A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Pizza is one of my (many) vices… hot, cold, hot then cold then warmed up again – however I eat it, I love it.  The spicier and more garlicky, the better – jalapenos are a must, I helpfully remind myself that spicy foods raise the metabolism, therefore burning fat more quickly no?  I excel at self-delusion.  When I first joined Weight Watchers, I read the most horrifying piece of information that my eyes had ever digested: one slice of stuffed-crust pizza is 10 points.  That’s a single slice… a single fucking slice, I’m only allowed 26 points a day!  I can hoover up a whole pizza (what, 8 slices?) in the time it takes my husband to work through one slice.

So pizza was off the menu then.  Except it so isn’t.

The pizza you see above scores an incredible 7 points.  That’s 7 points for the entire pizza.  I think we all need to take a moment….

…

…for those of you who don’t know follow Weight Watchers, we’re talking around 350kcal.

You don’t need to make your own pizza dough and it only requires about 10 minutes in the oven.  Here’s what you’ll need:

1 Warburtons Square-ish Wrap
1 tbsp Tomato Puree (I mix a tsp of garlic puree in too!)
Your choice of 0 point topping (onions, peppers, mushrooms, tomato, jalapenos)
50g “wafer” ham
Dash of Worcester Sauce/Tabasco/Balsamic Vinegar (whichever you prefer)
Sprinkling of Italian herbs
30g Cathedral City Light Mature Cheese (this is the only ‘light’ cheese I’ve found to melt properly)

I keep my wraps in the freezer and just take one out and cook it from frozen.  Spoon the Tomato Puree onto the wrap and spread evenly to the edges.  Top your “pizza base” with the ham, veggie toppings and Italian herbs before sprinkling the cheese over the top.  Finish off with a sprinkling of sauce before cooking it in a pre-heated oven at around 200 degrees celsius for around 10 minutes.

Serve with a side salad and feel ridiculously virtuous about it.

What is your biggest foodie vice and do you have a healthier alternative for it?

I usually blog my food posts on a Friday (a.k.a food friday!) but this week has been all over the place and I’m currently in the North East for a fortnight visiting family.  Subsequently, I’m limited with what I can blog – it’s quite alright to stand in my own house taking a billion FOTD / nail pictures / swatches but quite another looking like a crazy in someone else’s house!  Until I can sneak away somewhere where I’m not overlooked, I’m blogging some older photos that are left-over on my hard-drive – bear with me!

Since I’ve been doing Weight Watchers, I’ve amazed myself at how devious I’ve become when it comes to discovering ways to stuff my face (with the most amount of food) for the least amount of points.  I’m not sure that this is truly helpful in the long run (portion control anyone?) But it’s keeping me on the plan day-to-day, so I won’t knock it too much!

My favourite ‘find’ (courtesy of minimins forum) are the Warburton’s Square-ish Wraps…

They make fantastic wraps, pannini alternatives and pizza bases – they’re super versatile, are a little more filling than a normal wrap and “weigh” in at only 4 points a-piece – roughly the equivalent of two slices of bread.  Before I discovered these, I thought pizzas were off the menu for good!  Hallelujah for square-ish wraps!

One of our weekly meals is a Tuna Melt, served up with a big side salad.  It’s obviously not the most complicated meal in the world, but it’s both satisfying and quick to rustle up!

You’ll need:

1 tin of tuna in brine (I only buy tuna steak, chunks are for cats)
2 tbsp light/extra light mayonnaise
1 small onion, finely chopped
30g cheese (I use full-fat version because low-fat doesn’t melt properly)
black pepper

Combine the drained tuna, onions, black pepper, and mayonnaise in a bowl.  Spread the ‘filling’ over half of one of the square-ish wraps before scattering the cheese ontop.  Fold the wrap in half and either place under a hot grill or use a panini press.  I love my press, healthy toasted sandwiches!

Grill/toast until the cheese has melted and serve with a side salad.  I’m a sucker for a splodge of chilli sauce with mine, don’t tell anyone.

The entire meal comes in at a very respectable 10 Pro Points, less if you use low-fat cheese.

What are your favourite filling-but-low-fat meals?

There are a few things that are genuinely hard to beat in this world. A beautiful smokey eye, a toddler’s podgy hand searching to find yours, a pint of pear cider on a Summer’s afternoon… and an amazing curry.

