Thankful Thursday

18th June 2020

Fill in the blank.  Today I will be ........

I've just done a Gratitude Yoga practice, 35 minutes long and it made me think about all the things I am thankful for which is important to me right now.  Focus on the good stuff, it distracts you from the not so good. 

I was chuffed to realise that having done my yoga daily for coming up to 9 weeks on Saturday I can do some moves that I struggled with at the start, my flexibility is improving and I realised getting out of bed in a morning is a lot easier than it was earlier in the year.  I'm thankful that mom seems to be okay with me saying, 'I'm just off to do my yoga', her usual response is 'no problem, take your time', she did call me a few minutes after I'd started this morning to turn the tele off but overall she's pretty good with me doing it which is brilliant.  Shame she's not like that about everything lol.

I managed to have an hour in the kitchen yesterday, made a stew with the beef I'd found in the bottom of the freezer, that'll be eaten all day today, thankful for not having to cook today.  I also found a pack of mince beef so made a cottage pie mixture and added a packet of puy lentils at the end to bulk it out and use them up, I'm not a fan and this will hide the texture of them.   That'll go in the freezer for quick go to meals, I topped some with mash and left some so I can choose what to serve it with.  Slowly working my way through the freezer, the weekend will be fish as there's plenty of that too and a chicken dinner Sunday, then the leftover chicken is going to be used to make a Roast chicken and pea risotto.  

Here's the recipe; 

Serves 4

Total time: 1 hour, 20 minutes

1 leftover chicken carcass, plus any leftover chicken ( you'll need to weigh any chicken to point)

2 onions 

olive oil (5SP per tablespoon)

300g risotto rice (30SP) 

200g frozen peas (5SP on green)

1 knob of unsalted butter (25g = 9SP)

60g Parmesan cheese (9SP) 

extra virgin olive oil (5SP per tablespoon)

Optional: 2 large handfuls of rocket

To make your stock, strip all the meat you can find off the chicken carcass, shred and put to one side.  Place the carcass and any bones in a large pan and use a rolling pin to smash them up.  Cover with 2 litres water, bring to the boil and simmer for at least 30 minutes, skimming away any scum from the surface.  Keep warm on the lowest heat, and sieve before using. 

Meanwhile, peel and finely chop the onions and put them into a large pan on a low heat with a lug of olive oil.  Cook for around 15 minutes, or until softened but not coloured, stirring occasionally.  Stir in the rice for a couple of minutes, then turn the heat up to high and add a ladleful of stock.   Let it sizzle and reduce for a few minutes, then once it's evaporated, add the remaining stock a ladleful at a time, only adding more once each ladleful has been absorbed, and stirring regularly for 16 minutes in total.  Add the frozen peas and any leftover chicken if you have , and cook for a few more minutes, or until the rice is cooked but still holds it shape, adding a final splash of stock or water to give you a losse, oozy consistency. 

Nows the time to beat in the butter, grate in most of the cheese and season the risotto to perfection.  Remove from the heat, cover with a lid and leave to sit for 2 minutes, then stir well. Finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, grate over the remaining Parmesan and serve with a good sprinkling of rocket (if using) on each portion.  

Note: You can use cheddar instead of parmesan

I'll use less oil, I don't want that final glug at all! 

If you have a bottle of white wine you want an excuse to open, add 10ml before you start adding the stock and cook it away before carrying on with the recipe.  This will add a wonderful perfume to your risotto.

It's a high Smart Pointed meal but will be delicious for a treat and use less oil and butter if you want to bring it down.  Enjoy zero foods the rest of the day to balance it out! 

Now all I need are some onions as I used all mine yesterday, I could leave it till Tuesday when I get my shopping delivered and make the dinner Monday, see we can live without going to the shop every day, I've been doing it for months now.  

Let's spend today being thankful for Thursday and noticing all the good stuff, I'm looking forward to two workshops this morning, 8.30 and 10.30 in the Dudley & Walsall Connect group on the WW app, hope to see lots of you.

Here's to a delicious day.

Mwah, love ya 

Love me xx