Filling, healthy and warming...

Chunky Vegetable Stew with Chorizo and Sweet Potato 

1 medium sized sweet potato
1 can of butter beans (including water)
1 can of tomato puree
1 can of tomatoes
1 medium - large red onion
4 cloves of garlic
2 courgettes / zucchini 
2 peppers / bell peppers 
4 inches of chorizo smoked sausage
3 tsp of italian herbs 

Slice and add to a lightly greased large pot the onion and the garlic
Gently fry off on a medium heat
Dice the peppers, the zucchini, the sweet potato into chunks - keep the zucchini a little longer so it keeps it shape.
Sprinkle the herbs into the pot and keep stirring 
Add the chorizo and the other veggies - stir until coated for a few minutes
Add the remainder of the ingredients and cover and simmer for 30 mins

This dinner was only labour intensive for the chopping, but then simmering away and splitting it into 4 portions was no hassle at all. I ate it just now, and can tell you, that with the low points that this dish has, and the fact that I had it with a litre of water, a banana and a yogurt I am completely full, and I should be OK till after boot camp later! 

Apologies for the terrible photograph - I should have cleaned up the bowl a bit before hand but I just was tooooooooooooo hungry!! 

Quick lunch to prepare on a rushed evening...

There are many different types of lunches that we all enjoy - everything from a grab and go sandwich to a nicely prepared stew can hit the spot just right on the right day... however - time is the crunch factor!

This last weekend we were crazy busy and only got back to Dublin on Sunday evening, with limited food, and more limited energy!! Here's what we had yesterday then for lunch!

40g of pasta per person (4PP) - boiled and cooled. 
1/4 punnet of cherry tomatoes
1/4 ball of mozzarella light
1/2 can of tuna 
Squeeze of lemon
Slug of balsamic 

This does not sound inspiring, and when I put it all together it didn't look great - however it came in at only 7 WW PP and after cycling home, pottering around for a while and then doing a run I realised I hadn't, for the first time in ages, had any snacks - and I was still alive. I did have it with a banana, and a yogurt (3pp)

So, snacking, as we all know is as much of a habit, as it is a necessity. 

Yesterday I pledged to improve the amount of water that I consume - this is normally about 2 litres a day, but because I think I am exercising a lot I probably need more. So, yesterday I had 4 litres of water, and a ginseng drink and another glass of water. I was fine all day, didn't need to pee too excessively, and didn't need to pee during the night either! So, obviously that was what i needed after my hard weekend. 

Tuesday...

Ok, so yesterday there was no lunch post because.... we'd such a fun weekend we didn't have time to get to the supermarket! A pretty good reason I think.

This week I am aiming for super healthy lunches, and where possible low carb as we have a pig out fest planned for this weekend at the Kinsale Good Food Festival -  an annual tradition where last year I actually still had a loss on the scales when I returned - I am doubtful that this can be repeated, but any way!

Lunch today is Asian Tuna Salad.

Ingredients:
1 x 130g drained weight can of tuna in brine
1/3 carrot
2 sping onions
1/2 a roasted red pepper (brine, not oil)
Small bunch of mange tout / snow peas

Dressing:
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
1/2 tsp Sesame
Ginger (1/4 inch grated)
1/2 clove garlic (grated)

Guest Post!! :-) Thanks Linz!

So, today's guest post comes from one of my weight-loss friends, and one who has completed the journey - YAY!! Well done! 

This is a great idea for lunch, especially the techniques used, as it fools us into thinking that we're actually getting more than we are! 

Chicken Pasta Salad
Use either 1/2 a chicken breast (diced), or 1/3 of a packet of cooked chicken pieces - 2 propoints worth
30g of penne or fusilli pasta, boiled and then cut in half and cooled 

Put the two ingredients in the lunch box, and start prepping the rest of the ingredients:
1 apple cut into small chunks  
1 stick of celery diced
1/2 red onion (or less, or spring onion if you want something milder)
2 tbsp of fat-free / low-fat natural yoghurt  (1pp / 2pp)

Maybe add a squeeze of lemon too, if it suits, or a good crack of black pepper for your own personal taste. 

This works out as 7 pro-points, and I've been reliably informed that it's very filling!! :-) 

Here's the pic Linda supplied!! 

Vegetarian and packed with your five a day!!

 Spinach Lasagne with Ratatouille 

Not my picture!! Mine was a bit more saucy!

Ratatouille

• courgette/ zucchini
• eggplant/ aubergine
• 4 cloves of garlic - sliced
• 2 onions (I used one red, one white)
• 2 cans of tomatoes (I only had 1.5)
• oil
• s&p
• dried italian herbs1

Prepare the egg plant, to he honest, I have never salted it, and never found it to be bitter, but I rarely eat it on its own, its always in something

Dice the rest of the veggies - I left them kinda chunky, and you can add in a red pepper / bell pepper / capsicum as well - looks good with the colour

little oil in the bottom of a large saucepan, and fry off the veggies

season with salt, pepper and herbs 

I tend to saute on a low heat for about 10-15 minutes, until the courgette is browning

Add the tins of tomatoes

Cover if possible

Spinach

• 500g spinach
• 1/4 nutmeg / 1/2 tsp nutmeg powder
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 pack of grated Parmesan cheese 

Wilt the spinach with the nutmeg powder

Squeeze out any excess water 

Mix in Parmesan cheese 

Season to taste (more pepper than salt as it keeps for a couple of days and the flavours enhance)

Lasagne - ramble and methodology 

Ofcourse I didn't have the right sized dish for this - how, I'll never know, as I seem to spend my life here stocking up on crockery to fill our tiny kitchen. My other half always laments about putting away the dishes as he no longer knows where everything goes-  because, well, since I moved in there's been more than one wok, saucepan and frypan... He now has to contend with baking paraphenalia, lunch boxes (he just had one), earthenware dishes of miscellaneous shapes and sizes, and mixing bowls - we also expanded from ONE wooden spoon and spatula, to ya'know, other utensils that real people, real grown-ups actually use!! 

