Maille Culinary Challenge | Chicken noodles with kale and soy vinaigrette

I know what you're thinking, me and the word culinary don't really go together now do they? But as I've said, this year I want to start cooking more so when I saw the email about this in my inbox I thought bugger it, I'll give it a go! This is my first recipe with one of the two items I was sent out.

Seeing as I'm a total noob when it comes to cooking and I'm still rather terrified of the kitchen, I went with something really simple that I knew I could do without cocking up! I present to you my chicken, noodles and kale with Maille's soy vinaigrette with toasted sesame seeds. Bit of a mouthful!

I love the way the vinaigrette looks in the bottle, everything all layered and I kind of didn't want to use it and ruin it but I'm sure it'll settle down again and go back to looking pretty! I was sent a rather large bottle and only used a small portion so there's plenty left for future recipes!

The ingredients for this recipe are very simple (surprise surprise). All I used was a half packet of mini chicken fillets from Tesco, a packet of egg noodles again from Tesco, a bag of kale and the Maille vinaigrette.

Chop up the chicken, or if you're me and get frustrated with knives not doing what you tell them to, whack out the scissors and get cutting! I used a couple sprays of Fry Light extra virgin olive oil spray, since finding this, I haven't cooked with oil, it's so much simpler and doesn't bog your meals down or make them feel slimy!

Once the chicken was almost cooked I used the whole packet of noodles and turned the heat up a bit to get them cooked. The kale again was a full bag and that just went into the microwave. Once everything was nearly cooked, I used about 3 tablespoons of the soy vinaigrette and added it to the chicken and noodles.

Rather than have a bed of noodles which is what I see most meals with noodles, I decided to use the kale as a base. There was much more of that than noodles! Chicken and noodles on top and hey presto, I was done! It took about 20 mins from prep to cooked

It might not be the most fantastic or technical meal but it did the job and tasted lovely. The vinaigrette wasn't too overpowering although if I were to replicate this recipe again, I might use just a tad more.

What do you all think of my attempt at cooking?!

I'll be posting the second recipe in the next couple days and it will more than likely be just as if not simpler than this. Gotta start somewhere right?!

Alana x

Finding balance

I've read about other bloggers having difficulty managing their working life and a blog and I never thought much of it. Then I got a job! I've only been there just over a week and I haven't even opened up blogger or bloglovin on my computer, tablet or phone. It takes me just under two hours to get to my job then I'm there for up to eight/nine hours depending on the shift and a further almost two hours to get home again. By the time I do get home, I eat something then go to bed! The only reason I'm writing this is because I'm off until Friday! I'm going to use this time to get some posts read and hopefully get some written and also to catch up on housework! My room is a bloody tip and now that I have a couple days to get it sorted, I'm going to pounce! Or nothing will go to plan and I'll sleep the entire time, who knows ;)

I'm still getting used to being on my feet for long periods of time. My wee Shoe Zone shoes are holding up for now but I'll definitely need to get another pair soon. I don't know if I've actually said on here yet what my job is, but I'm working away in McDonald's. My fifth time round to be precise. Sure it's not glamorous or whatever but it pays the bills, I'm out the house and working and I'll make some new friends in no time! Plus being on my feet and moving about a lot will definitely help me lose some weight! You get a meal allowance but I've just been having salads and wraps, sure sometimes I will indulge but that's ok just as long as I don't do it every time I work.

It's definitely going to be a struggle getting a good balance between work, blogging, exercise, preparing healthy meals and just chill out time but hopefully after a couple months I'll be in a good routine and it will all be fabulous! She says whilst crossing her fingers and toes!

How do you find a good balance?

My Be:Fit experience

                     

A couple of posts ago (here) I mentioned that I was down in London to visit friends and attend Be:Fit. I'll write more about my actual trip soon but today I wanted to just talk about Be:Fit. I'd never attended any events like this before and I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I knew there would be companies there and talks but I don't think I quite grasped the scale of it all.

I was very kindly given a free ticket to attend on the Friday from Big Shotz through their twitter. They were running a competition and all you had to do was tell them why you wanted to go. My reason was that I lost 50lbs last year and I feel like I've lost my way slightly these days. I thought that Be:Fit would be a great kickstart to get me into the healthy frame of mind again.

From the moment I woke up on the Friday I knew it wasn't going to be a very good day. I woke up feeling very anxious and apprehensive about going. There was even a wee period where I thought about just not going altogether! But I got ready and headed through on the tube to Old Billingsgate and tried to put the negative thoughts to one side.

As soon as I walked in, I realised just how big this event was, the whole place was filled with stands of so many companies, upstairs and downstairs was teeming with people and I arrived at 10.10am, just 10 minutes after the doors had opened! I'm definitely far too used to my not very busy town. After this I tried to adjust and think logically about how I was going to get around. Well logic went out the window pretty much! I wandered aimlessly for about twenty minutes then went upstairs to listen to a chat and Q&A session with Danielle Waterman and Marlie Packer, two of the UKs top female rugby players. I've never played rugby before, I'm much to much of a big wimp but I thought the chat was really good and actually quite inspiring. If it wasn't for the possible injury and definite pain aspect, I'd definitely give it a go after hearing them talk about it. After their chat, I went back to wandering around feeling like a very small (fat) fish in a massive (fit) pond.

I didn't go in with any money (which was my first mistake!) so I couldn't buy any of the products being showcased but I did come away with plenty leaflets and information (and even a couple of freebies, I'll get to them in other posts) if I decide to get anything in the future. Unfortunately, what with my anxiety sky rocketing, I didn't even get to stop at every stand. If there were too many people at one, I'd just move on and forget to go back. All in all I only lasted about two hours before I had to leave. I could feel I was on the verge of a panic attack or bursting out crying, or both. I was really disappointed with myself for not taking full advantage of this amazing event so I think I'll be going back next year.

A couple stands/companies stood out for me, those being Lindwoods, Metcalfe Skinny, Vegesentials, Enhance and Little Miracles. I'll definitely be trying out their products soon and I'm sure there were a lot more companies that I want to try but these are just off the top of my head.

I think one of the main reasons my anxiety was so crippling that day was because I was there on my own. If it had been in Glasgow or Edinburgh there might have been more of a chance of going with people I knew so maybe next year when I go I'll make sure I've got someone to go with! I did however bump into the lovely Kat who writes talesofapaleface. Unfortunately I was right in the middle of a freakout and forgot her name so I didn't make the best first impression. Hopefully I can meet up with her next time I'm in London and show her I'm not a complete arsehole!

So overall I'm taking my Be:Fit experience as a somewhat positive one. I got to see some companies I might never have seen otherwise and I am feeling totally ready to throw myself back into a healthy diet and exercise. I said to Muj last night, I actually miss being a sweaty mess after a good workout!

Did you attend Be:Fit this year? If not, do you think it's something you would like to go to?