Warm

So, here's the thing. I haven't done much blogging in the past few weeks. Not sure why. We have had a lot on and in honesty I've been in a bit of a rut. September shaped up to be a very busy month during which I have still managed to lose weight (just). We have done a lot of eating out (burgers, pizzas, fish and chips) and drinking (wine, beer). Although I made it to the end of the month unscathed, it was a far from successful month in termsbof average weight losses.

My 100lb dream is now scrapped.. well, not scrapped, but modified. I have 9 weigh ins left before Christmas and 25.5lb to go. It's not likely and I have reduced my 2012 target to 91lb (6.5st) which would still be a tremendous achievement, and I would hope upon hope to get my 100lb by 25th January 2013, which will be my 52nd Slimming World class. With clarity of mind, I think that this in is a more sensible target. My current loss stands at 74.5lb so I'm looking for 16.5lb by Christmas, not least because I really fancy buying a dress in a size 14 for my work Christmas party. As I am wearing 16 dresses and tops just now I think I can do it. Of course I have another busy weekend ahead, dinner and drinks on Saturday night and another meal out on Sunday.

However just because I have a heavy weekend ahead that doesn't make it a heavy week and so today I have been 100% on plan, rocking it old school with a porridge breakfast and soup lunch. Regular readers and good friends will know that soup ain't my thang. I have found one I like though and yes it's s bit dull but it is warm and cheap for the winter. It's my homemade Tomato soup. (To really make this my way you would need to check out one of my previous posts, Big Mama for my soffrito. Failing that sub the soffrito for 1 carrot, 2 onion, 1 stick of celery and 1 garlic clove, all chopped or whizzed in a processor.)

Tomato Soup - serves 2-3

3 heaped wooden spoons soffrito
1 tin of chopped or plum tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
500-750ml chicken stock
Black pepper
A pinch of chilli flakes
50g dried orzo, cooked
Parmesan, to serve

Saute the soffrito slowly for 10 minutes or so until soft. Add in the tinned tomatoes, puree and 500ml stock, stir then season with pepper and add a pinch of chilli flakes. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 25-30 minutes.

Blend to smooth in a blender. For a really smooth finish, push the soup through a sieve. Add the extra stock now if it's too thick for your taste.

Serve piping hot with the pasta served through and cheese (parmesan for choice) sprinkled on top.

Think of this as a healthy, homemade, pimped-up-and-not-so-sweet Heinz-a-like. It is free on Slimming World apart from the parmesan although to be honest you hardly need anyway for real flavour, and the pasta adds a real hearty feel to it. It is warm and tasty and toasts from the inside on cold, wintery days.

I've made a few batches of this now but have totally failed to take a picture of it. Instead I've attached a picture of some of the other things I've made this week. I'm back into breadmaking so I've knocked out a couple of loaves as well as pot roast soy and lemon pork loin, ginger puddings, chicken cheese and BBQ stuffed jacket potatoes, faked berry ice cream and a honey and 5 spice stir fry.

Yum.

Bat out of hell

You know those perma happy tv families? They sit around the dinner table, gleaming and grinning, Colgate smiles all around as a suitably smug tv mum (Linda Bellingham, maybe?) serves up something hot and delicious to twinkly, smiley children?

Yeah, we aren't like that.

My children are young and no, mealtimes aren't always easy. Kids can be very high maintenance and mealtimes can be a nightmare. A combination of trying to instill table manners in a not-yet-four-year-old and her younger sister, plus making sure your little ones are full of healthy foodstuffs can be a real challenge. When you find something that they eat with gusto then, which fits in with your diet, your heart sings. The thing with Slimming World is how well it fits in with family life. Eating with your family, around the table is so important (in my opinion) and being able to dish up healthy, family meals which embrace all cuisines is an absolute dream. I am not looking ahead to a life of the same two meals and since we only get to share the table as a family twice weekly I don't intend to live on fish fingers either.

Luckily my girls are generally good eaters and Megan in particular will give anything a go and Heather - although slightly pickier than her sister - will mostly try new things eventually, even if some prompting/cajoling/bribing is required. This alone Heather has added paella and jumbo prawns to her "likes" list.

The other thing we have all tried together was meatloaf. It isn't something which most Brits eat much of, and I include us in that. I think I have written before that I am a bit fussy about mince but I followed my old fave, Jamie Oliver and his meatloaf as published in Ministry of Food. Meatloaf sounds weird and looks a bit odd but having now made it, served alongside the tomatoey, chickpea barbecue sauce in the recipe, wedges and veggies I will most definitely be making it again. It was a couple of syns but worthwhile, and I could cut them down a little bit too. Cooking for family and friends is a joy, particularly when I can enjoy the dish too, guilt free.

