Slimming World Recipe - Diet Coke Chicken

Now when I first heard of this recipe I thought, yuk! But I can honestly say it is now one of our favourites. Tim requests this on a regular basis.

I bet you are intrigued, so here goes.

You will need:

1 Onion chopped

Peppers (red, green and yellow) sliced

Mushrooms sliced

2 Chicken breasts sliced 

1 can of Diet Coke

6 tbsp Passatta

1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 tsp Soy Sauce

1 tsp Chinese Five Spice

Sprinkle of Garlic Granules 

1 Chicken Stock Cube

Spray a large frying pan with Fry Light and add the onion and peppers. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add the mushroom and cook for a couple more. 

Then add the sliced chicken and cook until lightly golden. 

Meanwhile in a jug mix the diet coke, Passatta, Worcestershire Sauce, Soy Sauce, Chinese Five Spice, Garlic Granules and Chicken Stock cube. Add this to the pan and simmer for 30 minutes.

At this point it may not look too appetising, but be patient. After the 30 minutes the sauce will have reduced and thickened.

Serve with boiled rice.

This is syn free on the Slimming World Extra Easy plan.

It tastes delicious. Give it a try.

Until next time.

Sarah xx

Change is good!

Back in January I made the decision that it was time to make a change. 

Since having the kiddywinks I've never really taken the time to look after myself properly. I'd use the excuse that I was too busy looking after the children, Tim, home, etc...

But I began to realise that my weight had crept up far too high, I was feeling very lethargic and starting to look and feel old!

It was seeing photographs of myself at Christmas that really brought home how I felt I'd "let myself go"!  I didn't want to look back in years to come at pictures with the family and always think how dreadful I looked. I wanted to be happy and healthy for my children, but primarily for me!

The added thought that I'm getting married in September 2015 was another thing to spur me on.

Something had to be done.

So on the 20th January 2014 I took the plunge and joined Slimming World. 

I attended my local group in Kegworth which had a session at 7.30pm on a Monday night. Perfect!

I was greeted by a lovely lady called Trudi who introduced herself as the group consultant.  She sat me down and talked me through the Slimming World healthy eating plan. There was a lot to take in, but I knew that once I'd got my head around it, I would be just fine. 

Fast forward 5 months and I was right. I am now 2 1/2 stone lighter. I'm not even half way towards the amount I need to lose, but I'm so happy with what I've achieved so far. I've gone down two clothes sizes, I have more energy and I feel good.

My family have been a huge support. They have been fully behind me on my journey (Yes I know that sounds naff, like I'm on X-Factor)! Tim has really enjoyed eating the meals I've prepared and even gives me a little pep talk about positive thinking before I go for my weigh in on a Monday.

Scarlett keeps telling me how proud she is of her mummy and asks every Tuesday morning if I've got a certificate this week! I love it when I can say "Yes"!

George just says "Mummy beautiful". I think he's rather biased!

The group I attend is full of lovely members. They all have words of wisdom and provide great inspiration. The consultant Trudi is amazing and always full of support whether it's a good or indifferent week.

I've also had some lovely comments from my friends (which I do get quite embarrassed about, as I'm not great at accepting compliments, but I really do appreciate every single one). Sometimes you are not always sure if there is any noticeable change, except for the numbers on the scales. But when people have mentioned how well I look, it really is a massive confidence boost and keeps me motivated to keep going and get to my goal.

As Tim says "Positive thoughts"!

Until next time.

Sarah xx

Carrot Cake - Part Two

So the cake came out of the oven and smelt lovely.

While it was cooling I decided to concoct the ginger buttercream.

200g unsalted butter

400g sifted icing sugar

2tbsp milk

1 3/4tsp ground ginger

Beat everything together until nice and fluffy. This has a very subtle taste of ginger, if you like it stronger more can be added. 

Once the cake had cooled I sliced and filled with most of the buttercream. I then crumb coated the outside of the cake with the remaining buttercream and popped it in the fridge for about half an hour.

I then rolled out the sugarpaste and covered the cake smoothing and lifting the icing down the sides.  Once covered I trimmed any excess sugarpaste away.

And that's it. I added a little bit of ribbon, as the cake looked a little naked, but as it's only a tester cake, I wasn't going to spend ages on any decorations.

Tim couldn't wait to try a piece, so I was happy to oblige.

The rest went to my local Toddler group and some other willing volunteers.

The verdict was that it tasted lovely. So I think it might just make the cut.

Until next time.

Sarah xx

Carrot Cake - Part One

Some of our family members are getting married in August and they asked if I would like to make the cake.

I jumped at the chance. I love baking, even if I do always get a little stressed by it all. I'm a perfectionist when it comes to my cakes!!

So today I'm trying out a Carrot cake recipe.

This may not make the final cut, as we are unsure whether it will taste ok once iced with sugarpaste. I've not had one iced this way before, but I'll give anything a try!

