Chugging Along Nicely!

I just realised that I haven't posted a non-recipe post since September! The plan is going very well and I have now lost 26lbs (1 stone 12lbs). This week, I achieved my 10% lost goal which was great and I hope, very soon to be down 2 stone.

I'm noticing that my clothes are loser and some that didn't fit, now do. I'm wearing a size 20 top (was 24) and size 18 bottom, just (was 22)! This means that I can now shop in normal shops again! However, I haven't really felt like shopping! I'm just not really seeing the loss in the mirror yet. 

My skin hasn't started to clear up yet (from past experience I need to lose another stone and a half) but my periods have returned and are regular. I've noticed that my weight losses slow considerably before my period and then speed up nicely afterwards. I must remember this, next time I'm getting disappointed with a lack of movement on the scales.

My eating has been very healthy. I'm having breakfast everyday and cooking nearly every meal from scratch. I have had a few takeaways but only about 4 since August (big change from 3-4 per week!). I'd love to lose at least 7lbs before Christmas which would take me down to 15st 5lbs. I plan to come off WW for three days over Christmas but I'll be straight back on after!

Feeling motivated!

Chicken Tagine

Ingredients:

1/2 onion diced

Small piece of ginger, chopped

Sprig of rosemary, chopped

2 tsp olive oil

Small piece of chilli, chopped

1 stick of cinnamon

1 chicken breast, cubed

1/2 tin tomatoes

70g dried apricots

Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Sauté onion, ginger, chilli and rosemary until soft.

2. Add cinnamon, apricots and chicken, stir until browned.

3. Add tomatoes and water to cover. Bring to boil.

4. Simmer for 30 mins

12PPs

I served this with plain cous cous.

Seafood Pad Thai

I love the Pad Thai from my local takeaway but it would be very point heavy as it's oily! I decided to make my own version and it was delicious.

Ingredients:

* 1 courgette (I made it into noodles using a julienne peeler)

* 1/2 carrot cut into thin batons

* handful of mange tout

* 2 baby corn sliced

* 2 small spring onions, sliced

* 1 clove of garlic, chopped

* 1 small piece of ginger, chopped

* 100g mixed seafood frozen

Sauce:

* 30g peanuts, slightly crushed

* 15g Crunchy peanut butter

* tbsp light soy sauce

* splash of fish sauce

* tsp chilli powder

Method:

1. Mix the sauce ingredients together with a desert spoon of water, set aside.

2. Heat the garlic, ginger and spring onions. Add the other veg and seafood.

3. Stir in the sauce and mix well.

4 after about 5 mins add the courgette noodles and stir well

Serves 1 (huge bowl) 9 points

Could also be served with shredded chicken or pork. 

Portuguese Fish Stew

Oh my goodness, I can't tell you how yummy this filling, healthy and flavoursome stew is!

Ingredients: 

* 1 red onion, finely diced

* 1 large clove of garlic, chopped

* 1/2 red chilli, chopped

* 1/2 red pepper, roughly chopped

* 1/4 fennel bulb, roughly chopped

* 1/2 carrot, chopped (I did little sticks)

* 2 cod loins (or similar)

* 100g of mixed seafood

* 1 tin of chopped tomatoes

* 1 tsp tomato puree

* 1 fish stock cube (optional)

* 1 tsp cayenne pepper

* 2 tsps paprika

* 2 bay leaves

* 2 tbsps olive oil (I used one of basil infused and one chilli infused)

* 1 tbsp chopped coriander

Method:

1. Fry onions in 1 tbsp of olive oil until soft, stir in garlic and chilli.

2. Add in tomato puree, tinned tomatoes and fill the empty can with water. Stir together.

3. Mix in the carrot, fennel and red pepper.

4. Add the herbs and spices (except coriander) and the stock cube.

5. Allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes.

6. Cut the fish into bitesized pieces and add to the pan with the other seafood and the rest of the oil.

7. Stir gently and allow to simmer for a further 8-10 minutes.

8. Sprinkle over the coriander and serve.

Serves 2. 

