What I Ate Wednesday - Sarah V

I’ll be honest, when I’m on a diet, I eat very similarly day in, day out. In the winter, I have soup for lunch pretty much every day – and sure, I mix up the soup flavours, but nine times out of ten, I go back to the same ones (because they’re the BEST ONES).

I had a day recently where I ate a bit differently, so thought it was a good one to include here. Particularly because there’s a VERY surprising treat included... I’m a bit amazed I could get it in too and still be under my 26PP!

Breakfast

2 Alpen Light bars – 3PP

These are a godsend when you know you are going to have a bad day, or are eating on the run. Originally I thought they were quite high at 2PP each, but they’re victims to WW’s rounding up/rounding down policy. In reality they are probably about 1.6PP each – which would be rounded up to 2 - meaning that two is 3.2PP – which would be rounded down to 3! So useful – I always try to have a box of these at work and also at home. The Lemon Drizzle ones are so tasty but the Cherry Bakewell are the best ones!

Snack

Sainsbury’s Sweet & Salt Popcorn – 2PP

I am obsessed with these mini popcorn packets – they tend to hit the spot so much more than crisps as they satisfy the sweet and savoury craving all at once. The bags look small, but it’s more than enough for a snack. They’re amazing.

Lunch

Aubergine Parmigiana – 5PP

This is the recipe I posted a little while ago. I ended up having it for lunch every day that week – it reheated beautifully and everyone in the office was jealous. Plus, the halloumi chunks... yum. Having a slightly lower than usual lunch always makes a difference later in the day.

Snack

Krispy Kreme Donut – 9PP

WHAT WHAT? You heard me right, I managed to factor in a Krispy Kreme. You also heard me right, it is almost double the points of my lunch. I didn’t plan to have this, but someone brought them into work and I couldn’t resist. The best thing is I was already intending to have a low dinner, so it’s totally allowed!

Dinner

Butternut Squash Lasagne – 6PP

15g Cathedral City Light – 1PP

Bloody love this lasagne! It’s a really filling, tasty dinner, but shockingly low in points. The perfect recipe to make when you’re trying to have a good week, or perhaps trying to get back on track after a bad one!

Drinks

Water & Diet Coke

I drink about 3 litres of water a day, and sometimes allow myself a Diet Coke when I need a caffeine hit. I'm trying to get out of the one a day habit though - even though it's calorie free, it's so bad for you!

Total = 26PP exactly

Garlic & Mushroom Lasagne

A long long time ago (okay, a few months) I made a mushroom lasagne. I was excited about it. It had so much potential. It was based on an Ina Garten recipe, it had butter in it, and it was full of mushrooms and garlic which are two of my favourite things. What could go wrong?

Well, quite a few things, as it hapens. It wasn't BAD, it was just... meh. It was overly wet and after spending ages sauteeing mushrooms in garlic and butter, I couldn't taste it at all. Upsetting.

It bothered me though. How could a recipe with so much POTENTIAL be such a letdown? I couldn't let it go. So, I made some tweaks, and tried it again. And this time? This time it was EPIC. This recipe? Pah. But THIS recipe? I completely vouch for. If you like mushrooms, then you will flip for this. It's so rich and filling and tasty and wonderful and AWESOME.

Garlic Mushroom Lasagne
6 lasagne sheets – 11pp
1 cans Campbell's or Bachelor's Low Fat Condensed Mushroom Soup – 4pp
60g Lurpak Lighter – 9pp
125g Light Mozzarella - 6PP
200g light feta - 10pp
100g Low Fat Cheese - 8PP
6-8 x fresh garlic cloves - 0PP
2 red onions - 0PP
200g Spinach - 0PP
Black pepper – 0PP
4 x punnets mushrooms (about 1000g) – 0PP

48PP / 8PP

To reduce points - Use less cheese, cut out or cut down the butter.

Serves 6.

1 - Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
2 - Clean the mushrooms and slice them 1/4-inch thick. You can use normal closed cup, portobello, or a mixture. I used 2 punnets closed cup, a punnet of mini portobello and a punnet of shiitake.
3 - Heat a little of the butter in a large non-stick frying pan or wok. When the butter melts, add a couple of crushed garlic cloves and a handful of the sliced mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt, and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender and they release some of their juices.
4 - They may become too dry, so add a little water. Toss occasionally to make sure the mushrooms cook evenly. When cooked, remove from pan, add another handful of mushrooms, another bit of butter, more garlic and more salt. Repeat with the remaining mushrooms and butter, then set all the mushrooms aside in a bowl.
5 - Go outside for a minute and then come back in. DOESN'T YOUR HOUSE SMELL AMAZING?
6 - Thinly chop up your red onions and cook until soft. Remove from wok, mix in with your mushrooms (you could also cook them together, to be honest).
7 - Steam your spinach by placing in the wok or your pan with a lid on for a couple of minutes until it wilts.
8 - Drain your mushroom and onion mixture. I recommend saving the liquid that comes out in a pan as you can use it later!



9 - To assemble the lasagne, place about half the mushroom and onion mixture in the bottom of your lasagne dish
10 - Cut up your feta and sprinkle over the top of the mushrooms.
11 - Add 3 of the pasta sheets over the top then add your spinach on top of that, spreading out evenly so every portion will get a good amount
12 - Add the rest of your mushrooms to the top of your spinach, then tear up your mozzarella and sprinkle on top.
13 - Add your last 3 pasta sheets.
14 - Pour your mushroom soup in a bowl and add a splash of the drained mixture from your mushrooms. This gross looking water is basically mushroom juice, garlic and butter - it's going to add some awesome flavour! Add as much as you want, and stir until you're happy with the consistency.
15 - It seems a crime to get rid of the remaining juices, but your mushrooms will release more juices whilst cooking though so you need to be wary of the dish getting too wet as it will sap the flavour of the mushrooms.
16 - Spread your soup over the top of the lasagne sheets - this is basically your white sauce.
17 - Sprinkle your low fat cheese (I use Cathedral City Light) on top, and add a few spritzes of FryLight, a dash of rosemary if you fancy it, and salt and pepper.
18 - Chuck in the oven! Bake for 20-30 minutes and then NOM.

