Smoked paprika cheesey pasta bake

Ingredients

Pasta

Passata

75g light cream cheese

Vegetables (I used onions, mushrooms and peppers)

Garlic

Smoked Paprika

Salt and Pepper

1. Cook pasta

2. Fry vegetables in frylight with the garlic, once soft add passata.

3. Season with salt, pepper and paprika

4. Stir in cream cheese, add pasta and stir until all the pasta is coated in the sauce.

5. Transfer to ovenproof dish and top with grated cheese.

6. Place in oven on 200 until cheese is melted. 

Back to Slimming World groups

After admitting that I could no longer lose weight by myself at home I decided to join a local Slimming World group. I need the accountability at the moment and the embarrassment of weighing in front of somebody.

If you know me you will know I do not like the Slimming World groups, I have tried many of them over the years and just not got on with them, whether it be the consultant or the people at the group. I have done two classes so far at my new group. The people seem OK, there is no obvious clique which is nice. The normal consultant has been on holiday for the past two weeks so can't comment on that at the moment, the stand in consultant was friendly enough but the first group consisted of going round everyones losses/gains which I hated, consequently I didn't stay on my second class but will this coming week to see what the consultant is like she has already sent me a text message letting me know she is back from holiday and welcoming me to the class which was nice.

In my first week I lost 4.5lbs which I was a little disappointed in, I usually lose a lot more in my first week but a loss is a loss and I am hoping for a decent amount this week. I would like 2.5lbs to get my 1/2 stone.

Fish Pie

Ingredients

Fish of your choice I used Tesco fish pie mix which consisted of salmon, cod and smoked haddock
Milk
Prawns
Garden peas
Potatoes
Parsley Sauce (I used Asda instant which is 81 calories for 1/2 a packet)
Method
1. Poach fish in some milk seasoned with salt and pepper. Boil potatoes
2. Make up parsley sauce as directed.
3. Add peas and prawns to milk.
4. Pour parsley sauce over and simmer for a  2-3 minutes.
5. Drain potatoes and mash. I find adding a splash of milk and an egg makes it creamy.
6. Place fish mixture into dish and top with mash potato. Place in over for 10 minutes to crisp up the top.

Serve with steamed vegetables and a sprinkle of cheese.

I made up 4 individual pies to freeze and placed them in foil containers (hence the pictures being upside down!)

Eggy Noodles

I got this recipe from a website for baby led weaning whilst looking around for meal ideas for Charlotte and it was absolutely delicious. I made Charlotte's then added seasoning to my dish.

Ingredients.

Dried noodles
1 egg
Mixed vegetables
Sweet Chilli sauce
Soy Sauce

Charlotte enjoying noodles

1. Make noodles as directed on packet.
2. Beat egg
3. Boil vegetables (I used frozen mixed vegetables)
4. Drain noodles and place in a frying pan with egg and vegetables. Stir fry until egg is cooked.
5. Mix in sweet chilli sauce and soy sauce.

Healthy eating on a budget challenge

I often hear people complaining that eating healthily is expensive and often these people stop healthy eating due to the cost. I, however, think I am opposite to this and feel that when eating badly I spend a lot on takeaways, eating out, chocolate and crisps. With this is mind I am going to do a challenge to see how low I can get my weekly shop and hopefully those who read my blog might be able to get their shopping down. Each week I will shop in a different supermarket for my main shop, and will include prices of any top ups I do. The main supermarkets I go to are Aldi, Asda and Tesco.

Budget means different amounts to different people and obviously prices depend upon whereabouts you live.  This Daily Mail article states that the British weekly food bill tops £77 a week for a family, it doesn't, however, say how big the family is. I think for a family of 2 plus a baby I can get our shopping for less.

During the challenge I will share my weekly shop and cost, food menus and any money saving tips I pick up along the way.

Weigh in update

I have started back on my weight loss journey, again! I have gained back 1 1/2 stone which means my loss from January 2011 is back to 3 1/2 stone. I have been back on plan for a week and lost 2lbs, so officially 3 stone 9lbs down.

