Salad Days

I've recently developed an allergy to tomatoes, which, in my world, is devastating! I love and adore tomatoes, in all shapes and sizes and various forms. I was practically weaned on tomatoes and usually grow my own in the summer (although this year's monsoon weather put paid to that). Now, if I eat them, it makes my mouth really sore and my chest tight  which is very very scary!

To me, a salad isn't a salad without a tomato. Or it used to be. This recent allergy has made me look at the way I see salads. A salad is a dieter's friend, but it can soon get rather boring if you're eating lettuce, tomato and cucumber at every meal... So I've been coming up with some ways to spice up your salad.

Chose your leaves

Are you an iceberg fan, or do you favour a little gem? The leaf is usually the basis for a good salad, and there are so many available now there's no reason not to vary them. I like to buy bags of pre-washed salad leaves, for convenience mostly, but also because of the variety. Our favourite is a babyleaf salad, but you can try rocket, spinach, beetroot leaves, watercress. Whatever takes your fancy. A good old round lettuce can be a nice change from the more "exotic" too!

Once you've got your leaves, what goes on top. I often find myself piling everything salad-like on top, but you really don't have to. Chose three or four "toppings", such as:

• cucumber
• tomato *sob*
• peppers
• carrot (grated, cubed, thinly sliced with a speed peeler...)
• olives
• herbs (I like basil or mint)
• beetroot
• beansprouts
• mushrooms
• radish
• celery
• onions

Know your onions

A good onion can add a sharp kick to your salad, but again you can vary them. Spring or salad onions are quick and convenient (snip them with scissors) but try red onion, spanish onion or even a couple of pickled onions for variety.

Pickle it

Talking of pickled onions, pickled beetroot, gherkins or cauliflower can also be a great addition to a salad. Add a blob of sweet pickle to turn your salad into a ploughmans.

Fruity twist

Still missing that tomato? I've been experimenting with adding fruit to my salad. Grapes, strawberries (great with balsamic dressing), melon, mango, apple or raisins will make a great addition to a good salad.

Protein power

Now you've got your basics, add the protein you need to make this a meal. Chicken salad will get boring really quick if you have it regularly, but combine it with bacon and a mustard dressing, or with mango and a curried mayonaise and it's a completely different meal. Other great protein sources for salad are:

• lean ham
• prawns
• tuna
• boiled eggs
• cottage cheese
• chorizo (quite fatty but a little goes a long way!)
• lean bacon or turkey bacon
• crab sticks
• omlette
• reduced fat cheese (try feta or mozzarella)
• quiche (crustless quiche recipe coming soon!)

Dress it up

Now here's a stumbling block - the dressing. You don't want to add a load of calories at the last minute, so chose wisely. I like to use balsamic vinegar, but raspberry vinegar is nice too. If you're buying a shop bought dressing, do for one that contains less than 40 calories per 100mls or is marketed as a lighter choice (my current favourite is honey and mustard). You can also buy 1 calorie salad sprays that are intensively flavoured so that just a few sprays (at 1 calorie each) are needed. If you're a fan of mayonnaise or salad cream, chose on that's "extra light" or "lighter than light" and try mixing it with fat free fromage frais to make it go further. Or water down some fat free natural yoghurt and add some finely chopped mint, for a dressing that feels really creamy and indulgent, without all the fat.

Things to avoid

This may sound obvious, but if you're trying to keep your salad healthy there are some things to avoid:

• croutons
• full fat cheese
• crispy onions
• crispy bacon
• creamy or oily dressings
• chips on the side!

I enjoy salads, and I always have, but it can get boring, very quickly. I hope I've given you some ideas and inspiration to spice up your salad! Let me know your suggestions too :)

Hx

How healthy is what you're eating?

So, we're on this journey to lose weight, slim down and generally be more healthful people. But a discussion we had in my Weight Watchers meeting this week got me thinking how healthy I really am, or rather how healthy is the food I'm eating. Sure, I've lost 40lbs, but you can do that simply by restricting your calories (or points in my case) - so you could eat one 1000 calorie burger in a day and nothing else, and still lose weight. But it's not exactly healthy, is it?

Give yourself a number on a scale of 1-10, of how healthy you think you are, food wise. If you think everything you eat is 100% spot on, go for 10. If you're a member of the burger club, it'd be much less! Remember that number.

