Interesting Weekend

Most people who read my blog will already know about this, but for those of you who haven't heard, I have had an interesting weekend.

It was our church weekend away in Wales.
It is always interesting sharing with families you have not shared with before, and we had a great tiem getting to know people better.

Saturday afternoon is always left free for people to do whatever they want, either individually or in a group, etc.
My husband and I decided to walk up the "mountain" that is right by the site. I say "mountain" in inverted commas because strictly speaking it is not a mountain at only 1542 feet, mountains have to be 2000 feet, but all the signs marking the route call it a mountain, so I will too. To understand the significance of this you have to understand just how much I have been limited physically these last few years. With the fractured tailbone and resulting back pain, my weight, pain in my feet and legs from fallen arches, and the sleep apnoea before it was treated causing lower and lower energy, I had become incredibly limited in what I could do. I walked nowhere, and certainly did not go on walks for the fun of it.

Over the last few months as I have begun to lose the weight and been on my CPAP machine etc hubby and I have begun to tackle walks I would never have dreamed of being possible even before I hurt my back, each building on the last.
I CLIMBED A "MOUNTAIN!" I stood at the top yelling it at the top of my lungs! It was an incredible experience physically, emotionally and spiritually, because this whole process is not just physical but spiritual, it's all about taking back the ground the enemy had stolen!
I get the impression the enemy was not impressed because I had a slip coming back down the "mountain". I landed on my bum and slid a good 5 feet or more, fairly near to a steep drop off on one side.

Then later in the afternoon as we were preparing dinner I managed to spill a kettle full of hot water over myself, causing a very nasty scald. I responded quickly and was up and running for the bathroom shouting "cold shower" before the lady who was in the kitchen with me even realised what had happened. Unfortunately the showers are push button ones that warm up after you press the button and you can't put them onto cold, so the other friends who were sharing with us formed a chain bringing me every container they could find filled with cold water. I was yelling out instructions for people to go tell the other chalets and get them to pray, then telling them where the directions to the nearest hospital are kept and so on! At one point I realised i was going into shock and said so, so some kind soul made me chew 3 glucose tablets. It was weird, usually glucose tablets taste awful, and these didn't, I don't know if it was because I needed it so much or what.

So eventually hubby was ready, with directions to drive me to the hospital. It was only my upper half that was scalded, so they got me some dry trousers from my case and blankets to wrap around my upper half to maintain some dignity. As I walked out to the car, there was a crowd in our chalet who were all cheering and clapping! Gotta love em! It was over 30 minutes to the hospital, without any fresh cold water, so by the time we got there I was in a lot of pain! We were seen immediately! Walked straight in and were dealt with straight away! They gave me one of the gel burn dressings for my arm, and a dressing pad with burn gel for my side, which we kept in place with my bra. The cooling effect of the gel dressing did not kick in for at least 2 hours, OUCH that was a painful 2 hours. I was in tears at times. But when it did kick in it was amazing!

Now I don't have any dressings on my arm, I just have a piece of tubigrip on there to protect the skin. Today my arm is itching. That means it is healing, but it is incredibly frustrating!

I am not stopping, I will continue to climb my hills and mountains. In fact I have a feeling the Wrekin is not far off, something I have never managed to complete since we moved to Telford! A friend from the local newspaper who went to Belarus with me last year on an Operation Christmas child distribution trip has promised to come up with me and take photos!

I wasn't sure about staying for the rest of camp and did wonder about going home a night early, I'm glad i stayed, it truly was the right decision, I would have missed out on something incredibly significant Sunday morning had I not stayed!

At the beginning of every year I and a number of friends each seek God for a personal theme for the year and a bible verse to back it up! This year's theme for me was BREAKTHROUGH and this year's verse was Joshua chapters 1-6, in particular chapter 3, verse 4a, "Then you will know which way to go since you have never been this way before."

And indeed that was the verse that was preached on for Sunday morning. We had an awesome powerful time.

Menu Plan Monday

Hmmmm, not all details filled in on this one, I'm busy during the day in the week and we have church weekend away Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon.