And clean plates certainly help.

Life gets in the way

September has proven to be more challenging than April. Remember April? Good times a-go-go. I've barely lost anything this month, but I weigh marginally less now than at the start so although a loss would have been nice I can't complain too much. I have done a lot of socialising in the past three weeks so I suppose I'm pleased overall to have not gained. Just think how much I could have gained had I not been semi on plan!

Tomorrow is Mr Bee's birthday (21 again) and we had a curry on Friday, a fast food lunch on Saturday, too much wine and then a pizza lunch planned for tomorrow. Heaven knows how many syns in all that! I have a holiday booked from SW this week as we are off work for the week so the plan is to enjoy lunch tomorrow and start anew on Tuesday morning... Beginning with a gym trip. That should work some of it off! Hopefully a good week starting Tuesday should get me back into the swing of things. Life just keeps getting in the way. The important thing though, is to get back in to it, and I really need to if I want to drop another size for Christmas. Possible, if I sort myself out!

Today my lovely little family munched on boeuf bourguignon which comes in about 2.5 syns per person. It's a classic French recipe which sounds complicated but really is extremely simple. A little searing of bacon and beef, mix in some flour, then bouquet garni, stock and wine... 3 hours later you have a lovely rich stew. Mashed potatoes are the perfect match for the rich sauce and tender beef. Could there be anything more perfect for a cold winter day? Pudding was my first attempt at a jelly terrine and I was quite pleased. Sugar free jelly, fromage frais and fruit, layered in a loaf tin. I will most definitely make this again - we all enjoyed this, it's low syn and looks fun which is important where kids are concerned.. and this really is the best bit about Slimming World - its good for all the family.

So it all starts again properly on October 2nd. It's time to stop having fun.

Just as soon as I've eaten that pizza...

Spud in the oven

Honestly, how boring are jacket potatoes? For a long long time it is something I just haven't cooked because they provide so little for the length of time taken to cook them. And you know, I get that other than actually putting them in the oven there's no real work involved, save for rubbing the raw with oil and salt for a lovely crisp skin. Even that part isn't essential - although you do get a bonus hand exfoliation at the same time! I just have a nagging feeling that if something takes that long to cook it should be a reasonably splendid outcome, and whatever you say a jacket potato doesn't offer that.

If you are counting calories or following some other diet plans then you have to be aware of the size of your potato and the 150g potato allowed on some diets is pretty small.

Enter Slimming World.

Not for the first time I find myself eating a reasonable amount of something you would not normally associate with a diet. It does require planning since I don't have a microwave to zap it in, so if I am in a bit of a hurry I put a large BBQ sized skewer through the middle of the potato to speed the process up.

My problem is what on earth to put on top? Beans? Yuck. Chilli? Not for lunch. I've discovered beans are a possibility with cheese on top. Leftover curry is also good. Today I have discovered that fat free fromage frais is a pretty decent substitute for soured cream on top a potato, topped with crispy grilled bacon and grated cheese. This feels more like it, luxurious and full of flavour but cheap too. We also enjoy the super retro corned beef jackets - 100g of corned beef mashed with the scooped out potato from 3 baked potatoes and a bit of salt, stuffed back into the skins, topped with your HEA of cheddar cheese and grilled until bubbling. (I make this 1 syn per potato.)

In the absence of soup as a warm lunch the humble baked potato is rapidly making its way into my diet as a semi regular lunch.

Who knew.

Boys look away now

This is a weird one. It's a subject I've avoided talking about so far, but as it is relevant to dieting of any kind and most of womankind, it's only right to mention it. You probably know what it is now, so I promise I'll keep it short and sweet.

The fact remains that for the vast majority of women monthly cycles have an affect on appetite and food intake. Whether it's carbs or sugar you crave - or like me just tons of food in general - for a few days there all you want to do is eat. Combined with a fairly common side effect of water retention, Star Week (as SW quaintly call it) can turn a good week bad. Whether that is a false gain/maintain because of water retention which will be gone next week, or because of the kilo of chocolate and 15 packets of crisps you consumed is the real question.

I'd love to tell you I have fail safe tips for coping with this most taxing few days. On top of the emotional roller coaster and pain there's a food issue too? How unfair. (And yes, we know we are being unreasonable but we just can't help it.) I don't have the answer though, sadly. Only the knowledge that almost all of us do it. It's like knowing you aren't alone helps in itself and it's just about battling through as best you can, doing what you need to do and minimising the damage as much as possible during your meals.

And that's all I'll say on the matter, honest.

Who's for a brew?

Even tea for me

Goodness me, it's cold. Who's cold? I even had two cups of tea today - it must be cold! The problem with cold weather is that it commands hot, filling food. I don't know about you but I don't much fancy cold dinners in this weather.

