Spicy Chicken, Tomato & Chickpea Soup

Posted April 25, 2014

Filed under Recipes, Uncategorized

An incredibly simple, tasty and filling soup.

Servings: 4

Pro Points: 7

Simple Start: Yes

Filling & Healthy: 0

Cooking time: 1 hour 35 minutes

Ingredients

1tsp healthy oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 medium (165g each) chicken breasts, cut into small cubes
1/4tsp chilli powder
1tsp ground turmeric
1tsp ground cinnamon
150g tomato puree
1.5l vegetable stock made with 2 stock cubes
410g can chickpeas, rinsed
40g whole wheat pasta, broken into small pieces
3tsp dried mint
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2tbsp 0% fat natural yogurt

Method

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion then cover and cook gently until soft, without browning.
Add the meat and brown well.
Add the spices and tomato puree. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
Gradually add the stock over a period of 15 minutes in order to maintain a thick consistency. When all the stock is added, cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the chickpeas then simmer for a further 5 minutes.
Stir in the pasta and simmer for 7 minutes.
Add the mint and simmer for 1 minute more.
Stir in the lemon juice and season to taste.
Serve garnished with 1/2tbsp yogurt per person.

Persian Beef Pilaf

Posted April 24, 2014

Filed under Recipes

The recipe I used as the basis for this dish was from a soup cookery book. Although it is cooked in a broth, by the end of the cooking process there wasn’t much liquid left and it was more like a wet pilaf. Most importantly, it was really tasty and filling!

Servings: 7

Pro Points: 6

Simple Start: Yes

Filling & Healthy: 0

Cooking time: 1hr 10min (+1hr soaking time)

Ingredients

1.2l water
2 beef stock cubes
225g extra lean steak mince
1 large onion, sliced
75g yellow split peas (soaked for 1 hour in plenty of water)
1tsp ground turmeric
1tsp ground allspice
1/2tsp ground cinnamon
1/2tsp ground black pepper
1tsp salt
225g brown rice
350g spinach, chopped
25g dill, chopped
75g spring onions, chopped
150g 0% fat natural yogurt

For the garnish

1/2 medium onion, finely sliced
1tbsp chopped fresh mint
1tsp healthy oil

Method

Pour the water into a large saucepan, add the stock cubes and bring to the boil.
Add the beef, onion, soaked yellow split peas, spice and salt. Cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes.
Add the rice and simmer for a further 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the spinach, dill and spring onions then simmer for a further 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the garnish: fry the onion in the oil over a moderate heat until golden brown. Add the mint then cook for a further 5 minutes until crisp. Set aside.
Stir the yogurt into the rice mixture and heat through.
Serve with the garnish sprinkled on top.

The Results Are In – Week 14

Posted April 22, 2014

Filed under My Progress

Image courtesy of pakorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Weight loss: +0.5lb

Current weight: 11st 13.5lb

Weight loss since start: 7.0lb

Lbs to go to reach next target: 2.5lb

I realise that I’ve skipped straight from Week 12 to Week 14 but I’ve had a week away from the blog (and away from the plan) for Easter.

Following a gain on my last reported weigh-in, last week I stayed the same – which I was pretty pleased with after not really getting fully back on track and attending a friend’s birthday party on the Saturday night.

So, this week, I’ve had another small gain. Previously this would have completely thrown me and I’d be well on my way to letting my weight creep all the way back up. But not this time.

I knew I’d most likely put on as I’ve been on holiday from work, have eaten out nearly every day (and even twice on Saturday) and I’d eaten several hot cross buns and a couple of Easter eggs. So prior to my weigh-in, I was pretty terrified that I was going to have crept (or leapt!) back over that 12st mark. So worried was I about this that my intention was not to weigh. I felt that seeing my weight back over 12st would dent my motivation.

As I’m a clerk at my Weight Watchers meeting, I knew I needed to go to the meeting and eventually I woke up to the fact that ignoring my current weight would in all likelihood just do more damage. I realised I couldn’t change the choices I’d made over the previous couple of weeks, but what I could do was to take control of my decisions over the coming week. With this in mind, I made a plan of all my meals for the coming week, and went and bought all the ingredients needed.

