Recipe - Turkey Bolognese

As a household, we are careful not to eat too much red meat, and since my Dad introduced us to Turkey Bolognese, it's become a staple of our diet!

Ingredients (To serve 4):

• 300g lean turkey mince
• 1 red onion 
• 1/2 red pepper
• 1/2 red chilli
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 carrot
• 1 handful of mushrooms
• 1 handful baby plum tomatoes
• Handful chopped basil leaves
• 400g tin chopped tomatoes 
• 1/2 glass of white wine
• 1 tablespoon of tomato puree
• 1 teaspoon Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Paprika
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 chicken stock cube & 1 beef stock cube
• 1 teaspoon marmite
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
• Splash chilli sauce (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Firstly, grab your turkey mince and whack it in a pan to cook off. This will release any extra fat that's in the meat, making it slightly healthier for you! 

Make sure to break your mince up well and keep it moving, so it doesn't start to burn! (I also tend to find if I don't take the time to break it up, the mince takes on the consistency of scrambled egg, and then it's one lump or two in the finished product)!

Whilst your mince is cooking off, chop up all your vegetables into small chunks/slices/however you like your bolognese to be! Obviously, if you have the time, you could do this beforehand and be ultra prepared - something that I never am.

Once your mince has cooked through, remove it from the heat and pop into a colander to drain any excess oils/water/fat from cooking. At this point I decided to swap pans as I could tell that I had too much veg to fit in the frying pan that I was using!

Pop a splash of oil (I used rapeseed oil) into the bottom of the pan and place on a medium heat before adding your onions, garlic and chilli. Leave these to soften for a couple of minutes before adding the rest of your vegetables, and dry fry for around 5 minutes. 

When the vegetables have started to soften, take a sip out of your glass of wine (just for testing purposes - obviously), and then pour the rest into the vegetable mix. Of course, if you would like to be even healthier, this can be done with water; however I go by the idea that most of the alcohol will cook off anyway! 

You want to leave this to simmer down until the wine has almost disappeared (it should resemble a thick syrup if you stir the vegetables at the bottom), and then start adding the rest of your remaining ingredients (I just crumble the stock cubes into the pan, I don't mix with water). When you have added these and given it a good stir, you should also add the turkey mince back into the pan. 

Now, as a rule, I leave it to simmer for 20 minutes before tasting it to give the flavours a chance to infuse. On this occassion, the garlic cloves that I had used were quite small, so I ended up adding a teaspoon of garlic powder, and also a little extra fresh basil (I do love fresh basil)! It would be ready now, however you can leave it to simmer for as long as needed - or you can save it and reheat it when needed (making sure it's piping hot - we don't want to make anyone poorly)! 

I served our bolognese with 75g each of wholewheat penne and that was plenty for us! It's left enough bolognese sauce for a two-person portion to go in the freezer as well! I'm pretty sure dinners like this always taste better after they've been in the freezer too!

What's your favourite recipe? What could be changed to make mine better?! Send me some pictures over on twitter or instagram if you recreate this recipe!

Instagram: cakeeatersjourneytohealthy
Twitter: @cakeeaternomore

Ciao for now! 

L x

Saturday April 30 2016

Why happy Saturday everyone! 

Today has been a bit quiet really. Been drafting up a few blog posts for the coming days, and generally relaxing. Plans for a long walk were put on hold due to torrential rain showers for most of the morning, and then us getting distracted by life admin this afternoon! 

Must confess there was a little bit of snacking action last night - two curly wurly's. Not the end of the world, but I'm still annoyed at myself today! 

Here's a little round up of today's food:

Breakfast: None - this is frequent on the weekends and really is a habit that I need to snap out of!

Lunch: A cheese and ham toastie on white bread, with a packet of wheat crunchies. 

Afternoon "snack": 2 giant haribo bubblegum bottles

Dinner: Tonight I'm cooking us cod fillets, with homemade chips (par boiled and then ovenbaked using rapeseed oil to crisp up), and vegetables

Water: 1.5 litres - ish!

So to be honest, not the best choices for the most part of today and last night in regards to food. Rather than let it get me down I'm going to make tomorrow a clean slate! 

How has your Saturday been? Keep an eye out this weekend for lots of extra posts. A review of the Fitbit Charge HR went up earlier on and my recipe for Turkey Bolognese will be going up at 7pm UK time :)!

Ciao for now!

L x

100 FOLLOWER GIVEAWAY

I am planning on a giveaway once I reach 100 followers on Blogger! 

