Week 9 -

This weeks challenge set to us by the lovely Sue Glenn is to have 4 S foods with each meal and to try 1 new S food a day that we have never tried before.
 
I will modify the challenge slightly and aim for the 4 S foods with our evening meal mainly due to budget, however I am quite excited about trying a new S food each day!

Saturday: Chinese Pear

This looks like an apple and tastes very faintly like a pear. It has the same texture as a pear and is incredibly juicy but the flavour just isn't very strong. Saying that, I would happily eat another one.

Sunday: Kale

I decided that I was going to try out Crispy Kale! I had heated the oven to 180 degrees c. and laid out the Kale on a baking tray. Spray with Fry Light and sprinkling of sea salt. I left it in the oven for 15 minutes... which was way too long! Sadly, mine came out all brown so 10 minutes would be sufficient! They definitely tasted like chips though... even though they were brown and overcooked!

Week 8 - +1lb

And so begins my yo-yo. I tend to get stuck at this weight for a while. Not surprised that I had a gain this week. Over the weekend I didn't really stick to the plan at all and only really got my head straight on Monday.

Still, I am not going to dwell on this. It is a minor set back and the rest of the week is clear for me with no social events!

On the menu for this week is:

Saturday: Chicken and Quorn Sausage Paella
Sunday: Thai Green Chicken Curry
Monday: Spaghetti Bolognaise
Tuesday: Chicken Chow Mein
Wednesday: at the inlaws
Thursday: Arrabbiata Pasta
Friday: Sausage, Egg and Chips

Starting Weight: 11st 2lb
Weigh-In: 1lb on
Closing Weight: 11st 3lb
Lbs to Target: 17

Chicken and Bacon Kebabs on Mixed Vegetables - SP

Serves 2
30 minutes
Syn Free

Ingredients

3 chicken breasts
8 rashers of smoked bacon
2 peppers
1/2 large onion
2 packets of mixed vegetables
Fry Light

Method

Preheat the grill to full

Cut the chicken, bacon, peppers and onions into similar sized bite size pieces and arrange them on kebab sticks

Spray each kebab with Fry Light (I chose the garlic infused Fry Light)

Grill for five minutes each side or until the meat is cooked through

Cook the mixed vegetables according to packet instructions

Chilli con Carne with Cauliflower Rice - SP

Serves 2
40 minutes
Syn Free

Ingredients

500g 5% less mince beef
1 onion (finely chopped)
1 tsp. Lazy Garlic
1 red Chilli
2 tsp. Ground Cumin
1 tsp. Paprika
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Hot chilli powder
1 can of chopped tomatoes
3 tbsp. tomato puree
300ml beef stock
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 can of kidney beans
1 large Cauliflower
Bag of mixed vegetables
Fry Light

Method

Stir Fry the mince over a high heat in a large pan sprayed with Fry Light until the mince has browned. Transfer to a bowl and set aside, pouring away any liquid in the pan.

Respray the pan with Fry Light and on a low heat, stir fry the onion for about 6 minutes until softened. Add the garlic, spices and the chilli and continue to stir fry for a further 4 minutes.

Add the peppers, tomatoes, tomato puree  and the stock and bring to the boil. Then carefully add the mince and stir together. Turn the temperature down to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes before adding the kidney beans. Cook for a further 5 to 10 minutes until the sauce has thickened beautifully.

 Whilst the chilli is bubbling away, separate the cauliflower florets and then grate them. I used a hand grater (bit of Body Magic at the same time!)

Once this is done, spray a large frying pan with Fry Light and on a medium to low heat gently warm the cauliflower rice, constantly stirring so that it doesn't stick and burn. This also helps to remove some of the moisture.

Cook the mixed vegetables as per packet instructions.


Serve all together!

Week 7 - 1lb Off

Phew what a busy week at work! I had three SP days this week and lost a pound. I can't moan too much I guess as a loss is a loss but I was hoping for a little bit more!

I have had a bit of a lucky week though! I posted a picture on my instagram page (laurenrobertson1) of my SP Quorn sausages and veg meal and Quorn kindly selected me to receive a gift for "random act of kindness" day!

Then today I uploaded a picture of the delicious Chilli con Carne with cauliflower rice onto a local Slimming World Facebook page and myself and a friend from our Thursday night club won a diary!

And then finally we celebrated Chinese New Year this evening with a gorgeous Kung Pao Chicken (and a couple of Buds). A wonderful end to a very hectic week.

Starting Weight: 11st 3lb
Weigh in: 1lb off
Closing Weight: 11st 2lb
Lbs to target: 16lb

Singapore Pork Noodles - 1 Syn

Serves 2
20 minutes
1 Syn

Ingredients

250g dried egg noodles
250g less than 5% fat pork mince
3 spring onions
1 red chilli
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. lazy garlic
1x bag of ready prepped stir fry veg
1 tbsp. light soy sauce
1 tbsp. dark soy sauce
1 tbsp. sweet chilli sauce
Fry Light

Method

Cook noodles as per packet instructions then drain, set to one side and keep warm.

