Sunshine makes such a difference & sleep :)

15th March 2016

It's important to give it all you have while you have the chance.

Ooo I've had a cracking sleep, we decided to go to bed at 7pm!  Rock and Roll I know, but we'd had a busy(ish) day, mom had fleeced me round the supermarkets, then I give the kitchen a good clean and spent the afternoon cooking, I made that Pot of Love from yesterdays blog, took much longer to cook than it says - that's brown rice for you, real cuddle food though, mmm. 

 Next I cooked Butter Chicken, picked up the sachet whilst out, not bad at all, cooked some mushrooms in the juice out of the bag and had on a bagel for my tea.

I've also cooked my favourite curry, spice tailor and that'll be going in the freezer for Thursday night I think, treat night!

I really do feel like I've had a weekend off work, it's been lovely, don't get me wrong I've still done some work, but I turned the computer off and walked away.  I have a tidy kitchen now too!  Loving this sunshine, it really changes how I feel, I can't wait to get in the garden now and start planting spring flowers.  I do love my simple existence, everything revolves round these four walls, there's nothing I long for, nothing I feel I need, it's a nice feeling.

Mom and Alfie are both snoring in the background, that's a great noise, I'm going to go and make myself a mug of tea in a moment and get ready to go to work, a job I truly enjoy, how fortunate am I.  I could easily be a lady of leisure though you know, the problem with that would be I'd probably end up as a fat, drunk one because that's what I enjoy doing after I've cooked and cleaned '-)

Might have scrambled eggs on a bagel thin for breakfast, mmm with a point of cheese in maybe, mmm, see my minds never too far from food, but you haven't got to worry, I won't be washing it down with a glass of wine, I'm not that far gone!

Okay, I'm off, here's to a great day, tracker at the ready, focusing on the healthy and feeling happy.  Hope you are too BeYOUtiful.

  

Here's your Smart Points recipe;

Beef Goulash

Serves 6, 7sp per serving

1kg good braising steak, preferably chuck steak (29sp)

1 tbsp sunflower oil (5sp)

3 medium onions, cut into 12 wedges

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tsp hot smoked paprika

1 tbsp paprika (1sp)

1 beef oxo stock cube

600ml cold water

400g can of chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp tomato puree

2 bay leaves

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

1 orange pepper

Flaked sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat over to 170^oC/Fan 150^oC/Gas 3.5.  Trim any hard fat off the beef and cut the meat into rough 4cm chunks.  Season well with salt & freshly ground black pepper.

Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole dish.  Add the steak and fry over a high heat until nicely browned all over, turning regularly.  Tip the onions into the pan and cook with the beef for 5 minutes until softened.  Add the crushed garlic and cook for a further minutes, stirring regularly.

Sprinkle both paprika's over the meal and crumble the beef stock cube on top.  Add the water, tomatoes, tomato puree and bay leaves.  Season with salt and pepper, stir well and bring to a simmer.  Cover with a tightly fitting lid and transfer the dish to the oven.  Cook for 1.5 hours.

While the beef is cooking, remove the core and seeds from each pepper and chuck them away.  Cut each pepper into chunks of about 3cm.  When the beef has cooked for 1 ½ hours, carefully remove dish from the oven.  Stir in the peppers, put the lid back on and put the goulash back in the oven for a further hour or until the beef is meltingly tender. 

Serve with small portions of brown rice (for extra ProPoints) and spoonfuls of soured cream if you life (for extra Smart Points), but don’t be too generous soured cream contains less fat than double cream but still has 2sp per tablespoon.