Baked Oats

Serves 1    
20 minutes
Syn Free (if using Healthy Extras)

Ingredients

35g porridge oats
50ml milk
1 egg
half tsp. cinnamon

Method


 Preheat your oven to 200c.

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients together and fill 3 cup cake wrappers.

Cook for 20 minutes or until golden.


These a just the very basic plain ones - you can add absolutely anything you like into them however you will need to remember to count the syns - even when you are using fruit.

Other recipes for this that I have seen contain 2 tbsp. of low calorie sweetener however I found that it really overpowered the taste so I have not included it from this recipe.

Going it Alone!

So after 2 years of attending a Slimming World group, we have decided to go it alone!

We found that our group was too late at night for us and we wouldn't be able to attend each week and to be honest with you, we were essentially paying just to weigh ourselves each week.

I feel that we have been doing Slimming World for long enough that we can pull it off on our own. So, we have been out and bought some shiny new bathroom scales and moved weigh in day to Friday morning so that we can potentially relax just a smidgen on the weekend!

I have downloaded a nifty app called My Fitness Pal and I'm using that to log all my food and also to keep under the calories that it sets my for the day whilst at the same time still following the Slimming World plan.

It's our first week weigh in day tomorrow and I am feeling optimistic!

Salad Ideas! Beetroot and Egg Salad

I'm always a little stumped for nice salad ideas as I usually find them so boring.. but this is something else!

This little beauty is made up of:

Beetroot
Boiled Eggs
Lettuce
Red Pepper
Cucumber
1tbs. crispy onions (1 syn)

Week 17 - 1.5lbs gain

Oh dear.. another gain...

This was a busy weekend full of Dominoes pizza and 2 birthday parties... So I know exactly where I went wrong and I was expecting a gain... But I feel pretty pleased as I contained my naughtiness to the specified days so it could have been a whole lot worse if I had thrown caution to the wind!

This week holds my dads birthday party... best through in some super good days!

Chicken Supreme

Serves 2
30 minutes
Syn Free

Ingredients

2 skinless chicken breasts
6 rashers of bacon - visible fat trimmed
1 onion finely chopped
100g Quark
150ml of chicken stock
1 tsp. mustard seeds
Fry Light
1 bag of mixed veg


Method

Spray a frying pan with fry light and fry the chicken until browned.

Add in the onions and fry until softened

Add the bacon and fry for a further 5 minutes

Meanwhile, mix the quark, chicken stock and mustard seeds together to form a smooth, creamy sauce.

Cook the rice and mixed vegetables according to packet instructions

Once the meat and onions are ready pour in the sauce and slowly warm. Don't boil as the sauce will split.

Serve immediately!



You can, of course, add what ever vegetables you like to the dish. The usual recipe's include mushrooms in Chicken Supreme. Mushrooms are not to my taste shall we say so I simply have not included them!

The Magic of Fry Light

I am super impressed with these two products - they are really full of flavour and I have found that some of my meals have really been enhanced by them.

I still need to use a few squirts of ordinary Fry Light and then I add a couple of squirts of either the Chilli or Garlic for flavour. They don't seem to be able to pull off cooking without the added help of either the Sunflower or Olive Oil spray (although it could just be that my frying pan is nearing the end of it's life!)

I highly recommend spraying some chips with the garlic oil prior to cooking them... the aroma that drifts from the oven is just divine.

Week 15 - 16 My Birthday!

So this last week saw me celebrating my 30th birthday... And celebrate I did! Below is just a snippet of what I had been indulging in...

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have not held back and had a wonderful time... but Monday I was straight back on it and this week...some how... I was rewarded with a 2.5lb loss!

 

After all of that!

 

Now that Easter and my birthday is out of the way I'm hoping to regain my focus. I've got the odd few events coming up but no long weekends of gluttony!

 

I find it funny now that after a couple of days of trashy eating I can really feel awful. I get bloated, tired and my poor skin... I actually look forward to getting back to eating healthy and the way it makes me feel physically. It used to all be about the numbers on the scales but now it really is about the whole healthy picture.

Week 13 and Week 14

Well... these last two weeks have been pretty horrific weight wise. I just couldn't get my head into it. We were unable to weigh in in week 13 so had a double whammy of naughtiness on Thursday.

It was a big one.

I had gained 8 and a half pounds. In two weeks.

There's a kick up the butt if ever I need one.

13 weeks ago I was at 11 stone 10lb and I'm right back there again.

But the Easter Eggs have gone! I have my birthday in a few days (and that will not be Slimming World friendly) but I am making a huge effort to ensure that I am not writing off the whole week just for a couple of days of celebration.

SO... I have dusted off the walking shoes and have been making the most of the beautiful spring weather we are having!

Today we had a glorious al fresco lunch of Low Fat Chilli Chicken Super Noodles and I used up some onion and peppers to boost the free food.

 

 

Then took a stroll (5 mile walk!) around the beautiful Isle of Portland. It's views like the one below that makes the Body Magic easy. Gorgeous landscape and pretty hilly too so great for toning!



 

 

 

We have booked off next week as holiday as my birthday falls on a Thursday and I plan on having a few cheeky glasses of something in the day time so I've got 2 weeks to lose as much of this 8.5lb as I can.

 

Game on. 

Week 10, 11 and 12!

Well, I have been massively slacking with the updates these last couple of weeks! And now I will tell you why!

Week 9

I was very much looking forward to this weigh-in. I had been good all week and felt that I deserved a good loss. Nothing.  Not a smidgen. I stayed the same. To say I was downhearted would be an understatement so this then made me take a week off Slimming World. I decided I was going to eat what I wanted, when I wanted for a whole week. I had cake with half inch thick frosting, KFC, McDonalds, pizza and chips (along with all sorts of other naughty "treats") and I enjoyed every bit of it. I know it was completely pointless rebelling as it was only myself I was rebelling against but I needed it. The main reason why I needed it was to reaffirm to myself that even if I maintained, if I went back to how I used to eat then the weight would soon pile back on.

Week 10

Needless to say I was expecting a gain and I got one. 3lbs on. But, I had got it out of my system.

Week 11

One week fully focused and straight back on plan and I lost the 3lb from my naughty week. I'm glad I did it - and it shows that the plan does work and this was just a blip for me. Onwards and hopefully downwards!

Chicken and Vegetable Paella

Serves 4
40 minutes
2 syns


Ingredients

2 chicken breasts, diced
8 Quorn Sausages, cut into bite size pieces
1/2 courgette, chopped
1 large onion
1/2 bag of sugar snap peas
6 spring onions
100g peas
1 tsp. Paprika
1 tsp. Turmeric
750ml Chicken Stock
Fry Light

Method

Preheat the oven and cook Quorn sausages according to packet instructions.

Spray a frying pan with Fry Light and cook the chicken. Put to one side once cooked.

Spray a large frying pan or Paella pan with Fry Light and  fry the onions for about 10 minutes until golden and soft.

Add the courgette, spring onions, pepper and sugar snap peas and fry for 5 minutes.

Stir in the rice and paprika then add the chicken stock and bring to the boil.

Once boiled, turn down the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes then add the cooked chicken, Quorn sausage, peas and turmeric. Simmer for a further 10 minutes or until all the stock has been absorbed.

Turn off the heat and cover the pan for about 5 minutes then serve!

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!