MONDAY 31st
Breakfast – carrot and pumpkin bread roll with low fat cheese and relish
Lunch – Probably a bowl of soup or maybe cereal
Dinner – I don't know yet, it was supposed to be cuban chicken and beans but that meant a drive to the bigger supermarket and I can't do that because my car is waiting to have it's rear windscreen replaced. I will nip to the closer smaller supermarket on foot and see what they have.
Snacks – ,
Remember to: actually go into that supermarket since I will be on the way back from somewhere else when I do it, there's a chance that I might forget because of having my mind on other things.

TUESDAY 1st
Breakfast – cereal, semi skimmed milk,
Lunch – ?
Dinner – breaded fish portions and oven chips (fries)
Snacks – ,
Remember to: leave instructions for 18 year old who will be putting dinner in the oven for me.

DEFROST braised mince for tomorrow

WEDNESDAY 2nd
Breakfast – cereal, milk.
Lunch – ?
Dinner – Economy Gastronomy Cottage pie
Snacks –
Remember to:

THURSDAY 3rd
Breakfast - cereal, semi skimmed milk
Lunch – ?,
Dinner – Sausage and mash for the boys, me and hubby going to 2 for £7 curry night.
Snacks –
Remember to:Buy and pack food for church away weekend.

Friday 4th
Breakfast - cereal, semi skimmed milk
Lunch – ?
Dinner – Church away weekend, friends we are sharing with are responsible for this meal.
Snacks – .
Remember to:

SATURDAY 5th
Breakfast – cereal, milk, toast, jam.
Lunch – ?
Dinner – hmmmm, we're responsible for this meal for us and the family we are sharing with, have to come up with something that is friendly to being cooked in a kitchen that may have limited facilities, but is also friendly to most "tastes" and is friendly to my current healthy eating plan.
Snacks -
Remember to:

SUNDAY 6th
Breakfast - cereal, milk, toast, jam
Lunch – Bring and Share meal at church weekend away.
Dinner – tinned soup, refreshed part baked rolls.
Snacks -
Remember to:

If you want to check out more menu idea, go to Organizing junkie by clicking on the menu plan Monday banner at the top of this post.

Menu Plan Monday

MONDAY 31st
Breakfast – cereal, semi skimmed milk, yoghurt
Lunch – Pork Ribs with salad
Dinner – Pork Lasagne using leftover pork and tomato sauce from yesterday.
Snacks – ,
Remember to: also make gnocchi dish and freeze it.

TUESDAY 1st
Breakfast – cereal, semi skimmed milk, yoghurt
Lunch – something as light as possible, saving calories for dinner.
Dinner – Small Group BBQ
Snacks – ,
Remember to: check if we need to bring anything to the BBQ. MAKE BREAD. Defrost Chicken breasts for tomorrow.

WEDNESDAY 2nd
Breakfast – cloudberry jam (a new IKEA find) on home made bread.
Lunch – Pork sandwiches if there is still any left.
Dinner – Jamie Oliver's Chicken Tikka
Snacks –
Remember to: DEFROST portion of basic mince.

THURSDAY 3rd
Breakfast - yoghurt cereal, semi skimmed milk
Lunch – Cous Cous and tuna,
Dinner – Cottage Pie.
Snacks –
Remember to:

Friday 4th
Breakfast - cereal, semi skimmed milk, yoghurt
Lunch – Tin of soup with bread or crispbreads
Dinner – Sausages and mashed potatoes with veggies.
Snacks – .
Remember to: Go to butchers and buy piece of gammon (ham before it's cooked).

SATURDAY 5th hubby and eldest son not here.
Breakfast – Bacon, grilled tomatoes and mushrooms, with baked beans.
Lunch – Crisp Breads, ham, salad
Dinner – Hot and Sour Chicken Broth with home made bread.
Snacks -
Remember to:

SUNDAY 6th
Breakfast - cereal, semi skimmed milk, yoghurt
Lunch –
Dinner – Boiled Ham Bedrock meal with spinach dumplings and veggies.
Snacks -
Remember to:

If you want to check out more menu idea, go to Organizing junkie by clicking on the menu plan Monday banner at the top of this post.

ECONOMY GASTRONOMY ADVENTURES - Part 3

Macaroni Cheese.

