Spag Bol, Risotto and sausages by the sea in Tenby!

Weight Loss = 0lb
Meals planned = 4.... Actually cooked according to plan 2 (well kind of 3)
Success rating for week = Not so bad

Feeling a little chubby today, even though the scales tell me I am the same weight as last week, but I put that down to the fact I have just come back from a bank holiday camping trip to Wales where I feel like I have eaten my own body weight in sausage and bacon! For those of you who have never been camping nothing can really beat the smells that creep across the site every morning, your morning trip across the field is a cacophony of pork smells, of the good kind.
From a meals point of view, I only planned 4 days as I knew I was away, 2 of these I cooked to plan, 1 just didn't happen and the fourth I cooked but not what was originally planned.
Monday  Simple, Gammon, Egg and Chips, and to make it even better I didn't cook it :-) My husband prepared the chips and cooked them in the actifryer, then grilled the gammon and fried eggs, perfectly timed so that when I walked through the door it was just being dished up.
Tuesday So this is where I went off plan... Planned - Chicken Curry (using left over chicken from Sunday), actual Chicken Risotto using the left over chicken. Last minute change as the children were not supposed to be eating at home so I was going for spice, however they then were so I quickly changed. I cooked my Risotto which takes 20-30 minutes to make, and to be honest the qty's are approximate but here is my recipe;

• Left over chicken diced (half a chicken)
• 250g Arborio Rice (or 300g if you prefer more rice)
• 1 large leek sliced
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 15g Butter
• 20g grated Parmesan
• 600ml Chicken stock
• 100ml white wine
• 1 clove garlic diced
• 1/2 cup frozen peas

Gently cook the leek in the oil until starting to soften, then add the garlic and cook for a further minute. Add the rice and cook in the oil and leek for 1-2 minutes, then add white wine and cook until fluid is absorbed. Add the peas and stir in.

Add the chicken stock a little at a time until rice is al dente. Then add the chicken and stir in. Continue adding stock until rice is tender and cooked through. If you run out of stock make a little more or use boiled water.

At this point add the Parmesan and stir through and then serve. This is a simple dish and my family love it. You can change it by adding different veg, herbs etc.

Wednesday, Planned Phad Thai Noodles - Actual.... Domino's Pizza. Ok Ok, I had an unexpected late night at work so my husband improvised. This never used to be a problem when I had frozen meals (my own meals), however we ran out... Doh!

Thursday, Planned - Spaghetti Bolognaise, Actual - Spaghetti Bolognaise. I would to state a disclaimer now, this is my version, probably not anywhere near the authentic one. But it works and my family love it.

• 500g lean minced beef
• 1 carrot diced
• 1 celery stick diced
• 1/2 large or 1 medium onion diced
• 1 clove garlic diced - small (or crushed)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped basil
• 250g dry spaghetti

Cook the pasta in boiling water. Meanwhile fry the onion, carrot and celery until softened in the olive oil.

Add the garlic and continue to fry for 1 minute, then add the beef and fry until browned. Add the tomato puree and stir to coat the meat, then add the tin of tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes, finally add the basil and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the meat sauce onto the cooked pasta.

Friday - Sunday - CAMPING

We spent a lovely weekend in Wales - Tenby. Ghost stories by torch light at night, 2 meals cooked on my trusty camping stove and 1 meal out at a pub or a restaurant each day. Fresh air and fresh food... bliss.

View from our tent

Lovely Tenby

Kitchen for the weekend

Fresh Mackerel caught by our camping neighbours and cooked on our grill.

This week I am starting the fitbit fully again, soooo here's hoping I meet all my targets for the week as well as sticking to the meal plan.

Not according to plan... Vs ... My Greek success

Weight loss = +0.5lb

Meals planned = 7.... Actually cooked according to planning = 2

Success rating for week = pfffssstttt!!!

Well as you can see from my weekly round up I've not had the best week... And when you read what I actually ate picture me sat here hanging my head in shame.

I learnt an important lesson this week, when you have an internal audit at work don't try and organise a meal plan as you never know when your going to actually get home! And you know what... It really doesn't hurt once in awhile to have the naughty meals and not follow the plan, Infact its quite a treat. However.... I will say that physically I have noticed the difference. I have been more bloated and had a few digestive issues, I think mainly due to my system not being used to the increased fats etc. 

So are you ready for a laugh?

Monday - Planned = chicken nuggets, chips and corn on the cob

Actual = KFC Variety Bucket - picked up on way home after leaving 1.5 hrs later than planned.

Tuesday - hotel overnight 

Had Salmon and new potatoes at hotel restaurant and no dessert 

Wednesday - Phad Thai Noodles

Actual - Chinese takeaway after leaving work 45 minutes late and getting stuck in traffic.

