The post Step out this Spring appeared first on One Busy WAHM.
]]>With Mother’s Day right around the corner, I decided a girly shopping day was in order. A chance for mum and I to spend some wonderful quality time together. Time without husbands pulling us in opposite directions, or grandchildren demanding all the attention. Just mum and I.
So very long overdue. I can’t even remember the last time we did this.
First up, shoe shopping…
(Of course!)
Just like me, mum really loves Hotter shoes, so we made it our first stop…
Coral: Daytime // Soft violet: Tone
Firstly, we tried every single shoe on in the store.
I think some styles more than once.
Whuuut? It’s the shoe-shopping law, isn’t it?
And my goodness, the sales assistants were fantastic. Never once did they bat an eyelid at our indecisiveness.
After much ooh’ing and aah’ing, mum eventually settled for the coral-coloured ‘Daytime.’ We both agreed, it would go perfect with so many of her outfits.
A gorgeous mix of flat-meets-trainer, the lace-up gave stability, the shoe gave Hotter’s famous comfort and the design was so pretty and perfect for Spring. Mum leads a very active lifestyle (puts me to shame!) and she can often be found dashing from golf course to home to shopping in town! Mum knew right away that this shoe was just perfect for her.
Me, me, meeee!
My lifestyle is nowhere near as active as mum’s, but I’m busy nonetheless. After dashing around on the school run, my full-time day job sees me working from home, before heading out to run my Slimming World classes each week. I’m on my feet a LOT and I need to be comfy.
I already knew I wanted to find ‘the perfect flat’, but I hadn’t anticipated so many choices!
1. Jewel // 2. Envy // 3. Natasha
Fresh navy & white tends to dominate my wardrobe in springtime. Maybe because it’s so clean and crisp… or perhaps it’s the versatility that I like, and the speed in which I can pull an outfit together each morning. Seeing the navy Jewel, I knew instantly that it would work so well for me. I love how so many of my favourite styles come in multiple colour ways!
And they fitted like a glove!
I used to hate shoe shopping. I’ve inherited wide feet and finding good fitting shoes is always a nightmare. Hotter is the ONLY store where I can walk in and know that a 5.5W will fit and feel amazing. For my every day style, they are PERFECT!
Together, mum and I had a fabulous day with lots of fun, laughter and giggles. Can’t wait to do it again!
Seriously, did you think we’d leave with just a pair of shoes? Ha, 3 pairs and a handbag later… we NEEDED that coffee break!
What are your favourite Spring shoes?
I’m curious to know what our favourites have in common?
My guess is that most women like their fave pair of comfortable sandals, but I don’t know.
Do you have a favourite pair of Spring shoes or sandals?
What makes them great?!
Happy Spring shoe shopping!
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^^^ Mini shopping basket, not HUGE snacks 
Finding convenient, tasty snacks that are good to ‘grab and go’ can be difficult.
I like to keep snacks around me at all times… in my bag, in my car, in my desk drawer. I’m a grazer and could nibble away all day plus have two young kids that seemingly want constant feeding.
I’ve been a fan of Graze for years, having had their mail delivery service on many, many occasions. So when they announced a new in-store range, I confess, I was more than a little excited.
Graze Good To Go
Graze’s new Good To Go range are perfectly portioned snacks in handy little package that are ideal when on-the-run. With tempting taste combinations and everything from sweet to savoury and spicy, the hardest part is deciding WHICH one to try?
They are (were!) all so delicious. My favourites being:
– Thai Sweet Chilli Dippers. Mini baked soy ‘crackers’ with a sweet chilli sauce and only 83 calories
– Chocolate Pretzel Dippers. I mean, who can resist little salted pretzels with a creamy chocolate sauce?!
Now, as someone who follows the Slimming World plan I was keen to find out how many syns are in these Graze packs as I’d love to keep a few of these on hand for those snack time emergencies! And the good news is, they all fall within the recommended 5 to 15 syns per day – however, some are clearly way higher than others! I’ve listed the syn values for the Graze packs below so you too can make wise choices next time you are in the supermarket!
How many Syns are in Graze Good To Go snack packs?
