laughter and a simple life - don't get no better

31^st March 2018

Whatever makes you feel the sun from the inside out - chase that…

Laughter, it really is the most amazing thing, I read a text message to mom yesterday and shared a little funny (one of those you had to be there moments) and she proper belly laughed, we both did, I video’d it to send back to Lucy who had been the cause of the giggles because of a typo and now I plan to keep that 5 second video handy for the days she’s not great.  She turned last night about an hour before we went to bed (early I might add as I could see her mood getting darker) she can’t help it and that video will help to remind me how much I love her and how much love and laughter there is between us that this ugly disease will never take from us.

Oh I made toad in the hole yesterday, it was epic might I add as well as being a cheap meal, only 5sp a serving too.

300ml skimmed milk (4sp)

2 eggs

125g plain flour (12sp)

1 pack of 6 chicken sausages (3sp)

Whisk together the batter and pour over the sausages which I’d cooked in hot over for 5 or 10 minutes first, then cook for half hour.

I didn’t use hot fat to pour the batter into like I once would, instead I used a pan liner to stop it sticking to the baking tin.

I had it with savoy cabbage (delicious), roasted onions, then I made mustard gravy using bisto granules and a spoonful of wholegrain mustard.  Such a simple tasty meal.

What to eat today?  Something simple as I’m at work this morning then got a massage and I won’t wanna do anything after that, something out the kitchen cupboards, maybe the can of beef curry with packet rice. 

I spent all morning yesterday on a crochet square, first I designed it, I wanted a fox as the lady the blankets for is named Fox, once I’d done the graph in excel, I did the square, lots of colour changes, concentration and sewing in the ends afterwards meant it took a good few hours but worth it I think as a finishing touch for the left corner of the blanket.

Right time to shower and wake myself up, the least I can do is shave my legs before I have my massage, don’t want her cutting her hands on the stubble!  See real life ain’t as sexy as the things they posts on Facebook, I’ll still keep my life just the way it is, I’m happy with it.

I’m looking forward to catching up with my members at this morning’s meeting, whatever you’ve got planned today, enjoy your day, look for the smile moments BeYOUtiful, there’s always something to be grateful for.

Make it a Good Friday!

30^th March 2018

Not all storms come to disrupt your life, some come to clear your path.

A lot can happen in 3 days!  It’s Friday, but Sunday is coming.  Now of course if you’re religious you’ll see an Easter reference in there about Jesus, the cross, the resurrection etc, but if you’re a Weight Watchers you could also see a long weekend ahead of you with temptation all around, but it will soon be Monday, then Tuesday and everything will be back to normal and you’ll have either made it through Easter on track or you won’t, the choice is yours.

My weekend will be like any other, I’ll be off today because I don’t work on Friday’s anymore – yay!  I have my meeting in the morning then the weekend will be a quiet one, I’m enjoying the calm again.

I had a cheap eating day yesterday, it looked like this;

Breakfast - Egg sandwich and an apple - 60 pence & 3 Smart Points

Lunch – Cheese, onion and tomato omelette - £1.70 & 5 Smart Points total, fed me and mom, so mine was 3sp and 85 pence

Dinner – WW South Indian Vegetable Curry - £2 & 5 Smart Points

I already had all the food in my kitchen, it cost £3.45 for an entire days meals, not bad at all that.   The curry was absolutely delicious, I can’t believe I’ve had it in the freezer for months and not fancied it because I didn’t expect it to be good, now I know it’s only 5SP since Flex launched I’d definitely buy it again, they’re on offer in Sainsburys too.

Not sure what I’m eating today, need to check out what’s in the kitchen, I know it’ll be whatever we already have though, I will save some pennies on my food shop, I did really well in January, then my spending has slowly got silly again.

I know crochet ain’t rock and roll but it’s really keeping me occupied and I’m reallly enjoying it, I’ve been up since just gone 4am and instead of writing my blog straight away, I’ve been on the computer designing something I had an idea about yesterday, can’t beat using Excel as a crochet template, so now my creativity is coming into the process and that makes me happy.  I’m visualising summer, me sitting in the garden with a granny square and a ball of wall, with a glass of something nice on the side.  Oh I do hope we get some sunshine soon.

