May so far......

All 3 hens are layin an egg a day.

 We have visitors - some days but not all.

 Joan and Dot continue to grow.

Had some nice weather - a spot of sunbathing.

Foraging for worms.

A favourite spot in the field next to our house - usually around 4pm

Noodles for lunch

Library campaign continues 

Local school on our campaign

Planning for 2017 Scarecrow Festival has begun

Bing continue his healthy eating campaign - a frozen bottle of milk

 Our eggs have featured in most meals.

Not your standard jam!

Healthy discovery in the back of my cupboard.

 Healthy eating continues..

  Coffee morning and lunch recently raised £462

So...........busy as ever!

Healthy comfort food.

 

Whilst I maintain a healthy eating regime and maintain my weight loss, when the nights draw in and the days are cold I get the craving for good old comfort food.
Corned beef pie! Heaven.
No pastry however and I skipped the mashed potato in favour of sliced potatoes to give more texture. I also used double onions - absolutely gorgeous.

For Slimmingworld people - the whole pie was 2 syns - about 6 ample portions.







I fancy doing some smaller portions  for party/buffet food over the holiday period.

 

 

 

 

Corned beef pie.

 

2 slices corned beef – heated for 1 minute in microwave on kitchen towel.

4 large potatoes sliced and par-boiled
2 onions chopped & cooked.
2 spring onions – chopped
4 eggs
1 tub fat free cottage cheese
1 tomato – sliced

Beat eggs, add cottage cheese, corned beef, and onions

Line base of casserole with sliced potato
Add layer of corned beef mixture.
Another layer of potatoes
Add layer of corned beef mixture
Arrange tomatoes and sliced potato on top.

Cook at 200 degrees for 30 – 35 minutes.

 

ENJOY!

Terrific Tomato Pasta.

We go to the Isle of Man on Friday for the TT Races, my ABC Wednesday contribution is a little late as we have been so busy, but as with all of my contributions for this round I wanted to share something that had been a success here in the Nesbitt household, cheap and something I would cook again.

Planning meals is an essential part of my losing weight, together with regular exercise and a healthier lifestyle. I walk the dogs every day, attend a Zumba fitness class once a week as well as a total toning session. This is a manageable activity programme for me. I enjoy the beach walk - every morning, it sets me up for the day. A group of us are there, everyday and whilst the dogs play, run and exercise together, we pass the time chatting and walking - discussing everything from The Archers, Menus, the price of potato crisps in Asda and what jobs are on the list today. I also enjoy my Zumba and Toning classes - simply because the instructor is an inspiration - hilarious yet the results happen.

Often I plan my daily meals whilst out walking but there are times when I find myself unprepared or at a loose end as what to cook for dinner. These are dangerous times in a diet as becausesuch things happen when I am hungry it is so easy to reach for something which may be instant and filling but not a good choice for the diet. I have got a jacket potato down to 10 minutes in a microwave - 10 minutes is a good time to chop up a salad and get a decent filling together. Whilst this suits me Jon prefers a more substantial choice and that is where Bachelor's pasta Sauces come in!

I can get a Bolognese from start to finish in a matter of 15 minutes. Basically I boil 3/4pt of water and pour over the sauce mix. Microwave for 15 mins. Meanwhils in a pan frylight onions, mince (optional) peppers, mushrooms, chopped celery and any other veg floating around. When pasta is cooked stir into pan and add lots more chopped tomato and spring onion. It makes TONS and is TERRIFIC so so so TASTY! Now frylight have a garlic seasoned spray I often spray some thinly sliced French bread with thefrylight and pop into the oven for a couple of minutes - sprinkle parmesan on for a kick!

Sitting here writing this has made me so hungry - this is an ideal supper  for tonight - there will be enough for tomorrow night and it is an ideal way to use up anything lurking in the fridge!

Tata for now!

For more ABC fun follow the link in my sidebar.

S is for Smoked Salmon Quiche.

I know I keep going on about quiches without pastry but really they are just SENSATIONAL!

