Spicy Chicken Noodle - The Skinny Grub

A couple of weeks ago when I was lying in the sun and a message popped into my inbox on twitter about whether I would like a copy of a cook book to review I jumped at the chance. A) because I love food. B) I'm a sucker for making the same thing week in week out & always need new ideas.

Jayne who has written "EAT to your heart's content..without the guilt" has written this cook book alongside her weight loss with Slimming World but the book can be adapted to any weight loss plan/ healthy eating lifestyle.

My other half opened up the book for a browse before I had even got my hands on it and instantly made a mental note that we had to make the Spicy Chicken Noodle soup as soon as possible, which I agreed with as soon as I had read it as it sounded delicious and when we made it last night it certainly didn't disappoint.

When I say "we" made it...I actually mean my personal chef AKA Jon my boyfriend! And the great thing about this recipe was that it is pretty much a 1 pan meal, so for the rule in our house "whoever doesn't cook does the dishes" meant I wasn't left with a sink full of saucepans either! Winning.

I gave Jon my phone and made him take step by step photos (he needs to work on this as I only got 3!) and ensured that he gave me a step by step guide about how simple the recipe was to make.

The recipe is for 4 people so we just halved everything for the 2 of us.

Ingredients (for 4 people)
1.4 litres chicken/veg stock
5cm ginger, thinly sliced
1 stick lemon grass (we didn't use this as our local Asda have stopped selling it!)
1 red chilli, halved
5 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
4 boned chicken breasts, fat & skin removed
200g dried rice noodles
6 baby bok choy, sliced (we used pak choy as it was the closest alternative that Asda had)
12 basil leaves (we omitted these as Jon hates basil)
12 mint leaves
handful of beansprouts - optional (again we omitted these as Jon hates these too!)
1 red chilli, thinly sliced into rings
3 spring onions, shredded
2 tablespoons chopped coriander - optional (again, you guessed it we omitted these as Jon isn't a fan!)

Recipe

Add the stock, lemon grass, ginger, chilli, soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce to a pan, bring to the boil & reduce to a simmer. Add the chicken (at this point we were unsure whether the chicken should be cooked or raw, so we browned the chicken before adding) and continue to simmer until cooked, about 15 minutes. Remove the chicken, set aside and keep warm (we placed ours in the oven on low). Then remove the ginger, lemon grass and chilli and discard.

Bring back to the boil, add the rice noodles and simmer for the next 3 minutes, or until cooked. Add the bok choy and simmer covered for a further 1 minute. Turn off the heat and leave for 2 minutes.

Thickly slice the chicken and add to serving bowls. Divide the basil, mint & beansprouts between the bowls and ladle over the soup. Serve garnished with chilli rings, spring onions and coriander.

This came out at 543 calories per serving - although we used slightly more than 200g of rice noodles.

Our kitchen smelt divine when this was cooking, and certainly increased my expectations of what I was expecting to taste. And wow it was like a party in my mouth - the soup wasn't too spicy, although if you wanted more spice you could add more chillies. Jon gave this a massive thumbs up for both ease of cooking and taste - so much so he wants it for dinner again this week!

Head over to The Skinny Grub on Facebook or Twitter to find out more about Jayne and her delicious recipes. I'll be working my way through the book over the next couple of weeks with "guilt free guacamole" and "Chinese Duck" top of my hit list!

Fuelling with 9 Bar.

Since starting marathon training, although I'm still following weight watchers I've tried to encorporate more "goodness" foods, foods that are going to fuel my runs, refuel me afterwards, making healthier snack choices.

These last few weeks have been tough to do this as I've been working nights, but reading on twitter and have previously heard good things about 9 Bars I thought I'd give them a go. 

I popped to my local tesco express and was pleased to see that the bars were on offer at 2 boxes for £2.80 and at £2.00 each what a bargain, although they did only have the original flavour - I'd quite like to try some of the other ones! 

My first experience of the bars was for breakfast - fuelling for a run - broken up with a muller light yogurt. The bars work out about 6propoints each; which may seem quite high but in terms of a snack it's the same as a chocolate bar! 

The bar with yogurt tasted yummy - but slightly overpowering nutty flavour - I'm not a massive fan of nuts (with the exception of almonds; I could eat them until the cows come home!) but I soon got used to it and found it very yummy. In terms of fuelling for my run I found that it sustained my energy - probably because it's so full of goodness!

I also tried these bars post run - when I want to devour everything in sight! It was only a 5 mile run so wasn't that ravenous but the bar satisfied all cravings I had.

Trying to stay healthy whilst working nights is a balance I'm yet to find! But wanted to try my best to eat healthier snacks, so armed with a 9 bar I embarked on my first night shift of the week. Usually I eat some over night oats and snacks throughout a nightshift. Whether it's because I  was so rushed off my feet or because the 9 Bar is so full of goodness it filled me up & was the only thing I ate! I didn't feel hungry, but it gave me plenty of energy for the night and kept me satisfied till morning! I will definitely be taking them to work from now on instead of being tempted by the vending machine. 

Do you have any other ideas of what to do with a 9 bar, I'd love to hear them - or any flavours to try out! 

But overall I will absolutely be including 9 bars in my weekly shop from now on!