Avocado & Greek Yoghurt Dip With Home made Tortilla chips

Chips & dip is a wonderful combination, great for parties, for snacks, nibbles for watching a movie. Unfortunately they are typically very high in calories and therefor not so great for us weight watchers. I have come up with a wonderful chip & dip combination that wont break your Pro Point bank. And if I do say so myself it's absolutely delicious!

Avocado & Greek Yoghurt Dip with Home Made Tortilla chips

Serves 2

7 Pro Points per recipe on the Pro Points plan

4 pro Points per recipe on the Filling & Healthy plan

Avocado & Greek Yoghurt Dip

Ingredients

1  Large Avocado 

Juice of half a Lime

3 tbsp 0% Greek Yoghurt

2 garlic Cloves, Crushed

1 Inch piece of Ginger, peeled & grated

Half a tsp Smoked Paprika

Half a tsp Cayenne pepper (optional)

Salt & Pepper to taste

Small dash of water\

2 Weight watchers Wraps

Calorie Controlled Spray

Sea salt & Ground Black Pepper

Method

Half the Avocado, remove the stone and scoop out the flesh,

Add it to the blender,

Then add the remaining ingredients,

Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides half way through

Home Made Tortilla Chips

Preheat oven to 180c

Cut the wraps into triangles,

Place on a lined baking sheet,

Spray with Calorie Controlled Spray,

Sprinkle with Salt & Pepper or seasoning of your choice,

Bake for 8 minutes or until crisp and lightly golden

leave to cool

Serve & enjoy a very tasty savoury snack!

   

A great start with a Chorizo & Feta Omelette

Happy New Year to you all!

This week is back to class time, as the kids get back to school, us weight watchers members get ourselves back to class and on the scales. It's a scary, daunting prospect for a lot of us, but it's a step in the right direction and its onwards and downwards from there!

I have a lovely recipe to get you inspired and you won't feel like your on a diet at all, thats the joy of Weight watchers, nothing if forbidden you can have everything in moderation, so there is no need to eat dry, bland food in order to loose weight.

Chorizo & Feta Omelette

Serves 1

7 Pro Points per serving
or
3 pro Points on Filling & Healthy

2 Medium Eggs
1 Tbsp Skimmed Milk
1 Tsp Oregano
Salt & Pepper to taste
30g Chorizo, diced
30g Light Feta, diced
1 small Onion, diced
1 tomato, halved & sliced
1 tsp Balsamic vinegar

Heat the grill to 200 degrees.
Whisk the eggs, milk, oregano, salt & pepper in a jug and set to one side.
Spray a small/medium frying pan with fry lite and heat to a high heat.
Fry the onions for one minute & add the chorizo, fry for a further minute.
Reduce to a medium heat.
Add the tomato & balsamic vinegar and simmer until the balsamic has caramalised with the tomato.
Pour over the egg mixture and sprinkle the feta over the top.
Cook until bubbles appear on the surface.
Place the frying pan under the grill until the omelette is fully cooked (alternatively you can flip and cook the other side on the hob)


Serve with home made potato wedges or a side salad & enjoy!

Filling & Healthy Lasagna

The joy of filling & Healthy is that you can enjoy lots of your favourite meals that may otherwise be high in pro Points, some small changes may have to be made for them to be Filling & Healthy but nobody will be any the wiser! One of my favourites, and a dish I didn't make very often when following the Pro Points plan is lasagna. Here is my take on a Filling & Healthy Lasagna

Filling & Healthy Lasagna

Serves 4

Free on Simple Start or Filling & Healthy.

500g Extra Lean Mince Beef

2 Medium Onions, Diced

1 Red Pepper, Diced

1 Green/yellow Pepper, Diced
1 Courgette Diced,

250G Mushrooms, Finely Sliced

2 Tins Chopped Tomatoes

1 Tbsp Tomato Puree

1 Clove of Garlic

1 Tbsp Oregano

1 Tbsp Basil

Pinch of Celery Salt

Salt & pepper

Fry Lite

Whole-Wheat Lasagna Sheets

White Sauce

2 Tubs Low Fat Cottage Cheese

1 Large Egg

1 Tbsp Oregano

Spray the bottom of a large, heavy bottom saucepan with Fry Lite.

Over a medium/high heat, fry the Onion for 2 minutes and add the Mince Beef, brown off.

Add the chopped Peppers and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Stir in the tins of chopped Tomatoes, Tomato puree, Garlic &Herbs.

Turn to a low heat and let simmer for at least 30 minutes,
Add in the mushroom & courgette and cook for a further 10 minutes

Preheat Oven to 180.

In a jug mix the Cottage Cheese, Oregano & Egg together, you can leave it lumpy but I blend mine with my hand blender.

Layer the Lasagna sauce and Whole-Wheat sheets alternatively and top with the cottage cheese mix. 
Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 20 minutes, uncover and bake for a further 10 minutes.

Serve with Filling & Healthy garlic bread and salad, enjoy!

Beetroot & Beef Curry

I adore beetroot. Growing up I could sit and eat a whole jar of pickled beetroot to myself. When had salads during the summer I would have to eat the beetroot last because I loved it so much.

