What I Wore Wednesday: Trendy Toddler

So for the past three weeks I haven't worn pants/trousers. Don't worry I haven't been running around outside pantless flashing people but I've only been wearing tights or leggings on my bottom half while I'm trying to lose weight. Part of this is due to the fact that I bust a massive hole in the the jeans that fit before I started losing weight and partly that I don't want to try on the next size down and be discouraged.

If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter you'll know I've been doing Weight Watchers (I am that annoying person that takes a photo of what they are eating) and so far I have lost 9lbs. I'm pretty happy about it especially since I didn't stress over what I was eating in London and just went and had Dim Sum because I wanted it. The iPhone app makes it all pretty easy  since I can type in any nutritional info and get the points but most of all NotBlondeHusband cooks dinner at night which is amazing. There are so many great Weight Watchers blogs so we've found lots of recipes all of us can enjoy without busting my diet. If you are looking for recipes there are a ton on my "Stop the Muffin Overflowing" Pinterest board.

Anyway I digress! Because I've been focused on what I'm eating I've not been focused on what I'm wearing, but luckily my stylish little dude is happy to step in for me. There was a massive HM sale online and I ordered ourselves a 50% duvet cover and decided to let Blondie Boy pick out a hat, too. He LOVES hats and he was more than happy to have a photoshoot for me. I think he may have inherited his mommy's love of being in front of the camera!

Toddler Hat-HM

Tie Dye T-Shirt-Circo

Jacket-Ted Baker

Converse All Stars

If you are keeping track of what cars are his co-stars that is Miguel Camino. I'm attending a VIP Fashion Show as part of Glasgow Business Week on Thursday so I will definitely be back next week, just probably in leggings of some shape or form! 

Now what do you wear to a fashion show?!?!?

Handle with Care

I love a good care package, especially one with American treats in it and I was lucky enough to get two recently! Blondie Boy and I got an awesome package from his Mimi Linda with a microphone, Little People Plane and Paul Frank monkey tshirt for him and Girl Scout Cookies and Peeps for NotBlondeHusband and I! If you don't know what Girl Scout Cookies are you are seriously missing out. I'll be calculating the Weight Watchers Pro-Points for these tonight that is for sure :)

Before I left for London last Friday I got an awesome package of Sugar-Free Goodies from the Appliances Online, who sell cookers and other appliances, Fairy HobMother! They wanted to send me a wee treat, but knew I was doing well on Weight Watchers and didn't want to mess that up so they got me a selection of treats from the Sugar Free Megastore! Most of the snacks are American so I was super excited! I got creme filled cupcakes, snack bars, licorice, chocolate mints--YUM!

If you are in need of a treat yourself you might just want to comment on this post as I've heard the Fairy HobMother's ears prick up when they hear of a blogger in need of a little sweetness in their life :)

Weight Watchers Sweet and Sticky Pork ala NBH

Despite our ongoing attempts to diet, I still like to eat well. I enjoy cooking (it's lucky someone in the house does, because Blondie certainly doesn't...) and I'm glad we're sticking to a diet that lets us cook things from scratch. I often start with a vague idea of a protein I'd like to eat or a style of food I want and then mess around until I have something resembling a meal, with pro-points I can stick the ingredients into my phone and end up with a value for my inventions. Hopefully that works most of the time but sometimes it's a lot easier just to follow a recipe.


I've been trying recipes from a couple of Weight Watchers books over the past couple of weeks. Seriously Satisfying has recipes ranging from breakfast, through lunches to desserts as well as food for one, restaurant style dishes and food which will impress dinner party guests, without them knowing they're eating "diet" food.


Last night we tried "Sweet and Sticky Pork": a chinese style dish featuring pork tenderloin with rice and vegetables.

