Chow mein? Sweet & Sour? Why not!

Thursday 29th August 2019
BElieve THEre is GOOD in the world! 

Yo, have you woke up raring to go or truly tired?  Me I'm a little tired but nothing a mug of caffeine won't cure I'm sure.  I stayed up till ten last night which was probably an hour longer than I should've and cost me a few extra points in snacks but I needed an hour of quiet after mom had gone to bed, I also needed to let my dinner digest a bit as I eat late on a Wednesday, maybe next week, I'm make something lighter and have my main meal at lunchtime.  It was delicious though, Carol had got some 5% beef mince reduced in Co-op so I fried mine and stirred a (5SP) Dolmio sun-dried tomato light pasta sauce through it, which was delicious if I do say so myself.  I had it with spaghetti, the plan had been to cook once eat twice with the mince but turns out my damn dog is partial to sun-dried tomato beef mince so we shared it, I will definitely buy another pasta pot to replace that one, so good, I'm not a fan of tomato pasta sauce but this had a richness to the flavour, really good. 

 This went from packets to plate in 15 minutes, fast food at its best, I could've added some frozen peas/sweetcorn into it too if I could've been bothered. 

This was my brunch, 

Another meal on the plate in 15 minutes and so good, it's a packet that can sit in the cupboard for a good 12 months as the use by date is long, it's vacuum packed and really tasty.  Topped with an egg for no extra points. 

I had a gold member return last night after 7 weeks of holidays and having fun, she knew the scales were going to say a huge gain and when they did she laughed so loud and told me how much she'd enjoyed it and she'd happily pay until the weight went away.  Now that is the attitude I wished everyone had, live life, enjoy the good times, handle the bad times and get back to healthy asap.   There is so much in life we can't control, let's focus on the things we can control and make the best of our lives. 

We were talking fast meals again last night and these two came up so I said I'd blog them; 

Chicken Chow Mein

Serves 4, 7 Smart Points per serving 

150g (5oz) cooked chicken (cut into thin strips) or more if you want, it's zero if it's breast
1 tbsp oil  (4SP)
¼ tsp white pepper
¼ tsp chopped garlic
240g dried egg noodles (22SP)
Bean sprouts (1 handful) 
½ small onion (sliced)
½ tsp salt  
1 tbsp dark soy sauce (1SP)
1 tsp light soy sauce  
1 tsp sesame oil (1SP)

Cook noodles by soaking in boiling water for 5-10 minutes or until soft to touch. Clean wok, heat wok until hot and slightly smoky. Add 1 tablespoon oil. Add the chicken and onions and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Turn to low heat and add the garlic and stir-fry for another 15 seconds.  

Now add the bean sprouts and noodles. Stir-fry for 4-5 minutes or until the noodles are soft. Add the salt, dark soy sauce and light soy sauce.

Stir-fry for another minute. Finally add the pepper and sesame oil and stir in.

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.

Or use a jar of Uncle Ben's no added sugar sweet & sour sauce for 5SP, every 60g portion of dried rice is 6SP, chicken breast is zero, make your own quickly, use cooked chicken and microwave rice and it's even quicker, I do fancy a sweet and sour sauce now.  

I'm not sure what I'm eating today so I need to decide before I come home from work tonight because Thursday night and no plans spells disaster!   Ooo maybe those sausages as meatballs, packet of microwave rice, I have frozen onions, sweetcorn, pease, all together in one pan, sorted. 

Right I'm waking up and that's with tea rather than coffee.  Let's focus on the things we can control today, if you're feeling out of control like someone I spoke to yesterday was, ask yourself what you're ignoring, overeating is usually a symptom of another issue, what is that?  Can you do anything about it?  If not, can you change the way you look at it?  

Mom had a rough afternoon and an awful night yesterday but I shall focus on the good morning she had and try and get her to do the same.  I'll remind myself of the smile moments from yesterday rather than the stress.  The fox I spotted eating the leftover cat/dog food at 9pm last night for one, the IKEA conversation that made my two Julies laugh last night (you had to be there), the blanket I finished that is going to a good home.  yeah I'll focus on the smile moments.  I won't focus on the pound I gained on the scales, I'll focus on the fact I've filled my first success story booklet which means I've been going to a workshop since May 1st, September starts this weekend, that's Autumn in my head, time to turn over a new leaf, for a change I'm actually looking forward to the end of 'summer' I've had enough of those extreme odd days of heat, I'm ready for cooler.

But now I'm ready for my Thursday, are you?  Shall we have a good one, I think so :) mwah 

Luv ya

Love me xx