Yesterday was a very great day

28^th July 2018

Worry is worshipping the problem.

Yesterday was a very great day, mom was good and so was I which makes for the perfect combination, we laughed lots and lots, it was so wonderful.  Mom asked me about Alzheimers and dementia and we talked about how well she was doing with it.

I got myself a chicken bargain too, when I went for the papers there was one reduced to £2.15, so when I got back I slammed it in the slow cooker on high for about 5 hours, usually do it on low and leave longer but I wanted to eat some for lunch.  It’s the fastest meal ever, just falls apart when you take it out.  I shredded the breasts with two forks and had a bit for dinner with a coconut and lemongrass sauce, then for tea I had some on a sandwich with coleslaw.  No fuss food which is what you want on a hot and can’t be doing with cooking kind of day.  There’s some left, I might mix it with the rest of the sweet and sour sauce and that’s today’s dinner sorted.

There’s a lovely light wind coming through the windows this morning, it’s promising storms we really do need a bit of rain but then can we have the sunshine back please.

Got a busy morning followed by another chilled out day, hoping moms in as good a mood as she was yesterday.  I’m still doing my crochet, I’m about halfway through another blanket, my largest yet, it’ll be 11 x 10 squares and the squares are 10 rounds so it should look amazing in the bedroom it’s meant for.  If they don’t like it though, it’ll also look really good in my house, I never make anything I wouldn’t want to keep myself.

That book “The science of Sin” I’m listening too isn’t as good as I hoped, it’s a bit too science orientated for me, so far though, I’ve done the narcissist test and I’ve learnt I’m not thankfully.  If you fancy working out if you are, here’s the link https://openpsychometrics.org/tests/NPI/

One of my BeYOUtiful members posted her pudding the other day, doesn’t it look delicious, here’s how she said she made it;

Sachet of sugar free strawberry Jelly made up with chopped strawberries, allow to set then make strawberry fluff which is another pack of jelly...only put in half pint of boiling water then add a tub of fat free natural yoghurt (some say to let jelly cool but I never have and it always turns out just as it should) whisk the mixture until you see air pockets...pour over jelly...let it set, only takes about an hour then use a pot of fat-free Greek yoghurt (I use Aldi’s) add 2-3 tbsp sweetener and two teaspoons of almond or vanilla essence...mix altogether and add to the top of the fluff then I added 4grms of sugar strands on each one that's where the 1sp comes from otherwise add fresh fruit to make it free.

This is why Weight Watchers is great because members are always sharing their great ideas, motivating and supporting each other whilst enjoying the journey and having a good giggle in the meetings.  Yeah I’m off to enjoy one of those meetings this morning, love my Saturday gang, makes it worth getting up at 5am for sure. 

Now it’s almost 6am so I need to get a wriggle on, need to get mom sorted before I leave and load my car.  Real life’s great really, I like the drama free routine and it’s just started raining – yay!

Catch ya tomorrow BeYOUtiful, here’s to working on a wonderful life and having a very great day.

Sweet & Sour, loved it

2^7th July 2018

The sun will rise and we shall try again.

Poor moms had a bad night, on top of the heat, she’s been coughing most of it which of course means my sleep was disturbed too. Yay thankfully no work today so we can both relax. Alfie’s being clipped so he’ll be cooler too, it’s no joke having a fur coat these days.

I had a lovely tea last night sweet and sour chicken using uncle bens extra pineapple, cooked chicken breast and microwave rice, it was on the plate in under ten minutes thanks to the microwave. Don’t get me wrong I could’ve cooked my own but on a Thursday night after 5 meetings, that wasn’t going to happen. It was better than the pizza or chips I’d considered picking up on my way home.  If you fancy cooking your own, here’s a couple of choices;

Sweet and Sour chicken

Total 13sp ~ serves 4 ~ 3sp per serving ~ with Quorn 2sp per serving

6 skinless chicken breast fillets, very thinly sliced or 6 Quorn Fillets
6 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp light soy sauce (2sp)
Low calorie cooking spray
1 tbsp dark soy sauce (1sp)
2 tbsp sweetener
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp paprika
½ tsp Chinese 5-spice powder
100ml passata
Spring onion slivers and lime wedges, to garnish

Place the chicken in a shallow ceramic dish. Sprinkle over the spring onions and garlic, season well and pour over the light soy sauce. Toss to mix well, cover and marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Spray a large non-stick frying pan with low calorie cooking spray and place over a high heat. Add the chicken mixture and cook for 5-6 minutes and then add the dark soy sauce, sweetener, vinegar, paprika, 5-spice powder and passata. Stir to mix well and bring the mixture to the boil.

Reduce the heat and cook gently for 3-4 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Check the seasoning before serving garnished with spring onion sliver and lime wedges to squeeze over.

I'd be tempted to throw in some pineapple chunks too for extra sweet!

You can also make this recipe with pork 500g = 20sp. Add rice for 6sp per 60g dried weight or cauliflower rice for zero.

Sweet and Sour Chicken 7 Smart Points

Prep time:10 min Cook time:17 min Serves:4 Difficulty: Easy

A delicious and healthy version of this takeaway favourite.