I took a lovely salad to work today - some cold chicken and a mix of salad leaves, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, shredded red cabbage, grated carrot and a fat free vinaigrette dressing. It was lovely, really. Very tasty. I was even full afterwards. But was I satisfied? Not a chance. The fact that a colleague wandered into the kitchen with 2 hot rolls, stuffed with sausages and potato scone didn't help. "WANT!" my brain screamed. I finished my salad. Meh. It did not hit the spot. Hoping to avoid the same fate tomorrow, I have whipped up a chickpea and couscous soup. I say soup, I added a bit too much couscous and it's more like a chickpea and couscous stew, but if it tastes good and is warm and filling, it's a win for me!

I was supposed to go to the gym tonight, but a bad back and a local holiday conspired against me and I came home to mooch in my joggies rather than do anything active in them. Because I planned to be out though, dinner was a ready meal, Mama Bee style. A bag of my yummy chilli from the freezer. This is what a ready meal is to me - something prepped or cooked in advance and finished off or reheated. We tend to serve this with steamed rice and, for me (because I am a wimp) fat free fromage frais ply my A choice for the day of grated cheddar cheese. This is a warm and comforting dinner. It's nutritious too, full of beans and tomatoes, onions peppers and shredded, tender brisket. What's not to like? The recipe is from Jamie's American Roadtrip.

So as we approach Wednesday I am hoping not to gain again this week. I really must stop having fun! This week saw me have three meals out, one of which featured lots of ice cream, pizza and wine, one features curry and the other deep fried chips. Oh well. It all tasted fantastic! If I can maintain that would be amazing and then next week, well - it's back to losses!

The picture attached shows me, Richy and Ali all showing off our new skinny figures. We look pretty good, don't we?

Kebabbiti bobbiti boo

I know I keep banging on and on about the same old things here, but the fact remains that you don't have to eat from packets or only rabbit food just because you are dieting. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good side salad or interesting main course salad with a nice dressing, but I also like not having to live on it. Tonight's dinner is a prime example: lamb shish kebabs with a yoghurt dressing, chillies, pickles and a salad on the side, lovingly crafted by Richy. He whips up a good side salad, with our favourite additions being crumbled feta cheese (50g being your A choice for the day) and chopped red or yellow peppers.

Ok ok - I admit that the bread pictured would in no way count as a B choice. This was weigh in day though (gained a pound, fact fans), so I made these flatbreads. You could, obviously, use a wholemeal pitta or syn some other kind of bread. These were delicious though, I would highly recommend having a go at making them at some point. The recipe I used is here - http://m.goodfoodchannel.co.uk/recipe/607690/flatbread/ - and I got 4 breads out of it.

This isn't a cheap recipe but I was lucky enough that my mum gave me a 300g piece of lamb leg which needed using. I daresay you could use any leg steaks or even diced lamb though, to be honest. Amusingly this is from a book called Economy Gastronomy - a truly brilliant book which I use often. Here is what I did:

Shish Kebabs, serves 2

LAMB
300g lamb, cut into 3cm cubes
1 clove I garlic, crushed
1/2tsp ground cumin
Salt

YOGHURT DRESSING
75g fat free Greek yoghurt
1/2 tbsp tahini paste (optional - 2.5 syns)
A handful of mint, chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1tbsp olive oil (optional - 6 syns)

TO BUILD, whatever you fancy of...
2 flatbreads or pittas, check
Finely sliced red cabbage
Chilli sauce
Sliced tomatoes
Sliced red onion
Dill pickles
Pickled chillies
Lemon juice

Mix together the lamb, cumin and garlic and allow to marinade for as many hours as you can, as long as overnight.

Heat a griddle or frying pan (you may need a splash of oil although we didn't) and when searingly hot place the lamb in and fry for 3-4 minutes each side.

Meanwhile, mix together all the yoghurt dressing ingredients. I used them all lay might but will try skipping the oil and tahini next time in the interests of keeping the syns down.

Make up a nice side salad and gather your condiments, once your lamb is cooked you are ready to go! We built ours with all the suggested items and although I was a little suspect about red cabbage or pickles, the whole thing was amazing. The cabbage and yoghurt made a kind of coleslaw underneath the meat and the pickled chillies 2 for me, one of which I only half ate, and I think 3 for Richy.

I mentioned above that I gained weight this week. I'm cool about it - it was a week of eating and drinking as I was away (hence why this post is belated). I think the 100lb in 2012 is unachievable now though, so I have revised my target to 91lb which is 6.5st - so 20.5lb to go. In all honesty though it's always been about clothes and dress sizes and the new dream is to go to my Christmas night out in a size 14 dress.

Fingers crossed!