Spinach and mushroom pasta recipe

If you know me you will know I absolutely love to cook and I have decided that each month (maybe twice a month, depending how the first dish goes) I am going to try and cook a new dish. What I like with cooking is something simple and something which is Slimming World friendly, that means avoiding oils, creams, butter. Yes, in a lot of recipes some of them are used but I have found some alternatives and if I'm honest I don't really miss them.

Recently I had made a quick and simple tomato sauce using fresh tomatoes rather than tinned as I couldn't get any. The reason behind this was due to some browsing on Pinterest and I see a mushroom and tomato based pasta and thought I would do something similar. I find these kind of pasta dishes easy to cook and great for meal prep.

Quick and simple home made tomato sauce

With everything that has been going on lately I have found myself doing more home cooking which I am loving. I've been throwing (not literally lol) things together and seeing what happens really. I find experimenting with food so fun

When the shortage of tinned tomatoes started amongst other things happened, I started to panic as tinned tomatoes are for me a staple item in my cupboard. One day I went out and I honestly couldn't find any tinned tomatoes even plum anywhere but I could find fresh, so I decided I would make my own tomato sauce to go with my pasta

This is just a quick and simple recipe I have been using lately and it's great to add to any pasta dish. Also I am doing slimming world and this is completely free!

Chickpea and sweet potato stew recipe

If you're looking for something warming, comfort, full of veg kind of food then keep on reading. One cold winter day I really wanted something tasty and I stumbled across a chickpea and sweet potato stew recipe on tasty. I have made this quite a few times and I have slightly tweaked it and added a few extra ingredients.

As I am doing slimming world I do have to choose some things wisely so I have made sure this recipe is completely free and includes speed food!

WHAT?! I lost 6lb in one week

So I joined slimming world again. As you may know I have done slimming world in the past and for me I know this works. I just wanted to get back into good habits and get my goal body. My general diet is not too bad I try to eat clean like no fried foods but my main let down is that I love to snack from chocolate to crisps.

I will be honest I did not intend on joining again, I had lost some weight last year and I seemed to be slowly loosing more, there would be weeks I would just stay the same and maybe loose 1lb here or there but wasn't being consistent. I just sat there one day and said I am going to join why not!

The first major step is joining and I was so pleased that I did.

If you're unsure how it works I'll give a quick low down on the basics. There is four food categories:

How I meal prep for work

Recently I have been meal prepping like crazy and one of my friends recently asked if I was going to write it up on my blog and it was a little strange as I had in mind to share with you guys how I meal prep. 

The last thing I want to do after being at work all day and then the gym is to stand in the kitchen for hours cooking something. Also after the gym I didn't want anything too heavy to eat to make me feel sloggish. So I just came up with a simple veg and chicken meal, you can change this to what ever veg you like and season the chicken how ever you want. 



What you'll need
5 containers to put your meals in
Sharpe knife
Chopping board
Mixing bowl 9for seasoning the chicken)
Large Bowl (for mixing the vegetables)
Vegetable peeler
Frying pan
3 pots (potentially)

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Goals for October

I'm going to be doing these posts every few months, I find it a bit exciting to have a goal and something to work towards. The reason I'm not doing it every month as I believe sometimes you may not achieve that goal straight away and you're still working on it.

So for October I have a few things I want to concentrate on.....

What I typically eat in a day

I did think about doing a 'What I ate in a week' post but I struggled to remember to write down or take photos of my main meals and snacks so I thought I would just do a day one. Maybe later when I'm fully settled with everything (all will be revealed soon enough) I can then do a week one so you can get more of an idea what kind of foods I eat.

I try not to eat so much processed foods and like to prepare things myself so I know what's going in them. This is just an average day at both home and work so it gives you an idea what I eat.

Breakfast

If you follow me on snap you will have already seen plenty of times I often start my day with a big bowl of fruit. It will consist of fruits like: raspberries, blackberries, mango, strawberries and green apple and maybe a banana oh and sometimes I have a spoonful or two of fat free natural yoghurt on top.

My first week at Slimming world | April 2019

For a little while now I've been thinking about rejoining Slimming World, I think I stopped going around 2 and a half years ago. It just got a bit too much and I felt that the consultant who was running it was not supportive and didn't really seem to care, my mum actually agreed too! So I had given it some thought and decided to rejoin as I noticed our local one has a new consultant and thought I would give it a go again. Previously I did do so well and lost nearly 2 stone but I got to a point I was like urgh whatever, even though I felt so much better but the support I didn't get had something to do with my lack of enthusiasm.