A couple of nights ago we had a change of plan when a planned BBQ had to be abandoned due to a change in the weather. (Surprise surprise!) A quick rummage through the freezer brought about a packet of smoked salmon trimmings which I defrosted and chopped up, together with half a red onion and a sizeable amount of rocket. 4 eggs were beaten and a carton of fat free cottage cheese was stirred in. All ingredients were given a final stir then popped into a flan dish which I had sprayed with frylight. I sprinkled some parmesan on top and popped into the oven at 200 for 20 minutes. Awesomeness! Even Jon commented how good it was!

My S contribution for ABC Wednesday, a journey I am enjoying!
For more contributions follow the link in my sidebar.

Q is for Quirky Quiche

Since joining Slimmingworld and changing my eating regime one thing I have cut out completely is pastry. As we speak I have a quiche in the oven for my dinner tonight - ham, mushroom, sweetcorn, pepper and spring onion. On Monday I made the most of a cooked tuna steak and used that in a quiche, together with rocket, sweetcorn and red onion. Basic recipe is as follows:-

1 carton fat free cottage cheese
4 eggs - beaten.

Basically mix together the cheese and eggs then add any vegetables of choice. If using frozen veg make sure it is defrosted and drained to remove the excess water. Add any other ingredients ie lean meat, chicken, tuna then put mixture into a flan dish that has been sprayed with frylight. Cook until "set" and golden brown. I LOVE quiche at room temperature, definitely not straight from the oven, however when desperately hungry I can manage it when hot. Serve with salad. Trust me you will never go back to faffing on with any baking blind malarkey!

This is my Q in my ABC food adventure. I knew right from the beginning I would introduce the lovely Quiche for Q!

For more ABC fun follow the link in my sidebar.

M is for Meat Free Mexican Chilli!



Like many others I try to be economic with the food shopping. I despise waste and love a bargain. As I have explained on endless occasions (just tell me to shut up about it :D) I attend Slimming World on a weekly basis to keep track of my weight. Whilst I am at target I still feel it essential to keep an eye on matters as we don't want any issues ballooning, ie me! From time to time we have a taster night where we all take along a dish for the supper table. The condition is that the food must be an appropriate choice, ie which ties in with the Slimming world regime.

 

A few weeks ago on one such occasion I made a Meat free chilli - straight from a packet! Price of packet - 74p! It is totally syn free. I added extra vegetables it was definitely one of the favourites of the night!

 

( Syns is shorthand for synergy – Slimming World believes it’s the synergy between the three components of the plan, ie. Free Foods, Healthy Extras and Syns, that makes Food Optimising effective at enabling weight loss. Nevertheless, many of the Syns are effectively what other diet plans would call treats. But Syns also includes foods found in the Healthy Extras, allowing you to eat bigger portions of these foods if you want them).

Cowboys and comfort!

My ABC Food adventure has arrived at C. I was going to delay this until Tuesday but the recipe I have come across is so so good I had to share it - and as the weather is so utterly awful we all need comfort food on such cold days.

 If there was EVER a recipe I would encourage people to try it has got to be this one. Basic good honest cooking....no spices, no curries as some don't like - a take on a shepherd's pie, but what a take! Absolutely delicious and healthy too, complying with the conditions I set myself and Jon had to like it and I can tell you he wolfed it down.

Last Wednesday at Slimmingworld we were discussing meals we had enjoyed during the week. One of the gals, Carol had made this and her enthusiastic report made me want to try it asap - which I did on Friday. I hope my enthusiasm encourages others to give it a go - you will thank me for it I can tell you. Personally - this is the way forward for pies. Forget shepherds - give me cowboys!

Cowboy Pie! (No cowboys were harmed for this recipe!)

Fry Light (Very low calorie cooking oil/spray
500g pack extra lean mince beef (Vegetarian option could be quorn mince or something similar)
6 spring onions, white bulb thinly sliced and green leaves finely chopped
900g fresh diced carrot and swede
415g can baked beans
300ml beef stock
2tbsp worcestershire sauce
1tsp dried mixed herbs
salt and pepper
2x107g packs instant mash potato cheddar and onion flavour ( I made my own and sprinkled a small amount of cheese on top)
2 eggs, beaten

1) Place a pan sprayed with Fry Light over a medium heat.
Add the minced beef and stir fry for 3 minutes
Then add the white spring onions to the mince and stir fry for a further 2 minutes or until the meat is browned.

