Here's to a good day

27^th January 2018

Don’t ruin a good day by thinking about a bad yesterday. Let it go.

Ooo woke at half four feeling great then went back to sleep until the alarm which scared me to death and now it’s gonna take a little time to get myself alert this morning, I’m on the water though and will follow up with a mug of tea.  I love this time of week, knowing that I’m only a morning away from a couple of days off, I do love my meetings but these days I love chilling with my mom watching tv and crocheting, getting me a tidy pile of squares, enjoying that bit, I’ll endure the sewing it all together bit because I know the finished effort will be worth it.

That’s a little like weight loss isn’t it, we love the weight loss results at the scales, we endure having to stay on track continually but the finished effort when we achieve our goals is so worth it.

More positivity in the meetings last night, sadly a couple that needed the meeting talk didn’t stay, I’m not allowed to lock em in though!  We all left feeling better and ready for our weeks.  I even went home and cooked a proper tea, these were my delicious meals yesterday;

11sp of delicious avocado, bacon medallions, flatbread, sweet chilli tomatoes, mushrooms, spring onions & eggs

 

Small bowl of pot of love – 4sp

Teriyaki chicken and microwave chips 11sp

This is my recipe, it’s a base you can mess with it and add more of anyone of it, I usually add more stock, I used white rice too this time.  It would have been nice with parsnips in it, I kept thinking I’ve cooked this before but it tasted different, I think it needs to stand and be reheated later.  Having said that it’s just reminded me of an old favourite - a delicious dish I need to cook again soon, chicken and bacon casserole, I’ll put that recipe underneath.

A Pot of Love

24sp total, Serves 4, 6sp per serving (I got 5 or 6 servings out of mine)

1 tbsp olive oil (5sp)
2 onions, chopped
3 crushed cloves garlic
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp curry powder
½ tsp cinnamon
4 sliced carrots
100g dried lentils
200g brown rice (19sp)
500ml stock
1 diced apple (unpeeled)
4 sliced spring onions

In a saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat; cook onions, garlic, cumin, curry powder and cinnamon, stirring often, for about 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in carrots, lentils and rice; cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 minute. Pour in stock and bring to the boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or until rice and lentils are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Stir in the apple and spring onions, then cook, covered, for 5 minutes or until the spring onions are heated through.

Chicken & Bacon Casserole serves 4, 26 total, 6sp each or 5sp if using lentils

Calorie controlled cooking spray                                    

4 skinless chicken breasts
1 large onion, chopped                                                    

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
4 rashers fat trimmed unsmoked bacon medallions, chopped (2sp)
250 g (9oz) carrots, peeled and chopped
300 g (10½ oz) parsnips, chopped (8sp)
150 g (5½oz) dried brown rice (14sp) (you could use 100g rice 50g lentils & save 1sp per serving)
500 ml (18 fl oz) chicken stock (make using 3 oxo cubes) (2sp)
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put oven on gas mark 4ish

Spray a lidded ovenproof casserole dish with the cooking spray and place over a high heat. Season the chicken legs, add to the dish and fry for 5 minutes, turning, until browned. You may need to do this in batches. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Spray the dish again with the cooking spray, add the onion, rosemary and bacon and fry for 5 minutes until starting to soften. Return the chicken to the dish with the carrots, parsnips, rice and stock. Cover and pop in ovne until the chicken is cooked through and the rice and vegetables are tender. Divide between four warmed plates, and serve.  Freezes well too.

I’m going to make that this weekend, try it with the lentils, might even throw some black beans in – get proper adventurous!

Time for that cuppa and getting ready for my day.  Here are my 3 good things from yesterday,

1. I got two gifts from 2 lovely ladies, really thoughtful ones too
2. The washing up didn’t take as long as I thought it was going to!
3. My teriyaki chicken tea, forgot how good it was and have to say the chicken I used was so good, goes to show where you buy stuff from does matter.

Here’s to staying solid, I know it’s Saturday but we can do it!  Have a solid strong Saturday BeYOUtiful.