Manic Monday!

3rd May 2016

"It's better to be disliked for what you are... Rather than loved for what you're not!"

Well that was a wet bank holiday!  I usually spend Bank Holiday Monday at home and now I know why, we went to paint a pot at Potsy Pamsy which was lovely, but when we came out to go have a coffee in the cafe, it was heaving, the garden centre was bursting so we decided against it.  Even leaving the roads were awful, we ended up at the Mitre and had jacket spud with beans, at least I stayed on track.

I think the next Bank Holiday, I won't make plans, I'll enjoy a bit of time at home, especially as I don't 'officially' work Mondays anyway, let's hope by then we're having some sunshine and can enjoy the garden.

Food wise I did okay yesterday, had  tomato and egg on crumpet, jacket and beans for lunch, finished off by a chicken dinner.  No apart from the gravy and yorkshire, all No Count.  Doing a Smart Points day today as we're having cheese and potato pie using the leftover mash, mmm can't wait, will have mine with curry beans I think.

I need to make a shopping list and go shopping, actually I only need fresh stuff mostly as I have plenty of stuff in freezer and cupboard to go at, so I'll do that instead.  If I sat down and planned a few meals then I'd know what to get.  Who else needs to do that, it would make life easier wouldn't it and doesn't really take that long either.

Yeah that's what I'm going to go do this morning instead of typing here, I'll get ready for work asap, then spend ten minutes looking at the ingredients in the kitchen and deciding what I can do with it.  I'm feeling grains and veggies, maybe salad.

I'll be off then, here's a tasty No Count meal to try, I fancy it, I'm into cabbage at the moment.

Bacon, spinach and cabbage pasta

Prep time:10 min ~  Cook time:15 min ~  Serves:4 ~ 7 SmartPoints per serving

A delicious No Count recipe to try tonight.

4sprays calorie controlled cooking spray

200g bacon medallions, raw, smoked, finely sliced

1medium onion, finely sliced

3 cloves garlic, sliced

1portion cabbage, Savoy, outer leaves removed, cored and sliced

¹⁄₂ cube Vegetable stock cube, make up to 150ml with hot water

240g wholewheat pasta, dry, spaghetti

200g spinach, young leaf

4 tablespoons 0% fat natural Greek yogurt

Mist a large pan with cooking spray and heat over a medium heat. Fry the bacon for 5 minutes until crisp. Add the onion and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the onion has softened.

Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, then add the cabbage and cook for 3 minutes. Pour in the stock and cook until the cabbage is just tender – this should only take about 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add the spaghetti and cook for 10-12 minutes until al dente. Drain, reserving a little pasta water.

Stir the spinach through the cabbage and bacon to wilt, followed by the yogurt and a little pasta water to loosen. Season to taste and cook for a few minutes until thickened slightly. Toss with the spaghetti and serve.