One of my members Emma got married yesterday, she looked absolutely stunning, all her hard work to get to goal and maintain in the run up to the big day with all the stress and hen night etc paid off and it looks like they had a wonderful day, the weather stayed dry to early afternoon too, so hopefully she got her lovely photos outside.

It always helps to have a reason to lose weight, a specific one, it doesn’t have to be an event, it can be a health reason, for me at the moment, it’ll be because I’m trying to save money, hopefully the weight loss will be the side effect, if I only eat what my body needs, I’ll save money and Smart Points, then weight loss will become the side effect.  Saving money meant I resisted the chippy on the way home last night win/win.

Anyway, my mugs empty, I think I need a coffee to follow that tea and water I’ve just drunk.  Oh I just remembered, it’s toad in the hole today isn’t it, I have the sausages, mmm, nom nom, now I’m looking forward to dinner time.  Yay and Sarah Cox is covering for Chris Evans on Radio 2, now I really am a happy bunny – easily pleased me.

Whatever you’re up to today, take care of you, remember it’s just chocolate and you can eat that any time of the year, it doesn’t taste different just because it’s egg shaped!

Gonna save my pennies by eating cheap

29^th March 2018

Walk away from anything that gives you bad vibes.  There is no need to explain or make sense of it.  It’s your life.  Do what makes you happy.

My backs hurting still, it’s not fun when your back hurts but other than that I’m good.  I’m on a food shopping diet again, I’m saving to have more work done on the house so I need to save money where I can and food is probably where I waste the most! I’m working my way through my cupboards and fridge for starters, although I bought some cooked chicken slices yesterday which were reduced to 56p from £2+ each and we had a chicken dinner using up the frozen parsnips and Yorkshires that had been in the freezer since Christmas.  Ready meals today from freezer, then toad in the hole tomorrow, that’s a real cheap meal, £2.50 for the chicken breast sausage and I already have the flour and eggs. 

It’s all about the cheap eats again.  I’ve got a turkey crown for Easter Sunday and it’s too big for two of us, I could make turkey curry with the leftovers or something with pasta, that’s always a cheap meal.  Yep watch this space for eating on a budget.

A great way to eat on a budget is to eat the amount of food you’re supposed too, in the portion sizes you should be eating, rather than eating too much, too often and of course cutting the additional junk out, less crisps for starters.  Meat free meals are another good way to save money, meal ain’t cheap.  Oh and not forgetting shopping around for the bargains.

Briam is a delicious meal, my sister-in-law makes the best, here’s Jamie’s version. https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/briam/

Fish cakes too are a cheap, easy meal and I have plenty of fish in the freezer to use up, just need the spuds, https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fish-recipes/salmon-fishcakes/

Yeah, I’m up for the cheap and cheerful challenge, there’s only so much money coming into my house and I want to spend it on something else this year other than my belly!   Hopefully it’ll help me lose some weight too.   I’m not spending money on doing much else right now, can’t go far without mom, so I want a place to live in that brings us both comfort and enjoyment, to get that, I have to spend money, but first to add get saving.

But first to earn, luckily I’ve got a job I enjoy so I’ll be working lots today to earn those pennies. 

My magazines didn’t arrive yesterday – gutted because of my bestie being in there, but a positive from yesterday was the Express and Star rang me about my diamond award and Penn Road butchers and how we’d worked together to create a healthy chicken breast sausage to help my members and others looking to eat healthy, so keep your eye out on the newspaper, hopefully they’ll be something in soon.

Right I’m off to get ready for my meetings, I’m super impressed with my members this week, they’re not using the upcoming Easter as an excuse to miss, they’re all sure they will survive the first bank holiday of the year, there’s a lot of positivity and even those who know they’ll be attacked by chocolate eggs and the like are they’ll return next week happy and ready for whatever the scales have to say to them.   Now that’s an healthy attitude to have and on that note have a really, really good day, it’s Good Friday tomorrow, let’s make today Tremendous Thursday.

Oh and if you haven't already, please sign Stuarts petition so he can open a butchers at Ashmore Park.https://www.change.org/p/wolverhampton-housing-allow-a-health-meat-shop-to-be-opened-at-ashmore-park