The Nicest Thing I Ever Ate!

Warm Apple Crisp, need I say more?! Oh the warm cinnamony deliciousness of an apple crisp with low fat cream or ice cream. Just sooooo fulfilling for those of us now watching our sweet intake. Believe me, a little goes a long way to satisfaction with this baby! Quite simply one of the nicest things I ever ate. (Like the show on Food Network haha! Okay, too corny, I know :-) And so easy to make! Literally chop apple and top with mixture! You will not regret making this I tell you! The only problem may be stopping at one portion :-)

Okay so here's the recipe! Oh and enjoy..... :-)

Apple Crisp
10 portions - 6pp per Portion

4 medium cooking Apples
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Oats
1/2 cup Plain Flour
1/3 cup Low Fat Spread
3/4 tsp Cinnamon
3/4 tsp Nutmeg

Preheat your oven to 180C.
Peel and core your apples, cut into roughly one inch cubes.
Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl and then work in the butter with your fingers until you have a crumble texture.
Grease your baking tin with low fat spray, put your apples in and spread evenly, top with your mixture and also spread that evenly.
Now into the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
Add low fat cream/low fat ice cream/Greek yoghurt or anything else you fancy for a completely delicious and totally satisfying dessert!

After the Weekend!

Well what a roller coaster weekend I had, food wise! For the first Friday in I don't know how long, I didn't have any work or shopping etc to do. So myself and the OH decided we'd have pizza and a movie, just to celebrate Friday night! :-) Now we're still off the booze since Christmas, which is at least something! Because I dread to think of the extra points I could've clocked up if I had've added in a bottle or two of the auld vino ;-) So it turns out my pizza ( yes, mine alone!) was 26 points! Jesus, Mary, Joseph & all the Saints, I nearly passed out with the shock, and why I only pointed it AFTER eating it is madness! I obviously didn't want to know in advance, but I'll definitely bite the bullet in future and check before consuming item :-) So Saturday brought an Indian, Chicken Korma, rice & a nann. I looked it up online and the general consensus is 15 for the chicken korma, 13 for the rice and 7 for 85g of a nann. So needless to say,my weeklies are well gone! Now yesterday, I got up, spent a few hours cleaning the house and then made brunch. 2 bacon medallions, a poached egg, a slice of reduced fat cheese, a tbsp ketchup and an english muffin. Yep, you guessed it, I made myself a bacon mcmuffin at home, for 11 points :-) Later on I had a cookie with a cuppa for 3 points, and then I went horse riding, came home and made cauliflower soup and fruit salad for the week, had a bath and then went to bed. Totally forgot about dinner haha! So at least I reined it in after Friday and Saturday night ;-)
Am now prepared for the week, and am looking forward to the routine the week brings :-)

I hope you all have a great week too :-)

WI - Week 3 Results!

Well I got up on the scales tonight in anticipation of having 2lbs down and getting my first silver seven! I was all giddy and nervous like a teenage schoolgirl! My leader asked how my week was, and I told her that while I had stayed within my points, I had not done much exercise (I went horse riding once ahem ahem). So up pops the screen and, drumroll please................ 1.5LBS down! Curses!! You'd want to have seen me, hands up to my face, nooooooooooo! Ha ha ha :-) She said why, whats wrong and I told her that I'm only a stinking half lb from my 1st silver seven, and true enough she says but your down 1.5lbs that's a good weight loss, and that's now 6.5lbs in 3 weeks, that's an average of 2lbs a week. Not bad going, and know that you'll get your silver seven and hopefully more next week. So after both cursing and laughing at myself for not exercising and sharing the news with my OH, I rebalanced and settled in for my meeting.

Hopefully see less of us all next week!! :-)

You would never think it's WW - Lasagne!

This evening I made the lasagne recipe from the WW book, the Complete Kitchen.
Well, you would not believe how good this is! I actually feel like I'm after having seconds I'm so full, and have to remind myself that I'm within my points! And it is so full flavoured, really delicious. I even made extra to freeze & for lunch in work tomorrow. So here it is, and I won't have to tell you twice to.... Enjoy! :) (Now I added some oven chips, so they are not included in the points mentioned below, much to your dismay I'm sure!) :)

WW Lasagne - 4 Portions - 11pp per Portion

I added mushrooms and a tsp of Oregano to this recipe, which spread over the recipe is 0 points per portion.