For four people take:


150g long grain rice
350g pork tenderloin (cut into 12 slices)
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1.5 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, crushed
a pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
cooking spray
2 carrots, peeled and julienned
150g mange tout or sugar snap peas


1) Cook the rice according to packet instructions and keep warm
2) Pound the pork with a rolling pin until 1cm (1/2 an inch) thick
3) Mix the soy, honey, ginger, garlic and chilli. Heat the cooking spray in a pan (med/hot). Dip the pork in the sauce and toss into pan. Cook for 2 mins, turn and cook for another 2, ensuring the pork is cooked through. It should have turned dark and sticky.
4) While cooking the pork in batches, boil some water in another pan. Add the carrots and cook for 3 mins, then add the peas and cook for another 2.
5) Once the pork is cooked stick the rest of the sauce into the pan, heat through.
6) Serve


7 pro points per serving


It was pretty good, but I can't follow a recipe without messing with it. My two cents:


1)Cut the pork into 6 pieces not 12. It should be a nice, tender cut of meat to begin with, 1cm thin is too thin. Don't pound it either.
2) On that note, there's not enough pork. Doubling the pork makes the recipe 10 pro points, still a small amount. I guarantee you'll go hungry with only 90g of pork per person. I'd use 600-700g of pork, and cut it into 12 medallions, or 3 per person.
3)Mince the garlic, or at the very least finely chop it. Crushing it gives no flavour.


It seemed to go down well when I cooked it my way and I'd certainly eat it again.


At some point over the next week I'll stick up a recipe from another book I've been using, Oriental Express.


Transatlantic Blonde were provided these cookbooks but all opinions are our own.

Win with Weight Watchers and The Vitality Show

CONGRATS to Emsiecov! Please contact me within 24 hours to claim your prize! Thanks to everyone for their entries and great tips :)


If you didn't win, you can get two tickets for £20!* Click here to book tickets http://www.vitalitylive.co.uk/the-show and enter the code 'BLOG' to redeem the offer. *Saving based on door price. Booking and transaction fees apply. To book tickets, visit http://www.vitalitylive.co.uk/ or call 0871 230 5569 and quote ‘BLOG’.

*******


Are you ready to be WOWed? Weight Watchers are exhibiting at The Vitality Show 2011, from 24th- 27th March, at Earls Court London! The Vitality Show is the UK’s largest health, beauty, fitness and wellbeing event for women. I have a pair of Vitality Show tickets and a gorgeous goodie bag, filled with health and beauty treats to giveaway!

To enter the giveaway:

Follow my Blog publicly (link on right sidebar) using Google Friend Connect and comment with your best healthy living tip! It could be a favourite snack, exercise tip, whatever!

Extra Entries:
-Follow me on Twitter and tweet: "I entered to win tickets to The Vitality Show with @Melaina25 & TransatlanticBlonde.com! You can too! http://tinyurl.com/wwvit" and comment to let me know (1 extra entry)
-Follow Weight Watchers on Twitter and comment to let me know (1 extra entry)
-Blog about the giveaway and comment to let me know (1 extra entry)

Make sure to leave each entry in a separate comment.

All entries will be verified and deleted if not valid so make sure to leave the usernames you subscribe or tweet with.

This giveaway is open to all UK residents and is for two tickets only (travel not included). A winner will be drawn at random on March 20th at 12:00 GMT. Winners must contact me within 48 hours or another winner will be drawn. CLOSED.

Don’t forget to visit Weight Watchers at the event on stand E130. Come down to sample a delicious range of Weight Watchers Foods, from scrumptious Muffins to refreshing Wine. You can also pick up our April issue of the magazine, trial the iPhone app (which I love), and chat to WW Leaders.

If you don't win, you can get two tickets for £20!* Click here to book tickets http://www.vitalitylive.co.uk/the-show and enter the code 'BLOG' to redeem the offer. *Saving based on door price. Booking and transaction fees apply. To book tickets, visit http://www.vitalitylive.co.uk/ or call 0871 230 5569 and quote ‘BLOG’.