Thursday - Planned - Spaghetti Bolognaise

Actual - children had beans on toast we had Indian takeaway. Tired and long day!!!

Friday - nothing planned as friends wedding reception 

Saturday - Greek Night

Actual ..... Success!!!!

I cooked Pork Souvlaki, Rice stuffed vine leaves, made a Greek Salad, and Tzatziki. At this point before you make the same mistake I did and think this is simple, please note the pork needs to be marinated in olive oil, seasoning and oregano for at least 6 hours.

The vine leaves, firstly are difficult to buy and I ended up buying them off an Internet site called sous chef and secondly take at least 45 minutes to cook to ensure all rice cooked through.

I used varying books for this, the main one was vefa's kitchen. It's a simple combination of dill, parsley, rice, onions and spring onions.

The Greek salad I made up using my memory for what we ate on holiday, romaine lettuce, cucumber, tomato, red onion, black olives, feta cheese with marjoram in too and for the dressing olive oil, red wine vinegar salt and pepper. Something fun about leaving the cheese in a block and smashing it up on top of the salad.

The souvlaki I read various different recipes and all common theme.. Olive oil, oregano, I added salt and pepper. Then popped under grill until cooked through.

For the Tzatziki I used the recipe from

Jamie Oliver's Mediterranean book, I also found this on bbc site which is similar;

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/383616/tzatziki

We spread it all out on a blanket on the floor and had a carpet picnic while watching a film, and it did take us back to our holiday. A hit with all, but next time I will ensure I give myself more time and read the recipes beforehand to ensure my timings are right.

Sunday - Planned - Roast dinner

Actual - roast chicken, mashed potato and vegetables, lovely filling and simple.

So as you can see, not the best week but not the worst... And on a positive note my shopping bill was low this week as I just put all stuff brought in preparation for last week in freezer so only needed to buy basics lol.

Here's to trying to get it right next week....

Back to the Blog, Burgers, Curry and Pasta Bakes.... its been a busy week :-)

OK, so I got a new job and got side-tracked. Result, planning and meals etc went out the window and no time for writing the blog. Don't misunderstand, it is not that the job itself was so demanding that I had no time, more that with learning new company etc I found myself not finding time to organise at home. But 3 months later I am settled in and 1/2 a stone in weight bigger!!! Remember in one of my first posts I mention that I am not perfect and I mess up.... well here is a prime example :-)

Sooooo, fitbit back on my wrist, diet back on, meal planner has had dust blown off and I am back in action baby! We had a wonderful weeks holiday in Lesvos Greece, in a rented villa by the sea, where I got to completely relax and unwind and sort my head out, refocus so to speak, and also completely fall in love with the Greek cuisine, many a taverna visited, Greek Salad munched and soulvlaki demolished. First week back and meals planned, shopping ordered to match, no take aways, no cheating... and here's what I did.

Full week planned, made sure 2 fish based dishes, then there was 1 white meat and 3 red meat, nothing planned for Saturday as it was my mother-in-laws birthday so we were eating at the party. To be honest I normally only plan 1 red meat dish, usually at least 1 veggie day and fit in 1 seafood, but first week back so thought I would be kind to the family. So;

Monday - Lamb chop with veg, new potatoes and mint sauce - done, and was lovely, managed my calories allowance on fitbit by having more veg and 1 chop then a few potatoes.

Tuesday - Turkey chilli, homemade guacamole, sour cream and rice and pitta bread- now I did this and it was my own smokey chilli recipe using chunks of turkey breast. I apologise now as I am out of practise on the blogger I completely forgot to take pictures....doh!!! But this was just me and the hubby as kids ate at their grandparents so I could add more spice, was lovely, cooked late so we ate it on trays while watching TV, really lovely and comforting, also as turkey lower in fat and I cook using no oil so good for the diet :-).

Wednesday - British burgers from the Jamie Oliver's 15 minute meals book, again forgot pictures... arrgghhh... but it took me 20 minutes and everyone loved it. I have been asked to make it again. So Mr Oliver it was a hit. I will say compared to some of his other 'quick' meals it had less ingredients so was genuinely pretty speedy. The burgers themselves have a splash of ale and wholegrain mustard so a nice 'tartness' to them. The longest bit of this was the accompanying salad, so you could always do chips or a simpler salad to cut time, it should be easy as all shredded in food processor, but getting all the ingredients out took time. I have found a website with Jamie's own short films of these recipes, so if you want to try it here is the link;

Jamie Olivers British Burgers

Thursday - Salmon Curry from the 'Hairy Bikers - Mums knows best' cook book. I have cooked this before and was a big hit with the family especially Daddy Aspinall, which is a massive thing btw as Jimbo doesn't really do fish but luurves this dish so definitely decided to do it again.

