Thai king prawn curry!

Treated myself to a new cookbook - I love browsing through cookbooks and if they can provide some healthy eating inspiration, then that's even better!

So tonight for dinner I made us the Thai prawn curry - yum!

Lots of lovely, colourful vegetables packed in, and we had ours with some steamed rice 

It made us a lush dinner! 

And a prepped fresh fruit salad for us to have later. 

We'll definitely be meeting our five-a-day challenge today lol! 

Recipe inspiration today came from the Hairy Bikers - I'm looking forward to trying a few more of these recipes! 

Back soon, 

Kim x

Fabulous Fish Friday!

We usually have fish - in some shape or form - about 2 or 3 times a week these days.  Packed with protein, minerals and omega 3 and low in fat, it's a great addition to a weekly menu if you're trying to improve the overall 'health' of your diet like we are! 

Tonight we had one of our favourite, easy fish dishes - fish in tomato and thyme sauce.  There are several recipes available online, so do have a browse to find one you like, but we've found this is a quick and easy recipe :-

1 onion, chopped

1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes

1 tsp brown sugar

2 tsp soy sauce

a few sprigs of fresh thyme - strip the leaves

spray oil

For the two of us, we add 2 white fish fillets - e.g. cod, pollock, etc. - but the sauce recipe will be enough for 4 people, just add 4 fish fillets! 

Using a large, lidded non-stick frying pan, use some spray oil and fry the onion gently for 5 minutes. Stir in the sugar, soy sauce and thyme leaves for 1 minute, add the tomatoes, bring to a gentle boil and then simmer for 5 minutes. Lay the fish fillets on the top of the tomato sauce, cover the pan and continue to simmer for approx. 10 minutes until the fish is cooked and flakes easily (time will vary depending on the thickness of the fillets - don't overcook or it will start to 'toughen' up!).

We had ours tonight with some steamed rice and brussel sprouts - the baby sprouts were steamed, and then some salt flakes, freshly ground black pepper, a sprinkle of mixed herbs and 1 tsp of butter stirred through. 

Yum! 

Spiced Bulgur Wheat Salad - packed lunch with a twist!

I'm trying to get a bit more prepped for packed lunches and snacks this coming week. Last week the "munchies" hit me hard, for various stressy reasons, so I need to make sure that I've got plenty ready at hand in the fridge, for when the need arises!

I last made this bulgur wheat salad a few months ago, based on a recipe in an old Ocado magazine, but tweaked a bit - I think I'm genetically incapable of sticking to a standard recipe lol! But the whole point of enjoying food and cooking is to adapt recipes to what you love most (& what's available in the cupboard and fridge!).

https://www.ocado.com/webshop/recipe/bulgur-and-green-bean-spiced-salad/127456

I don't want to infringe any copyright laws, so I'll just add the link to the online recipe!

A fabulous ingredient to keep in the fridge/cupboard is preserved lemons, particularly if, like me, you love those citrus flavours. A little goes a long way but adds a lovely sour, salty punch to things like salads, couscous, rice dishes,

I adapted the recipe slightly according to what was available, so mine uses dried cranberries (instead of goji berries), and chopped cashews and flaked almonds (instead of pistachios). I also used only 1 teaspoon of olive oil instead of the tablespoon in the recipe. But, despite the "tweaks" it still works well, and makes a hearty lunch for 4 people- or a big tub full to keep in the fridge.

Delicious warm, either on its own or with feta cheese or chicken! 

Enjoy! 

Kim x 

Thai Red Curry with prawns

Such a yummy meal for our Friday night dinner - who need's a takeaway! Husband was cooking tonight and based this on a couple of recipes from round the internet (there's a good one at slimmingworldrecipeshare.blogspot). Filled with scrummy king prawns, peppers, onion, green beans and Chinese leaves - lots of goodness packed in. If you're following Slimming World this works out at 1.5 syns per portion. 

