It's about being real - not perfect!

16th January 2016

You don't have to see the whole staircase, just the first step.

Had a lovely few hours with my bestie yesterday, a real good giggle, and of course some lunch, I haven't even attempted to Smart Point it yet, although the good news was I left 90% of my main as there was far too much oil on the plate, it put me off,  starter was delicious though we had a sharing platter, lamb koftas with chilli jam (I had 2), BBQ ribs (2 and they were small) and chicken skewers, flatbread plus melon & tzatziki.  So let's break that down and Smart Point is as best as we can;

I'm going to count 10 for the lamb as 125g of lamb mince is 10sp!  OUCH!

An individual pork BBQ rib from Sainsbury's is 4, they weren't the size of them so 4 would cover both.  Chicken skewers were only 3sp, there wasn't even a breast and I'll add a bit for possible oil.  Chilli jam, a portion in Nando's is 3 so that'll do and a tablespoon of tzatziki is 1sp.

Lastly the flatbread, well looking at the size of a Subway flatbread at 8sp, our weren't anywhere near that, so I'll have it to 4sp.  If you don't know the nutritional information for your meal, that's how you do it, you guestimate!   25sp for half the sharing platter - ouch!  The only good thing about it was it filled me up if I'm honest so even if my main had been awesome, I'd have struggled to eat it.  Luckily it wasn't good and I left it (they did refund me for it too), I'd ordered Cod and chips with pea puree, which according to the app, Brewers Fayre fish is 8sp, Crown carveries 22sp, Wetherspoons Freshly Battered Large Fish & Chips with Peas 36sp, if i'd eaten it I'd have used these to guestimate, I'd have guessed around 25sp.  I did have a chocolate martini instead of desert, going to guess that at 5sp as no idea but it was delicious. It's about being real - not perfect!

I hadn't had breakfast and I only had 2 slices of bread 3sp, with a bit of chicken 1sp on for my tea so I've not completely blown my new week and to be honest, even if I had eaten my main, I wouldn't have cared, it was the first time Lynne and I had posh lunched since November and we were going to have whatever we fancied!

However if you do want to stay within your allowance, and track everything, guestimating is always possible, compare to other eat out places or supermarket similar, there's always a way if it's important enough to you.

Now those koftas were delicious and they reminded me of the Donor Kebab fakeaway recipe, which I've Smart Pointed for you below.  I'd be tempted to try this with turkey or chicken mince as I think that would work as well as beef mince.  It would also make great burgers I think and be a little more moist than cooking it in the oven.

Glad the snows gone outside, it's frosty but hopefully we'll get some winter sun to thaw later so that my lovely members can make their meeting this morning.

Food today, I have leftover chicken so maybe a curry for tea for me.  Need to check the fridge, but also might do fish in breadcrumbs on Ciabatta rolls for our lunch, we shall see.  Before I get to that part of the day, I need to shower, dress and load my car. 

                                  Before                                                      After

Oh and I can look forward to sitting on my chair again tonight as it's now been recovered and my comfortable throne is back in its place, I have missed that chair and Karen pointed out my back was a mess yesterday when she did my massage, that's what sitting on a garden chair for a week does for you!

Right have a great weekend BeYOUtiful, stay focused on your goals, keep your WHY's close by and stay healthy and happy. 

Donor Kebab

Serves 4, No Count or 3 Smart Points per serving

1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian herbs
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
500g extra lean mince beef (5% fat) (12pp)

Preheat oven to gas mark 4/180C. In a large bowl, combine the dried oregano, dried Italian herbs, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper. Add the beef mince and mix thoroughly for 2-3 minutes. Take out all of your beef mince and mix thoroughly for 2-3 minutes. Take out all of your aggression on the kebab mixture, punching and kneading until no air pockets remain and the kebab meat is extremely smooth. Shape the seasoned mince into a loaf and place on a baking tray. Bake in the middle shelf of the oven for 1 hour 20 minutes, turning the loaf half way through the cooking time to ensure even browning. Once cooked, remove from the oven and cover with foil. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Slice the donor kebab as thinly as possible and serve with pitta and salad. NOTE: On F&H you can have WW pitta bread, if doing ProPoints you will need to add extra pp's for the pitta bread.