materials.   All the containers are biodegradable and 90 days compostable – I rinsed mine out and sent it off in our garden waste bin for the council to compost.

The Shed, Barry

Situated in Barry’s redeveloped Docks area, The Shed by James Sommerin is a very welcome upmarket eating place in the town.  Housed in the Gwalia Buildings (Goods Sheds), now sympathetically repurposed, this is a restaurant that represents much of Barry’s hopes for the future.  The Shed is envisaged as a modern and contemporary eating destination, but its philosophy is centered on Barry’s proud industrial heritage.  They have even sourced the wood for the table tops from original timber reclaimed from the Barry Docks area.  Plus the slate  that forms the bar and the pass have come from old snooker tables.  The interior is airy and light.  There are hints at the industrial heritage of the area within the decor.

The restaurant’s price point is that of a high end bistro rather than a grander fine dining affair.  However, the food is certainly up there with fine dining establishments. It’s a relaxed setting in which to enjoy your meal.

James Sommerin has brought his expertise to The Shed.  He was formally a Michelin-starred chef (The Crown at Whitebrook) and both The Shed and his previous project at Penarth have been featured in the Michelin Guide.

The Meal

To start I had the Smoked Haddock Souffle, which is flavoured with wholegrain mustard and dill.  The mustard is applied with a sparing hand and doesn’t overpower the dish.  It’s very much a creamy, soft, smoky haddock delight.  I’d have very happily eaten a big bowl of this.

My companion opted for the Rabbit and Pork belly Terrine served with fig, walnut and chicory.  As you’d expect this had a richness from the rabbit and the fig, but the chicory cuts through that to bring some freshness.

For our main we shared the Tomahawk Steak.  This was cut in the kitchen, but plated at the table for a little drama.  We picked out sides of Triple Cooked Chips, Tenderstem Broccoli and Heritage Tomato Salad.  We followed the chef’s suggestion and had our steak cooked medium rare. It was a good quality steak with plenty of flavour.  The triple cooked chips were wonderful. Crispy on the outside, but soft and fluffy inside: everything a chip should be.  The broccoli, with its almond and garlic flavouring, together with the tomato salad proved to be the idea accompaniments to the steak.

For pudding I opted for a Crepe Suzette, but unusually for me I tried the alcohol free option.  It does mean that the table-side cooking of the crepes is slightly less dramatic. Certainly the alcohol and the flames do add something to the occasion. But the crepes were still very moreish with their lovely orangey coating.

The Raspberry & Dark Chocolate Millefeuille really did look a picture.  An exquisite sandwich of raspberry and creamy dark chocolate sweetness.  For me, the balance of crunch to softness was spot on.

The service was attentive without being obtrusive.  So we felt very well looked after during our visit to The Shed, Barry.  If we are visiting Barry in the future, we will definitely be making a return visit.  Highly recommended.

I’ve been meaning to try out the A La Mexicana Restaurant for a while, but the pandemic has got in the way.  The restaurant is situated on Sandon Road in Bearwood, close to T C Hayes, and diagonally opposite the Bear pub.  A La Mexicana is a family run, Mexican restaurant and it is decorate with bright primary colours and lots of authentic Mexican items.  Everything was spotless and the tables were cleaned down well after customers left.  It was a reasonably warm day and the door was left open, so there was plenty of ventilation.

We were greeted by a friendly Mexican host, who was keen to make sure we were comfortable.  He was happy to help guide us through the menu, which is just as well as it was tricky to pick out which of the delicious-sounding dishes to try. I think I’m going to have to go back to try out some more.

The Menu A La Mexicana

There are three sections to the menu: lunch (lighter items), dinner (bigger dishes) and drinks.  We visited at lunch time and could choose off both the lunch and the dinner menus.  Soft drinks and hot drinks are currently available and are reasonably priced.  The restaurant is currently unlicensed, but I understand that they hope to change that.