I’ve also reset the mini-goal I’ve been working towards. I was aiming to lose 4lbs in April but have actually put on 2.5lb. If I stick rigidly to the plan there is a slight chance that I could achieve this by the first weigh-in in May but I think it’s better to keep things more realistic. Therefore my aim is to lose the 2.5lb that I’ve put on by that point (2 weeks). This is easily achievable, and if I manage to lose any more, then that will be a bonus.

As I’ve still got another week off work, I’m going to get ahead with some soup making as I know from previous experience that I lose weight successfully when I stick to having soup for my lunch. So my plan is to make 4 different soups this week, and freeze portions for when I’m back at work. I’ll be sharing the recipes on here over the course of the week so keep an eye out.

Thanks for reading.

The Results Are In – Week 13

Posted April 8, 2014

Filed under My Progress

Weight loss: +2lb

Image courtesy of digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Current weight: 11st 13lb

Weight loss since start: 7.5lb

Lbs to go to reach next target: 6lb

What’s gone well?

Despite the fact that I’ve had a small gain this week, I’m actually pleased with my mental reaction to it. At weigh-ins past, when recording a gain, I would often get annoyed and feel fed-up. It would seem as though I had completely let myself down and that I’d never get to my goal. This week though, I’m feeling really positive. I know that this week life got in the way of my weight loss this week but I’m determined not to go back into the 12 stone bracket so that’s going to help me to refocus this week.

What’s been difficult?

I’ve been incredibly busy with a whole host of commitments over the past week which has meant that I haven’t had chance to plan and shop for my meals for this week. While I think this could be good due to me trying not to obsess over food, there is the danger that I will succumb to the call of the chocolate when I pop into the shops after work each night to get things for dinner. However, I’m going to view this as a test of my will power and I don’t do failing at tests! This strategy worked tonight so here’s hoping…

The week ahead

We’re going to a friend’s 40th birthday party on Saturday. There’s a champagne reception and buffet. As the location is about an hour’s drive away I don’t know how close to the event I’m going to be able to eat or what the food will be like. I’m going to save the majority of my weeklies as a buffer and make sure I’ve eaten plenty of filling and healthy foods (I’m thinking of making some kind of lentil soup for lunch and maybe a chicken curry for dinner) throughout the day so that I’m not starving.

I’m also going to alternate between alcohol and soft drinks as I hate feeling rough the morning after a party.

Thanks for reading.

Sensible Snacking

Posted April 2, 2014

Filed under All Things Weight Loss

This week’s Graze box

I’m sure I’m not alone in sometimes fancying a tasty little snack between meals. Let’s face it, one of the reasons I began to put on weight was due to my love of snacking on cakes, chocolate bars and biscuits. They’ve been one of the key things I’ve consciously cut down on to help me with my weight loss. In fact, I’ve tried to cut right back on snacking altogether meaning that I focus on and enjoy my meals even more.

However, there are times when I just need a little something to keep me going or to enjoy as a treat. A couple of years ago I stumbled over Graze boxes. These are boxes of 4 treats that get posted to you. There is a whole range of different types of snacks including fruit, nuts, olives, flapjacks, mini-cakes and even chocolate. Each of the snacks has at least one nutritional benefit such as being high in fibre, being a source of vitamins and minerals or protein etc.

I order my box to arrive on a Tuesday as I find Tuesday to be the hardest day of the week plan-wise as it’s the beginning of my weight-loss week following my Monday night weigh-in and it gives me something to look forward to when I get in from work (you know what they say about simple things & simple minds!). Once I’ve opened the box I get straight onto my Weight Watchers app to work out the PPV of each snack which I then write on the packaging along with the expiry date. A lot of the range come in at 2 or 3 PP. They then go into the kitchen cupboard ready for when I feel the need for a little something.

What I find really useful is that they are each individually portioned so it’s really easy to stay in control of what I eat. I also love the fact that they’re made with proper ingredients rather than being full of rubbish. I initially felt the boxes were a bit expensive at £3.49. This works out at about 87p per snack. However, when you consider that a bar of chocolate or bag of crisps costs in the region of 60p-70p, I think they’re actually pretty good value for money. They also stop me going to the shops to buy chocolate where I’d no doubt end up with a bigger bar as they are better value!

If you want to know more about Graze boxes, click here to go to their website. If you fancy trying them, you can use this code HAYLEY9ZB or click here to get your 1st, 5th & 10th boxes free and I’ll get £1 off my next box.

