Happy New Year! Simple and in Season Nov/Dec Round-Up & January/February Shout-Out

Happy New Year to you all and a warm welcome to 2018 here on Feeding Boys! We made it!  So to kick things off I thought I’d let you know what can you expect from my blog this year… if there’s anything I’ve missed that you’d like me to cover please let me know in the comments below – I LOVE hearing from you 🙂

Slimming World Friendly Recipes

The weight loss journey continues, having lost 3.5 stone in 2017 I’m keen to reach my target weight within a year of starting at Slimming World. That means I’m challenging myself to lose another stone by April (plus what I put on over the festive season *ahem*). So I’ll be coming up with even more delicious Slimming World Friendly Recipes for you to try out, as I know a fair few of you will be Food Optimising your way through January like me.

I’m also making a commitment to cut down on booze this month, keep daily food diaries, batch-cook hearty meals and to get my step count back up to 20k per day as often as I can. I just need to keep doing what I was doing before Christmas and I should get there! I’ve learnt that it really is a mindset, and you should view it as a lifestyle change rather than a diet.

The next part of my journey will be maintaining that weight loss, which I think will make for interesting blog posts and recipes later in the year. I really can’t wait to get to that stage, as it’ll be a fresh challenge.

Family Friendly Recipes

I’m aiming to make my Slimming World Recipes as family friendly as possible, but of course I’ll be sharing lots of other meal ideas with you too.

I’ve challenged Sam to cook a family meal for us once a week as part of my aim to make the kids more independent this year. His Granny bought him the Jamie Oliver 5 Ingredients Cookbook for Christmas, so he’s going to work his way through it. We thought a simple approach to cooking would help him find his feet. I’ll keep you updated with how that goes, but he’s very keen to get started!

A bit of a dabble with Vegan recipes

Although I haven’t committed to Veganuary, I’m curious to give a plant-based diet more of a try. There are so many fantastic vegan products out there to make plant-based cooking more accessible, that it doesn’t feel like it would be as hard I always used to think it would be.

Weekly Meal Planner

If one thing has worked well for me it’s been my weekly meal planner that I chalk up on my kitchen wall every week and post on my social media channels. I’ve had lots of lovely feedback from everyone saying how useful they find it that I’m definitely going to continue with it in 2018.

The boys love knowing what we’re having to eat, it helps me shop more efficiently and then eliminates the need to panic-decide what’s for tea. It also makes me think more about balancing our diet, so we’re not eating too much of the same things.

Reviews

One of my favourite things about being a food blogger is getting to try out new products, gadgets and restaurants, so there’ll definitely be more reviews in 2018.

I’ve got a MagiMix turning up next week, there are more restaurants and cafes arriving in my area for me to nose around and there’s always a new product to be tasted. I love sharing all those new supermarket products that make brilliant hacks for speedy weeknight family meals too, so I’ll be hunting down plenty of those!

Simple and in Season

And finally, there’ll be another year of seasonal recipe round-ups with my Simple and in Season link parties. So let’s get on with the round-up from November and December. It got rolled into one coz the end of the year was typically bonkers.

 

1. Celeriac Veggie Loaf

Jo’s Kitchen Larder says this tasty loaf is one of those dishes loved by meat eaters and vegetarians alike because it’s so satisfying. I love the thought of serving it up with all the trimmings of a roast dinner along with some of my red onion gravy.

Get the recipe

 

2. Easy Home-Made More Nut, Less Sugar Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread

The Gluten Free Alchemist was not pleased to hear that the recipe has been changed for Nutella, meaning it has more fat and sugar, and fewer nuts. So what did she do? She went and made her own! Doesn’t it look amazing?!

Get the recipe

3. Christmas Sugar Cookies

Chaos With Coffee paid us a visit with her super-cute Christmas Sugar Cookies – I adore the pop of colour they bring to the party!

Get the recipe

 

4. Spinach & Zucchini Egg White Frittata

Another recipe from Chaos With Coffee, this time it’s the picture of health we could all do with at this time of year. I fancy giving this a whirl as it looks pretty Slimming World friendly with a few little tweaks!

Get the recipe

 

5. Home made waffle and sausage gravy

Chaos With Coffee has also put together this little feast which I think would make a delicious weekend brunch.

Get the recipe

 

6. Asparagus Quiche

This looks like a divine way to warm up on a winter’s evening. Chaos with Coffee sure has been busy in the kitchen this month!

Get the recipe

7. Scallops with Celeriac Apple Remoulade

Natural Kitchen Adventures popped by with this stunning dish that’s ideal for a light winter starter at any dinner parties you might be throwing this month.

Get the recipe

8. Chestnut, Sage & Parmesan Palmiers

The Baking Explorer finishes our round-up with these gorgeous vegetarian party canapés – the flavours sound absolutely lush!

Get the recipe

Thanks so much to everyone who’s taken the time to join in for November and December’s round of Simple and in Season! If you’ve not had a chance to join in, make sure you check in with us for the next round in January where there’s sure to be a wealth of healthy recipes to inspire. So make sure you come back in February for the round-up! Have a great month everyone, and do let me know in the comments what you’d like to see more of from me this year 🙂

Katie xxx

Join in with Simple and in Season for January & February

GUIDELINES

Simple and in Season is a monthly food blogging event where you are invited to link up any of your seasonal recipe posts – anywhere in the world! Join a thriving community of home cooks who love to share their seasonal creations. Each month, there will be a round-up of all the entries.

• • All you have to do is come up with a dish using any seasonal produce you like (savoury or sweet) post it on your blog, add a link to this post mentioning Simple and in Season and linking to www.feedingboys.co.uk and then manually add the link to your post in the box on each month’s launch page (click the badge on my Blog sidebar to find the current host)
  • The linky will close on the 27th Februaryand a round up post featuring all the recipes entered will be posted at the beginning of March.
  • You can take inspiration from anywhere – adapt a recipe from your favourite cookbook, try something from a magazine, make up your own creation or share a family favourite. The usual rules apply when using someone else’s recipe, please either get permission from the author to post it or adapt it in some way stating how/why you’ve changed it.
  • Include any seasonal produce you fancy including fruit, veg, herbs, meat or fish.
  • Link as many recipes as you like. You can link posts entered into other blog events or carnivals as long as it involves a seasonal food item (and fits in with their rules).
  • The linky-up is open to anyone, anywhere, and although it will be nice to feature as much British produce as possible, it will be interesting to see what’s in season elsewhere.
  • By entering your link, you are giving me permission to add your photograph to the round-up. I will link back directly to your post when I include you.
  • If you have questions or problems, email me or leave me a comment in the comment box at the bottom of the post.
  • If you are on Twitter or Instagram, tweet your link/photo adding the hashtag #simpleandinseason or add me @cookingkt and I will re-tweet it.