Depression, Swimming and Eating a Frog

In January this year I chose the word 'Reclaim' as my One Little Word for 2011. I envisaged reclaiming my weight loss, my spiritual side, my house.... and I have done some of those things. However, the one thing that seems to have reclaimed me is Depression. I don't know why and I have been trying to fight it but it's been very hard going. Every time I felt like I was winning something would come along and knock me down. It's been a constant battle. However, the one thing I really didn't want to do was to go on medication. It may seem stupid but I have seen friends and family members taking their little 'happy pills' and they have worked. But I have also seen those same friends and family members trying to wean themselves off the pills only to go right back into depression again. It's not something I want. A lot of things have been affected by my state of mind. My weight loss, for one, has completely stopped. I have managed not to gain any so that's something to be grateful for, but I've hit a plateau. This plateau has lasted almost a whole year now and it's very frustrating! It was so frustrating that I stopped going to my Weight Watchers meeting for 3 weeks because I couldn't face the scales... and that didn't do my mental state any good either because I felt like I was quitting.

On Monday evenings I take Herself to her swimming lessons at the local community pool. As she's old enough to go in the pool on her own for the lesson I normally sit at the tables provided and do some reading or chatting etc. However, this past Monday I decided that I would go for a swim too. As the larger pool was available and there were some people doing lengths I decided to join in and do some too. I think I must have done about 20 in the half-hour I had available. It felt good! Little did I realise that the swimming instructor was watching me! The following day at Weeself's lesson she offered to devise a programme for me to improve my fitness, which I  gladly accepted. I LOVE swimming and would much prefer to be in the pool than the gym. I went along to the pool on Wednesday morning, child-free, and was handed a killer programme. 64 lengths!! A mile!! Never would I ever challenge myself to do that, but I got swimming and had finished all 64 lengths in an hour and a half. Wow. I shocked myself and, boy, did it feel good!!! I was buzzing for the rest of the day until the evening.

That evening I phoned my Stampin' Up! Upline, Julie, and she told me about Eating Frogs. Ewwww.  Ok, not that Ewww, as it turns out. Julie told me to identify the tasks that I least enjoy or have been procrastinating about the most. Turns out I have PLENTY of those!! Those are your frogs. They are not pleasant to eat, but once you have eaten it you are safe in the knowledge that nothing else is going to be that bad for the rest of the day. Julie said that I have to eat my frog first thing in the morning so that the rest of the day can go smoothly, because nothing else is going to be worse than eating that frog!  Thanks Julie for the pep talk, it was just what I needed to hear!! I identified that my first frog should be getting back to WW the next morning..... and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I hadn't gained any weight in the 3 weeks I'd been off. Despite shovelling in enough food to feed an entire army! (Somehow I think the swimming helped with that!)

So, I'm back. Yes, I'm still struggling with the Big D and that's mostly likely going to be a long term battle. But between swimming, to get the endorphins going and to boost the weight loss, and Eating my Frogs, to get past the things that are bogging me down, I feel like there is actually light at the end of this tunnel now. Maybe this year hasn't been a complete waste? Maybe I can 'reclaim' things that I thought were lost?? I don't know, but for now I shall go swimming again and eat another frog.

Thanks for reading all this way through! Leave me a comment please, I'd like to know how you eat your frogs!!

WOYWW 05th October

Good morning peeps! Yes, I'm feeling a little better and life is getting back into some semblance of routine. I still have a lot of down days but in general I'm feeling a lot more positive than I was a few weeks ago. Thanks for bearing with me while I was AWOL!! I can see how many people visit this blog daily to see if I've updated and it is really lovely to see that you are keeping an eye out for me and my little life. Thanks!

Anyway, it's Wednesday again which means that people are linking up on Julia's blog for WOYWW again. I haven't taken part in aaaaages so I thought I'd get back into the swing of blogging again by showing you my desk. Or rather my whole room. I'm feeling like I need to shame myself publicly by showing you in all it's horrific glory. Maybe that will get me to actually go do something about the mess and sort it out!!!

Now, don't go screaming and running away.... okay?

On my desk is the remains of the stuff that got dumped after my new catalogue launch. The cutting mat which went downstairs for the event has made it back upstairs, but not actually back onto the desk. Unfortunately I actually need to clear the whole desk to put the mat back on. Sigh....

