Chill ya beans...

30th September 2015

If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere!

We all get angry at some point, so when I witness it at the scales, I don't take it personally, I realise it's usually masking another emotion, after all anger is just sad's bodyguard!

Think about it, you don't lose weight, you've stuck to the plan, or at least you believe you have and you don't get a weight loss.  Yeah sometimes you're just disappointed but other times, there's loads of other stuff going on in your life and this is just the icing on the cake!  It's a bit like an iceberg isn't it, we only see the angry, the tip of that iceberg, not all the other emotions hidden under the surface like frustrated, embarrassed, disappointed, sad, helpless, overwhelmed.  Oh there's so many to choose from isn't there.  So no I never take it personally and I do my best to try and make that person feel better and believe in themselves because ultimately we all know that when followed the plan works.  Also, I've been that angry member over the years!

I'm enjoying looking at the healthy side of following the plan in my meeting this week, because I know too many unhealthy 'thin' folk, I personally would rather see someone carrying extra weight and eating good, healthy foods than eating a load of junk, smoking to curb their appetite and skipping meals. 

I love when we look at the healthy in meetings, the good food guidelines because it makes me look at my eating in a little more detail, so yesterday I made sure I had plenty of veggies and a bit of fruit, my day looked like this;

Breakfast

Mushrooms and egg on toast, nutribullet drink (banana, grapes, mixed berries, spinach)

Lunch

Cod in a creme fraiche, pea & mint crush, served with mixed grains, roast pepper, tomato & courgette.

Dinner

Beef stew (beef, potato, onions, carrots)

So I make that 10 different fruit and veggies, amazing what a difference actually thinking about it makes.

I'm not going to lie, yesterday was far from perfect, I had an appetite, just wanted food, I wasn't hungry, I just wanted it.  I ended up having 2 light babybels and a 3pp bar of Cadbury chocolate.  This is when I realise if this stuff wasn't in my house, I couldn't eat it!  Hey ho, the good meals I ate, made sure I wasn't hungry, all about damage limitation sometimes.  On a positive, I didn't have any wine, just an early night.

As we're talking about 'healthy' this week, you can't get away from the fact there's too much sugar in our diet, Jamie Oliver told us so it must be true ;), I'm paying more attention to packaging I have to admit and it even made me change my ketchup when shopping.  I've noticed that baked beans are now available in a reduced sugar and salt version too, but why not make your own, these are delicious;

Homemade baked beans

Serves 2 large portions at 6pp each, 3 at 4pp, 4 at 3pp. 

Depends what you’re serving it with.

410g / 14 ½ oz haricot beans (can) (7pp)
2 tsp olive oil (3pp)
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp agave syrup (2pp)
400g / 14 oz chopped tomatoes (can)
1 tbsp tomato purée
½ tsp rosemary

Empty the contents of the haricot beans’ can into a saucepan. Heat gently for 5 mins, stirring frequently. Drain well.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion, celery and garlic for 4 mins, or until the onion starts to soften.  Stir in the agave syrup, chopped tomatoes and tomato purée. Simmer for 2 mins.  Then stir in the cooked haricot beans and rosemary. Return to the boil and then simmer for about 8 mins, or until all vegetables are soft and piping hot.

Mmm, they need a place in my kitchen I think. I haven't watched Jamie Oliver this week, they're all being recorded but I was told about his Sweet potato muffins from this week's show and they do sound good, I am a muffin fan so again might need to have a look at those. But not today, today I will most be being a Weight Watcher leader, on that note, I've just finished my pint of water, I'm off for a big mug of tea.

Enjoy your day, stay BeYOUtiful and focus on the healthy and happy.

Dark out there, light in here though!

29th September 2015

Be happy - do your best - say yes - speak kindly - play nice - be honest - be nice - be proud of yourself - say I love you - say thank you - remember your dreams - tell the truth - help, help & help - keep your promises - be grateful.

Good morning, it's dark outside, the moon was equally incredible last night as it was the night before, to me a full moon is always amazing, with or without a lunar eclipse.

I've been up since 4.41am and have already done my 15 minute meditation, it's setting me up for the day lovely, it really is, plus I've realised it'll encourage me to go to bed that bit early at night, especially now the nights are dark and the tele is rubbish, so going to bed earlier will stop me eating/drinking for the sake of it at night! Bonus!

I made a delicious beef stew yesterday which means I'm sorted for a few dinners this week, just need to stay away from the bread and butter to go with it!

I enjoyed some time sitting in my garden yesterday, chatting with mom and reading a Sainsbury's magazine I'd picked up when out doing a bit of shopping.  I like the sound of this lamb tagine with dates and tomatoes, think I need to cook it.  We haven't had lamb in such a long time.