This isn’t an amazing curry, but I’m doing my best!

Whenever I order anything from the Indian takeaway, it has to be accompanied with a side of Sag Aloo which I usually come to blows over with my husband. “YOU TOTALLY HAD MORE THAN ME!” And this, from the man who doesn’t like spinach. But anyway, I digress….

Since I found a tired-looking cauliflower in my fridge a couple of months ago, I’ve been perfecting my Aloo Gobi recipe… but in the end, I gave up and went on eBay to buy some spice mix. So should you, it’s like… really, really nice and 100x easier when you’ve finished a day’s work and you all you want to do is slump infront of Eastenders with some tasty grub. Yes, I know… slattern.

You’ll need (serves 4):

200g of potatoes, cubed (you can leave the skins on)
1 very large cauliflower (or 2 small), floretted into bite-size pieces
2 onions, diced
4/5Tbsp Bombay Potato Spice Blend from spiceworks.co.uk
2 tins peeled plum tomatoes
1 large handful of frozen peas
1kcal spray cooking oil
100ml low fat soured cream

Cover a baking sheet with tin foil and arrange the potatoes and cauliflower over the surface. Spray generously with the 1kcal spray (about 30 sprays). Roast in the oven for around 30 minutes at 200 degrees celsius. You want the tips of the cauliflower to just start turning black.

Fry the onions in a couple of sprays of the cooking oil and once translucent, add the tomatoes and spice mix.

Simmer gently until the cauliflower and potatoes are ready to come out of the oven.

Whoops, mine are a little too well done… probably by around 5 minutes. It’s all good though, they didn’t actually taste burnt. Add the roasted vegetables to the frying pan.

Add a little water (about half a cup) to the frying pan and combine all the ingredients to ensure they’re well-coated with the sauce. Simmer on a low heat with a lid on to ensure that the cauliflower is cooked through. Continue to add a little water if the cauliflower requires longer cooking.

Add the frozen peas and remove the lid to reduce any excess water. Take off the heat and stir in the soured cream.

Serve! We ate this wrapped in a couple of chapatis with a salad on the side. Delicious it was too! I think that roasting the potato and cauliflower makes all the difference to this recipe, it concentrates the flavours and greatly improves the texture (imho).

* For WW, I pointed this (per portion) at 13 Pro Points, this includes the two chapatis.

Sheenie is one half of blogging superduo Just Nice Things and the lady can’t half cook up a storm in the kitchen.  She’s just started a food blog over at Cook with Sheenie and as soon as I clapped eyes on her recipe for Butter Chicken, I knew my waistline was doomed. DOOMED I SAY!

Don’t believe me?  LOOK AT THE BUTTER.

Stop drooling, it’s unladylike.  The rest of you, stop tutting, we can’t help it.

I’m not going to include the recipe on here, for that you’ll have to point your little mice (mouses) in this direction and find out the method and quantities needed to make this culinary masterpiece.  If you try it, do let Sheenie know what you think!  This has replaced my usual “show-off” meal, you know that singular recipe that people think you can only eat nicely in restaurants?  This Butter Chicken kicks my Chicken Laksa to the KERB.

Here. have some photos to give you some idea of just how om-nom this dish is…

You want it don’t you?  I know I do…

* I did the WW points counting on this and you can have a quarter of Sheenie’s Butter Chicken (as made per her instructions) for 10 Pro Points.  That’s not bad really is it?  I added some Chapattis (5 Pro Points for two) and have been eating nothing but dust for the rest of the week.

First of all, I want to apologise for another foodie post.  I realise that Lipglossiping isn’t a food blog and that I may be alienating many of you by posting recipes and such but after three years of daily blogging, you have to blog about what is making you passionate or else you’ll burn out.  Currently, I’m rediscovering a love (as opposed to obsession!) for food and trying to hone it into a love for food that won’t put me in an early grave.  Thinking about it, planning it, shopping for it and actually cooking it is taking up a lot of my real world time, so it’s only representative to blog about it too.  So please indulge me, if I keep feeling the desire to do foodie posts, I’ll probably include a separate section on the blog, specifically for this but for now, I’m far too disorganised to sort any of that out.

So, who’s for some Low Fat Mango Frozen Yoghurt?  You with me?

