Readly app

So as you are now aware I have a long commute and I love a good read. Marriage made in heaven! Lots of time to indulge my passion. About a year ago now (maybe a little less) I discovered a magazine subscription app called Readly. A Swedish company, they offer a range of magazines (000s in fact!) for a fee of £9.99 per month. The great thing about this app is that you can have four accounts over five devices, meaning that other people in your family can also enjoy. We share our app with my brother and his fiancée, and in turn we have their Netflix login. So it's a happy arrangement! :)

Each person has a separate account, with their favourite subscriptions saved. So when you logon, just choose your own account and you are right into your subscriptions. You can sort these by 'recently released' - giving you the newest editions first - or by 'recently read' - so you can keep track of what you have read and what you still have to read that month. The great thing about this app is that you can download the magazine to your device, so you can read offline and just remove the downloaded content when you have finished, meaning you don't have lots of space used on your device unnecessarily.

My Magazines

Monthly subscriptions

 

Bi-weekly



Weekly



I love the speed, ease and portability of this service. And I don't have a tonne of old backissues lying around my house, but one tap and I can read all the back issues I like as well. What are your favourite reads? Have you ever had a magazine subscription?

Slimming World weigh-in - Christmas challenge week 9

Overall, this week was quite smooth sailing, no major upsets to the journey! It was a busy week at work, so I was glad I had a series of meals prepared and ready to go for lunches. Except one day, but I'll speak about that in a bit..

I ended up 1lb lighter this week, which is grand. I was hoping for two (and I got back to my exercising) so maybe I'll see a bigger loss next week. I have a schedule in my head, a series of mini-goals to reach and I am now behind. Sometimes these can be helpful, to keep you geared up. Other times, they serve to make you feel a bit crap when you don't reach them. Until I reach my next goal, I don't think I will put dates on getting there, just have that goal in mind and when I reach it, I reach it. Dinners this week were nothing too spectacular, we enjoyed an amazing chicken and chorizo jamalaya recipe from BBC Good Food, which I might upload on here at some point. It was really, really tasty and filling. Wednesday and Thursday we had baked piri-piri chicken fillet burgers, which were simple, quick, free and delicious.

I have all my meals planned and groceries bought for the coming week, and I might upload a recipe or two. Another fairly quiet week ahead (a house-building October savings drive!) so it's a great chance for me to knuckle down to my Christmas weight loss challenge.

Subway salad - with dressing - 1.5 syns

I didn't really try any new SW savers this week, however I went to work without lunch one day. Subway was my life saver! I got a really hearty subway salad (chicken tikka) with honey mustard dressing (1.5syns). It was very filling and really cheap - an excellent backup if you forget your lunch!

I was really happy to get back to my exercise plan this week, and felt good about getting back to routine after a lonnngggg hiatus. I took my dog for a huge walk on Sunday, followed by a spin class on Wednesday and another big walk on Wednesday. Nothing that any Olympian would be proud of, but it's positive baby steps for me :)

This week's loss: 1lb
Total loss in Christmas challenge: 4lbs
Aim for next week: 1.5lbs

Movie Review - The Martian (2015)

Matt Damon, guys. Matt freakin' Damon. What a legend. And a beautiful creature to boot.


I had planned, when I heard this film was coming out, to have rad the book before hand. I'm not one of those people that bangs on about how the book is always better than the film, but I just like doing it in that order. Anyway, I never got around to it. Usually I have a good idea of the story, or at least the premise of a movie before I watch it. On this occasion, I knew it was set in space (*Notting Hill voice in my head*) but that was pretty much it.

Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristin Wiig and Jeff Daniels are just four names in what is a truly stellar cast. The story follows a mission to Mars set in the future. I'm not spoiling anything by telling you someone gets left behind. Mark Watney (Damon) has to figure out a way to survive for the next indeterminate number of years, until the next Mars mission reaches him for rescue.

The film is gripping. It's engaging. It's exciting and it's pretty beautiful.. and I'm not just talking about Damon. I can only assume that it is a pretty close representation of the events in the book - but that's guesswork as people seem to like it. The thought of being stuck in space, on a foreign planet, just you.. it was terrifying and ironically quite claustrophobic. It doesn't take a lot of science to blind me, and this film certainly managed it. I don't know if this chemical mixed with that chemical shaken and not stirred will make your potatoes grow, but I sure had fun watching someone else work it out. I don't remember seeing a space film I didn't like. Watching this was like watching Gravity, but with a smile.

Highly, highly recommended.

The Martian - 9/10

Movie review - Everest (2015)

I had been really looking forward to catching this film as far back in 2015 as I can remember hearing about it. I can pretty much guarantee that climbing Everest will never be something I endeavour to attempt, let alone complete. But the whole world - the alien, cold, snowy, treacherous world of the Sherpa really intrigues me. And, you know, I was really looking forward to the CGI show too.

This past Saturday, my husband and I took a last minute trip to the cinema to catch this latest blockbuster. The film has a few big names involved, including Jake Gyllenhaal, Keira Knightley and Josh Brolin all make appearances, however they are all background players to Jason Clarke, who plays the lead Rob Hall. The movie follows the true story of New Zealander Rob Hall who sets up a tourist company, taking experienced climbers to Everest's summit.