Lamb tagine with dates and tomatoes (58pp total for tagine) serves 6, 10pp each

A careful blend of spices and slow cooking are the secrets to a proper Moroccan tagine.  The all-in-one method used here is hte most authentic and fuss-free way to make one. 

Hands-on time: 15 Minutes

Total time: 2 hrs

2 medium onions, coarsely grated or finely chopped

1 rounded tbsp ras el hanout, or other tagine spice blend

1 x boneless leg lamb (about 800g) (39pp) trimmed of fat and cut into 4cm cubes

Juice of 1/2 lemon

250-300g plum tomatoes, skinned and chopped

75g Medjool dates, pitted and halved lengthways, plus (25g) extra to serve (8pp)

4 tbsp roughly chopped coriander

25g unsalted butter (5pp)

1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed (8pp)

1 x 200g bag young leaf spinach

To serve

1-2tsp toasted sesame seeds (1pp)

6 flatbreads, (ProPoints will vary and need adding to the meal total)

6 chopped fresh tomatoes optional

1) Combine the onions and ras el hanout in a medium casserole dish, mixing well.  Add the lamb, lemon juice, tomatoes, dates, coriander, butter, 500ml cold water and a pinch of salt.  Bring to the boil, skim off the foam, then cover and cook over a low head for 1 1/2 hours until the lamb in tender.

2) To finish the tagine, stir in the chickpeas, scatter over the spinach, then cover and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring once.  Season; serve in bowls with a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds, and torn flatbreads, chopped tomatoes and dates, if you like.

I'd personally serve it with mash potato rather than flat breads.

Right I'm ready for my day, moms just woke up so I'm off to make her a cuppa, the tagine will have to wait till the weekend at least, as I have plenty of food to be going at till then.

Here's to a tremendous Tuesday, it's Michaelmas day today did you know, no neither did I but they just said it on the radio!  Anyway, whatever day it is, make sure it's a good one in your world BeYOUtiful.

"Please don't worry. I've got you." - The Universe

28th September 2015

We live on a blue planet that circles a ball of fire next to a moon that moves the sea, and you don't believe in miracles?  "Please don't worry.  I've got you." - The Universe

Well I've had a great weekend, yesterday was again spent in the garden, my plants are all potted and ready to keep garden flowering throughout the winter with the bulbs following in the spring.  We also watched the movie Vincent at tea time, that was really good, recommend it if you haven't seen it.

I woke up this morning just after 3 to see the red moon, I had to go up the back garden as couldn't see it from the house, the sky was so clear last night, you could see all the stars too, lovely it was.   Then I woke up to a glorious sunrise, and looking at it realised my window needs cleaning again, the dog lives on that window sill so you can imagine!

AND..... I'm amazed and chuffed to report I survived Macmillan's cake WEEK and got a stayed the same on the scales, pleased with that I am.

So glad to be honest because I haven't tracked at all, I can't lie.  I do ProPoint my meals just didn't write it down or work out my daily total. 

This week in my meetings it's all about the healthy, so in anticipation think about how healthy have you eaten in the past 7 days, have you do the five a day fruit and veg, how many different fruits and vegetables have you consumed, I've not done great on this I don't reckon, but I can't answer for sure because I haven't tracked it!  From memory I can note, broccoli, carrot, courgette, onion , spinach, aubergine, banana, grape, green beans.  Can't remember any more, unless I count the lemon in my lemon cake.

Over the past week how many times have you had a take away or eaten fast food?  I can answer that, for me it was once, I went through the KFC drive through and had 3 pieces of chicken (no fries, no corn, just chicken) 18pp max.

Over the last week how many times have you had sweets/cake/biscuits etc, well normally my answer would be really low but because of the charity stuff, oh ma'an, it's A LOT, almost every day, except yesterday.   What about pastries/pies/pizza etc, for me that's 2 days as I made the savoury stuff for my meeting, oh no it's more because I was using up the pastry.

See how hard it is to keep a track of what we're eating?  So then we don't know how healthy we're being, whether we're following the good health guidelines which is what I'm talking about this week.

Now talking FOOD, I need a beef stew in my life, Nat posted a pic of her bowl yesterday and I was drooling, I'm off to Sainsbury's this morning to buy me some beef, I have a coupon too ;) £12 off if I spend £80, I may or may not need that amount of food! But I'm thinking this week a beef stew, roast chicken dinner, ooo I haven't had corned beef hash for a while, we've got liver and onions for today because I defrosted that yesterday, mmm that's enough for starters, here are my recipes;

Corned beef hash (9pp) serves 4,

Takes 10m to make, 25m to cook.