All you need to do to be in with a chance is:

• Follow the blog publicly 
• Share my pinned tweet on twitter (@cakeeaternomore) (not vital - but hey it's nice to be nice)!
• Leave a comment with your twitter handle/instagram name, so that I can contact you if you win :)

The giveaway prize will be:

• A copy of 30 day shred workout DVD
• A full size La Roche-Posay Effaclar Purifying Cleansing Gel
• A mystery prize

Get sharing guys!

L x

Review - Fitbit Charge HR

To many, it may seem like a glorified pedometer, but since getting my first Fitbit almost a year ago, it has become somewhat of a prized possession of mine!

I purchased my first Fitbit, a Fitbit Flex back in May 2015, just to see how active I was on a daily basis. It turns out, not very! However, the great thing about the Fitbit is, you can set up challenges with family and friends, and you quickly become motivated not to come last! 

In February this year, I upgraded my Fitbit to the Fitbit Charge HR. This was mainly so that I could gather more detailed information about my activities, and also as I had started to become more active in my weightloss journey. The Charge HR has features including: 

• Continuous wrist-based pulse monitoring
• Tracking of steps, distance, calories and stairs climbed
• Caller ID display
• Alarm system
• Exercise statistics 

The alarm is great - it gently vibrates against your wrist at your set time to bring you out of sleep without the harshness of a whacking trill from an alarm clock; and the caller ID can be useful if you're away from your phone (the wristband will vibrate and the name will appear on-screen). The pulse reader is interesting, although naturally given the simplistic concept, is at times slightly off kilter. The tracker also monitors your activity and can pick up on a period of exercise without you having to tell it; something which is great when you're at the gym! 

The app is brilliant too; giving you the option to record your calorie and water intake, look at how well you've slept, look at the core hours of the day and see how active you were and much more! I find the sleep aspect particularly interesting - 

I was ill on this particular evening - it recorded my movements and sleep/awake periods very accurately!

Being totally honest, I probably don't use the app to it's full potential. Now that I'm embarking on this weightloss journey with 110% dedication, I should probably make use of the weight tracker, water intake and calorie intake functions. Perhaps I will have a fiddle around with them this afternoon and get used to using them!

This is, however, my second Charge HR. The first one became faulty after 6 weeks, with the tracker actually becoming unattached from the band (it's built/glued/screwed in). However, Argos were brilliant and got a replacement out to me within a couple of weeks! The battery life is pretty good; I normally charge mine about every four-five days, and it's easy enough to do whilst your sat at your laptop doing some work as it has a USB cable! 

Overall, the Fitbit has definitely had a positive impact on my activity levels, as I'm always determined to meet the daily target of 10,000 steps; often exceeding it to try and beat my friends in the daily challenges! At a cost of around £100 (Currys, Boots and Amazon are examples of stockists), it's not cheap, but I have found results from using it, and I hope for those results to increase even more now that I am drastically overhauling my lifestyle!

Have any of you used a fitness tracker? What are your thoughts on using technology? Let's chat!

Ciao for now!

L x

Friday April 29 2016

Peace and quiet has gone, the boyfriend is back, the bag is laying still packed in the lounge, and the duvet is getting stolen in the middle of the night! Ahhh how I've missed normality! 

We both had the day off today, so we decided to make the most of it and do something fun. Then it started persistently hailstoning. Well, there goes that idea out of the window! As a compromise, we needed a few bits from Tesco so we took a stroll down to our local store, and also popped in for a cheeky subway (oops)! I'm making a Turkey Bolognese for dinner, so at least that's fairly healthy!

Yesterday, I only just made it to 10,000 on the fitbit (I was lucky)! Fingers crossed the stats at the end of the day today are more impressive!

Round up of today's food:

Breakfast: None! Bad!! Me and the Mr ended up staying up late last night and as a result didn't get up until nearly 10! D'oh!

Lunch: That sneaky Subway - I had a 6 inch Spicy Italian on Hearty Italian bread. I added lettuce, cucumber, peppers, red onions and a little squeeze of ranch dressing! Totally worth it. Plus, I guess we walked there so at least I earned maybe...one bite?! 

Dinner: As I said before, I'm making a Turkey Bolognese - of which I will post the recipe. It's delicious :), I will be serving it with some wholewheat pasta!

Water: Not enough :) - I've had less than a litre so far today and it's currently 4pm. I will need to rectify that before the end of the day!

I'm very much looking forward to the long weekend, we've planned a couple of long walks if the weather holds out, I'm going to get some blog posts written, and take my "before/motivation" pictures, which if I feel confident enough, I will share on the blog.

Look out for some extra posts this weekend including some recipes, a review of the FitBit Charge HR and also a post on something a little bit more personal!

What have you guys got planned for the weekend? Let's get chatting!

Ciao for now! 

