Simple Start food all the family can enjoy!

3^rd September 2014

BeYOUtiful occurs then moment you decide to be yourself.

So it’s Wednesday already, midweek and already day 3 of my journal week, oh maaaannn where does time go!  I used to not buy plants for my garden if I had to wait more than a week or two to see flowers now I’m thinking about next year’s pretty because I know it’ll be here before I know it.  I’ve realised anything that’s worth having takes time, whether it’s a garden or a healthy body.

Katie Hopkins apparently is back to prove a new point – “fat people have no one to blame but themselves for being fat.”   Bless her for being so clever, wonderful and perfect and not having any faults, it much be so tiring being so incredible!  

When I heard about this yesterday, I wanted to feel disbelief but because it was her I couldn’t, I’m just glad she’s not my Weight Watcher leader and to be honest she’s not really worthy of blog space is she, it’s what she wants attention and she gets it by being controversial.  Unfortunately for many people they don’t just put the weight on to prove it can be lost, it’s way more complex than that.

Moving on because that ignorance makes me sad ….

Let’s talk food instead ;) that’s much more enjoyable, I made Spaghetti Bolognese yesterday it was the recipe of the day on the Weight Watcher site http://www.weightwatchers.co.uk/food/rcp/RecipePage.aspx?recipeid=7087582

I have to say it was tasty, I tweaked it a little by adding 3 stock cubes and some Worcestershire sauce and by using wholewheat spaghetti it was a completely F&H meal!

Spaghetti bolognese

9pp per serving, serves 4

Prep time: 20 min Cook time: 40 min

Ingredients

4 spray(s) Calorie Controlled Cooking Spray   

400 g Extra Lean Beef Mince (5% fat), raw   

1 medium Onion, All Types, chopped   

1 medium Courgette, grated   

250 g Carrots, raw, chopped   

1 medium Yellow Pepper, deseeded and chopped   

200 g Mushrooms, sliced   

2 clove(s) Garlic, finely chopped or crushed   

800 g Tinned Tomatoes   

2 tablespoons (level) Tomato Purèe   

1 tablespoons Dried Mixed Herbs, use Italian   

1 cube(s) Vegetable Stock Cube, Beef or Chicken, made up with 200ml hot water   

1 pinch Salt   

1 g Black Pepper   

240 g White Pasta, dry, use spaghetti  (use wholewheat for F&H)

6 leaf/leaves Fresh Basil, to garnish   

Instructions

• Heat a large saucepan and spray with calorie-controlled cooking spray. Add the mince and cook over a high heat. Don’t stir immediately, as you want the meat to really brown on the base, so give it a few moments – then turn to sear and brown on all sides.
• Add the onion, courgette, carrots, pepper, mushrooms, garlic, tomatoes, tomato puree, herbs and stock. Stir well and bring the mixture up to the boil.
• Reduce the heat to low, partially cover with the lid and cook for 30-40 minutes. To reduce the liquid to thicken the sauce, remove the lid for the final 10-15 minutes.
• To cook the spaghetti, first check the pack instructions – timings vary. If it’s quick cook it will only take 4-5 minutes. Wholewheat will take 9-12 minutes. Bring a large saucepan of water up to a rolling boil, then add a little salt. Gradually feed the spaghetti into the saucepan. Swirl it around the pan by stirring with a wooden spoon, then boil gently for the recommended cooking time. Avoid overcooking or boiling too vigorously.
• Drain the pasta in a colander, then share it between 4 serving plates. Spoon the sauce on top, then serve, garnished with a few fresh basil leaves.

Had it for my tea and it was delicious, will either have it again today or freeze the rest, gotta love a bit of batch cooking to help you out when you’re too busy to cook.

Let’s make Wednesday wonderful shall we, start the day with intention, repeat after me,

“Okay BeYOUtiful let’s do stick to it September and have a wonderful Wednesday!”

Take care of you because you’re important too. xx