Yay, it's Friday!

28^th July 2017

Follow your soul, it knows the way.

Actually stayed on track yesterday, did No Count, scrambled egg, tomato & spring onion wrap for breakfast, tuna jacket potato for lunch then when I got home from work I cooked some wholewheat spaghetti and had it with stir fried veg, a little passata and herbs, topped with a bit of parmesan.  Ended my day satisfied and resisted temptation, no snacking in front of the tele.

I may try another No Count day today, there’s defrosted chicken and salmon in the fridge so it’ll be easy to turn them into No Count meals and I’ll start my day with fried eggs on toast, mmm and mushrooms, I don’t have to rush today which will be nice.  I was still in my pj’s yesterday at 7 and I had to leave the house at half past!

I’ve got a butternut squash in the kitchen, mmm what to do with it…

I think I’m going to experiment, curry is springing to mind, a creamy type of curry with chicken and maybe some lentils, we’ll see, I’ll let you know of course.

I’m enjoying my meetings a lot this week, one of the things we’ve talked about are those moments when you eat something that you just normally wouldn’t, so for me it was eating cheese straight from the block last weekend and chocolate biscuits, I’d never do either usually!  Just shows none of us are golden all the time, wouldn’t life be boring if we were!

I’ve just spend an hour messing about looking at pinterest, recipes etc online and now I still don’t have much to say today, so I’ll just share a recipe I really like, that I haven’t had for a long time, so I think this is lunch sorted, it’ll only use 1sp of my weeklies on No Count;

Malaysian chicken (3sp)

Serve with rice and steamed broccoli

Take 10 mins to prepare, 12 minutes to cook

1 small onion, sliced

1/2 red chilli, de-seeded and chopped finely

Low fat cooking spray

1 chicken breast, diced (2sp)

1 teaspoon light brown soft sugar (1sp)

2 teaspoons soy sauce

4 tablespoons chicken stock or water

1 teaspoon rice vinegar or lime juice

Spray a lidded, non-stick saucepan with cooking spray and fry the onions and chilli for 2 minutes.

Add the chicken and stir fry for 1 minute over a high heat, then sprinkle in the sugar and cook for 1 minutes more until caramelised. 

In a jug, mix the soy sauce, stock and rice vinegar or lime juice together.  Pour over the chicken, cover the pan and simmer gently for 10 minutes.

Remove the lid, increase the heat, and bubble for 2 minutes until slightly reduced.  Tossing the chicken in the sauce to glaze.

Here’s to a good day, I plan to have one, I’m off to clean the kitchen ready for a little cooking session, then I’ve got my meeting tonight to look forward too, love a bit of Friday Essington.

What shade are you?

27^th July 2017

Another morning, another day to make a difference.

Well I made the chicken jalfrezi, not for me, my bestie loved hers but for me too tomato based, I’ll make the garlic chicken next time.  I tried spiralised carrot too, stir fried it and put some pesto on it, nah you can keep that too!  The best thing I ate yesterday was egg fried rice, I just opened a packet of microwave vegetable rice and added an egg to it, delicious and simple. 

I can’t wait to get my new kitchen because I’ll want to be in there cooking, yesterday the sink tap ripped my nail off, the coating on the tap is peeling off and one piece went into my name like a splinter – ouch, it’s almost like it knows I’m getting rid of it soon. 

So my meals weren’t the most appealing but I did drink my water and got 14k steps on my fitbit, not bad at all to say I also spent a few hours in front of my pc. 

What to eat today?  Now there’s a question, I know I have tinned tuna, a couple of chicken breast in freezer, baked beans, brown rice, butternut squash, eggs, it’s screaming No Count at me isn’t it.  I’ve also just read Angie’s post saying she’s gone back to No Count this week and it’s curbed her cravings, I need to do that, I had a great day until I saw moms packet of biscuits and I had 3, that’s a waste of points on something I normally wouldn’t even bother with.   Time to get creative in the kitchen today I think – oh because I have time to do that on a Thursday don’t I!  Maybe get simple in the kitchen with No Count ingredients, I have low calorie brown bread too, I can get on track and pull it back. 

I’ve just seen this photo of tea, apparently it’s created quite the ‘stir’ (get it) on twitter, so what’s your shade?  I’d be a 2D or 3B, I make mine with skimmed milk so like it strong but with enough milk it.  

