Beef Casserole with Garlic Bread - 19pp (Weight Watchers Friendly Recipe)

This is most definitely a weekend dish for me - not only is it higher in weight watchers pro points at 19pp per serving than I would normally splurge on an evening meal, but it takes a little while in the oven. It could be tweaked easily enough, by reducing the number of slices of garlic bread used to top it (the casserole underneath is actually only 7pp!). I tend to use a few weeklies on my meals at the weekend though, so the extra garlic bread was a special treat.

Ingredients (Serves 2)

300g lean stewing steak

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon tomato puree

1 tin flageolet beans

1 onion, sliced

1 red pepper, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 sticks of celery, diced

2 cloves of garlic

1 small french stick (240g)

60g I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light (ICBINBL)

Calorie controlled cooking spray

Salt and Pepper

1/4 tsp dried rosemary
1/4 tsp chilli flakes
1 tespoon oregano

1 beef stock cube
100ml water

Preheat the oven to 180ºC

Weight Watchers Notes - pro points per serving - beef - 4pp, flageolet beans - 3pp, 120g french stick - 9pp, 30g ICBINBL - 3pp

Method

1. Using a casserole dish that can be used on the hob and in the oven, soften the onion, carrot and celery with some calorie controlled cooking spray and, once softened, add half of the garlic to the pan. Stir fry for 1 minute. 

2. Add the beef and crumbled stock cube and brown/seal the meat. 

3. Add the water, drained flageolet beans, the tin of tomatoes, rosemary, chilli, half the oregano and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the tomato puree. 

4. Cover and transfer the dish to the preheated oven. Give this at least 2 hours (3 if you can spare it) to get the meat nice and tender. Check occasionally and in order to keep a nice thick consistency either remove the lid to allow water to evaporate or add a little water if it starts to dry out, as necessary. 

5. Once the casserole is cooked, split it between two individual sized oven dishes (or you can leave it as it is and add the garlic bread but it will be difficult to serve). 

6. Add the remaining garlic to the ICBINBL and combine so that the garlic is well distributed. Add the remaining oregano and season to taste.  

7. Slice the french stick into an even number of slices and spread the slices with the garlic butter on one side. 

8. Lay the garlic bread over the top of the meat (as you would top a shepherds pie with mash) and return the dishes to the oven for 10 minutes or until the garlic butter has melted into the bread and started to crisp up.

Feta Spaghetti - 13pp - Weight Watchers Friendly Recipe

Another quick and simply evening meal for a busy weekday. It has a taste of the Mediterranean with lovely salty feta cheese and olives and the opportunity to get a fair few of your 5 a day in too :) Working out at 13pp it's an easy one to fit in to a daily plan.

Ingredients (Serves 2)

200g Low Fat Salad Cheese/Feta
120g dried wholewheat spaghetti
40g I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light (ICBINBL)
30 olives (stoned)
1 bag rocket, baby spinach and watercress
1 pack cherry tomatoes on the vine, sliced in half
Half an aubergine, diced very small

Weight Watchers Prop Points Per Serving - 13pp - 100g low fat salad cheese - 5pp, 60g dried weight wholewheat pasta - 5pp, 15 olives - 1pp, 20g ICBINBL - 2pp

Method

1. Cook your pasta according to the packet instructions in salted boiling water.

2. Whilst the pasta is cooking, dice the feta and place into a large mixing bowl with the olives and half of the bag of salad.

3. In a frying pan melt half the ICBINBL and soften the cherry tomatoes and cubes of aubergine. Once they are softened, add the remaining half bag of spinach, rocket and watercress to wilt (I had to do this in 2 batches).

4. Once cooked, drain the pasta and melt the remaining ICBINBL over the hot pasta, stirring so it's all coated.

5. Combine the warm vegetables and pasta with the cold feta and olives and it's ready to serve. I found this didn't need any additional salt, although I did crack some fresh black pepper over it before serving.

Fish Pie - 15pp (Weight Watchers Friendly Recipe)

I quite often buy ready made fish pies - for 2 reasons; firstly, my husband doesn't like fish so I only eat one portion at a time and secondly, although I like the taste of fish, I'm not too keen on the smell when I cook it from scratch. Nonetheless, I thought I would give it a go. The fish pie I usually buy works out to 12pp, to make a slightly bigger one from scratch at 15pp per portion is not bad as far as I'm concerned! It was really creamy too which was a bonus.