- Graze Thai Sweet Chilli Dippers – 4 syns
- Graze Herby Bread Basket – 4.5 syns
- Graze Juicy Peach & Raspberry – 5 syns
- Graze Mini Strawberry & Banana – 6
- Graze Veggie Protein Power – 6.5 syns
- Graze Smoke House BBQ Crunch – 6.5 syns
- Graze Chocolate Pretzel Dippers – 7 syns
- Graze Dark Chocolate Cherry Tart – 9 syns
- Graze Punchy Protein Nuts – 10.5 syns
- Graze Original Fruity Flapjack – 11 syns
- Graze Salted Fudge & Peanut Cookie – 11 syns
- Graze Lemon Drizzle Flapjack – 12 syns
Which ones would you like to try?
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Not many breakfast dishes actually require written instruction. In fact, I’m pretty sure this barely even counts as a recipe. But sometimes, when on a weight loss journey, just seeing what others are eating, their food optimising combinations and how delicious weight loss meals can be – can be the difference between success and failure in your journey.
Today, I enjoyed this awesome french toast breakfast. It was quite possibly one of the best breakfasts I’ve had in a long while. It tasted like dessert for breakfast! I couldn’t not share this with you!
Slimming World French Toast
Ingredients:
- 2 slices of wholemeal bread (from a small 400g loaf)
- 1 egg
- Splash milk
- 0% fat Greek yoghurt
- Mixed berries (I used frozen berries, defrosted)
- 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
How To:
- In a shallow bowl, whisk together your egg and splash of milk
- Cut your bread in half diagonally and dip into egg
- Place into non-stick frying pan and cook until golden
- Serve with a generous portion of fat-free Greek yoghurt and mixed berries
- Drizzle with maple syrup and sprinkle with cinnamon
Slimming World syns value:
For this recipe I counted my bread as my daily HexB choice, and the milk came from my HexA allowance. 1 tbsp of maple syrup is 2 syns. All other ingredients are free / super free.
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Last week I completed a ‘Customer Satisfaction Survey’ and at the end was emailed a voucher for a £30 discount on a Hello Fresh delivery box. It was a great offer so I thought I’d give it a go.
I can totally see the benefits of these boxes… delicious recipes with all the ingredients – delivered to your door. But of course, that convenience comes at a price.
Hesitant to spend a fortune on something I was unfamiliar with, I opted for the Classic Box of 3 meals for 2 people. The cost? £39. Thank goodness for that voucher.
At that price, I think it’s a great treat, but certainly not something I could continue with on their weekly subscription service. (Be sure to update your preferences so you are not auto-billed each week). The first meal I cooked was their Summertime Pork Schnitzel with Salad, New Potatoes and Capers. I’ve never had capers before. And never will again. I guess they are like olives – an acquired taste. I never got to like olives either.
What do you think? I’m really quite pleased with how the dish – and my photos! – turned out.
As with any recipe, I think we all add our own little touch to it. If you want to have a go at this recipe yourself, here is my slightly modified version. And no capers.
Slimming World fans – I’ve also added some notes below with different ways you can further switch this up if you are looking to save a few extra syns!
- 300g pork fillet
- 50g panko breadcrumbs
- 4 tbsp of sour cream
- 360g new potatoes
- 2 large handfuls rocket (arugula) leaves
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and black pepper to season
- ½ lemon
- Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add a ¼ tsp of salt. Cut the potatoes into quarters and cook in the salted, boiling water for 10-15 minutes until tender.
- Place your hand flat on top of your pork fillet and slice in half from the side and further cut each piece in half widthways. Lay the pork slices between 2 sheets of clingfilm. Hit the pork using a rolling pin until it is 1cm thick.
- Put the breadcrumbs in a large, shallow bow and add ¼ tsp of salt and a generous amount of black pepper. Coat each fillet evenly in a tbsp of sour cream. Press each fillet into the breadcrumbs until completely coated.
- Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large frying pan. Lay the breaded pork schnitzels in the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes each side.
- Drain your potatoes.
- In a bowl, whisk together the Dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar, 1 tbsp olive oil and sugar. Season with a little salt and pepper.
