Fakeaway Friday - Chicken Korma

Most Fridays it's a get in and get out the takeaway menu. That's been the routine for a while now and one of my biggest bad habits. Fridays and Saturdays are takeaway nights. Which make no sense as these are the days I have more time to cook. I had become bored of the take out. Eating the same things and not enjoying them. So the idea to cook a fakeaway that is quicker than a delivery.

Total Calories 

300 calories approx served with cauliflower rice 

Serves

4 people 

Time

About 5 mins prep

20 mins cooking 

You will need...

• 500g chicken breast
• 1 medium onion
• Garden peas
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 red chilli (optional) 
• Ginger 1/2 tbsp 
• 4 tbsp ground almonds
• Cashew nuts (optional)
• 3 tbsp korma paste 
• 3 tbsp Greek natural yoghurt 
• 200ml chicken stock 
• Fry light spray 

Here it goes...

1. Cut chicken breasts into small pieces. Cook in a pan until browned with some Fry light spray.
2. Chop onion finely and add to pan. Cook until softened. 
3. Add peas and Cashew nuts
4. Add crushed garlic and ginger powder and a sweet red chilli if you want a slight kick.
5. Mix in the curry paste and cook for another minute. 
6. Stir in the ground almonds. And add the chicken stock. Stir well. It's right about now it starts to smell delicious!! 
7. Cook until the stock begins to reduce, add the yoghurt and stir well. Cook for another couple of minutes
8. Serve over cauliflower rice. 

The Good Bits 

• Cauliflower rice, OK it's a bit odd after the first few bites. I don't like cauliflower florets but the rice is great. Crunchy, healthy and doesn't really taste like vegetables. And so filling. 
• A takeaway curry can be up to 800 calories and is cooked with rich sauces and creams. I love this healthy option, replacing the cream with yoghurt and adding nuts for protein. It's so tasty I could eat it every week. 
• Cauliflower is packed with vitamins like vit C and fiber. The recipe is versatile so vegs like peas or mange tout or peppers add colour and even more vitamins. 
• Omit the chili and serve with rice for a child friendly option. 

Chicken In Breadcrumbs, with Chips and Garlic Sauce

If there's two things we eat alot of in my house its chicken and chips: Kievs, schnitzels, goujons, breaded chicken steaks, crispy chicken, battered and boring! They are all bland and I always end up smothering them with coleslaw, mayo or a good dollop of garlic sauce. So here's how I cut some calories from a classic...

Total Calories 

590 approx

Serves

2 people 

Time

About 10 mins prep

15/20 mins cooking time

You will need...

For the chicken:

• 2 chicken breasts - 1 per person (could use a thigh fillet too) 
• 1 egg
• Plain Flour
• Breadcrumbs 
• Pepper to season 

For the sauce (my favourite bit)

• 2 tbsp of butter
• 3 tbsp of creme fraiche 
• A few sprigs of fresh parsley 
• 2 garlic cloves

For the Chips that are way better than oven chips:

• 2 large white potatoes - 1 per person
• Fry light
• Olive oil (optional)

• Salad - to serve

Here it goes...

1. We are going to start with some cardio and some stress relief. Place the chicken breasts/thigh fillet between a folded sheet of clingfilm. Using a rolling pin BASH! You're aiming to get the chicken to about 1cm thick. Go for it, bash away... You've had a bad day at work... Bash... Hit it again you're burning calories.... Bash... Let it out and bash it... Oh that feels better! 
2. Pre-heat the oven - about 200 degrees C on fan oven. 
3. On 3 separate plates sprinkle the flour- enough to coat the fillet, and then with the Breadcrumbs, and then crack an egg on the third and give it a whisk with a fork.
4. Time to dip: first the flour - coat both sides. Now the egg and finally the crumbs. Place on baking tray. Can season with Pepper if you so wish.
5. Pop in the oven for about 15 mins until Breadcrumbs golden and the chicken is cooked.
6. Peel the potatoes and cut into chip shapes
7. I use an actifry but you can spread evenly on a baking tray, spray away with frylight 1 calorie spray. I also drizzle a tiny but of olive oil on mine to get them a little more crispy. 
8. Cook for about 10 mins until golden
9. In a small pan melt 2 tbsp of butter on low heat. Once melted add the garlic (chopped in little tiny bits) and stir.
10. Add creme fraiche and stir
11. Add some chopped parsley - gives it a bit of colour 
12. Serve chicken, chips and sauce with salad.

