Ready to make it through the midweek

17th August 2016

If you get tired, learn to rest not to quit.

 

Had me a lie in, half six, I like this only having to get up 3 mornings a week, definitely getting the balance back in my life, 12 meetings spread out more evenly over the week with breaks in-between, it's perfect. 

I even spent an hour doing a bit of cooking yesterday, used a couple more kits, made the lamb keema matar but didn't have enough lamb mince as ordered the wrong size portion online so I did half lamb, half lentils, tastes alright too.  Also made Balinese chicken, I like that one a lot, then I made up the Vietnamese Pho kit I'd bought months ago because the name made me smile, it was okay but I wouldn't buy it again.

Alfie's at the vets at 9 so I need to sort my stuff out, as I'm still sat her in my pj's blogging and it's 7 already.  Then I think I'll do a little housework, can't use the excuse "I don't have time" now I guess, although I could say it's too sunny to stay indoors!

If I don't do housework, there's plenty of gardening to do too, plus of course the work that pays the bills, there's always plenty of that to do.

As I've not got much going on in my brain this morning, here's a couple of recipes that were shared by members in my group over the last couple of weeks and both sound really tasty, I've pointed them up to save you the task.  Just shows you can find recipes in all kinds of places, the first is a Jamie Oliver and the second is from 'This Morning' show. 

Here's to a great day, midweek already, we can make it through the week on track and if you haven't started well it's not too late to pull it back or just improve a little.

Jamie Oliver's Hit ‘n’ run tray baked chicken

8sp a portion

 “Everyone needs a hit ’n’ run recipe like this – it’s the kind of fallback meal you can enjoy when prep time isn’t on your side. It’s simply a case of putting together a combination of ingredients that really love each other, then just tearing, mixing, marinating and baking. It’s super quick to prepare, and you’re letting the oven do all the work. ”

Serves 4, cooks in an hour, easy

4 large ripe tomatoes

2 red onions

1 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

6 skinless, boneless free-range chicken thighs (22sp)

4 cloves of garlic

½ bunch of fresh thyme

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

2 tablespoons olive oil (9sp)

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1.    Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Quarter the tomatoes and place them in a large baking dish or roasting tray (roughly 25cm x 30cm). Peel the onions and cut into large wedges, then deseed and roughly chop the peppers. Add all these to the tray along with the chicken thighs.

2.    Squash the unpeeled garlic cloves with the back of your knife and add to the tray, then pick over the thyme leaves and sprinkle over the paprika. Add the oil, balsamic and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Toss everything together really well to coat, then spread across the tray, making sure the chicken isn’t covered by the vegetables. Roast for around 1 hour, or until the chicken is golden and cooked through, turning and basting it a couple of times during cooking with the juices from the tray.

3.    Serve the tray bake with a lovely green salad on the side. You could also buddy it up with a little rice, polenta or a loaf of crusty bread to mop up the juices.

4.    Jamie's Tip: Roasting garlic cloves whole in their skins makes them really sweet – don't waste that lovely soft flesh, squeeze it out and enjoy it!

Holly Bell's fruity mango chicken

Serves: 4, 10 Smart Points per portion or 5sp per portion if using chicken breast.
90g low fat mayonnaise (9sp)
30g mango chutney (3sp)
1 tbsp tomato ketchup (1sp)
4 tsp lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp salt
600g chicken thighs, trimmed of fat and cut into 3cm cubes (26sp) 600g breast is only 6sp 
Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas mark 6. Stir together all the ingredients and leave to marinate for five minutes.
In the meantime line a baking tray with foil, shiny side up, being careful not to snag it so that the sauce escapes.
Pour the chicken and marinade ingredients onto the lined tray and bake for 25 minutes until starting to crisp and char slightly.
Serve, (along with the sauce in the tray), with boiled rice, mango salad and toasted pitta breads.
60g dried basmati rice per person, cook as packet instructions. (6sp)
Pitta breads vary, but average 4sp each.