It's an easy dish to make but does involve a little bit of prep with grinding spices and marinating, it takes me about 40 minutes to make, but honestly it could be quicker. First frying off the spices then adding salmon, finally the tomatoes.

 As I am back on my fitbit (for those of you who are thinking "whats fitbit?", its a tracker I wear on my wrist that records my steps and activity, it then syncs to my phone and calculates  my calorie allowance, I love it because it encourages me to be more active and I can plan meals to suit the allowance), I have to weigh everything to ensure i am eating within my allowance. So I weigh all ingredients as it goes in, then I know total calories for the dish, at the end I then weigh the total cooked food and can then calculate how many calories per gram of food, which will give me the quantity (grams) I am allowed, so I then just weigh out my portion.... have I ever explained I am a bit of a geek and when I focus on something I do it pretty meticulously and thoroughly lol.

It is a really lovely fresh curry, not too 'hot', it is spicy but in a taste way not a heat way. Both my children love it and they are not spice fans so it should tell you something. This curry has to be tried the tastes are amazing, but warning.... tumeric stained fingers for days afterwards! Link below to the 'mums knows best' series on BBC.

Hairy Bikers

Friday - Rigatoni Pasta Bake with Tuna and 2 cheeses - from Mary Berry's 'Cook now eat later', this is another I have cooked before and must be Morgans second favourite meal behind Chicken Pie. It is really easy, but takes about 45 minutes to an hour depending on distractions.

I have made lots of different pasta bakes before, but what I love about this one is the way you layer the ingredients in the pan rather than mix them together, it results in a lovely fresh filling meal rather than a stodgy one, which some pasta bakes can be. So I started by weighing and prepping all ingredients, which as you can see are a few... but don't be daunted as its pretty simple. 

The hardest thing really  is the white sauce, but as with all white sauce, gradually add milk and don't rush and it will be lovely and smooth.. OK so splash of milk stir until all mixed, another splash and stir again, so on and so on until all milk gone and you have a lovely white sauce. The layers are then, pasta and onion, the tuna/tomato/chive and caper mix, the 2 cheese sauce and then double cream spread on top with the remaining cheese then pop in the oven.

This is a pasta dish that everyone has extra helpings of and I never have any left over. Weirdly the whole dish was only 2000 calories, because I use skimmed milk in my sauce, low fat cream and it only calls for 175g of dried pasta which is the highest calorie ingredient. Believe me making these low calorie substitutes makes no difference, still a yummy moreish dish.

Link below to a website where you can find this book and basic recipe details;

http://www.eatyourbooks.com/library/recipes/729593/reggiori-pasta-bake-with-tuna

Had a lovely afternoon shoe shopping with Morgan on Friday and I had calculated my meals for the day and factored in enough exercise to ensure I could have a treat out at the cafe, in fact Friday proved pretty successful as not only did I eat a bacon sandwich for breakfast, have a scone with cream, tuna pasta, but also wine and chocolate on the evening whilst watching tv :-) believe me I sat and enjoyed every mouthful.

I am sat here on a Sunday afternoon writing this, after just eating my Roast Beef Dinner, next weeks meals are planned and shopping has been delivered. I have stuck to fitbit for 5 out of 7 days, but yesterday as I was at a party I took a day off... then today I have not monitored which is pretty crap of me.... fingers crossed I haven't messed the weeks efforts up but I won't know until I weigh myself tomorrow morning. Wish me luck people. Here is to next week and hoping I manage 6 out of 7 days instead of 5....

Fish fingers, chips and mushy peas.... simple pleasures

Its Friday night, I'm sat on my sofa and feeling pretty pleased with myself as this week I stuck 100% to my planned meals, and the whole week was 'Lesley' week, which for those who don't know means I did not once use a cook book or recipe!

Last night I really fancied something simple and comforting, and I had planned to cook fish fingers, chips and mushy peas, this perfectly suited my mood. This is a lovely quick traditional meal that to be honest is normally cooked for children. However, as you all know I like to make life difficult for myself and I try my best to not use processed food, so I made each component from start to finish... oh and I am on a diet.... so no fried food!!! But I hear you say.. chips!! fish fingers!! are these not fried?? In Lesley's world, no they are not!

For a family of 4 I used the following;
2 cod fillets
5 large potatoes
1 tbsp olive oil for actifryer chips
2 1/2 cups of frozen peas
1 sprig mint
1 packet of panko bread crumbs
1 cup Plain flour
1 egg
1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp creme fraiche
dash lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.

