BOO. Yes, spicy beef bowl below.
Been wondering where we’ve been? Well, see, I had to keep the fact we were going away a complete secret. We’ve actually been in New York for seven days, doing all sorts of wonderful things and having a gay old time. But I hadn’t told Paul about it – a complete secret as a surprise for his birthday / our anniversary. Good, right? You have literally no idea how much anal that’s going to get me. Also, I was unable to arrange for a housesitter and I didn’t fancy advertising the fact our house was empty for a week. Again. Now you might be thinking how utterly extravagant, given we’ve been to Corsica, Iceland and now America in the last four months and well, it’s true, I am becoming Judith Chalmers, only I don’t have that weird neck that comes from holidaying in the sun too much. Listen: shrouds don’t have pockets, that’s all I’m saying. You can’t take it with you. New York was amazing and I’ll undoubtedly get round to writing up my book of notes from the trip (once I’ve finished Iceland off!), there’s lots of things to say.
This also meant a week off from the diet, because I’ll be buggered if I’m expected to go to New York and eat houmous made from chickpeas. Everything I put in my mouth had cheese on it (what can I say, it gets hot and humid when you’re riding the subway) – I genuinely wouldn’t have been surprised to be given a Cheesestring to stir my coffee with. You’ll see below the results of this time off…
Another twist which I couldn’t really talk about is that I’ve sort-of-got-a-new-job. Whilst I won’t bore you with the details, it’s something that is going to demand some of my attention whilst I get up to speed, so although we’re planning on regular posts again, they might not be so long. But hell how many times have I said that and I’ll end up talking the hind legs off a donkey!
So yes, our weight chart…well, it’s pretty buggered.
Gosh! Oh I know I know. It looks bad. But a few good poos (we both have logjams in the river), a week of being on plan and we’ll be cooking on gas. We did get Couple of the Year, though, which led to an awkward moment where someone struggled to get the sash over my man-tits. I felt like an elephant on parade. It’s a lovely gesture but I think the cheery mood blackened when our considerable weight gains were revealed. Oops.
to make spicy beef bowl you will need:
- 400g beef strips, like the ones you get in our musclefood deal
- 1 red pepper, sliced
- 1 green pepper, sliced
- 2 good handfuls of spinach leaves
- 3 spring onions, sliced
- 1 chilli pepper, sliced
- 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
- 2 tbsp of sambal paste – you can buy this in any Tesco, it’s not essential, but adds a good depth of flavour
- 5 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
- 1 tbsp sesame oil (2 syns)
- 160ml low sodium soy sauce (seriously, use low sodium, or it’ll be too salty)
- 60ml white wine vinegar
to make a spicy beef bowl you should:
- using a food processor (a nutribullet works great for this) pulse the sesame oil, soy sauce, white wine vinegar, garlic, sambal oelek and ginger until smooth
- place the beef in a freezer bag and add the dressing – tie the bag up and leave to marinate for about 1-2 hours, shaking it regularly
- heat a large saucepan over a medium high heat and add a little oil or Frylight
- drain the meat from the marinade and place in the saucepan – keep what’s left of the marinade mix
- cook the meat for about 1-2 minutes, it’s all it will need!
- remove from the pan and set aside on a plate – if you don’t like it pink don’t worry – it will keep cooking
- in the same pan, cook the peppers and spinach until softened with about 75ml of the marinade mix – add more if you think it needs it, it should all be well coated and you’ll have plenty of the stuff left
- add the beef back into the pan and cook for another minute, making sure everything is mixed well
- serve immediately, and sprinkle on the spring onions and chilli pepper
Don’t forget, put a loo roll in the fridge to wipe your taint with later, because this’ll make it sting! You can make it less spicy, but what’s the point in living if you can’t feel alive?
J