I was hoping it was going to be more and I'm not sure why it wasn't more than that. I ate really well all week, snacks were kept to a minimum and I had one cheat meal of Fish and Chips at the seaside, this in itself is not much to do any damage, just like one good meal a week would not see me lose any weight.

If you are a long time reader of my blog you will know that I do night shifts which can sometimes impact on my eating and weigh in results. Before having Charlotte I would turn my days upside down so breakfast was around 8pm, dinner time at 2am-3am and tea time was at 8am, however, I am unable to do this now. I have to be up a lot earlier in the day to look after Charlotte when Jonathan is in work, therefore, being up many more hours than I would be normally. I am currently on night 2 of 7 of trying to work out a new routine, I'm not completely sure of what I am going to do yet. However, on my desk a bag of fruit and a tub of salad are waiting to be eaten.

Pork with jacket potato, philidelphia and roasted cherry tomatoes

Wanted to share one of my favourite meals to have, this is a really filling evening meal and you get plenty of your veggies included.

For the jacket potato I place in microwave for 5 minutes before transferring to the oven to finish cooking. I topped this with Sweet Chilli Philedelphia

I fried some pork steaks with mushrooms in some frylight.

Boiled some mixed veg.

Roasted some cherry tomatoes in the oven.

Delicious!

Sausage and veg frittata

Ingredients
4 Eggs
4 Low Fat Sausages
1 Potato
Chopped Onions
Peppers
Mushrooms
Garlic
Herbs

1. Chop up sausage,vegetables and sliced potatoes. Fry with crushed garlic and herbs of your choice.
2. Transfer to an oven proof dish, I used a silicone cake mould.
3. Mix egg with a bit of milk, salt and pepper. Pour over the sausage and vegetables.
4. Bake in oven on 180 until egg has set.

I served mine with grated parmasan and sweet chilli philadelphia on the top.

Rice and bolognese burgers

Due to my pay reducing in the next couple of months as well as food prices going up I decided that this year I would make the food I have go further and make sure that I use any leftovers instead of letting them go mouldy in tupperware or forgotten in the freezer. I made these rice and bolognese burgers today and they were delicious

Ingredients

Bolognese sauce
Cooked Rice
Egg

1. Mix the bolognese sauce and rice together and add the egg. I had to add some instant mash as the mixture was a little wet.
2. Heat up a frying pan, place a cookie cutter in the pan and spoon in the mixture.
3. Cook on a low heat and once one side is firm (around 8-10 minutes) flip to cook the other side.
4. Serve with salad and a slice of feta cheese.

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Beetroot rice

Ingredients

Rice
Vegetable stock cube
Peppers
Mushrooms
Garlic
Garlic
Pickled beetroot


Method

1. Cook rice in vegetable stock. I cook mine in a steamer.
2. Chop peppers, mushrooms and onions, stir fry with the garlic.
3. Add cooked rice and mix well. Add beetroot and some of the pickle juice.

You can add whatever vegetable you like.

Another 'I'm back' post

As the title says I'm back on here blogging. I haven't got back on the wagon so to speak like I said last time. However, after a gain of 14lbs, taking my  weightloss back to a 4 stone loss I have to get serious about losing weight again.

I started back with the healthy eating on the 2nd January so am 4 days into it. I have found that although I am not 100% following the Slimming World plan I am eating healthier, consuming less and my vegetable intake has increased massively. At my midweek weigh in yesterday I had lost 6lbs. I expect it to be around this or a bit more for the week as the weight I gained went on quickly so I am pretty sure a lot of it is water retention rather than fat.

I plan to return the blog to what it was in 2011 with weightloss updates and more recipes. If there are any other kinds of posts you would like to see let me know and I will try my best to do them.

Lastly, I would like to thank people for still reading and following my blog even though last year wasn't as good as the previous year.

If any of you are on Twitter and Instagram leave your usernames below so I can follow you as I am in need of lots of inspiration.