As I have gotten older my beetroot taste buds have expanded, there is rarely a time now where you wont find a pack of vacuum packed beetroot in the vegetable drawer of my fridge. I love it in salad with rocket & goats cheese. I love it roasted along side my Sunday roast and I have even made chocolate beetroot cake, it was so good and definitely a post for another day!
So when I was doing my grocery shopping earlier this week, you can imagine the excitement that came over me when I spotted fresh beetroot on the shelf next to the turnips. Oh yes my friends beetroot season is here!

Enjoying a relaxed saturday at home I decided to see if there was anything a bit different I could do with my bunch of beetroot. A little google search and I found that beetroot Stews and curries were a thing. Beetroot Curry? Well that sounded interesting!

Beetroot & beef Curry

Serves 4

6Pro Points per portion.
Free on F&H

750g Beetroot
2 onions
450g Lean Diced Beef
2 tbsp Tomato Puree
2 Garlic Cloves, Crushed
1tsp Ground Ginger
2 tsp Chilli Powder
6 Cardamon Pods
2 tsp Sweet Freedom Syrup
2 tsp Cumin Seed
1/2 tbsp Ground Coriander
1/4 tsp Ground Cloves
Ground Pepper
4 tsp Coconut Oil or Olive Oil
2 Beef Stock Cubes
2 tsp Garam Masala

Place the whole beetroots (or half if very large) in a pot of boiling water and bring to the boil,
reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 20/30 minutes until tender.
Wearing gloves, run the beetroot under cold water and rub the skin off with your fingers.
Dice the beetroot into 1" cubes and let cool, set aside 2 3rds of the beetroot.
Place the remaining 3rd into a food processor with the tomato puree, garlic, ginger, chilli powder, cardamon pods, syrup, cumin, coriander, cloves & ground pepper, blend into a paste.
Preheat the oven to 150.
Heat the oil in the bottom of casserole dish.
Fry the beef until just brown and remove the beef from the pot.
Lower the heat & add the onions to the pot and fry until softened,
then add the paste and fry for 5 minutes.
return the beef to the pot along with 2 beef stock cubes and enough boiling water to just cover the beef.
Bring to the boil, then place the lid on and bake in the oven for 2 hours.
After 2 hours remove the lid and bake for another 30 minutes.
Place the pot back on the hob, add the remaining 2 3rds of beetroot and hear through,

Serve over brown rice and enjoy!

Spicy Sweet Potato, Chickpea & Spinach Curry

The weather is starting to change and we are heading into Autumn. I have noticed over the last week or so that my eating habits are changing. I am feeling more like warm, hearty comfort foods again and its a welcome change for me.

Myself and william have also decided to eat more vegetarian meals so we are not eating so much meat. Not that there is anything wrong with meat, we love meat! but I think we eat a lot of it and it would be good for our health and our wallets to have some meat free days too.
I made this vegetarian curry last week and it was a hit! Its a hot one, so if you dont like spice just leave out the fresh red chilli.

Spicy Sweet potato, Chickpea & Spinach Curry

Free on Simple Start/ Filling & healthy

10 Pro Points per serving
*to reduce pro points try using Fry Lite instead of Olive Oil.

Serves 4

20mls of Olive Oil
1 Red Onion, Diced
1 White Onion, Diced
3 Tbsp Curry powder
1 red Chilli, Diced (optional)
1 tsp Ground Ginger
2 very large Sweet potatoes, Cubed
1 400g Tin of Drained Chickpeas
300g Low Fat Natural Yogurt
1 400g Tin Chopped Tomatoes
400g Spinach


Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat.
Add the onion and curry powder, mix well and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onion is soft.
Add the chilli if using and the ginger, sweet potato and chickpeas, cook for 5 minutes, then ass the tomatoes along with 200ml of water and bring to the boil.
Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes.
remove the lid and cook for another 20 minutes, stirring occassionally until the sweet potato is cooked through and the sauce is thickened.
Stir in the low fat natural yogurt and cook for a couple more minutes, then stir in the spinach and cook until wilted.

Serve over brown rice and enjoy!

Filling & Healthy Falafel

I was inspired to try and make Filling & Healthy Gluten Free Falafel after a conversation with my friend Amy, who told me that she misses being able to have them since she began to suffer from a gluten & wheat intolerance.

Filling & Healthy Gluten Free Falafel

Makes: 10

(If you were to eat all 10 you will need to take 2pp for the Gluten free Flour out of your weekly 49)

1 Can Chickpeas, drained
2 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
1 small Onion, finely diced
1 tbsp fresh/dried Parsley
1 tsp ground Coriander
1/2tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Cumin
1 1/2 tblsp Gluten Free Flour (alternatively use regular flour)
1/2 tsp Gluten Free Baking Powder (alternatively use regular baking powder)
Salt & pepper to taste
Fry Lite

Preheat oven to 200.

