A very good day

29^th January 2018

Don’t be discouraged, it’s often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock.

Yesterday was just your regular Sunday, one where I got to chill and relax and potter, after the sunshine list yesterday, I decided to focus on all the good stuff throughout the day, not just think of 3 things, below are the ones I came up with, the things that made my day good, of course we should all be grateful we woke up, we have a roof over our heads, food on our table, all the obvious stuff, but it does you good to pay attention on the positives in your world and realise life’s pretty damn brilliant. 

The good in the last 24 hours

• Writing my blog knowing people actually enjoy reading it!
• Mega first cup of tea.
• Knowing the cat that’s not my cat will be waiting to be fed when I go downstairs.
• Realising it’s cold and being able to afford to put the heating on.
• Alfie’s wagging tail when he comes looking for me & finds me.
• That awful noise Alfie makes when he realises the cats outside and chases him away. Seriously it sounds like he’s being murdered, annoys the hell out of me but makes me laugh at the same time because if that cat turned round, who knows how that would end!
• Listening to my audiobooks.
• I love that I’m so clumsy, putting my coat on, I knocked a cup of the worktop and it smashed.
• Going for a walk with alfie & my hands not being cold – we’ve had some cold mornings and I always forget my gloves.
• Observing how I talk to Alfie whilst we're walking (well tell him off) and accepting not only doesn't he respond but he does the same wrong thing daily and we have the same conversation - you should cross a road diagonally nor walk in the road - he won't listen.
• Loving how dramatic I can be over the silliest thing then how calm I am when something major happens. 
• Watching the squirrels, sparrows & other birds feeding in my garden.
• That I finally found the energy to clean the kitchen.
• Only having one load of washing for the machine & knowing it’ll dry in the wetroom no matter what the weather because our heating is always on now because of mom.
• Having mom read me the same few lines out of the newspapers every time I walk past the living room. 
• Listening to radio2.
• Smiling at my mom pressing every button on the remote and still not getting it to work.
• Having FB chat with my besties, hearing how Lynne’s loving having family time & Vicky’s off to the cinema with orange segments (who is she & what has she done with my V)
• Having a sing song with the radio on in the kitchen whilst cleaning up.
• Experimenting with food in kitchen, making two new dishes I enjoyed.
• Having a taster tell me the food tastes good, thank you to V for borrowing me her man.
• I now have skirting board in my kitchen (almost completely finished now, final touches) because of said man.
• Liking my besties man (we all know how hard it is when you don’t)
• Watching the Orville.  Great show, paying homage to Star Trek.
• “Ain’t she lost weight” counting how many times Mom said that about Gerry Horner whilst watching a programme. 
• Mom saying “well I’ve gotta go to the toilet, if I don’t I’ll shit myself” then farting all the way to the loo & me praying she makes it – she did thankfully. 
• Playing a bit of Candy Crush.
• Having a glass of wine.
• Reading the lovely comments some of my members had written about me on this post https://www.facebook.com/weightwatchersuk/photos/a.155231741179119.23551.140213752680918/1574835125885433/?type=3&hc_ref=ARREYkqYU6pDRiHGOpfujVWcmymRGQ_gl9NeIbE5tUZ3XaAKtkMDHdnEF6uEImOsffU 
• Going to bed at 9pm, having a comfy bed and straight to sleep.
• Waking up at 1ish thirsty and needing a wee, being grateful I’ve made it to middle age, so many don’t and knowing I can go back to sleep.
• Waking up at 5ish refreshed and relatively pain free once I’ve done the usual evolution of man trip to the toilet, getting all my muscles and joints in order.
• Going down to get the notes from the cooking I did yesterday and realising I’ve already done the washing up.
• Looking round at my lovely shiny new kitchen & knowing this time next week it will be finished completely, the Roman Blinds are being delivered today and fitted next weekend, I’m having a offcut of my walnut worktop made into a draining board and another one replacing the laminate pullout on my island unit.  The boys done good.

Not a bad day all round when you take time to think about it, my life is pretty good, I’m blessed, moms good at the moment and for that I am thankful.  None of us know what tomorrow will bring and I don’t plan to think about it, I’m living for today.

Now my cooking, I’m all about keeping it simple right now and I want to start using more beans and pulses so yesterday I started with butterbeans, cannellini beans would’ve worked here too.

Sweet Mustard Butterbeans

Spray light

2 diced onions

Tin buttterbeans and the water in the can

2tbsps wholegrain mustard (1sp)

3 bacon medallions, diced (1sp)

200g Penn Road chicken breast sausagemeat , make into meatballs (2sp)
(obviously you can use more meatballs if there are more of you eating it.

1tbsp agave syrup (or Sweet Freedom syrup) (2sp)

In a liddled saucepan, (I have one of those liddled cast iron shallow casserole dishes - I love it as it can go straight from hob to oven) fry the onions in spray light until softened, add the bacon medallions, then add the mustard and syrup and stir through, throw in the butterbeans and cook through for a few minutes because mashing them on the stove with a masher (I don’t like the texture of the beans so mashed up I can handle them).  Place the meatballs in the sauce then pop a lid on and put in oven for twenty minutes on about gas mark 4, 180^o.

The entire pan of food was 6sp, I’d picked a jar of honey and mustard cooking sauce up in the Co-op on the morning and that was 20sp!  I enjoyed my portion with some mashed potato for an extra 4sp.

Next I moved onto black beans,

Slow cooker Chinese chicken & black beans

2 chicken breasts

4 tbsp soy sauce (2sp)

1 tbsp hoisin sauce (2sp)

1 tbsp ginger/garlic paste (1sp) (use fresh save points)

Carton or can black beans - drained

(now I’ve written on my paper 1tbsp rice wine but I can’t remember if I added it or not?  It’s zero Smart Points for that amount so you could throw it in or leave it out, I’ll throw anything in that’s zero!)

Put chicken in slow cooker with all ingredients but the beans, give it a stir then cook on high for 4 hours.  When cooked shred the chicken in the slow cooker using two forks.  Now throw in the drained beans, you could add a tin of sweetcorn here too, or some small broccoli florets and cook for another 30 minutes.  Serve.

If I was making it for more people I’d just double all the ingredients. 

If you’re going to be at work all day just put it on low for 8 hours.

The black beans I can eat without mashing, they’re not bad at all.  I had a portion of this in a flatbread for my tea with a sprinkle of Weight Watcher cheese on top, really good.  You could serve it with rice, in a jacket, any way you like.

Yeah yesterday was a very good day and do you know what’s even better, I don’t go to work today either!  I have stuff to do, got my new living room curtains coming today, we’re going to add a touch of spring to the room, yep today’s gonna be a good one too.

But first a cuppa is required because I do anything else, I’ve just enjoyed my pint of water, it’s still dark outside, I’ve only just realised I haven’t turned the radio on, that’s how engrossed I was in this blog. 

Have a good day BeYOUtiful, love life and it’ll love you right back.