So I walked in and I will be honest I got nervous and the anxiety kicked in.

We went through everything from what's "free" to eat and what is not so free and the naughty things to avoid. I do find it so much easier to write a food diary and I can see what exactly I am eating and can plan meals.

Winter vegatable broth

What better way to spend a dull day then with a vegetable broth, this is a super easy and quick recipe that I found on Sheer Luxe. I'm not entirely too sure how I actually ended up subscribed to their emails but I actually love reading them they have like everything from beauty tips to recipes and everything in between and they nothing is sugar coated.

Anyway I stumbled across this a couple months ago in on of their emails which is actually from Waitrose and uses all their ingredients so your not going from shop to shop to try and get everything and thought it would be great to have something like this when the colder months come. I have tried it and I have tweaked it a bit and I'll let you know the basic recipe but also add in my additions.

Where I've been eating out

Over the last couple of months I've eaten out a few times and thought I would just share some of the food I've eaten kind of like a review on the places where I've been. It was slightly annoying as when I started this post I had been out a couple times but forgot to take pictures of what I ordered and I've been trying to focus a bit on the gym so going out for dinner or lunch wasn't at the top of my list but here is a few dishes I've really liked.

Caesar salad - Pattisserie Valerie

I popped here with Nowara for a little catch up, I didn't want anything too heavy like a breakfast or anything with too much bread so I chose a salad and honestly it was really nice instead of the dressing drizzled over it was all mixed up which for me has been such a game changer when I make a salad!

Preparing for Winter

How much has the weather change in like the last couple weeks?! The mornings and evenings are certainly getting colder and of course the clocks changed over the weekend. Right now I'm all for staying home and binge watching a TV series on Netflix and a hot drink.

So what am I doing to prepare myself for the new season?

Green pesto pasta

I got the idea for this recipe from a little pasta side dish I picked up from M&S a while back, it's pasta bows with spinach and pine kernels in a pesto dressing. It's something so simple and I would have it on the side of my salad but I did notice with the pesto which was used there was a lot of oil at the bottom so I thought to make my own but slightly different.

I tend to have this for lunches at work as it is such a quick meal to cook the night before and I make enough for a few days. If I do re heat it at work the pasta can be a little dry so I just add a little bit of water and it tastes and feels a lot better.

What you'll need

Medium sized pot

Colander

Mixing bowl

Sharp knife

Chopping board

Vegetable Red Thai Curry

Over the last few months or so I've reduced the amount of meat that I eat not for any particular reason but I'm just trying to eat more vegetable and get more goodness in.

I'm not sure how I only discovered red Thai curry until the past couple months I think it was the coconut which put me off as I'm not a big fan of things which have coconut in and for years I was convinced it never agreed with me. I see an old (not in age lol) friend who has recently started a vegan insta/blog and some of the things she makes just look so yummy and often so easy to do. Laura has given me the inspiration to try some new and different things I wouldn't necessarily do myself, make sure you check her insta out!

I have been loving this simply yet yummy veggie red Thai curry, it's quick and easy to make. It's great for lunch or dinner as it's not a heavy meal and something so quick to do I often make it after work.

6 things I'm currently loving

I thought in this post I would share with you all a few things I'm just obsessing with at the moment whether it's food or beauty related. This list is completely random and I haven't done anything like this before but I thought I would share a little about me.

Pasta with green pesto, feta and spinach

Recently I've tried something new for lunches at work it's so simple and yet so yummy. I literally cook pasta add green pesto, spinach and feta. I'm trying to do some more recipes of what foods I'm currently eating so keep an eye out.

La Reina Del Sur (TV)

This is based on the book by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, there is already a series based on the book which is also called Queen of the South and is on Netflix. It's basically about this young female who falls in love and due to their line of work they die and she is on the run and makes a life for herself. Both series are kind of similar and I can't stop watching it. I will advise La Reina Del Sur is in subtitles so just be prepared.

Twinnings cold infusion tea in passion fruit, mango and blood orange
With the weather so hot lately putting one of these into cold water has been so refreshing it has a subtle hint of flavour and is not too over powering. There is other flavours and I've tried the watermelon and mint one but I was not overly keen on it.