Place the drained chickpeas into a food processor, add the garlic & onion and blend together.
Add the remaining ingredients and blend well, until a thick paste has formed.
Form the paste into small balls and place on a lined baking tray that has been sprayed with Fry Lite.
Spray the tops of the balls with more Fry Lite.
Bake in the oven for 40 minutes, turning halfway.

I made a delicious Filling & Healthy salad out of my Falafel. I placed 3 of the falafel on a bed of  Rocket & Spinach leaves, topped with left over Whole-wheat couscous, a sprinkle of Feta cheese (taken from my 49 weekly pro Points)
You could also make some Filling & healthy Humus and make a falafel wrap/pitta with shredded lettuce or red cabbage. Yummy!

A Simple Dinner For Your Simple Start

Whole-wheat Couscous is free on simple start/Filling & Healthy, eager to have another Filling & Healthy food in my cupboard for dinner & lunch inspiration I had been keeping a vague eye out for whole-wheat couscous for the past couple of weeks. I hadn't managed to find it in the supermarkets I tend to visit on a regular basis.
While In Bantry on wednesday, putting up posters to promote my new class opening there, I came across a small organic supermarket and found a bag of whole-wheat Couscous there.

I was very keen to use it and decided that I would Make it for dinner today. I had a busy day, I went for a fabulous walk with my friend Amy & her dog in Ballincollig park, I hadn't been there before and it was stunning. I headed off after that to do my weekly grocery shop and then did a spot of cleaning at home for the rest of the afternoon. I wasn't feeling in the mood to do anything too timely in the kitchen after that and I decided on simple roast veg for the Couscous.

I wasn't really expecting anything amazing and I did worry that the vegetarian meal would not be enough for my boyfriend William. I knew I was onto a hit when after two mouthfuls william said ''we have to have this again, its delicious!'' and for once he didn't go back for seconds, he was full!

Roast Veg & Whole-wheat Couscous.

Serves 3 ( I made enough for 2 dinners & one lunch)

1/2 Butternut Squash, diced
1 Red Pepper, diced
1 Green Pepper, diced
3 Carrots, diced
1 Large Onion, cut into wedges
5 Baby Potatoes, quartered
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Cumin
Turmeric
2 Cups Whole-wheat Couscous
Fry Lite
0% Total Greek Yogurt (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200

Place the chopped veg into an oven proof dish and sprinkle on your desired amount of seasoning, toss and spay with Fry Lite.
Place in the oven and roast for 30-40 minutes
When the veg is done, turn off the oven & leave the beg inside to keep warm.
bring 2 cups of water to the boil & add the 2 cups of Couscous, remove the pan from the heat, cover and leave for 5 minutes.
Fluff with a fork & serve with the roast vegetables.
Top with a tbsp of 0% Total Greek Yogurt & enjoy!

Sometimes a simple meal can be very tasty & satisfying, this meal is certainly that. It is easy to prepare and cook so is suitable for people who are not that confident in the kitchen. The leftovers would be ideal cold for lunch the next day with some rocket & spinach leaves thrown in, which is what William is getting to take to work tomorrow.

As you all probably know by now I have become a Weight Watchers leader so spread the word!
I am Opening two new classes on Monday 28th April.

10:30 am in The Westlodge Leisure Centre, Bantry
6pm The West Cork Hotel, Skibbereen.

I also have a class on Tuesdays in Youghal at 5:45pm.

Porridge Bread Scones & Home Made ''Nutella''

Firstly I would like to apologies for my disappearance lately, I have been very busy. I have been doing my Weight Watchers leader Training. I passed my assessment last week and I am now officially a Weight watchers Leader! I am very excited and also eager to get going with classes. I will have more news soon about where my classes will be, for those of you interested in that.

Now I would like to make a splash back into blogging with my new recipe.

Porridge bread is by no means a new creation to us Weight watchers people, since the beginning of Simple Start in January we have all been raving about its wonderfulness. It truly is genius! However I did begin to get a little bored with the bread and mine was ever turning out quiet right, it was always a bit soggy in the middle. I would leave it in the oven for double the stated time but no such luck would come about.

So I decided to try turning the bread dough into scones instead and it worked a treat, they cooked perfectly and I am now in love with them. The scones, like the bread is free on Simple Start or Filling & healthy. I have worked out the Pro Points for those of you who prefer to count. I am now a complete convert to Filling & Healthy myself, so I do recommend you give it a try if you haven't already.

porridge Bread Scones

Serves 12

Free on Filling & Healthy
or 4 Pro Points each.

500g  tub Low Fat Natural Yogurt
Twice the empty Yogurt tub filled with Porridge Oats
1 Tsp Salt
2 Tsp bread Soda

Preheat oven to 180c

Empty the Low Fat Natural Yogurt into a mixing bowl,
Fill up the Yogurt tub twice with Porridge Oats and mix into the Yogurt along with the Salt and Bread Soda. Mix well to form a wet dough.
Grease a 12 spaced Bun Tin with Fry Lite. Using an Ice-Cream/Potato Scoop, Scoop the dough between the 12 spaced Bun Tin. Sprinkle over Wheat Germ if desired and bake in the oven for 40 Minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Place on a wire rack to cool.

