On it like a car bonnet ay I!

3rd January 2015

It never gets easier, you just get stronger.

Yesterday I decided to start a fresh, clean slate with my weekly allowance of 49pp intact and my Weight Watcher app ready to track on my phone - all is good in my world. Starting on a Friday meant that if I'm daft enough to use all my weeklies over the weekend, I'll have lean week days to endure.  Friday is as good a day to start as any and if I hadn't I could see what was going to happen, I'd have put it off till Monday, ate too much over the weekend without thinking, and decided that I'll sort it next week.  Thankfully I didn't got that way.

So I had a leftover cooked beef dinner in the fridge which I had every intention of eating, I wasn't going to let that deliciousness go to waste and they do say "Weight Watchers Your Way" no food is on the 'no' list.  I went downstairs and got the dinner out of the fridge and ProPointed it to the best of my ability using my app, it was 19pp!  Ouch, that was taking a huge chunk out of my 26pp daily allowance.  Now had I not been back on track, I wouldn't have even thought about it, I'd have probably mopped the gravy up with a slice of bread and butter.  Instead I thought ok, how can I get the rest of my day to work round this. 

I realised it was such a huge meal, I really wouldn't need anything else physically, so I decided on a breakfast of cherry tomatoes on toast. (3pp), 125ml of skimmed milk (1pp )for my drinks, I'm happy to drink hot water instead of gallons of tea, and could make some zero ProPoint soup for lunch, that'd take me to 23pp, if I wanted more than the 3pp I had spare, it would come out of my weeklies or my activity ProPoints that I needed to earn first!

See this is why planning actually works!  Because ignorance is bliss until you step on the scales and the results aren't there.

So I then spent some time planning meals for the weekend.   I had 200g of cooked beef left over and I was impressed to find out it was only 9pp or completely F&H.   I'm thinking curry, I have a basic curry sauce from Sainsbury's which is 8pp in the jar, so with brown rice, that's a good meal.  1/3rd of the curry 6pp and 5pp for the rice, or 3pp from my for the sauce weeklies if I go F&H with it.    

Only half of that panned out, the dog ended up eating the leftover beef so I'll be making a chicken curry instead, I never made the soup, didn't have my car to go to the supermarket to get ingredients and by the time I did get to do my shopping it was after 7 when I got home and I didn't really want soup, I wanted wine!  So that's what I opted for.  I'd enjoyed my breakfast, but forgotten to eat it before walking down to the hairdressers, so didn't eat that till 11am, then my beef dinner I had around four and it was so filling I just wasn't hungry, so instead about 8 I had a big glass of wine for 6pp and went to bed just after nine, used 29pp, had 9,000 steps on my fit bit and I'd done my supermarket shop so now I have a house full of healthy fruit and vegetables to have a healthy and happy weekend.

Feeling good and slept well till four, when the lovely Alfie decided to tell me he was awake and would I like to keep him company!  I've read for a couple of hours, on my third book on my holiday and looking that my brain is calm enough to concentrate, really do enjoy a good book, this ones called "Carrots" and was a free one when I downloaded it months ago, I had no idea what it was about but I'm loving it, she can read minds!  I don't think I'd want that power at all, although maybe it would come in useful at the scales!  

My plan today is to make soup, I've got a craving for leek and potato soup, my bestie had a soup maker at Christmas and I'm tempted but resisting because I know a saucepan and my blender will do exactly the same thing and I really don't have space for another gadget that'll only be used a few times. 

I found this recipe online yesterday which is a great base to start all soups.

Easy Three veg zero soup

Servings: 4    Preparation time: 15 mins    Cooking time: 30 mins

• 2 cube(s) stock cube, vegetable, make up to 1l with hot water
• 500 g chopped vegetables  such as
• 1 medium onion, all types  
• 1 portion(s) (large) butternut squash  
• 1 medium pepper, red  
• 1 pinch salt  
• 1/8 teaspoons (ground) pepper, black (whole, cracked or ground),
• Handful fresh herbs, chopped, to garnish  

Pour the vegetable stock into a large saucepan. Add all the chopped vegetables. Bring up to the boil, then cover and reduce the heat. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Test with the point of a sharp knife, to check.

Puree the soup with a hand-held stick blender, or transfer to a liquidizer and blend until smooth. Taste the soup, adding salt and pepper to season.

Serve each portion sprinkled with chopped fresh herbs and a little more ground black pepper.

Good vegetable combinations:

Onion, leeks and mushrooms

Leeks, broccoli and celery

Carrots, onion and celery

Cauliflower, onion and leeks

Onion, carrots and parsnips

That'll do me for starters, but I definitely want leek and potato!  This recipe will do;

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 225g/8oz potatoes, cubed
• 2 medium leeks, sliced
• 1.2 litres/2 pints vegetable stock

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the oil in a large pan and add the onions, potatoes and leeks. Cook for 3-4 minutes until starting to soften.
2. Add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Season well and simmer until the vegetables are tender.
3. Whizz with a hand blender or in a blender until smooth. Reheat in a clean pan, heat through and serve.

Nom nom, actually looking forward to that today, I'm going to have a Filling and Healthy day and my plan is, bacon medallions with lettuce and tomato on a Warburton thin.  Then a huge bowl of soup about 12, followed by dinner of gammon ham, mashed potatoes and veggies.  I know there's a theme there of potato and pig but what can I say, the belly wants what the belly wants! 

If it stops raining, I'll throw in a decent walk too, happy days.

Here's to fabulous Saturday BeYOUtiful.