Transatlantic Blonde were provided tickets and goodie bag for this giveaway.

Blondie's Buttermilk Berry Muffins

I had leftover buttermilk from pancakes so I wanted to do some baking, but once again I couldn't find any recipes that sounded yummy, but also were Weight Watchers friendly. So I adapted this recipe to suit my needs and tastes.

I really like authenticity of hand-written recipes so I'm trying something new and uploading my recipe rather than typing it out. If you totally hate this please let me know and I won't do it again :)

Blondie's Buttermilk Berry Muffins

The muffins are very moist and not too sweet. I used raspberries and blueberries but you could use whatever suits your tastes or whatever you have in the fridge! The recipe yields 12 muffins, at 3 ProPoints per muffin. I'm freezing half of mine for a later date!

Enjoy!

Blondie's WW Buttermilk Pancakes

Pancakes are kinda my thing. I love them and I'm good at cooking them. I can still remember the first time I ever saw chocolate chip pancakes and was amazed. My Mom had dropped us off at her best friend's house before school for one reason or another and her sons were eating chocolate chip pancakes and they looked amazing. I started making chocolate chip pancakes for my friends and boyfriends at Uni and I've even made egg-free applesauce pancakes for Blondie Boy. Like I said, pancakes are kinda my thing. My Grandpa also used to make Mrs. Butterworth talk to me, but that's another story.

When it comes to pancakes you want them to be light and fluffy, so when I saw the Best Buttermilk Pancakes recipe in my Google Reader I knew I had to try and make them AND make them Weight Watchers friendly.

Here is my Weight Watchers Buttermilk Pancakes adapted from the recipe by Brown Eyed Baker which was adapted from Cook's Illustrated. I halved the recipe to make eight golden, fluffy pancakes, but here is my adaptation in full. I've include metric measurements in parentheses for those who don't have American baking cups.

(Photo © Brown Eyed Baker)

Blondie's WW Buttermilk Pancakes

Yield: Sixteen 4-inch pancakes


2 cups all-purpose flour (125g)
1 1/2 tablespoons Splenda

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt

2 cups buttermilk (1 pint)
¼ cup sour cream (56g)

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs
3 tablespoons Lurpak lighter unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

Non Stick Cooking Spray (I used Fry-Light, but in the US Pam would work)

16 servings, 2 pro points per serving

1. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl.

2. In a second medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, vanilla, eggs and melted butter. Make sure your butter isn't too hot or it will cook the eggs. (I find it's best to microwave the butter for 15-20 seconds and then swirl it around so the liquid butter melts the remaining butter.)

3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients; gently stir until just combined (batter will be lumpy and quite thick). Do not overmix. Allow the batter to sit for 10 minutes before cooking.

4. Spray a pan or griddle if you've got some super cool stove with the non-stick spray and allow to heat up. You'll know it's hot enough when if you flick water on it, the water sizzles.

5. Using ¼ cup measure, portion batter into pan. My pan was big enough for 2 pancakes at the time, but you know your pan, you judge.

6. Cook until edges are set, first side is golden brown, and bubbles on surface are just beginning to break, 2 to 3 minutes. Resist the urge to poke, prod or flip early. Walk away if you have to!

7. Using a thin, wide spatula, flip pancakes and continue to cook until second side is golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes longer.

8. Put on a plate and cover with tin foil until ready to serve. Repeat with remaining batter, using non-stick spray as needed.

These were seriously the best pancakes I've had or made since I moved to Scotland 6 1/2 years ago and they are vaguely healthy--SCORE!. I had my pancakes as part of "Breakfast for Dinner." Some people call it Brinner (not me) but they'd be a great as part of a lazy weekend breakfast or brunch.

Two pancakes, two rashers of Bacon, 1 tsp of Lurpak for my pancakes and 1 tablespoon of real Maple Syrup

8 pro points!

