Making an effort.

It's funny how the weeks fly by, and the targets you reach for slowly become unachievable! I had really high hopes that I could lose a certain amount of weight before this weekend! I have a hen weekend to go to, and wanted to look as fab as possible in my new dress!! Not to mention that I will be spending a lot of sunday at a spa in a swimsuit...
And so with 4 days left, I have not only failed to lose any, but have put on a lb!! And now I need to make a last ditch effort to get back on track with my Primal diet, even if it's just so I can go out this weekend without looking bloated!!

So, here goes! I'm sure if I write it down, I will be more likely to stick to it!!

Monday - Steak, sweet potato chips, onions and an egg
Tuesday - Honey butter pork ribs, with cauliflower and butternut squash mash
Wednesday - Primal lasagne and salad
Thursday - Primal chicken pizza (Cauliflower base)
Friday - Pork loin steak and roast veg

I'm hungry already!!

Scrummy!

And when there is cake, it is of course necessary to have something nice for me to eat too!! These are chocolate coconut macaroons from Mypaleolife, and are so good I may be making another batch really soon!!

Fathers Day

Determined to outdo my husband when it comes to gifts, I decided to make him a cake for Father's Day this year! Usually I find this impossible due to the fact that I can't hide anything from him! This time, I got sneaky and baked a small cake on the Friday, then wrapped and hid it until this morning when I knew he would be having his allotted lie in! By the time I got the kids up dressed and fed it is already 8 o'clock, and knowing my husband, I have exactly an hour before he is up dressed and coming downstairs himself! Amazingly though I manage it!  1 hour to cut, fill, carve and decorate a 6 inch square cake! I think that is a new record for me! This design was not my own, but one I discovered through my new obsession, Pinterest! Here is the link for the original.

Recreating a favourite

After my recent success with Oopsie Rolls, I decided I would try making wraps with them so that we could have fajitas! They turned out pretty damn well, and although the texture was a bit odd as a replacement for tortilla wraps, they did the job! I also had to make a basic guacamole to go with it, so I was very pleased with my cooking efforts! Tonight, we're having a simple steak and sweet potato chips meal!!...

Trial and error...

Whenever we've changed our diet, we've had to learn how to make new things, and inevitably learn new cooking skills! This has been very true for me this past couple of weeks!  I've been getting a little bored with our normal menus, so have been trying out new things! Some things have worked, others have been huge failures, but below are some of the things that I will definitely be making regularly!

Chicken fillets coated in egg, herbs and ground nuts. Served with mashed butternut squash, absolutely delicious!! This idea came from Mark's Daily Apple, and will be used as often as possible!

Now this paleo chocolate and nut cake is truly divine! Not something for every day, but to be able to have a slice of chocolate cake without feeling guilty, is incredibly good! Thanks to Modern Paleo Warfare for this recipe!

Oopsie Rolls! What a great find these are! Still egg like in texture, but firm enough to hold a filling, and rather cheesy too from the cream cheese ingredient! I have Ang to thank for telling me to Google these!!

And finally, paleo chocolate fudge! Although unlike fudge in any sense, these are little bites of heaven!! Recipe was found via Pinterest on Eat Nourishing's website!

And so, off I go to write a new menu for the week! I finally have enough ideas to keep things interesting!! Hopefully you'll want to try some of these too!

A fresh start

After a small hiccup at the end of last week, a spur of the moment meal out with the husband, and Mothers Day, I had put on 2 lb by the end of the week instead of losing it!! This week I have carefully planned my meals, for both lunch and dinner, and tracked them in advance in the hopes of making a reasonable loss!

