Get your bake on!

Friday 7th June 2019
Ask yourself if what you're doing today is getting you closer to where you want to be tomorrow. 

Today is going to be a very, relaxed day!  I need to recharge!  Mom's not been the best which hasn't helped but I've probably not been either with being tired but on a positive I've stayed on track. Although I do need to do a shop, my fridge is starting to look bare, not planned any meals either for today so I need to check the kitchen out straight after this blog so that I don't get tempted to go off plan later, I have scales to step on Wednesday and unlike this week I don't want a maintain, I want a loss!  

This weekend is WW #WW5kMyWay, I plan to do my 5k on Cannock Chase Sunday morning at 7am, you're welcome to join me, message me for the meet place if you're willing to get up at silly o'clock!  It's not to late to start training, okay you may not be up to running a 5k this week (I don't plan to!) but if you'd like to in future check out the WW page. 5k training

But back to yesterday, after my rushed Wednesday, I knew Thursday wouldn't be an quieter really, I set my alarm 15 minutes later than usual - mistake, those extra 15 minutes sleep didn't balance out the having to rush more before work, I don't like rushing at all!  I wanted food before leaving for work of course and we'd had these new things in my stock delivery, "crispy bacon with no mess", now I love a bit of bacon, but I'm impatient and I never cook it correctly, which is one reason I only really eat it when I'm out and someone else cooks it.  But I decided to have a dabble and I had some bacon in the freezer from before I got on track.  They defrosted quite quickly whilst I was doing other stuff and they took 2.5mins in the microwave, oh my day's, game changer, I really enjoyed my bacon flatbread, nom nom nom. 

My sister approved on it too, this was her meal and what she said about it.

Omg what's not to love crispy bacon done quickly and the clean up is so easy. 

I loves a gadget and this one is brilliant 😍

For dinner I went all out, I was tired and knew I'd end up picking if I didn't take time to cook a a meal, salmon with a garlic Maggi paper, the spuds were incredible, 400g of potatoes = 10SP but there's about 7SP worth on that plate, mom didn't want any so I have to confess to eating the other 3SP worth too!  They're just diced potatoes, parboiled for 5 minutes, then spray lighted and roasted in the oven, Sainsbury's Vivaldi spuds are the best. 

Not very hungry after my huge dinner, I opted for a bit of what I fancy 4SP of low fat cheese, onion and lettuce on 1SP of broghies, nom nom. 

The only other things I ate was a taste of Jemma's crusty cheese bread.  She adapted the original recipe we'd found on FB and I preferred her version. 


CRUSTY BREAD - 27SP total, get as many slices as you can, then do the math ;) 

Ingredients
160g Self-raising flour (16SP)
180g Fat-free plain yogurt
1 Teaspoon baking powder
1 Egg, whisked
1/2 - 1 Teaspoon salt
1 Teaspoon mixed herbs & garlic powder
100g Asda 50% less fat cheese (9SP)

Preheat oven to 180/Bake

Add the self-raising flour into a large bowl. Add the yogurt, salt, baking powder & herbs/garlic powder. Then, add the whisked egg. Mix gently until well combined. Spoon into a loaf tray and sprinkle the cheese on the top.

Bake for 45 - 55 minutes

I haven't made it myself but it was tasty when I had a bit of Jemma's. 

I had a late night again because I was watching the foxes in the garden from the kitchen, at least I slept till 6 and I've not got much to do today, I need to spend some time with mom and give her lots of attention, I can always tell when she needs it x 

I'd have a go at making that bread but we'd eat it all, maybe I'll go through the new vegan / veggie cookbook and pick a couple of recipes, do an online order and plan to make them over the weekend.  Not today though, I'm not planning to do anything today other than my weekly massage, dog walk and my paperwork. 

Right that's me over and out, here's to a fantastic Friday.  Enjoy your day.

Oh but if you fancy getting your bake on, this is one of my favourite WW friendly cake recipes, Julie makes it and it's amazing! 

Lemon and lime crunch cake

Makes 12 slices, 5sp a slice

175g self-raising flour (17sp)

1/2 tsp baking powder 

A pinch of salt
60g low fat spread (8sp)
100g caster sugar (25sp)
1 egg, beaten
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
Grated zest and juice of 1 lime
150g fat free natural yogurt
40g Demerara sugar (10sp)

Preheat the oven to Gas Mar 3/180oC/160oC fan oven. Line a 900g loaf tine with non stick baking parchment.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a small bowl.

In a mixing bowl, cream the low fat spread and caster sugar together for about 3 minutes using an electric mixer.

Beat in the egg and 2/3rds of the lemon and lime zests. Add half of the flour to the mixing bowl and mix briefly, followed by half of the yogurt and mix again. Repeat with the rest of the flour mixture and yogurt. Don't over mix or the sponge will be rubbery. The mixture iwll be quite stiff compared to a standard sponge cake batter.

Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared loaf tin and spread out evenly. Bake on the centre shelf for 35-40 minutes. A skewer pushed into the centre of the cake should come out clean when it is cooked. Remove the cake from the oven.

Quickly mix together the rest of the citrus zest with the lemon and lime juice and the Demerara sugar. Use a skewer or fork to make little holes all over the cake, spoon the citrus drizzle on top and leave to soak in. Cool the cake in the loaf tin.

Store in an airtight tin for up to 3 days.

Cooks tip: to get more juice out of citrus fruit, warm them for 15-20 seconds in the microwave before halving and squeezing. Alternatively, simply roll the whole fruit on the work surface, pressing down firmly as you do so, to release more juice. 

Julie tips - I add a spoon of flour, when adding the egg, stops mix splitting. When adding yogurt/flour stir around the edge of bowl, cut through the middle (spatula works well). Mix until just incorporated and get it in the tin and straight in the oven. Once you start mixing the yogurt reacts with the baking powder to create a light cake. Happy baking