ABCC slaw with honey fire cider dressing...

Thursday started off with a bowl of porridge.  This time I chopped up an apple and cooked it in the porridge.  Have you tried the new (to me) Kanzi apples? Lovely and sweet and crunchy...

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It took an extra minute to do the porridge, so 4 x 1 minutes all up.

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This was so good! 

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Lunch time rolled around and I tried a new ABCC slaw idea. I bought this little hand chopper in KMart for $6 and hoped it would do the trick.  Gather Apple, Beetroot, Carrot and Cabbage, chop into small pieces then whiz it in the chopper...

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It did a good job. Chop coarser or finer depending how you like it.  Shred it all if you want.  It can also have ginger in it also but I didn’t have any.

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That has got to be good for you!

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Now, I’ve seen a few clips on YouTube where people make Fire Cider.  It is apple cider vinegar with turmeric, ginger, garlic and chilli and horseradish infused in it.  I happened to spy a bottle of the Macro brand in Woolworths so I thought I’d try it.  This 500ml bottle was $6.00.  I made a dressing with 1 tbsn vinegar and 1 tspn pure honey to put on my slaw.

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The idea with fire cider is to drink it to ward off any lurgies.  It certainly packs a punch!  The bottle suggests mixing with hot water and honey or just take a shot of it with honey.  I love it!

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This is the plate I had for lunch.   Probably a bit heavy on the ham but it’s no good if I’m hungry soon after lunch.

  That is the other half of the apple that’s in the slaw and some cheddar cheese.  Next time, I’ll make sure I have a cold boiled egg to add to the plate so I can have less ham for a 6 point lunch.

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I usually sit and watch a YouTube video of one of my subscribed channels.  Homesteading, weight watching, decluttering, cleaning, hoarding are my favourites.  That slaw with dressing was delicious and I can see myself making it regularly.

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This was how lunch scored - as I said, probably should have halved the ham! 

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I am finding the WW magazines great inspiration and they have really good recipes.  Available at supermarkets...

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I decided to make this for dinner.  I used about 300gms potatoes and added about the same weight in cauliflower to lower the carbs.  Mashed together with the yoghurt, it topped off the pie nicely...

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Gus’s serve...

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...and mine.  Really nice flavours.  There are leftovers for lunch tomorrow... 😊

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I have been walking 2 km on the treadmill each morning, easing into it.

Cheers - Joolz xx

What I ate Wednesday...

....and Tuesday night...

...this delicious Rag pasta Bourguinon.

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Porridge for breakfast with banana, blueberries and maple syrup.  This really sets me up for the day.  I also walked 2 km on the treadmill. 6 points.

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I had my nails done in MtG so I bought lunch...a wrap with roast lamb, lettuce, beetroot, cheese, spinach, cucumber and red onion and balsamic dressing. Very yummy and 7 points.

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Snacks through the day (and whatever goes in my mouth) included 80gms grapes, a packet of WW Nibblies (rice crackers), 2 slices ham and turkey and a banana spread with a little bit of cashew spread as dessert...

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Dinner was great and I didn’t even look to see how many points it was until I went to track it! Get this...ZERO points!

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I did use olive oil spray in the pan and also sweetened up the yoghurt sauce with maple flavoured syrup so it worked out to 2 points.   The chicken breast was mixed with dried oregano, paprika, garlic and dried mint and let sit for a while.  Then I made skewers with chicken, zucchini, red onion and capsicum....

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Served on cos lettuce leaves and drizzled with a no fat yoghurt, lemon and maple dressing (1/2 cup yoghurt, 2 tbs lemon juice and a tbs maple flavoured syrup).  Half a corn on the cob finished it off!  Gus had three skewers...

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...and I had two. A very delicious dinner!

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After watching MasterChef, we watched Instinct, which I quite like.  I’m lounging in my new Mother’s Day pj’s, admiring my nails.  The colour is Merlot, my wine is Pinot Noir. 🤣

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Cheers - Joolz

Popcorn!

I like popcorn, but those microwave packs you can buy are full of fat and salt.  I’ve never tried just plain corn before so here goes...

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I used a big brown paper bag (from Ikea) and just lined the bottom of the bag with corn...

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Fold the bag over 3-4 times...

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I microwaved it on high (1000w) for 2 minutes...

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Hey presto! Fresh popped corn...

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Now you can sprinkle it with your favourite seasoning or icing sugar (bad).  I had this Deliciou bacon seasoning so went with that.  Very moreish! 

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A cup of popcorn, sprayed with a little coconut oil spray and seasoned would be a 2 point snack...

I’ve seen some delicious recipes for popcorn but I think I’d better stick with this!

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I bought a new microwave oven...my old one must be over 25 years old...!

Cheers - Joolz xx

I’m livin’ in the 70’s!!!

Woohooo!!!

I am super pleased with myself!

I have achieved a 6.7 kg weight loss in my first 13 weeks with Weight Watchers Australia...online!

Slow but steady and I got under 80kgs!