Guidelines (here in the UK at least, but I think they're a good pointer) detail 5 things you should be doing every day to maximise the health benefits you get from your food. These are:

1. Eating a variety of 5 portions of fruit and veg a day.
2. Drinking 6-8 200ml glasses of water (or other fluids) a day.
3. Eating 2 portions of lean protein a day (meat, poultry, fish, beans, pulses, dairy).
4. Eating 2 portions of wholegrains a day (fibre-rich foods such as wholemeal pasta and rice, wholegrain cereals, wholemeal bread).
5. Consuming 2 portions of dairy a day (especially important for women).

There are also things you should be cutting down or restricting your intake of:

1. Salt. No more than 6g a day.
2. Alcohol. Your intake should not regularly exceed 2-3 units per day for women, 3-4 for men. See here for a guide to alcohol units.
3. Refined sugars. These contain no nutritional benefit, other than calories!

Now start from 0 and give yourself a point for each of the following:

• 3 or 4 portions of fruit and veg
• 5+ portions of fruit and veg
• 6 or 7 glasses of water a day (1200-1400ml)
• 8+ glasses of water a day (1600ml +)
• 1 portion of lean protein (a portion is equivalent to a peice of meat or fish the size of a pack of playing cards, two eggs, four tablespoons of lentils or beans, 100g cottage cheese)
• 2 portions of lean protein
• 1 portion of wholegrain (a portion can be 3 heaped tbsps wholegrain breakfast cereal, 1 heaped tbsp uncooked porridge oats, 1 medium slice wholemeal bread, 1 small wholemeal roll, 2 heaped tbsps cooked brown rice,2 heaped tbsps cooked wild rice, 3 heaped tbsps cooked brown pasta, ½ wholemeal pitta bread or 2 rye crispbreads)
• 2 portions of wholegrain
• 1 portion of dairy (a medium-size glass of milk, a small pot of yoghurt, or a small matchbox-sized piece of cheese)
• 2 portions of dairy 

Now take off a point if you:

• Consume too much salt
• Consume more than the recommended amount of alcohol regularly
• Consume too much processed sugar (use your own judgement as to what is too much!)

So, what was your "score"? Was it higher or lower than you initially thought? Initially, I thought I was around a 6 or 7, but actually it's higher than that. I always without fail get my 5 a day now, and usually by lunchtime. I've got the water nailed, at 2 litres a day. I always get at least 1 portion of protein and dairy, and my wholegrain intake is good. I didn't have to take off any points either, leaving me with a score of 8 or 9 (most days!). I don't always get enough dairy, and sometimes protein, but I think I'm doing all right! Food for thought.

If you can get all that within your calorie "budget", then you can officially say you're healthy! Of course, you need to add in exercise/activity, not smoke, do anything else remotely risky and factor in any medical conditions! This healthy business is a full time job!

Hx

Recipe of the Week - Healthy Breaded Prawns

It's been a wee while since I posted a recipe, and I wanted to share what I had for dinner last night because it was YUMMEH! It's a little involved but totally worth it, and felt like a huge dinner for only 8 ProPoints. It's a recipe I found on Pinterest but I modified it for British weights and measures, and ingredients, but it's easy enough to figure out!

Healthy Breaded Prawns and homemade wedges

Serves 2, 8 ProPoints per serving (5 for the prawns, 3 for the wedges)

Ingredients
For the prawns:
250g raw king prawns
1 slice white bread
1 egg white
1 tablespoon (15g) grated parmesan

For the wedges:
300g (approx 2 medium) baking potatoes
Fry light/calorie controlled cooking spray
1 tsp Smoked paprika/chilli powder
Salt

Method:
Cut the potatoes into wedges. Spray a baking tray with cooking spray and add the wedges. Sprinkle over the paprika or chilli and season with a sprinkle of salt. Give the tray a shake to coat the wedges before spraying again. Oven bake for about 40-45 minutes in a 200 degree oven.

Tear the bread into chunks and process to fine breadcrumbs. In a dry frying pan, brown the crumbs until they're crispy and dry, then place on a plate to cool. Once cool add the parmesan and mix to combine them equally. Put the egg white in a shallow dish. Rinse the prawns and drain well. Dip the prawns in the egg and then the crumbs, before placing on a tray sprayed with cooking spray. Repeat with all the prawns and then bake with the wedges for the last 10 minutes, turning halfway through.

I forgot to take a picture when I was done (probably because I was hungry...) but I served them with the wedges and a huge 0PP salad of lettuce, pepper, onion, tomato, cucumber, and balsamic vinegar. Sooo yummy.

It makes such a difference to try a new recipe and love it, and I'll definitely try this again. The crust would be good with chicken too....ooh now I'm thinking goujons!