Any way, I ended up splitting the lasagne between two dishes, one (red) densely packed, and that got all the spinach (boy does that stuff wilt!!), and the other was really just boring ratatouille, cheese and pasta for after sport dinner later. 

I used 3 sheets in the red dish and 3 in the white dish - if I was making this again, and more organised I would have used only the white dish, and added in a layer of roasted butter nut squash to bulk it and make it more carb friendly

Ok, on to the methodolgy - but i am sure that you can guess where this is going...

Bottom of dish - add pasta sheets

Add layer of spinach

Cover with layer of ratatouille  

Repeat 

At the top I used 1 ball of 1/2 fat mozzarella torn into strips - this did both containers - so 1/2 would have been enough for one. 

Great hot or cold :-) 

Total ProPoints per serving - between 6 and 8 - depending on how much you want! 

Asian Chicken Noodle Salad

Asian Chicken Noodle Salad

1/2 breast from roast chicken (skin off - diced) (2pp)
1/2 carrot (diced diagonally)
1 spring onion (diced diagonally)
1/4 red onion (sliced thinly)
some small broccoli florets
parsley 
some mange tout (about 4 diced diagonally)
30g (dry weight) noodles (4pp)

Dressing: (this made enough for 2 salads)
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil (1pp/p)
2 tbsp sweet chili sauce (1pp/p)

What was missing!! I tossed the noodles in the dressing and then added them to the lunch box, i think this might have been a mistake, its the first time I dressed it that way any way. They absorbed all the lovely dressing and the rest of the salad was then a bit dry

Next time I am going to add in some orange segments - really small slivers for juice, and a couple of jalapenos to make it have a bit more of a kick.

This was pretty packed full of vitamins, good fats and protein, so it will be enough to do the afternoon - and bootcamp later! 

I made up tomorrow's lunch last night - its looking delish, and should be good for you too!! :-) 

Monday.... trying to not roll downhill after a rocky start to the week!!

Monday's just suck don't they....

Thankfully I had my lunch planned out from last night, if I'd had to do my own thing this morning I'd be enjoying lunch from McDonalds or some other such fast food delight... 

Last night we roasted a chicken, we do this  a lot on a Sunday, and have it handy then for lunch during the start of the week. I marinaded the chicken in about 1/3 of a bottle of sweet and chili marinade. Roasted it for 90 mins and then had the most golden looking chicken come out of the oven. What was great was a lot of the marinade, and the fat was not absorbed by the chicken, but there was enough to just give it a bit of flavour, and look the part. 

Today I enjoyed some chicken salad, using the leg (drumstick and thigh) of the chicken, some spinach for iron and vitamin c, olives, pickles, roasted red peppers and some sun-dried tomatoes. Fantastic by all accounts. There was no processed carbs today for me (well, I had a couple of biscuits at tea time) for lunch. 

I added to my lunch with a bowl of homemade roasted veggie soup, and two pieces of fruit - a banana and an orange. 

Any one who has done WW knows that soups are fantastic for being filling and low in points - this one has zero - recipe is below. I find that soup is something I pretty much only eat when I am cold, or trying to not use any points. I never order it in a restaurant, and I feel the ones I make at home are good for filling me between dinner at 730 and getting home at 5, without adding to my points allowance. 

Total lunch points: 5

Roasted Vegetable Soup

Butternut squash / small pumpkin diced 

4 - 6 cloves of garlic (depends on how much you want someone to talk to you that day)

Red onion diced

Red pepper diced

4 tomatoes quartered 

Oven at 200C

Add everything to a roasting tray and season well with salt and pepper 

Add a few shakes of smoked paprika, chili flakes

Crumble over a stock cube

Add two cups of water to the dish (this stops everything from sticking)

Cover with foil 

Bang in oven

After 30 mins take off foil and return to oven for 15 - 30 mins - the veggies should be going crispy and brown around the edges

Remove all to large saucepan

Add 1 cup water and blitz using a stick blender 

Add more water to thin to personal taste - and leave some chunks if you like chunky soup...

Tips - Add one handful of rinsed lentils to the soup to thicken and give it more bulk - that = about 2 points per serving 

Use any veggies that are red / orange / white in colour to this - we often use celery if it's lying around, and I would use sweet potato/ regular potato /parsnip if I had them in the crisper - just adjust the points accordingly. 

Now... why was Monday so shockingly terrible... WELL - this morning, I GOT A PUNCTURE while cycling to work. Bad enough if it happens on the way home, but on the way TO work!! No fair!! So, I had to walk the bike 8km to the office, and then shower / get ready and land at my desk 60 minutes later than planned!! Disaster! Off to get the puncture fixed later...

Hope everyone had a good weekend!