*update - I got a new oven and now my Porridge Bread Scones cook in 20 - 25 minutes, so make sure you keep an eye on them.

Now the scones are just to get you started, the real delight is the home made ''Nutella'' I have come up with. It is what I would describe as a healthy grown-ups Nutella, a dark Chocolate and Hazelnut spread. It works out much the same in Pro Points as Nutalla does but it has less Sugar and no Palm Oil, so is much better for us. I am really in love with this one! It is the perfect accompaniment for the scones and will curb any Chocolate craving!

Dark Chocolate & Hazelnut Spread

2pp for 1Tbsp or 3pp for 2 Tbsp

150g Whole Hazelnuts
60g Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
50g Sweet Freedom Syrup (Light or Dark)
120ml Skimmed Milk
1tsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat the oven to 180c

Place the Hazelnuts on a lined baking sheet and roast in the oven for 10 minutes.
when the hazelnuts are done place them between 2 pieces of Kitchen paper and rub to remove the skins (this is tiresome work but do prevail!)
Place the skinless Hazelnuts in a food processor and blend on a medium/high setting for 10 minutes or until a peanut butter consistency is achieved, scraping down the sides as necessary.
Add in the rest of the ingredients and blend until well combined.

Spoon into a sterilised jar, I used 2 small ones and refrigerate and use within one week.

Enjoy! :)

Filling & Healthy Porridge Oat Pancakes

I have had a longing for pancakes for days now. It's seeing all the pancake mixes and toppings filling the shelves of the supermarkets. Pancake Tuesday is on it's way and gosh do I love pancakes!

I am filled with lovely thoughts of stuffing myself with pancakes all day on Pancake Tuesday. The reality is I will probably have 3 or 4 and be stuffed! While I am saving myself for ''Real'' Pancakes on Pancake Tuesday I don't want to waste any of my weekly pro points on them right now. I have been making alternative filling & healthy pancakes to keep me satisfied for now.

Most of us know of and love the banana & egg pancakes that have been circling around for a while now. I had them yesterday. While they are quick, easy and a good substitute for pancake cravings, sometimes I am a little bothered about the banana taste that comes with them.

Today I decided to try out a different method and the results were very, very surprising! These pancakes tasted very much like the real deal and were very satisfying and filling. I will be opting for these pancakes instead of the banana ones so long as I am following the filling & healthy program.

Porridge Oat Pancakes.

Free on Filling & healthy
Makes 4 Pancakes.

4 scoops of Porridge Oats (I used the red scoop that comes with microwave porridge oats, this works out at 60g)
2 eggs.
A large dash of Skimmed Milk (I did not measure the milk, I added in a little at a time until i got the desired batter consistency for pancakes)
1tsp Vanilla Extract
1tsp Baking Powder
Fry Light

Pour all ingredients into a baking bowl and blend using a hand blender. Alternatively mix together with a spoon or whizz in the food processor.
Spray your frying pan with some Fry Light and heat the pan to a medium/high heat.
Using a serving spoon or ladle pour some of the batter onto the frying pan.
These pancakes cook very fast so keep an eye on them.
After a minute flip over to the other side and cook for a further minute.
Repeat with the remaining batter and serve with your favourite topping.


You can make these pancakes gluten free by using gluten free oats and baking powder.

Flourless Chocolate Mug Cake

Last night, I wanted chocolate and I wanted cake and nothing was going to stop me. Every single thought about weight watchers and points went out the window and I searched Google for a quick easy recipe.

What I found was genius...Mug Cake!

A Mug Cake is exactly that a cake that is made in a mug, it is cooked in the microwave for a minute or so depending on the recipe. Afterwards, feeling a little guilty I calculated up the points. It worked out at a whopping 27, lucky it was rich and filling so I was only able to eat half!

The 27 Pro Point Mug Cake!

It got me thinking, could I make a weight watchers version? I began researching and came up with a recipe. and a flourless one at that. I had my good friend Amy in mind as she is gluten & wheat intolerant.

Batter in Liners

These cakes are rich & chocolately so instead of making one mug cake I decided to divide the cake batter and make 3 little cakes instead. I used silicone cupcake molds that i got in ikea but it will work out just fine in mugs too, just be sure to grease the mugs first so you can easily remove the cakes.

Flourless Chocolate Mug Cake

1 Medium Egg
2 Tblsp unsweetend Cocoa Powder
1 Tblsp Brown Sugar or Sweetener
1/4 Tsp Baking Powder

Baked Cupcakes

The whole recipe is 11 Pro Points.
If you decide to make 3 smaller cakes like i did they work out at 4 Pro Points each.
If you use sweetener one big mug cake is 8 Pro Points or 3 Pro Points each if divided into 3 cakes.

Dusted with icing sugar

Instructions

In a bowl mix together to egg, cocoa powder and sweetener. 

Add the baking powder and mix.

Divide the batter between three silicone cupcake liners or mugs. (If you want to make one cake pour all the batter into one mug) if you use mugs, grease the mugs with oil first.

Microwave all three cupcakes at once for one minute or until baked. 