2) Add the carrot and swede, baked beans, beef stock, worcestershire sauce and
herbs, then season. Bring to the boil, cover, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Mine looked like this.

3) Preheat the grill to medium. Make the mash according to packet instructions or make own.
Add the spring onion greens to the mash with half the egg and beat well. Divide
the mince mixture between 4 ovenproof pie dishes, then spoon over the mash. Roughen up the tops of the pies with a fork, then brush with the remaining egg. I added a sprinkling of cheese.

4) Grill the pies for 3 minutes or until browned.

 I made 3 individual deep dishes approximately 5 inches in diameter and one tin foil double helping  (takeaway container size)


Serve with vegetables. I added salad too.

B is for Beef Madras

This is one of my favourite recipe books. Last year, for Mother's Day I made a selection of curries for the family when Jon's mum came for the day. It was a great success - whilst I cooked quite a lot it meant I had sufficient to pack in the freezer for subsequent meals for Jon and I. At Christmas it came to light that it was one of the best meals our godson had tasted. He has his own flat now and enjoys experimenting in the kitchen, so last week for his birthday we bought him this book.

The recipe I followed from the book was for Beef Madras :-

Beef Madras 2.

Frylight

1 onion chopped

4 cloves 6 cardamon pods

2 fresh chillies (I use Asda frozen)

1 tsp dried ginger

2 garlic cloves peeled and crushed (I use Asda frozen)

2 dried red chillies

1 tbspoon medium curry powder

9oog braising steak – all visible fat removed

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

250ml beef stock

Salt.

Chopped coriander to garnish (I use Asda frozen)

 

Spray pan with frylight . Add the onions, cloves and cardamom pods. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes.

Add the chillis, ginger, garlic and dried chillis and stirfry for a further 2 minutes.
Add the curry powder and beef chunks and stirfry until meat is sealed.
Add the ground coriander and cumin and stock.
Transfer to oven and cook for a few hours OR transfer to slow cooker and cook all day.
(I cooked it in the Rayburn - all day!)

Serve with rice.

We ate this on Sunday - it was hot.
We had the remainder last night - as always it tasted even better.
The recipe did not contain tomatoes and the liquid I felt was not enough.

There are endless Beef Madras recipes out there which I have been reading, but yesterday whilst shopping I bought

I am going to make a madras curry but will devise my own recipe. The Schwartz recipe contains vinegar - which Jon doesn't like so my recipe will be something like this:-

900g braising steak - all visible fat removed.
1/pint beef stock
1 tin chopped tomatoes
Lots of onions
A couple of tablespoons of Schwartz madras powder

On Rayburn cook initially on hotplate then transfer to oven for rest of the day, checking and adding more liquid if required.

Watch this space.

I am enjoying my cookery adventure as part of my ABC Wednesday contribution, really making me branch out and experiment.

For more ABC fun follow the link in my sidebar.

A is for Adventure.....Cooking Adventure.

ABC Wednesday - Round 14, how time has flown. For this round I am going on an adventure - A cooking adventure. Each week I will cook a recipe I have never cooked before. Conditions of the recipe must be no fancy ingredients I have to travel the globe for, must be healthy and tie in with my Slimming World programme, be the time of food both Jon and I like ie not arty farty and I must have the recipe in my collection of recipe books/slimmingworld magazines.

Over on facebook my longtime blogging pal Crystal Jigsaw has started a new group.
A small, friendly group where we share what we're having for tea (or lunch, brunch, breakfast, supper, and those snacks in between). Lighthearted, fun, informal and a place to dip in and out of whenever the mood takes us. Share recipes and suggestions, tips and advice, but strictly no lecturing on what's good for you and what's not.

So I have decided to link all together - everybody is welcome.
I will also have an independent reviewer - my neighbour Emma. I always pop in to her house when she's at work and let the dogs out for a run and leave her light on as it's dark when she gets in from work - so I will have her tea ready now each Tuesday night.

To kick start the first week then it is A for Analucian meatballs. I looked through a few of my recipe books and whilst there was countless renditions of Avocado(very high in calories) and  Aubergine recipes(Jon doesn't like it)  I found this recipe in the August/September issue of Slimmingworld magazine.


