Trying new recipes

Healthy eating is still a top priority for me and the couple of health scares my family have had in the last 6 months are a sure sign that we need to take care of ourselves.  I have said to my husband so many times, I don't want him to try and get out of being married to me by giving himself a heart attack due to the amount of saturated fat we used to eat.  Extreme I know but what's the harm in a little scaremongering if it keeps him around for a bit longer?

I'm still very subscribed to The Body Coach, it suits my lifestyle and I really enjoy the HIIT workouts (when I can fit them in).  I have also started doing TRX workouts to help tone and I'm loving that too thanks to my PT friend! They're so quick and simple and really target the areas I need to tone.  My kind of exercise.  As well as his recipes I have also looked at alternative sources for getting the best food into my family.  I want the food to taste great as well as look after us but I had found especially towards the back end of 2016 that the dinners were getting all too samey.  I have looked on my usual mum sites (Annabel Karmel, Homemade by you etc) for inspiration but nothing had actually jumped out at me.  This changed just before the new year when I was introduced to Simply Cook.  I had heard of it before and in fact my husband had mentioned something similar to make it easier for us to meal plan.  I stupidly poo-pooed the idea as I thought we could get shopping cheaper and make the dinners cheaper - if he was me, I would be feeling smug right about now.

Simply Cook is a box subscription for simple yet different recipes which you cook in your home and they provide the inspiration (recipes) based on whether you like your food mild, medium or mega spicy and your dietary requirements.  It's basically a lottery of recipes and they pick four for your box at random.  When it eventually arrives (mine took over a week and the holiday season is a terrible excuse) you are supplied with four recipe cards and herbs and spices for each recipe you wouldn't easily be able to get from a supermarket.  You then need to buy the rest i.e. chicken thighs, beef mince, veggies etc.  Last night we tried this for the first time and I chose to cook Bibimbap.  I have never tried this dish before and so had no idea what to expect.  My family are both Jewish and Filipino so my entire life I have been fed a wide range of dishes and am always open to trying new things.  My husband, not so much, but since being with me he has been a lot more willing (within reason).  We're trying to instill this into our son and touch wood, he has been relatively forthcoming so far.  We have also been able to take him out to eat with us like to Thai restaurants and for my Dad's birthday a Japanese/Brazilian fusion restaurant where he ate a lot of the food we did and even tried out chopsticks.  Anyway, here is what it's supposed to look like:

https://www.simplycook.com/recipes/bibimbap-gluten-free

And here is what it actually looked like:

I know my presentation needs work!

I didn't add the Gochujang sauce to my son's meal as it would be wayyyy too spicy although he tried to eat ours a number of times.  I should mention I unfortunately know his spice threshold so I'm not depriving him from anything.  He has had hot wings before - he stole them off of my plate before I could stop him, and while crying looked at me like why are you doing this to my mouth and why aren't you in pain eating them too?  Aside from the beansprouts, he ate every mouthful as did my husband and I and it was delicious! I have cancelled my subscription for the time being as I was a little disappointed I was literally paying for recipe cards and herbs/paste/stock but depending on how the other meals go, we may do it again some time.   We also have their jerk chicken recipe on the menu for this week and then have the Iranian Stew and Jambalaya left to try so I will keep you updated.

Another company I am looking into trying out to expand my offering is Hello Fresh.  Unlike Simply Cook they send you a box with everything you need for each recipe so no shopping is required.  As I haven't yet tried this I can't offer my opinion on it but I'm looking forward to trying them out hopefully in the next couple of months and will feed back! My friend has also tried Mindful Chef which is similar to Hello Fresh.  She has found this a massive help as she transitions to Veganism due to her intolerances.  She has even told me about an amazing recipe for a Black Bean burger - something she would never have tried without them.

I'm so excited for our future meal plans.  I hope this will give me loads of new inspiration and as a foodie my taste buds can't wait.

~AB~


*this post is entirely my own opinion and has not been sponsored by any of the above-mentioned companies

A new year, a new me?

I don't think so.

As I have said before, I will not be making resolutions.  Whilst the new year is the chance to start afresh, I find that January is usually the most difficult month.  I'm still relaxing from the ridiculousness that is the holiday period and let's be honest, like many others, I am broke for most of January so it is difficult to start anything new if I can't afford to do it.  My new year last year started in July when I finished my last session with my kinesiologist feeling bright and optimistic.  It didn't last long, as you may have read in earlier posts but I will take opportunities thrown at me with both hands regardless of the month they are given to me.

2016 was eye opening, not least because I felt the real me for the first time in a very long time even if it was only briefly.  I also hit the bottom again hard and am still trying to resurface.  I know it was a difficult year for many and now that the new year is here, like many, I am waiting in anticipation at what 2017 will now throw at us.  That being said, here are a couple of ideas I would like to try out:

A positive memory jar 
January on Facebook means the circulation of loads of ideas on how to improve your life in 2017.  I usually eye roll at most of them but this idea caught my attention because I think it will have great value in how I view my time.  The concept is, at the end of each week you write down a positive thing/event that has happened and you put it into the jar.  On new year's eve of that year, you then empty the jar and read everything you have put in there, the idea being that you reflect positively on your year and take that positivity forward.  I mostly like this as there are so many little things that happen that you completely forget about and it's nice to remember and relive each moment all over again.

Funny phrases log
This is for those with children but from the moment your child starts speaking - start a log of the hilarious things that they say.  My son's vocabulary and speech have come along leaps and bounds so I am definitely keen to do this.  That being said, at the moment he is mostly a parrot and copying everything so nothing he says is quite so original yet but we will get there.  I will definitely be adding to the list the cute things like "peatot"- teapot and "rainboat" - rainbow as they're the sweetest little words.

What ideas are you planning to try out or have tried already?

And to finish, because she is hilarious, here is a blog post I read a couple of days ago which made me laugh to tears about going back to work after a second maternity leave.  It's an old post but still so valid:

http://www.selfishmother.com/15-good-reasons-to-go-back-to-work/#

~AB~