The batter will rise at first and then deflate as it finishes baking.

Test the cupcakes are done by inserting a cocktail stick into the middle, if it comes out clean the cupcakes are done, if not bake for a few more seconds.

Delicious!

The cupcakes would go great with some cream or ice cream if you have the Pro Points to spare, I dusted mine using 1/2 a tsp of icing sugar over all three. I took a bite and it was divine, Though I felt that I was missing something,  so I poured one tsp of toffee sauce over the top for no extra Pro Points!

Drizzled with toffee sauce

What is Christmas to you?

I have been thinking long and hard about christmas since my last weigh in of the year on tuesday where I had a very lucky stay the same. I was very worried i would be up and the thought was making me have butterflies in my tummy. I did not want to face christmas on a gain.
After talking to a number of people about their own christmas plans, some wanting to sts and some wanting to loose over christmas I decided to make my own.
I decided to write down what christmas means to me in order of priority and that would help me decide on the weight watchers result I would be content with.

Christmas to me is first and foremost about family, its no easy task getting my family all together during the year but at christmas we all know we will be together. We all love christmas and my mam and dad work very hard to make it special for us. even though we are all adults now, we are all shipped off to bed at midnight so the presents can be ''delivered'' under the tree. We all must wake up together and nobody is allowed down the stairs until we are all going.

Secondly christmas is about presents, this mind sound shallow and materialistic to some, but for me its more about the tradition we have as a family. After descending the stairs together in giddy excitement we gather in the living room and sit under the tree. The funny thing is we are all still like little children. we each have our own space under the tree, the same every year. me on the right, my sister in the middle and my brother on the left (we will squeeze his wife in there somewhere this year!) we each take turns opening a present, taking the time to pay attention and thank each other for the gifts. we love the little things like socks & PJs, oh christmas wouldn't be the same without the new PJs!

Thirdly then comes food. Like in most irish households, there will be an abundance of food in the Murphy household. After presents we have a grilled breakfast. fry ups were never fried in my house, they were always grilled so at least I know it wont be too bad! we are usually stuffed then until dinner time but might have a nibble on some chocolate. Its after dinner that i usually ask for the tin of roses and seeing how my mother forgot them last year i'm sure she has more than made up for it this year!
Alcohol plays a part too, my sister introduced me to Baileys with a shot of brandy in it a couple of years ago and its been a traditional drink at christmas for me since then. I have to have ginger ale on christmas! I have drank it with my christmas dinner since I was a little girl. That usually means that I dont drink very much alcohol through out the day.

I am so very much looking forward to christmas this year, its definitely my favourite time of the year. I dont want to come back to cork after christmas feeling like I didn't properly enjoy myself or have my traditional christmas, so I have decided that If i am up after christmas I will be ok with that so long as its not any more than 2 lbs! Ideally I would love a stay the same and of course we all want to loose. I'm half a lb over my goal so even loosing that half would be super, there is a big gap between christmas and the next weigh in so if I allow myself christmas even christmas day and St. Stephens day off weight watchers I can rain it in and hopefully see a loss at the first weigh in in January.

But like I said I love Christmas and I am going to enjoy it and if that means facing a gain then so be it. I will have that gain gone in no time. Make a plan that suits you and  you feel comfortable with. Nobody can tell you what is right or wrong. Enjoy your christmas and be happy with how it went afterwards.

Merry christmas sarah x

Weight watchers (unofficial) Christmas Party

At the weekend I attended the unofficial weight watchers party in Tullamore along with 9 other fabulous ladies. The night was organised by a fantastic lady called Maura from the weight watchers group on Facebook that I live on. Unfortunately though Maura couldn't make it in the end :(
We had a gorgeous three course meal at the Tullamore Court Hotel. I had A Chicken & Mushroom Vol Au Vent for my starter followed by Stuffed Chicken Breast with Croquets (the most amazing ones i've ever tasted) and vegetables. Dessert was Forerro Rocher Cheesecake and it had clotted cream on the top! I also had a large glass of red with dinner and four Gin & Slim Tonics throughout the night. so you have probably guessed it by now but I was no point counting the night at all.

After out hair & Make - up was done

I went to the party with my good friend Amy O'Riordan,fellow weight watchers and fellow blogger - http://growingintherightdirection.blogspot.ie
We started out morning off in cork with some gorgeous vintage style hair and make up by the wonderfully talented Rosa - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rosa-Through-The-Looking-Glass/151043948262325
We then began out journey to Tullamore, both with gurgling hungry tummies, which we knew was the completely wrong way to show up to a dinner so we stopped and got a sandwich on the way. It took us longer to get the the hotel than we had anticipated so we checked in and had a rush to top up our lipstick and get out dresses on to make it down in time for the dinner.

All set for the night

Our fears and concernes about meeting up with people we had chatted to on Facebook but not actually met in person would be awkward were quickly washed away, we all sat down and imidiatley started chatting and the conversation flowed for the rest of the night. I think its safe to say that all of us had a great night :) I am looking forward tp the next meet up which will hopefully be in the near future!

All the Gals!