L x

Thursday April 28 2016

Well hello there :)

It's almost the weekend, and even better, my other half returns from his business trip tonight! I'm so excited to see him - it's the longest we've been apart since we moved in together almost two years ago!

So today has been a housework day, a little bit of cleaning, and preparing a yummy dinner for when the Mr gets home! Otherwise fairly quiet, although I did take a lovely walk around the local park (which was called off prematurely due to a downpour of rain)!

Hit my step milestone again yesterday, so I'm pretty happy with myself, although looking at the stats, I need to be more active as I was only doing over 250 steps an hour for four out of the nine measured hours (oops)! 

So here's a round up for Thursday's food and drinks:

Breakfast: 2 slices of wholemeal seeded bread with marmite

Lunch: Half a carton of Tesco Chicken, Barley and Vegetable fresh soup

Afternoon Snack: An orange

Dinner: Mexican rice *Recipe coming up soon*

Water Intake: 2 Litres!

I'm pretty happy with my food choices today, I just need to make sure that tonight I don't have a massive portion of Mexican Rice!

How has your week been? What exciting things have you got planned for the weekend? 

Ciao for now!

L x

Wednesday April 27 2016

Happy Hump Day Everyone!


I'm already really enjoying these new lifestyle choices I've made. I got up this morning and did a workout DVD in the lounge (with the curtains shut as I live on a main road and didn't really want to scar anyone walking past at 7am this morning)!

My partner is coming back from his week away tomorrow, and then it's a long weekend for both of us, so I'm hoping to get in some good long walks in preparation for my charity walk on the 5th June! (12 miles of hills and cross country walking - I can't wait)!

I'm quite proud of myself because I am a serial evening snacker and yet last night I decided that rather than eating I should be active - and as a result I smashed my daily 10,000 step goal on FitBit! I'm thinking of doing a review on my FitBit Charge HR in the coming days, so keep an eye out for that!







Here's a round up of Wednesday's food:

Breakfast: Strawberries, raspberries and a Muller Light vanilla yogurt

Lunch: I was out for dinner with a friend, and had the Thai Green Curry from Bills!

Afternoon Snack: Possibly the juiciest orange I've ever eaten (so juicy I had to change my top....I'm 24 not 24 months..honest)

Dinner: 1/2 a tub of Chicken, Barley and Vegetable fresh soup from Tesco, with 1 slice of granary bread!

Water Intake: 2.5 litres!! (Massive achievement!)

I'm loving finding weightloss blogs for inspiration and to guide me on what I should be thinking about when creating mine! What are your favourite blogs?

I also posted a skincare review of the La Roche Posay Effaclar Purifying Cleansing Gel earlier on today - so please read if you're interested!

If you're enjoying my daily updates please let me know, and share this with all your friends! I've got lots of exciting content planned! I'm going to touch a little on some struggles I have in my daily life, I'm going to review relevant items and products that have helped along my weightloss journey, I'm going to discuss my inspirations, and once a month there will be an updated progress picture!

Here's hoping for another positive day tomorrow; hope you guys have had a good day?!

Ciao for now!

L x

Review - La Roche-Posay Effaclar Purifying Cleansing Gel

There's nothing worse than leaving the gym still feeling sweaty and grotty! I plan time into my workouts to make sure that I have a spare 15 mins to jump in the shower and have a quick wash, and the face is something that definitely shouldn't be forgotten about. Whilst sweating is great as it unblocks your pores with all the daily grime you've collected; it's not the best idea to leave it sitting on your skin for hours after your workout - otherwise that dirt will soon be settling back in to your face again! 

My "at home" skin routine is somewhat vast, whereas I like to be quick and effective at the gym. Following skin goddess Caroline Hirons rules - wipes are a no go, so I opt for a cleansing gel to remove the nasties and leave me feeling refreshed.

The La Roche-Posay Effaclar Purifying Cleansing Gel is a mid price range wash, costing £11 at Boots (currently on a 2 for £15 cleanser offer - BARGAIN!); and works like a dream for me. My skin is prone to imperfections and I'm a fan of the Effaclar range as a whole; and the great thing is that with a pH of 5.5; it's suitable even for sensitive skin. 

It lathers a little on contact with water, however the foam is not drying and instead carries more of a refreshing feeling! There is a scent, it's definitely a fresh scent and not floral; but isn't one that hangs around after you've rinsed which is fab! You also only need a little of the product to cover your entire face and neck; and I think my 200ml tube has been going for almost 3 months already and I'm not even half way through! My one criticism is that I do struggle to get the product out of the packaging as the hole is very small; but that definitely doesn't put me off using it! 

What are your go-to products to feel refreshed after a hard gym workout? Do you have any favourites you think I should try?! Leave me a comment or even tweet me @cakeeaternomore :)!