If you’ve come across any tasty, plan-friendly snacks, please let me know – I love trying new things.

This is not a sponsored post – it is purely driven by the fact that I opened my latest Graze box today and I thought people might be interested if they haven’t come across them before. For more information regarding my product reviews, please see my disclaimer.

Rewards – What to Choose?

Posted April 1, 2014

Filed under All Things Weight Loss

I’ve written previously about rewarding myself for achieving my weight-loss goals and I’ve had some great responses from you about the kinds of things you like to reward yourself with.

Image courtesy of digital art / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Having taken a couple of weeks longer than planned to reach my latest goal, I’d actually forgotten what I decided on as my reward! I’ve also previously decided on rewards that I then didn’t really fancy. So I’ve decided to try something a bit different: I’ve compiled 3 lists of rewards suitable for

1) Weekly Losses

2) Mini-Goals

3) Long-Term Goals.

When I achieve any of these goals, I’ll simply choose a reward from the appropriate list.

Weekly Losses

flowers
listening to some music for 20mins (whilst doing nothing else)
home facial
home pedicure
home manicure
Yankee Candle (sampler size)
Lush bath bomb/bubble bar
Herbal teabags – standard

Mini-Goals

Earrings
Necklace
Herbal Teabags – Premium
Book
CD
Trip to cinema
Yankee Candle – small jar/tealights
New Top
Bag

Long-Term Goals

Shoes
Day Trip
Massage
Pandora Charm
Yankee Candle – large jar

Now, I just need to decide what to choose as my reward for finally achieving my ‘5% since January’ mini-goal…

The Results Are In – Week 12

Posted March 31, 2014

Filed under My Progress

Weight loss: 1.5lb

Current weight: 11st 11lb

Weight loss since start: 9.5lb

Lbs to go to reach next target: 0lb

What’s gone well?

I’m delighted to have finally reached (and actually exceeded) my “5% since January” goal and can now pick a treat off my list (more about this tomorrow). My next small goal is my “10% since January” goal. I need to lose another 8.5lb to reach this target and would like to do so by 2nd June. However, that’s still a long way off so my next mini-goal is to lose 4lb by 28th April.

I was on the ball with tracking my weekly points this week which I think really helped with my weight loss.

I was really pleased with my exercise because, although I was unable to attend two of my usual classes, I went to my spinning class and actually stayed for a couple of extra tracks and I went back to parkrun and kept going even though my hip-flexor was niggling a little bit and the devil on my shoulder was more than ready to use this as an excuse to throw in the towel.

I think it’s been helpful to not be as focused on food: I’ve been cooking less recipes due to being extremely busy with work and trying to get a new business off the ground. Instead I’ve been relying on simple foods such as jacket potatoes and beans on toast. It’s actually been really liberating to realise that I can still lose weight despite not having time to devote to trying out new recipes all the time.

What’s been difficult?

It has been a little bit difficult to fit in all of my planned exercise due to other commitments this week. However, I’m already not letting this throw me off course by making sure that I go to the classes I can get to and work a bit harder while I’m there.

The week ahead

I’m going out for a friend’s birthday on Saturday to Chiquitos. I’ve been wanting to try this place for a long time as I really like Mexican food. However I do know that the meals are quite high in PPVs. But I’m simply going to plan ahead, save my weeklies to help cover it and limit myself on the cocktail front.

Thanks for reading.

PS Look out for my post on rewards that I’m finally going to get round to posting tomorrow!

Don’t Stop Fat-Fighter!

Posted March 30, 2014

Filed under All Things Weight Loss

I’ve had a bit of a mixed experience when it comes to exercise this weekend.

Image courtesy of jesadaphorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Firstly, I went to my normal spinning class on Friday despite me not being that keen on the music now that there’s a new instructor. When the class started, she announced that she’d be doing a couple of extra tracks at the end of the normal class but gave people the option of leaving after the timetabled 45mins. I firmly decided “No! It’s Friday night. I’d only planned on doing the normal 45mins. At soon as possible, I’m out of here!”.

However, as the class progressed, I started to think, “I’m here now, so I might as well do a little bit extra. It’s early on a Friday evening after all so I still have the rest of the weekend to do other stuff.” To my own surprise, I stayed and worked really hard for the extra 13mins. I left feeling very pleased with myself.