Analucian meatballs

 
 
600g pork mince
small handful fresh coriander finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin,
1 tsp ground coriander,
1 tsp ground nutmeg,
1 tsp ground cinnamon,
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped,
salt and freshly ground black pepper,
frylight,
small handful fresh flat leaf parsley finely chopped for garnish. 

Note - M&S spice jars are big enough to fit a teaspoon inside to ensure accurate measurement of spices.

1. 

Put all except parsley in bowl, season and mix with fingers until well combined. chill for 1 hour. 

Roll into bite size balls and put in frying pan sprayed with fry light over medium heat and stir fry for 6-8 mins until browned all over and cooked through, 

I cooked off a sample and it tasted very nicely spiced.

 

 Whilst the recipe says to serve with tomato sauce. (Tomato Sauce = 400g passata, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 2 tblsp tomato puree and 1 deseeded finely chopped red pepper, place in pan and bring to boil, reduce heat to low and cook 12-15mins or until pepper has softened. Whizz until smooth and serve with fresh parsley.)

I will be serving mine with this

with lots of extra vegetables.

So, A in my great Adventure is Analucian meatballs. Next week it may well be Baked sardines with potatoes!

Watch this space.
To join in the ABC fun follow the link in my sidebar and if you feel like sharing our fun group on facebook follow the details from Crystal's blog.

Sweet and Sour...........the very best!

I won this book in the Slimming World Raffle - this has got to be the best Sweet and Sour I have ever tasted and so healthy.

INGREDIENTS
low calorie cooking spray
800g skinless and boneless chicken breasts, sliced thinly
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
4 spring onions,thinly sliced, plus extra togarnish
1 green pepper and 1 red pepper,deseeded and cut into chunks
200g fresh pineapple,cut into bite-sized pieces
Salt

FOR THE SAUCE
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
6 tbsp light soy sauce
4 tbsp tomato purée
1 tbsp rice vinegar
6 tbsp unsweetened orange juice
100ml chicken stock
1-2 tsp sweetener
1 level tbsp cornflour

Mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl until the cornflour is thoroughly blended. Set aside. Spray a wok or deep frying pan with low calorie cooking spray and place over a high heat.
When it is very hot, add the chicken and stir-fry for 6-7 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Add the garlic, spring onions and peppers and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
Pour the sauce into the pan and stir continuously for 1 minute until it thickens.
The chicken and vegetables should be well coated with the sauce.
Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the pineapple, season with salt and garnish with spring onions. Serve with lots of noodles or rice.

Mrs Nesbitt's Curry.

I have been experimenting in the kitchen and have come up with my own curry recipe.

Depending on personal taste and level of heat liked 1 teaspoon of the following spices + 1 teaspoon of garam masala. From watching Rick Stein's curry expedition it would appear that different regions have their own versions of garam masala. I have my own version but I can't tell you what's in it.......not because it's a secret - I forget what's in it.... but it's yellow! A while ago I had a spice revamp/clear out and put all the various spices into one big jar! Mrs Nesbitt's own Garam Masala - I can never reproduce this to taste exactly the same - such is everyday life here in my kitchen!

 

 

Getting back to the plot - mix all spices together.
Cut two chicken breasts into pieces and put to one side. (Away from Dog's noses!)

In a pan cook through some chopped onion with  oil of choice. I use Frylight - or water.
Add spices and water to reach a paste stage and add more water.

Add garlic - again according to personal taste and who you are with - I use the prepared frozen cubes - so easy and convenient.
Add diced chicken and cook through - usually 5 - 10 minutes.
Stir in chopped veg of choice - I always have a bag of frozen chopped peppers in the freezer.

Add Passata - until mixture is nice and thick and chicken and vegetables are covered.

 

Crumble in a chicken stock cube.

Simmer for 5 - 10 minutes until all veg is hot and mixture is thick. Add more water or passata if needed.

Just before serving stir in a Mullerlight Coconut Yoghurt.

It will look like this and taste amazing!

I made this only a couple of nights ago and Jon said it was the best curry I had ever made, and it's all my own take on a curry.

I served it with  rice.