Chow for now!

L x

Tuesday April 26 2016

So, today is the first day of my new journey. It's currently a little past midnight, and I'm yet to go to bed as a sit reflecting on the previous day.

Firstly, in less than twelve hours 130 people have viewed this blog (welcome!), which astonishes me! Secondly, I've now set up a Twitter, so if anyone fancies a natter please feel free to follow @CakeEaterNoMore. 

I was thinking about how I could set out these entries, and I think I've decided the best way would be to give a brief overview, and then comment on any particular things that have stood out to me. So here's a round up of my Tuesday:

Breakfast: Strawberries, raspberries and porridge made with almond milk (yum - although I definitely need to use less milk next time!)

Lunch: Waitrose "Superbright" Stir Fry with added beansprouts and a sachet of blue dragon chilli sauce

Dinner: The other half of the stirfry bag, with chicken and the same sauce (creative, I know!)

Water Intake: Not enough, maybe 1.5 litres?! But I guess there's still a few hours to go!

So for the first couple of days I think I'm going to go through recipe books, look at healthy dinner options and decide on some meals to try! I'm planning on going and doing a nice healthy food shop at the end of the week! Today has been a good start, I've not been to the gym, but I have done a lot of walking, so I'm feeling positive! 

The test is going to come tonight when I'm sat watching TV - the temptation to snack will be real, but I'm going to stay strong/find something healthy to snack on. I'm also tempted to join a weightloss club such as Slimming World or Weight Watchers. Can anyone recommend one or the other?! 

Here's hoping for another positive day tomorrow; hope you guys have had a good day?!

Ciao for now!

L x

Monday April 25 2016

So.. following on from my brief introduction, I guess here's Day 1 of my journey! 

My boyfriend is away on business for the week, so I thought it was the perfect time to sit down and really plan out how I was going to go about this. (total honesty, I did consume snacks whilst planning, making and editing the blog and first post - a trait that needs changing!). 

Here are my vital stats that I will refer to from now on to make any comparisons! 

Weight: Bang on 21 stone (Yikes, should have done something sooner!)

Height: 5'7" (I know that's not going to change but still!)

Bust: I'm in a mahoosive 44G bra

Clothes: 22-24 depending where from

Activity levels: Minimal


My aim is to loose 100% naturally, through increasing my exercise and eating healthily. Pretty simple, but I've tried and failed before; so I know this journey won't be easy. 

I've invested in a FitBit, to make sure I'm hitting at least 7,000 steps a day in the beginning and upping to the recommended 10,000 steps a day as soon as possible. I've also signed up for a 12 mile charity walk, taking place in the first week of June, so that's some motivation to get out and build up some endurance! 

Tomorrow will be my first diary entry of foods eaten, emotions felt, and exercise (hopefully) completed! I can't wait to share my journey with you, and I hope you'll share your own personal journeys with me, as we beat the bulge together! 

I've set up a twitter - @cakeeaternomore, so please follow me so I can chat to you all day everyday! 

I'm off to make up my first batch of healthy lunches and dinners to be frozen, and to draft some extra blog posts to go up as I commence this long but worthwhile battle. My normal posts will be published at 6pm GMT/BST time daily, and there will be additional blog posts every now and then too!

Please leave me a message in the comments below introducing yourself, or sharing your own blogs with me - I do love a good bit of reading material!

Until then, ciao for now!

L x

Welcome

Well hello if you're reading this!

If I'm being honest, I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to start a blog....what do you want to know?! I'm a 24 year old female living in Wales, struggling with the perils of having eyes that were once bigger than my belly! 

Weighing in at almost 21 stone (I will actually weigh myself and get you an accurate number), and squeezing myself into size 22-24 clothing; I've finally realised that enough is enough. It's time to ditch the cake, grab the trainers and the recipe books and start a new journey into the unknown world of...being healthy! 

Truth be told, this has been kick-started by my boyfriend being amazingly honest and telling me that whilst he still loves me and finds me attractive; it's not the same attraction as it once was. Now we've been together a little over six years, and when we were those young spring chickens all that time ago, I was rocking a body I can only dream of now: a confident, toned size 10-12 with 34D boobs! (I couldn't even tell you how big they are now!).

So here's my pledge, I promise to update you daily as I struggle and succeed in my weightloss journey. Weekly weigh-ins, recipe ideas, diary entries of my day, whatever you want, you can have it! As a girl that's in love with the fashion and beauty industry, I can't promise that I would chuck a bit of that in there too! 

So I guess that's it, I best go make a Twitter account to support this now hadn't I, so I can get people reading. And hey, maybe some people will join me and this journey won't be so lonely!

Chow for now!

L x