Monday
   Lunch - Grilled salmon and stir fried veg
   Dinner  - Beef casserole and roast sweet potato
Tuesday
   Lunch - Sausages with fried cabbage and onion
   Dinner - Rumps steak with cauliflower mash, fried onion and fried egg
Wednesday
   Lunch - Roast chicken thighs and salad
   Dinner - Nut coated chicken breast, butternut squash mash and veg
Thursday
   Lunch - Bacon, egg and cauliflower mash
   Dinner - Pork chops with apple and onion, roast sweet potato and veg
Friday
   Lunch - Rump steak, butternut squash mash and veg
   Dinner - Home made chicken curry
Saturday
   Lunch - Chicken leg quarter with stir fried veg
   Dinner - Bolognese with courgette spaghetti
Sunday
   Lunch - Sausage, bacon and egg
   Dinner - Roast pork and roast veg

As well as the better prepared menu, I have also been out for my first jog! If you knew me before, you'd know that I couldnt even manage a jog to the end of my road! Last night, I chose a route which came in just under 2 miles, and actually managed to jog more than half of it! I enjoyed myself, and have woken today with nicely aching muscles, but otherwise feeling pretty good! I actually have high hopes now of being able to jog the Race For Life this year!! Which reminds me, I must go sign up....!

Meal Planning Week 7

Another week, another meal plan! And they never get any easier! I swear that trying to decide in advance what we're going to eat all week is one of the hardest things I have to do!! This week it's made no easier by the fact that it's Mother's Day at the end of it, and we'll be heading over to the mother in laws for the day! I am already preparing to have to take a packed lunch, just in case the food is packed with gluten and sugar, Eeek!

But I suppose that's just more reason to be good the rest of the week! And so, here is what I hope we'll be eating for the week!

Monday - Chicken enchiladas, (with egg and Greek yoghurt wraps, to be tried for the first time!)

Tuesday - Pork Chops with roasted veg

Wednesday - Home made chicken burgers and salad

Thursday - Home made chicken curry with cauliflower rice

Friday - Rump steak, fried onion and roasted veg

Saturday - Roast belly of pork with cauliflower mash

Sunday - Mother's Day Dinner!!

A fresh start, of sorts!

This will be my mantra this week! After 2 weeks of hardly losing any weight, I'm really struggling to get back on track and sort out my eating! I hate having to count everything I'm eating, and one of the appeals of going paleo was that I could eat as much as I wanted as long as I avoided certain foods. Well it seems my appetite is a little too big still! I am slowly getting the hang of my portioning, and am actually quite positive of a loss at the end of this week! Who would have thought that cutting down my meat (protein) and upping my dairy would have made a difference? Annoyingly I was quite happy avoiding all dairy (with the exception of the odd splash of milk in my morning tea!), and yet now I'm going to have to start weighing and tracking again! I was hoping those days were over when I quit Weight Watchers!

Well, here's to a new week, and hopefully a new weight loss! Wish me luck!

A sweet find.

It's become a habit of mine to keep a bag of pecans on the worktop in the kitchen, and when I fancy a snack I grab one or two! Also, in the evenings, when I've sat down after my meal, I always have a craving for something sweet! This is a tricky one with Paleo, but I feel like I may have finally found the answer! A recipe for a Paleo trail mix bar! I made a few changes to this recipe, using ingredients I had in the cupboard, and also made half the quantity, as I hate making a bit batch of something I end up not liking!! This is what I ended up using.

¾ cup chopped pecans
¾ cup raisins
¼ cup hazelnut butter
¼ cup coconut oil
1 Tbsp honey

Melting the butter, oil and honey together I mixed in the fruit and nuts and pressed the mix into a lined square tin. I let it cool for a bit, then put it in the fridge where it took a couple of hours to set (at one point I thought I had ruined it!). When it did I was very pleased with the result!

This is the crunchy, sweet, nutty fix that I need! The only problem I now have is resisting the temptation to get a piece from the fridge every time I go to the kitchen!! It is hidden in a tub at the back where it's not so easy to reach!!

Meal planning - Week 5

This weeks meal plan is hindered slightly by a planned trip out on wednesday! Bowling and dinner with some mums I know! Fortunately we will be eating at Frankie and Benny's which means a big seleciton of food, and at least I know I can stick with chicken wings and salad!