This is the rest of the room. As you can see, there's an awful lot of stuff that has just been dumped. And hubby has decided that the spare bed is an ideal place to put clean washing. Er, no! Clean washing goes back in the drawers please!! People have just started using the clothes straight out of the piles instead of putting it away first. All the boxes are from recent orders and they're waiting to be used for shipping ebay sales out to winning bidders. We've decided to clear out and sell some of our clutter, so far a pushchair and baby car seat have been sold. Neither of which needed boxes!! In the boxes in the foreground are all the stamp sets that got discontinued with the new catalogue. All 28 of them!! Ouch. I'm keeping a few of them for personal use simply because I like them, but the rest will also be sold off. What you can't see in this picture is the top of the chest of drawers or the windowsill. There is yet more gubbins piled on top of both of them!! I really must get this room sorted now, it's really frustrating me.

Do you find you can craft in a mess? Do you like things piled around you? Do you not mind the little snippy bits and the dribbled ink/paint all over your desk?? I don't! I feel like I need to tidy up BEFORE I do any crafting. Unfortunately that means that I'm always tidying and very rarely actually doing any crafting. Let me know about your mess/tidy crafting preferences in the box below!! Or even better, take a photo and come link up over on Julia's blog so we can all take a look.

See you soon and thanks for leaving a comment

Struggling

Sorry for the lack of posts at the moment. I'm really struggling to get the motivation to do anything right now. I think I'm suffering with a touch of depression... or maybe I'm just a little bit down. Don't know why though!! It's not as if anything major has gone wrong or anything. Just feeling.... low. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things again now that Herself has gone back to school. So maybe I'll be able to start posting regularly soon. It will be sooo much better when the Weeself has started nursery too!!

On a positive note.... I think the potty training has finally sunk in! Just in time for nursery too. I'm very happy about that!

I realised I've got a lot of pictures to show that I've taken this year. They've only made it only my computer... just. I haven't had a chance to print them, scrap them, show them off or anything. So here's one, well, just because!

Isn't this face the cutest?? This picture was taken in March this year... and she's grown so much since then!

Right, I'm off out to the local Retail park as she needs some new shoes. Again! See you soon!

Mr Mojo and the Envelopes

Wow! Mr Mojo is well and truly back today. After doing my post yesterday I was itching to do something inky  but somehow I got sucked into online stuff and well, after that nothing happens. Then last night after the kids had gone to bed I ended up going out to visit a friend of mine and well, after that nothing happens! LOL. So this morning I packed Herself off to school on the bus and Weeself decided that she was happy playing on her own, so I decided to follow her example and headed to my desk. I had about 3 or 4 hours of complete (almost) uninterrupted bliss!!

Now, before I show you what I made I'd like to explain a little of the 'back story' to this item..... Our finances are currently a mess. I think most of you will know the feeling, especially as the pay cuts, inflation, higher taxes, higher fuel costs, and super-inflated grocery costs all hit our pockets. Added to that the fact that hubby hasn't had a pay rise in nearly 6 years, we're carrying two mortgages (long story!) and both cars seem to be determined to be as expensive possible at the moment we're definitely finding it hard going at the moment. Please tell me I'm not alone in this?? Does any of it sound familiar?

Well, I often read the Life as Mom blog and had seen her explain how they got out of debt using a modified form of the Envelope System. I took no notice as I figured this was a 'big American thing that couldn't possibly apply to us'. Then I saw (quite by accident) a video on YouTube on it, a book on Amazon about it and heard another friend talking about it. By that time I was sitting up and taking notice... and finally getting the message that maybe this idea was being presented to me over and over again for. a. reason. The final straw was when I was browsing on my mobile phone only to find an App for it!! So hubby and I have done a budget and labelled up some envelopes and we've been using the system for about 3 weeks now. And it SO WORKS!! Have a look at this video to see how this system works.

My only problem is.... it's not PRETTY. Yep, as a crafter I have to resist the urge to make it pretty. And today I completely failed on the resisting front!! Mr Mojo came back in full force and I went with the flow..... including cutting up an old pair of jeans. Not my usual way of working but I'm soooo pleased with the results....

 

So there it is... Mr Mojo's much-prettier-completely-craftyfied-envelope system. What do you think??

The Trouble With Holidays

The Trouble with Holidays.... is that you get nothing done. The kids are off and the sun is shining so you sit outdoors while they play with bubbles, bounce on trampolines and learn to ride a bike. OR . The kids are off and the rain is pouring so you sit indoors and watch movies, rubbish telly or them to make sure they don't get the paint/playdough all over the floor and walls. What you don't do is get anything done. All those things that were absolutely pressing before the holidays now get shelved in favour of doing nothing in particular with the kids all day. When your hubby gets home and asks 'so what did you all do today' the kids answer "nothing!" and you nod and say "well, I had to watch them didn't I?" Okay, so you still cook and tidy up... but that's not doing anything, that's just ticking over.... and so, the blog gets neglected and the crafting stuff gathers dust.

Well, after today that is all going to change. Because? Well, the holidays are over and the eldest one officially went off on the bus back to school to start Primary 2. She's grown up so much over the past year! I have a feeling that this year is going to fly by.

So, all those pressing things that needed doing before the holidays have all come rushing back to sit on my shoulders again. The thing is I know they're still there and that I need to do them, but just for today I'm going to tell them to go sit quietly in the corner while I blog a little and get back to my poor neglected desk. Ahhhhh, that's better! So here's my starting point.... I'm sure there will be quite a few proper projects on this desk fairly soon.

Until then I've got a list, on this piece of paper, of various challenge blogs that I might use to inspire me and get the mojo going again!

I'm looking forward to getting back into a regular posting schedule again, picking up routines again and getting stuff done again.... but just for today.... I'm going to pretend it's still the holidays! I might even get to hop around some of the other blogs on Julia's WOYWW just to see what everyone else has been up to. But first.... A Cup of Tea!

No Tasty Tuesday

For anyone expecting a Tasty Tuesday post today, sorry! As we are away for a week's holidays I can't post a recipe today. Well, I've got photo's of food but the recipe book got forgotten at home! Oops.

There won't be a WOYWW post tomorrow either. However, i will be back later this week with a  few photo's and some news from our holibobs.

See you soon!

WOYWW 22nd June '11

Good morning! Welcome to WOYWW, hosted by the lovely Julia!

I unexpectedly have a child-free hour this morning so I decided that the blogging that was going to be relegated to last on the list, can go ahead anyway. Yay! Weeself is playing at her new nursery for an hour and since she toddled in without a backward glance the nursery teacher said I was probably safe to go home. Whoohoo!

So, what's on my desk today?? Well.... just a little bit of this...

Yup, I've got my Bigshot out, some cardstock and my lovely new Mini Milk Carton die. I made a little prototype last night and today I'm going to be making about 15 of these little cartons. Why? Because it's teacher gift season, of course!!

Our schools here in Scotland break up on Friday for the Summer holidays and Erin announced last week that she wanted presents for not only her teacher but all the classroom assistants, secretaries and the head teacher too! Wow. So I ordered the die and it arrived yesterday. Having had a play last night I think it's going to turn out fab and it's going to be soooo much easier than doing it all by hand! Now all I've got to figure out is what I'm putting in them and how I'm going to decorate them. Have you got any ideas or suggestions?? I could do with a little inspiration!!

Thanks for your comments, I'm looking forward to your suggestions this morning as I've run out of ideas. See you soon!

Pasta Arrabiata

Welcome to another Tasty Tuesday! I'm really enjoying getting into a regular habit of posting these. I've noticed however, that I'm doing mainly Main dishes and I'm wondering if anyone out there would like some pudding/dessert recipes or maybe some starters? Let me know in the comments box and I'll get to work on them for future posts. In the meantime though, here is another delicious recipe to try out if you're trying to lose weight.

Now we all know about good carbs and bad carbs right? Pasta is one of those that seems to be able to fall into both camps. Certainly I've noticed that since Weight Watchers have changed their plan, I get far less pasta for my ProPoints than I used to on the old Points system. Which is a pity because I lurve pasta. I don't care what the sauce is just give me pasta!! So I was really happy to see this recipe in my favourite WW recipe book. Yay! Pasta!! Anyway, have a look at the recipe and tell me what you think.

low fat cooking spray
2 rashers smoked lean back bacon, trimmed of excess fat and chopped into strips
1 large garlic clove, chopped
½ - 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
400g can chopped tomatoes with herbs
150g dried pasta shapes or spaghetti
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, to serve

1. Heat a medium, non stick pan until you can feel a good heat rising and spray with the cooking spray. Add the bacon and cook on a medium heat for 2 minutes.
2. Add the garlic and enough chilli flakes to suit your taste and then cook for a further 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and seasoning and cook for 10 minutes, stirring once or twice.
3. Meanwhile, bring  a pan of water to the boil and cook the pasta for about 8 minutes or according to the packet instructions. Drain and then mix in the tomato and chilli sauce. Serve the pasta sprinkled with the parsley.

Serves: 2

Total ProPoints: 18

ProPoints/serving: 9

Verdict: 

Of course it's pasta, so it was always going to go down well with me. However, it uses tomatoes which meant it was not really going to hit the spot for Himself and the girls. It had me unduly concerned though as Himself loved it. The kids refused to eat it the first time. The second time they picked out the bacon only and the third time the whole lot disappeared! Now it's become one of Herself's favourite dishes despite it having tomotoes in it and being far more spicy than she would normally tolerate. This dish is definitely well worth making! Especially if you love pasta and feel like you're being deprived of it on the road to your new, leaner body.

Just a note though, you will notice in this picture that I shaved some parmesan over. It is gorgeous with it on, but you have to remember to add the appropriate amount of ProPoints to your total. However, the good news is that Parmesan is very low in ProPoints compared to other cheese, so you can get quite a bit on your plate!! Yum.

So what do you think? Would you try this one or are you tomato-phobic like my family? Give it a try and tell me what your thoughts are on it. I'd love to hear! Now if you'd like to see some other gorgeous recipes hop over to FTLOB to see what everyone else has been cooking up this week!

Thanks for dropping by and leaving me a comment. I always read them and appreciate them!

WOYWW 15 June '11

Good evening and welcome to my little blog. Ok, so in my head I was saying that in the 'Arabic' accent used by the narrator in Disney's Alladin. I don't know why, but I thought you might like to know that piece of very important information...

I'm extremely late in posting my WOYWW contribution today. It's been one of those days unfortunately. My car was at the mechanic to have something rather expensive done to it. I wouldn't mind the expense if it was making my car look prettier, but I begrudge spending the money on something I can't even see - much less understand what it actually DOES. However, I'm assured by those that know these things that I definitely need to have this bit fixed or it could result in lots of oil all over the road and an engine that goes 'KABOOM'. That would not be good at all, so I took the little car to the garage last night so they could start work on her bright and early this morning.

That means I have effectively been trapped in my house all day.... so you would think that I would have been able to find time to post on the little old bloggy. But no. Instead my day started in a mad rush to get Herself to the bus stop which was easier said than done because her only thought this morning was about her school trip. So she bounced round the house like a flibberty-jibbet instead of getting dressed which very nearly resulted in her missing the bus and not going on the school trip at all!

My intention to blog before lunchtime was thwarted by technology. No, not Blogger misbehaving. Unfortunately. Instead I was wrestling with ordering systems, credit card details not being accepted and banks... all the while getting increasingly frustrated with various technologies NOT being able to communicate with each other properly. Or even at all. By the time I had that sorted it was 1pm and Weeself was asking for her lunch. While she was eating her lunch, the Window Surveyor turned up to measure the port-holes for new casements. He was extremely meticulous and very chatty! Which resulted in me only getting to eat my lunch at  3:45pm AFTER I had collected a very happy, bouncy, excited, chattering and twirling girl from the bus stop.

Himself arrived just in time to bundle us all in his car so we could go pick up my, now repaired, little car from the garage and after that it was go, go, go for dinner, bath and bedtime.

So despite being indoors all day and within 5 yards of the computer at all times, I'm only now sitting down to do this post. And it's turned into War & Peace already!! I'll stop gabbing now and let you have a look at the desk...

On my desk today you can see my layout for my July Scrap Club. I'm having a whole month of 'Christmas in July' so it's gone all festive. I used the papers you saw on my desk last time. Also on my desk today is the stamp set I was planning to use this morning to make Father's Day cards. Somehow, I don't think it's going to get done tonight.

Right, I'm off to read my book. I'm borrowing Himself's Kindle as it's got a series of books on it that I've been dying to read. It shall be an early night tonight (well as early as I ever get!) and then an early start tomorrow as Weeself has been invited to a birthday party. Her first ever! She'll be in her element I think.

Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment! Oh, and don't forget to hop over to Julia's to have a look at some more desks.

Spicy Lamb & Couscous

Good morning my lovelies! Isn't it a lovely day? We've got some sunshine forecast for today and so far it's looking like the weatherman might be right. Yay! That will be the first sunshine around here for.... well, ages (it seems)! While the rest of the UK seems to be suffering from drought we, here in Scotland, have been facing endless days of grey skies and rain. Lots of rain. So today's forecast is definitely a good thing. This morning I'm rushing off to take Herself to school and Weeself to nursery. I then have errands to run before it's time to pick Weeself up again. Lunch and then swimming lessons for the Wee one before coming home in time to collect Herself from the bus stop.... and then tonight, well... I don't know exactly but I feel like I'm meant to be somewhere tonight. I think I'll check the calendar once I'm finished doing this! Just in case.

Anyway, I'm rambling now so lets get to the food!! With today being quite a busy day I need something really quick and easy to make for tea so I've pulled out some lovely Lamb steaks. I think I might make this recipe since it is so simple and quick and also, we love it! Ok, so it takes the kids a bit of convincing to eat the Couscous but they are starting to get used to it. I think if we put it in front of them often enough they'll eventually get used to the idea and start eating it!! So here's what I'm making tonight...

finely grated zest and juice of ½ a lemon
1 red chilli, de-seeded and diced
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 x 150g lean lamb leg steaks
low fat cooking spray
100g dried couscous
½ a kettleful of boiling water
2 tablespoons fresh coriander, chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. On a plate, mix together the lemon zest, half the chilli, cumin seeds and seasoning. Press the lamb steaks into the mixture to coat the meat.
2. Lightly coat a non-stick frying pan with the cooking spray and fry the lam steaks for 3-4 minutes on each side, until done to your liking.
3. Meanwhile, mix the lemon juice and remaining chilli into the couscous in a bowl. Season and add 175ml of boiling water. Stir the mixture then cover the bowl with cling film and leave the couscous to stand for 5 minutes to soften.
4. Fluff up the couscous with a form and mix in the coriander. Serve the lamb steaks on a bed of couscous.

Serves: 2

Total ProPoints: 25

ProPoints/serving: 12

Note: I will admit that I cheat a bit with the ingredients.... I tend to use 'Lazy Chillies' (bottled, pre-chopped chillies) and dried Coriander leaf instead of fresh. However, I don't find it makes a huge difference to the flavour. I have also been known to add spring onions to the couscous for an extra veg portion. 

Verdict:

Yummy! Yummy! Yummy! Himself and I loved this recipe from the moment we first tasted it. It has become a regular on the menu now and each time the girls are more inclined to eat it. The Lamb gets eaten very quickly, but the couscous isn't very popular. However, the Weeself surprised me the other day by actually eating 2 or 3 spoonfuls before deciding she'd had enough. Slowly but surely I will win this battle! I just wish it wasn't such hard work!! Anyway, if you have more adventurous kids or no kids at all to worry about then I would definitely give it a go. 

If you're wanting some non-Weight Watcher recipes to try out then hop over to FTLOB to have a read. There are usually some really yummy recipes there to tempt you. 

Anyway, I have to dash now as a certain Wee one is wanting breakfast and Herself needs reminding that mornings are for getting dressed and ready.. NOT for playing! Thanks for dropping by and leaving me a comment! Oh, and please make sure you let me know if you try any of the Tasty Tuesday recipes. I'd love to hear what your verdict is!!

Speak soon!!

Meatball Pasta Bake

Good morning! If you've been reading my Tasty Tuesday posts for the last couple of weeks you'll have noticed that I seem to have gotten stuck on chicken. So today, I've decided to stay away from the chicken and go for beef instead. Himself and Myself love using mince beef (or ground beef as our cousins across the big blue like to say), however, Herself and Weeself always pull their noses up at it. I don't know why. The only thing I can think of is that they don't like the texture? Who knows with kids and toddlers, eh?! The only way they DO eat it is when it's presented as Meatballs. So it was with great joy that I found this recipe in one of my WW recipe books. 

400g lean beef mince
1 large onion, chopped finely
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
½ teaspoon dried oregano
low fat cooking spray
175g dried penne pasta
2x400g cans chopped tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, chopped
125g pack mozzarella light, drained and chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. In a large bowl, mix together the beef, onion and herbs with some seasoning. Shape into 16 walnut sized balls.
2. Spray a non-stick frying pan with the cooking spray and heat until hot. Add the meatballs and cook for 7-8 minutes until browned all over; don't worry if they are not cooked through as they will continue cooking in the oven. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5/190C/fan oven 170C. Bring a pan of water to the boil, add the pasta and cook for 5 minutes or about half the cooking time stated on the packet. Drain well and mix with the tomatoes and garlic.
4. Spoon the pasta mixture into an ovenproof dish. Nestle the meatballs into the pasta, top with the mozzarella and bake for 25-30 minutes until bubbling

Serves: 4

Total ProPoints: 42

ProPoints/serving: 10

Verdict:

Finally! A mince beef meal that the kids will eat!! Ok, so they still refused to eat the tomato bits, but all the pasta and meatballs disappeared at the speed of light. Yay! As for the adults, I would recommend some salad to go with it just to fill any gaps. Very very tasty dish, so be careful because you WILL be tempted to go back for more!

Right now I'm rushing off to the hairdresser for a trim.... and then after that it's rush, rush, rush!! Thanks for dropping by and leaving me a comment. Have a look at FTLOB for more Tasty Tuesday recipes.

WOYWW 1st June '11

Good morning all you lovely Blogland people!! Wow, I'm feeling all bouncy today which is really strange as I'm one of those people who gets horribly affected by the weather outside my window and today it is horrible. Grey and drizzling. Again. So, it must be purely the knowledge that I'm going to be able to see all these wonderful workdesks again today that must be making me so happy!! If you think I'm nuts, sorry. If you'd like to join in the happiness then please check out Julia's Blog to see what makes me so ridiculously happy on a Wednesday morning!

Right, I suppose as you've trekked all the way over to MY little blog that you'd really like to see my desk, right? Ok, here it is this morning....

Ok, so I'll admit that my desk was like this last night too. I sat down to do some sample scrapbook layouts for my new Scrap Club that I'm launching and despite staring at the papers I came up with nothing. Nada. Nix. How is it that when you don't have time to scrap you have Loooooooaaaaads of inspiration but the moment you actually sit down to do some you end up staring and paper and cardstock. And, worst of all, the paper and cardstock actually ends up staring. right. back. Freaky! Anyway, once I've done this WOYWW post and done some admin I shall be heading straight back to this desk to get something done with that lovely Jolly Holiday DSP. I'm thinking maybe something Christmassy.... hmmmm.....

Anyway, maybe you can give me some ideas?  Inspiration? Help!!! If those papers start staring back at me again I'm going to have to do something drastic and I won't be held responsible for my actions then!!

Oh well, I'm looking forward to hearing your suggestions so PLEASE leave me a comment. Thanks for dropping by!

Cider Braised Stuffed Chicken

My apologies for being so late today with the Tasty Tuesday post! Normally I schedule the post at least the night before but with yesterday being a bank holiday here in the UK things got turned upside down. Normally I schedule the posts beforehand because Tuesday is one of my busiest days of the week with nursery and school run, gym, housework, collections, lunches, swimming lessons etc. And that is all BEFORE Herself comes home from school and all the homework needs to be dealt with! So today I'm busy typing this at the dining table, having finished my lunch and while Weeself if finishing hers. Once she's done we'll be off for her swimming lesson and then back just in time to collect Herself from the bus stop. Phew! I really should have pulled my finger out yesterday and scheduled this post but ho-hum.

So, today I wanted to show you this beautiful dish. We seem to be on a roll with Chicken dishes at the moment... and this one was to die for.

