Tremendous Tuesdays about to begin!

21^st January 2014

"One day I decided that I was beautiful, and so I carried out my life as if I was a beautiful girl. It doesn’t have anything to do with how the world perceives you. What matters is what you see.”  Gabby Sidibe

Had a ‘Mom day’ yesterday, she wasn’t up to walking so instead we had a drive, and played the left, right or straight over game where mom chooses the direction, we drove through some lovely countryside, chatted and listened to Radio 2.  I smiled at a driver who was obviously not impressed at my lack of speed and I recalled how in years gone by that impatient ‘I’m in a rush’ person stuck behind a car in the countryside would have been me!  I remembered how I’ve gone walking and saw a couple in a car just looking at the view and thought to myself, “what ain’t they out of the car enjoying it”, well now I know, maybe like mom they weren’t up to the activity but still wanted the beauty.

We chilled all afternoon too, I didn’t even fancy cooking yesterday so instead we had the casserole I’d made the day before and for tea I sort of cooked, I used my George Foreman to make a Panini style wrap thing, it was delicious and I’d definitely do it again, just two wraps and filling and cook, here’s a little video I made;

 https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152166171992351&notif_t=like

I’m sticking with Filling and Healthy for now as I like the fact I know following it I’m making better choices and eating healthier food, I haven’t had to do an online shop this week as I overordered last week, so I’ve booked a slot for Monday and started an order which I will add to if I need anything else.

There’s a honey & mustard chicken tonight sauce that I really like so I’ve found this recipe which sounds similar and would almost be Filling & Healthy, will be adding that to next week’s meal list;

Honey mustard chicken one pot with parsnips

Serves 4, 12pp each (uses healthy oil & 2 weeklies on F&H)

 

1 tbsp olive oil (4pp)

4 bone-in chicken legs, skin removed (28pp)

2 onions, finely chopped

350g parsnips, cut into sticks (7pp)

300ml vegetable stock

2 tbsp wholegrain mustard (1pp)

2 tbsp clear honey (8pp)

few thyme sprigs

flat-leaf parsley, to serve (optional)

Heat half the oil in a large frying pan or shallow casserole with a lid. Seal the chicken, then set aside. Heat the remaining oil, then cook the onions for 5 mins until softened.

Nestle the legs back amongst the onions and add the parsnips. Mix the stock with the mustard and honey, then pour in. Scatter over the thyme, and then bring to a simmer. Cover, and then cook for 30 mins until the chicken is tender, then season. Serve with steamed greens.

A cheap veggie meal that sounds tasty is Mushroom & rice one-pot, Serves 4, 6pp each

 

200g brown basmati rice (20pp)

1 tbsp olive oil (4pp)

1 large onion, chopped

2 tsp chopped rosemary or 1 tsp dried

250g chestnut mushrooms, quartered

2 red peppers, sliced

400g can chopped tomatoes

425ml vegetable stock

handful parsley, chopped

Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Tip the rice into a sieve, rinse under cold running water, then leave to drain. Heat the oil in a flameproof casserole, add the onion, then fry until softened, about 5 mins. Stir in the rosemary and mushrooms, then fry briefly. Add the rice, stir to coat in the oil, then add the peppers, tomatoes, stock and some freshly ground pepper. Bring to the boil, give it a stir, cover tightly with a lid, then bake for 20-25 mins until the rice is tender. Scatter over the parsley and serve. 

Ready to find out how my members have done this week, a lot have done their second week on Simple Start; it’ll be good to see the results.

Here’s to a great day, apparently yesterday was ‘Blue Monday’ the most depressing day of the year!  Welsh psychologist Cliff Arnall formulated an equation to calculate the most depressing day of the year, the formula: {[W + (D-d)] x T^Q} ÷ [M x N_a].

According to the formula, w stands for weather, d for debt, T is time since Christmas, Q is time since New Year's resolutions were failed, M for low motivational levels and Na as the feeling of wanting to take action. (Note: D was not defined in the initial release.)

So however yesterday was for you, let’s make today Tremendous Tuesday, because yes the weathers cold, but the sun shone beautifully yesterday, the sky’s were blue here.  Motivation is like a muscle it has to be continually worked on, and as for New Year’s resolutions, if you were sensible you didn’t make any drastic ones, you decided to be the best that you can be at any given time, the feeling of wanting to take action can be restarted at any time.  Let’s make 2014 a year of realism and positivity, healthy and happy is our goal and sensible is our approach!

Happy Tuesday everyone, Eat Gorgeous and know you’re BeYOUtiful. xx