I was treated to some delicious fresh mangoes after moaning on Twitter that I hadn’t had a decent mango since I was last in Australia in 2003.  That’s a long time to go without a good mango.  But the thing is, I don’t really know anything about mangoes – I didn’t even realise that there were so many different varieties and that the stuff we got in UK supermarkets are basically impossible-to-ripen, bland things.  What I should have done is ignore Tesco et al and headed straight to my nearest Asian supermarket/convenience store where some of the best mangoes in the world are currently in season.  There’s a really great article here on why UK supermarket mangoes are pretty sub-standard and detailed information on all the mango varieties in the world (which is an astounding number!)

I made this batch of frozen yoghurt with Kesar mangoes, and the taste is incredible.  To be honest, we actually got through about 5 mangoes just with our hands and a knife before I’d gotten as far as bringing the other ingredients down from the cupboard.

So why frozen yoghurt?  Well, I’ve pretty much done a U-turn on my stance on frozen yoghurt.  I used to think that it was a trendy pud that simply didn’t live up to the greatness of ice-cream.  I’m not exaggerating when I say that I am an ice-cream fiend.  I live for the stuff.  When you hear the ice cream van in the distance, it’s not Leila doing a jig with excitement.  Having said that, ice-cream is rarely good for the waistline – full of sugar and fats, frozen yoghurt is an excellent alternative.  But be aware, there is a great frozen yoghurt swizz, often marketed under an umbrella ‘healthy alternative’ to ice cream stance, a lot of it really isn’t much different in terms of calories, fat and all that other good bad stuff.

So make this instead.

Low Fat, Low Sugar Mango Frozen Yoghurt – 24 Weight Watchers Pro Points for the entire tub (around 2 points a 100g serving)

6 Mangoes (get a good variety!)
200ml Low Fat Coconut Milk
1000g 0% Fat Plain Yoghurt (Greek has the lovely tang – two large pots)
1/2 cup of Splenda (you don’t need much because of the sweetness from the mango)
2tsp Vanilla extract
3tbsp Malibu (vodka works as a tasteless alternative – you use the alcohol to get a softer freeze)

1. Prepare 5 of the mangoes and scoop the flesh into a food processor.

2. Add the remaining ingredients and blitz until smoothly pureed.  You may need to do this in two batches if your food processor is a small one.  Simply divide the ingredients between the two batches, it will all come together at the end anyway!

Once blitzed, I don’t mind admitting that I stuck a teaspoon in there to have a taste and check that everything was sweet enough/mango-ey enough for me.  Your mileage may vary… if it does, adjust the recipe to suit your taste-buds at this point.

3. Pour the yoghurt mixture into a freezable carton.  You could use an old ice cream tub or a tupperware container.  I like to use a wide, shallow container which allows me to drag my ice cream scoop over a larger surface area as this will freeze quite hard (I’m going to experiment with adding some glycerin to my next batch in order to get a softer freeze).

4. Pop the container into the freezer and bring it back out every hour or so to stir and break up the ice crystals.  This part is a little tedious and essentially, here you’re doing the job of an ice-cream maker which continually churns the mixture as it freezes.  My timings for getting it out of the freezer usually go: 1.5 hours, 1 hour, 1 hour, 1 hour (leave to freeze solid).  When you’re mixing the partially frozen yoghurt, use a large metal spoon and scrape down the sides, breaking up any chunks and incorporating them back into the mixture.  After the second or third freeze, add chopped up pieces of the remaining mango… if you add them too early, they’ll sink to the bottom!

5. When it’s fully frozen, you’ll need to allow it around 15/20 minutes to defrost enough so that you can serve.  I generally put mine in the microwave (on the fruit defrost setting) for around 10 minutes – if you do this, please keep an eye on it, you’re not trying to cook it!  When you serve, it should still be very hard – but soft enough that you can actually scrape the scoop across the surface!

Guilt-free frozen yoghurt with a beautifully tropical taste.  If you’re on the Weight Watchers plan you can scoff a 100g bowl of this for around 2 points (the shop bought alternatives are around 4/5 points for less!).  Calorie-wise, I worked it out to be around 90kcal for 100g (the majority of the calories come from the fruit), but I’m not a nutritional expert, don’t hold me to it!

Do you like frozen yoghurt?  Ever make it?