- Plate your leaves, top with scattered warm potatoes and drizzle generously with vinaigrette.
- Serve the schnitzels on the potato salad and serve with a wedge of fresh lemon.
Slimming World syns:
50g panko breadcrumbs = 9 syns, 4 tbsp sour cream = 4 syns, 2 tbsp olive oil = 12 syns. Total syns = 25 syns shared between 2 people.
This dish was really quite delicious and I’d quite happily use 12 syns for such a tasty meal. However, if you are looking to cut back on some of the syn values, here a few ways in which you can switch this recipe up. Of course, it won’t taste quite the same – but lovely nonetheless.
– Swap panko breadcrumbs for homemade wholemeal breadcrumbs – syn free when using your daily HexB allowance
– Use a beaten egg instead of sour cream to coat your pork – 0 syns
– Substitute the olive oil dressing for a store bought fat free alternative – low syns
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]]>The post Groovy Chicken Masala Skewers on Naan Bread w/Yoghurt and Mint Dressing appeared first on One Busy WAHM.
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Summer temperatures are finally upon us… and with that comes long, lazy dinners in the garden. You’ve gotta soak up the light, warm evenings whilst they last! Finding quick and nutritious dinners the whole family will enjoy can be challenging, and I don’t want to be stuck in the kitchen any longer than necessary. Bursting with flavour and nutrition, this masala and mango marinaded chicken with salad can be on the plate in under 20 minutes. #winner.
I’ve chosen to marinade chicken, but this would also work equally well with a firm white fish, like monkfish, as a tasty glaze to BBQ’d meat or delicious simply served as a dip.
Chicken
- Chicken consists of high-quality protein and a relatively low amount of fat. The fat is mostly of the unsaturated type, which protects against heart disease.
- 100 grams of skinless, boneless breast has 31g of protein – more than half the recommended daily allowance of 46 grams of protein for an adult female.
- A 100g serving of cooked skinless, boneless breast has only one gram of saturated fat and less than four grams of total fat.
Masala and Mango marinade
- Groovy Food’s agave nectar is harvested from the organic Blue Webber agave plant in Mexico. The core of the plant is crushed and the nectar is released and then filtered.
- Agave has 25 per cent fewer calories than refined sugar and is naturally much sweeter (almost twice as sweet) and so much less needs to be used to achieve the same sweetness.
- It has a naturally low GI of 17, meaning the energy release is slow and steady as opposed to refined sugars which can cause sugar highs and lows.
Naan bread
Naan bread can be a secret source of fats and calories, so pay attention to the package you buy. The ones I’ve used here are small (it’s all about moderation). If you are watching your calorie intake, why not switch the naan for a wholemeal tortilla or serve with a side of brown rice instead for a tasty alternative.
Slimmers! Click here for information on Slimming World syns in Groovy Food Masala and Mango marinade
(The product isn’t yet listed on the SW app or online, but I used the syn calculator to determine the values (see link above). 100g is 7 syns. I used 50g, therefore only 3.5 syns shared between two people).
This masala and mango marinade transforms some simple chicken into a mid-week dinner winner.
A little spicy. Totally saucy.
Try it for yourself: The Groovy Food Company
- 1 chicken breast
- 40g Groovy Food Agave Masala Mango Marinade, plus a little extra for serving
- 2 garlic and coriander naan breads
- Mixed salad
- Yoghurt and mint dressing
- Pre-heat your oven to 180c (fan assisted)
- Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and stir through a generous amount of marinade
- Set aside for the flavours to infuse (5 minutes if in a hurry, refrigerated overnight is ideal)
- Thread the chicken pieces onto a wooden skewer and bake for 10 minutes
- Turn the chicken skewers over and cook for a further 5 minutes (or until cooked right through)
- Just before your chicken finishes cooking, add your naan bread to the oven for 3-4 minutes to warm though
- To serve, brush your cooked chicken skewers with some more masala and mango marinade and serve on top of naan bread and salad
- Drizzle with some cool yoghurt and mint dressing
- Enjoy
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary bottle of The Groovy Food Company Masala with Mango Marinade. All thoughts, opinions and post content is entirely my own.
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