Today is weigh in day for me and I cannot predict at all how its going to go for me. Npt having tracked the night away leaves me in the dark a bit. I really want a STS which would set me up perfectly for my own Christmas Party at my house this coming weekend. But I fear that I might have a gain after the indulgent dinner at the weekend. If I do gain though I wont be annoyed with myself for indulging and not tracking, I went there planning to eat what I wanted and thats what I did. I am at goal, actually 1lb under so I know that any little gains will be swiftly dealt with because I plan on staying at goal for a very very long time!

This was a short and sweet entry and I will be back later to let you know how weigh in went.

Getting to Goal Part 2

Maintaining is tougher than i ever imagined it would be. As weight watchers we spend weeks/months and sometimes years going to weigh ins every week hoping for a loss, we never see ourselves actually reaching goal but always concentrating on the next weigh in. You think loosing the weight is the tough part, and of course its really hard, we all know that. we think everything will be just perfect and simple when we do reach goal and we wont have a care in the world. Goal is the when we become perfect, like we always wanted.

Except that is isn't! I'm not trying to disappoint you or put you on a downer, but goal is tough, maintaining is hard. The sense of freedom and the feeling that you want to eat everything just escalates and I can see why a lot of people end up slipping back to old habits and gaining weight again and it terrifies me! I do not want to end up back where I started or worse. Maybe the fear is a good thing, maybe the fear will help to keep me focused and on track.

This is what looking in the mirror is like, my mind has not caught up with my body yet!

I don't have the perfect body that I dreamed off. Yes I am the size 12 that I have always dreamed off and I love it but I still have areas that I am not too pleased with and I have come to realise that I will never be 100% satisfied with my body and I need to be ok with that. we are human and we are not perfect! I still feel like an over weight person so my frame of mind is not quiet matching the way I look yet. I suppose it takes time to adjust to a new thinner body when your so used to the old fat one. Seeing people that I haven't seen in a while is helping with that a bit. Peoples reactions are a fantastic confidence boost and clearly there is a noticeable difference in my size. 

Some of the new clothes that I have ordered arrived and they are a perfect fit and changing from wearing clothes that are too big to wearing ones that are just right is really helping me to adjust and feel good about myself :)

One of my new goal wardrobe outfits.

My parents came to visit me this weekend, I haven't seen them in a few weeks and although they had seen recent photos of me they were really taken aback by seeing me in person and they were very complimentary. I was chatting to my mam about wanting a deep fryer so I could make chips as a treat every now and again but that I was also concerned about the dangers of having one in the house. My mam said that I have done so well and I shouldn't let anything ruin it and if I really wanted chips as a treat I should just go out and buy some instead so I thought that was a much better idea.

My first week of maintaining went as it should and I had a STS at weigh in last tuesday. This week i have been feeling quiet relaxed and within reason i have been eating what i want so I hope that I can manage a STS this week too. If I don't then I guess it will kick me back into tip top weight watchers form again so it wont be a bad thing, though I do need to stay within 2 lbs so I can get my gold card but I am confident that I will :)

So as promised here are my top recipes for helping you to get to your goal.

1.French toast with syrup and bacon medallions - a good weekend breakfast/brunch

Serves 1.

2 slices of calorie controlled bread 3pp

1 egg - 2pp

a dash of skim milk - 1pp (take out of daily milk allowance)

2 tsp of syrup - 1pp

2 Supervalu healthy choice bacon medallions - 2pp

9pp per serving. 

whisk together the egg and milk and add salt and pepper.

cook the bacon medallions on the grill until done and getting crispy on the edges.

spray a frying pan with spray oil and heat to a medium high heat.

pout half of the egg mic onto a plate and dip both sides of one slice of bread in the egg and add to the pan, repeat with the other slice. Cook both sides of the bread for a couple of minutes.

top each slice with a bacon medallion and a tsp of syrup and enjoy :)

2.Beetroot and low fat feta salad.

serves 4.

1 bag of rocket or rocket and mixed leaves - 0pp

2/3 vacuum-packed (or fresh cooked) beetroots - 0pp

100g low fat feta - 4pp

1 tbls low fat salad dressing - 0pp (I use Kraft low fat honey and mustard)

diced peppers and red onion  - 0pp (optional)

1pp per serving.

Add the rocket leaves to a big salad bowl.

Roughly chop the beetroot and add to the rocket,

Add in the pepper and onion if using,

crumble over the feta cheese and toss.

Drizzle with the dressing and serve. (this dish goes really well with chicken wings or drumsticks)

3. Curried Carrot Soup.

serves 4

900g of carrots (peeled and chopped) - 0pp

1lrg onion (diced) - 0pp

2 tsp curry powder - 0pp

1 veg stock cube - 0pp

0pp per serving

fry the onion in the bottom of a saucepan with spray oil and the curry powder for 2 minutes.

Add the carrots and stock, bring to the boil and simmer until the carrots are tender.

Blitz the soup in a blender and serve. 