Back on the wagon

My baby is now 5 weeks and 1 day old and I have failed miserably at getting back on the dieting wagon. For those of you that don't know I gained 15lbs throughout my pregnancy and then lost 20lbs, however, I have gained 2 of those back. I am still below my pre pregnancy weight but I still have a lot more to lose. My current weightloss is 74lbs (5 stone 4 pounds)

Today is day one of being back on my diet which is loosely based on Slimming World as I don't go to class so have to rely on a lot of the older information that I have but this works for me.

I would like to lose a stone (14lbs) for Christmas which gives me 6 weeks. I am hoping that eating well and getting plenty of walking in with Charlotte will help me get to this target.

Update: 11/08/2012

Thought I would do a little weight update post. I am now 30 weeks and 2 days pregnant so less than 10 weeks to go :) I have now gained 1 stone (14lbs) so hoping it's not going to be much more in the next few weeks.

Some NSV to report on; my manager and my brother also asked if I had lost weight and Jonathan reckons I've lost a bit in my face the last few weeks. My weight has almost exclusively gone to my face, well I assume the 'fat' lbs I have gained are there! I am still in pre-pregnancy clothes, I shall ignore the fact most of my clothes are leggings and tunic tops with plenty of stretch in them. I still don't look pregnant to those who don't know me, I have a tiny little bump but I think it's only noticeable looking downwards.  This morning, I used a normal sized towel (I have a jumbo one I use most of the time) and a while back it was my NSV that it fit all the way around me with no gap, well it still fits and if it was so bloody warm I would have had a little dance.

Hope you are all well xxx

Spanish Omelette

Ingredients

4 eggs
1 large potato
Selection of vegetables (I used mushrooms, peppers and spring onions)
Garlic
Chives

1. Slice potatoes really thinly and add to frying pan on a low heat, crush garlic and place over potatoes.
2. Mix eggs together with a dash of milk and seasoning.
3. Add the rest of the sliced vegetables into the pan.
4. Fry all ingredients until potatoes are soft, then add the egg mixture.
5. Cook on a low heat until egg is cooked through. You may need to turn the omelette ovrer or brown top under a grill.

I added some sliced babybel cheese on the top of mine and served with a salad. This is also goo served with beans.

You can add whatever you like to the omelette, ham and bacon work well. You can also add a lot more potatoes to layer it to make a thicker omelette that would do for more than one meal. It is also nice to serve cold for dinner the next day.

This worked well for my blood sugars as well as being compatible with the Slimming World plan.

Enjoy!

Sorry about the quaity of pictures I used my mobile and flash didn't work as battery had almost died.

Another update

Here I am at 28+2 weeks pregnant with another 11 weeks 5 days until due date, however, I don't think I will go to 40 weeks and hoping baby doesn't come before 37 weeks. At 37 weeks you are considered full term :-)

I have still only gained 12lbs, I did put some weight on, my weight gain shot up to 16lbs which I think was a 'bullshit' weight, I then dropped to 13.5lbs before losing 1.5lbs to get back to a 12lb gain. I think my loss has been due to cutting out sugar and also the fact I am eating a lot better than I was just a few weeks back. I have had to go on metformin as I am unable to control my morning glucose levels. I have read up on something called the 'Dawn Phenomenon' in diabetes, if you are interested there is some information here which could explain my early glucose results. The Dr doesn't seem too worried about my glucose levels overall and did say this is normal for people with gestational diabetes.

I have been eating plenty of salad and lean meats with salad dressing, I have been using the full fat versions of salad dressings as they have less sugar in them, my current favourite is Hellmanns Caesar dressing. I am also hoping to get a couple more recipes up here in the next week.

Ratatouille

Here is something I have been meaning to make for ages and I finally remembered to get all the ingredients in at once!

