A Good Start to the Day

Well my eating has been under control today and I managed to avoid the chocolate aisle in ASDA! I feel like to key to the day is having a good start with a healthy breakfast. I am following Slimming World so I can eat as much lean meat and pulses as I like but I have to limit the cereals and bread. So I started off my day with a few rashers of fat trimmed bacon, an egg (fried in FryLight) and some beans. I had my daily allowance of bread which is 3 slices of weight watchers Danish. It was delicious and really filling.

I remember watching a documentary recently which was about key scientific evidence to help people lose weight. One of the tips was to eat a high protein breakfast as it apparently fills you up for longer. The documentary was called 10 things you need to know about losing weight and some of the tips were really interesting.



Tomorrow I am going to go for a walk during JC's nap (with him in his buggy of course). Steven leaves me tomorrow to go to Birmingham for the Gadget Show so I will be home alone for 2 days. I need to keep my motivation up as it's really difficult when I am at home on my own. It's far too easy to cheat when nobody is watching! I'm really stupid though because I'm only cheating myself!

Neglectful, Shameful and Full of Cake

OK, so I set up this blog to share my recipes as I like to compartmentalise and didn't want to list them on my personal blog . However, I am been very neglectful of this blog so far, probably due to the fact that I currently have 1 follower and I live with him so that doesn't count. Anyway, I have decided to take a totally different approach to this blog.

I am going to be my own audience. My other blog is written to be read by an audience of other mums, dads and interested parties but this blog is going to be mostly for me. I will still be posting up my recipes but I am also embarking on a lifestyle change at the moment so I hope that documenting it through my blog will help me.

I have always been a Fatty, with a capital F. I love cake. I love crisps. I can't choose between sweet or savoury, I love them both. I am a private eater who will hide the evidence so well that even CSI would have a hard time discovering my shameful eating habits. When I am bored I like to eat. What I am upset, angry or annoyed I solve the problem through snacking. When I am happy or excited I will celebrate with food. I can't escape the stuff.

But - I decided when my son was born that enough was enough. I would be a fatty no longer. I was going to change things. Eat healthily and exercise more. I have about 4 stone to lose and I was going to focus to get it off. Well, JC is 8 months old on Wednesday and since his birth I have gained 7lbs, lost 2, gained 5, lost 1, gained gained 10, lost 9.5, gained 1. Yes, it's true. My name is Claire and I am a yoyo dieter.

I am sick of it, I'm fed up with myself and my lack of self control! Tomorrow is a new day and I plan to make a fresh start. I just hope my new found confidence lasts. It's my birthday on Wednesday and I am going to be 28. This is my year for change and success. I will not turn 29 as an obese mum who is fed up with herself and cannot muster the energy to run around after her wee boy. He deserves more and frankly, so do I.

Cheery
Cx

Pancakes

Well it's Shrove Tuesday so I have to post my recipe for pancakes. They are so easy and quick to make. We like to have them on Sunday afternoons after we have been out for a nice long walk with the dogs.













Makes about 15 small or 8 large pancakes
Ingredients 
100g plain flour
oil/butter to coat the pan
a little bit of salt
2 eggs
300ml milk (for a thinner pancake you can use half milk, half water)

Method


Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl, make a well in the middle of the flour.
Crack the eggs into the well of flour and add in half of the milk.
Use a balloon whisk to mix, start from the middle and work out.
Add more of the milk until you get a consistency that looks like single cream.
Heat a frying pan and coat with oil/melted butter. Add a ladle full of the batter into the pan and tilt the pan to make the mixture thin and spread.
Cook on one side for about 3 mins until it starts to bubble on top. Carefully flip (or use a spatula) over to cook on the other side for about a minute.
Repeat this until all the batter is used. You may need to add more oil/butter if the pan dries up.
Serve with fruit/maple syrup.
Enjoy ;)

Chicken Stir Fry and Noodles

This is the first recipe on my new blog! This recipe is the quickest, healthiest and easiest meal I cook. It is John Connor's favourite meal as it has lots of different shapes, colours and textures. I make mine with chicken but you could easily substitute it for beef, turkey or for vegetarians, just leave out the meat/poultry. You can also add any veg that you enjoy. The following ingredients are the ones I normally use but sometimes I alter them depending on what I have in the fridge.

serves 2 adults and 1 child 
Ingredients
100 -150g dry noodles
2 tbsp of oil
2 tsp of sesame oil
1 chicken breast per person, cut into strips
1 pack of prepared stir fry veg (whatever kind you like)
1 pack of mange tout and baby corn
2 carrots, cut into thin batons
1 garlic clove, crushed.
1 celery stalk, cut into thin strips

Method
Cook the noodles according to packet, drain and return to the pan. Add a little oil to coat the noodles then set aside.
Heat a wok/large non stick frying pan, add a little of the sesame oil and stir fry the carrots, manage tout and baby corn for about 1 minute. Add the garlic and celery and cook for another minute.
Remove the vegetable from the pan and set aside in a bowl. Add the rest of the sesame oil.
Fry the chicken strips in the pan for 3 minutes until cooked through.
Add the prepared veg pack and the vegetables you cooked earlier, fry for 2 minutes.
Add the noodles to the pan and mix them in with the veg.
(I usually add some soy sauce to the adult portions)
Enjoy :)

Here is my wee bundle enjoying his: