With it being Valentines this week I had an extra trip up to Cambridge and a most enjoyable extra night with Geoff.
I was treated to a lovely meal at Le Gros Frank followed by a trip to the cinema to see “woman in black”, a very jumpy, enjoyable film 🙂
Then there was the Valentine Surprises……
Needless to say I can hardly wait to book the massage………
Its February which can only mean one thing…. Seville Oranges are here and its marmalade making time.
Geoff has often mentioned how he would like 52 jars of marmalade,as he eats it at a rate of one jar a week
I have never been able to achieve this in past years but after 2 marmalading days I now have made 42 jars of lovely home made marmalade 🙂
I made one batch in Cambridge on a gas hob and another batch here on my electric hob, it was amazing to see how much quicker boiling point was reached on a gas hob !
There is also another batch of oranges in the freezer,so I can make some orange and ginger marmalade at some point in the future, once I gather some cooking apples together.
So I might just get to that magical 52 Jars and have a few spare jars to give away too 🙂
The recipe I use for my marmalade can be found here…
I am loving the Good food web site at the moment, not only are there a huge range of recipes but they all come calorie counted too.
If you have read a previous post about my fitbit you will know why I am counting my calories, and having a huge success from doing it too 🙂
I always like to make an effort at the weekend to make at least one nice meal if not two, so last weekend I tried this one pot mushroom and potato curry.
After a days walking I need a recipe that is quick and easy to make, this certainly fitted the bill and yet again I was not disappointed.
Next time I might try making it with cauliflower instead of aubergine and maybe add some spinach too, just to give it some colour.
A great warming dinner after a days walking in the snow 🙂
Well I achieved my first 30 day challenge and made it through all of January with out eating one slice of cake !
I didn’t bake any cakes either and I think I missed baking them more than I did eating them 🙂
So yesterday when we went to Cafe Nero for coffee, Geoff treated me to a wonderful spiced apple and pecan muffin, which I can highly recommend 🙂
When entering my calorie data into my fitbit I noted that one of these muffins has a whopping 474 calories, so I wont be having many of these.
Anyway I decided I must be able to bake a cake with fewer calories per slice, so in the oven at this very moment is a fat free weet-a-bix cake, its like a fruit loaf….
I have worked the calories out at 2,638 for the whole loaf, so I shall slice it into 10, making it 263 calories a slice and a good option for our Sunday post walk cake 🙂
My next 30 day challenge is not to pick at any food while at work…………….
( cake was cut into 13 slices so only 200 calories a slice )
Much to my amazement I have just packed away all my slimming world books, something I thought I would never do, but thanks to a little gadget called a fitbit I will not be needing slimming world any more.
Geoff bought me the Fitbit fo
r Christmas, I love gadgets so was excited about having another one to play with, although I was quite adamant that I would not be counting calories….. BUT how wrong could I be !
Now into my 4th week , having lost half a stone, I find myself quite addicted to my little fitbit and counting calories 🙂 Its really opened my eyes to a few things, I love the fact that I can actually eat anything I want too and its me that’s in control.
I had been so worried about having to give my gym membership up but not any more as I now walk every day,because I want to get my fitbit steps in and the more steps I do means the more calories I can eat 🙂
This wonderful little gadget costs just £80 which may seem expensive but compared to slimming world its remarkably cheap.
Another thing I have discovered by counting calories, is just how many calories are in some of the so called free to eat slimming world recipes 🙁
Just 4kg away from my target weight and I am convinced with the help of fitbit it will be easier than ever to maintain, the new slimming world magazine is due out soon too but I wont be needing it 🙂
Ever since I moved into my house, the loo roll holder and towel rail have been hanging off the bathroom wall, to say this annoyed/stressed me is an understatement 🙁
On my return from Les Gets it was annoying me even more, then I had this brain wave of an idea 🙂
So off I went to purchase a tube of no nails glue, plus a new bathroom set.
The end result is a great looking bathroom set, which I don’t think will ever move, I am sure the wall will come down before the loo roll holder and towel rail will.
Now I am wondering how I can remove the old mirror and replace it with the matching mirror
Just a shame I cannot glue my out door fence together too.!!!
With Geoff still away in Les Gets my plan for the weekend was to stay home and save some petrol, but it didn’t quite work out that way..
I received an e-mail from a friend, who was hoping to catch up with me,on my usual Sunday walk with The Cambridge Rambling Club.
I only go on these walks from Cambridge as the location is usually too far from Kings Lynn, but desperate to catch up with my friend , the walking group and have a good walk, I broke my rule and decided to go from here…
Luckily the walk was not impossible to get too, in fact it was just over an hours drive to West Stow Country park, well worth the effort too 🙂
Larry led us on a fantastic 15 mile walk with very little mud for this time of year and considering how cloudy and damp it had been in the week, it was great to blow the cobwebs away and get out on a nice sunny winters day.
Our route took us by a Water Tower that had been converted into a stunning looking house , which amazingly was featured on Britain’s empty homes this morning.
I may not have saved any petrol but I had a fantastic day and chatted non stop for around 5 hours !
As usual I had a totally Fantastic time skiing in Les Gets, the snow was lovely and the sun fantastic 🙂
A few things made it extra special this year….
Kay
Firstly our friends Kay and Anthony are working over near Les Gets for the season, running Ski Wizards, not only did we go to the wizards castle for dinner but I also went out to ski with Kay on 2 afternoons, for many reasons this was fabulous for me 🙂
Sally, Gail and Louise
Secondly we caught up with our friends Gail and Thierry, its always great to see them, Gail and her daughter Louise managed an afternoon skiing with us and Thierry was brave enough to give me a ski lesson, trying to improve my technique as I tend to ski using my hips rather than my knees 🙁 . I learnt a great deal and will have to practise lots next year.
Finally I was treated to a fantastic 5 course evening meal at La Grande Ourse,which is a family run restaurant on Mont Chèry at an altitude of 1750metres (5742 feet)  overlooking the picturesque mountain village of Les Gets ,to get there was an experience in its self, About 15 diners had booked for the meal and transport was on the pisten bully straight up Mont Chery !
The menu was amazing,thankfully it was a clear night so the views were also amazing.
starter at La Grande Ourse
This evenings menu was slightly different, so for my main course I had an Ostrich fillet served on a homemade rosti with a butternut squash sauce, then for dessert Ross the Chef made me, my very own Creme Brulee, which was divine !
A totally wonderful evening with fantastic food and such a fabulous experience too 🙂
Then after all this fantastic fun I came home to discover that I had managed to loose 2lb in weight too, all thanks to my wonderful Fitbit , which I am sure I will blog about soon 🙂
It was really sad to leave everyone to come home But work was calling 🙁