For the bolognese -
Chop 2 onions, 2 carrots, 2 garlic cloves and (I added) punnet of mushrooms and sauté for 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and put in a bowl until later.
Cook 250g of lean mince until browned in your pan. When browned add back in your cooked veg.
Add a tsp of mixed herbs and (I added) a tsp of Oregano, 200mls of beef stock and a tin of chopped tomatoes.
Leave that to simmer on a low heat, stirring every now and then for 10 minutes.
To make the béchamel sauce -
Add to a pot on med-low heat 450mls skimmed milk, 40g plain flour, a bay leaf and 40g of low fat spread. Stirring constantly until it thickens and forms a sauce, approx 8-10 minutes. Remove the bay leaf.
To assemble the lasagne -
Put some sauce on the bottom of your lasagne dish for the pasta sheets to stick to. Place your pasta sheets on top. Place some of your bolognese on top of that. Scatter some low fat mozzarella on top of the bolognese. Then start again with the pasta sheets, the sauce, the bolognese, the mozzarella, more pasta sheets, more sauce and then sprinkle some Parmesan on the top of the lasagne.
Put into a preheated oven at 190C for approx 40 minutes!

Seriously tasty! You have to try it!

Silver Seven in Sight!

Hi there!
So went through my usual routine yesterday of disappearing into the kitchen on a Sunday in preparation for the working week ahead! I am actually so motivated to not go overboard this week. With my weigh in in sight for Thursday evening, where if I am lucky and loose 2lbs, I will get my 1st silver 7! Excitement! Now thank God for the weekly allowance of points we get in addition to the daily points, because I just use them on any given day when I find I need a little something extra to get me through. I haven't had any major nights out since the start of the new year, so don't need to save them for a night on the booze or a meal out. I am currently doing a course in horse care and stable management so all my funds are going into that, much to my waistlines delight I'm sure! :) So in work I am sticking to my 0 point veg soup for lunch and a 0 point fruit salad in the afternoons to ensure I stick within my points to hopefully get my target weight loss for this week!

Fingers Crossed!!

This week I made the following.

Fruit Salad - 0 ProPoints

Chopped mango, kiwi, pineapple, peaches and grapes. With a squeeze of lime juice over it all to prevent from browning.

Broccoli Soup - 6 Portions at 0 ProPoints per Portion

A chopped Onion, Carrot, Celery, 2 cloves of garlic - all sauteed in 1 tbsp olive oil (1pp) for 5 minutes until soft.
Then add a tbsp of mixed herbs (1pp), a litre of water and 2 chopped heads of broccoli.
Simmer for 15-20 mins and then blend.

Banana Bread - 12 Portions at 3 ProPoints per Slice

I use the American cup measurments for baking, much easier than measuring everything out :)

Mix -
1 cup mashed Banana
1 large Egg
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp Sugar

In another bowl mix -
1 and a half cups Plain Flour
Half tsp Cinnamon
Quarter tsp Baking Soda
1 and a half tsp Baking Powder
A pinch Salt

Preheat fan over to 190C.
Mix both together. Use spray oil to grease the inside of a loaf tin and turn your mixture into it.

Bake for 15 mins at the 190C it's already at, then turn down to 160C for another 20-25 mins. It's done when you pit a skewer down into it and it comes out clean without any of the mixture on it.

WI - Week 2 Results!

Well all, I'm just back from my 2nd WW weigh in. Now I felt I had been a bit of a chancer with the plan this week :) I barely got off my back side I have to say and only went walking 1 day. Not the best in fairness! Now I did stay within my points, but literally, to the point! When I had a few points left over at the end of the day, I would be looking for something nice in the presses to use them up. I should've really saved them towards my weight loss, but sure tis done now and I'll try not to 'treat' myself with my leftover points this week and have something healthier instead. So I have to say I didn't have any ideas of grandure going to my meeting. But.... low and behold, 3lbs off! I'm delighted! My leader said that I had followed the plan and that's that, it works. She actually said not to add up activity points earned from exercising, just not to complicate things that much. Just to stick to the daily points and the weekly points and exercise because it helps your weight loss and you know it's good for your health. So I am definitely committing to doing some sort of exercise every second day this week and see where that gets me.

So onwards and downwards for next weeks WI! :-)

Preparation for the Working Week Ahead!

So I did my weekly shopping this morning & have barely left the kitchen since I got home! All in preparation for my working week ahead.

