Doing my best to practice what I preach!

8th May 2015

To change your life, you need to change your priorities.

Lovely morning out there and I slept till six which is a great way to start my day, got some work to do before I take the afternoon off and chill out with a massage and spending some time with my mega mom!  She got the all clear from the hospital yesterday, they agreed that if she continues to eat well and take care of her body as she has done the last 12 months then she absolutely has saved herself from major surgery that could have been a very nasty operation!  I'm so proud of her, she really has taken on-board all the advice and cut back on the junk, found a balance and that means I get to keep her for a hell of a lot longer which is the bestest news ever.

So at my meeting on a Thursday night I nearly always ask my members what they're having for their tea to help me decide what to have for mine, I really didn't feel like cooking and was heading towards having something not good for me, then as they were telling me I remembered AnnMarie had brought me my tea to the morning meeting so I already had my tea sorted, I was so pleased and it stopped me going off track, it was delicious too, sweet potato and chicken curry.

Sweet potato & chicken curry 
serves 4 ready in 40 minutes, 6pp per portion or F&H.

500g sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks (13pp)

500g chicken breast cut into pieces (12pp)

2 large red peppers, deseeded and cut into chunks, plus 1/2 red pepper deseeded and finely chopped

low calorie cooking spray

 salt and ground black pepper

1 large onion, finely chopped

6 garlic cloves, crushed

25g root ginger, peeled and finely chopped

1/2 tsp hot chilli powder

1 heaped tbsp ground coriander

1 heaped tsp ground cumin 1 tsp paprika

2 tsp curry powder

1 tsp tandoori masala spice mix

1 tsp turmeric 3 heaped tbsp tomato puree

160g baby spinach

100g fat free natural yogurt (1pp)

1 tsp sweetener

preheat the oven to 220'c/ gas 7

Put the sweet potatoes, chicken and pepper chunks in a large non stick roasting tin. Spray with low calorie cooking spray, season to taste and toss them together. Roast for 15-20 minutes, turning halfway, until the sweet potatoes are cooked but holding their shape and roasted at the edges. Keep warm. Meanwhile. spray a large non stick frying pan with low calorie cooking spray and fry the onion and finely chopped pepper for 10 minutes, adding a little water if they start to stick. Stir in the garlic, ginger and all the spices and cook for 1-2 minutes. Season to taste and add the tomato puree and 700ml of boiling water, then bring to boil over a high heat. Turn the heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes, adding the spinach 2 minutes before the end of cooking. Remove from the heat and stir in the yogurt and sweetener. Add the roasted vegetables and gently mix together. Check the seasoning before serving with your favourite rice.

Absolutely delicious it was and so lovely to come home to a meal cooked by someone else.

I'm feeling good this morning, I've already drunk over a pint of water, the last few days I've made the effort to include more fruit.  My eating habits are still far from perfect, but I'm making progress and that's good enough for me right now!

Here's to progressing BeYOUtiful, have a great day.