Carrot cake is usually filled and iced with cream cheese frosting, but due to me having to make the cake a few days ahead of the wedding and transport it to Oxford, I was a little hesitant to use it. I'd hate to make anyone ill because the cake filling hadn't been at the correct temperature!!

Instead I'm going to try a ginger buttercream.  I think carrot and ginger go lovely together and can't wait to see what it tastes like. I'm going to take it to the local Toddler group that I attend, where I'm sure the parents won't mind testing it for me!

Some carrot cake recipes can be extremely moist, but for a wedding cake to be able to hold a covering of sugarpaste, I needed a slightly more firm recipe.

So I decided to use a recipe by Confection Perfection. They are an award-winning cake school in Kent, who apart from running amazing cake courses, produce fantastic recipe cards. I first came across them when I attended Cake International at the Birmingham NEC a few years ago and purchased their chocolate madeira cake, Madeira cake, giant cupcake and rich fruit cake cards. They are brilliant, as they provide a break down for all sizes of cake from 4"-13" round or square. The cards can be purchased online here https://confectionperfection.co.uk/products/recipe-cards.

I've made an 8" round cake as my tester and it's just come out of the oven and smells amazing. I'd love to cut a slice, but better leave it to cool!!

In my next post I'll let you know how I get on with the ginger buttercream and covering the cake with sugarpaste.

Until next time

Sarah xx

Teatime craft - Washi Tape photo frame

As I've mentioned before, I like quick crafts. Nothing that takes too long, I'm impatient!

I've also previously mentioned my love of Washi Tape and here is another little craft that I did recently with it.

All you need is some washi tape, scissors (or craft knife) and a frame (old or new), I used an Ikea one I had lying around.

Now this is very simple (if I can do it, it can't be that difficult), so I'm not going to go into too much detail.

Here goes:

Remove the backing and glass/plastic from the frame, so you are left with just the outer part of the frame. 

Cover with small strips of tape! Lining up the pattern if necessary.  Use the scissors to just tidy up the inside and outside edges.

Replace the glass/plastic and insert a lovely photo, picture or anything that makes you smile. Reattach the backing and enjoy.

Seriously, it's that easy.

Mine is a piece of Cath Kidston printed card that I cut from an old catalogue.

A very quick, cheap craft. Just what I like!

Until next time.

Sarah xx

A lovely Sunday lunch.

Whenever we visit Looe we always like to have a Sunday lunch and there is no more perfect place than the Hannafore Point Hotel. http://www.hannaforepointhotel.com/

It reminds me of holidays when I was young. It's a very traditional style hotel. There's a lovely grand entrance with a revolving door (which the kiddywinks love), leading to a foyer/reception area with lots of staircases. A huge dining area with fantastic windows giving panoramic views of the English Channel and Looe Island. And a relaxing bar/lounge area with sofas and a beautiful sun terrace where you can enjoy an after dinner drink.

The service you receive from the staff is fantastic. They are a mixture of ages and all friendly and welcoming. They made the children feel very special, which we loved.

The Sunday lunch itself is lovely.

You have the option of either 1, 2 or 3 courses.

The starters we enjoyed were Pineapple, Melon and Blueberry salad, Liver Pate, Carrot & Corriander Soup and Smoked Mackerel. 

We all then had the Sunday roast, a choice of pork, beef or turkey (or if you ask nicely, a bit of each), stuffing, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, carrots, cabbage, parsnips, cauliflower cheese, gravy and sauces.

Desserts were Sticky Toffee pudding, White chocolate and raspberry cheesecake, Lemon tart, Chocooate Fudge cake, Ice cream or Cheese board.

Afterwards we meandered into the louge for a coffee and enjoyed more of the amazing view.

Tummys full and all happy.

Until next time.

Sarah xx

Family!

We love Looe and if we get the chance, try to holiday there every year.

I have great memories of holidays there when I was younger and I want to create new memories with my own little family.  That's me below on Hannafore beach, looking out to Looe Island  in 1977!

This year is particularly special as it is my mums 60th birthday. She had mentioned a few years ago that for her big birthday she would really like it if we could all go to Looe together. It's a place she loves dearly and we really wanted her plan to come together.  

Thankfully we all made it!

Myself, Tim, kiddywinks and my parents all stayed in a lovely holiday cottage in Hannafore called Sea Breeze. We've stayed there a couple of times before and new it would be perfect. http://www.crumplehorncottages.co.uk/sea-breeze-hannafore-looe.html

My uncle and aunt have their own little flat about 100 yards along from Sea Breeze, so they stayed there. And my mums aunt and uncle travelled down in their own camper van and pitched up just outside Looe at the Camping Club site at St Martins.

Having us all there made my mum extremely happy and if she's happy, I'm happy!

Until next time.

Sarah xx