On Saturday morning, I was back to Parkrun after a break of a couple of weeks. I was running it with two of my cousins – one of whom left her house at 4:45am to drive 140miles to take part (yes she is a bit mental but we love her!). It was a nice sunny but cold morning so I was thinking it was going to be a lovely run. However, about 1mile in to the 3mile course, my hip-flexor started to pull. I tried to ignore it and focus on my music thinking that as I got into my stride a bit more it would probably loosen up a bit. It didn’t. By about mile 2 it was really hurting and all I wanted to do was to stop and walk. But I didn’t. It took a lot of positive thinking to keep me going including: the amazing challenge completed by Davina McCall for Sport Relief that I’d watched a programme about last week (Davina: Beyond Breaking Point). If she could keep going for all than distance, I could manage to complete a 5km run; all those who managed to complete the Coventry Half Marathon last week; and thinking about writing this blog post! Despite my hip being sore and this having the knock-on effect of making my lower back sore from my altered gait, I managed to keep running all the way around and still run a little bit faster over the last 100 yards (not my usual sprint finish but hey). I was surprised, and not a little proud, that I managed to dig-in mentally and keep going. Even more surprisingly, when I checked my time this morning, it was actually only 47 seconds slower than my PB!!

During the run, and reflecting on my mental attitude towards it post-run, I started thinking about how the mind-set needed to complete a physical challenge is mirrored in the challenge of losing and maintaining weight: sometimes it is unexpectedly hard to keep going and obstacles that are not of your own making can slow you down. But if you keep a positive mental attitude, dig in and keep going, you can achieve your goals.

Thanks for reading.

PS How do you keep going when the going gets tough?

Bacon, Mushroom & Tomato Pasta

Posted March 27, 2014

Filed under Recipes

This is one of my staple mid-week recipes. It is quick, economical and it’s so easy that Mr FFF actually cooked the dish pictured all on his own. And to give him the full credit he deserves, he didn’t even make much mess!

Servings: 2

This batch loving prepared by Mr FFF

Pro Points: 7

Simple Start: 0

Filling & Healthy: 0

Preparation time: 5mins

Cooking time: 15mins

Ingredients

120g dried wholemeal pasta
4 bacon medallions, chopped
150g mushrooms, sliced
400g tin chopped tomatoes or 4 fresh tomatoes chopped
2tsp mixed herbs

Method

Fry the bacon and mushrooms in a non-stick saucepan until the bacon is just cooked.
Stir in the tomatoes and bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat and stir in the mixed herbs.
Simmer the sauce while you cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet.
Season the sauce to taste and serve on top of the drained pasta.

Top tip: Add a pinch of dried chilli flakes to give this dish a fiery kick.

The Results Are In – Week 11

Posted March 25, 2014

Filed under My Progress

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Weight loss: 0.5lb

Current weight: 11st 12.5lb

Weight loss since start: 8lb

Lbs to go to reach next target: 1lb

What’s gone well?

My fear this week was that after getting back under the 12st mark last week, I’d end up back in the 12st bracket this week which is what I did the last time I got under 12st despite vowing to never end up there again. So I’m delighted that this week I’ve actually managed to lose a little bit more.

I went to an unexpected party on Friday night but I’m really pleased with how I dealt with it. I still went to my spinning class beforehand to get some activity points in the bag. Then I ate my planned F&H dinner before we went. I knew there’d be some kind of food there but I didn’t know what so I thought it best to play it safe. I also bought a jar of peanut butter so that I could have a breakfast (peanut butter & banana on toast) the following day that I knew would hit the spot in terms of ‘the morning after the night before’ but without breaking the bank points-wise.

What’s been difficult?

I haven’t found anything to be particularly challenging this week. If I’m really looking for something I suppose I’m not enjoying my spinning class as much as I used to due to a change of instructor. I might go to the Body Balance class that is on after it instead as I think this will also help me to de-stress at the end of the working week.

The week ahead

Although I’m following the F&H plan at the moment, I’m not tracking what I spend my weekly points on. I’ve been doing it mentally but I’m going to aim to track them properly this week. I’ve also set my next goal which is to reach my 5% target by next week so tracking properly will really help me with this.

Thanks for reading.

PS Thanks for your suggestions about rewards, I’ll be writing a post based on these later in the week.