2 x 150g skinless boneless chicken breasts

low fat cooking spray

1 red onion, cut into thin slices

150ml dry cider

freshly ground black pepper

For the stuffing:

50g wholemeal breadcrumbs

2 teaspoons capers in brine

4 fresh sage leaves, chopped

1 garlic clove, diced

15g low fat spread

1. Place the chicken breasts between two sheets of cling film on a chopping board and bash gently with the end of a rolling pin to flatten slightly. Use a sharp knife to cut into the meat to form a pocket.
2. Mix together the ingredients for the stuffing and season with some black pepper. Push the stuffing into the pocket, pulling the chicken over. Keep back about a tablespoon of the mixture.
3. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4/180C/fan oven 160C. Spray a non stick frying pan with the cooking spray and heat until hot. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes until softened. Spoon into an ovenproof dish which will hold the chicken snugly.
4. Place the chicken on top of the onions and pour over the cider. Scatter over the remaining stuffing. Spray a sheet of foil with the cooking spray and cover the dish. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and cook for a further 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Serve immediately.

White breadcrumbs work well in this recipe if you have them to hand, but wholemeal adds a good nutty flavour. Serve with 150g chopped carrots, 100g boiled peas, as well as 125g potatoes mashed with 30 ml skimmed milk each for an extra 5 ProPoints values per serving.

Serves: 2

ProPoints Total: 14

ProPoints/serving: 7

Verdict:

Wow. This recipe is gorgeous!! The first time we made it just for Himself and Myself and we were completely blown away by it. Last night we made it again and this time we made enough for the kids too. Hmmm, to say that they were unimpressed would be an understatement. Although Herself did actually eat most of the chicken. However, Weeself decided that the chicken was a step too far for her. Oh well, we will carry on putting new foods in front of them in the hopes that they might oneday grow up to be less fussy children and eventually non-fussy adults!! We live in hope!!

Anyway, I'm off to the swimming pool now with Weeself. We will be a little late but hey at least we'll be there!

Thanks for dropping by and leaving me a comment. Please feel free to drop by FTLOB to see what other recipes have been shared today!

April WW Round-up

Wow, this is such a late post. I completely forgot to do a WeightWatchers round-up for April, although I did remember to take photo's. So it was obviously on my mind to do it and then life must have gotten in the way as it usually does.

So here are the photo's I took...

Strike the normal poses... LOL. As far as weight loss goes April was not great. I was still really struggling with the new ProPoints plan and getting my head in the right place. So my overall weightloss for the whole month of April was 1lb. As I said, not great. However at the end of April things started clicking into place for me and I managed to get my head together too... so I'm hoping for a decent overall loss in May!!

While I was taking these photo's this happened... and I thought you'd find it amusing.

... and then she insisted on having her photo taken....

What is it with my kids and always wanting to pose for the camera? At this rate they'll both end up as models when they're older!

Anyway, it's a lovely day here so I'm going to take them to the park. I haven't spent a whole lot of time with them lately due to being extremely busy with prepping for workshops etc. So today is going to be a Mummy and Daughters day and with the sunshine finally making an appearance I'm thinking that a trip to the park might be a good call.

Thanks for dropping by and leaving me a comment. See you soon!

WOYWW 25th May '11

Wow, it's Wednesday again! Fancy a look at my seriously messy desk??

Oh my! A little tidier than last time isn't it?? It's tinged with sadness though as I've had to pack away the mini album project for now. I promise I will get it out again soon though as I really want to finish it. I'm about halfway through the photo's that I wanted to scrap for this mini.... and I must admit that it's not looking so 'mini' anymore! In fact, it's going to end up quite a chunky, fat album. The only thing mini about it is the pages really. It's going to be lovely though.... once it's finished, that is!

Unfortunately, though, I've run out of time for personal crafting as I have another workshop tomorrow night. It's my first mid-week one ever and I'm being told to expect 12-15 people so it's going to be  busy! So in preparation for that I've had to pack my Dorset mini album stuff away so that I can get cutting and glueing for tomorrow night.

Here's my desk now.... with a fresh piece of grid paper.

I love that grid paper cause I can get as messy as I like and I know that my cutting mat is not going to get all gunky. Mind you, it's had it's fair share of gunkiness over the last few years!!

So now, bid me adieu... cause I'm off to get all inky again! That grid paper isn't going to stay clean for long!! If you'd like to see some really messy desks, organised desks, pretty desks, haphazard desks, feats of engineering desks and desks with piles of stuff on that somehow manage to defy gravity and all the laws of nature.... then hop over to Julia's blog for a peek at other WOYWW entries!

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