Brita Boost Challenge - Relaxation

I've reached day 27 of Dry January and I'm pleased to report it's going very well. I've managed to stick to my aim of avoiding alcohol and drinking a minimum of 1.2 litres of water a day. My skin is looking noticeably clearer and I'm feeling very fresh and upbeat.

There are many reasons why people drink and BRITA have identified 5 key reasons which I outlined back in my first Brita Boost post. One of those reasons is relaxation and that's what I'm going to focus on today.

Brita Drinking alcohol can help you to relax in the short term, but long-term drinking to cope with stress can lead to a range of health and social problems including addiction, obesity and relationship difficulties. If you drink alcohol every day, your concentration and ability to work will be affected making your more stressed out in the long run.

Alcohol is a depressant and calms certain parts of the brain which may help you to feel more relaxed and less stressed but it can become a habit

Don't avoid the issue 

You're not properly confronting the issues that make you feel stressed in the first place by having a post work drink. Have a chat with a colleague, a friend or member of your family and see what steps you can take to make changes.


I've never really been fond of week day drinking but I've certainly used it at weekend to relax and feel like I'm letting my hair down a bit. BRITA organised a relaxing treatment for me as a substitute for a glass (or three) of wine to relax. I was treated to the Laguna Full Body Massage to ease stress and muscle tension. I was a little nervous before hand as I've never had a massage prior to this. 

I really felt like this treatment helped ease the strain of day to day life and the tightness I had in my legs from walking up and down hundreds of steps in France the week before disappeared. The combination of the relaxing music, oils, and deep muscle massage helped me to forget my troubles and nearly nod off. You wouldn't need to do something quite as extravagant at this every week to wind down but you could do something simple like paint your nails, take a long bath or take some time out to listen to your favourite music with no distractions. 

Drinking water  and staying hydrated after a massage is often recommended by massage therapists and health care practitioners. Drinking water is always a good idea, as the body benefits from proper hydration, and consuming water will help the kidneys and other organs process the various substances which move through the human body on a regular basis. Drinking water before a massage is also highly recommended, as it will make it easier for the massage therapist to perform deep work by hydrating the muscles so that they are easier to manipulate.

Water after a massage helps the body flush out any accumulated materials in the muscles which were released during the massage. Deep massage stimulates circulation in the body while getting rid of water, salt, and other minerals from the muscles, and circulation is designed to carry away waste materials generated by cells. By providing the body with plenty of water you can help sweep away these waste materials; otherwise, they might build up, causing muscle aches and soreness after a massage.

I stayed hydrated before and after my massage with my BRITA Fill&Go bottle and continued the relaxation after my massage by going home, putting a face mask on and spending some time alone.

Do you drink to help you relax? If you're doing Dry January how are you getting on?

Mexican Lasagne

I’ve spoken before about my love for Food Network, but if you have a similar addiction, you’ll know that most recipes on there don’t really fit on a website with a diet/fitness focus. So prepare to be even more shocked when I bring up Nigella – oh yes, I have a Nigella recipe for you today, and it’s really not naughty. AND I barely tinkered with it at all. I know, I know – I was surprised too. I kind of expected more of Nigella.

This Mexican Lasagne is vegetarian and super filling. I actually messed up my layers slightly as I forgot how to count, so I’m going to talk you through how I SHOULD have done it. It’s a really easy recipe though and very hearty. I must confess – even if it’s a touch TMI – I felt like it made me a little bloated, but it is quite carb heavy with the wraps and the beans. If I made it again, I’d cut down on the tortillas used (due to messing up the layers, I ended up using 12 in the whole dish which was overkill), decrease the beans and up the sweetcorn (and maybe the cheese). It’s a good, stodgy meal though – great for winter – and it freezes really well, so yay for that!

The main changes I made was cutting out the oil (honestly, you hardly ever need to cook with oil), upping the vegetables in the salsa (the salsa is almost entirely point-free, so next time I’d even be tempted to up the tomato!) and swapping the cheese. I think it would work with just low fat cheddar, though. I also changed the beans – the original recipe calls for black beans, but I couldn’t find them!

You can see Nigella’s original recipe here.

Mexican Lasagne
9 Weight Watchers wraps - 25PP
1 tbsp Tomato Ketchup - 1PP
3 cans Pinto Beans - 17PP
2 165g cans Sweetcorn - 6PP
200g feta - 15PP
225g mozzarella - 10PP
50g low fat cheddar - 4PP
2 onions
1 punnet mushrooms
2 peppers (any colour)
2 green or red chillies, chopped and deseeded (or not, depending on how spicy you like it)
3 cloves fresh garlic
Fresh coriander
800g chopped tomatoes (2 cans)
400ml water (swilled in empty cans)

Serves 8
78PP / 10PP

1. Preheat the oven to 200c.
2. Finely chop all your veggies
3. In a wok or non-stick frying pan fry the onion, pepper, mushrooms, chillies and crushed garlic cloves until soft
4. Add the canned tomatoes, then swill the cans out with water and add this too. Spoon in the ketchup and let the sauce come to a simmer, leaving it to cook with the lid off for about 10 mins. It should thicken considerably, but if it still looks watery turn the heat up and leave it a little longer.
5. Meanwhile, in a large bowl mix the drained beans and sweetcorn. Add the chopped mozzarella and feta, and mix together until well combined.
6. When the sauce is done (make sure to season to taste with salt/pepper and any other spices) you can start assembling. I just used my lasagne dish.
7. Smear a bit of the salsa on the bottom of your dish – enough to just cover it.
8. Add a layer of tortilla. To fit the space I used 2 overlapping wraps, then chopped a third in half and put it on either end (see the photo)
9. Add half the remaining salsa, then add another layer of tortillas over them
10. Add all of your sweetcorn/bean/cheese mix then add another layer of tortillas
11. Add the remaining salsa over the top, then sprinkle your cheddar over that.
12. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes, then let rest for a good 10-15 minutes before slicing.
13. As much as you may not want to, leaving it to rest DOES make a difference. I ate it straight out of the oven and it fell apart – I had to use a spoon to get it out! When I portioned up the rest, it sliced incredibly neatly and I could use a fishslice to lift it out.