We had ours with steamed basmati rice. 

Delicious! 

In a large frying pan or wok, whisk 1 tablespoon of red Thai curry paste into 250ml stock (chicken or veg) and 100ml light coconut milk. Bring gently to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for a couple of minutes. Add a chopped onion, a couple of large chopped peppers, a handful of green beans (we used frozen ones), a couple of finely chopped carrots, and 4 or 5 finely sliced mushrooms (if using raw King Prawns like we had, add these now). Simmer for 5 minutes and then add either some finely chopped Chinese leaves or green cabbage. Simmer for another couple of minutes - if using cooked prawns, add 300g cooked, peeled prawns. Stir gently until heated through and then stir in the juice of 1/2 lime, some chopped coriander and a tablespoon of Thai fish sauce. 

Back soon,

Kim x

Creamy carbonara-style pasta - but low fat!

I do love pasta, particularly with creamy, rich sauces - preferably with plenty of garlic and cheese. However, when we're trying to eat a little more healthily, and more conscious of what we're consuming, I decided to try making a carbonara-style pasta, with plenty of taste, but less of the calories!  A good, quick and easy meal - and low fat.

So, for two people:-

I chopped 4-6 smoked bacon medallions (these have the fat removed, but you can always remove any that's left).  In a large non-stick frying pan, add a little spray oil and fry 2 chopped shallots gently until softened.  Add 2 or 3 crushed cloves of garlic according to taste, and fry for 1 minute. Add the chopped bacon and continue frying gently, stirring regularly, until the bacon is cooked and starting to crisp.

In a mixing bowl beat 2 large, free range eggs, two tablespoons of quark and plenty of seasoning. A good tip when using quark in cooking, is to let it come to room temp before adding to your recipe - it helps to prevent splitting!  Then stir in 1 or 2 tablespoons of finely grated parmesan.

Cook dried tagliatelle or linguine pasta - amount according to appetite! - following packet instructions, until al dente.  Five minutes before the end of the cooking time, I added half a cup full of frozen peas - but you can always leave those out! 

When the pasta is cooked, drain - reserving 2 tablespoons of the cooking water. Return the drained pasta & peas to the pan, along with the cooking water. Stir in the cooked bacon/garlic, and then quickly stir in the egg/quark mix while the pasta is still hot. Keep stirring to ensure the pasta is evenly coated with the egg mixture and, if necessary,  put back over a low heat for a minute until the egg is cooked (but before it begins to turn into scrambled eggs!). Whilst the pasta is still hot, and to make it extra creamy, stir in two light Laughing Cow cheesy triangles until melted! 

Serve in hot pasta bowls, with a good sprinkle of parmesan and freshly ground black pepper. I had mine with a portion of steamed tenderstem broccoli, but a nice crispy side salad would be good. 

Enjoy! 

Back soon,

Kim 

A little home baking

There's something incredibly comforting about a bit of home baking. And the real joy of it is that, if you're keeping track of your sugar/fat/salt intakes, you can find or adapt recipes to suit. Yesterday, whilst making dinner, I made a few scones using my late mum's recipe - and it always seems to work pretty well!

You can "tweak" this to your own tastes, and I'm doing a rough translate from the original recipe that's written in imperial measures! 

225g self raising flour 

30g butter, softened

30g caster sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg, beaten

Enough milk to make the egg up to 1/4 pint

A handful of either glace cherry halves, sultanas or fresh blueberries!

Rub the butter into the sugar, flour and baking powder. 

Gently mix in the fruit choice. Gradually add the egg/milk mixture (reserving a tablespoon) and stir to bring dry ingredients together into a dough. 

Gently roll out onto a lightly floured surface (although I usually press it out), leaving it a good 1-2cm thick. Use a fluted cutter (I use a 3 or 4cm one) to cut out the scones - this should make 8-10 scones (keep using up the surplus and re-rolling!).  Place on a baking tray lined with nonstick baking paper and brush with the reserved egg mix. 

