Am I thin yet?

29th November 2018
The darkest nights produce the brightest starts

Day 2 in the bag, yesterday was a lot easier than Tuesday and seriously the easiest I've found it for months.  My mood was much lifted, my members were awesome as ever, I managed to ignore my moms mood and not let it effect mine.  Yep I've woke up ready for another day.

I seriously can not believe I'm going to say this but I finished my day way under my daily allowance! Breakfast was eggy bread using one egg, with a dry fried egg on top and cherry tomatoes (3SP)

lunch was chicken stew (5SP) the first chicken stew I've ever made, usually I do beef stew and chicken in a casserole.  It wasn't bad but I added a bit of Worcestershire sauce and I wouldn't do that again.   Then for tea I had sweet pepper lentils on white fish (think it was bass) (2SP).  The only other points I spent was on my skimmed milk in my tea and I even tracked the taste of a brownie I had which a member brought for me to try.  I shared it with my helpers and as it was only 3SP to start with I tracked 1SP.

Now sweet pepper lentils, mmm, I used Harj's curry recipes as my inspiration.  They're at the bottom of my blog, but this is how I tweaked it a little because I had no chilli's.

Sweet Pepper Lentils
11SP total, easily 5 portions at 2SP per serving

3 peppers (I used 1 red, 1 yellow, 1 green) diced
Lentils (I used 325g - just weighed the rest of the bag to work out - they're zero so I didn't weigh)
2tsp turmeric

2 large onions (diced)

Garlic - I used frozen equivalent of 2tsp

Ginger -  I used frozen equivalent of 2tsp

Spray light (I used the chilli version)

1-2tsp cumin seeds

passata.  I used about 1/3rd jar

1 heaped tsp garam masala

Coriander - I used frozen equivalent of 2tsp

100g Mango Chutney (11SP)

Method:

Wash all lentils in saucepan with warm water - drain water and add boiling water to cover well. Add salt & turmeric, bring to the boil be careful not let it boil over then turn gas down and simmer, leave to simmer stirring occasionally until it start to thicken and looks like soup consistency. This can take up to 30-45mins to get right consistency.  Low and slow is the answer with this.

Base - chop onions add to separate frying pan with spray light.  Cook for 5 mins and add garlic, ginger & cumin seeds, if onions start sticking to saucepan add a little water. You need to cook onions until they are more or less purée, then add tomatoesCook onions/tomatoes until they look like a paste, stir through, add peppers and cook for a few more minutes. Add add to the lentils which should now have cooked and look like soup. Also add garam masala, coriander and mango chutney and let it blend together. 

It's a lentil dish with a sweetness to it that makes it lush, wash delicious on my white fish which I'd microwaved for a few minutes, I find steamed white fish quite bland so this was perfect.   I'll definitely be doing more with lentils, you could add anything to that mixture, mushrooms to bulk it out. The mango chutney could be replaced with agave syrup, or something completely different like hoisin sauce.  Yeah, experimenting will be happening a lot.  Lentils are so cheap too, so you don't just save on Smart Points, you save on your pennies.

Today I shall mostly be eating leftovers, although I'm going to have salmon for my tea, not decided what I'm doing with it, but it'll be delicious.  I really enjoyed spending some time in the kitchen yesterday throwing stuff together and seeing it work.  I think I'm getting back to me.

It appears I had to hit rock bottom because I realised I do want to crawl my way back up and out of that hole.  I had a chat with my boss yesterday which also helped a great deal, it's good to know he cares and is supportive of me. 

I also listened to the 10 minute headspace thing on the WW app before going to bed, mom was moaning at Alfie in the background and huffing and puffing but I chose to ignore all the sounds as headspace man (his names Andy btw) instructed me to do and I was asleep in no time. 

I will do 7 days on track, the family don't arrive until the 17th, I can more or less stay on track until then, here's to getting back to me.  Then in 2019, I will continue to focus on me and my weight loss journey.

Have a very great day BeYOUtiful, that's my plan, I'm going to ignore the miserable weather and see a grey day as silver. xx

Here are Harj's recipes 

Harj’s Lentil Curry- 5sp total

1 small cup red lentils, mung yellow lentils & chana dal (pulses)

2 tsp turmeric

Boiling water - I used 2 kettle fulls

Base - 2-3 onions

Garlic - I used 1 frozen block

Ginger - 1-2 blocks

3x green chilli’s add more if you like it spicier

1tbs olive oil (5sp)

1-2tsp cumin seeds

Tomatoes - either tinned which need to be purée or passata.  (she uses about half a can)

1tsp garam masala

Coriander (optional)

Method:

Wash all lentils in saucepan with warm water - drain water and add boiling water. Add salt & turmeric, bring to the boil be careful not let it boil over then turn gas down and simmer, cover saucepan but didn’t cover completely otherwise dhal will boil over - leave to simmer stirring occasionally until it start to thicken and looks like soup consistency. This can take up to 30-45mins to get right consistency. 

Base - chop onions add to separate saucepan and add olive oil.  Cook for 5 mins and add garlic, ginger,  chopped chili & cumin seeds, if onions start sticking to saucepan keep adding water. You need to cook onions until they are more or less purée, then add tomatoes. Cook onions/tomatoes until they look like a paste then add to the lentils which should now have cooked and look like soup. Also add 1tsp of garam masala and coriander if required.

Harjit’s Chicken Curry 

Serves around 6-7.  Total recipe points, 10sp

2-3 teaspoons Olive Oil (5sp), 

4 Onions, 

Garlic, 

Ginger , 

1-2 (3-4 if you like it spicy) Green Chilli
2 teaspoons Jeera (Cumin Seeds),

 1-2 teaspoons Haldi (Turmeric), 

½ large can Tomatoes (Blended), 

1-2 teaspoons Salt, 

1 teaspoon Garam Masala,

 500g chicken breast (5sp), 

Fresh Coriander (Optional)

1. Heat oil in saucepan and add chopped onions & salt.
2. After 5-10 mins add garlic, ginger, chilli & jeera (cumin seeds)
3. Cook for around 20 mins if onions start sticking to the pan add water.
4. Once onions are browned and softened add 1-2 teaspoons of haldi (Tumeric), cook for around 10 mins until the colouring separates from the onions.
5. Once the above has cooked add half a tin of tomatoes and cook for around 5-10 mins.
6. When tomatoes have blended in with the onions add chicken, cook chicken for about 10 mins and then add boiled water and simmer until water has thickened and chicken is tender.
7. Once chicken has cooked add garam masala and stir and garnish with fresh coriander.
8. Serve with (add the extra SmartPoints of course) basmati rice 

The base is the same for every curry so you can add vegetables if required.