Summery Chicken & Sweet Potato

Hey everyone, I've had a few of you asking how I made this evening's dinner which is a weight watcher's recipe so here is the recipe for all of you.

Ingredients

• Fry light
• 2x chicken breast
• Red pepper 
• 1/2 onion 
• 200g Cherry tomatoes (halved)
• 50g Half fat crème fraiche
• 1tbsp Italian Pesto
• Basil
• 1 medium sweet potato

1. Chop 1 sweet potato into small cubes and season to taste. Put into baking tray and place into a pre heated oven at 180 degrees (fan) for 45 minutes or until cooked and crisp.

2. Spray a frying pan with fry light and season chicken breasts then add to the pan. Cook for 20-25 minutes, turning frequently to ensure chicken is cooked through.

Add 1/2 onion and a red pepper (cut into small pieces) and add to the frying pan with chicken. 

3. Add the cherry tomatoes to the pan and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the crème fraiche and pesto, season to taste.

4. Add sweet potato to mix 

Serve immediately with fresh basil leaves & spinach.

Serves 2

Total SP 15sp

SP per portion 8sp

Mother's day cake

After completing my 'beginners cake decorating course' I couldn't wait to try out my new skills and with mother's day approaching I seized the opportunity.

 

I took to the internet to find some inspiration and went for a cute blue cake with flower and leaf decoration.

 

Here is what I created (I was super proud!) I cut all of the leaves by hand using a small knife which also meant I could add the detail onto the leaves. For the flowers I used a flower cutter (you can get these super cheap off ebay).

 

Doll xoxo

45 days!

45 days.... 45 days until I'll feel self conscious, 45 days until I'll feel uncomfortable, 45 days until my best friend becomes a MRS!!!

Yes I'm a bridesmaid and I have 45 days until I'll be in my dress posing alongside the blushing bride. My diet has been pretty non-existent since my car accident, I've comfort ate, scoffed and just turned a blind eye to what I've been putting into my body. Wearing pretty much pyjamas all day everyday also isn't helping the situation...

I know I want to look nice on the photographs as I'll have them for the rest of my life but I just don't really seem to be doing a lot about it.

I'm writing this as it's Thursday which means weigh day... I will go to class this evening, I will step on the scales and I will make better choices!

I'll be the best I can when I can instead of just eating everything in sight whenever I want.

Send luck my way :)

Doll xoxo

Upcycling project!

Hey everyone!

 

So upcycling isn't something I've done before, my style is usually contemporary, new and shiny but the new house has a country style kitchen so I wanted to find a kitchen table to compliment the style.

 

As money is a bit tight with the move, and 'shabby chic' farm house tables currently seeing for mega bucks, I took to trusty Facebook to see what I could find. Low and behold a kitchen table with 4 chairs for £50, I'll have it!

 

Ok so it smelled weird and felt awful (because of the sticky lacquer) when it arrived but I knew it would look exactly how I wanted it to in the end.

 

As you can see it was quite orangey and really did feel tacky, it was dirty too and just not very nice (I immediately had to put this vase with candles on it to make it less awful looking)!

 

 

We started off by sanding the top of the table. We did use an electric hand sander as it would have taken hours to sand it all by hand!

 

Here's the table half done.

 

The lacquer came off really easily though and left a lovely bare colour underneath. Here's what the table looked like once the top had been sanded.

 

We did have to sand each chair by hand which was pretty boring and tiring but here's the chairs once sanded.

 

 

We then painted the table legs and chairs using B&Q's 'Colours' wood paint in the colour Antique White.

 

We covered the top of the table in Ronseal varnish in the colour 'Almond Wood'. It left a really natural soft colour.

 

To finish the chairs off, I purchased these seat cushions from IKEA! They tie around the back and are really padded and comfortable. I think this just finishes off the look of the table and chairs completely!

 

 

I'm super happy with how the table and chairs have turned out. They definitely have the farm house/ country cottage feel I was going for a think we've achieved something that looks a lot more expensive than £50! I'd definitely upcycle furniture again so I'm now on the look out for a dresser.

Thank you for reading!

Doll xoxo

Car accident

Ok so it's Friday morning, I'm driving along and I've got an important day ahead at work. I drive not even half a mile down the road when I'm hit by another car. It all happened so quick and all I remember is seeing the front end of the other vehicle approaching my passenger side before crash, bang and my car is shunted into the middle of the road with all the air bags inflated.

For a split second I wonder if it's me, my fault, did I do something wrong? Before I remember that I was heading straight ahead at a mini roundabout and I'd been hit from the left. You give way to the right on a roundabout right!?

I recall getting out of the car and someone shouting over to ask if I was ok, that's when the hysterical crying and shock sets in.

I'd been travelling towards a mini roundabout and after slowing down and checking to see if there were any other cars to my right, I proceeded ahead. Another vehicle then came speeding from the left, onto the roundabout and smashed straight into the passenger side of my car. My car was shunted to the right (into the middle of the road) and my front, rear and side airbags were inflated.

I was in complete shock and don't really remember much of the conversations I had with people. I feel extremely lucky that there were some lovely people around who witnessed the accident and stayed with me the entire time. It was also very lucky that my other half had just returned home from a night shift therefore was at home when I called him frantically!

Thankfully, the other party accepted responsiblilty for the accident straight away claiming 'he wasn't paying attention and didn't see me'. Regardless, I'm convinced he was doing something other than concentrating as he hadn't even slowed down to approach the roundabout.

Once my OH had taken details and my car was safely parked on the road side, we headed home. It took me a while to calm down and stop hysterically crying but once I did, the headache set in and I knew I needed to get checked out.

I headed to the local minor injury unit and was seen by a lovely nurse who did some physical examinations on me and confirmed I'd suffered neck injuries. I was told to take cocodamol for the pain and ibuprofen for the inflammation and swelling. I was also handed ice packs for compression. I was referred to physio who would help with treatment for my neck. As suspected, as the weekend went on I became more stiff and sore and after a visit to the GP on the Monday, I was signed off work.

On top of feeling like absolute rubbish, I am having to deal with sorting out the insurance and being out of pocket. My car has been deemed a write off and once the finance is settled I am left with around £1000. Considering I paid a £2,500 deposit initially, it now means I don't have enough money to buy the same car again for the same finance amount.

I'm so frustrated and irritated by all of this which has been caused by someone's lack of attention, that someone who was driving a company car so it's probably already been replaced like for like! I've been given a courtesy car until my money arrives but considering I'm in no fit state to physically drive, it's pretty useless.

Let's just remember that all of this has happened 2 weeks before we move into our new house..... just great isn't it!