The good bits

• The chicken stays juicy - packaged breaded chicken is dry and plain. Good bit of protein too!
• Tasty and easy
• Serve with salad to fill up
• Cos you've flattened the chicken (and burned some calories doing so) the chicken looks bigger - trick that mind into having a rather large meal
• The garlic sauce is mega tasty - about 60 calories - garlic mayo can be up 170 calories for 2 tbsp.
• Proper chips! Not greasy and taste just as good as deep fat fried chips and way better than oven chips.

January - The Weigh In

Changes Made

• Cooking from scratch 
• Counting calories 
• Drinking more water 

Total Weight Loss 

11lbs 

I'm going to try do this once a month, although I weigh myself once a week and keep track using my fitness pal, it's nice to document my monthly accomplishments and maybe mention any changes I've made.

I'm basing my diet on calorie counting. For my height and weight I've cut down to around 1,200 calories a day. This seemed like such a little amount but with a better understanding of food and trying to fill up more on fruits and vegs I've found this quite simple and I never go hungry. Please note this is based on my measurements and activities (practically stationary most of the day) and there are apps and websites which can calculate this for you.

Positives

• More energy - I lived on coffee (the office diet)
• Enjoying food more - one reason I wanted to change; I was bored of takeaways and eating the same old beige! 
• Better skin - it's glowing!! Beauty bloggers; my highlight is popping! 
• Less headaches 
• Less bloating
• Well hello waist 
• I can cook! 

Can't wait to share some recipes with you! 

Diets, Detox and Dry January - Some of us hashtagged it, the others complained about it.

Hey, Amydot speaking...

It's what filled our newfeeds at the new year, #newyearnewme seemed to be the claim of more people than ever and everyone was talking about it.

Dry January kicked it all off with many claiming that New Year's day didnt really count... yeah of course not you wouldnt want to start the new year drinking tonic now would you, especially when you have that bottle of gin from Christmas, but once thats gone we swore its dry from then on.

I chose not to partake in the challenge as I promise every damn hungover day I wont be drinking again and still find myself reaching for the rosé on a Friday.

I didn't want a Detox or a diet, I was looking at the bigger picture. My diet on a whole could be summed up, at best, as convenience food. A medley of pierce it, heat it, eat it or order it. Which I knew for certain I had to get out of the habit of. I needed to learn to cook.

Now I've never cooked. To be honest I don't even remember my home economics classes. I work full time in an office and had talked myself into the belief I simply don't have time and can't afford to cook every night. Something I've come to learn this last month is a pitiful excuse.

Generally, the things I've learned to cook in the past weeks take less time than it would take for a delivery. Now do I accomplish much whilst waiting on my food to arrive? Absolutely not. I dare not move incase I miss the door and mainly spend my time watching something I'm not interested in and counting the minutes since I've ordered... That in itself isn't healthy! 

I've always thought healthy eating was expensive... Not the case. I can spend £20 on a takeout curry for 2 with the trimmings. I made a curry from scratch for 4 for less than a fiver and LOVED IT! Like really loved it!!! 

I'm enjoying food more. It's actually pretty much all I thought about the first couple of weeks. Not cos I'm hungry, Im excited about what to try and make and I'm proud of my meals. I think this is one of the reasons I'm sticking to it, it's a lifestyle change after all.

My change in diet is based around calories, I found a calorie counting app was the perfect way to keep an eye on this and understand food more. Low carb and fad diets have never worked for me, I needed to be food conscious. I use My Fitness Pal as it does everything I want it to. But there's plenty out there.

I never committed to social media I was going to: lose a stone, I would go to the gym 3 times a week, I would drop a dress size or drink a green smoothie every day. But neither did I critise those who did, I found this to be most disheartening. I believe if someone wishes to change themselves for the better, then good on them for giving it a go, you have a right to change and for yourself, not at the judgement of others. 

This doesn't mean I didn't have goals, I just wanted to have smaller more achieveable aims:

1. Make food more colourful 

2. Feel better 

3. Learn to cook girl! 

After a month I've decided to create a diary. I think committing to a blog enables me to share recipes, keep them all in one place, and I'm more likely to keep it up. Not cos I need the encouragement of others but maybe seeing what I've achieved for my own personal benefit may be encouragement enough and maybe there's something here that someone else may like to read.

I'm a month down the line and it's going good! 

This girl can cook!