 

Anyway, I have a long day ahead of me, I need to get going, eggs for breakfast I think, ooo on toast, do I throw in a spoonful of baked beans?  Maybe, there’s mushrooms in the fridge too.  Proper fill myself up so I’m not tempted by the new Weight Watcher salt and pepper shells, they’re really good as mom agreed when I filmed her yesterday.  https://www.facebook.com/bevww/videos/10155256442915862/

Here’s to a cracking good day whichever way you play, No Count, Counting, they both work if you follow them…. Don’t we know it BeYOUtiful!

Curry and water = winning combination!

26^th July 2017

Nothing is impossible, the word itself says “I’m possible”!

For the first time in weeks I’ve just drunk a pint of water before making a mug of tea, it’s so easy to slip out of newly formed good habits and back into those not so good ones!  I realised yesterday that I hadn’t been drinking so much water and it makes a difference, after all according to the experts, drinking enough water can…

Banish headaches

Improve your mood

Relieve fatigue

Boost your energy levels

Relieve constipation

Flush out toxins

Improve digestion

Promote weight loss

Prevent kidney stones

Boost your immune system

Improve your complexion

Prevent hangovers

Alleviate back pain

Regulate body temperature.

There’s a few of those things I could do with help with, so let’s get back to drinking it I say, how much though?  Whatever you can is better than none!

Break in down, have a drink first thing in the moment, drinking on an empty stomach is a great way to wake your body up ready for breakfast.  Have another drink mid-morning, you’ll have more change of drinking the daily recommended amount by doing so plus it’ll help curb your appetite when your stomach starts to growl.  Lunchtime next, get another glass down you, it’s okay to make it sparking too if you like it, apparently the sodium bicarbonate can ‘aid’ digestion (I don’t know if that’s true but I’ve seen it in print).  Another glass in the afternoon, think about it, at least 6 hours go by between lunch and dinner, you’re likely to get thirsty, listen to your body, and recognise thirst over hunger.  Carry a water bottle around with you.   Before you know it, it’s dinner time, one more glass at least, why not have one before your meal and one whilst eating, come on let’s do this, challenge yourself to 8 glasses today, 2 litres, that’s 4 pints, I’ve already done my first and it wasn’t difficult. 

Changing the subject I had a tin of Sainsbury’s chicken balti yesterday, 9sp and no bad at all.  I love a curry and if you can get one low in points even better, when I saw Chicken Jalfrezi on a members tracker the other day for 2SP, I was ‘WHAT, how!”  It turned out to be a Weight Watcher recipe, so here it is, I haven’t tried it yet but I think I need to.

Chicken Jalfrezi

Serves 4, 2sp per portion

8 spray(s) Calorie controlled cooking spray

2 medium Onion(s), chopped

1 medium Red pepper(s), de-seeded and sliced

2 clove(s) Garlic, crushed

1 teaspoons Root Ginger, 5cm piece, grated (no need to peel)

600g Chicken breast, skinless, raw, diced

1 medium Green Pepper(s), de-seeded and sliced

1 individual Chilli, Green or Red, de-seeded and sliced into thin rounds

3 teaspoons Curry Powder, ensure gluten free

1 teaspoons, level Cumin seeds

400g Passata

1 pinch Salt, and freshly ground black pepper

Heat a lidded saucepan over a medium heat. Spray with the cooking spray and stir-fry the onions for 5 minutes. Add the red pepper, garlic and ginger, spray again with the cooking spray, and stir-fry for another 3 minutes until the vegetables have softened.

Using a hand-held blender, puree the onion mixture with 4 tablespoons of water until smooth, then remove the onion mixture from the pan and set to one side until ready to use.

Return the pan to the heat, spray with the cooking spray, and stir-fry the chicken for 5 minutes until browned in places. Add the green pepper and chilli, then stir-fry for another 2 minutes.

Return the onion mixture to the pan and add the curry powder, cumin seeds and passata. Stir, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, part-covered, for 10 minutes, until the sauce has reduced and thickened and the chicken has cooked through. Season and serve.

I’m going to check the spice rack now, I need this in my life!  I’m going to break my ‘eat from the freezer until it’s all gone plan’ and go buy some chicken!  I need something delicious in my world!    The garlic chicken recipe is another one that’s really tasty too http://wwbevsworld.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/mmm-curry-it-has-to-be-done.html the curry part of that recipe is 4sp, I’ve tried this one before though, so I’ll save it for another day.  And you always want a glass of water with a curry don't ya!

Anyway, need another cuppa and have a lot to do so I’ll be off, here’s to a day of water, you up for that BeYOUtiful?