Two stone, two stone, I have lost two stone, two stone.
I lost 3 pounds this week which is what I wanted to lose to make it a 2 stone loss since I first weighed in on the 23rd May 2011.
I knew today was going to be good when I woke up. After 10 hours sleep I woke up feeling refreshed. Porridge with blueberries and banana for breakfast. It looks like a huge bowlful but I only had my usual amount of oats but the blueberries and banana added a lot of bulk. I cooked the blueberries in with the porridge and it was delicious.
50 g Jumbo oats, 140 ml semi-skimmed milk, 1 tsp Chia seeds, 1 small banana, 1/2 punnett blueberries, 1 tbsp peanut butter.
Harvey had Sebbie to play with all day so I got lots done and then took the 2 boys and 2 dogs for a long walk in the woods.
I had quite a few courgettes that needed picking and cooking. I am not that keen on the variety I grew this year – Genovese. They have an unusual after taste which I do not like much. I decided on a simple lunch.
▪ 2 courgettes
▪ 80 g Halloumi
▪ Cherry tomatoes.
This was so easy. I sliced the courgettes lenthwise. Washed the cherry tomatoes. Sliced the Halloumi.
I warmed up a griddle pan (one with ridges) and using my red silicon pastry brush I brushed 1/2 a tsp of groundnut oil over the pan. If you don’t have one of these brushes, get one! They enable you to use a lot less fat. And you don’t have to buy spray oils which can have some rubbishy ingredients added to them.
When the pan was warm, I put everything in together and gently cooked it all for about 10 minutes. The only thing I added was some salt and pepper.
It tasted lovely and looked rather elegant.
I felt quite chuffed with the simple lunch I had put together and really enjoyed eating it.
I spent a pleasant afternoon gardening and then some going back to school chores, such as a haircut for Harvey.
I decided to try something new tonight – some giant wholegrain couscous with roasted vegetables and chicken kebabs.
Wholegrain Couscous with roasted vegetables and chicken kebabs – for 4 people.
- 50g wholegrain couscous per person, cooked as per instructions on packet.
- 1 each of red, orange, yellow and green pepper
- 2 onion
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 chicken breasts (we have 1/2 per person but you could have more)
Bottle of BBQ sauce (or similar)
Juice of 1 lime
Coriander
Method
- Turn oven on to 180
- Line a baking tray with foil
- Chop up peppers and onions in to bite sized chunks
- Cut each chicken breast in to approx. 10 pieces, as equal in size as possible
- Push 1/4 of the peppers and onions on to skewers, alternating with a piece of chicken.
- Brush BBQ sauce over kebabs. Place kebabs on to baking tray and place in oven.
- Mix remaining peppers and onions together with the olive oil.
- Put in to a dish and roast in the oven.
- The chicken and vegetables take about half an hour to cook. Turn them at least once during cooking.
- Mix the roasted vegetables in with the giant wholegrain couscous.
- Pour over the lime juice and mix well.
- Add the chopped coriander.
The wholegrain couscous is quite different to the fluffy tasteless couscous we are more familiar with and we unanimously preferred it. The chicken kebabs were a little bland as the sauce was disappointing but overall, this was a delicious meal and very easy. It was also one that sat quite happily on the side, waiting for people to come in as it was good hot or at room temperature. We were doing different things tonight so it was a perfect flexible dinner.
I had 6 WW points left over so I had the last piece of chocolate fudge cake.
I tried hard this week and apart from a massive fall from grace on Saturday, I ate within points all week and exercised nearly every day.
Just shows what you can do when you try.
2 stone 🙂
Lose Weight and Gain Health 
Very well done. Love the Cookin’, Dippin’ and Moppin’ sauce – where on earth do you shop? They never have anything so fun in Budgens.
I did buy that in Barbados but it was very disappointing. Sylvia’s is a very well known soul food restaurant in Harlem that I went to with Suzanne when we lived in NY. I was very excited to see some ‘Sylvia’s’ products on the supermarket shelves in Barbados. But that one was a bit tasteless :-(. It was still a lovely dinner though.
Brilliant work. I have courgette glut so will try that lunch too. Have you done anything with quinoa yet? I did a quinoa/broad bean recipe from Plenty for Lucy and Abi which they seemed to like and since you have the same genes you would too.
Lady C, thank you for asking about quinoa. I have not cooked it for a while. I used to do a Food Doctor recipe with avocado and peppers that Lucy got me in to. I do have ‘Plenty’ so will check it out. Thank you. Hope you enjoy the courgettes. Do you know what type you grew?
Well done Zoe for hitting the 2 stone mark, that’s fantastic news, keep it up! All your packets and pots of bits and bobs look so interesting, I never seem to see them on the shelves, is it that I’m not looking or are they stocked more at health food stores? X
Thank you Lucy for the kind and encouraging words. You are the second person who has asked so I think I will do a blog about where I get things from. I pick things up when I travel – the Sylvia’s sauce came from Barbados for example. I also go to a lot of Health Food shops and use on-line shops.
Congratulations Zoe on reaching 2 stone. It’s a fantastic achievement. Still enjoying your blog. Looking forward to the next post.
Thank you Therese. As you can probably tell, I am really pleased with myself ! We are really looking forward to seeing you all on the24th x
Well done Zoe. You eat well and healthily and I love all your recipes. I particularly liked using the apple as a piece of bread with a nutty butter spread on it! Don’t let the rain get you down and keep that downward trend going. x
Thank you Veg. Grower. The apple idea is a good one and it takes a while to eat so even better. Have you noticed that really fresh apples don’t go brown for ages? We are loving them.
Two stone – that’s fantastic Zoe, well done! Very impressed. Can you send me some of your commitment and dedication please? xx
Thank you Lisa. I can’t pop my little friend Will Power in the post but you could read my blog every day and hopefully it will inspire you 🙂
Well done Zoe, here’s to the next 2 stone!! and yes, you do have ‘Plenty’ don’t you!! I will be taking it back home with me next week, along with my pomegranate syrup which Lady C gave to Lucy for me, can’t wait to try that at home xxx
Thank you Abi. And hopefully also taking lots of ceramics and glassware. Bring some old newspapers and large bags to carry it away in 🙂