In my vain attempts at shedding the remaining 3 1/2 excess stones that are hanging from my bones, I’ve been customising various recipes and generally bastardising them until they’re less likely to (fat) bastardise me.  My latest batch of chocolate brownies packed a concealed weapon of the green variety.  Courgette.  Zucchini… whatever you want to call it.  A veggie commonly used in cakes n’ stuff because of it’s moisture giving properties.

You wouldn’t know it to look at them though huh?

They’re sublimely moist, beautifully chocolatey, could do with a little more sweetening and have a satisying, though-not-very-cakey texture.  Half of you will be grimacing at your screens with an “Ugh, sick!” expression, the other half will be piqued by the possibility of being able to indulge in chocolate brownies whilst wearing a smug look of virtue on your faces.  At least I hope.

Courgette Chocolate Brownies (makes 24-ish, approximately 104kcal each piece, 3 Weight Watchers Pro Points)

2 1/2 large courgettes (pulverised in a food processor)
140g Apple Sauce
200g Caster Sugar (I’d add about 50g Splenda to this next time)
300g Plain Flour
100g Cocoa Powder (I used Tesco’s Fat-Reduced Cocoa Powder)
100g Plain Chocolate (broken into little pieces)
1 1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1. Add the apple sauce to a bowl and stir in the sugar and vanilla extract.

2. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder and bicarb.

3. Stiry the dry ingredients into the wet and combine.  The resulting mixture, will be very dry but don’t worry, here comes the courgettes to save the day!

4. Add the courgettes to the mixture, followed by the plain chocolate pieces.

5. Pour the mixture into a greased brownie tin and bake in a pre-heated oven at 170 degrees celsius for around 25-30 minutes.

6. Allow to cool a little before turning out and cutting.  Remember, 6×4 = 24!

What treats are you enjoying this weekend?

When I opened the fridge last Friday, I was greeted by a tired-looking cauliflower and whilst I adore a regular Aloo Gobi, I fancied something a little bit different.  I thought I’d take some of my favourite spices from the delicious middle-eastern makloubeh and make them fit around the ingredients I had to hand.

Because I’m following the Weight Watchers plan (still doing the same uber-veggie thing but calculating it all Pro Points stylee), I couldn’t seriously deep-fry the cauliflower whilst keeping a straight face, so I sprayed the florets with some 1cal cooking oil and roasted them in the oven until they began to turn black on the tips, about 35-40 minutes on full whack.

I fried off some onion (more spray) and added the roasted florets which were still a little firm.  As the oil became absorbed, I added a few Tbsp of water to prevent things from sticking and loosely covered the pan with a lid.  It was time to get the spice mix ready!  Once prepared, tip the spice-mix into the pan and stir well to coat all the ingredients.  Add the brown rice and half a cup of water, re-cover.

You’ll need to check the water levels regularly, so just keep a mugful of water to hand and add more as the rice needs it.  Cook until the rice is al-dente.

Arrange the pork fillet around the edge of the pan and re-cover.  After 6 minutes, turn the pork… and allow to cook covered for around 8 minutes.  If the rice is still too firm, you can simmer on a low heat for a little longer, just add more water as you require.  Remove the lid for the final 3/4 minutes of cooking to allow any excess water to reduce.  Before serving, stir a little room-temperature soured cream into what should be an almost-dry mixture.

Ingredients (serves 2)

1 cauliflower, floretted and lightly salted
4/6 pork fillet medallions (you can substitute other cuts/meats – lamb would be delicious)
90g brown rice
1 large onion
60ml soured cream (I used light)
1kcal cooking spray
water

1tsp allspice (not mixed spice!)
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cinnammon
1/4tsp nutmeg
1/4tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ground clove

Honestly, I never want to eat cauliflower boiled again.  And incase you’re on WW too – that’s 9 Pro Points.

What lovely things have you been cooking recently?

The diet wagon that is!  Well, mostly.  Ignore Sunday, it was Mother’s Day and I fell off it headfirst into a box of Lindt chocolates before staggering out and tripping arse over tip into some Maltesers.  What can I say?  I’ve always been a bit clumsy.

A small selection of my recent eats, I won’t bore you with the recipes unless you want to see one in particular, but from top left and going clockwise: protein pancakes, stuffed peppers, king prawn salad and courgette fritters (the bomb.com), brussel sprouts with garlic parmesan and chicken.

