Lent! Stop giving up, giving up...

10th February 2016

Life is a great big canvas; throw all the paint you can at it. 

Good morning, how you doing?  Today apparently is the start of Lent (I've just heard it on the radio), they've asked me what I'm giving up!  Truth is, I'm giving up, giving up, it never turns out well does it.  Whether it be giving up chocolate, booze or crisps for Lent, or giving up 'dieting' because you've lost your mojo or 'just can't do it', when we do this, we end up feeling worse later on.  I've decided even if I have bad days, or bad weeks, I'm not going to give up taking care of myself as best I can, and I won't be cutting anything out of my 'diet' because if I enjoy, I will want it at some point and likely end up overindulging on it.

Why don't we just try to be happier, give up being hard on yourself, there's a good one, I could handle that one!  Give up looking at the negative and take up focusing on the positive, smile more do nice things, be nice to others. 

I am all for random acts of kindness, if you've never done on, make that your mission this week, it makes you smile SO MUCH!  Yesterday I did it, I was in Sainsbury's buying a few bits, and I picked up a small diamante picture frame which was reduced and I thought would make a nice Christmas gift, at the till the lady serving me thought it was lovely and said it was her daughter's birthday next week and one  would make a nice gift with a photo of her baby in it.  Then she asked me if there were more on the shelf and I said no but you can have this one, she wouldn't, so as I was packed up, I slipped it in a bag and gave it to her, saying "pay it forward".  It made me smile and was a nice thing to do, a real feel good moment for £2 - bargain!

It's Valentine's day this weekend, acts of love don't have to be saved for the one we're closest too, they can be shown to anyone in the world, if only this world was full of more love and kindness, it'd be a much nicer place to live in!  It doesn't have to even cost, smiling at a stranger is good enough, holding a door open, spending time with someone who might be lonely, I often stand chatting to complete strangers in the supermarket if they start the conversation, it's good to talk and some old people don't have anyone to talk too all day.

Anyway, have I mentioned I'm on track!  Yeah baby, 3 meals yesterday for under 30 Smart Points, finished off with a small glass of wine, I've dropped a wine size by the way without realising, I'd had to buy one from Asda because all mine were broken and it turns out it's a much smaller glass only hold 175ml max and I hadn't noticed. So as well as a plate size - drop a glass size, it helps!

My meals were 

Breakfast - eggy & cheese toast, mushrooms, tomatoes and spring onions and a banana - 4 Smart Point

Lunch - 8 Smart Points of Heck square pork sausage on thin. Tasty!

Dinner - Beef stew out the freezer, on track, thank you batch cooking 7sp

Under 20 Smart Points for 3 meals, not bad at all!  Easily got my 5 a day in there too.

Right I'm off to get my wriggle on, got my energy levels back up to norm after my sleep deprivation at the weekend, although I could actually sleep in at the moment, it's the time of year, I need spring now, I've had enough of the rain and now they're threatening snow (that can forget about it, I don't want no snow!)  The rest of this month is going to be a very, very, busy one, so I'm going to enjoy my Friday lunch with my besties this week because there's not going to be a lot of down time in February or March, it'll be worth it in the long run though as the pre-work I need to get done, I'm hoping is going to free up some time when spring and summer does arrive!

Here's your Smart Point recipe for today, a really low one,

Quick Vegetable Curry

Serves 4, 4sp per serving

5 spray(s) Cooking Spray, Calorie Controlled
1 large Onion, All Types, sliced
2 clove(s) Garlic, crushed
2 medium Carrots, Old, Raw, sliced
1 cube(s) Stock Cube, Vegetable, 1.2 litres (2 pints) hot water
1 medium Pepper, All Types, deseeded and chopped
2 medium Courgette, sliced
1/2 portion(s) (medium) Cauliflower, Raw, broken into florets
100 g Beans, Green, halved
2 1/2 tablespoons Curry Paste, all types
2 tablespoons (level) Cornflour
1 pinch Salt
1 teaspoons (ground) Pepper, Black (Whole, Cracked or Ground), Ground
350 g Butternut Squash, peeled, deseeded and chopped

Coat a large saucepan with spray cooking oil. Add onion. Sauté gently for 3-4 minutes until softened. Add garlic, cook for 1 more minute.

Add carrots, butternut squash and vegetable stock to saucepan. Bring up to the boil, then reduce the heat. Add all remaining vegetables and stir in 2-3 tablespoons of curry paste, according to taste. Cook for 15-20 minutes, until vegetables are tender.

Blend cornflour with 3-4 tablespoons of cold water and stir into curry. Cook for 2 minutes until thickened. Season to taste.

You could also serve with the raita, make it by mixing yogurt, mint or coriander and cucumber.