Week Forty Seven

Week forty seven didn't get off to a great start, here are the highlights:

My hairdryer decided to stop working while I was getting ready to start working! Luckily Maddie remembered she had a Groovy Chick one I'd bought her about 12 years ago!

I had cinema  night with the bingo girls, we watched The Lady in the Van, great film and lovely ice-cream :)

Instead of taking my Christmas in a Box parcel back to the sorting office my lovely postman hid it behind the wall for me :)

Alfie loved looking through the kit with me :)

A giant snow globe was erected just outside the office ready for the town's Christmas light switch on :)

Dirty pudding :)

I had Friday off work and spent the day with Sandra, it started with this...

And then we headed here for the Stitch, Hobbycraft and Christmas show :)

Everything in this amazing gingerbread house was made of wool!

And these rusty old spanners were actually made of chocolate!

On Saturday morning we had snow, it didn't stay for long but me and Alfie did have a little play in it :)

Maddie had her annual hair cut, about 8 inches were lobbed off!

On Saturday evening I had not one but two wins at bingo!

On Sunday I cleaned the Smart car, as you can see it was hard work! :)

Alfie enjoyed playing in the garden :)

I enjoyed some scrapping time:

And then it was time to catch up with the goings on in the jungle :)

Now we are another week closer to Christmas and I have great plans for the weekend!

I hope you have a good week, thanks for stopping by
Jo xx

Sometimes It Makes No Sense

Last week I didn't do a post about my weight, my day started with a leak in the kitchen and ended with a broken tooth so I just didn't have the time!  I wanted to blog last week though because although I had a great week sticking to the Slimming World plan I gained 1lb :(

I tried not to let it get me down too much but I was so disappointed because after 4 weeks on plan I'd lost half a pound :(  There was no way I was going to give up though so I got this baby out and made lots of lovely curry soup with loads of speed veg:

I also made a great recipe witch is good if you're in a rush.  You'll need the following ingredients and I don't really weigh and measure, I judge how much I want to put in depending on how many I'm serving:

A mixture of mushrooms sliced
Garlic finely chopped
Baby leaf spinach
Frozen king prawns defrosted
Fat free fromage frais
Tagliatelle

Fry the mushrooms and the garlic while the pasta is cooking:

Add the spinach and prawns and cook for a few minutes until hot:

Remove from heat and add the fromage frais, I stir in a couple of tablespoons at a time until it's as creamy as I want:

Serve with the pasta and that's it!  Quick, simple, delicious and SYN free :)

This week I won't say I stuck to plan 100%, it was more like 75% and I have to confess I was expecting a gain.  You could have knocked me down with a feather when I got on the scales and had a loss!  Sometimes it just makes no sense, you have really good weeks and don't lose and have a bit of a bad one and lose:

One thing for sure though....I won't give up!

This week I'd love to lose just 1lb and I'm going to try my best to do it :)

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by
Jo xx

Week Forty Six

Week forty six already feels a long time ago, here are the highlights:

I started some Christmas knitting :)

And watched a Christmas film :)

I had a night out at bingo, no winnings but still a great night:

I enjoyed a small glass of wine and a catch up with my mum :)

Dirty pudding :)

I woke up on Friday morning to a leak in the kitchen that meant the washing machine and fridge freezer were pulled out along with the contents of the cupboards!  Thankfully my brother was able to help.

I was enjoying this glass of wine when my tooth broke, I definitely had a bad Friday the 13th!

I had another lovely night with the girls at bingo on Saturday :)

And I enjoyed an Eggnog Latte while doing some scrapping on Sunday :)

Before being struck down by a headache and having to curl up on the sofa with this boy.  I've now had it confirmed that I don't suffer with migraines, I actually get cluster headaches!

And then it was time for I'm A Celebrity and some crochet :)

So a rather pants ending to the week for me and I hope this new week is a whole lot better!