In an effort to be able to get all my veggies in the one shop, I went to a local farm store over the weekend and I was BLOWN AWAY by the variety and quality which was apparent as soon as you walked through the door.  Nothing prepackaged, peppers the size of Leila’s head and prices that floored me.  I walked out with 4 carrier bag-fulls for less than £15 – throw in a packet of chicken breasts, some pork medallions and my weekly food bill was under £25.  There should be next to no waste this week too as I was able to select exactly what I needed, in the quantity I wanted it.

Is it worth me investigating a proper butchers?  I’ve only ever been in one once or twice to buy some steak for a special occassion.  T’was very, very expensive and I think it put me off a bit.

But here comes a slight downer, I haven’t actually lost any significant weight.  I’ve been doing it for nearly a month… 1200kcal daily target and I’m usually just under that.  I’ve had a total of 5 piggy days (spread out) since I started and I’m in a bloody holding pattern.  Time to up the exercise?  Bah.

Any of you currently following a healther eating plan?  How are you doing with it?

This is a bit of an odd post from me but I had a question last week regarding the #fooddiary hashtag that I’m currently using on Twitter.  I use it to basically remind myself of the meals I’m eating (and how many calories they contain) as I try to keep a tighter rein on the quantities (and types) of food that I shove down my throat.

Anyway, I was asked about the other foods that I’ve been eating, aside from the main meals and for me, it’s the snacks that are often my downfall.  I don’t start working until after Leila goes to bed and as a family, we always eat our dinner earlier in the day which means that I’m ravenous by nine or ten o’ clock at night.  This wouldn’t be a problem if I was able to send myself to bed but I generally work through till around two in the morning.  So… here are some of the treats that I’ve been indulging in over the past few weeks…

1). Being naturally isotonic, coconut water is known as a real thirst-quencher and I don’t know about you but I often mistake thirst for hunger.  This ZICO Coconut Water* which has just launched into the UK market hit the spot and had a natural sweetness that felt far naughtier than it was.  60kcal per bottle and priced at £2.50 each, it’s not a cheap option but I think it would work well as an after-gym reward.

2). I love my tea and while most people start the day with a coffee, I kick mine off with a cup of Oolong.  I always think of Oolong as the half-way point between black and white tea… it’s naturally quite mellow in flavour and contains less caffeine than both of the other varieties.  I buy the teabags simply because I can’t be faffed with infusers first thing in the morning.  Oolong has been a bit of a media darling in terms of reported health benefits (one of which includes fat-burning!), I just like the taste… all the other stuff is an added bonus!

3). If I’m going to be out during the day, I grab a protein bar to take with me.  It (usually) stops me from diving into McDonalds (I know, filth) or somewhere equally unhealthy.  The Biggest Loser Bars are the ones that I have at the minute but I can’t say they’ve been my favourite!

4). I bought the Japanese Sencha to drink chilled but haven’t gotten around to doing so yet!  I first tasted Sencha at Camellia Tea House and really liked the mild, sweet flavour.  It’s very gentle and a little grassy-tasting.  Full of anti-oxidants, I find this probably the most refreshing of the teas I drink.

5). Special K Mini Breaks are my sweet-tooth saviour!  99kcal a pack, they don’t do to much damage but really hit the spot late at night when I’m craving something naughty.

6). Every girl needs a hot chocolate once in a while and Cadbury Highlights Dark Chocolate (it has to be the dark one!) is the most chocolatey of the lot for the least calories.  Trust me on this, I think I’ve tried them all!  When made with hot water, 40kcal won’t break the calorie bank.

7). Don’t laugh at this one but I’ve been known to raid Leila’s snack cupboard for a late night indulgence and these Annabel Karmel Tasty Tomato Corn & Rice Snacks are so good that I’ve just picked up a couple of packets for myself!  78kcal a pack, they’re around 55p each in my local supermarket.

8). Twinings Pure Peppermint is my ‘relaxation’ tea.  Is that weird to have different teas to suit different moods?  I first discovered the wonders of peppermint tea after my c-section… some of you will know what I’m talking about!  I have a few cups a week and both the smell and taste really chill me out.  Yes, I think that probably is a bit weird upon reflection.

9). I haven’t tried any other varieties of Chinese Gunpowder Tea yet but picked this one up from our local Asian supermarket because Mr. L fell in love with the smooth but smoky flavour.  Are you bored of my teas yet?

