Back to Baking

So after previous weekends filled with of fun and frolics I finally managed to get my Bake on this week.

well after I enjoyed a rather nice cider 

Corner Stone Cider Blush - very refreshing taste and not sharp like some other ciders. Haven't seen them in any local shops yet (Parents brought it back from the CLA Fair) so a rare treat. Although I will keep an eye out for them as it a perfect accompaniment to a Summer BBQ. 

Right back to the cooking:

I decided to make some Slimming World crust-less quiche - but as I was inspired by Great British Bake Off - My Favorite show I decide add a bit of flare. So Made Crust-Less Cupcake Quiches... 

I took a pack of dried Mac n Cheese, Frozen Veg, Fat free Cottage Cheese (300g) 4 Medium eggs, some Mushroom and some cherry tomatoes to make my taste low fat (Syn Free) snack.

Firstly I cooked the Macaroni cheese as per instruction I just replaced the milk required to water to make it extra healthy.

While that was cooking I took two handfuls of frozen veg and cooked as per instructions.

I then chopped up between 8 - 10 mushrooms 

They need to be quite small as they will be going in the quiche.

I then took the 4 egg and the fat free cottage Cheese 

Placed them all together in a big bowl 

Then proceeded to mix. I would recommend using a mixer to do this you can do it by hand but you want to break up most of the cottage cheese lumps and an electronic mixer will make this easier.

Then once everything was cooked I added the Macaroni Cheese to the egg and cheese mix.

Followed by the mushrooms

Then added the veg 

Mixing them all together they were ready too spoon out.

I put the mix into Muffin cases (Make sure you spray some 1 calorie spray oil into the case to make them easier to removed when cooked) and added a whole cherry tomato on top.

I put them in a 200 degree oven for 30 minutes, if they are not golden brown you can always but them in for an extra 5 more mins if needed.

Then Viola some tasty looking quiche cupcakes with a cherry (well Tomato) on top.

They are really fun and yummy to eat and you can always add a bit of spice to it or change with veg you added.

I would say just have a go an experiment with the flavors you like. Also if you want to make a gluten free version you can just omit the Mac and Cheese and just add 40g of low fat cheese (Although this will add a syn value if you are on Slimming world).

Low Fat Shepherd's Pie

Been on a cooking frenzy this week to help with my weight loss 

So I've made a very low fat dish and if you're on a Slimming World it's Syn free..

Shepherds Pie:

Chop/dice

1 red bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

300g Mushrooms 

250g baby tomatoes 

In a pan boil up 1 potato a couple of carrots and a swede. 

While in another pan brown off 500g of Turkey mince. Adding in some red onion.

Add the chopped veg to the pan with some tinned chopped tomatoes. 

Simmer for 10 mins before adding it to a oven proof dish.. 

Mash up the potatoes, carrots and swede and spoon on top of the mince.

Bake in the over at 200 degrees for 20-25 mins 

Sever with some Salad and voilà you've got yourself a yummy health meal.

Also as you've made so much you can always reheat the leftovers the next day to say you cooking again..

Birthday and Food Photo Winner

So it been a fun week.

I celebrated my 35 birthday (Must change my Bio) which means I'm half way to 70 and I have to fill in a new age box when taking part in questionnaires lol..

Actually I'm not that bothered by age or by birthdays, especially now as I'm a mum. So I'm half way to 70 all that means to me I get spend all that time with my beautiful family... Think of all the cool stuff I can do with them..

So my birthday was a quiet affair, as a few of my friends are going through bad patches with family illnesses and the little one was ill with a cold so we kept it very low key.

I woke up to a lovely breakfast of a bacon sandwich and bucks Fizz from my lovely hubby along with some vouchers to go towards my new computer (I'm saving up for a Surface Pro 3).

 

The from the little man I got send these lovely Flowers and Balloons (Although I have a sneaking suspicion his dad might have helped) :)

After having a lie-in, and as us parents know that is the best present ever. We went for a lovely lunch a The Hungry Guest in West Malling.

It has not long open and it is very beautiful inside a mixture of old and new as the building itself is quite old. Full of old wooden beams which look fab in contrast to the mix of modern art they hang on the walls.


I had a lovely open parma ham Sandwich with salad and as it was my birthday so I had a bit of pink fizz (Well you have to don't you) and my husband had a burger. They both were super delicious and enjoyed the quiet as the little one was at nursery.

