17th June
2018
You can start over
at any moment you choose.
I had a lovely lazy
day yesterday, I have to say ‘The Crown’ is a great series to sleep through, I know
it’s really popular but it wasn’t doing it for me. At least I’m caught up on my sleep now. I
thought I’d stick with that theme and make today’s challenge to get your beauty
sleep. Go to bed earlier, have an early night, better still for the entire
coming week go to bed at least 30 minutes earlier than you usually would. Getting enough rest promotes weight loss,
reduces stress levels, improves your memory and decreases inflammation in the
body (so I’ve read!)
This week’s meetings
have been all about meal planning and budgets, sharing ideas, I think we all
went away with some ideas, even the simple one I took which was to put oxo’s in
my tinned tomatoes to take away the ‘Tomatoey’ taste and make my pasta sauce
more meaty. I also need to try the
fakeaway big mac, using the stand and stuff boats, dry fry 5% beef mince (or
chicken I guess) with onions, but in boats with shredded lettuce and slices of
gherkin and top with low fat or protein cheese and low fat thousand island
dressing. It’s pretty tasty apparently.
Mushroom mince was
another good idea, apparently you can buy it ready prepared or just through
mushrooms in the food processer and blitz, I might give that a go as I have a
lot in the fridge to use. It freezes
well also. The mince can be used for
anything you’d use beef mince for and it’s cheaper.
The sauces from the
meetings are used a lot too, they’re really low in Smart Points and the lemon
one is delicious on fish or for fakeaway Nandos, the BBQ one for hunters
chicken. I still need to try that.
I’d done a shopping
list using Asda for prices, everyone has different opinions on which
supermarket is the cheapest but Asda’s website was easy to navigate and get the
info I needed. I’ve put that list at the
bottom of blog, it all totals up to £80 but you wouldn’t need all of it, it’s
just to give ideas of ingredients you could use to make a healthy, meal plan.
Why bother? Well
whether trying to lose weight or save money, meal planning will
help enormously. Meal planning-enthusiasts argue most people buy far
more than they need because they just grab whatever looks good once they’re at
the supermarket and have no overall plan for actual meals to make with what
they buy.
Planning means less stress, if you’re busy and / or stressed, get home
from work and you haven’t got dinner planned, what’s likely to happen? It’s unlikely to be a healthy, well thought
out meal. Meal planning stops the “what
shall we have for dinner tonight?” question every night. Instead spend half
hour once a week deciding for the whole week.
You won’t visit the supermarket as often, no going for a loaf and
spending £20 on bits, you shouldn’t be throwing food away either as you’ll only
buy what you need. I also notice if I plan,
I snack less because I know exactly what I will eat and when, plus I look
forward to those meals.
Meal planning can
be made simple, teach yourself how to get organised in the kitchen and solve
the neverending problem of what to cook, day in, day out. Are you stuck in a rut, do you want to feed
yourself and your family good healthy yet tasty meals. If you struggle for
ideas and end up serving up the same meals or buying the same ready meals
constantly but wishing you could be more organised and have interesting,
enjoyable meals planned then this is for you. Save yourself time and money with
your shopping and cooking. Make use of those cookbooks instead of using them to
keep a door open!
GET ORGANISED - GET A PLAN - GET INSPIRED
Where to start? Get yourself a pad and write down a list of
meals you like or look at that shopping list at the end of my blog and make a
list of meals you could make with it.
Start with how many meals do you want to plan, do you tend to eat the same breakfast
every day, in which case you don’t need to plan them,
Do you eat out once a week so you won’t need to plan that either, unless
you’re planning what to eat when you’re out to make sure you stay within your
Weight Watcher SmartPoints.
Start with an A4 sheet of paper and mark out the days and the meals, for
example;
You don't have to follow the plan 100%, but at
least you always have an idea if you need one and you can change or amend it
any time you want to.
So to help you compile your plans some things
to consider are
- who you cooking for, how many, who's in
when.
- who's doing the cooking - you I guess most
of the time, but you can live inhope
- where are the recipes if you're cooking from
scratch, i.e. which cook book, what page.
- what ingredients will you need that you
don't already have.
- any preparations you need to do, i.e.
defrost foods, make marinades.
- what type of meals do you and your family
like
Pasta &
noodles (pasta with sauce, pasta bakes, stir fries,in soups)
Rice (stir
fries, risottos, paellas)
Stews &
casseroles (meat, vegetable, pulses)
Soups
Curries
Pizza / bread
Fish
Salads
‘Meat & 2 veg’
/ roasts
Chicken
Tarts, quiches &
pies
Fast food /
takeaway / ready meals
Eggs
(omelettes, frittatas, baked)
Puddings & desserts
- do you have
favourite meals that all your family like,those regular fail-safe recipes you can do with your eyes closed.
- don't forget the ready meals and
prepared things you buy, frozen chips, microwave rice, soup etc.
- go through those cook books and look
for inspiration. Don't be afraid to try something new.