Ingredients

Tin of Chopped Tomatoes
1 Red Onion
1 Corgette (Zucchini)
1 Aubergine (Eggplant)
1 Red Pepper
1 Yellow Pepper
2 cloves of Garlic
Salt and pepper
Oregano
Basil

1. Chop the vegetables and crush garlic. Stirfry garlic with the vegetables for a couple of minutes.
2. Add the tin of chopped tomatoes, I also added half a tin of water.
3. Add herbs to taste.
4. Simmer until vegetables are soft.

I served mine with a chicken breast stuff with cream cheese, herbs and wrapped in ham with some broccoli. It is equally good on it's own with a sprinkle of cheese.

Update on me

I have been neglecting this blog but I hope to start posting more recipes in the next few weeks.

I am now 25+4 weeks pregnant, so in less than 2 weeks I will be in my final trimester! I have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes so have to test my blood sugar levels one hour after every meal, I have been doing this since Saturday and have had some good and bad results. However, I feel this week I will have to see what works and what doesn't. For example, I already know I cannot have mullerlights as my blood sugar was very high after having this for my breakfast. I have been told to cut down my carbs, eat smaller portions and not eat any obvious sugars.

I have now gained 12lbs  in weight so I am expecting to gain maybe another 10 in the last three months of my pregnancy, this would be less than the average gain which is 28lbs. However, maybe with my reduced sugar and carb intake it might not be as much.

Pizza topped mushrooms

Ingredients 

Portobello Mushroom
Chopped Tomatoes
Vegetables (I used spring onions and peppers)
Garlic
Oregano
Basil
Ham
Cheese

1. Place mushroom in oven n 180 for 15 minutes
2. Chopped vegetables of your choice and fry with garlic, add chopped tomatoes and herbs
3. Take mushrooms out of oven and place vegetable mix in the mushroom and top with ham and cheese.
4. Return to oven until cheese is melted.

I served mine with slimming world chips and salad.

Weigh in update

I thought I would do a post on how my weight is doing. If you don't already know I am pregnant, I am currently 21+1 weeks pregnant so over half way there now. I have gained a total of 8lbs so far which means I have now lost a total of 63lbs which is 4 stone 7lbs. I am hoping that I don't gain too much more, however, I do know that the baby is now having a rapid growth spurt and to add to that I will be in the last trimester from the middle of July my weight gain isn't going to be as low as I wanted it to be.

I cannot blame this on the baby, my eating has been terrible and it has worried me how some days I can slip right back into my old habits that I took 14 months trying to get rid of. I do have my good days where my food intake is healthy and regulated but other days it is not even close to being good. I have to keep reminding myself that I am a different person to the one who started to lose weigh in January 2011, I can lose weight and I can lose it successfully and I am sure with the support I get from others, both in my personal life and my online life I would have been able to go on and lose more this year if I hadn't of got pregnant. I am completely OK with this as having a baby is the best thing ever and it's just happening a year before I planned. But when my baby gets here in October (please keep your fingers crossed it doesn't come on my birthday!) I will have another reason to add to the long list of reasons to lose weight and keep it off.

So instead of being consumed by the fact I am putting on weight I am going to try my best to eat well, especially as the baby can now taste what I am eating through the amniotic fluid and know that what I gain will be gone and that the support of those I have relied on will be there to support the rest of my weight loss.

Turkey Hoi Sin Noodles

I made this a few weeks back and honestly it's the best thing I have eaten for ages, then again I seem to say this about a lot of things! I have tried to include the amounts I used but usually with vegetables I don't weigh and also some seasonings I just add until it tastes good.

Ingredients


80g Medium Egg Noodles
100g Turkey steak cut into strips
Mushrooms
Peppers
Broccoli
Spring Onions
1-2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoon of Hoi sin sauce
Soy Sauce

1. Cut the turkey breast into strips and begin to fry on a low heat. Chop up peppers, spring onions and peppers and add to the turkey with crushed garlic.
2. Cook broccoli in some boiling water.
3. Cook noodles according to packet instructions.
4. One turkey is cooked add soy sauce, noodles and broccoli ensuring the soy sauce coats all ingredients. Then add the hoi sin sauce and stir.