We decided against a starter of nachos because my friend had a tooth infection and wanted to eat soft things.  Our host helped us find just the right thing: burritos.  Despite eating at lunch time we ate off the dinner menu because we wanted a more substantial meal.  The burritos came with a choice of filling: steak, pork, chicken, ham, chorizo or vegetables.  My friend decided to go for the  chorizo, which is homemade on the premises.  I liked the sound of the slow cooked pork, but it was too early in the day for that to be ready (because it is cooked long and slow), so I went for the pork and caramelised onions.  This wasn’t actually specified on the menu, so it’s worth talking to your server before deciding on your choice.

Our Meal

Our burrito meals came similarly presented with salsa in the lovely, colourful mexican bowl.  There was an attractive side salad with peppers, tomatoes and avocado.  The burritos were well wrapped and easy to eat with hands: very little escaped. My pork was nicely spiced, but not too hot (I tend to prefer things to be reasonably mild). As you can see inside there was a mixture of rice (I could have chosen beans instead), pork and carmelised onion.  It was delicious, tender and moist .  My companion really enjoyed her chorizo burrito.  As I think you’d expect it was a bit spicier than mine, but I’m tempted to try that next time or maybe the slow cooked pork.  I’m spoilt for choice.

Portion wise it really was a main meal.  My lunch companion took the second burrito home to eat later.  I just about managed my two burritos, but didn’t have an appetite for the rest of the day.

The service was timely, attentive and friendly.  We had a warm welcome and my friend is already talking about taking other people there because she enjoyed it so much.  I know other people who have been and they have really enjoyed it too, so much so that they have already made a return visit.

Other restaurants to try in Bearwood include The Old Dresser.

We all love home made baked goodies.  I do quite enjoy making them at home, but often time and life get in the way.  If you are busy getting ready to host friends for the weekend, other jobs may take priority.  Wouldn’t it be lovely to be able to buy a homemade cake or some brownies?  Unless there’s a convenient cake sale or you know a good local baker, you probably can’t unless you make it that cake yourself.  Then Sponge Cakes Ltd got in touch and told me about their new brownies range.  I really loved the idea of ordering brownies and having them delivered by post.

Sponge Cakes Ltd’s new brownies range is full of wonderful things.  I tried out the Chocolate Orange brownies because chocolate orange is one of my favourite flavours.  The brownies had a great texture with just the right amount of gooey ness and crumbliness. It’s an orange flavoured brownie with orange chocolate chunks throughout the mix.  It’s topped with a white, dark and orange chocolate drizzle effect.

We tried the brownies out and home and I also took them around to a friend’s house for her family to try.  They went down very well with everyone.  I’d have liked them to be ever so slightly less sweet, but that’s a personal preference thing.  The proof is in the eating and the brownies certainly didn’t last long.

I love the brownies are full of good things: free range eggs, gluten free flour and natural flavourings. They arrive well packaged and mine were undamaged in transit.  Unusually the brownies come in a circular shape like a cake, rather than the square shapes that we have become more used to.  This works well for me as I find it easier to cut a round cake into equal pieces.

If you aren’t sure which flavour to buy, maybe try the Four Sharing brownie, which has four quarters each a different flavour.

As well as trying out the new brownies range, I tried a Coffee Cake from Sponge Cakes Ltd too.  For someone who isn’t a coffee drinker, it’s perhaps surprising that coffee cake is one of my favourites. Again the cake arrived well packaged and looking fabulous.  It was very moist and did have that lovely homemade taste to it, whilst being a very professional looking treat.  It got a lot of compliments and I’d certainly get one again, especially if I was entertaining or celebrating a birthday or similar.

I liked to idea of using coffee beans on top of the cake to add some crunch instead of the usual walnuts.  Once again good quality ingredients are used in the baking, such as free range eggs.  We had no trouble eating it all whilst it was fresh, but you can freeze left over slices.

Sponge Cakes Ltd have 14 flavours of cakes available so there should be something to tempt you.  If you prefer you can have a sharing cake with either 14 flavours in one cake so you can have a slice of each one or a cake with four flavours that can be cut into slices.