Weigh In .. Final One of 2012 ..

The after Christmas weigh was upon me and I was prepared for anything. The scales could do their worst, but as it turns out I wasn't quite prepared for what I was looking at when I looked at the screen.

 

For the week over Christmas I had only put on 1 and a half pounds on, I was delighted, I hadn't really done any damage at all. This is manageable, well it's more than manageable, it's amazing.

I am at the moment  13 stone 7 lbs, so I am still maintaining that 3 stone weight loss!

 

I couldn't be more back on it if I tried, ready to battle onto my 3 1/2 stone award! It's salad tonight and tomorrow it's Iceland's Lamb Shanks in mint gravy, served with lots of superfree veg. I get the frozen lamb shanks, 450g each, 3 syns each.

 

So as this year is closing I wanted to say a big thank you to Slimming World because they have made my life drastically change, I can honestly say I would of never got this far without it. Never have a found a diet more easy and more productive than the Slimming World one. I have amazing meals, things I wouldn't even tried, and yet still I get results. I have pushed myself in the gym more than I ever thought possible, I mean I have never run on a treadmill before now and now it's the first thing I do when I enter a gym.

 

More importantly though I would like to say thank you to my consultant Mandy and the rest of the group because they are inspiration, support and friends. Would never have kept this up as good as I have without them. I now look forward to going and can't wait to spend time there, chatting, supporting and learning!

 

I am loving going into a new year a healthier, happier me. So I will see you next year, I hope its a good New Years Eve for everyone!

Chicken Goujons ..

Just come back from an hours workout at the gym, getting ready for another great week. Didn't majorly push myself this evening, it was just a good workout. And I feel great for it.

 

Before that I had an easy meal of chicken goujons, SW chips and peas.

 

Ingredients:

4 portions of mini chicken fillets (about 16 pieces)

1 egg, beaten

25g golden breadcrumbs

A few potatoes, cut into chips

Fry Light

 

1. Preheat oven to 190c.

2. Spray a baking tray with Fry Light, place chips on baking tray and lightly spray again over the top.

3. Dip each mini fillet in the beaten egg and lightly coat with the breadcrumbs, place on another baking tray sprayed with Fry Light and pop both in oven for 30 mins turning once halfway through.

4. Serve with veg or a crisp salad.

 

This recipe serves 4, and is 1.5 syns each serving.

I have worked out that 25g of golden breadcrumbs is 4.5, so this dived by for and rounded up would be 1.5. If you want it syn free you can use wholemeal bread blitz in a food processor to make breadcrumbs and use this as your Healthy B choice.



Steak & Mushroom Casserole ..

Tonight I had a gorgeous steak and mushroom casserole, at just 2 syns per serving. This one pot serves 4 and really easy to make. 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

600g lean steak, all visible fat removed, cut into large bite-sized pieces

300g mushrooms, roughly chopped

1 level tbsp cornflour

1 large onion, peeled and sliced

1 large carrot, peeled and cut into large bite-sized pieces

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

300g passata

100ml red wine

100ml beef stock

seasoning

 

1. Preheat oven at 180c/Gas 4.

2. Toss the steak in the cornflour to coat evenly then place in the casserole dish. Add the mushrooms, onion, carrot and garlic and toss to mix well. Pour in the passata, wine and stock and season well.

3. Cover with a lid, bring to the boil then transfer the casserole to the oven and cook for about 2 hours or until the meat in tender.

4. Serve immediately with potatoes and veg of choice.

 

A truly great low syn meal, and you could also substitute the mushrooms for the same amount of kidneys to make a great casserole take on a popular pie.



Achievement Unlocked ..

So today's meal was a simple but tasty syn free steak and chips. I made the SW syn free chips, grilled the steak and served with dry fried mushrooms and peas. Lovely.

 

Also this evening I went to the gym with fellow slimmer Gareth and Joanne, started off on the treadmill and did 30 mins on there. I ran today a collective number of 7.5 mins, that's 30 seconds more than I have ever done so that is an achievement to me! Then moved onto the bikes and rowing machine and once again ended on the weights.

 

Always feel much better after going to the gym and now its time to write my meal plan for the coming week.

Back To The Gym ..

 

 

It was back to the gym tonight with Gareth, I've missed a whole week of exercise so it was slow going tonight, plus the stitch didn't help. Tonight I only did 2 and a half mins of running, 30 mins on treadmill, 10 mins on cross trainer. Then I went onto the bikes and rowing machine. Lastly we finished up with some weight and ten mins of hilarity of Gareth trying to sit ups with the weight ball. He succeeded in the end but the trying was amusing. I feel better now I've been to the gym, feel like I have actually done something to help with my weight loss and can't wait to get back there on Friday evening.

 

Before I went out I had cooked home made lasagne. Just 1 and a half syns per serving. I put mine with chips and peas.

 

 

 

Ingredients:

397g/14oz extra lean minced beef

2 onions, peeled and finely chopped

200g mushrooms, roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

400g can chopped tomatoes

397g/14oz passata with herbs and garlic

2 tsp dried mixed herbs

seasoning

511g/1lb 2oz fat free natural yoghurt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

a pinch of nutmeg

Fry Light

12 dried lasagne sheets

4 level tbsp grated Parmesan

 

1. Place a large, non-stick frying pan over a high heat. Add the mince, onion, mushroom, and garlic and stir-fry for 6-8 mins. Add the tomatoes, passata and dried herbs, season well and cook for 12-15 mins, stirring often.