Spray a large wok with Fry Light (I HIGHLY recommend the Chilli Fry Light) and stir fry the mince, ginger, chilli, spring onions for 5/6 minutes or until the mince has browned.

Add the ready prepped stir fry veg and stir fry for another 5/6 minutes,

Add the soy sauces and sweet chill sauce and stir fry for a further 5 minutes.

Serve the stir fry mixture on top of the noodles!

 

Week 6 - Stayed the same

And so the rollercoaster that is Slimming World continues! Last week I was genuinely expecting a loss and got a gain. This week, I had two big meals out and also a night out on the tiles and managed to stay the same. Not that I am complaining about not gaining any weight but it definitely works in mysterious ways this diet!

This week we have decided to throw in some SP days to try and boost the weight loss.

Our evening meal menu is:

Saturday: Gammon, Egg and SW Chips
Sunday: SP - Quorn Sausages, Swede Mash and Veg
Monday: Singapore Pork Noodles
Tuesday: SP - Chilli with Cauliflower Rice and vegetables
Wednesday: Roast at the in-laws
Thursday: SP in the day time then Arrabbiata Pasta after weigh in!
Friday: Kung Pao Chicken to celebrate Chinese New Year (albeit a day late!)

My SP lunch for today consists of a delicious cheese and marmite sandwich and an apple and now I'm going to drag poor Matt for a 5 mile walk!

Starting weight: 11st 3lb
Weigh in: 0
Closing weight: 11st 3lb

Chilli Coconut Rice

Serves 2
25 minutes
1 syn

Ingredients

1 cup of rice
1 onion
1tsp. chilli flakes
100ml coconut milk
500ml vegetable stock
Fry Light

Method

Finely chop the onion and fry in a heavy saucepan for about 3 minutes or until softened. Add the chilli flakes and continue to cook for a further minute or so.

Add the rice, coconut milk and stock and bring to the boil. Once boiling, lower the heat to a simmer and cover tightly.

Cook for 10 to 12 minutes and then take off the heat and let stand for 5 minutes to ensure all the liquid is absorbed.


I served this rice with Thai Green Chicken curry and it was delicious! I tend to waste a lot of coconut milk so to be able to use this in the rice and in the meal made this feel particularly indulgent!

Week 5 - +1.5lbs

Well, I had a feeling this week wouldn't be good due to dropping 3lb last week but I was so shocked that I had gained 1.5lbs!

I was very disappointed. At work we have had quite an intense training week and I was so pleased that I had avoided the sandwich trolley and stuck with my mug shots and fruit.

So as I was feeling very sorry for myself I really didn't want to stay to group, however Matt insisted. This week it was couple of the year 2015 and so I had managed to dig out some old (and incredibly horrible) photo's of us. It was nice actually looking back at the pictures to see how far we have come though so that cheered me up! There is 3 years difference between these photo's and I can totally see the difference in my face.

Alton Towers - October 2011



Florida - October 2014

There is 3 years difference between these pictures and I can really see the difference so it is nice to put that into perspective.

We also won couple of the year in our group! That was a really lovely boost to my confidence (so thank you to all the lovely people that voted for us!)

 

This next week I have had two meals out and one night out so I am well expecting a gain on Thursday - however this gain would be totally expected.

 

 

Weight: 11st 3lbs

Gained: +1.5lbs

Lbs to target: 1st 3lbs



 

 

Winter Weekends

Brrr... the temperature has plummeted again but we decided that as it was dry we were going to kick off the walking so Saturday saw us walking 5 and half miles around the island. In the summer, we would do this walk maybe 3 or 4 times a week but this time it seemed like a real long slog!

This time of year is perfect for making soups. I picked up a packet of vegetables for soup, boiled it up in 1.5 litres of water and I added 2 vegetable stock cubes and 1 chicken stock cube. Once the veg was soft, I blended using a hand blender. Simple as that and was delicious! Making healthy, homemade soups need not be time consuming and complicated!

 

 

 

To warm us up from our winter walk, I cooked one of our favourites: Chicken Dopiaza. Another delicious and easy curry which can be cooked in about 20 minutes. I used pre-cooked chicken and this cut down the cooking time so I was able to jump back under the blankets on the sofa and carry on watching Godzilla in no time!

 

Gammon, Egg and Veg - SP

Serves 2
30 minutes
Syn Free

Ingredients

2x Gammon Steaks (all visible fat removed)
2x eggs
1x bag of mixed veg
1x bag of swede and carrot mix
Fry Light

Method

Boil the swede and carrot mix as per packet instructions (around 15 to 20 minutes and then drain and mash.

Whilst the swede and carrot mix is boiling away, spray a frying pan (I used a griddle pan) with fry light and cook the gammon steaks for about 5 minutes each side.

Cook the mixed vegetable mix as per packet instructions. I have a fabulous microwavable steamer so 6 minutes in the microwave and it's done!

And last but not least, fry up your eggs just before serving.


This is a really quick and easy meal - ideal if time is a bit short. Buying pre-packet veg is a life saver when your in a hurry!