I agree Easter is a disaster area - makes it so much more difficult. A 4yo girl in my DD's class had 23 sodding easter eggs. WTF? Really sad, IMO, for her and her Mum, who is on the large side and struggling not to be.
I find weekends most difficult, but tend not to post on the thread then because there's no-one around - could we try being on the thread more at week-ends if that's when we're all having the worst time?
Dances - you wanted recipes, how about these.
Both serve two greedy adults (that'd be me and DH then) About 600 cals per portion, I eat with only green veg, no extra starch.
Chinese ginger and garlic pork. This is really yummy, you get an enormous plateful, and keeps carnivorous DH happy.
100g long grain rice
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2cm piece root ginger, chopped
500g pork mince (I use extra lean)
1.5 tbsp soy sauce
3 spring onions thinly sliced
200g packet beansprouts
1 carrot, grated
1 sml iceberg lettuce
Cook rice. Heat wok/lge frying pan, add oil, garlic, ginger and cook for 30 secs. Add pork mince and cook, breaking up any larger pieces, until the meat is evenly browned and cooked, about 10 mins. Stir in soy sauce, spring onions, beansprouts, and grated carrot and cook for 2 mins. Season with black pepper. Drain rice and stir into pork. To serve, tear lettuce leaves and pile onto two plates (I use pasta bowls) and heap pork mixture on top of the lettuce. You don't need anything with this, it's a meal in itself.
Spicy autumn chicken
3 tbsp sunflower oil
2 lge or 3 sml skinless boneless chicken breasts cut into chunks
2 onions, cut into wedges
3 tbsp mild curry paste
400g can chopped tomatoes
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped
400g can chickpeas, drained
Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a lge pan and fry chicken for 2 mins till browned. Remove chicken from pan and set aside. Add rest of oil and onion to pan, fry gently till golden. Return chicken to pan, stir in curry paste and cook briefly. Tip in chopped toms, then half fill the empty can with water and tip into pan with the pumpkin. (This doesn't look enough water at this stage, but is is OK, honestly). Cover pan and simmer for 20 mins till pumpkin is tender. Add chickpeas to pan and heat through, then season and serve with green veg.
Keep at it folks. Lovely sunny day here, should be outside using up my muffin top, sadly DS1 is ill and I'm in with him. Hope everyone else is making the most of the sunshine!