Big Bowl of Beef Pho!

Have had another successful week of trying out new dinners! Its amazing how easy it is to fall into a boring routine and how much better you feel when you are truly excited about and enjoying your meals. I found a recipe for pho among my weight watchers magazines and was instantly excited - unfortunately the recipe I found seemed lacking so I used it as a base and added lots more. The result was delicious and so good on a cold and windy night! Its so quick to put together, the only thing that really takes any time at all is the chopping! 

Zed's Signature Burger!

I love a good burger and I have been playing around with my recipe for the past year or so and I believe I have finally perfected it! The burger itself is only 3pp per burger and is F&H or Simple Start friendly. The key to the burger for me is how finely you chop the onion and garlic. It should be close to a paste to really incorporate it well throughout the mince. I have been known to use a food processor to make sure its really chopped well. The burgers are juicy and succulent and full of flavour and never fail to disappoint. 

It's London Baby!

This weekend I was in London with 6 other girls, so its safe to say I was way off plan all weekend! It was worth every second though! I did weigh myself on Friday morning before I left and I was down another pound. Usually I would hop on the scales  as soon as I get back and check again twice a day and one of two things happens; it scares me into getting back on track straight away, or it gives me a false sense of security and it takes me a while to find my groove. This time I decided I am not going to weigh myself until my scheduled weigh in day saturday morning. Full confession, I got back on Sunday evening and only just got back to tracking this morning, but I am back at it and have nothing to throw me off this week at all.

Chicken Jalfrezi & Brown Rice

I am off to London tomorrow for a weekend away with the girls and I am so excited! I have been extra strict food wise this week to allow for some indulgence this weekend! I have kept up my goal of keeping dinners interesting and mixed things up this week. But last nights dinner was the best so far. This is s recipe from an old weight watchers magazine. It calls for a can of cherry tomatoes which I thought I would have todibatitute for regular chopped tomatoes, but they had cans of cherry tomatoes in tesco and if you can get them the add a bit of sweetness to the dos.

Serves: 2

SmartPoints Per Serving: 8

SmartPoints on NoCount: 0

Propoints per serving: 9pp

Suitable for filling & healthy and simple start

Ingredients:

2 x 125g chicken breasts

I can cherry tomatoes

1cm piece of ginger grated 

2 cloves garlic crushed

1 onion sliced 

I green pepper cut into strips

I red chilli deseeded and chopped

2tsp garam masala

1tsp ground coriander

1tsp vegetable oil

100g Brown rice

Handful fresh coriander 

1 tbsp 0% fat greek yoghurt

Cook the rice according to the pack instructions. 

Whe the rice is cooking, mix the spices, garlic, chill and ginger with 1tsp water to make a paste, season well. Cut slashes in the chicken breasts and rub the paste into the chicken. Set aside to marinate. 

Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onions for 5 minutes. Add the pepper and fry for a further 5 minutes. Add the chicken and cook for 5 more minutes, turning once. 

Add the tomatoes with 2tbsp water. Bring to the boil them cover and simmer for 15 minutes, turning the chicken once. 

Remove the lid a simmer for 3 more minutes to let the sauce reduce. Serve over the rice, sprinkle the fresh coriander on top and serve the yoghurt alongside

Super easy and a really lovely midweek dinner!! 

Balsamic Glazed Pork Chops

I had a great week last week. I stayed on plan 100% and despite the fact I couldn't do any exercise I felt really good about my weigh in this Saturday morning. And the proof was in the pudding (that I didn't have), and when I did weigh myself I was down 2 out of the 4 lbs I gained over Christmas. I had a few treats this weekend and then back on it. 

Welcome to 2015!!

Its already January 6th, so I am a little late wishing you all a Happy New Year. I'd like to say I was really busy over Christmas which is the reason for my lack of posting, but the reality is I was really just enjoying doing nothing. I had a whole 10 days off work, and despite being busy until the 27th, I took things really easy after that. Things had been so crazy in work that I spent most of my days sleeping and just chilling out, and that included a fair amount of eating. I enjoyed everything I ate and I didn't go over the top too much. I had planned to do a lot of exercise over the break but that plan went totally out the window and while I did head out on Christmas morning for a run, I haven't been out since.