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!

Side effects

My first few weeks on slimming world went really well - in my first 2 weeks I lost half a stone, my motivation was still there but I was struggling, I had an unexpected gain and for a day or two I went into self destruct mode but clawed it back with a 1lb loss.

This week I maintained, which yes I know is better than a gain but it's frustrating really frustrating. And it got me thinking. One of the side effects of my anti depressants is constipation, I'm managing that at the moment with the help of my doctor but doing some further reading last night another "very common" side effect is weight gain.

This week apart from Friday night I have been super good and actually felt like I had lost weight - I really should measure my inches as I should practise what I preach when I say take your measurements as the number on the scale isn't everything!

I'm not looking for excuses as to why I'm struggling, I'm looking more for answers and how I can combat things that are against me. But I guess the tablets could be one of them. I'm not ready to come off the tablets just yet so I've got to find a way around it. 

Have any of you struggled with side effects of tablets and have some methods that could help? I would love to have some different things I could try. 

Xx

Yoga or Pilates

After having my melt down and being off work I have done quite a bit of reading and research into ways to help depression and day to day coping and what coping mechanisms work best for me.

When I got my half stone award with Slimming World, Jon nicely signed me back up for the gym - we have a little chart of rewards when I hit certain goals, because who doesn't love a sticker chart! Although I've been a member of Pure Gym before hand I'd only ever gone to spin and circuits.

Yoga and Pilates are both said to be good for depression, they are relaxation exercises that allow you to switch off from the day. I'd first tried yoga about 4 years ago and spent the whole class trying not to laugh at the downward facing dog with my friend. So I was anxious about going to a new class by myself!

I went to a Pilates class first and the instructor was very welcoming & helped me throughout the class. It took me a while to work out which core muscles I was supposed to be using and also to try and breathe at the same time, which is always a challenge. But after the class I felt completely relaxed and ready to face the day. I will definitely be making this a regular date in my diary from now on.

My first trip to the Yoga class was a bit unsuccessful as most of the yoga classes at Pure Gym are £2 as the instructor is from outside of the gym, however this one didn't state that so I didn't take cash with me. As I live so close I literally just take my keys and phone usually. So along with about 7 other people, when the instructor asked for the money we didn't have it and despite saying I would get Jon to bring it over she was quite rude and said we would have to leave the class. Not phased by that I booked another class and this time made sure I had my £2 cash!

I found yoga a lot harder and not as relaxing as Pilates. But I still felt accomplished after the class at some of the poses I managed - I am by no means flexible but the instructor was great and explained all different levels of the poses we went through which made me feel less like a novice.

I've booked a lot more Pilates classes for this week, and hopefully when I go back to work I will still be able to attend at least one a week as they really have helped me relax and focus on things. I've also booked a yoga class this week as although I didn't find it very relaxing it felt like a good workout and I enjoyed the sense of achievement at the end of the class.

Do you have a preference between the two? Or any tips on how to make the most of them?