The recipe makes two portions and will feed me for 2 days :)

Ingredients (Serves 2)
300g mixed fish pieces - cod, smoked haddock and salmon (I used a bag of frozen fish pie mix)
100g cooked king prawns
400g frozen carrot, swede and mashed potato (you could, of course, make your own mash and point accordingly)
500ml skimmed milk
180g Philadelphia Extra Light
30g Parmesan Cheese
Frozen Spinach (I used 4 blocks)
Salt, Pepper, Oregano
1 teaspoon cornflour

Preheat the oven to 180ºC

Weight Watchers Notes - points per serving are as follows: Fish - 4pp, prawns - 1pp, 200g carrot, swede and potato mash - 4pp, 90g Phili EL - 3pp, 100ml skimmed milk - 1pp (some of the milk in the recipe is discarded), 15g parmesan - 2pp, 1/2 tsp cornflour - 0pp. Total 15pp

Method

1. Make up your mash according to the packet instructions. Once warmed, I added a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard, though I'm not sure it's technically a good match for fish.. I just like it!

2. Gently heat 500ml skimmed milk in a pan and poach the fish and prawns until the fish is cooked though and flaking. Drain the fish but retain 200ml of the fish infused milk. Spread the fish evenly between two oven dishes.

3. Return 200ml of the fish infused milk to a pan and add the philadelphia; whisk. In a small bowl combine the cornflour with a tablespoon of the milk/cheese mixture. Once combined, add this to the pan to thicken the sauce. Add 20g parmesan, salt, pepper and some oregano to taste and combine.

4. Add a few blocks of frozen spinach to the fish and pour over the sauce, dividing equally between the two oven dishes. Top with the mashed potato and finish each dish off with an additional 5g parmesan cheese (1 tsp) sprinkled over the top.

 





5. Put the pies in the oven for around 15 minutes or until golden brown.

NB. I made two and kept one for the following day. I covered the dish and stored it in the fridge and then put it in the oven for around 30 minutes, just to make sure it was heated through the next day.

Easy Breakfast Omelette - 4pp (Weight Watchers Friendly Recipe)

This is nice for a change at breakfast whether you have a little more time, want to up your protein or just fancy something savoury. It's also low in pro point at only 4pp per serving so will use no more of your daily allowance than a bowl of cereal :)

Ingredients (Serves 1)

2 medium eggs
1 tomato
3 mushrooms
handful of parsley
salt and pepper

Method

Chop the tomatoes, mushrooms and parsley and combine these with two beaten eggs in a bowl. Add your salt and pepper at this stage to season from the inside out.

In order to cook the omelette, I spritz a small frying pan with calorie controlled cooking spray, add the mixture and cover with a lid. Once it has started to firm up, I add a little water to edge of the pan and replace the lid - the steam created cooks the top of the omelette whilst the flame cooks from the bottom. It's hard to sitr/flip this one as it has so much additional filling within the egg so I have found this to be the best method.

The only pp are in the eggs - 4pp :)

Special K Cracker Crisps Review

The Special K Cracker Crisps caught my eye in the supermarket the other day as they were on offer - 2 for one, or half price or something. I bought a box of the Sweet Chilli flavour and a box of the Sour Cream and Onion flavour instead of my usual Quavers or French Fries (both of which are 2pp per bag on the weight watchers plan). I weighed out 20g which was an equivalent 2pp and you will see it filled a small dessert bowl - I thought the amount of crisps for 2pp was pleasing. 

I have to say, however, I was a little disappointed (and I think the name is somewhat misleading!)... they're neither crackers (which to my mind would mean of a biscuit like texture) nor 'crisps'. They are a little like Velvet Crunch in texture - a whole lot of air and 'softer' than something like a quaver (I presume because they are made with tapioca starch). I'm not a fan, although I know a lot of people like this texture, in which case I think they'd be a good buy - for me it just feels a bit too fake in my mouth...

In terms of flavour, the sweet chilli definitely wins over the sour cream. I think they also come in salt and balsamic vinegar or something - I find balsamic vinegar crisps are never quite as nice as I hope, so I tend to avoid them.

The sweet chilli was nicely spicy, leaving a warmth in your mouth without being too hot. The sour cream were nice enough, but I doubt I'll ever finish the box.

I won't be buying them again simply as there are plenty of normal crisps (as in, not marketed as 'diet' food) which are similar in calories and much more satisfying.

