Dish of the day: Weight Watchers zero-point curry

The 16lbs in 16 weeks challenge has kicked up a gear this week with the start (or should that be return?) of Weight Watchers. My initial non-ww weight loss has been a perfectly acceptable 4lbs but after a weekend of what can only be referred to as overindulgence (involving fried chicken and half a jar of nutella-not together, obvs) I've decided to embark on a Weight Watchers meal plan for the next few weeks.
WW has always served me well. Back in January 2010 I had a kind of ephipheny (you know the kind: I'm fat and ugly and I'm never going to amount to anything, yeah that kind of thing) which lead to me starting to live a far healthier lifestyle, and I lost three stone over the following twelve months in the process. I now feel more confident than ever but there's still room for improvement (isn't there always?) so it's back on Weight Watchers I go.

A classic recipe that I always return to again and again because it's healthy, tasty and really easy to make is Weight Watchers zero-point curry, which is also a great recipe for using up any leftover veg.

Ingredients:
Garlic
Onion
Leek
Courgette
Mushrooms
Aubergine
Cauliflower or broccoli
Carrots
Curry powder
Vegetable stock
Tin of chopped tomatoes


Chop the onion and crush the garlic and place in a large pan.

Add the chopped leek and chopped courgette to the pan.

Add the broccoli or cauliflower florets and the chopped aubergine.

Cut up the carrot and add to the saucepan.

Add some curry powder to the pan, as strong or mild as you like, and stir through until the vegetables are well coated.


Add a tin of chopped tomatoes and approximately 400ml of vegetable stock, season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil.

Once the curry is boiling turn down the heat and allow the curry to simmer for 40minutes. Serve immediately or allow to cool and then freeze in meal-size portions. As you can see from these photographs I don't tend to measure or weigh the ingredients and just make one big batch that will do for more than one meal. Depending on how spicy you make the curry it can taste nice when used as a pasta sauce or as a ratatouille-style accompaniment to meat dishes.


Weight Watchers zero-point curry: DONE

Food for thought

So, today is the day the non-new-years-resolution diet starts, and when I say starts I should really say returns, as I am usually pretty healthy and don’t allow too many bad foods in the house (if they aren’t here then they can’t hurt me). However, the days between Christmas and New Year have taken a dire toll on my waistline, especially with Mother sending us back to London with a hamper full of cheese (my own personal downfall) and cake (ditto). As the year ahead is already packed with events at which I’ll need to look my best in a dress, before we even mention swimwear; it’s time for me to take some action.

My good friend Zsa Zsa of The Life Wardrobe has suggested we challenge ourselves to lose 16lbs in 16 weeks and I think this is a reasonably doable task, provided the biscuits and cakes at Hobbs HQ are kept well away from the branch merchandising area (fat chance) This being said, there still seems to be rather a lot of food in the L&F household and, as we don’t like waste, today saw myself and The Boy busying ourselves with the task of concocting healthy meals for the freezer out of the items left from the festive period. Lunch was a steak and goats cheese salad (not the most healthiest of meals I know but we are in a non-wasting mood and as the goats cheese was looking for a home – I welcomed it with open, bingo winged arms). Dinner will be Weight Watchers vegetarian curry, a staple meal in the L&F household, mainly because it uses up pretty much any leftover veg and is point-free (for anyone not used to WW terminology, point-free is basically the holy grail of Weight Watchers meals, i.e.: eat as much as you like). This afternoon also saw me use my bread maker for the first time, which is a hobby I could really see myself getting into in 2012. Admittedly my first attempt did come from a bread mix (Broomers, if you’re reading this I know you will be shocked and appalled at this admission, therefore any time you want to come over and give me a lesson in baking you’re more than welcome) but it was still pretty successful and fun all the same. I also found time to set up a food survival pack to take to work with me tomorrow, as even though I’m sure the whole office will be on a January detox, there’s bound to be temptation everywhere, namely homemade Tiffin from Sophie’s Mother, (which is bound to go straight to my thighs).