I made mine 6 portions but you could actually stretch it to 8. It's very rich and filling. AND AMAZING.

Guest Post - Zero Point Ice Cream by Laura from Knead Whine

Hi, I'm Laura from Knead Whine. In the last 15 weeks I've lost 16lbs and am 11lbs away from target. I'm with the Weight Watchers programme and honestly can't believe how easy it is. I can have a little bit of what I want and the weight comes off. I'm a huge fan of sharing something a little bit naughty with my three year old - a slice of lemon and poppy seed cake at Pret or a falafel mezze salad from Starbucks shared between two is very few points.

My favourite discovery BY A MILE is zero point icecream (although knowing that a Green and Blacks dark mini is two points is something else I'm rather fond of!). Having discovered something I love, I couldn't help but try different variations and add the odd point here and there as I went.


Option one: - Banana, raspberry and cinnamon
Stats: two servings, 1 propoints each.

Recipe:
One banana, cut into coins and frozen
A handful of raspberries
A tablespoon of cinnamon - split between two people made for one propoint each.

Freeze the banana in coins, freeze the raspberries. Sprinkle with cinnamon and blend. We enjoyed this at the end of a really busy day at school fête and Newburyfest. Could have done without the cinnamon actually. Nicely pink and raspberryish.

Option two: - Bananaberry
Stats: one serving, one propoint (pointless without the meringue)

Recipe:
One banana, cut into coins and frozen
A handful of Waitrose essential berries mix
Grating of fresh nutmeg
Two mini Waitrose meringues

Blend together all ingredients except the meringues. Place meringue on top. Enjoyed on a very hot evening after a day of Tumble Tots and owl making.  

Option three: - Creamy banana
Stats: - one serving, one propoint

Recipe:
One banana, cut into coins and frozen
40g (to taste) of no fat natural yoghurt.

Blend banana and yoghurt together. A slight yoghurt tang and tasted like an even creamier version of the original. Enjoyed this on the night that the storm was promised to break after the hottest day of the year. 

Option four: - Peanut mocha
Stats: - two servings, two propoints each

Recipe:
Two bananas, cut into coins and frozen
2 teaspoons smooth peanut butter
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
20ml coffee - a good way to make use of the little bit that is always left over after I've used the coffee machine in the morning.

Blend ingredients together. This was quite tasty - although it could do with either dropping the peanut butter (making it only 1 propoint) or the coffee.

I've got loads more that I want to try out - a plain mocha option, a cashew butter option, maybe even an avocado option! Now I've started with this the possibilities are (almost) endless.

How to get past a plateau

The above is a real chart of my weight loss since January. Starts off so well, doesn't it? A nice, steady downward slope. And then it kind of... straightens up.

Even when I've been losing weight steadily, I live in fear of the dreaded plateau. We all know it's coming, and sooner or later we are going to get to the point where nothing is changing. So what do you do?

My weight has just started really moving again for the first time since e start of June, and I've actually lost around 4lbs in the last week or so. It's not been a fluke, though - I've worked bloomin' hard to shift that! So I thought I'd share my tips for getting through a plateau.

1. Exercise
I'm sure there are some dieters out there who are instantly like 'I'm out.' I'm with you! Exercise is the WORST. And for the first few months of WW, I didn't do any. Then I started walking a bit more. I started making a point of taking the long way round, and instead of driving the 3 miles to my parents' house, going by foot. Eventually, I braved a Zumba class for the first time in almost a year. And you know what? I loved it!

My point is, start slow. Take it easy at first. But when you approach that plateau, it's time to step it up. And you might actually find that you enjoy it.

2. Go back to the start
My first few months on WW, I tracked literally everything I ate and I saw serious results. But gradually, I started to miss the odd day here or there. A night out was a total write off. And my weight stopped going down. Some weeks, it went up.

The last few weeks, I've started following WW like a newbie again. It's got my motivation back and made me aware of the little extras that were creeping in. Have a biscuit, it's fine. But it DOES count.

3. Set some new targets
That dress in a size smaller, getting to a certain weight, finally being able to wear skinny jeans... if you believe you can, then you can.

My goal was to fit into a size 12 bridesmaids dress for October and you know what? It fits. But it could fit better. So now I'm focusing on getting to a certain point, which would be the slimmest I've been for 7 years. It'd be kind of a big deal to me, and I'm 11lbs off right now.

4. Think about how far you've come
Sure, you look better. But how do you FEEL? After losing 2 stone, my self confidence is higher than it's been for a long time. I actually like photos of myself again. But physically, I feel so much healthier. The sore knees and back that were plaguing me last year have gone. My body is full of good stuff, and my tummy is both smaller and happier for it.

5. Try something new
Like a new exercise class, or some new recipes. There's tons on the Internet - on this blog even - plus in recipe books, magazines. Branch out, get out of your rut, and you might actually get excited about cooking healthily again. And I need to take this point on board, as I've been living on butternut squash lasagne lately. It's so good though!


You might have actually already achieved your target, and if you feel great as you are, that's awesome. You're not at a plateau, dude! You're at target! APPLAUSE.

If you have any other ideas, let us know in the comments!


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