5spray(s) Calorie controlled cooking spray

1 medium Onion(s), peeled and sliced

160g Brown Rice, dry, long grain (15sp)

500g Chicken breast, skinless, raw (4 x 125g breasts)

2 medium Carrots, raw, peeled and thinly sliced in sticks

225g Pineapple, can, chunks in natural juice

2 tablespoons Tomato Purèe (1 sp)

3 tablespoons Vinegar, All Types, malt

1 tablespoons Muscovado Sugar (4sp)

2 tablespoons Soy Sauce, dark (1sp)

Instructions

Spray a frying pan with the low-fat cooking spray, add the onion and cook, stirring for 5 minutes over a medium heat, until softened.

Meanwhile cook the rice according to pack instructions, drain and rinse in hot water.

Cut the chicken into bite size chunks and add to the pan.

Cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes until golden on all sides.

Add the carrots, pineapple and juice, tomato puree, vinegar, sugar and soy sauce, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes until the chicken is tender. Serve immediately with the rice.

- - - - - -

Driving home at 8pm and your dashboard telling you it’s still 29.5 degrees is not going to encourage anyone to want to start cooking from scratch at all. For some reason best known to my dumb body and brain, I don’t fancy salads at all! Cucumber sandwiches are about as keen as I can get or adding a bit of lettuce and tomato to my sandwiches.

We are drinking more water though, that’s something I guess.

Once again I’m trying to work through the stuff in my freezer, I have some veggie burgers I think I’ll make today as they only take about 8 minutes and I can have them on a burger bun with a load of salad, you never know I might convince mom to have one of them instead of eating biscuits and cereal when I’m not watching which is what’s causing her cough because her stomachs struggling to cope with it all. It’s so difficult, one side of me says let her eat what she wants but then I see her poorly and the other side says control it for her. Thankfully this morning she’s realised what’s going on and has once again asked me to take control and hide everything from her so she’s not tempted.

We all know we’re more likely to over indulge if the food is in sight and freely available, one of my helpers almost lives next door to a McDonald’s, luckily she’s not fussed by them, I know if that was me, I’d be seriously tempted constantly.

Don’t buy it, if you don’t plan on eating it. It’s a no brainer ain’t it. Easier said than done if there’s more than you in the house, then you might be buying it for others but trying to resist yourself.

We’re out enjoying a walk, still cool at the moment thankfully, so I’m going to put my phone away for five and turn off.

Catch ya tomorrow, here’s to working on a wonderful life and having a very great day BeYOUtiful.

Gonna be a hot one they say!

26^th July 2018

Life is a series of a thousands of tiny miracles.  Notice them.

When I was looking for a quote to use this morning, I thought the one I’ve used actually said ‘life is a series of thousands of tiny wrinkles’ and you know what, it actually is, maybe not thousands but definitely more than a few, when I got out of bed this morning and looked in the bathroom mirror through my tired eyes I noticed my face is full of them and I smiled because the ruddy red face staring back at me is happy with her looks, her life and herself, how many can say that?  I do wish we could all embrace our appearance, I’m not saying don’t strive to be healthier, happier, whatever it is you want, just don’t hate what you have as a starting point and realise you are BeYOUtiful now!  Its okay to work on a ‘new you’ but not because the old you is bad but because the old you can improve.

Anyway I’ve just heard on the radio today and tomorrow is going to be a ridiculously hot one in some parts of the country, my weather says potential rain and a storm, that’d be nice to water the plants and lawns a little.  Plus I've got a busy day with 5 meetings, it's one thing sitting in the garden in this sunshine, it's another when you've got to work in this heat. 

I’m really enjoying the meetings this week, it’s great to see the kids holidays haven’t meant members are staying away, it’s great that members realise these days that healthy isn’t seasonal, it isn’t a ‘new year’ or pre-Christmas thing, it’s continual and that’s why I’m seeing so much success, it’s also not a race.

So now to work out how to survive the summer!  That’ll be next week’s meetings I reckon.  For me cooking needs to be quick, I don’t want to spend any longer than I need to in the kitchen, so today I think we’ll have potato waffles, egg and peas, might even through in some roe. Nom nom.  It’s a great time of year to use that slow cooker too, throw in a whole chicken and leave it whilst you’re out so you come back to juicy, succulent chicken that you can make sandwiches from, or wrap potatoes in foil and put them on the top of the chicken and you’ll have jacket spuds to go with it.  I actually like microwaving baby potatoes these days, it works a dream and it’s quick – a few minutes in there and they’re cooked.

Or for a zero meal, what about a slow cooker zero chicken chilli, a couple of cans of beans, such as black beans, pinto beans, a can of sweetcorn, some diced onion, green pepper, a large spoonful of crushed garlic, either a couple of pounds of fresh tomatoes or a couple of cans then add some herbs – 3tbsp chilli powder, 2tbsp cumin, 1tbsp oregano, salt and pepper and chicken breasts.  Throw it all in the slow cooker, cook on low for about 8 hours.  Remove the chicken breasts and shred with a couple of forks then return to the chilli and stir well.   If you like your chilli hot, hot, you can always add a jalapeno or 2, finely diced.

This can be eaten with brown rice or on a jacket potato for extra points or no count, or you can eat it as it is.

If you’re a fan of the BBQ, get those chicken sausages from Penn Road butchers, he does the donor kebab meat too and you can get the usual steaks, chicken breasts etc, he even delivers if you spend a tenner so no walking round the supermarket.

There’s some good looking recipes in the new September issue of Weight Watchers mag, I fancy the baked curried beef and rice, mmm.

Anyway, I need to get ready for work, so much to do, so little time!  Here’s to a wonderful life and a very great day BeYOUtiful.