Hx

Menu plans

I'm slowly getting into the habit of menu planning although this week's one is incomplete so far. I'm going out on Friday night and I don't know what food choices there will be at the place I'm going to. So because I undoubtably wont be able to restrain myself, and will be drinking alcohol (which I rarely do now) I'm trimming my points for the rest of the week. Weight Watchers say this isn't the way to follow the plan, and give you a weekly points allowance for times like these, but it has worked for me in the past and seems like "damage limitation" to me. I will be having a good old dance to burn some of the calories off though!

There also isn't a planned meal for Monday evening either. I weigh in on a Tuesday morning, so I usually have something very light such as fish and salad or chicken and steamed veg on a Monday night, and Mr FGS has something different - so I don't have a "meal" to plan as such. I have some quorn fillets in the freezer and there is always fresh veg in the fridge, so I know that's there and I don't have to "plan" it as such.

Snacks are the same. I have plenty of fresh fruit and veg - celery, carrots, apples, bananas, grapes, mango - and things like plain fat free yoghurt and cottage cheese, as well as low-fat crisps and Weight Watchers snack bars.

Getting my mojo back this week! For my new exercise I ordered a skipping rope! Once it comes I plan to do 5-10 minutes of skipping a day and I think this is manageable. I'm restricted to doing exercise in the evenings once the children are in bed which means my time with Mr FGS is cut into, but 5 minutes of skipping I can fit in while DS1 is at pre-school and DS2 is safely strapped into his highchair eating lunch or whatever. I can't wait for Spring when I can rely a bit more on the weather being better.

How is your menu shaping up for the week? Link me to it if you've posted one!

Hx

This week's menu plan...

Morning!

I've managed a menu plan again, but am doing it a little different this week. I decided that planning my snacks wasn't working - I rarely ate what I had planned and swapped the planned things for other days when I wanted them, so instead I have left the snack area blank and just written how many points I have left for the day after my main meals have been taken into consideration. On some of the days I've left more points for snacks than I have included for meals! But, in reality, it probably wont work out like that, and I'm not intending to use all my points every day. Once again, if there are any specific recipes you'd like to see please ask!

I have had to repeat meals and lunches more this week, for reasons I'll go into in a later post, but I don't mind and it means less cooking!

For snacks, as well as fresh fruit and veg and a huge batch of 0pp veg soup and fruit smoothies I will have the following options available:

WW rich toffee bar 2         Ryvita 1

WW crisps 2                     60g cottage cheese 1

150g lf plain yogurt 2         Tbsp lf hummus 2

Rich tea biscuit 1               Boiled egg 2

6 mini breadsticks 1           Cooked veggie sausage 2

I struggle for snack ideas, so if you have any suggestions please share! I am a big snacker and while I know I shouldn't be reaching for the crisps I can't help it! But as long as my choices are measured and accounted for, I'm not too worried. I'm trying to include more protein in my choices too.

Have you planned this week? I found it really helpful last week, knowing what to have and when, and it helped me spend less too.

Hx

Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance...

Hi loves, hope you're having a good week!

After last week's disaster I took some time on Tuesday afternoon after my weigh in working out to what I was going to eat for the week, down to the last snack. I've planned my menu to around 20-25 ProPoints per day as I'm allowed 29 and this will give me some leeway! Already yesterday I found it so much easier to stick to, and didn't even eat 2 of the planned snacks. I've included more variety in there too, which I think now it's getting harder I'm going to need. Having mostly the same thing for breakfast and lunch every day is repetitive and makes me not look forward to eating it. Today I was really excited about my bagel and enjoyed it, and as a result I feel satisfied. What has my life come to, that I enjoy looking forward to a bagel?! There are still some repeats of meals, but it is a lot more varied than what I was eating before.

Anyway, if you're interested here is my menu plan for the week. If the pic comes out really tiny, click it to look a bit closer. I plan on posting about some of the recipes but if there's any you specifically want to know, leave a message in the comments. I'm also planning to make this a regular thing, so have added a Menu Plan tab to the top. At the moment it just contains a link to this post, but I'll hopefully build it up with recipe links and menu plans as the weeks pass. It is time consuming planning this way, so I might not do it every week, but will definitely try and plan more!