4. Spanish Chicken Involtini 

serves 2

8pp per serving

For this recipe click here 

5. Cream cheese pasta.

Serves 2

80g Dried Pasta

100g Garlic and Herb Philadelphia

2 Bacon Medallions Chopped - 2pp

1 onion diced - 0pp

Half a Punnet of Mushrooms Chopped.

1 Vegetable Stock Cube

Boil the pasta in water with the stock cube.

Fry the bacon, onion & mushroom in a pan with fry oil.

when the pasta is cooked drain the water leaving about 2 tblsp of the water, stir in the cream cheese and the bacon mix.

Serve and enjoy.

6. Orange and Ginger Cheesecake.

Serves 6.

6pp per serving

You can find the recipe by clicking here 

I hope you enjoy trying out some of these recipes along your journey, I know that I have :)

Whatever it is, its working and my new favourite recipe.

I tried very hard to be good the last week I got my large 3kg jar so that i could put a euro in it every time I came home from work and not grazed on sweets all day, day one and two went great, not a single sweet passed my lips and then day three came and oops, I was stuffing my face again, it continued like the next 3 days at work. then weigh in day came (Tuesday) and I was a bit annoyed with myself again and I just knew I was gonna be up, plus it was that time of the month and I am always a STS or up on those weeks.

Amy O'Riordan, my good friend, fellow weight watchers and blogger came up with this wonderful idea of having a group diary, each week one of us takes it and uses it as a tracker, a diary of our feelings or just to put recipes in. Then the following week the next person has it and can look back over the other entries for inspiration. I had the diary last week. It started off well but in the end it got a bit neglected and I didn't finish my weeks entry. this is what went down last week, a meal and a movie with friends - tracked fine. A surprise dinner out with Will - tracked but went over my weeklies by 7. Take away - way way over and sweets, crazy. so now you see why I was expecting to be up.

I barely made it to weigh in to pass the diary on, I was stock taking in work from 8:30 am and I didn't get out of work until nearly 7, I drove like a mad woman and made it just as the class was over and passed the diary on to a very enthusiastic girl ( who's name I cannot remember, sorry)
I weighed in and I was down...yes DOWN 1.5lbs! I am starting to sound a bit like the girl who cried wolf at this stage, this seems to be happening to me a lot. I was thrilled but the first thing i said to my leader Sue was ''now i'm not gonna be good because I know I can get away with it!' then I got home and I thought about it and I decided that even if I can get away with it, it's not a healthy habit and I need to break it. It's better for my health to eat well and not be eating so much sugar all the time. So thats my vow for this week, to stop eating so much sugar.

This week I want to share with you my new favourite recipe, Spanish Chicken Involtini from the weight watchers members favourite book. Its really tasty, it does not taste like a diet dinner, it tastes like something you might get out at a restaurant.

Spanish Chicken Involtini

Serves 2

16 pp per recipe                    8pp per serving

100g butternut squah, peeled, deseeded and cut into small cubes. (I like to use a whole squash and really bulk up the meal)
200g red pepper deseeded and diced ( i use 2 peppers of any colour)
1 tsp paprika
calorie controlled cooking spray
60g ready to eat chorizo
2 x 165g chicken breast
2 tblsp low fat cream cheese with sweet chili (I used the philadelphia with sweet chili, but you could use any cream cheese and mix in your own chili sauce)

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.
Place the squash and peppers in a large ovenproof dish, sprinkle with half the paprika, season and spray with cooking spray.
Bake for 20-30 minutes, until tender. remove from oven and mix in the chorizo. leave to cool.
meanwhile cut the chicken in half lengthways. Place each piece between two sheets of cling film and use a rolling pin to flatten the chicken into four long strips.
divide the cream cheese between the chicken strips, spreading in neatly over the top of each one. Top with the squash mixture. Roll each strip up tightly and secure with two cocktail sticks each.
spray an oven proof s=dish with the cooking spray and place the chicken and the remaining filling in the dish. Sprinkle over the remaining paprika.
Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through.

It should look a bit like this.

I had mine on its own, with the extra squash its loads. But my boyfriend likes his with sweet potato wedges, so if you have the extra points you could do that.

Williams plate with the wedges.

I am now 1.5lbs to goal and if i get there by halloween (which I should) then i will be delighted.
I think its safe to buy some new clothes now so i am going to town tomorrow to have a look around.
Will has made several comments about my underwear being too saggy on my bottom now so I think its time I bought some smaller ones for sure!

Also I will be setting up my own Please Pass The Skinny YouTube channel to go along with my blog soon, so keep an eye out for more information on that :)

At the end of a hard day there is always cheesecake!

I weighed in on tuesday with a gain of 1lb. I was really disgusted with that yesterday, I had been good all week, I didn't go over my points. I just felt that a a gain was a bad omen for my first week in my new job, If I couldn't loose weight on a regular week how was I going to loose weight while working in a sweet shop! The only thing that I could put it down to was my period. But I hadn't had a gain any other time when I got my period! or had I? Turns out i did, I went back and checked my weigh in tracker. In fact, I have had a small gain or a STS like clockwork once every four weeks since I began weight watchers, I just never put 2 and 2 together before. So I felt much happier after I realised the pattern and that if I stay on track I will have a gain next week.

