It's never going to be easy - just do it!

22^nd January 2018

Aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been.

Well that’s my messing about done, I said I’d struggle till after my birthday and now it’s Monday morning and I’m ready to start project “Feeling great at 48”, for me it’s not about the visual as much as it’s about how I feel, I want more energy, I want to feel like my digestive system is coping with what I’m eating.  I want to feel like I’m ready to start my day each morning when I get out of bed.  Yeah it’s all about feeling, because how I feel affects how I behave and how I behave affects others.

Here’s to day 1 then, it’ll start with me going through my fridge and kitchen and seeing what meals we can look forward to this week, I know I have salmon in the freezer, I also have a couple of sweet potatoes, peppers and a butternut squash.  Then there’s some beef in the fridge, so all this will be used to make some delicious healthy things, which will all be tracked because I’m putting myself and my health at the top of my to-do list.    

I’ve got 2 mangos that have been in my kitchen for a week so I’m going to peel them this morning and see if they’re salvageable, can whizz them up if need be and have with 0% Greek natural yogurt, that’d be nice.

Yeah I’ve had a weekend of friends and today’s all about me, I’m not even going to do much work, I’ll get ready for tomorrow and do a few bits but then I intend to spend some time in the kitchen and the rest of the day with mom.

One of my members remembered me this morning that we talked about this recipe last week in one of my meetings and now it works out at 5sp total for the recipe or 15sp if you're having the rice too, so only 3sp per serving which is fabulous because it is delicious and I have all the ingredients I think, might have to get the chicken, wonder what it would be like with salmon, could have it with rice or maybe sweet potato fries, mmm.  Ooo time to get my healthy back and enjoy the food again, no more rubbish.

Garlic chicken curry

3sp per serving without the rice, serves 2

10 minutes prep time, plus marinating. Cook time 20 minutes

Small bunch fresh coriander

3 garlic cloves, crushed

2tsp garam masala

1tbsp mango chutney (4sp)

2 x 125g skinless chicken breast fillets

1 tsp vegetable oil (1sp)

1 onion, thinly sliced

400g tin chopped tomatoes

100g basmati rice (10sp)

2 tbsp 0% fat natural Greek yogurt

• Cut most of the stalks from the coriander and set the leaves aside. Finely chop the stalks and mix with the garlic, garam masala, chutney and a pinch of salt to form a paste.
• Using a sharp knife, cut small slashes in each chicken fillet then flatten them slightly. Spread over the paste and marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (or overnight).
• Heat the oil in a large nonstick frying pan or wok and fry the onion for 5 minutes or until softened. Add the chicken and marinade and turn to coat in the onions. Fry for 6-8 minutes, turning the chicken and stirring regularly. Add the tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes. Chop the coriander leaves and stir half of them into the sauce.
• Meanwhile cook the rice to pack instructions, and mix the remaining coriander leaves with the yogurt.
• Serve the curry with the rice and coriander yogurt.

Oh we were saved from eating loads of points yesterday by ordering food that wasn’t good at the Lancaster, to be fair the starters were okay but as my mate pointed out, they only have to throw that in the fryer!  Harsh!  V had the roast chicken dinner, I had beef dinner and Lynne had pie and chips, we left most of it, I think V’s words were, “It’s like care home food”.  You can’t even blame the people in the kitchen because it’s part of a chain, Stonegate pubs, according to their website they have over 690 pubs and bars, sadly it appears the food is all sent out in boil in the bags or microwave pouches, “Proper pubs” it says on their website – Nah, they ain’t.  Give me an independently run pub any day that cooks its own food from scratch on site, the problem these days is finding them.

Anyway, I won’t be eating out for a few weeks now, but if anyone can recommend somewhere Lichfield way maybe for then, I’d appreciate your suggestions. 

Yay, looks like we might be spending today trying to get Alfie into the vets, see this is what happens when you don’t eat properly, you end up with a bad stomach and in Alfies case, anal gland problems, although he’s gone a long time this time which I guess is a good thing.   Right I gotta go he’s crying by me so I’m gonna walk him again we’ve already been out once.

Have a great day, don’t let anything steer you off track.