Creamy Garlic Prawns with Avocado - 7pp (Weight Watchers Friendly Recipe)

I still have some of the fiery warmth of the chilli on my tongue from this dish - a quick and easy lunch dish for 7pp.

Ingredients
80g Avocado, cut into pieces (4pp)
50g cooked King Prawns (1pp)
1 Tablespoon Philadelphia Extra Light (1pp)
10g I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light (1pp) (ICBINBL)
1 clove of garlic
1/4 tsp crushed chillies

Method

Finely dice the garlic and add it to a frying pan on medium heat with the ICBINBL and the chilli. Fry softly and once starting to smell really good and garlicky add the prawns and stir fry. Add the Phili Extra Light (I also added a few drops of water, just to loosen the cream cheese) and stir to combine and coat the prawns in the spicy garlic sauce.

Combine the cooked prawns with the avocado and serve! Yum!

Epcot Food and Wine Festival Review - Desserts

My last stop of the evening (you can see from the picture that it was pretty dark by now) was the Desserts and Champagne booth. I opted for the trio of desserts. I think this was only around $3-4, perhaps $3.50 which I thought was good value for three tasters.

From top to bottom, the desserts were:

Lemon Custard with Bluberry compote. This was like lemon curd, with some crispy crunchy bits - tart and mouthwatering.

Dark Chocolate Mousse with Chilli and Salted Caramel. This was a good chocolate mousse - I missed the salt and only got a very slight hint of chilli though. Then again, I eat dark chocolate with chilli regularly as a treat (a square of lindt chilli chocolate is only 1pp on weight watchers - yay!) so perhaps I was just used to the flavours. I did hear someone in the queue remarking at what an awful idea chilli and chocolate was.

Yogurt Panna Cotta with Orange Cake. I enjoyed this (I will never complain about pannacotta!). The cake was more just sweet cake, rather than particularly orange flavoured and there was a nice fruit jelly type topping with rounded it off.

Review: good value for money and definitely worth going for the trio rather than individual desserts, just to try them all out. Very well presented and pretty too - I'd eat it in the day next time so I could admire the presentation a little more!!

How to make Roasted Vegetables - 0pp (Weight Watchers Friendly Recipe)

Roasted vegetables are an easy and delicious addition to most meals. Most often I serve mine with oven baked chicken and creamy cous cous (recipe to follow) or I serve them with low fat sausages, yorkshires and gravy. Really, they can go with anything!! This method means the veggies remain at 0pp. 

Suitable Vegetables
Red Onion
Courgette
Aubergine
Peppers

The above four are my standard and will also be on my baking tray for a 'roasted vegetables' meal. There are, however, loads of things you can add in addition. A few of my favourites are:

Cherry tomatoes
Beetroot
Carrots
Butternut Squash

Method
Chop your vegetables into large

Moussaka Style Turkey - 14pp

My auntie had a part after Christmas with a wonderful moussaka. I don't like lamb so I was a little cautious, however, when I asked her she said that she had made it with turkey mince as it was lower in fat! It was absolutely delicious and I'm not sure I've done justice to her recipe by making it a weight watchers style recipe (real moussaka seems to have lots of cheese and white sauce and oil!) but my version was still pretty good. My recipe works out at 14pp per portion. 

Ingredients (Makes 2 individual moussakas)

250g minced turkey
500g potatoes
80g 50% reduced fat grated cheese
1/2 carton tomato passata
20g I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light (or other very low fat spread)
1 tablespoon plain flour
1 chicken stock cube
6 mushrooms
1 large onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 aubergine
1 teaspoon cinnamon (I would start with half a teaspoon and add more if you think it's needed - mine was a bit old and not as strong in flavour as new cinnamon!!)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and Pepper

(You'll have to excuse my photo - I used up a leek and could only get a few baby aubergines - I thought I'd substitute a courgette, but didn't actually need it!)

Weight Watchers Notes: Pro points per serving are as follows: 125g turkey mince - 4pp, 250g potatoes - 5pp, 40g 50% fat cheese - 3pp, 10g low fat 'butter' - 1pp, halfa tablespoon of flour - 1pp; totals 14pp

Method

1. Thickly slice your potatoes and boil them in salted water until they are cooked but still firm. Once cooked, drain.

2. Thickly slice your aubergine and soften in a pan or on a griddle. You can do this with heat alone and without oil - just keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn; heat both sides. Set the softened slices to one side.