Once I'd planned out everything, yesterday morning I walked to a farm shop to buy veg for the week. I spent £11.20 on this little lot:

Grapes, peppers, butternut squash, red onions, kiwis, courgettes, cucumber, tomatoes, lemon, spring onions, broccoli 

When I went to the supermarket after for a few more bits I had a quick wander round the veg aisles and looked at the prices to compare the farm shop prices, and found out that some things cost a few pence more, while some things cost a few pence less, so all in all I think I probably broke even. I will definitely walk to the farm shop more often (it's a 2 mile round trip) as most of the produce is British if not local (obviously not all of it!), and it means I get a nice walk in too. I was nice and warm by the time I got back yesterday, so plenty of calories burned.

Continuing with the planning theme, 3 of the meals I have planned for the week involve roasted veg, so this morning I baked a huge tray of it of which I had some for lunch today and the rest will go in the fridge for tomorrow's dinner and another lunch later in the week. Lessening the load! I just chopped 3 courgettes, 2 peppers, and two red onions, slung them in a tray sprayed with low-cal cooking spray with seasoning, balsamic vinegar and some dried orgeano and roasted it for about 45 minutes. So yum!

Now I just have to stop myself from eating it all and running out when I need it...

How do you plan? I would love to see links to menu plans if you have them!

Hx

Coping with Christmas

Christmas is a difficult time of year for many people, not just diet and exercise wise, but emotionally and mentally too. I have certainly found my stress levels rising over the last few weeks, and we're not even hosting Christmas at our house this year. And, for me at least, when my stress levels rise, my food habits deteriorate into something less than desirable. I thought I would write a post on how I'm planning to stay in control this Christmas (and New Year!).

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My last Weight Watchers meeting is on Tuesday (20th), and we miss a week before going back on the 3rd of January. The temptation to just have 2 weeks "off" is [i]huge[/i], and I know two friends of mine are doing that, but I am going to try my hardest not to. Usually on a Tuesday after my weigh in I do allow myself an "off" day, where I wont count my points, perhaps have a meal out or cook a meal I wouldn't usually eat or a drink or two, and my worry is that I'll just continue this for two weeks! Especially as I have some baking to do and a Christmas Cake to ice. I will have my usual "treat" on Tuesday (perhaps a Christmassy themed one so I don't feel left out!), but am planning to go straight back into it on Wednesday with my porridge for breakfast, soup for lunch routine that works so well for me. I'll carry that on until Saturday, Christmas Eve, when we are travelling to Birmingham to spend the next 3 days with Mr FGS's family, and staying with my sister in law (stick thin, seems to live on tea and water. Grr.)

Now because we are not at home Christmas day itself there wont be lots of Christmas nibbles, leftovers, cheese etc there. So, as soon as we get back on the 26th I can get back into it. Realistically, it will be the 27th, meaning I'll only have 3 days "off". Plus, staying with the aforementioned SIL I can't imagine there'll be loads of snacks around, everyone knows I've been on a diet so wont be buying me chocolate so as long as I avoid the kids sweeties (there will be 5 children there) I shouldn't do too much damage. Unless she sends me back with loads of leftovers that is (I am worried she's going to send me home with 3/4 of the Christmas cake I've made as only me and the father in law like it and he lives in Spain so wont be taking it home with him).

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Alcohol, though, is a different matter. I don't drink much any more, in fact hardly anything. This year, I've only been 'drunk' twice. Once was at my best friend's wedding in May, and the other time was when a friend held a psychic evening and I was so nervous I had my reading last out of 12 people and got drunk first (and subsequently can barely remember a word he told me...). Mr FGS is a big drinker, and everyone in his family (apart from SIL) likes a drink. So, alcohol will be in abundance, no doubt. If I don't drink they will all think I'm pregnant again (for good reason, that's what happened 2 years ago...). For me, drinking leads to eating. If I have a hangover, I crave carbs and greasy food the whole day, I guess to level out my sugar levels. So, moderation for me. I don't like getting drunk and not being in control in front of other people (or eating a lot - another bonus) so as long as glass after glass isn't forced into my hands I should be able to stay in control.

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Then, I have almost a week before the New Year celebrations start. We don't have any plans yet, but whatever we do there will be food and alcohol involved. I hope on New years Eve to be able to stick to plan all day, then the damage done in the evening should be controllable. I am also going to limit my alcohol intake so I don't have another "hangover day" on New Years Day, and get straight back on plan on the 2nd.

To balance out the excesses, I'm going to up my exercise in the hopes I can limit the damage. Wednesday 21st and Friday 23rd I plan on going for a run, which hopefully will see me complete week 5 of C25K. I'm hoping I'll have time to fit in a Zumba sesh or two as well, although my evenings will be taken up with baking, wrapping, cake decorating and packing (and doing my nails, naturally). The week in between Christmas and New Year Mr FGS has off work, so I'm hoping to be able to fit in a family walk or two, and maybe a swim. I think I can sometimes lack energy around this time of year too, so getting plenty of exercise will help with that too.