2. Meanwhile mix together the yoghurt, eggs and nutmeg until smooth. Season well.

3. Preheat oven to 200c/Gas 6. Spray a medium-sized lasagne dish with Fry Light. Spoon half the mince mixture into the base and top with half the lasagne sheets. Spread over half of the yoghurt mixture and top with the remaining mince mixture. Top with the remaining lasagne sheets, spread over the remaining yoghurt mix and sprinkle over the Parmesan.

4. Bake in the oven for 25-30 mins or until the top is golden. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

 

You can also build up the superfree by adding courgettes or peppers, or to give it a kick some chili's.

Now the lasagne is beautiful but the yoghurt topping didn't really go with my taste palette, so I have been looking at alternatives. Tesco white lasagne sauce is 11 syns for 200g, this divided by 4 servings is 3 syns, so all in all a serving with jar of white sauce on top will be 4.5 syns. This I am still happy with and I believe it will taste creamier. Also I have to point out that with this recipe I added 500g of mince to bulk up the meat, and I could actually serve 6, so the lasagne was actually 1 syn each serving.

 



Frozen Soup Cups & Bolognese ..

 

I made gorgeous SW syn free mushroom soup today, I had plenty left over so had to freeze some. My friend and Slimming Worlder Gemma informed us of this great idea of pouring the soup into flexible silicone muffin trays, then putting these in the freezer, once frozen pop them out. I put mine into freezer bags, and put back into freezer. 2 cups should be enough for a bowl, so just heat up when you want. Such a great idea.

 

 

 

This soup recipe is really easy and tastes delicious.

 

Ingredients:

2 Onions, peeled and chopped

500g Mushrooms, finely chopped

2.5 pints Vegetable stock ( I used a little less for a thicker consistency)

Seasoning

200g Low fat fromage frais

 

1. Fry onions and mushrooms until softened.

2. Add stock and bring to the boil.

3. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

4. Remove from the heat and blitz with a hand blender or food processor.

5. Add the fromage frais.

6. Blitz again, and serve.

 

 



 

 

Tonight for dinner I tried a new recipe of Bolognese Pasta Bake, and I'm glad I did because it was delicious! Really tasty and filling. This is 2.5 syns on Extra Easy. Unless your using your Healthy A for the cheese. I had mine with a Weight Watchers petit pan (free if using it as your Healthy B) but you could have some greens instead, or it can be a great meal on its own. Here's the recipe.

 

Ingredients:

250g dried pasta shapes

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 celery stick, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced

250g mushrooms, roughly chopped

500g extra lean minced beef

400g can chopped tomatoes

250ml beef stock

1tsp dried oregano

seasoning

110g reduced fat mozzarella cheese, diced.

 

1. Preheat oven to 180c/Gas 4.

2. Cook the pasta until al dente (tender but still retaining a bite). Drain well.

3. Place the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, mushrooms and minced beef in a large non-stick frying pan and stir-fry over a high heat for 6-7 mins.

4. Add the tomatoes, stock and oregano and bring to the boil. Season well, cover and cook over a medium heat for 20 mins, stirring occasionally.

5. Remove from heat.

6. Spoon half of the bolognese mixture into the base of a medium-sized baking dish and top with the cooked pasta. Spoon over the remaining mixture and sprinkle with cheese.

7. Bake in the oven for 25-30 mins or until bubbling. Remove from oven and serve.

PB Best Record Broken!

So just got back from doing some exercise in the pool. I have just broken my personal best of 50 laps and done 60, I'm ecstatic, I really am. I have never done this much swimming, I don't even like swimming that much. Ha ha.

I was lagging when it came to 55 but me and Gareth really pushed ourselves and really tried and I am quite proud of us. I am hurting and I'm most likely going to feel it tomorrow but it will be worth it!

Before I went swimming I made Beef and Bean Hot-Pot Bake for dinner. Yes it's the return of the one pot but I love them, I really can't stress enough how easy they are.

 

 

 

Ingredients:

 

750g lean stewing beef, all visible at removed, cuubed

2 large onions, peeled and roughly chopped

450g carrots, peeled and rougly chopped

1 level tbsp plain flour

salt and pepper

200ml boiling hot beef stock

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

400g can baked beans

2 bay leaves

600g potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

 

1. Preheat oven 180c/Gas 4.

2. Place the beef, onions, carrots and flour in a baking dish, season and toss to mix well.

3. Pour in the boiling hot stock, then add the Worcestershire sauce, baked beans and bay leaves. Stir to mix well and arrange the slices of potato on top of the meat mixture.

4. Cover with foil then place in oven for about 1 and a 1/2 hours or until the potatoes are cooked and tender.

5. Remove foil, then turn the oven up to brown the potatoes, or finish under grill for 5-8 mins until brown.

 

I served mine with some greens and it was gorgeous, serves for and it's 1 syn each serving.