3. Make your 'moussaka filling' next. Roughly chop the onion and mushrooms and soften with the finely chopped garlic. Once soft, add the turkey mince and cook thoroughly. Once the meat is cooked through, add the passata, cinnamon and oregano. Season to taste. Set the mixture to one side.

4. Next up is the "white sauce". This is in brackets because I made mine without milk in order to try and keep the pp down. If you have a few spare points I would suggest using milk instead of stock as it was a little salty.

Gently melt the butter in a small pan, stir in the flour to form a paste. Keep stirring for a little while to cook the flour through and then gradually add the liquid (either the stock made up with hot water (190ml) or milk), stirring all the way. After each little bit of liquid is added allow it to thicken before adding more.

5. Now it's time to make up our individual moussaka. You could, of course, make a large one and serve it on plates - I just wanted to save on washing up and I served them in the oven dishes!!

First spread a thin layer of the tomato mix on the bottom of the oven dish. Top with a layer of potatoes, followed by a layer of aubergine slices. Next pour around half the 'white sauce' over the aubergine. Add a second layer of meat/tomato mix, the remainder of the 'white sauce' and the grated cheese.

6. Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and serve.

M&S Cod Rogan Balti Review

I was totally sucked in by the marketing on this occasion. Every time I saw the M&S advert for their fuller for longer range recently, I wanted the cod rogan balti...

I happened to be near an M&S yesterday and I knew I was out today with little time to cook, so I treated myself.

Using the NSVs on the package I worked it out to be 9 pro points on weight watchers which is pretty good for a main meal.

I really enjoyed it - there were two fairly large pieces of nice flaky fish; not dried out by the oven cooking as they were sandwiched between moister elements. There was a layer of spinach over a layer of tomato and lentil curry and it was topped with crispy onion and potato topping.

I really thought the topping would be my favourite bit - don't get me wrong; it was good, just not the best bit! It was nice and crispy (one of the textures I love and really miss when dieting) and it was flavourful but the highlight was the tomato and lentil curry underneath. It was slightly tangy, mildly warming and just generally tasty.

Overall a good dish and whilst it's on offer (2 for £6) I would get one every now and again. I might try to replicate it though just so I can bulk it out with slightly more veg (and perhaps I'll try it with chicken for my fish hating husband!!).

Chicken Curry with Rice - 10pp (Weight Watchers Friendly Recipe)

This recipe is for a really tasty chicken curry - it's tomato based so there are very few points in the curry itself. I always serve it with a little side salad and some mango chutney (Add 1pp extra for a tablespoon of mango chutney!). It's a big old serving though - if you prefer a smaller portion, don't add the extra pepper. This is a VERY points friendly dinner at just 10pp for the whole meal - it helps me avoid indian takeaways, which are usually closer to 30pp just for a curry!!

Ingredients (Serves 2)

1 Large onion, sliced thinly
1 Red Pepper, diced
1 Green Pepper, diced
1 red chilli (deseeded if you want less heat), finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tsp ginger, finely chopped
1 tin chopped tomatoes
330ml water
2 medium chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
3 tsps ground coriander
1.5 tsp ground cumin
1.5 tsp tumeric
1 tsp garam masala powder
1tsp salt
calorie controlled cooking spray
120g (dried weight) wholegrain basmati rice
Half a mango, diced
6 inches cucumber, diced
small bunch of fresh mint leaves, finely chopped

Weight Watchers Notes - the pro points per serving are as follows: Chicken breast: 4pp, Spices: 1pp, Rice: 5pp (6pp if you use white rice) totalling 10pp

Method

1. Heat a large pan (I actually use my casserole dish) and spritz with calorie controlled cooking spray. Add the onion to the pan, along with half of the salt, cover and soften. The salt, combined with putting a lid on the pan should mean the onions release their moisture - allowing cooking without oil.

2. Once softened, add the garlic, ginger and chilli and stir for about 2 minutes

3. Add the dried spices and the rest of the salt and keep stirring continuously for 1 minute to allow the spices to heat up and release their oils - do not allow them to burn; this will result in a very bitter curry!

4. Once the pan is smelling very fragrant, add the water and tinned tomatoes and combine. It should turn a more orangey shade of red.

5. Add the chicken and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened a little.

6. Once the chicken is cooked through, add the diced peppers for around 5 minutes. You want them to be heated up but it's nice if they still have a little bite to them, rather than being soggy. Keep cooking the curry until some of the water has evaporated and it's nice and thick.