I did also like the cutlery, although had the voice of Sheldon Cooper in my head saying a fork with 3 prongs is a trident lol..

 

The great thing about this place is it was reasonably priced, it had great food, great service and it is local. They also are welcoming of children so I know the next time we go we can bring "Captain Chaos" with us :)

 

Then in the evening I went to my parents we were supposed to go out again but as the little man was still not feeling well, we stayed in and had a take away and some wine which lead to me not feeling great the next day.

 

Then the rest of the week and because we had the bank holiday I did a lot more cooking.

 

I experimented as I'm trying to at least stay with in my Slimming World syn (Obviously Birthdays don't count).

 

So I made a Spicy Prawn dish.

 

 

 

I cooked off some prawns with a sprinkling of chilli powder on top, then added tomato Passata, bit more chili powder and some low fat Greek yogurt.

 

Then for the rice I just boiled up some plain rice but I roasted some carrot and swede chunks - 35mins at 200 degrees and mixed them in.

 

It was a great low fat dish which lasted me a couple of days. Although be careful with the carrot and swede as with the cooking it really easy to have them underdone or burnt.

 

 

 

 

I Also made a lovely low fat Bolognese with Turkey Mince and Passata but to jazz it up, I added 3 bell peppers, button mushrooms, Red Onion and baby plum tomatoes.

 

 

It was so colourful (Super tasty and Syn free) the photo won me "Dish of the Week" at my local Slimming World group which was nice.

 

I like to share recipes see other people recipes especially when dieting. As you're always looking for something different as its so easy to get stuck eating the same thing.

 

Its great that we can share ideas and then try them for myself, as I'm still trying to lose the weight. I'm hoping by the end of July I should be down to my target, but I do  have quite few parties and event to go to so I will need to stay strong...  

 

 

 

So far so good

Well my New Years resolutions got off to a flying start.

I've managed to lose 5.5lb (2kg) in my first week of dieting with Slimming World.

I'm so happy but it's not all been plain sailing, as the the below comparison picture shows.

My Husband and I, thanks to my Parents got to go for a nice meal out at a local Kent Pub - "The Farmhouse" in West Malling toddler free. which you all know meant I could eat without a screaming fit.

 I had a seafood linguine to be good. The other half had a burger followed by their sticky toffee pudding and I had nothing. He also left a bit of it, it took every inch of willpower not to finish it but I managed lol.

With trying to eat healthy I've been cooking up a storm.

This week I've made Turkey Chili.

All you need is:

Turkey Mince

1, Courgette

1, Bell Pepper

Mushrooms

Red Kidney Beans

500g chopped Ttomatoes

Chili Powder (I had hot but you can have mild)

1 vegetable Oxo Cube

Brown the mince add all the veg, kidney beans, Oxo cube and tomatoes and simmer for 20 minutes.

To top it off I added home made chips (Fries) and added Salad.

I've been a busy bee in the Kitchen and with a young child it is difficult as we have a low oven so if I'm doing a lot of cooking I have to put the baby gate up so he keeps away from the hot oven. He obviously doesn't like it and stands at the gate and makes his feeling known lol.

So I spend a lot of my cooking time running over to him and giving reassuring hugs that I'm only cooking and haven't abandon him in favor of a Kitchen appliances. 

I used the basis of the Slimming World Quiche recipe and made.

Roasted Aubergine (Egg plant) & Courgette (Zucchini) Salmon Quiche

I roasted 1 bell pepper with 1 Aubergine and 1 Courgette at the same time cooked for 20 Minutes the Salmon. 

While this was cooking I took 4 eggs and 300g of fat free cottage cheese and mixed added a bit of Salt and pepper for seasoning and mixed together. 

Then when the salmon and the veg were done I lined a bottom of a dish with the roasted Aubergine poured over half the egg mixture then added the courgettes, peppers and the flaked Salmon before Pouring over the last of the mixture.

I then put this back in the over for another 20 minutes at 200 degrees.

What your left with is pastry free delicious quiche. 

To add to my busy cooking schedule last week I also had to attend a two day course to get my re-registration of my Prince2 (Project Management) Practitioner exam. The course was very intense and with the little one demanding most of my attention when I got home it was a bit tricky to do the home work. So fingers crossed I passed (I won't find out for a few weeks).

The upside is the training facility was in an Awesome location. Right next to Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. As the weather was nice (Chilly but nice) I did a bit of sightseeing in my lunch.

I do love London even though I've seen these sight loads of times before I still love it when I near them.