So what are you waiting for, have a go
at filling in your meal planner, don't be over adventurous otherwise you won't
follow it when it’s completed.
Why not start to put together a recipe
scrapbook book, print off any you find online, or cut out of magazines. Keep a
list of pages numbers and which cook book your favourite recipes are in.
Once you've done your plan you need to
do the shopping list, start by making a list of ingredients, if you shop
monthly you'll need to maybe do more than one list.
There’s enough to
get you thinking there, Alfie is bugging me for his walk. I’ll try and give you some recipes throughout
the week in my blogs, but for now I’m off to take my dog for his walk.
Here’s to an excellent day, staying on, getting that early
night, catch ya tomorrow BeYOUtiful. Let’s focus on the healthy & happy,
I’m with you, together we will do this!
|
Carbs
|
|
|
Wholemeal bread
|
0.55
|
|
Porridge oats 1kg
|
0.75
|
|
long grain white
rice 1kg
|
1.17
|
|
egg noodles
|
0.59
|
|
pasta 500g
|
0.45
|
|
tinned
potatoes 550g
|
0.35
|
|
potatoes 2.5kg
|
1.50
|
|
spaghetti 500g
|
0.45
|
|
lasagne sheets 375g
box
|
0.45
|
|
wraps x 8
|
0.95
|
|
wraps x 8
|
0.50
|
|
crumpets x 6
|
0.40
|
|
warburton thins x 6
|
1.40
|
|
Pitta breads x 6
|
0.49
|
|
Smash (serves 6)
|
1.25
|
|
Protein
|
|
|
Reduced fat cheddar
500g
|
2.49
|
|
Philidelphia light
cheese 280g
|
1.50
|
|
Chicken breast
fillets 1kg
|
5.79
|
|
15 eggs
|
1.19
|
|
longlife skimmed
milk 1litre
|
0.54
|
|
fresh skimmed milk
4pints
|
1.09
|
|
tuna x 3 160g cans
|
2.50
|
|
chickpeas 400g can
|
0.33
|
|
red lentils 500g
|
1.15
|
|
chicken (large
whole)
|
3.28
|
|
kidney beans
|
0.30
|
|
black beans
|
0.50
|
|
wafer thin ham 400g
|
1.50
|
|
beef mince 500g 5%
|
3.31
|
|
chicken sausages 6
|
2.50
|
|
pressed cod roe
200g
|
1.50
|
|
fish fingers (10
brids eye)
|
2.00
|
|
frozen white fish
fillets
|
3.00
|
|
540g (2 for £5)
|
|
|
cook from frozen
salmon fillets
|
3.00
|
|
360g (2 for £5)
|
|
|
tinned sardines in
tomato sauce
|
0.34
|
|
(4SP for 120g)
|
|
|
pichards in tomato
sauce
|
1.10
|
|
(9SP for 400g)
|
|
Fruit & veggies
|
|
|
cooking onions 1kg
|
0.50
|
|
carrots 500g
|
0.30
|
|
mushrooms 400g
|
1.00
|
|
tomatoes fresh x 6
|
0.69
|
|
cucumber
|
|
|
iceberg lettuce
|
0.50
|
|
tinned soups
|
0.39
|
|
sweetcorn 326g can
|
0.35
|
|
baked beans 410g
can
|
0.23
|
|
chopped tomatoes
400g can
|
0.35
|
|
peas 300g can
|
0.21
|
|
frozen peas 1kg
|
0.76
|
|
frozen spinach
1.4kg
|
1.50
|
|
These frozen veg
are 2 for £1.70)
|
|
|
frozen sweetcorn
1kg
|
1.10
|
|
peppers x 3
|
0.99
|
|
frozen mixed
peppers 600g
|
0.95
|
|
frozen mixed
vegetables 1kg
|
0.95
|
|
frozen sliced
carrots
|
0.95
|
|
apples pack of 6
|
1.00
|
|
satsumas 600g
|
1.00
|
|
bananas 10 pack
|
1.59
|
|
pears 500g
|
0.80
|
|
peaches in fruit
juice
|
0.59
|
|
pineapple in fruit
juice
|
0.78
|
|
Soup pack - fresh
|
1.00
|
|
store cupboard
|
|
|
oxos x 12
|
1.00
|
|
mixed dried herbs
|
0.37
|
|
garlic x 3 bulbs
|
0.55
|
|
garlic puree
|
0.78
|
|
chilli powder
(rajah 100g bag)
|
0.50
|
|
curry powder (rajah
100g bag)
|
0.50
|
|
tomato puree
|
0.37
|
|
passata 500g
|
0.35
|
|
flour 1.5kg
|
0.45
|
|
low fat spread 1kg
|
2.00
|
|
block of butter
|
1.45
|
|
large natural
yogurt 500g
|
0.45
|
|
soy sauce
|
0.49
|
|
sweet chilli sauces
|
1.48
|
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