Sweet and Sour...........the very best!

I won this book in the Slimming World Raffle - this has got to be the best Sweet and Sour I have ever tasted and so healthy.

INGREDIENTS
low calorie cooking spray
800g skinless and boneless chicken breasts, sliced thinly
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
4 spring onions,thinly sliced, plus extra togarnish
1 green pepper and 1 red pepper,deseeded and cut into chunks
200g fresh pineapple,cut into bite-sized pieces
Salt

FOR THE SAUCE
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
6 tbsp light soy sauce
4 tbsp tomato purée
1 tbsp rice vinegar
6 tbsp unsweetened orange juice
100ml chicken stock
1-2 tsp sweetener
1 level tbsp cornflour

Mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl until the cornflour is thoroughly blended. Set aside. Spray a wok or deep frying pan with low calorie cooking spray and place over a high heat.
When it is very hot, add the chicken and stir-fry for 6-7 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Add the garlic, spring onions and peppers and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
Pour the sauce into the pan and stir continuously for 1 minute until it thickens.
The chicken and vegetables should be well coated with the sauce.
Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the pineapple, season with salt and garnish with spring onions. Serve with lots of noodles or rice.

Q is for Quandry.

Okay - so the new carpet and walls are going to be grey....ahem...so what next? Well the window on the landing needs curtains - so I came across a bargain on ebay. Jane Churchill remnant - sufficient for just what we need.

 

Love the colours.
Hall/landing stairs sorted then....what about our bedroom?
Blank canvas is fine but no ideas....then whilst I was on the computer a pair of curtains popped up on ebay with minutes to go to the end of the auction.
With 1 minute to go I put my cheeky bid in within the last 30 seconds and won!

They have been dispatched and will be arriving any day!

Watch this space!
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50 Shades of Grey!

No no no - not that! Wall colours!

We are about to begin preparations for a spot of decorating - hall, stairs and landing and main bedroom.

I managed to drag Jon into a carpet shop last week to start and get some ideas of colour.
The current hall, stairs and landing carpet is a shade of beige and the walls are citrus.

We want a change, the carpet is unpractical and has seen better days. (Understatement of the year!)
We both decided on a grey - a speckled type.

All woodwork/doors brilliant white and all door furniture to be changed - from brass to chrome.

Looking back I found this account of the last time we decorated - it was 2008, so 5 years for the carpet, with the traffic we have in the hall with our animals is good going!

Meanwhile, back in the house, I had my own DIY project on the go.
Over a period of a few months, working with my sister in law Maureen we transformed a dingy hallway, stairs and landing from this....

through this....

This was the view of our hall.




and now....

The whole appearance has changed and thanks to Maureen we have transformed the old dark hall into alight fresh welcoming place.

Since the photographs (my magnolia period) we did re-paint the walls a citrus but we never really gelled!

Watch this space!