Now I know Americans are MUCH better at macaroni Cheese than us Brits, on the whole, but this was AMAZING, the MOST delicious Macaroni Cheese I have ever tasted.

According to the book the recipe serves 4 but it was far too much and for me would easily serve 6, which is what I have listed it as on Spark Recipes:
recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detai
l.asp?recipe=728944

My hubby and teen sons all ate 1/4 each, I only had my 1/6, and saved the other part for lunch the following day.
It has bacon lardons in it, but only 100g in the whole dish, so that's nto going to break your diet. it also has artichoke hearts, which I have never eaten or cooked with before. You top the dish with sliced tomatoes and a sprinkling of grated parmesan before popping it into the oven.


I made the sauce slightly lower fat by using sauce flour which is an extra finely milled flour that you can use to make white sauce with milk and the flour without using butter.
But the cheese is obviously the big problem.

I have finally found a low fat cheese that I like, Cathedral City Lighter Mature Cheddar.
I lost count of how many low fat cheeses I tired over the years on my way to finding this one, but finally I did.

So next time we make this I might try using that cheese and see how it turns out. If it works well, I will alter the Spark recipe accordingly.

ECONOMY GASTRONOMY ADVENTURES - Part 2

So, if you've been following this, first I wrote about the theory behind Economy Gastronomy.

THEN I wrote about what we've done with chicken this week.

Now onto what I'm doing today with Turkey Mince (or ground turkey). I'm using their bedrock recipe for braised beef mince, but using turkey mince for the lower fat content. In all other ways the recipe is as theirs.
recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=731380


So that is currently cooking in a pan right now. Again I made a double batch, so I peeled and chopped lots of onions, cheated on the garlic by using the ready chopped stuff in a jar, and added some herbs. This I fried in a bit of oil until softened and slightly coloured.
I put that to one side, then fried the mince in batches and added it to the pan with tins of chopped tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce and beef stock.

That is now simmering away uncovered for over an hour until it reduces nicely.
I would say you do NOT need as much stock as the recipe says, but it might work differently with beef mince, but go careful with how much you use.


In a short while that will be ready, I will split it into 6 portions each will make a meal for the 4 of us! 4 of them will go into the freezer once cooled and the remaining two will go on this evening to be made into Bolognese sauce, half of which I will serve over pasta tonight and half of which I will keep in the fridge to make into lasagne on Sunday.
The Bolognese recipe is here:
recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=731389

Later I'll share about the totally decadent macaroni cheese. WOW it was amazing!

ECONOMY GASTRONOMY ADVENTURES - Part 1

I really must get back into the habit of taking photos when I am making recipes I want to share.

As it is you will have to imagine most of this stuff.
For an explanation of the theory behind ECONOMY GASTRONOMY check out this link to my previous blog post.
www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=2334246

This week I have made 2 of the bedrock recipes
I am used to the concept of batch cooking so I doubled both of the basic recipes to give me more to work with.

First I poached 3 whole chickens in water with a couple of carrots, leeks, onions and peppercorns.
I cut the chicken into portions BEFORE cooking it and also skinned it then too.
When the chicken had finished poaching, I put the portions to one side to cook and put the water through a strainer, to get out the veg and put the stock aside to cool.

I stripped the chicken off the bones, chopped it up and put it into containers in the fridge. Once the stock had cooled I did the same with that.
Once all the bones had cooled I popped them into a freezer bag. I doubled that with another layer of freezer bag in case of any sharp bones breaking through and popped them into the freezer.

That evening I used some of the chicken meat with a jar of cooking sauce and served it over boiled brown rice.

Yesterday I used 600g of that chicken and 1.5 litres of stock to make a chicken pie.
recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=730888

ABSOLUTELY delicious but not exactly low calorie or fat.
The sauce mixes the reduced then thickened stock with double cream (heavy cream). I am sure there has to be a lower fat alternative that we could use, but I don't want the sauce to split or anything. Does anyone have any suggestions.
The sauce is mixed with the chicken meat and vegetables and placed in a pie dish where it is topped with puff pastry.
Obviously the pastry is not particularly low fat either, so I am thinking about, rather than putting pastry across the top of the whole pie just placing a smaller piece of pastry on top of each portion, next time I make it. If that works, I will alter the recipe on Spark Recipes accordingly.