Thanks for stopping by
Jo xx

Week Forty Five

Week forty five was a good one, here are the highlights:

As you can see, Maddie was over the moon about going  back to work on Monday!

The weather was nice enough for us to walk in the park :)

It was dark when we left work and the clock looked lovely :)

Maddie's friend, Tuba, made us some lovely cinnamon swirls :)

I had a little win at bingo :)

Alfie did something to his eye, not sure what, and it was really swollen :(

But half an hour later it was fine :)

We had V for Vendetta day :)

I was runner up in the Miss Slinky competition at Slimming World :)

I spent the weekend with this pretty girl :)

And enjoyed an Eggnog Latte while I did ALL of my Christmas shopping :)

I enjoyed trying on some Santa hats :)

While Paul was a big turkey!

And then I was home with Alfie :)

And Maddie :)

I''m really looking forward to this week and some fun things I'm doing at the weekend.

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by
Jo xx

Five Favourites From October

As promised, here are my five favourite photos from October:

The only Halloween photo I'll get of Maddie nowadays :)

Maddie minus her glasses!

My niece Alice :)

Butter wouldn't melt!

And finally, a walk in the park :)

I'm really looking forward to using some lovely Autumnal colours and getting these photos scrapped.

Thanks for stopping by
Jo xx

It's Not All About The Scales!

This week I lost, a small loss of half a pound but at least it was a loss!  I had thought it would have been more because my stomach didn't feel as bloated and my clothes didn't feel as tight, therefore I am ignoring what the scales have said and I'm giving myself a pat on the back for another good week where I have felt TOTALLY IN CONTROL.

This week I've mixed my breakfasts up a bit so I don't get bored, I've also been looking for a breakfast I can have at my desk because I'd have to eat too early if I had breakfast before I left for work (and that could lead to 4 meals a day by having extra!) So breakfast this week included slices of banana generously spread with peanut butter!!!

I tried out this product, PPB, which is powdered peanut butter.  It's expensive, I got it from Holland and Barrett for £9.29 but getting a second jar in their penny deal did make it more reasonable.  It's 1.5 SYNs per tablespoon and you mix it with water to the consistency you require. I think it tastes really great.  You can also get PB2 from Amazon for about £5.50.

I didn't manage to try a new vegetable this week, I really love vegetables and there wasn't anything in Tesco that I hadn't already tried so I'll have to look further afield this week.  I did manage to get lots of walking done, even in the eerie fog:

That meant I managed to achieve my goal of getting at least 10,000 steps on 5 days :)

I also made one of my favourite recipes and I'll share it with you now, you will need:

Peppers roughly chopped - I used 3
An onion sliced
Garlic finely chopped
Fish stock - about 900mls
A pinch of saffron
Risotto rice - about 225g
Fish - I use a fish pie mix

Fry the onion and peppers in Fry Lite for about 10 minutes;

Add the fish stock, garlic and saffron, bring to the boil and then simmer for 5 minutes:

Add the risotto rice and simmer for a further 20 minutes or until the rice is almost cooked, you may want to add more stock and you will need to give it a stir every now and then:

Add the fish and cook for another 5 minutes, or until the fish is cooked:

And serve! This dish can also be made with orzo pasta instead of rice and it's just as delicious :)  It's very filling and leftovers can be stored in the fridge for a couple of days and reheated when needed.

This week was the Miss Slinky competition and I was really proud to be a runner up, here's my prize :)

So another week has passed where I am feeling good about where I am and where I'm heading.  I know that I have made good choices this week and I can't tell you how pleased I am that I have so far resisted an Eggnog Latte from Starbucks, I'm saving that treat for Saturday :)  Last year I would probably have already had about 6 cups of the stuff already so I know my head is in the right place now.

This week I am committing myself to:

1. Finding a vegetable I haven't tried.
2. Digging out the Wii and using it for some fun Body Magic.
3. Losing 2lbs.

See you next week!

Thanks for stopping by
Jo xx