Orange & Ginger Nut Biscuit Cheesecake

So after accepting my gain for what it was all that was left to do was sort out my craving for something really naughty to cure those horrible cramps....mmm cheesecake! I went on the hunt for a weight watchers friendly cheesecake and i found this amazing recipe on the weight watchers ireland website. Not just your average lemon or strawberry cheesecake but a delicious orange and ginger nut biscuit cheesecake and I thought at 6pp a slice that was a bargain for cheesecake. This really hit the spot, I have not had any other treats through out the day so that I can have a slice in the evening without going into my weekly allowance. If you would like to make one for yourself you will find the recipe by clicking here 

Recipe from www.weightwatchers.ie

My first week in my new job is going well, I am coming home with ver sore feet so I am sure I must be taking a lot more steps than I had been. I am going to buy a pedometer next week and see just how many. If it is going to contribute to my weight loss I don't mind sore feet at the end of the day. besides its nothing a bit of cheesecake wont fix! My will power is still intact and very strong. Yes I am having some sweets but its only a couple and I am pointing them, I am not pretending I didn't eat them so thats all good :) I am not really having a lunch at work, just grabbing some fruit when I get the chance, I know thats not the best thing to do and I am going to try and get myself into a better routine. In class this week we talked about one thing we could do to help spur us on, so finding the time for a decent lunch while working could be mine although i also want to clear out my wardrobe and get rid of everything that doesn't fit, which is a lot. I will probably have to keep some things other wise I won't have much to wear. when I get to goal I will throw them all out and buy new stuff.

Yummy!

I left weigh in in a bad mood and that could have been detrimental for my next weigh in, but now I feel much more positive and i know I will have a loss next week. A good attitude really goes a long way when it comes to weight loss, so stay positive!

Back to loosing with some yummy food and good decisions

After a gain of 1.5lbs and then a stay the same, I am back on track with a good lose of 2lbs this week.
I made a few changes and reverted back to some old habits that I had let slip. I think perhaps I was getting a bit confident with my weight loss and wasn't being as careful as I was back in the beginning.

Some things that I changed were going back to meal planning, I used to always do this but I had let it slip and was improvising a lot, so I sat down and made a meal menu for the week and that really helped me to stay on track.
one of my dinner plans was to have fish, I would like to start having fish at least once a week. I found these lovely lightly crumbed sole in the freezer in Aldi. The crumb has roasted pepper and garlic going through it. They were delicious and one fillet worked out at 4pp.

Lightly crumbed pepper and garlic sole from Aldi with baby potatoes, carrots and broccoli 

This week in the meeting we discussed eating on days out, summer is coming to an end and we may have some last days out coming up. we chatted about whats acceptable on a day out, how many points we think is ok to use and things like that. we all agreed that that around 40 - 50 pp was not so bad, obviously only if you have the extra points from your weeklies.
I didn't really have a day out this week but I did have the afters on a wedding to attend last night so it was really a night out. I was going with my Boyfriend, my brother and his wife, who were spending the night with us. I cooked us a yummy chicken curry for 6pp a portion and we also got 2 bags of chips from the chipper to share and I had a good handful but pointed them at 14pp. I had cleverly volunteered to be designated driver so I wouldn't drink all my points or heaven forbid go over my points with wine.

before and after picture of me in the dress.

Last week I decided to try on one of my dresses to see if I could wear it to the wedding party. I had worn it to a wedding afters last december and it was so uncomfortably tight that I couldn't wait to take it off again. Now though its the perfect fit, I can eat and drink in it without feeling sick and the waistband digging into my tummy. I could dance the night away and not feel self conscious. I danced so much last night I must have earned a couple of activity points at least!
I forgot to take a decent picture of me wearing it last night, I had a whole 50s glam thing going on, softly cured hair, red lipstick, eye liner flicks, the whole lot and I really felt pretty. I do have some dodgy camera phone pictures.

Camera Phone Pic - Will and Myself.

Normally on these occasions when the finger food was produced I would have eaten my weight in cocktail sausages. Oh I love cocktail sausages! Last night though I allowed myself 2, a little taste to not feel deprived and that was enough to satisfy me. I also didn't resist having some wedding cake, it was chocolate biscuit, yum! the cake was sliced up into very small finger slices and I just had the one, so not too much damage done there. I hazard a guess at 6pp? there was also a candy buffet table at the wedding and I did eat a couple of jellies but I pointed them too. I was very proud of myself, I would tend to be one of those persons who would eat some jellies and the conveniently forget about it!

Camera Phone Pic - My Dad and Myself

so in total I used 23 of my weeklies, a few chips, a small bit of cake and few jellies, not bad I think. I am very pleased with myself anyway. I felt very in control and to top it all off I have never ever gotten so many compliments from people telling me how great I looked. I had people I didn't even know come over and say I looked beautiful, so I was going around with a big swelled head and a smile on my face. weight watchers is paying off big time! I am almost looking forward to next weeks weigh in because I know I have made the right choices and the party wont have effected my weigh in, or at least it shouldn't!