10). Another winner from AK!  The Oaty Chewy bar comes in at under 100kcal and is another sweet-tooth buster.  I do fierce battle with my daughter over these and whenever I steal one, I remind her of the numerous times I’ve turned round to find my last chocolate digestive missing from the plate.

11). Last but by no means least, satsumas!  I don’t really like fruit but I can’t get enough of these at the minute… around 40kcal each and so lovely late at night.  Take ages to eat too because I’m really fussy about picking all the pith off!

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What healthier alternatives do you enjoy and are you a late night snacker?

* press sample

You know, this eating vegetables thing isn’t so bad.  I’ve discovered that bean sprouts are pretty awesome, I’ve learnt that salad needs some kind of dressing or it’s not going in my mouth, and I’ve discovered that mushrooms sort of taste like meat if you pretend really hard.  But seriously, except for my slightly dried-out sprouts, it’s been a lot easier than I imagined.

Here’s days 5 and 6 to tempt your tastebuds:

Day 5: Spring Greens

Smoked haddock with sliced greens and poached egg – 340kcal

I knew that I was gonna need something to match the strong flavour in the greens, so I went with a fillet of smoked haddock to bolster the flavours and keep things relatively balanced.

1 fillet of Smoked Haddock
125g British Sliced Greens
1/2 an Onion
2 Cloves of Garlic

1kcal Cooking Spray
1 Chicken Oxo Cube
1tbsp White Wine Vinegar
3 twists of chilli flakes

1 Egg
10g Sunflower Seeds

Place the fish on a piece of tin foil and grind/sprinkle with some chilli flakes, drizzle a tablespoon of white wine vinegar ontop and wrap the foil loosely into a parcel around the fish.  Oven cook at 180 degrees (fan) for around 18 minutes.  Make up the chicken stock as per the instructions on the Oxo packet and saute the chopped onion, greens, and garlic in a pan, with the stock until cooked.  Keep adding a little water if necessary.  Poach your egg in a pan of boiling water and serve with the fish on a bed of the greens.  Sprinkle with sunflower seeds.

 Day 6: Mushrooms and Lettuce

Pan-fried chicken & garlic mushrooms with salad – 490kcal

I think this one may be my favourite so far, I adore mushrooms…

1 chicken breast, cubed
150g mushrooms, don’t chop too small – I halved mine
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
100g salad leaves
5g pine nuts to garnish

1 tsp green pesto
1tbsp olive oil
1tbsp white wine vinegar

1kcal cooking oil spray

Spray your non-stick frying pan with cooking oil spray (around 10 sprays should do) and on a low/medium heat, fry off the chicken and garlic.  You may need to add the occasional splash of water to stop the chicken from sticking.  Add the mushrooms and pesto, reduce the heat and cook until the mushrooms are softened.  Meanwhile, make the (very simple) salad dressing by combining the olive oil and white wine vinegar.  Serve with a garnish of sprinkled pine nuts.

Did I mention that I bought some white asparagus for next week?  *looks blankly at packet*

Firstly, I want to say a massive thank you for all the ideas and inspiration that you left on my last veggie post, I’m slowly working through the comments and I’ll let you know how I get on with your recipes!  Day 3 should have been the Brussels Sprouts, but I wimped out in favour of the bean variety!  It’s going well so far, partly because I’m really enjoying the “will I/won’t I like it” anticipation that comes just before tucking in!  I know it’s not exactly life-changing when it comes to dietary habits but I’m hoping that it inspires me (and maybe a couple of you!) to think about making veggies the focus of a few meals a week.

I will say one thing though, thank GOD I’m not a vegetarian… as much as I’m enjoying the green stuff, a majority of vegetables on your plate has the side-effect of making the meaty accompaniment taste even better ha!

Anyway, here’s days 3 & 4 for your delight/disgust. I’m having pancakes today because it would be sacrilege not to observe the religious festival of Jif Lemon Day 😉  Oh and incase you’re feeling nostalgic, here’s a post in celebration of today from 2 years ago.

Happy pancake-ing!