Today I have frozen the last of the chicken meat (enough for 1 1/2 meals for the 4 of us) and the last of the stock (which I froze in used and rinsed 500ml cola bottles), which I will probably use with the chicken bones to make a broth at some point.


Stay tuned for more adventures in ECONOMY GASTRONOMY!

ECONOMY GASTRONOMY! - an explanation

Economy Gastronomy is a new TV cookery show with book of the same name.
The BBC Website for the show is here: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00m1c34

The show takes a different family each week who need to slash their food bills.
Absolutely shocking to me was the family in the 2nd show who were spending £17,000 a year on food for a family of 5. At current exchange rates that is over $28,000. I don't know how huge that is for my American readers, but for an English family that is a HUGE figure.

By the methods in the Economy Gastronomy programme they drastically slash the food bills of these families, whilst still allowing them to eat wonderful tasty food.

The system is based on what they call Bedrock recipe. This is where you make a batch of something that you will then go on to alter further to make 3 different meals over the week. (you can of course also freeze to use later than that). They also have other quick and easy meals such as a section on beating the take aways at their own game and making delicious take away type meals at a fraction of the cost, another covers the same thing but with traditional pub meals. Another chapter covers quick midweek meals. Yet another covers entertaining. One fantastic chapter covers making something from nothing, just using what you have in your cupboards, fridge etc.

So, that's what it is, stay tuned and I will share my adventures this week in ECONOMY GASTRONOMY!

Long Day

I helped out with the food and drink at the wake of a friend's mother today.
I spent 3 1/2 hours on my feet.
I am not used to spending 3 1/2 hours on my feet
and now they ache!

It also meant I had to change up my cardio a bit.
Normally on a weekday I would do up to an hour of EA Sports Active on the Wii or on Wii fit. I knew this morning that I did have time to do that, but did not have time to get washed, changed and get my hair dried afterwards, before I had to go.

So I went for a walk instead, figuring I would not get too sweaty doing that and could go straight on.

I am blessed that where I live there is kind of a built in circular route I can use. The housing estate I live on (group of houses and flats, with school, shops, community centre), has a perimeter road with the roads that the houses etc are on, coming in towards the centre.
I live in a house on the perimeter of that. So if I head off up the road and keep going, I will eventually get home again, having completed the circuit.
It is 1.66 miles.

Today I completed that in just 29 minutes. That's probably about equal to my best ever (we've lived here for 14 years) and so much better than I could have dreamed of achieving 10 weeks ago when I started this journey towards health. There is also no way I could have then done 3 1/2 hours on my feet back then either. It is awesome to see how much things have changed already and I am looking forward to continuing this journey.

Rainbows of Fruit & Veggies

This week's nutritional Challenge for the Turkey Day team over at Spark people is
......................................................................................................
to get rainbows of fruit and veggies.
We can aim for as many as we want, from just 1 over the week, up to 1 of each type every day, or more.

Here are the SUGGESTIONS:

Red: apples, cherries, strawberries, tomato, watermelon, red bell pepper

Orange: oranges, nectarines, grapefruit, peach, carrots, cantaloupe, orange bell peppers, apricots

Yellow: banana, squash, corn, mushrooms, melons, onion, yellow bell pepper, pineapple, cauliflower (did you know that a lot of f&v that are NORMALLY other colours also can be found in a YELLOW? Have you had yellow watermelon, yellow string beans, yellow courgettes, yellow baby carrots- just to name a few.)

Green: spinach, courgettes, grapes, melons, bell peppers, cucumbers, broccoli, peas, string beans, bruussel sprouts, collared greens, apples

Blue/Purple: Blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, grapes, plums, eggplant, cabbage, figs, radishes
..................................................................................................

So let's see, since Monday morning, I have had:
RED: red peppers, tomatoes and watermelon
ORANGE: nectarine
YELLOW:
GREEN: grapes, cucumber, broccoli
BLUE/PURPLE: grapes

Thinking I might place my grocery delivery order later today.
Will have to keep this in mind when I do that.