Monday - Pork Chops and roasted veg

Tuesday - Beef casserole and mashed cauliflower

Wednesday - Frankie and Benny's

Thursday - Thai red chicken curry

Friday - Chicken and bacon salad

Saturday -  Bolognese

Sunday - Roast Chicken and roasted veg

As per usual this will no doubt change as the week goes by!! Hopefully a well behaved week will show another weight loss, fingers crossed!

30 day trial

When we decided to start the Paleo diet, we said we'd give it 30 days, and see how we feel, how easy it is to do, and how much weight comes off. Because at the end of the day, our main reason for starting it was to lose weight!

It is now 30 days on, and not only has it changed the way we feel about food, but I don't think we could change back now even if we wanted to! Having had a couple of 'cheat' days along the way, it is now obvious  how much difference cutting out sugar/dairy/gluten/grains makes! I can only speak for myself when I say that it feels like I have lead in my veins after eating badly! When being good however, the increase in energy is amazing! I can now only look forward to the warmer weather so I can get out more and enjoy it with the kids!

As for the weight loss, well, I certainly can't complain! 7.5lb loss in 4 weeks for myself! And a rather enviable 13lb loss for my husband! I havent at any point put weight on, but the weight coming off has been fairly steady! And so, as we continue to learn new ways to cook our food, we will carry on and see if we can't get to target by the summer! (It would be lovely to be able to buy a flattering dress for the August wedding we're going to!)

Piece of cake!

One of my favourite hobbies has to be making cakes! This doesn't go well with the Paleo diet anymore, but luckily  I got to get some practice in last week with an order for a friend. A fairly simple order of a vanilla sponge cake decorated as a dart board, and big enough to feed 25 people. I ended up going a little overboard with a 14 inch round cake, which would probably feed about 40... I'm sure they will manage to use it!

Having made a relatively small number of cakes for people I still have a lot to learn, but with this cake I got to try out some piping for the first time, and although there is plenty of room for improvement I was pretty pleased with the result! I will need to get more practice though as I have a Christening cake to make in April...

Meal planning - Week 4

I've been a little behind getting my meal plan up for this week! I guess the days are whizzing by a bit quick!! It's hard to believe we're now on week 4 of eating Paleo, and although we may have had a bit of a bumpy start, we're definitely getting there, and so far loving it! (Well I am at least) Having been ill with a virus for over 2 weeks now, I'm looking forward to it being gone and the extra energy I'm going to have! The weight loss also seems to have hit pause, so I'm looking forward to being able to get out of the house more for walks!

And so, this weeks meal planner looks like this!

Monday  - Cottage pie with parsnip and butternut squash mash on top. So good I had it for lunch today too!

Tuesday - Pork Chops with roast vegetables

Wednesday - Beef casserole with cauliflower mash and vegetables

Thursday - Chicken and bacon salad

Friday - BBQ pork spare ribs

Saturday - Beef fillet steak with sweet potato chips

It is definitely getting easier now to come up with meals - the set of rules has sunk in and I don't have to think about it too much now!

Time to ketchup

It's easy to forget when you're on a diet that condiments are loaded with sugar, salt and fat, but there are nearly always 'healthy' options available. That is unless you are on a Paleo/Primal diet! Having read the labels on dozens of jars, I'd given up finding any that I could eat! And so, I decided to make my own!

I found a recipe for tomato ketchup and although I dont usually stock alot of the ingredients, like fennel bulbs and celery, I figured it was worth a try! It seemed pretty simple to make, and even the prep work didnt take too long, the only downside being the amount of washing up I created! The options for vinegar were Red Wine, Apple Cider or Balsamic, and I went with Balsamic as to me it seemed more 'ketchupy'. I was a little worried that the quantity of vinegar was a bit overpowering, so I would definitely advise putting it in a little at a time and tasting! As it is, what I ended up with was something not disimilar to one of my favourites, HP Brown Sauce!! 2 nice big bottles, one for the fridge, one for the store cupboard! I am hoping that these will last a while before I have to make more!