7. Whilst the chicken is cooking (ie, between step 5 and 6) I usually make a little side salad - this bulks the meal out with for veg without extra points but also adds something cool and refreshing to balance the spice of the curry sauce. All you need to do is combine the mango (trust me on the fruit thing.. think mango chutney), cucumber and mint. I also cook my rice at this stage.

 

8. To serve, make a bed of rice and pile on the curry and salad. I also serve with mango chutney for an extra 1pp.

Pizza Pie - 14pp (Weight Watchers Friendly Recipe)

Both pizza and pastry are some of the things I miss being able to eat without thinking about it. I have created a pizza pie - 14pp for half the pie (or 7pp for a quarter which could be served with salad and some BNS chips perhaps for a smaller meal). It's yummy and ticks the pizza box without being crazy in points and because it has filling, rather than topping, it fills you up more than a pizza would too :)

Ingredients (Makes 1 pie to serve 2 or 4)

1 pack pizza base mix (and water as directed by your packet)

240g wafer thin ham

1 box mushrooms, sliced

1 large onion, sliced

4 tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 bag baby spinach

calorie controlled cooking spray

oregano

salt and pepper

140g 50% reduced fat grated  cheese

Preheat oven to 200ºC (or as directed by your pizza base mix pack)

Weight Watchers notes: points per half a pie are as follows: pizza base mix - 6pp, 120g ham - 3pp, 70g 50% reduced fat cheese - 5pp

Method

1. Spritz your spring form pie tin with calorie controlled cooking spray. 

2. Make up your pizza base mix according to the instructions (leave out any optional oil or add points to your recipe accordingly) and after kneading split it into a large portion (around 3/4 of the mix) and a small one (around 1/4). 

3. Roll out the large portion of dough as thinly as you can. This took me a little while as I was using a large spring form tin to cook my pie. Once it's big enough, lay it into the tin and let it fall into shape (pushing it is likely to cause ripping). Leave this in a warm place whilst you cook the filling (although note it's unlikely to rise much, if at all, due to the thinness of the dough - this is fine!)

4. Add the onion and mushroom to a large pan with a little cooking spray and soften (you could also add garlic). Add the chopped tomatoes and simmer until it has a sauce-like consistency. Add salt, pepper and dried oregano to taste (I usually also add a splash of Worcestershire sauce). Continue cooking until it is really thick - too much moisture will give a soggy pie.

5. Wilt or steam your spinach leaves in another pan. Once these are wilted, place them in a clean tea towel and squeeze out as much liquid as you can (be careful - this will be hot).

6. Now that are components are ready, it's time to layer up the pie. Start with a layer of ham - cover the base and allow the slices to curl up the side of the pie, overlapping as you go. I used half my ham for this stage. Follow the ham with the tomato sauce, spinach and about half of the cheese. Then add another layer of ham and the rest of the cheese.

7. Roll out the remaining dough to form the lid and place this on top of the filling, folding the existing sides into the middle and over the top. Use a little water as 'glue' to stick the sides to the lid and add a few slits in the top with a sharp knife to allow steam to escape. Spritz with a little calorie controlled spray and sprinkle lightly with salt. Put the pie in the oven for around 25 minutes or until the crust has turned golden brown.

8. Remove from the oven, allow to cool for a few minutes and then remove from the spring form tin before slicing and serving. Yum!

How to Make Butternut Squash Chips (BNS Chips) - 0pp

Butternut Squash (commonly abbreviated to BNS in the weight watchers community) is a firm type of squash which has 0pp. I remember first joining weight watchers and having to google "what is BNS".. I also had no idea what to do with them!

Some members use 0pp soups to keep them full and satisfied when their dailies and weeklies have run out. Others, like me, use BNS chips! You can also make some lovely creamy feeling soups out of them, but that's for another day.

Now, don't be fooled.. they don't actually taste like chips. Even the texture is slightly off. But once you've had them a few times you might learn to love them; I cover mine in vinegar and salt to trick my brain though! I tend to do them as a snack where no amount of water will fill me up and I feel like I've eaten enough fruit, where I fancy something savoury or as a nice accompaniment to a ready meal on the odd occasion I have one. 

Ingredients

Butternut Squash

Calorie Controlled Cooking Spray

Salt and Vinegar

Preheat the oven to 200ºC

Method

1. Peel your BNS. I tend to use half at a time - in these pictures I used the 'neck' end and you get more chip-like chips. If you're using the bulbous end, you need to scoop out the middle including the seeds and pith as well as peeling the squash. This will make wedge style chips. 