Day 3: Beansprouts

Chilli Chicken with Beansprouts and Sesame Crackers – 390kcal

A beansprout-based meal bothered me.  Should I eat them cold or stir fry them?  I’d been doing a lot of stir-frys but I wimped out of the beansprout salad option and met the idea half-way.  I cooked the beansprouts a little earlier in the day and then chilled them, it was delicious.  Possibly my favourite meal so far.  Who knew the humble beansprout could be so awesome?

200g Beansprouts
2 Spring Onioins (sliced)
1/2 Red Pepper
1 Chicken Breast

1 tsp Chicken Seasoning (I used a chilli/garlic mill)
10g Sunflower Seeds
1tbsp Light Soy Sauce
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder

4 Sesame Crackers to serve (Tesco do Poppy and Sesame ‘thins’ that are ideal)

Spray the chicken breast with cooking oil (the 1kcal stuff – you only need a couple of sprays) and season before placing it on a baking sheet in a pre-heated oven (180 degrees fan) for around 20/25 minutes until cooked.  Slice your red pepper and spring onions before lightly stir-frying them for a couple of minutes.  Add the beansprouts, garlic powder (you could use fresh but I only wanted a tiny hint of flavour), soy sauce and sunflower seeds.  Cook for a couple more minutes before setting aside to cool.  Serve with sesame crackers.

How easy is that one?!

Day 4: Brussels Sprouts

Garlic Chicken with Roasted Brussels Sprouts – 470kcal

If you don’t like garlic, this recipe won’t be for you.  The combination of sprouts AND garlic will ensure you never hear from that first date again so please only opt for this one on a day that you’re either very, very alone or very, very married.

1 Chicken Breast
3 cloves Garlic (thinly sliced)
150g Brussels Sprouts (destalked and halved)
4 Mushrooms (quartered)

1 tsp Olive Oil
10g Pine Nuts
30g Parmesan Cheese
1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar

Black Pepper to taste

This one is really quick to prepare and cook as well.

Trim the ends of the sprouts and slice them in halves, ensuring that the cut transverses the stalky bit before thinly slicing the garlic.  Into a small bowl: add the olive oil, pine nuts, balsamic vinegar, sprouts, mushrooms, and garlic and mix with your fingers to ensure a good coating of oil covers the sprouts.  Lightly spray your ovenware (I use an enamel pie plate) with 1kcal cooking oil spray and arrange your sprouts on it in a single layer.  Score the chicken breast to make ‘pockets’ along its length and pop a couple of garlic slices into each pocket before lightly spraying with your 1kcal cooking oil spray.  Place both dishes into a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees (fan) for around 25 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.  Keep an eye on the sprouts, you want them to caramelise but not dry out.  As you’re using less oil than normal, they may dry out more quickly.  Sprinkle with Parmesan a couple of minutes before taking them out of the oven.

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This one wasn’t my greatest success.  For one, I didn’t have any parmesan and substituted feta cheese – who knew that feta doesn’t like being cooked in the oven?  (Everyone except me probably).  My sprouts also dried out a little… not too much but as I was eating them, I was thinking… “could do with a glaze on these”.   The lovely Jules suggested to me on twitter that I might try cooking them in a hot pan next time, I think I might just try that and see if I can retain the roasty flavour without killing the texture.

As for the sprouts being… well, brussel (yukky) sprouty?  I can honestly say that they were improved by well over 300% when compared to boiled sprouts.  I had a couple of “slow chew” moments when I wasn’t adoring them BUT combined with the chicken, they were FINE.  Tasty if not magnificent!

What do you think of today’s recipes and are you having pancakes tonight?  Lemon and sugar or something a little more decadent?

Yes, really.  Since coming off the Cambridge Diet last October, I’ve put a bit back on… or a lot back on, depending on how kind I’m feeling about myself when I think about it.  In total, I lost just over 4st (but didn’t reach goal before quitting) and have since put 1.5st back on and it’s still creeping.  I don’t want it to creep, it would be so easy to let myself slide back up the scales.  The fact is, I love food.  I love food and I don’t care too much for exercise.  True, I have a hormone imbalance which means that I’m slightly more susceptible to piling on the pounds just by looking at an unrefined carb BUT, that’s not to take away from the fact that essentially, I’m a greedy guts.

In the past month, I’ve yo-yoed from famine to feast – knowing that this isn’t how I *should* be losing weight and it’s been (as I’m sure you can imagine) a rollercoaster of highs and lows as a result.  It also means that whenever I treat myself to a couple of days off the famine, I’ve piled about 7lbs back on in 48hrs as my body retains both water and energy stores in an attempt to get me through the ensuing ‘famine’.