Bake in a preheated oven at 220C/gas 7 for 8-10 minutes

Delicious served warm - and you can always treat yourself by adding fresh butter, jam or even some clotted cream! 

Let me know if you try these or what your favourite scone recipe is! I'm always keen to try new recipes! 

Back soon,

Kim x 

More fish please!

We've gradually gone from a couple who ate virtually no fish (except me occasionally, as I love it!), to eating it 3 or 4 times a week, with very little meat in the diet, and lots of vegetables. It can only be for the good!
Last night's dinner was a delish plateful of yummy goodness! We had a pan-fried cod fillet, on minted pea puree,  with spiced potatoes and steamed asparagus. So tasty! All very low fat but high on taste and protein.

We find recipes from all over the internet, and usually adapt them according to what's in the fridge/cupboard/freezer and to make them user friendly for us - so often reducing the fat content, etc. I'll start adding recipes or links to where we've found them if you're interested! 

Kim x 

Delicious Waffles!

Now eating waffles when trying to lose weight might seem like a bit of a problem! But we bought a great little electric waffle maker from Aldi last summer and it's brilliant for a relaxed weekend brunch of waffles with fruit. My favourite recipe came from several instagram blogs, but is basically :-

25g self raising flour
1 egg
2 dessert spoons of fat free yogurt
1 tablespoon granulated sweetener
Vanilla (or coconut or almond!) flavouring

Beat all the above together well and then either cook in an electric waffle maker (according to instruction), or use a silicon waffle mould in the oven.

We love ours with plenty of fresh fruit, some fat free Greek yogurt and a drizzle of Sweet Freedom fruit syrup - yum. They're also delicious with flavoured yogurt (I particularly like fat free coconut flavour yogurt!).

Do you like waffles? How do you like yours? 

Kim x 

Moroccan style couscous

I love food that has a Middle Eastern style and flavour to it. So after seeing various recipes online for couscous, I made this one!
I oven-roasted peppers, courgette and red onion (after spraying with a little oil). The couscous was prepared with vegetable stock, some spices and then, when ready, I added the roast vegetables, peas, sweetcorn, some soaked raisins, spring onions, chopped coriander and mint, and grated lemon zest. Then to serve, added a few pomegranate seeds and flaked almonds. Yum!
Very low fat, vegetarian/vegan and delicious. It was lovely on it's own, or we had some the following day with a little feta cheese!

Back soon,
Kim

Loving Food...!

Hi 

I'm using this little corner of Blogland to keep track of the food we're eating, the weight loss journey and how well we're doing!  More details of our food and dieting journey will emerge as time goes on, but I hope you'll enjoy seeing some of our food and recipe trials - and perhaps share some of your ideas and journey too. 
I realised at the beginning of 2018 that I really needed to take charge of myself and do something about the weight. It was really starting to impact on my health and when I saw some awful photos after Christmas there were no more excuses. I could try using the non-working thyroid as an excuse, or the post-baby weight - but being as my youngest is now 20, I don't think that'll work. So I braved the scales and joined Slimming World. My husband gamely said he would join me on the journey, and between us, over 2018, we lost 108lbs! Thank you Slimming World. 
But I've got a bit stressed about weigh ins, that I keep maintaining, etc., so I'm just taking a little break from SW, but keeping up with the good eating habits that we've learnt and focusing on healthy eating. One really good thing was starting an Instagram account to track my progress and food, and lots of people have liked our food photos! Hence, now trying the blog! (But if you prefer Instagram, please click on the link on the side to find me!)

Anyway, I'll share more food pics and ideas as I go along. But tonight's dinner was a lovely smoked haddock risotto, packed with leeks, peas and spinach and served with steamed carrots and asparagus. Yum! The actual recipe was a 'mish-mash' of several that you can find online.  

Back soon,

Kim ☺