REWARDS

Start Weight - 275 lbs - 19 st 9 lbs - May 26th
Current Weight - 255 lbs - 18 st 3 lbs - July 31st
Target Weight - 168 lbs - 12 st 0 lbs - Whenever I get there, hopefully some time next summer or autumn.

REWARDS
265 - 18 st 13 lbs - Buy a belt or the stuff to make one (gonna need to hold these trousers up soon).
260 - 18 st 8 lbs - New nail Polish
255 - 18 st 3 lbs - Get hairdresser friend to help me colour my hair.
250 - 17 st 12 lbs - £5 to my Trip to America fund
245 - 17 st 7 lbs - do a home spa afternoon
240 - 17 st 2 lbs - Buy a new CD
235 - 16 st 11 lbs - PAST THE 10% lost mark - Night Away with hubby.
230 - 16 st 6 lbs - New nail Polish
225 - 16 st 1 lbs - £5 to Trip to America Fund
220 - 15 st 10 lbs - Pedicure
215 - 15 st 5 lbs - Home Spa afternoon
210 - 15 st 0 lbs - Nice new scented candle
205 - 14 st 9 lbs - Buy a new cd
200 - 14 st 4 lbs - HIT the 200 mark - SPA DAY! (proper one not a home one)
195 - 13 st 13 lbs - £5 to Trip to America fund
190 - 13 st 8 lbs - Manicure
185 - 13 st 3 lbs - Professional Photo Shoot
180 - 12 st 12 lbs - £10 to Trip to America Fund
175 - 12 st 7 lbs - Buy the 2nd Artisan Bread Book
168 - 12 st 0 lbs - New Clothes

Motivation Board

The site I am currently using to track my food intake and exercise is Spark People, but Spark people is SO MUCH MORE THAN just a tracking site. It has teams, challenges, stages, it is awesome. Part of the stage I am on right now is to complete a Motivation Collage and I did this a couple of weeks ago. The results are here.















If you can't make out some of my writing, check the pictures out at Flickr, where there are notes.

Menu Plan Monday

My “stage” on spark people this week involves upping my exercise minutes.  So far that is going well, but I’m still planning my meals.

MONDAY 22nd
Breakfast – cereal, semi skimmed milk, yoghurt
Lunch – I’m out just before lunch, so I’m treating myself to a 6 inch turkey breast sub from subway.  Only 280 calories, as long as I don’t put any cheese on it!
Dinner –  Turkey Chasseur, with microwave rice and salad
Snacks – ,
Remember to:  Make any last minute changes to grocery delivery order.

TUESDAY 23rd
Breakfast – cereal, semi skimmed milk, yoghurt
Lunch – Lentil Bake, salad
Dinner – Boys eating something quick and easy, hubby and I eating out with church small group.   
Snacks – ,
Remember to: DEFROST BEEF.

WEDNESDAY 24th
Breakfast – passion fruit curd on home made bread.
Lunch – Lentil Bake, salad
Dinner – Jamie Oliver's Basic Beef Stew with steamed veg and potatoes
Snacks –
Remember to: DEFROST BEEF.

THURSDAY 25th
Breakfast - yoghurt cereal, semi skimmed milk
Lunch – Cous Cous and tuna,
Dinner – Spicy Fish Stew wish home baked bread. 
Snacks –
Remember to: 

Friday 26th eldest son not here for dinner.
Breakfast - cereal, semi skimmed milk, yoghurt
Lunch –  Tin of soup with bread or crispbreads
Dinner – Diced chicken in a jar of cooking sauce (flavour to be decided), rice or pasta, salad or steamed veggies.
Snacks – .
Remember to:

SATURDAY 27th hubby and eldest son not here.
Breakfast – Bacon Sandwich
Lunch – Crisp Breads, ham, salad
Dinner – Jamie’s Bolognese Sauce over Pasta with a salad (Eat half and freeze half!)
Snacks - 
Remember to: shop for son’s choice of meal for tomorrow, bake bread for the church meal.

