Even Healthier Jacket Potato With Beans

I love a jacket potato with beans, sometimes I add grated cheese to make it even more yummy, but I'm on a bit of a health kick at the moment (see my Fitness Friday posts and my What I Ate Wednesday posts) so I'm trying to find healthier ways of cooking the food I love to eat. 

I discovered sweet potatos a few years ago and I love them. They're full of fibre and a really good source of vitamin A,D and B6.  I'm unsure if they're necessarily healthier than normal, white potatoes, (there's more info on Precision Nutrition if you're interested) but I do like the slightly caramelised taste you get when you bake them.

Ingredients for the 'beans'

Serves 4

 

400g tin cannelini beans in water drained

400g chopped tomatoes 

1 onion chopped

1 courgette chopped

1 chilli chopped

1 bell pepper chopped

Cup peas

4 cubes frozen spinach

These are the ingredients I used today but realistically you can use whatever veg you have in your fridge.  I tend to empty my salad tray once a week and whatever veg needs using I throw it in.

Before you prepare your beans place your sweet potato in a preheated oven at 180C until cooked (mine took an hour)

1. Chop all the vegetables into small pieces.

2. Heat your pan and pour in some oil.

3. Sauté your onions on a medium heat for 5 minutes.

4. Add the courgette, bell peppers and chilli and cook for around 6 minutes or until your veg have softened.

5. Add the cannelini beans, chopped tomatoes, spinach and peas.  Leave to simmer on a low heat for 8 minutes.

6. I added some worcester sauce and tabasco sauce to add a bit if a kick as my chilli wasn't hot but you can leave this out if you prefer.

7. Spoon your beans over your jacket and ENJOY!

Any leftovers I spoon into one of these handy freezer bags and pop it in the freezer so next time I want a quick, easy meal I can just grab one of these and heat it up.

Let me know if you cook this, I'd love to see any variations of different veg you come up with.

 

Benefits Of Being A Single Mum

Hola Sparkly1s

Being a single mum is hard. No doubt about it. I admire anyone who is going about this whole parenting thing single handedly.  I've been a single mum to Mini Greenoid since he was around 1. He's now nearly 10 and I've had one serious (3 year) relationship in that time.  There's been many a time when it's been a real struggle and there's no doubt that its financially difficult, but there are also loads of benefits of being a single parent.

 

No one to undermine my authority.

I've always been a confident parent despite being young (22 when I gave birth).  I knew how I wanted to raise my child.  I also have strong opinions on what is right and wrong in terms of parenting.  In fact I can get quite argumentative about it.  It would drive me insane if when I said 'bedtime' someone said 'aw let him stay up a bit longer.'  It's a huge responsibility knowing that you make all the decisions but I like it and honestly, don't know if I could cope any other way.

I get Sundays to myself.

This one is dependant on if Dad turns up but in general I have a whole day 10am - 5pm to do with as I choose.  Some mums get whole weekends to themselves, I only get a day but that's fine.  I enjoy that I can nip out shopping or meet friends for lunch or play computer games without feeling guilty that I should be entertaining Mini Greenoid. 

No more fighting about who does what.
Theoretically, in terms of workload, it should undoubtedly be harder to raise a child on your own.  Half the adult input so double the adult responsibility.  But that's so not the case in my experience.  The energy and effort I've put in trying to figure out how chores can be split so each partner is happy is much harder than just doing the tasks myself.  If I do have a partner I expect him to do his share but invariably he doesn't, so I nag and moan and build up a lot of resentment.  Trust me, it's so much easier when you just know from the offset it's your responsibility to do it.

Independent role model.
One of the best gifts I'm able to give my son is the knowledge and understanding that he can make it on his own.  It's far better to 'want' to be in a relationship than to 'need' to be in one.  I will teach him that he needs to be able to cook, iron, wash his clothes etc because it will make him a better, more rounded person.  Children imitate what they see, good and bad, so if your child sees you as an independent, complete person they will imitate this behaviour.

 

Unexpected Fun in York

Yesterday we decided to go to York for the day.  The reasoning behind the trip was that Mini Greenoid has a project to do for school and has decided to do it on Vikings.  I'm all for a bit of hands on experience when it comes to kids learning about things so I thought a trip to Jorvik Viking Centre would be the ideal thing to do. 

 

 

 

York's an hour and 45 minute drive away for us so its a fair way.  We had a fantastic day though and I thought I'd share some of my snaps and experiences.

 

Jorvik was good but not at all what I expected.  I've been before as a kid but couldn't remember it at all.  It's right in the centre of York (the entrance is in a shopping centre next to TopShop and JaneNorman I think) and it's a reconstruction of Viking Age streets 1000 years ago.  There's also a range of exhibitions in a museum style setting. 

 

 

 

After our visit to Jorvik Viking Centre we decided to take a stroll around the streets and I'm so glad we did.  There were street entertainers and mini festivals around every corner.  We watched RobRoy who is an amazing escapologist, some very talented people doing Capoeira, singers and dancers and Samba bands.  We strolled through the farmers market, smelled all the fabulous street food on sale from Indonesian to Italian and bought ice cream down by the river.