On Sunday I was up early but due to one thing an another getting the little one up and fed. I decided I wanted something slightly more interesting for breakfast so I made Syn free Spicy Potato cakes.

All you need is a potato a grater and some Quark (a soft low fat cheese).

The process is so easy I made a little video:

So as I said a great week so far on the Diet front still need to get my other resolution off the ground but I am feeling healthy and fairly happy. Must be all the vitamins from all the fruit I've been snacking on.

So wish me luck with this weeks endeavors.

Think I'm just glad to be cooking again as it was a bit weird having a cooking blog with no cooking lol...

New Year and hopefully an improved me..

So it's 2015 the year in which I turn 35 which means in most surveys or online forms I will go into another box.

I've got a few months until this happens but I never really get the wobbles about life on my birthday. I normally get them at new year. There something of a finality to the death of the old year. even though it only a few days go it the past. 2014 is so last year.

So now we are faced with a fresh bright (albeit rain/cold) brand spanking new year and what to you intend to do with it?

I of course have resolutions/goals for the up coming year which are:

• Loose weight
• Eat at a Michelin star restaurant
• See a West End Musical (as thanks to the little one I haven't been to one since 2012)
• See a Opera and the Royal Opera House 
• Wear more bright colour (My wardrobe is distinctively dark)
• Bring lipstick back (I don't really wear make up but plan to get a couple of nice bright shade and brighten up my lips from time to time)
• Move Home 
• Have more fun especially with the little one (now he's getting bigger and I can drive taking him to more activities we can do together I'm thinking Farm, seaside and all that fun stuff).

So not the biggest list in the world but now it is out for all the world to see at least I can check back and have a barometer of how I did at the end of the year.

I'm debating whether I should add find a new job??  Hmm this is a hard one especially if you've got a young child. I am currently in a job where I'm slightly unfulfilled with the tasks I'm set but apart from that they are very accommodating. I can work from Home every Friday to help with childcare they very good if I have a last minute disaster. Also the people I work with are very nice.

I do live quite far away from were I work over 3 hour round trip each day. But I worry that if I did jump ship to be nearer or do something more exciting would I have the flexibility you need when you have young family?

This is a very hard question as it something even though I would want to ask not the best thing to come up in a interview "Do you mind if I've got to leave the office at short notice or work from home 1 day a week?" think that would be the death knell for any chances of being made an offer of employment.

I do think the government needs to do more (oh no my soap box is out) as loads of company now have the tools for home working and flexible hours. I think they should work with business to encourage this more from the out set. I.e. put it in a Job spec -  willing to take on people who don't want to work a full week or be more flexible in the hours they do.

As I'm of the opinion just because people are in the office it doesn't mean there working and if the jobs getting done does it really matter where they are based?  Although these are just my own opinions and because I am in this situation maybe if I didn't have a toddler I'd have a different point of view.

So the job think is a like to have, I've been keeping an eye out and if anything interesting does happen I'll keep you posted lol.

As for the top resolution I have re-joined Slimming World. I originally joined in Jan 2013 and did quite well lost one and half stone (21lb, 9.4kg), then I got pregnant. Although when I got weighed last night I weighed a stone (14lb 6.5kg) less than when I first started back in 2013 which is good yay. This means I need to loose around 2 stone (30lb, 13.5kg) to get to my target which is not so good :(

I'm going with friends and have compiled a shopping list so hopefully this will spur me on to greatness, well thinness anyway. I have set myself the time limit of getting all the weight off by July for the summer.  I won't be going a Michelin Star restaurant until I'm at target which is another incentive.

As for the West End Musical and the Opera resolution, I am open to suggestions if any of you have seen a great show or know a of a great Opera. I have never seen an Opera live so happy to take all and any recommendations. With Musical I have seen Wicked and Lion King but apart from that no of the other show I've seen over the years are currently on in the West End (London).

For the more fun I am going to channel the young me and do all the things I wanted to do when I was young even if it just having fun on the swings (which are my favourite of the playgroup apparatus)

Also  the year culinary wise has started out great my Husband made me a lovely dinner the other night. It was a really simple yet super yummy and very well presented.

All you need is Duck Breast Marinated in Ho-sin Sauce and a bit of Soy. Roast for 30 min then place on a bed of finely chopped Spring Onion and Cucumber.

It was very very nice.

And now with SW I will for a few week be posting some yummy health meals to get everyone through the winter blues.