WW Spray oil                                                             1 large red onion, sliced
6pp any margarine such as flora                           120g tin sweetcorn, drained and rinsed
400g waxy potatoes cut into 2cm chunks            2 tsp dried thyme or 2 or 3 sprigs of fresh
300g tin corned beef, cut into chunks     

Parboil potatoes for about 6-8 minutes.  At the same time, add WW spray oil to a large frying pan and gently fry the onion over a low heat for 6 minutes to soften add a bit of water if necessary.  Remove to a bowl and set aside.

Add margarine to the pan, increase the heat to medium-high and fry the potatoes for 10 minutes until beginning to crisp and turn golden. Stir in the thyme, fry for another minute or so, then add the corned beef & continue frying the stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes until starting to crisp. Stir in the sweetcorn and return the cooked onion to the pan. Cook for a couple more minutes to warm through. Serve with vegetables.

Scouse

Serves 3, F&H or 11pp per serving

420g Lean Diced Casserole Beef (16pp)

600g of Potatoes, Diced (12pp)    

5 or 6 Carrots, Sliced

1 large Onion, Sliced 

6 Beef stock cubes (3pp)

2 tsp Olive Oil (3pp)

Spray Olive Oil in a large pan and heat.  Add the beef and cook on high to seal it.  Drain any fat and add the onion and cook for a couple of minutes.  Add the carrots and potatoes and add enough hot water to cover.  Add the oxo cubes and stir.  Bring to the boil and then simmer for about 3-4 hours until the liquid reduces and it goes really thick – you know when it’s ready as you can stand a spoon in it! Delicious the next day.

Right I'm off, it's going to be a lovely day look, so I'm going to get my shopping done, then SIT in my garden, no working in it, just relaxing and enjoying it, there is a bit of work I need to do but other than that, oh and cleaning my bedroom window, I'm doing Jack today!  Got a busy week ahead, training Friday, so I'll chill today, as I've had a bit of a cold trying to surface for the last few days and it can do one.

Happy Monday BeYOUtiful.

Bulbs make ya back ache!

27th September 2015

Your greatness is not what you have, it's what you give.

Good morning world, it's looking like it's going to be another lovely day, wasn't yesterday fab!  Mine started with my super Saturday gang, our final MacMillan coffee morning, which was a huge success, the total raised over the week was £461.02, thanks to everyone who donated, thanks to Jane for donating her 'Spot the Cake' prize money, absolutely brilliant week, so together with the £90 raised by the leaders at my area meeting, I shall be banking a grand total of £551.02, that's just incredible isn't it.  The leaders on my area alone have raised £3665.82 so far, so I know the rest of the Weight Watchers in UK will have done Macmillan proud, just goes to show, when people get together and support each other, great things happen. 

I also had almost £90 donated by a lovely lady named Val, she gave me her money box contents, I'm going to bag that up this morning, that's going to my Alzheimer's collection along with the £22 donated by Jayne's money box.  Aren't people lovely.

So once I'd finished with the cake, I stopped at Lidl's on the way home to buy all their cyclamen plants for my garden, to put over my bulbs, after an hour of potting up, I realised I'd bought way too many bulbs and nowhere near enough pansy's and cyclamen to cover them, so a drive to the garden centre was needed.  I got mom and Alfie to come along for the ride, despite there being too many Macmillan leftovers in my kitchen, mom decided to have afternoon tea outside whilst I shopped for more cyclamen and grow bags!  We can both highly recommended Pipers on the A5 by Gailey island (Watling St, ST19 5PR), they're great value for money, fab plants, my hanging baskets were incredible this summer, and mom says they do a mean latte and cherry scone! 

So the afternoon was spent, potting more bulbs and plants, my ladders now have white cyclamen in for the autumn, and I still have bulbs left!  I had to stop around half five though, I was truly shattered!

The truth is I bought too many bulbs!  Although I may put some of the ones that are left in the ground up the back, rather than pots and hanging baskets, I need to have a think this morning whilst I have a posh coffee sitting enjoying the planting I've already done.

Today I getting back to 100% tracking, that really hasn't been easy this week, too much cake in my meetings, I'm actually going to throw away the leftover savoury tart in the kitchen, yes I know it cost money, but let's be honest even if there was a tenners worth (which there isn't) but if I ate what is there, I'd be guaranteed at least a 2lb weight gain, I'd happily spend £10 to lose 2lb!  So I'm recognising my stomach is not the "waist bin", the waste bin is up the corner in the kitchen!  Mom can work her way through the cake, I can live without that, although there are some lemon cakes I'm going to have to resist and get her to hide. 

Got me some nice food to look forward to today, I really need some vegetables in my life, a big plate of greens mmm.  Might have eggs and spinach for breakfast too, mmm wished I could make Eggs Benedict, I could just eat that, they serve it in Wetherspoons apparently!  But I ain't spend 15pp on breakfast!

Right I'm off to start my day, bit of paperwork, then the rest of the day WW free, apart from my Facebook group of course ;)