Been challenged ain't I!

14th April 2016

A happy life consists not in the absence, but in the mastery of hardships.

So apparently me and some of my members are having a 21 day challenge!  We're giving up the junk!   Fancy joining us, can you give up the junk for 21 days - no biscuits, cookies, cake, doughnuts or muffins. No sweets (candy), pastries, chocolate, white bread, ice cream, crisps, fizzy pop or fast food! Are you brave enough to try?  It'll certainly make us feel a lot healthier for sure, I did my first day yesterday!   I ain't gonna lie, I don't think it'll be easy for them, especially as I'm not one to eat those things and I found myself thinking about wanting something "nice" last night, but it did stop me, so that's a good thing.

My eating didn't go to plan yesterday, I went to buy the two ingredients I wanted to make the two recipes I had and Asda didn't have either, I tried Co-op on the way home and they didn't either and I didn't have time to go elsewhere, so I ended up eating a delicious pastry topped stuffed mushroom which one of my members had picked me up from Morrisons, that was 4sp, we had it with a lot of veg and salad, unfortunately although it was tasty, there wasn't enough of it, so I ended up eating some leftovers from the night before.  This is why I have to have my meals planned and ready, otherwise I end up eating something that's not satisfying and that's going to lead me to wanna eat more!

So I need to get today sorted before I leave this house because today is my busiest day and it's going to be busier than usual as we're going paperless in the meetings today, so it'll be a challenge for sure, add to that I haven't had a great night thanks to middle aged flushes and hormones and we've got ourselves dangerous territory, so I need a plan!  As soon as I've finished typing, I'll off to see what's in the freezer and get lunch ready, I did pick up a ready meal I could have for tea, it's one of the new Weight Watcher No Count meals, chicken and leek pie, onion 8sp if counting.  That'll be perfect for tea.

And thanks to the 21 day challenge, they'll be no nipping down the chippy or into KFC, which is what I wanted to do after listening to the tales at the scales, it's so hard sometimes listening to my members tell me what they've eaten, it makes me fancy it!

Hey Ho, here's to a good day, a last minute planned eating day, a staying on track day and a surviving the chaos day, but above all a smiling day ;) You in BeYOUtiful?

Ooo I nearly forgot!  One thing that can help us with our no junk challenge is the deal I sorted with a man that can yesterday (thank you Terri for giving him my name and calling me) From Thursday until Sunday night this week, the Fruit & Veg hut at the Hollybush garden centre (WV10 7LX) will give you 10% off your shopping on presentation of your membership card! This is a trail run to see how it goes, so let's hope you all show him what a great idea it is and get on down there so we can get more offers. PLEASE show them your card before they start ringing up your shopping otherwise they'll have to start all over.

I do fancy these though, like cauliflower cheese I do!

Cauliflower cheese cakes

SERVES 4 ~ Prep time 20 mins + chilling ~ Cook time 1 hour ~ SmartPoints 8 per serving

650g potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 fresh bay leaf

500g whole cauliflower

100g Weight Watchers Reduced Fat Mature Cheese, finely chopped

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp plain flour

1 egg, lightly beaten

4 slices Weight Watchers White Danish bread, blitzed into crumbs

Calorie controlled cooking spray

4 tbsp ketchup

Put the potatoes and bay leaf in a pan. Cover with water and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer.

Put the cauliflower in a colander set over the pan. Cook both for 25 minutes.

Drain the potatoes, discard the bay leaf and add the cauliflower to the pan along with the cheese

and mustard. Season and mash. Shape into 8 patties; chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas mark 4. Put the flour, egg and breadcrumbs onto separate plates. Dip the patties in the flour, egg and crumbs, in that order.

Put the patties on a large baking tray misted with cooking spray and bake for 30 minutes until piping hot and golden.

Serve 2 cauliflower cakes per person with 1 tbsp ketchup each and some freshly steamed vegetables on the side.