Overnight oats with slim fast and chia seeds

Breakfast is a great way to start the day and can avoid you snacking mid morning, I find if I have a decent breakfast I don't feel peckish till late morning but I try to avoid eating anything as I know I will be having lunch soon. Until recently I had never tried overnight oats, mainly cause we never have oats in our house but I really fancied them and we had these slim fast porridge sachets so I thought I'd try. Using the sachet was an ideal way for me to try as I didn't want to go and buy a whole big bag of oats and if I didn't like it, it wouldn't be a total waste.

I looked a few recipes online to see what sort of things they had in and what I had in my cupboards/fridge and I now have a recipe which I use and is so simply to remember. This recipe serves two.

What you'll need

Bowl/measuring jug

Spoon
Measuring cups/utensils
Mason jar/container minimum of 400ml


Ingredients
2/3 cups of oats (2 sachets slim fast porridge)
1 cup of unsweetened almond milk
2 tsp chia seeds
2 tsp honey

Handful of medium strawberries chopped up (or any other fruit of your choice)

Granola (optional)

This serves two, half the ingredients for one serving

How to make

1. Combine all ingredients apart from the granola in a bowl and transfer to a mason jar/container.

2. Leave to set in the fridge overnight

3. In the morning, take out of the fridge and top with granola (optional) and bon appetite

I did notice a slight difference when I used the slim fast porridge oats, it was sweeter and it was a little thicker, where as the oats there was some of the milk which hadn't fully soaked into the oats but this is minor. It's up to you what consistency you want them so put as little or as much milk and oats as you want.

Have you tried overnight oats? Do you already enjoy this and use other ingredients?


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I tried meat free

So a couple months ago or so I had considered to try a meat (including fish) free diet only something short term to see if I could get on with it. I don't eat loads and loads of meat, mainly chicken and fish to be honest but I've heard of many people going meat free or doing the veganuary challenge where they have lost weight or felt better in themselves and I was intrigued. Also I recently heard that a quarter of UK dinners are actually meat or fish free. Personally I think going completely vegan would be a big jump with not doing anything like this before and there is a lot of things I think I would need to change but this was my first step.

Now I didn't do a straight two weeks like I originally planned my downfall was the weekends, the first weekend I went out with a few girls out of Ipswich and the weekend just gone I was in London. The first part was from Monday 29th January till the Saturday and then Monday 5th February till the Friday. It was a little different trying it that way but I suppose it was a way also to see if I really missed it which during the week I didn't but come the weekends when I'd be out it was kind of a different story, I'd be on my way home tipsy and hungry with nothing else really open it was some kind of fast food at the time.

Here is just a few meals I had cooked, I didn't get a picture every one I had tried but other dishes I made had included omelettes, roasted veg, a few Subway salads for lunch, jacket potatoes and home made soup.

Easy Mediterranean Tart Recipe

Green pesto chicken and roasted veg

Sunday I made something I haven't made in while but its got loads of flavour and something so simple straight forward to make. If I'm honest I really had no energy to be stood in the kitchen for hours to make something because my mum was colouring my hair later in the day and if you've seen how long my hair is it takes a while!

I got the idea from a Jamie Oliver's hit'n'run tray baked chicken but over time I have adjusted it and now I make it to my preference. All it is, is roasted veg and chicken and spices/herbs, simple right?

Bacon and everything else crust less quiche

As on my previous post “Being happy” I did say I would share a some recipes which I have been enjoying lately. Slimming World have a bacon and mushroom crust less quiche  which took my fancy, now at first I didn't follow it completely as I forgot a couple ingredients. A few changes have been made to it over times and I’ve taken away a couple things but they have been replaced with other free foods. You can put what you want in it and have it your way. I often have it with salads for lunch and snack on slices when I feel peckish. It is filling and is very moreish! 

My Birthday

It was my birthday on Saturday I was in London and I was happy to wake up outside of Ipswich for it and had breakfast cooked for me too!! I'd been shopping A LOT and it was safe to say (at the time) I think I was shopped out for a change which is so unlike me. I did buy a few things but I wasn't shopping for anything specific if I'm honest but I do need a couple new outfits as I'm going out at the end of the month but I have plenty of time. I made my way back to the station where I bought this cookies and cream waffle, it was AMAZING! Waffle with melted chocolate, whipped cream and mini Oreos ahhh, I want another one! Anyway enough of food talk lol I made my way back to Ipswich. My aunties and uncles were coming round for a few drinks and something to eat and not long after I got back from London they came over. We all had such a laugh an a joke and everyone loved the food my Dad had cooked. Was a really good night and I managed to get a selfie with everyone!!