Monday 21 January 2013

Life is Good

Sometimes it's nice to remind oneself of how the little things can add up over the course of just one week to make you feel happy and contented. It might be something nice someone said to you, an effort made on your own part, or simply retail therapy. Here's why I'm happy right now.



Last weekend N and I headed to a local, highly-rated cafe for lunch in celebration of a minor work triumph. We were told we would have to wait for fifteen minutes and were seated in around five, and even though it was packed our food came out incredibly quickly. And any meal which involves complementary cinnamon buns is fine by me!



Saying that, the portion size was massive and I felt yucky for the rest of the day, catalysing another cool thing about this week: I didn't eat too much, and what I did eat was highly enjoyable (with the exception of one failed stir-fry sauce). I recently subscribed to the BBC Good Food magazine on my tablet, which is totally worth the money. And I have started a love affair with real meat! This week I made this Crispy Chilli Beef, and this Pork and Peanut Thai Curry; and N made these Chicken Teriyaki Meatballs and this Honey Mustard Chicken Pasta, all of which were incredibly tasty, with the exception of the sauce for the beef which I somehow messed up.

Crispy Chilli Beef, photo courtesy of BBC Good Food

Added to this, a week last Thursday I finally joined the gym on campus. It works out really cheap if I actually go regularly (motivation!), and is awesome: everything is included in the price including classes, lockers and a towel service, the gym area is massive, and they have a lovely pool! I went swimming twice last week and tried out water aerobics yesterday which was so much fun!

Pork and Peanut Thai Curry, photo courtesy of BBC Good Food

So with that I'm starting to work towards my goals for this year one step at a time so as not to overwhelm myself. If I did that I would surely achieve nothing at all. In terms of my weight loss goal, I lost 1lb last week, which is perfect. And we've made a step in the right direction with wedding planning this week by finally setting up our savings account, exciting!

Chicken Teriyaki Meatballs, photo courtesy of BBC Good Food

I can't write a post about last week without talking about the amazing bread N made. He did a simple wholemeal loaf from Paul Hollywood's book, "How To Bake", and I think it may have been the best homemade bread I have ever tasted!

Honey Mustard Chicken Pasta, photo courtesy of BBC Good Food

This weekend was fun too. We went out for pizza on Friday evening, and I did very well with only eating some and taking the rest home. I worked on Saturday morning, but the afternoon involved an impromptu but very successful shopping trip with a friend, resulting in the bargainous purchase of this spectacular pot! I am christening it as we speak, so I will let you know how that turns out.



So that ended up being pretty wordy, but that can only be a good thing, it adds up to a whole lot of happy! What has made you happy this week?

6 comments:

  1. That pork and peanut thai curry looks amaaaaazing!! I might have to pinch the recipe! Very glad to read this lovely positive post! This week, the snow and a good choir rehearsal have made me happy, but I have Land Law consolidation so I'm not particularly contented right now!

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    1. You should definitely make the curry, it was awesome! Ugh land law consolidation does not sound like much fun, but snow and choir do sound good :)

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  2. Gem, this post made me smile a lot :) The cinnamon buns look so tasty, as does the rest of the food. I've made that crispy chilli beef dish before and it was very yummy indeed. I got the Paul Hollywood book over Christmas and I can honestly say it is the best baking book I've ever owned. Everything I've baked from it has turned out brilliantly, the cob loaf is nice. And the teacakes have become a regular occurrence in my kitchen, I would defiantly recommend that recipe for the Dr N & G household!
    The pot also looks fabulous. Such a great colour too :) x

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    1. :D happy to make you smile. ooo thanks for the Paul Hollywood recommendations. Dr N has just put a Hollywood marble cake in the oven. I'm not allowed any though because I still have to finish eating the Christmas cake!

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  3. Yay for happiness! I love how almost all of your happy involved food, yummy! You're right it is good to remember how the little things add up. I'm happy because this morning my walk to work was magical, seeing the bird footprints in fresh snow and everything being quiet. And I have a great new Rainbow Leader, a Rainbow wrote me a note saying "I love you loads" and I had a doughnut. Happy! x

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    1. This is true, a lot of my happy does involve food! Being so food-focussed is not good for losing the American belly, but is good for the happy.
      Aww I'm jealous of your magical snow walk to work, that does sound nice :)

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