SUNDAY 28th hubby and eldest son not here for breakfast or lunch, will be back for dinner time BUT will have had main meal already.
Breakfast - cereal, semi skimmed milk, yoghurt
Lunch – Soup and bread at church for the ladies and children.  Men are on men’s weekend.
Dinner – Younger son’s choice of meal.
Snacks -
Remember to:

If you want to check out more menu idea, go to Organizing junkie by clicking on the menu plan Monday banner at the top of this post.

Staying on track

So, our friends came round for dinner last night as planned and even though we served raclette and they brought an ice cream dessert, I still JUST managed to stay within my calorie range for the day! I really enjoyed their company and felt blessed by their willingness to come and spend time with us.
WOOHOOO! Planning ahead really works! Hubby and the boys are having the leftovers tonight so I got myself a ready meal and will have that with a big pile of salad.

Been and bought a lot of the food for eldest's 18th celebration in 2 weeks time. Got frozen party foods that I will just pop into the oven on the morning of the party. Still need to get crisps (chips), potato salad, coleslaw and bake the birthday cake, but that's not bad. Oh and a big platter of raw veggies with a tray of dips too.

Tomorrow at church will be fun. The 11 to 15 year olds are in charge of the whole meeting from the coffee bar before and after, to the worship, leading and preaching! My 14 year old is co-leading.

It's the turn of the age group I lead in July! 5 - 11 year olds! Wooohoooooo! We're having Messy Church! Can't wait!


Today was my rest day on EA Sports Active for Wii, so I did a Wii Fit workout instead, and pushed further on that than I did last time I used it for the rest day! I might not be able to get out to the gym, but I can still work out! Great fun!

I am DONE!

Over at Spark People one of the teams I have joined is the "DONE girls" because I WANT to be DONE with a few things!


1. I WANT to be DONE with pain in my knees from my weight.
2. I WANT to be DONE with pain in my feet, from fallen arches, due in part to my weight.
3. I WANT to be DONE with needing a CPAP machine at night because of Sleep Apnoea due to my weight.
4. I WANT to be DONE with fearing the mirror, particularly the full length ones.
5. I WANT to be DONE with fearing that if I get any larger I will no longer be able to shop for clothes in even the high street plus size stores.
6. I WANT to be DONE with NEEDING to shop in the plus size stores at all.
7. I WANT to be DONE with anything over a size 16 (UK sizes).
8. I WANT to be DONE with having to choose bras and swimming costumes really carefully because of rolls of fat, rolling over the top of the fabric under my arms.
9. I WANT to be DONE with walking across the house to the phone and having the person on the other end ask if I ran to the phone because I sound out of breath.
10. I WANT to be done with not being able to dance in worship for as long as my heart would desire to.
11. I WANT to be DONE with not being able to wear an underwire bra because it digs into the rolls of fat on my stomach when I sit down and causes pain.
12. I WANT to be done with cringing every time someone wants to take my photo.


In order to reach those goals I am ready to be DONE with a few things.


* I am DONE with not putting my health as number 1 priority, after God.
* I am DONE with making excuses not to exercise.
* I am DONE with extra large portions, a family of 4 does not need the extra large bucket at KFC.
* I am DONE with hidden eating.
* I am DONE with lying to myself.
* I am DONE with setting a bad example to my teen boys.
* I am DONE with avoiding the doctors out of fear that they will just blame all issues on my weight.
* I am DONE with not taking care of myself.
* I am DONE with allowing others to sabotage me.


I AM DONE!


Father God, I am putting these goals in Your hands. I cannot achieve any of them on my own. I KNOW You have my well being at heart and that Your will is for me to be fit and healthy, therefore I KNOW these goals are in line with Your will for me.
I pray that you make these goals a reality. I pray that You give me the grace and the strength I need for this journey. Grant me patience with myself and others as I take the time I need, to do this.
Guard my joints, bones, muscles and all other body parts as I exercise. Let each mouthful of water I drink, be as living water to my body and remind me of Your living water.
Father, I thank You that You have promised that where we pray in accordance with Your will, we will have what we ask.
I pray for myself and others, that where there are spiritual or emotional reasons, soul ties, ancestral ties, ungodly beliefs and soul spirit hurts, that You would reveal them clearly, that You would show us and give us the grace to and the tools to deal with them.
Amen.