At the office where I work there is a canteen where I could buy a relatively healthy lunch. But I am one of those people that would have the best intentions of getting a chicken & salad wrap, and then I get to the counter and visions of coleslaw & egg mayonnaise take over! So for my own good, I bring lunch and anything else I may need to get me through the day with me. Honestly without it, I wouldn't manage to stay within my points for the day!

So I have made Butternut Squash & Sweet Potato Soup and a fresh fruit salad to bring to work for the week. I've pointed the soup at 2pp per portion of which I got 5 out of this recipe and the fruit salad is 0pp which can only be a good thing! :)

For the soup -
1 Butternut Squash
1 Sweet Potato
1 Carrot
1 Onion
1 Clove garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1 ltr veg or chicken stock
1 tbsp mixed herbs
Salt & black pepper to taste

Peel & chop all your veg into 1 inch chunks. The best way I have found to tackle a butternut squash is to cut both ends off 1st. Then cut in half. Then you have flat surfaces to work from to peel. Put one of the halves flat side down on the counter and peel with a knife downwards. When that's done, cut in half downwards again. Then scoop out the inside with a spoon, much easier & safer than a knife. Then chop away to your hearts content :)
Heat the oil in a large pot on low- medium heat. Add the onion and grate in the garlic. You can finely chop your garlic either, I just find it easier to grate straight into the pot. Let soften stirring occasionally for approx 5 mins. Add your herbs, salt & pepper and stir. After another minute you can add all your other veg, toss everything around together in the pot so all the flavours rub onto each other. Then add a ltr of veg or chicken stock and stir.
Place a lid on your pot, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 mins. When done, put into a blender and blend until smooth. This will keep well for at least 3 days refrigerated. Simples! :-)

For my fruit salad I simply chopped kiwi, apples and pears. I added in tinned pineapple chunks and peach slices, both in fruit juice not syrup. Stir to mix & then squeeze the juice of a lemon or lime over your fruit and toss to coat everything in the juice. This will prevent from browning. This will also keep well for at least 3 days refrigerated. Enjoy!

Am loving the iWatcher app by the way! Fabulous that once you have pointed something it's saved to your favourites so that you never have to point it again! Anything for an easy life I say! :-)

Week 1 - The Results are in!

Well I went to my first WI last night. I have to say, I thought I would have a mild heart attack before I got on the scales with the anxiety of wanting to do well! So needless to say am ecstatic to say, 1st week, 2lbs down! Yew haw!
Now for those of you that loose 2lbs and think it's not that much or you could've done better.. Have you ever held 2lbs of fat in your hands?! Because I have! And I tell you when you look at a vacuum package of 1 or 2lbs of animal fat from the butchers, you will never be so happy that that is no longer clinging onto your insides somewhere! Urgh! :-)
So am more than determined for the coming week now! Once you see that loss on the scales, it's like an addiction! You just want more and more weight loss! I wasn't too hot in the tracking last week, so I've now downloaded the iWatcher app for the iPhone and am going to use that to track everything! Will let you know how it works out!

Onwards and downwards! :-)

1st WI tomorrow Evening! Mexican Chili for dinner

So I have joined back to weight watchers! As I'm sure so many others have too given the time of year! New Years Resolutions & all that. So I was in weight watchers before 2 years ago to loose weight for my wedding. I lost 1 & a half stone which was fab, and has also crept its way back on which has resulted in the determination to not only loose that, but hopefully 3 stone this time! Now this is the first I've heard of the new ProPoints system, so am trying to wrap my head around that this week. It will take some getting used to having been used to the regular points system previously. But Rome was never built in a day, and I'm not in a mad panic to loose the weight. Slow and steady wins the race, so I'm aiming for at least 1 pound a week and I'll get there for this time next year. My 1st weigh in (WI) is tomorrow evening and I am hopeful, at least that the 1st pound will have been lost, so watch this space!
In lieu of my WI tomorrow I made a gorgeous Mexican Chili with brown rice. I used 125g of lean mince at 6pp, 60g dry weight of brown rice also at 6pp, a load of veggies and spices! Veggies I used are corn, kidney beans, mushrooms, onions, chili's and garlic. All no points except the corn & kidney beans, both at 2pp for 2 tbsp. Spices are cumin, oregano and coriander, a tbsp of each.

And as I did not eat this all in one sitting obviously! I am having the leftovers in a wrap for lunch in work tomorrow! Happy days!

Fingers crossed for tomorrow evenings WI!