So the first thing to point out is as I said I had planned to do this, so when I got up in the morning before leaving for work I had peeled potatoes and cut them into chips. I then put these chips into a bowl, covered with water and popped into the fridge. So when I got home from work, I just drained the water out of the bowl, and then I put the chips straight into my actifryer, this is an air fryer where you only use 1 spoonful of oil, and it normally takes 30-35 minutes. It makes gorgeous chips without the fat, it is definitely a  good purchase!

Once the chips were cooking, I poured enough peas into a saucepan for 2 adults and 2 children, chopped the leaves up from 1 sprig of mint and added this to the peas, added water to the pan and then put onto to boil.

Taking 2 cod fillets, I removed the skins and cut them into the best finger shapes I could, at this point I should explain that the result was more like goujons than fingers but hey ho it all tastes the same.. In one bowl I whisked an egg, on a plate I put some plain four, and mixed in salt pepper and paprika (a pinch of salt and pepper and 1 tsp of paprika... use about 1 cup of plain flour. Then on a third plate I emptied a packet of panko breadcrumbs. Taking a fish finger first dip and coat in the egg, then dip into the flour mixture until covered and last stage roll until covered in the breadcrumbs, then lay on a baking tray. Repeat this for all fingers then spray with olive oil spray and place in the oven.

The fish fingers take approx 20 minutes, just keep checking until they are golden.

Once peas are booked (approx 15-20 minutes), drain them and then put back into the pan, then I use a potato masher and mash them. Once mashed I put in 1 tbsp on creme fraiche and a dash of lemon juice and stirred it all together. Taste the peas and add more creme fraiche or lemon juice if required.

Serve up all ingredients... it took me 35 minutes from start to finish, and I had clean plates all around, my eldest daughter even asked if there was anymore...

#fishfingers
#homecookedkidsfood

Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon

I decided to write a non food related blog, give you an insight into me for a change.

Well, its been a stressful week. I am currently working my notice and have 6 weeks left... I should be feeling excited about my next job but instead I am stressing about finishing specific projects that I have at work and preparing for the next person to come in and take over (hand over tasks etc). So to keep me sane we have booked a long weekend at centre parcs starting on the evening of my last day at work, and that is what I am focusing on, in 6 weeks I will be in a chalet in the woods with my family and a bottle of something sparkling! Then 10 days and I will start on my next career adventure.

I am staying in the same field of Quality Engineering but going on to be head of a department in a different company. I decided to make the change as I have been in my current role for 16 years and it is time for a change, broaden my horizons and also improve my commute. Which I have managed to achieve and will save 30 minutes to an hour a day on my travel time :-)

Currently I am lay on my sofa in the most unflattering onesie you have ever seen and I am fighting a virus which I think I am kicking butt of! Just munched my way through a plate of crackers, brie and pate.... mmmmm comfort food. My children... bless them (she says through clenched teeth) have prodded me, poked me and generally climbed all over me in their bid to 'fix' me using various plastic doctors tools, and I must admit... they have not made 1 bit of difference.

My husband is in the kitchen tiling... which is exciting but frustrating as I can't cook and if you have not noticed yet cooking is the way I relax. When we cook together its a bonding experience for me and the girls. Now every meal where they can help they do, in fact they get annoyed with me if they can not help. At the start when they were helping me, it did if I am honest frustrate me, as it was my 'thing' and I felt like they were treading on my 'me' time. But you know what, instead they have made the experience better, more enjoyable. My kitchen at meal times is now full of smiles and giggles, and also it is teaching them, giving them a deeper appreciation of the food they eat, and as a result, they are eating more because they know what went into it. It is not an unknown bowl of 'stuff; (my youngest daughters description) anymore. As an example, we made lamb kofte which had a spice to it.... they wolfed it down (that blog is being written... coming soon I promise). But back to the tiling.... we are finally getting round to sorting our house out, and then we are moving. So watch this space and I will keep you updated on house progress.

So next week what have I planned.... for a change all the meals are things I make, no cook books so fingers crossed it goes well. I have decided to experiment a little I am getting to know flavours etc and think it is time I tried to create something.

Also I am getting back on the diet saddle, the fitbit will be charged tonight and back to a week of calorie counting, I want to wear my swimsuit with pride at centre parcs and not look 3 months pregnant!! Oh and by the way, yes I am organised and obsessed with the dieting as I am with the cooking. So I track every mouthful and make sure that I stay within the fitbit allowance and it works. Normally lose 1-2 lb a week. So I want to lose 9lb by centre parcs, let the challenge commence.

Right, I need coffee and also need to go and make bread for the week. Laters people!