It's gonna be a flipping good day

28th February 2017

Like pancakes life doesn't have to look perfect to taste good!

Ooo it's Pancake day, I might have them for breakfast, or I might have them for lunch, actually I could have both!  But what to top it with?  Also this week's recipe card is American pancakes, do I need to try these, I'm not going to lie, I've ordered a pack of ready made ones to come in my food delivery lunchtime to save me the hassle of burning them to the pan!  We always had lemon and sugar as kids, but I like the idea of lemon and agave syrup, then there's scotch pancakes, I love those!

I do like the idea of a savoury pancake though, bit of ham and cheese in the middle, you could warm them through on the George Foreman like a quesadillo, mmm maybe I will.

Here's a couple of recipes if you're struggling for ideas;

Leek, mushroom and cheese pancakes

9sp per pancake

Pancakes are versatile and tasty - they work well for lunch or a light meal.

100g Plain White Flour

1pinch Salt

1medium, raw Egg, whole, raw

300ml Skimmed Milk

1spray Calorie controlled cooking spray, Filling:

1medium Leek

100g Mushrooms, sliced

1cube(s)Vegetable stock cube(s)

20g Butter

40g Plain White Flour

300mlSkimmed Milk

50g Half Fat Cheddar Cheese, grated

1 teaspoons Chives, Fresh

·         To make the pancakes, put the flour into a mixing bowl with the salt, egg and milk. Beat together with a whisk to make a smooth batter. Heat a large heavy-based frying pan and spray with low-fat cooking spray. Add one quarter of the batter and swirl it around the pan. Cook until the surface has set, then flip over to cook the other side. Make 4 large pancakes in this way. Keep in a warm place.

·         To make the filling, simmer the leek and mushrooms in the vegetable stock for 5 minutes, then drain well, reserving the stock. Put the milk, butter, flour and reserved stock into a non-stick saucepan. Heat, stirring constantly with a small whisk until smooth and thickened. Add the cheese and stir until smooth. Add the leek, mushrooms and herbs and heat gently for a few moments. Use to fill the pancakes, then serve.

·         Cook’s tip: If you want to prepare ahead, arrange the filled pancakes in a large baking dish misted with low fat cooking spray. Cover with foil and refrigerate. Re-heat at Gas Mark 4, 180°C, fan oven 160°C for 25-30 minutes, until thoroughly heated.

Pancakes with blueberries and maple syrup

9sp per pancake

 

Fresh hot pancakes are a treat. Try a little maple syrup and some fresh blueberries for a healthy and delicious option.

125g White Self Raising Flour

¹⁄₂ teaspoons, level Ground Cinnamon

2 teaspoons Granulated sugar

1medium, raw Egg, whole, raw, separated

1pinch Salt

150ml skimmed milk

10 spray(s) Calorie controlled cooking spray

4 tablespoons, level Golden Syrup, Maple Syrup

150g Blueberries

1 teaspoons, level Icing Sugar, for dusting

·         Mix together in a large bowl the flour, cinnamon and sugar. Make a well in the centre of the bowl.

·         Add the egg yolk and milk, and using a whisk, mix all together to a smooth batter. Wash the whisk (or use another) and beat the egg white in another bowl with a pinch of salt until forming white floppy peaks.

·         Using a large metal spoon, fold the egg whites into the flour mixture.

·         Heat a large non-stick frying pan until you can feel a good heat rising. Spray quickly and evenly with the low fat cooking spray.

·         Immediately spoon in half the batter as 4 small pancakes. When bubbles appear on the top of the foam, flip over using a flat palette knife and cook 1-2 minutes. Remove to a warmed plate. Make 4 more pancakes with the remaining mixture. Serve 2 pancakes per head with a spoon of maple syrup per serving and the blueberries on top.

Notes

If you prefer, you could serve them dusted with a light sprinkling of sweetener.

Tomorrow is the 1st March, you know what that means don't ya!  Apart from the obvious which is my Dry for Dementia is over, it's also the first day of spring, how fab is that, I have crocus and daffodils in my garden flowering and the nights are getting lighter, I love it, my favourite time of year is in the air, roll on sunshine nights.

Until then I'll make the most of the little bits of sunshine we might get, it's forecast rain most of the week! Hey ho, we've got my tea party to look forward to on Saturday.

Here's to a healthy-ish day today, I don't normally bother with pancakes but I really fancy them this year so I'm not going to stress too much about the Smart Points.

Let's finish February on a high!

27th February 2017

You will get there but only if you keep going...

It's almost the end of Dry Dementia, it has helped me get a few pounds off, my Christmas gain is now completely gone thankfully, I weigh the same this morning as I did on December 1st, since Jan 31st I've lost 6.5lb, now to get more off!  I'm more than happy to do it slowly though, I'm looking forward to a glass of red, I will be having more alcohol free days in the future though, especially week days.

Anyway it's Monday morning, I had a lovely day with mom yesterday, I gave her the gift I'd got for Mothers Day, why wait, every day should be mother's day after all the years of hard work they put it.  It was a book I'd had made at https://lovebookonline.com/ a personalized gift book that lists all the reasons why you love someone and is animated with stick people, mine included a shih tzu on every page of course, can't leave Alfie out!   She loved it.

Food wise I was pretty basic, wasn't feeling the domestic goddess vibe yesterday, did manage to make a cheese, mustard and potato pie though and we had it with fish cakes and beans, filled me up for the rest of the day.  For breakfast I'd had banana on crumpets with a squeeze of agave syrup, that was nice.

I walked Alfie twice, once with mom, can't beat a bit of fresh air, then the rest of the day was spent chilling, me listening to my book in the kitchen, I'm knitting again, just straight knitting, so it'll be a blanket at some point, I don't want to have to think too much whilst doing it and knit is the easiest stitch.  We watched some tv too, nice chilled out, restful day. 

I now have an incredibly busy week ahead, it's our Tea Party on Saturday 10-12, United Reform Church, Old Fallings Lane, Wolverhampton WV10 8BH - I do hope we have plenty turn up and raise lots of money.  I'm declaring Saturday no tracking day, no points in anything, it's for charity and I'll be using the 80/20 rule to the max!

I'm going to be 100% until Saturday though!  I'll be busy but I will still prioritise my health.

I have leftover cheese potato pie, so I'm thinking of making some pie things today, I've bought some of these Old El Paso Stand 'N' Stuff Soft Flour Tortillas;

They're 2sp each, I'm going to fill them with this ASDA Chosen By You Stewed Steak (only 5sp for the can);

 

And topping with the leftover mash.

Be nice with some veggies!

I might make those oaty pancakes for breakfast again, or maybe I have some potato cakes (using up what I have!) and a poached egg on the top, yeah that sounds good, I might even have asparagus with it. 

I'll work this morning then mom and me are going to chill again this afternoon, it'll all get done, actually I could do some of it whilst chilling in front of the tv with mom. That's my day sorted, hope you've got yours under control too BeYOUtiful, can't beat having a bit of a plan.

Losing weight did make him happy!

26th February 2017

I've got my mom a mother's day gift and don't wanna wait to give it her - so today might just be Sentimental Sunday! Why wait for smiles!

Finding reasons to smile is always a priority for me and that's why I really do have the best job in the world because I get to see so many of them at the scales, yeah I do get to see tears too but I focus on the positives in my world and losing weight does make people smile!  I know I said yesterday it didn't make me happy but it did make me happier than I had been and it made me realise I could do anything I set my mind too, which is why I walked away from the job I was in at the time.  It also gives others confidence to do things.

Of course weight loss can completely change your life and seeing that happen is just wonderful to witness, the first person that always springs to mind when I think of life changing weight loss is our Dave, everyone at my Wednesday night meeting thinks of him as ours because he's such a big part of our group, the same in my online Facebook group, we all share his successes and we've been there whilst he's gone through illness and watched him thankfully return to good health.  I swear if you were to cut him like a stick of rock, he'd have Weight Watchers written through and through because he will be the first to tell you, "Weight Watchers saved my life", and having lost almost 100lb you only have to look at his photos to see how!

Dave has told me that the doctors told him back in 2014 if he didn't have operation on his neck and lose weight he may not be here in ten years, thankfully his brother (also one of my awesome gold members) encouraged him to join weight watchers with my group, Dave admits "I was embarrassed when I joined because of my size, but the leader soon put me on the right track and thanks to her motivation & leadership I soon started to enjoy this journey . So glad I did now 2 years down the line I am at gold weight, health improved drastically the leader and group support been fantastic.  I now feel a totally different person healthy eating certainly changed my life around."

To know I had something to do with making Dave get to where he is now makes me smile massively, one of my highlights at work was seeing him walk into my meeting with his tshirt on saying "I lost 65lbs with Bev's Weight Watchers" It's more now of course, we'll have to get him a new tshirt ;)

Yeah losing weight really can help towards a massive happy, it may not solve everything but sometimes it can save your life and that means you'll still be here to make any other changes in your life. 

Being healthy and happy is ultimately the best goal you can aim for I guess!  Would you agree?

You may not feel unhealthy right now but failing to treat your body with the respect it deserves I think you can safely say at some point is going to lead you in that direction, so why risk it. 

Today I'm going to cook myself a delicious healthy meal to thank my body for getting through yet another week, yesterday I let both my mind and body relax and rest once I'd finished my morning meeting, I had a divine massage followed by quality chair time with mom!  Today it needs to be walked so Alfie can help me do that I reckon.  Then I'm going to have a browse through my Scentsy catalogue because my car smells so clean and fresh, I'm thinking in my house smells the same no one will notice the mess https://lynnewyatt.scentsy.co.uk/ plus my bestie has become a consultant so I want to support her in her new venture (that's my excuse for spending my pay day money anyways).   I do love oils and I know how good they are from my weekly massage to be able to have a diffuser in my office or bedroom well that can only be a good thing can't it! 

Right I'm off to make a cuppa, do the washing up and tidy the kitchen (boo to domesticity) but I'm seeing it as part of my self-care routine, it makes it a little less painful!

Here's to a great day BeYOUtiful, take care of you.