Everybunny, needs somebunny sometimes

27th March 2016

Easter, the only time it's okay to put all your eggs in one basket!

Happy Easter and all that!

Easter Sunday and it's starting bring and lovely but I believe that's not going to last! Hey ho, we'll cope whatever the weather does because we're British and that's what we do!  I've no religion in me, everyone who knows me, knows this, however I do find it all very interesting and I would never poo pah anyone's belief's at all.  I do love how the stories always are there to get a message across and that's never a bad thing. 

So today was the day they rolled the stone away from the entrance of the tomb, can you imagine how they felt, especially realising that the huge stone probably weighed a good few hundred pounds, they already felt low and defeated and now they were faced with an insurmountable obstacle.  Whether you believe the bible or not, we've all felt that way at some time haven't we?  We all have/had our own huge obstacles to happiness, whatever they be, debt, divorce, unemployment. 

Of course our weight issues can be a huge obstacle to our happiness (not that I'm comparing it with anything Jesus went through!) but being unhappy whatever your reasons, if one persons obstacles are greater than yours it doesn't make you feel any better does it, it's all relative.

How do you overcome them?  Well if I knew that, I'd share my knowledge and everyone I know would be happy and healthy.  I share what I've done, but we all have to find our own solutions.   To find my happy place, I simplified my life, I can't handle too much going on in my world, so I've changed my world accordingly.  I decided I wasn't going to look in the mirror and hate what I see anymore, I've spent enough time over the years wishing I looked a different way and now I love me and what I see because it's got me to where I am now and that's a good place.

I focus on happy and healthy and approach all those obstacles with as positive mood as possible and I also happily have my rages and meltdowns and feel every emotion because I realised ignoring our emotions is what causes so many problems. 

I had the best day yesterday, it started at my meeting when Tina, one of my helpers finally achieved her goal after trying for many years, she's been a Weight Watcher on and off for twenty years, has lost weight but not really changed her approach to food.  I met her last year and she became my member and we've worked together on changing her mindset, on how she approaches eating, on her relationship with food and most important on her relationship with herself and it's paid off!  Tina embraced Smart Points and has lost the last 20lb thanks to it and also giving up chocolate for charity for last 63 days (raised £150 for Good Shepherd Soup Kitchen), which has paid off, now 56lb lighter and at goal!  I'd at sometime joked I'd do a cartwheel when she got to goal, so yesterday I did, in a room full of members who I believe not  only got to see my pants, but my belly and my bra too!  Tip for today - don't do cartwheels in a dress!

I then got to spend the afternoon with 3 of the most important people in my life, my besties, it would've been 4 but one couldn't make it at the last minute, she really missed out on some major giggles and some awesome food.  Really recommend The Cow Shed at Pattingham, great food, wonderful service, lovely staff, and reasonable price too for quality food, lunch was £11.99 for two courses or £16.99 for 3, I had two and actually left some, but I finished my wine :)

Yep Happy Easter folks, I'll be spending mine with the MOST important person in my world, she's amazing, she's strong and she made me who I am today, for that, I will always love her. 

Here's a delicious sounding recipe emailed to me by Valerie, she's being a particularly strong lady herself at the moment, proving we can overcome those obstacles.  This recipe is from the website http://skinnykitchensecrets.com so I'm assuming she's worked out her SP's correctly.  It has all my favourite ingredients (chorizo, cheese and chicken) in so I most definitely will be making this when the shops are open, I love that they've closed all the supermarkets today, it makes people stop and breathe.

Chorizo Stuffed Chicken Breast – 6sp

Serves 2 = 6sp each

2 x 165g chicken breast, raw

1 tsp Cajun spice

6 slices of chorizo (the kind that comes sliced in a packet)

Small handful of spinach

1 tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped

½ ball of half fat mozzarella (65g)

2 tsp fresh parmesan, finely grated

Serving Suggestions

1 pack of Uncle Ben’s Spicy Rice (or my spicy rice recipe found here is the same amount of smart points) – 5sp per person

Side salad (mixed leaves, tomato, red onion, cucumber, peeled courgette, a little white wine vinegar and balsamic glaze) – 0sp per person.

Method

Pre heat the oven to 180c. Take the chicken breast fillets and pop between two pieces of baking paper. Take a meat hammer (or rolling pin) and begin to bash the chicken breasts until they are nice and flat (just under a cm thick).

Season the chicken breast on the side facing up with a ¼ tsp of Cajun spice, salt and pepper, then lay three slices of chorizo down the centre. Top the chorizo with the spinach and coriander and then the mozzarella. Finish with another sprinkle of Cajun spice, salt and pepper.

Fold each side of the chicken breast in onto and over the filling and pin together using two cocktail sticks.

Place a sheet of tin foil on a baking tray, pop the chicken breasts in the middle and turn in the tin foil so that if forms a nice bowl around the chicken. This will keep all of the nice juices in.

Season the top of the chicken with salt, pepper and a pinch of Cajun and sprinkle over 1 tsp of parmesan per breast. Pop into the oven for 30-35 minutes until cooked through.

I served this with some Uncle Ben’s Spicy Mexican Rice and a side salad (ingredients included above) topped with balsamic glaze. If you are doing so, five minutes before the chicken is ready pop the rice in the microwave until cooked and then plate up with the side salad.

Pop the chicken on the plate (remember to remove the cocktail sticks!) and share the sauce from the foil between two, pouring over the chicken and onto the rice.

Enjoy!