I'd advise having your syrup on the side and dipping your pancakes in as you will use less, I certainly didn't use my full tablespoon. You could also top them with fruit, honey or your favourite topping. Next time I think I will experiment with making a strawberry sauce to go on top!

If I were a boy

You've heard me talk about NotBlondeHusband, but now he's joining me here and will be posting from his point of view! So please be nice to him and show him some love on his first post!

Let's start with a confession: I'm a dude and I need to diet.

There's some stigma attached to the statement. Diets are for girls. It's "girly", particularly in the UK, to go for a drink with the lads and to pick a light beer or a glass of wine or a spirit with a diet mixer over a pint of your usual or a spirit and "full fat" mixer. If you grab food of course you grab the biggest burger or kebab you can find, why would you ever order chicken or a salad?

I've slowly been gaining weight over the last 10 years, over the last two years I've gained 20+ lbs. While I still play football once a week, it's been longer than that decade since I was playing proper competitive sports and burning all the excess calories that a typical "lad's diet" gives you. I'm generally not very good at moderation. If I feel like a bar of chocolate, I'll have it; of course regular Coke tastes better than diet crap, so I'll have that too; that salad is never going to come close to that burger, so it's not really a choice. Blondie and I are also terrible influences on each other. Both had a long day and don't feel like a trip to the shops? There's nothing wrong with a third takeaway in a week then...

Unfortunately, I've finally realised that I'm not at the age my body can handle that anymore, so it's time to try the alternative. Which is where Weight Watchers comes in.
Two weeks ago if you'd asked me my opinion of WW I'd have probably told you it was a bunch of overweight, middle-aged women sitting in a church hall commiserating each other when they put on a couple of ounces a week, calculators out ready to work out the calorific content of that rice cake they're holding. Not really my scene, and not something I could see fitting in the diary of a busy person. As it turns out, I wasn't even close.

Meetings are optional, you can manage your diet entirely online. If you need support, there are forums. If like me, you don't have time for that and just want to spend 5 minutes a day planning your diet you can. Want to eat from meal plans, that's fine. If like me you like to cook your own food the recipe builder lets you work out what your favourite recipes cost you and you can adapt and update them with lower cost alternatives. You can even search for recipes online and edit them to swap out ingredients you're not so fond of.

There is an element of point counting but it isn't really an onerous task. Weight Watchers own products have pro point values attached. Anything else you stick into a database and it tells you exactly what it costs you. You have your daily allowance but you also get extra pro points for "treats" throughout the week. I don't know what kind of things women use this for, but at 3 pro points a bottled beer or 6 pro points for a pint of lager it's more than enough for one decent night out at the pub a week.

So what has this meant for me? There's no point sugar coating it, to begin with I was hungry. I don't think there is a weight loss diet where you're not hungry to start. I was overeating before so obviously eating a normal amount felt like not enough to begin with. Two weeks in this isn't an issue any more. I eat a bowl of cereal for my breakfast instead of some junk and try to snack on fruit and veg. I can even still have a bag of crisps as a snack. Lunch is usually a healthy sandwich or something I can eat on the go. Dinner can be relatively normal. Last night I even got burgers. My biggest concession is cutting down on sugary drinks but I've even managed that. Watching the football midweek is pretty much the same without the two or three beers that I would sometimes have.

It is frustrating sometimes. I would kill for a pizza right now and the low point equivalents to that just don't cut the mustard. When I'm out and about it would be easier to grab the first thing to hand rather than think about what you're allowed but the iPhone app lets you check exactly how much that takeaway sandwich will cost you. So far, at the end of the week it's been worth it. After two weeks I've already lost over 5% of my body weight. I don't mind a little frustration when the results are so obvious. I've still a bit to go but I'm definitely sticking with it.

We still manage to eat pretty well. I'll stick up some examples of meals as we go along.

Transatlantic Blonde and NotBlondeHusband were provided a free trial of Weight Watchers Online to review.