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This also arrived yesterday (purchased second hand) so I can now walk on rainy, cold mornings. 

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Cheers - Joolz xx

The Royal Wedding...and cake!

Kirby and I eagerly watched the wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle.  We were both a bit underwhelmed by her dress, thinking that it was very similar to Crown Princess Mary’s from several years ago.   She still looked  stunning and we loved that she wore Queen Mary’s bandeau tiara with her beautiful veil...

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We also thought it was lovely the way Prince Charles looked after Doria Ragland, making sure she got out of the church okay.  The poor love looked a bit lonely and overwhelmed in there! And walking Meghan down the aisle was a lovely thing also.
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Here we are, wearing our tiaras! Bri wasn’t that enthralled with the whole thing...

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In honour of the wedding, I went all out and made a cake.  Well, Woolworth’s made the sponge and I whipped the cream!

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I went all out on the decorating, I think it took me all of 3 minutes to decorate it....

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I put lemon curd in the centre which was delicious...

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I’m not sure with the points for this...I scored it 6 points as my slice was fairly thin and I only had one piece...

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I also made naughty Chicken Pot pies (sorry about all that pepper!) which we all declared the best ever!

All in all, it was a great night for my last night with the girls.  I’d better go home to my poor hubby who has been batching...

Bri was a bit upset during the evening and I think she is so over being in pain.  Surely today her throat will start to improve and she can start backing off on the pain meds.  They did say days 5-7 get rough and it sure proved true yesterday.  She is meant to go back to work on Friday 25th which is 11 days post op.  I hope she’ll be right by then, poor love!

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Back on track this morning with porridge, banana and dates for breakfast.  I think I may have cracked the 70’s - tomorrow’s weigh-in will tell...

Cheers - Joolz xx

2-ingredient bagels and a bit more food...

I found these on YouTube.  I have worked them out to be 6 points for the two bagels, so 3 points each.

Preheat oven to 180C

1/2 cup SR flour

1/2 cup (not quite the whole tub) of Chobani plain Greek nonfat yoghurt

Mix together until dough forms.

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On a floured surface, gently knead until dough is smooth - a minute or two.

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I weighed the dough then halved it.  Roll each ball into a sausage shape then join the ends to form a ring...

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Place on a paper lined tray, brush with egg and sprinkle with seeds if desired.

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Bake for 22 minutes then turn oven to 200C for final 2 minutes.  How good do they look?

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Quite a good crumb...

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I had one for breakfast, spread with light butter spread and Vegemite and called it 5 points.  It was yummy and filling?  I realise this is carbs so they won’t feature regularly as breakfast but would be great for a Sunday when you don’t have fresh bread  in the house.  Would be yummy with scrambled eggs and bacon...

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Now, yesterday I had to run some errands for Gus.  I packed snacks as I headed off at 11am and knew I’d be late getting lunch.  Grapes and a mandarin - zero points!

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I had to take a car and swap it with a client at Somerton Park.  He had another vehicle of ours which then needed to be dropped to a dealer on Richmond Road.  From there I took a taxi all the way out to Wingfield, to Manhein auctions.  There, I paid for and picked up a Suzuki Vitara that Gus had bought online, earlier in the week.  That is my ticket home!  I then made my way back to the girl’s place, a 2.5 hour round trip...

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I was starving when I got back so I thought I’d be bad and get an OPorto burger.  When I got there, I chose this Taca (not taco) bowl.  It was delicious!  Lean, grilled chicken breast with coleslaw (with barely any dressing) and a rice similar to paella.  It was really good!

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Again, this was hard to point score but I gave it 4 for the chicken, zero for the coleslaw and 4 for the rice so 8 all up.  Could be more, could be less...

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Last night I did WW Friday Night Pizzas and they were so very good!  I baked the pumpkin and zucchini; sauteed the onion, garlic and mushrooms and the capsicum.

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I spread wholemeal Lebanese breads with pizza sauce then added the veggies, some salami and lean bacon, cherry toms, mozzarella and fetta cheese.  Fresh basil was added after. Who ever develops the WW recipes, they certainly know how to get maximum flavour into things. 

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Earlier in the afternoon, I did enjoy a cupcake and a latte...my one indulgence!

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I almost forgot - this is a Caesar salad I bought at the hospital coffee shop.  I scanned the bar code and it came up at 11 points! Whoa, that is a big point lunch - considering it is a healthy option.  I decided to add each ingredient into the WW app to see what points it gave...

1/4 of a chicken breast - 0

1 cup cos lettuce - 0

Boiled egg - 0

Parmesan cheese 15gms - 2

Caesar dressing in tub, I used half - 2

Total = 4 points - that’s better!

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I also had a tub of fruit salad. I’m pretty proud of myself as they had Jumbo toasted ham, cheese and tomato toasties that you could buy.  Imagine the points in that! 

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This!  I think it’s wonderful that Charles has stepped up to walk Meghan down the aisle.
We’ll be watching tonight with our tiaras on and I’m planning a menu fit for royalty...

Cheers - Joolz xx