 

 

 

It was a wonderful, unexpected day of so much fun.  As we were leaving Mini Greenoid said 'I'm glad we came to York, can we come again?'  and that, in my book counts as a success.

 

I would definitely recommend a trip to York for any age and I think we're going to go back soon.  I just so love exploring new places. 

 

Do you know any good places to visit for a day / weekend? 

 

Hasta Luego Sparkly1s

Gemzicle Sprinkles

xoxo

 

Dad's Pandora Bracelet

I have a love of charm bracelets, in particular Pandora  I've collected Pandora for many years. I go through stages of buying loads then not buying any for a while.  I like to make up special themed bracelets such as a summer bracelet or a fairytale bracelet.  A very special bracelet that I made up nearly 3 years ago is my 'Dad' bracelet.

My Dad died of cancer almost 3 years ago at the ripe old age of 60. In the passing months I wanted to make a bracelet about all things Dad.  It was easy.  I looked at my collection and started putting together some charms that mean something to me about my Dad.  I starting browsing the internet for meaningful charms.  It was actually good fun and probably, in a way, some form of therapy for me.

 

My Dad in Paris

 

 

 

Each charm has a very special meaning or holds a fond memory.

Text Book - My Dad loved to read. Simple as.  There's also a wise old owl on one side of the books. My Dad was probably one of the cleverest people I've ever met.

Inner Strength- My heart is full of admiration for how my Dad dealt with dying.  We found out in January and by mid August he was gone. In those short 7 months I didn't hear him complain, whine or moan.  Inside he must have been completely ripped apart, he was prodded and poked and was clearly in a lot of physical pain but he had incredible inner strength to deal with it all.

Black Friday 2011 - This charm has 2 meanings.  2011 as Dad died in 2011 and Black Friday as come Black Friday you could always count on him being on Amazon looking at Black Friday deals each year.  I learned about Black Friday from him.

Aeroplane - he loved to travel.  Being on holiday was where my Dad was happiest.  As a family we have a little villa in Spain and my Dad loved that place.  In fact, when he was dying I think he had about 4 holidays out there in 6 months.

 

 

 

Lucerne Clips & Lucerne Dangle - These are the breast cancer charms. Ok, I know my Dad didn't have breast cancer but I was using my creative license.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alarm Clock - He was a lazy sod in the mornings! I remember when I was younger our house was always manic in the mornings (4 girls AND my mum was a childminder) There were kids everywhere but my Dad clearly slept through all the noise.  He would stroll down around 8:45am and slump in the chair looking like he'd been dragged through a hedge backwards.

Red Grape - He used to like the odd glass a bottle or 2 of red wine.  He'd get so drunk coz he'd drink lager then move onto red wine later in the evening. Disaster. Never mix grape and grain Dad. First rule of drinking.

Suitcase - Again, this goes back to his love of holidays. There's also a Paris label and Eiffel Tower picture on the suitcase.  For my 23rd birthday he bought me tickets to go to Paris.

Gold Heart (Christ Charm) - This is a rare charm so it's on there because my Dad was a rare breed himself.  The poor man had 4 daughters and a pain in the butt wife (sorry mum). That must have been hard work with all those hormones raging around the house.  He was completely selfless and would literally do anything for anyone - a genuine heart of gold.  This was also a German exclusive charm and my Dad was half German.

Virgo Starsign - Self explanatory I think.

Dad - My mum bought me and my sister these after he died.

Forget-Me-Knot - The title of this charm says it all really.

 

August Birthstone Flower - My Dad was born in August.  I think he spent almost all of his birthdays at the villa for the past 20 odd years.

So that's my Dad's bracelet.  I might continue it if more charms are released that I feel are fitting or I might leave it as it is.

Happy Fathers Day Dad

Do you have any charm bracelets? Do you style them for sentiment or simply what looks good?

Hasta Luego Sparkly1s

Gemzicle Sprinkles

xoxo



Shape Up For Summer Progress {13.6.14}

Hola Sparkly1s

It's finally Friday! This working week seems to have lasted forever but it's finally over and that means it's time for a Shape up For Summer update.

This week has definitely been the best week.  As I mentioned in my #WIAW (What I Ate Wednesday) my eating habits have changed.  I'm no longer craving sweets and crisps and I've not been bothered about the lack of carbs in my diet.  I haven't eliminated carbs but I've tried to cut down on them.  I'm a vegetarian and I relied heavily on carb for my food intake - bread, pasta, potatoes, you name it I ate it - all the time.  I've started eating more lentils and other pulses.

 

My hooping has been brilliant. I've successfully completed 20 minutes of hooping everyday.  My anticlockwise hooping still leaves a lot to be desired but I'm persevering with it and its gradually getting better.  I've also started trying to walk around whilst hooping.  

Weight - 160lbs   {-5lbs}

Waist - 36inches {same}

Hips - 42.75inches {same}

Bust - 35inches {same}

 

I'm really pleased with those numbers.  There may not be any change in my measurements but I'm definitely finding my way with all this stuff now.  I'm eating right,  and I've found an exercise that I'm really enjoying.

 

 

Hasta Luego Sparkly1s

Gemzicle Sprinkles

xoxo