And so for dinner last night, we had homemade turkey burgers wrapped in lettuce leaves, with a little 'ketchup'! Lovely!!

Hubby now wants me to make the BBQ Sauce...!!

This weeks meals..

And now being a Tuesday, I should have already worked out what we're going to be eating for the week! I must print myself off a chart to make things a little eaiser!
So, here goes...

(Monday - Pork Chops Cauliflower mash, broccoli and carrots)

Tuesday - Rib eye steak, sweet potato chips, fried onions

Wednesday - Red thai chicken curry, cauliflower rice

Thursday - Beef casserole, roast vegetables

Friday - Stir fried chicken and veg

Saturday - Contemplating a cheat night... (maybe fajitas?)

Sunday - Cottage pie and veg

No doubt this will change a few times before the end of the week, but it's a start!

Valentine's day fail!

Bearing in mind that I have been ill for a week and a half now, it's been thick with snow, and I don't drive, you can understand why I have failed to get anything for my husband for Valentines day.. Well this year he definitely made the effort! Beautiful bouquet of flowers (from the florist too! Not just from tesco :p) and a lovely card, all ready when I came down this morning! So how guilty do I feel?? Well, I got my creative cap on and grabbed a few arty bits, snuck them into the kitchen and hey presto, home made card!! I am also going to make him a nice steak and chips dinner (sweet potatoes chips, but still a bit naughty!). I will definitely have to make it up to him another day...

Happy accidents!

 

 So this morning I had decided that rather than go without breakfast (which is my usual habit) or eat egg and bacon yet again, I would make an an effort to come up with something different. What I had in mind was a smoothie made with coconut milk and some strawberries which have sat in the freezer for coming up to a year now.. As the strawberries were frozen when I put them in the blender, I ended up with what looked like ice cream, and so with a spoonful of honey added, I stuck them in pots and put them in the freezer! My breakfast today is now a herb tea, but I am definitely looking forward to ice cream for pudding tonight!!

The chocolate cravings are kicking in!!

So I have now been on the Paleo diet for just over a week (the caveman diet for those of you not in the know!), and although I can truthfully say that I've not felt hungry at any point on this diet, I am now at a stage where the lack of anything sweet is taking it's toll! The kids food drawer is full of all things chocolatey, cadburys caramel, flakes, chocolate buttons, smarties, you name it, it's in there! And it's now becoming harder to resist!!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a strict paleo dieter, my morning coffee still has sweetener and a splash of milk in, but my number of cups has far reduced, and I still have no added sugar squash in my water!! The occasional sweet potato is a life saver, and I definitely eat more fat on my meat than I think I'm allowed, but at the end of week one, I have had a fantastic 3 1/4 lb loss, and incentive to keep going a bit longer!

Todays experiment was soda bread with ground almonds! (recipe courtesy of Angela) When fresh and hot out of the oven, with lashings of butter it is pretty good, but seeing it now cold on the kitchen counter it is not so appealing! I am thinking of turning it into breadcrumbs to stuff something...

And so tonights dinner is bolognese with courgette spaghetti, plus a cheeky glass of red wine! I'm waiting until the kids are in bed before openeing the bottle as I want to savour my one glass in peace and quiet!!

Welcome to A Hundred And one Things!

Welcome to my blog.

I have been wanting to start a blog for some time, but haven't really put my mind to it until now! I hope this will be a creative outlet for all the things I love to do!

I am a 31 year old stay at home mum to 2 gorgeous children who are currently 3 years, and 18 months old. When I'm not keeping them entertained and taking them to and from playgroups and nursery, I'm busy filling my time with everything from crafts, such as sewing and crochet, to decorating cakes for friends and family, and even growing veg! I also have a love of reading, fantasy being my favourite, and am currently reading Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy for the 4th time! I have also just begun  the Paleo diet, which I hope will become a way of life and help me (and my husband) to lose weight, get fitter and generally have more energy!! Day 1 seems to be going well!

I hope you enjoy reading about my antics as much as I enjoy doing them!

Georgina.