Sweet & Sour, loved it

2^7th July 2018

The sun will rise and we shall try again.

Poor moms had a bad night, on top of the heat, she’s been coughing most of it which of course means my sleep was disturbed too. Yay thankfully no work today so we can both relax. Alfie’s being clipped so he’ll be cooler too, it’s no joke having a fur coat these days.

I had a lovely tea last night sweet and sour chicken using uncle bens extra pineapple, cooked chicken breast and microwave rice, it was on the plate in under ten minutes thanks to the microwave. Don’t get me wrong I could’ve cooked my own but on a Thursday night after 5 meetings, that wasn’t going to happen. It was better than the pizza or chips I’d considered picking up on my way home.  If you fancy cooking your own, here’s a couple of choices;

Sweet and Sour chicken

Total 13sp ~ serves 4 ~ 3sp per serving ~ with Quorn 2sp per serving

6 skinless chicken breast fillets, very thinly sliced or 6 Quorn Fillets
6 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp light soy sauce (2sp)
Low calorie cooking spray
1 tbsp dark soy sauce (1sp)
2 tbsp sweetener
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp paprika
½ tsp Chinese 5-spice powder
100ml passata
Spring onion slivers and lime wedges, to garnish

Place the chicken in a shallow ceramic dish. Sprinkle over the spring onions and garlic, season well and pour over the light soy sauce. Toss to mix well, cover and marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Spray a large non-stick frying pan with low calorie cooking spray and place over a high heat. Add the chicken mixture and cook for 5-6 minutes and then add the dark soy sauce, sweetener, vinegar, paprika, 5-spice powder and passata. Stir to mix well and bring the mixture to the boil.

Reduce the heat and cook gently for 3-4 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Check the seasoning before serving garnished with spring onion sliver and lime wedges to squeeze over.

I'd be tempted to throw in some pineapple chunks too for extra sweet!

You can also make this recipe with pork 500g = 20sp. Add rice for 6sp per 60g dried weight or cauliflower rice for zero.

Sweet and Sour Chicken 7 Smart Points

Prep time:10 min Cook time:17 min Serves:4 Difficulty: Easy

A delicious and healthy version of this takeaway favourite.

5spray(s) Calorie controlled cooking spray

1 medium Onion(s), peeled and sliced

160g Brown Rice, dry, long grain (15sp)

500g Chicken breast, skinless, raw (4 x 125g breasts)

2 medium Carrots, raw, peeled and thinly sliced in sticks

225g Pineapple, can, chunks in natural juice

2 tablespoons Tomato Purèe (1 sp)

3 tablespoons Vinegar, All Types, malt

1 tablespoons Muscovado Sugar (4sp)

2 tablespoons Soy Sauce, dark (1sp)

Instructions

Spray a frying pan with the low-fat cooking spray, add the onion and cook, stirring for 5 minutes over a medium heat, until softened.

Meanwhile cook the rice according to pack instructions, drain and rinse in hot water.

Cut the chicken into bite size chunks and add to the pan.

Cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes until golden on all sides.

Add the carrots, pineapple and juice, tomato puree, vinegar, sugar and soy sauce, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes until the chicken is tender. Serve immediately with the rice.

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Driving home at 8pm and your dashboard telling you it’s still 29.5 degrees is not going to encourage anyone to want to start cooking from scratch at all. For some reason best known to my dumb body and brain, I don’t fancy salads at all! Cucumber sandwiches are about as keen as I can get or adding a bit of lettuce and tomato to my sandwiches.

We are drinking more water though, that’s something I guess.

Once again I’m trying to work through the stuff in my freezer, I have some veggie burgers I think I’ll make today as they only take about 8 minutes and I can have them on a burger bun with a load of salad, you never know I might convince mom to have one of them instead of eating biscuits and cereal when I’m not watching which is what’s causing her cough because her stomachs struggling to cope with it all. It’s so difficult, one side of me says let her eat what she wants but then I see her poorly and the other side says control it for her. Thankfully this morning she’s realised what’s going on and has once again asked me to take control and hide everything from her so she’s not tempted.

We all know we’re more likely to over indulge if the food is in sight and freely available, one of my helpers almost lives next door to a McDonald’s, luckily she’s not fussed by them, I know if that was me, I’d be seriously tempted constantly.

Don’t buy it, if you don’t plan on eating it. It’s a no brainer ain’t it. Easier said than done if there’s more than you in the house, then you might be buying it for others but trying to resist yourself.

We’re out enjoying a walk, still cool at the moment thankfully, so I’m going to put my phone away for five and turn off.

Catch ya tomorrow, here’s to working on a wonderful life and having a very great day BeYOUtiful.