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Now, while I don't think I can lose any weight over the Christmas period, I think if I can stick to this plan I'll manage to maintain my weight and not gain any. What do you think? Am I being realistic? Will the lure of the chocolate orange be too much to bear?

Whether it's stress, emotions, or just temptation that are threatening your good habits this year, how are you planning to cope with it? Are you going to have 2 weeks "off" completely, stick rigidly to your plan, or go with a bit of give and take like I am? I've come to realise I can have the things I want, I just can't have everything I want, and I'm happy with that. Please share your coping strategies!

Hx

Recipe of the Week - 5 minute lasagne

Ok, so it takes a bit more than 5 minutes to cook it, but only 5 minutes to prepare, which is a good thing in my book. It means I can get the kids to bed, throw it together and get it in the oven, and have time to exercise before it's ready. It's vegetarian, very low fat and tasty!

Serves 4. 7 ProPoints per serving

300 grams Quorn mince (tvp mince)
6 lasagne sheets
500g carton of passata
250g virtually fat free soft cheese (I used Quark)
80g half fat cheddar

In a lasagne dish layer a quarter of the passata, a third of the mince and two lasagne sheets. Repeat 2 more times and finish with the remaining passata.

Mix the cream cheese with a little water and spread on top of the final layer.

Top with the grated cheese and bake at 200/400 gas 6 for 30-45 mins or until the pasta is tender and it looks like this.

So easy, and really tasty. Mr F-G-S hates Quorn mince but he didn't even realise it wasn't beef (and I'm not telling him either ;) )! Sneaky Helly! If you have more than 5 minutes a chopped onion, mushrooms or peppers added to the mince would be a welcome addition, and you could chuck some dried herbs (basil or oregano would be the ones I'd use) in the passata, but actually it was pretty tasty without it. Serve with a big salad, and you'd never tell it wasn't the real thing!

If you don't want the extra cheese on top, leave it off. The PP value would then be 6 per serving. You don't have to remember any weights and measurements because (here in the UK at least) most of the ingredients come in packages of the size you need. Just a simple, healthy, tasty meal! Yum.

Hx

Cheese, cheese is good for your heart...oh, wait...

Cheese. Much like biscuits and bread, cheese is one of the things I miss the most on the Weight Watchers plan. I quite often sit with a bunch of grapes, an apple, or a glass of water and think, you know what would go good with this? Cheese.

The problem is, cheese is high in Pro Points and isn't very filling. Tasty, yes but filling, no. Fatty too. And the low fat stuff, despite being only 1PP per 20g for half fat cheddar, just isn't the same. It doesn't melt as well, is a bit plasticky and grows penicillin quicker than normal cheese, meaning that if you eat tiny portions and don't use it quickly your fridge will soon be rivalling that of Alexander Fleming.


So how do you get your cheese fix? Here are a few suggestions:

• use strong cheese, in smaller amounts. You'll get more flavour than from mild cheese so you wont need as much.
• use the small side of the grater when grating cheese - you'll be amazed at how much further it goes!
• grate your cheese and store it in a ziplock bag in the fridge, as often if you cut a chunk off then weigh it and it's more than you should have you'll be tempted to eat the extra (I know I am!). If it's ready grated you can just pop it back in the bag. You can freeze it once it's grated too, and use it straight from the freezer for most things. This solves the problem of it going off before you can use it all.
• cottage cheese makes a good dip for vegetable crudities and apple or grapes. 60g of low fat cottage cheese equals 1PP
• extra light cream cheese (such as Philadelphia) makes a good pasta sauce (like my Cheats Carbonara), base for risotto, and makes soup lovely and creamy if you stir a spoonful through. 50g of extra light is 1PP, or light is 30g per PP. You can get different flavours such as garlic and herb and roasted pepper. Stuff a medium chicken breast with some before baking for a diet friendly kiev for 5 PP.
• adding a bit of mustard to a cheese sauce really enhances the cheese flavour, meaning you don't need as much cheese. 1tsp of mustard is free (any more than that and it has a points value) and can also be stirred into mash to make it taste creamier.
• Have some cheese and biccies instead of a desert. Weight Watchers do crackers which are 1PP for a pack of three. They taste like cardboard but it's the cheese that counts!

I'll hold my hands up and admit it, cheese is a weakness of mine. But I can still enjoy it on this plan. 

What are your weaknesses?

Hx