To reduce points – you could easily leave out a tortilla layer, and I doubt you’d miss it. You could also cut down on the beans, or switch the type of cheese. Next time, I’m probably going to do all three of these things and I think it’ll taste better for it! I also think the ketchup added nothing to the flavour – I’d use sweet chilli instead.

Weight Watchers Event: Simple Start Launch

Both Gem and I are big Weight Watchers fans, so when the WW team invited me along to a cooking challenge and to find out more about their new plan, I jumped at the chance. WW has worked wonders for me, and even though I slipped off track at the end of last year due to a calorific holiday to the States and Christmas, I really haven’t found it hard to get back into it.

The event was a lovely chance to meet the WW team and their new celebrity ambassador, Shelina (who won Masterchef last year). She showed us how to make a couple of healthy recipes – turkey patties, corn salsa and grilled pineapple skewers. Here are the recipes, if you want to make them! I bought my friend Anne with me, who is also a WW fan (there are more of us than you think) and she was amused by my cooking style – my philosophy has always been not to use utensils if I can use my hands! I did end up a bit messy, but that's how I roll.

What all of the dishes we made had in common were that they are all free under the new Weight Watchers plan, Simple Start. Simple Start is how new members will now be introduced to the plan, and is based on the Filling & Healthy plan that existing members will already be aware of. It’s basically about eating food that is naturally low in fat but filling, and then allowing yourself a small portion of things off the list every day. Then, after the first two weeks, members can choose whether or not to start pointing, or whether to stay on the Simple Start/Filling & Healthy plan.

Simple Start is perfect for people who don’t like their portions being restricted, or who can’t get their heads round pointing. The philosophy is that you can eat as much as you want of the foods on the list, so there’s no counting or portion control.

To be completely honest though, Simple Start is not the plan for me. It has a lot in common with Slimming World, which didn’t work for me because I am GREEDY. If someone tells me I can eat as much pasta as I want, then I totally will. But also, I struggled with the fact that to get the most out of your daily meals, everything really has to be made from scratch. My dinners usually are, but I do rely on shopbought soup and porridge packets, as well as cereal bars, low fat crisps and chocolate bars. The points system really works for me, because it restricts my food while also letting me have a little of what I fancy. If I did Simple Start all the time, I’d probably not eat the things that were off-list, and then I’d start majorly craving them – and so when I fall off the diet wagon, I can’t get back on it. My mum has just started WW with me and after a week on Simple Start, has switched to points and is getting on much better. She has a similar philosophy to me, I think.

I think everyone is different though, and Simple Start has already worked really well for a lot of people. When I get to where I want to on Weight Watchers, I do want to switch to Filling & Healthy rather than pointing forever. But for now, I definitely need that structure to get to where I want to be. It was a fabulous event though – I loved getting my cook on! Thanks for the invite, Weight Watchers!

Low fat prawn curry

I always struggle to think of new things to cook and my small repertoire of dishes can get a little dull so I wanted to try something new. It's freezing cold outside at the moment so I thought a spicy curry would be a perfect new dish to try. I picked up some lovely fresh prawns to make this but you could use whatever you have in the freezer. Curries are a great way to use up leftover vegetables and this one can be frozen so you could make a huge batch and then get one out of the freezer when you're too busy to cook.

It's a very tasty recipe and is quick to make so it's perfect for a mid week Indian feast. It's really adaptable so if you're veggie you could add some cauliflower or butternut squash to this. For those on the Weight Watchers plan you could skip the rice and add even more zero point vegetables for a filling but low point meal. I also think this recipe is a great way to sneak vegetables into your diet if you're not too keen on them.

I work this out at roughly 220 calories per serving and the recipes serves 4. Adding 200g of brown rice will add another 215 calories.

You will need:

• 2 tbsp oil
• 400g king prawns
• 1 yellow pepper
• 4 large tomatoes
• 1 large onion, chopped
• large piece ginger, crushed
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• ½ red chilli, finely chopped
• Pinch or two of sugar
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tbsp garam masala (I didn't have any so put some curry powder in which had a similar blend)
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• small bunch coriander, chopped. I only had dried so used that.
• brown rice to serve
  
  
  

  Method
  

  Heat the oil in a deep pan and cook the onion until it starts to turn golden and translucent. Add the ginger, garlic and chilli and cook for 1-2 mins. Stir in the sugar and spices for 1 min, then add the tinned and fresh tomatoes and the peppers. Season with sea salt and simmer for 5 mins, stirring, until the sauce thickens. Stir in the prawns, reduce the heat and cook for 8-10 mins until cooked through. Remove from the heat, stir though most the coriander.
  
  Serve with rice or naan. Yum!