The film never lets up in tension. You are constantly holding your breath, at the behest of this giant snowy beast. The film is definitely designed to pull at your heart strings too, but I just found myself being so ... angry. I was so angry at the characters (true life personalities) attempting the ascent. My husband argued that this is human development, discovering the world and pushing frontiers. And I totally get it. Only, I don't think that's it with this crowd, and many like it. It's not about pioneering methods or trails, or discovering new and unexplored vistas. It's about ego. At one point in the film, one of the climbers says "A few more days of pain, and then you'll forevermore be known as the man who climbed to the top of Everest" - and that's what it comes down to. Forget the spouses, children, parents and friends left at home, holding fort and trying to get by and wait for news on whether their beloved has lived or died.

Subject matter aside, the cinematography was beautiful and the soundtrack suspenseful. The acting was fantastic, and the story captivating. Definitely worth a watch.

Everest - 6.5/10

Pork steaks with mustard sauce

Autumn means several things in our house. The curtains start to get drawn around 7pm, when I get home from work and when it is dark. I love nothing more than locking the doors and closing the curtains, cosy in our own little nest. Autumn means cosy lighting and usually, at some point in the month, these pork steaks will be bubbling away on the stove waiting to make our bellies very happy.

Ingredients:

4 pork steaks

Fry light

2 tsp mustard powder

400ml chicken stock

Ground black pepper

Mustard powder

Stock ready to go in pan

Method:

Turn occasionally

1. Place a frying pan over a medium heat. Spray the pork with fry light and fry for 4-5 minutes, turning occasionally until golden. 

2. Sprinkle 1 1/2 tsp of mustard powder over the pork, add the stock and season with black pepper. 

3. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the pork is cooked. 

4. Serve with mash and green beans. 

   

This recipe was from Slimming World magazine in the March/April 2012 edition. I put some Flora light in the mash, so the only syns for this dish is any you add in mash to accompany it. It's a really uncomplicated and quick dish for a chilly autumn night. Light some candles, put on some music and dinner will not disappoint. Follow with a steamy cup of tea, a wee biscuit and some Netflix for added amazing. 

Bon Appetit!

Slimming World weigh-in - Christmas challenge week 8

I definitely had a vast improvement this week on last week's efforts! However, that being said, I didn't get my 4lbs goal I had set last week. At some point in the week, it felt a little like everything had come crashing down. Work had become quite stressful and routines were a little out of joint. This is a prime example of when I shouldn't let these things get in the way quite so much, and learn to manage being on plan when they crop up. Aim for the stars and you might catch one on the way down... And I did! 1.5lb off this week, which isn't exactly what I had hoped and aimed for last week, but it's better than STS and definitely better than a gain, so I will happily accept it.

This week I had a couple of unexpected meals out, and in the main I made the best decisions I could, which helped. OK, OK. I'll tell the truth. I also had a dessert on Sunday... And wine. I succumbed. All things considered this week, I was fairly pleased with the result.

For the coming week, I have all my meals planned. Tonight's dinner is a chicken and chorizo jambalaya, which is a brand new recipe I am looking forward to trying out. Saturday night, I made BBC Good Food's Healthier Chicken Balti, which I have made before and is really good. I use oil, as I think it binds the curry sauce a lot better, but you could make it completely free using Fry Light. Basque salmon stew and chicken burgers on the menu this week.. Trying to keep my syns in check!

1 syn per pot

I have really been enjoying switching up my yoghurts this week. Normally I am always faithful to the Muller Light yoghurts but lately I have been finding them a bit boring. I have started eating Glenisk's high protein 0% fat yoghurts, which are 1 syn per pot and are really filling - and keep you there for a long time. Great in work for breakfast and lunch.

I didn't end up committing to my exercise plan this week. I am useless when I am under any kind of stress at work - this is always the first thing I drop. Which is kind of a self sabotage. I am working on getting three exercise sessions in this week, the first I completed today when I took my pup for a big long walk in the forest this morning.

So, what's my aim for this week you might wonder.... I think I would be happy with a 2lb loss this week. I hafve no major schedule disruptions and nothing but my own mind to veer me off course. Let's see how we go!

This week's loss: 1.5lb
Total loss in Christmas challenge: 3lbs
Aim for next week: 2lbs

World Smile Day :D

Today is World Smile Day - so I thought it would be a good time to talk about the things that make us smile. Everyday I am incredibly grateful for my little family and the safety and warmth and love in my wee home. They make me smile constantly. But here's some more off-the-wall things that really make me beam.

A well-made bed.

Coffee.

Old movies.

Crisp autumn weather.

Catchups with friends.

Marshmallows.

Friday evenings.

Saturday mornings.

My pup snoring.

Airports.

Youtube.

Books, books, books, magazines, and more books.

Book shops.

Coffee shops IN book shops.

Any body of water - from a bath to an ocean.

Hot, hot bubble baths.

Long pamerping sessions.

Gel manicures.

Autumn.

The Galgorm Resort and Spa.

Disney.

Wine.

Cocktails.

Travelling.

Planning.

Planning travelling.

The pictures.

What makes you smile?