This week, I’m making a few changes.

I love my meal replacements, though I know that many will frown – and I will be replacing my breakfast and lunch with protein-based shakes.  Because of my hormone imbalance, my sugar levels soar with porridge and cereals, and through personal choice (i.e. I can’t stop at one slice), bread is out.  This leaves things like fruit and yoghurt and well, I don’t know about you – but I’d need to eat a LOT of fruit and yoghurt to sustain my appetite throughout the morning.

As most meal replacement programs suggest, I will be limiting my evening meal to 600kcal – but I want to make those calories work as hard as possible.  This week, I’ve been creating my evening meals based around a particular vegetable.  It forces me to get imaginative and will hopefully expand upon the range of veggies that I eat in the future.  Now, lectures about how to eat healthily aside (please), I thought I’d share with you the evening meals that I’ve been enjoying this week and the veggies that have taken pride of place each day!

Day 1: Broccoli

Broccoli and King Prawn Stir Fry – 400kcal

100g Ready-To-Eat Jumbo King Prawns
200g Broccoli Florets
100g Mushrooms
1/2 Red Pepper
1 clove sliced Garlic

15ml (1tbsp) Amoy Light Soy Sauce
1/4 tsp Red Cayenne Pepper
15ml (1tbsp) Balsamic Vinegar

25g Easy Cook Brown Rice (uncooked weight, cooked in microwave)
10g Pine Nuts

The quantities and kcal listed above are for a single portion.  I used that 1cal oil spray stuff for cooking… generally seem to end up with about 30 sprays of the stuff though (all factored in to my kcal counting though *polishes halo*)

Spray a non-stick pan with oil and stir-fry the broccoli and red pepper over a medium heat until the broccoli begins to soften a little (about 7 minutes).  If you feel that your pan is getting too dry, add a little water, about a tbsp at a time.  Meanwhile, cook the brown rice – I always cook mine in the microwave, remember that brown rice will take longer to cook than basmati!  Add the soy sauce, balsamic vinegar and cayenne pepper – giving the pan a swirl to coat the vegetables.  Let cook for a further 5 minutes.  Throw in the mushrooms and garlic and continue to cook until everything has softened to a firmness you like.  Add the prawns, rice and pine nuts and loosely cover the frying pan with a lid to contain the heat for a maximum of two minutes.  Serve!

Day 2: Cauliflower

Cauliflower and King Prawn Curry – 510kcal

100g Ready-To-Eat Jumbo King Prawns
200g Cauliflower Florets (cut the large florets in half to allow them to cook through)
1 diced Green Pepper
2 Large Mushrooms
3 cloves of Garlic minced (don’t judge me)
25g Easy Cook Brown Rice

1tbsp Cooking Oil
Water

1/2tsp Ground Cumin
1/2tsp Ground Ginger (fresh if you have it!)
1/2tsp Ground Coriander
1tsp Ground Turmeric
1tsp Garam Masala
10g Chilli Paste (I used a sachet)
1tsp Peanut Butter

10g Shelled Sunflower Seeds
1tbsp Plain Yoghurt or Soured Cream to serve

Not the most colourful dish in the world, but the fantastic flavour makes up for its mono-shade.  Add the oil, cumin, ginger, garlic, chilli paste and coriander to the pan before throwing in the cauliflower.  Add about 1/4 cup of water and allow it to cook gently for 5 minutes.  Pour on a little more water before adding the uncooked rice, green pepper and turmeric.  Gently simmer while the rice absorbs the water and the cauliflower begins to soften.  You’ll need to keep adding water during this process as the pan dries out, just test the rice every so often and prod the cauliflower to judge readiness.  While the rice is still a little toothsome, add the mushrooms, peanut butter, garam masala and sunflower seeds.  Cook for a further 5 minutes until the mushrooms are soft and the rice is cooked.  Add the prawns and cover with a large pan lid for 2 minutes to ensure everything is piping hot.  Serve with a spoonful of plain yoghurt or soured cream.

Wish me luck – it’s Brussel Sprout night tonight, not even kidding.  What are your favourite and most inventive ways to cook broccoli and cauliflower?