2. Cut your peeled squash into the desired size and shape. I mimic the size of thick cut oven chips. Lay these out onto a baking tray which has been lightly spritzed with calorie controlled cooking spray. You need to have space between each chip for them to cook properly. 

3. Place them in a preheated oven for around 40 minutes or until they start to catch. I like a bit of blackness around the edges of mine. They won't go crispy or crunchy but will retain their shape even when soft and cooked. 

4. To serve, simply top with salt and vinegar

Sorry!!

I have hardly posted at all since New Year - I must apologise. I decided to have a spring clean (for spring clean read "empty every single box, drawer, cupboard and bag into the middle of the sitting room and reorganise from there").

It has taken me over a week to get it sorted but finally I feel like my life is organised. I actually enjoyed doing my kitchen cupboards, but then the fun factor kinda ran out. Everything in my kitchen is now super accessible though (and I've even thrown out the tins of food that were out of date.. why did I ever buy tinned carrots?!).

During the week of tidying I have kept to pp pretty well - I used my weeklies for a take away curry last weekend (although I have a low pro point curry recipe to share soon) and this week I have managed not to dip into my weeklies too much, just a few here and there for maltesers so I'm hoping for a good loss. My next aim is to start putting some exercise back into my life as I haven't done anything more than walk around the supermarket since before Christmas!

So there is my apology - lots of good recipes coming up over the next few days though, enjoy!

Epcot Food and Wine Festival Review - Belgium

I had a Belgian Waffle next (which I shared with my husband.. oh so romatic!). It was yummy and small. I feel like my reviews have been kinda negative since Argentina (which, let's face it, was only the second review.. oh dear!). Literally, the size was the only let down here.

Review: There's not much to say here.. it was a waffle (sweet, light, fresh and warm) with cool whipped cream and fruit compote. The fruit had good big chunks of fruit in and was pleasantly sweet and sticky. My only complaint was that I wanted more for my money!!

New Years Resolutions - Tips for new Weight Watchers

I am starting weight watchers again. I say starting again because I have been a bit rubbish for the past few weeks with Christmas etc so I'm going back to basics. I'm guessing there will be some new starters and some returning weight watchers like me so I thought I'd share some things that have been helpful to me in the past.

1. Empty your cupboards (and the fridge/freezer... Hiding places?) of all the food you won't want around to tempt you as you start tracking. I know we're all taught not to waste food, but honestly putting more weight on or making yourself miserable because you know it's there and you can't have it is worse. The first time I did this two years ago I filled a bin liner. This week it will be limited to half a packet of cookies!

2. Buy some digital kitchen scales. They don't have to be official weight watchers ones, but you do need to weigh everything you eat. I bet what you think is 30g of healthy cereal is actually more. You might eat very healthily but just be eating more than you thought - try pouring a bowl of cereal and weighing it.. Guessing is not an option!

3. Plan and shop for at least your first week. If you're going back to basics or just getting started out and working your way through the plan it can take longer to sort an evening meal out than normal... Coming home one night and having nothing in the fridge or planned for dinner is a 1 way ticket to "I can't be bothered to cook, let's just get take away". Yes, it will take a long time the first time you do this but I promise it gets easier and as you get used to the plan and the pp of your favourite foods/meals.

4. Don't take too much on. It's probably unrealistic to say you'll start weight watchers and join the gym (going three nights a week of course) and start a new skin care regime etc etc all atone. You're not a superhero - I know it's new year and the temptation is to use this one chance to sort everything out, but if you try to take too much on it will be much more difficult and you're more likely to fail. Sort out your eating first, just concentrate on tracking and pointing for a month or so. Then add in some extra exercise when you're on top of everything - it'll be much easier to stick to if you only have one challenge at a time!

5. Don't stress out. We're human - we eat cake, we stay the same weight one week, gain a bit the next and lose weight another week. As long as the overall trend is down, don't beat yourself up and don't put too much pressure on yourself to lose weight too quickly... It'll happen if you just stick at it.

6. Last but not least, be honest to yourself. If you had a chip or two off your OH's plate, it's fine AS LONG AS YOU TRACK IT. Earn an activity point if it took you over, but don't just pretend it didn't exist!

Now to practice what I preach... Happy New Year!