Tempt My Tummy Tuesday: Lower calorie tuna pasta bake

I haven't done a TMTT post before but now were doing more cooking these days, I have more food to photograph so that I can actually make a post. So without further ado, here is my first ever TMTT post....a lower calorie tuna pasta bake....which is really yummy.

Ingredients

• 200g can of tuna
• 200g uncooked pasta
• 1/4tsp pepper
• 2 tsp parsley
• 100g very low fat garlic and herb Philadelphia soft cheese
• 1pink skimmed milk
• 2tbs light margerine
• 2tbsp plain flour
• 1tsp French mustard
• 60g reduced fat Cheddar cheese, or similar (grated)
  

Method

• Add 200g pasta to boiling water and cook for 10 minutes
• In a separate pan, add the butter and melt over a low heat
• Slowly add the rest of the milk
• Add the flour to the butter along with a drop of the milk and stir until smooth
• Add the parsley, pepper and mustard and cook until thickened
• Add the soft cheese to the milk sauce
  
• When the pasta is cooked, drain it and our it into an oven dish
• Sprinkle the drained tuna over the pasta and pour the cheesy sauce over the pasta
• Sprinkle the grated cheese over the top
• Cook in a pre-heated fan oven at 160C for 20 minutes or a standard oven at 180C for 20 minutes
• Enjoy!
  
  

The Bra Graveyard

Before I forget...can I shamelessly plug my first ever scrapbooking kit that I've just released at my graphics design blog, Adori Graphics. I have actually made the digital scrapbooking kits before, but I've never offered them at Adori Graphics before. So anyway, if that kind of thing interests you then hop on over there now :)

Well you can take it from my absence that a) the diet didn't go terribly well (starting diet 1,002 soon!) and b) things have been very busy in Blog-Makeover-Land.  I'm not going to dwell on either point because it's not going to get me anywhere, but I have made some steps to getting a little more free time. Well anything is an improvement on zero free time isn't it. The last 2 weeks I never even had chance to get to church, but that's what told me things have to change so I spread out my waiting list and crossed my fingers that people don't hate me for it. Anyway, onto the subject of the post.

You know its going to be a bad day when you go to the loo only to find there's no toilet paper left and you have to shout hubby to bring some from the other bathroom - and then when you get in the shower and realise there's no shower gel left and have to wash in shampoo.....but when your bra strap just snaps off when you're getting dressed, that's a sign of a really bad day ahead. Sure that happened to me this morning. I was just fastening the back and TWANG, huge piece of elastic came whipping towards my left eyeball. This was a rare occasion where I thanked the Lord for blessing me with like 2/20 vision and a need to wear glasses 24/7. So anyway I threw the bra onto the spare bed where it is now happily lounging about with about another 20 dead bras that I keep meaning to fix. Does anyone else have a bra graveyard? Or a sewing pile as long as mine? Nope, I bet you don't!

Oh and then the day just get better when, on the way to work,  some *insert bad word here* changed lane without indicating or checking mirrors and was about half an inch (no joke!) from sideswiping me off the road. The ensuing emergency stop saw my tupperware of porridge leap off the passenger seat and dump itself all over the floor of my car *sigh*. So not only have I got to clean the mess up after work, I also have no breakfast....maybe I'll have to make do with a nice bacon butty from the canteen.

Make that diet 1,003 coming up ;)

Don't forget

Don't forget that to be in with a chance of winning a rotating header, you must comment on my give-away post at Adori Graphics.

Have a great day folks :)

I've learnt something today...

Sorry...another food related post...you may wish to switch off now or groan very loudly :)

Its just that I've learnt some interesting things about myself this week and I feel the need to bore you about them. Things like...

It is possible to actually stop eating when you are full...yes really...well who'd have thought? Now this is a biggie for me because a) I hate waste and b) my eyes are bigger than my belly (and that's saying something). Consequently I usually end up stuffed but forcing myself to finish everything on the plate. I blame my mum (sorry mum) for always making me finish every last scrap of food before I left the table. It gets you into the habit of thinking you have to eat everything...which is fine if your portions are small enough...which mine aren't...or weren't. I couldn't eat all of my dinner last night so I've chucked it in a lunch box and have brought it to work today.

Planning works - and it stops you feeling guilty and giving up. Normally I have a very busy life with working full time in the day job, working full time on my blog make-overs and generally trying to have a life too. My life generally forces out on a couple of social functions every week, such as the usual Friday afternoon drink after work. This normally involves me, Andy and a friend from work having drinks (usually full sugar Pepsi at the pub and then heading off to the Chinese take away on the way home. Well sometimes I found this regular Friday jaunt stopped me being good in the week as I just thought "well what's the point, I'm going out of Friday and will be totally blowing the calories anyway". So this week I've approached this from a different angle. I know how many points I can have (points=calories....kind of) and I've planned what I'm going to have and how many points I'm going to need to borrow from another day. So its all figured out...I can have my treat...not blow my points...and not have to feel guilty about it. Yay for planning! I've even managed to plan in a trip to Nandos on Saturday evening since mum and dad are insisting on taking me and Andy out to dinner.

And now a shameless plug for my other blog....If you'd like to WIN a fabulous, funky and absolutely spiffing ROTATING BLOG HEADER then go check out my giveaway at Adori Graphics...the link is below :)

Giveaway!

A little bit about worry

Well I can't help but feeling a little disappointed at yesterday's weight loss....I am only human after all...but in the grand scheme of things I realise its only small fry. I do try not to worry about small fry or battles already lost. I say I *do* try...though that's difficult when you're a worry-wart by nature and you come from a loooooong line of worry-warts. The reason I'm trying not to worry is that I realised I should be putting my cares, worries and anxieties onto God.

You see I was browsing the bible the other night...as you doo...and I thought "I wonder what the bible has to say about worry". And I went digging and found these 2 snippets...

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. (Psalm 55:22)
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)

So, I'm trying to do what the bible suggests. Its early days but surprisingly I feel more care-free already :)    Although funnily enough I've not worried much about Andy's job situation since right back in the early days. I just always knew from then that God has the most amazing plan for Andy and that it will happen on HIS time-scale. I firmly believe that and it gives me comfort knowing that.

Well - better go I have a ton of emails to get through - have a lovely day folks.

1 measly stinking pound

After the week I had I lost 1 measly stinking pound *insert full blown pout here*

Better luck next week perhaps?

You may well be wondering

You may well be wondering if I survived my first week on the diet? Well I had a few slip ups. mostly because its just been a horrendous week and I felt too tired to spend ages in the kitchen preparing food, but I think that overall I did fine. Even when I wasn't particularly good I still made some effort by sharing something with Andy or by having a smaller portion, which is a huge achievement for me.

I will find out tonight whether it has been enough!