4.5 Propoints per serving.

As with all my recipes, this can easily be adapted to suit your tastes. You can reduce the points by substituting the olive oil for spray oil, but I loved the oily taste and sheen it gives. You can omit the chilli if you prefer things less hot. Other vegetables could be used such as leek, butternut squash, courgette, fresh tomatoes, celery. I used to make a version of this when I was a poor student which only used cheap frozen baby prawns, tin of tomatoes, onion, garlic and paprika, so it's very versatile! 

Roast Tomato Tart

This tart is really, really easy to make and tastes amazing. It could be easily adapted to suit what ingredients you have.

Ingredients:

1 pack of Jus Roll Light Puff Pastry

1 pack of cherry tomatoes

60g pesto (I used Tesco Low Fat Pesto)

2 tablespoons of capers

90g cheese (I used Tesco Lighter Grated Cheese - mature)

Black Pepper

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 220/200 for fan oven, apply spray oil to baking sheet.

2. Lay pastry sheet into baking sheet. Mine went slightly over the edges - it really doesn't matter!

3. Spread pesto over the pastry, leaving c1cm of pastry uncovered around the edges.

4. Cut cherry tomatoes in half and lay across whole tart, scatter capers, cheese and black pepper.

5. Cook for 20 mins until the tomatoes begin to blacken and the pastry is golden.

Serves 6 comfortably. I had it with a side salad for lunch.

5 WW Propoints per 1/6 of a tart (9 for 2/6)

Taking Pride in Oneself

I've been thinking today about looking after, and taking pride, in ourselves, inside and out. Before this WW journey, I didn't look after myself at all. The poor food choices are now obvious but the lack of pride I had in my appearance and well-being have been in my mind lately. I have a very good job and can afford nice things, however, I lived in crappy, often holey or shabby clothes, worn every day for months (they were regularly washed, I promise!) without regard for how they made me look or feel. I never did any more than shampoo and brush my hair, never wore make-up or looked after my skin. I allowed myself to live in squalor and never looked in a mirror. 

I am not a girly, girl. I never have been, nor do I intend ever to be one. I justified my dowdy look by saying I'm a tom-boy and care more about my thoughts and career than what I look like. However, since starting this journey, I've realised that my mental well-being is just as important as my healthy eating. Today, I had my hair cut, chose nicer clothes and put on some light make-up. The change in my self-esteem is immense. It was done for no-one but myself but it's working! 

I'm going to reward myself for each half stone lost with something to boost my self-esteem and help me to take more pride in myself.

0.5st = new make-up

1st = hair cut

1.5st = manicure and gels

2st = buy a new mirror

Kayaking!

So, as part of my job, I had to take some children kayaking today. I've not been before and I was worried about the following:

- the life jacket not going around me
- being too heavy to get in the kayak
- the kayak sinking
- the children making comments

I needn't have worried! The life jacket was snug, but comfortable and the kayak was low in the water, but didn't sink! It gave my arms a good work out (well, one arm, it was a double kayak!).

Excuse the weird selfie. It's hard to watch over children and photograph yourself!

Weigh-In Wednesday

This week saw an amazing weigh-in. I lost 4lbs, bring my total to 1 stone 2 lbs! I'm so pleased. To be honest, I've found it very easy sticking to the plan. Earlier in the week, I was very tired and feeling down which I'm pretty certain was because I wasn't eating enough. I was eating no where near my points and wasn't touching my weeklies. Since then, I've upped my food intake and included more protein and fats (from milk, cheese and nuts). I feel a lot better. I'm still not really touching my weeklies but will try and eat more this week.

I treated myself to an Indian takeaway tonight, my first in six weeks (I used to have 3-4 takeaways per week). It tasted amazing and I've pointed it all! I had tandoori chicken half, cauliflower bhaji, salad and mint sauce. I'm planning on not having another takeaway until I lose 2 stone in total.

A great week!

Exercise - aaaaaaah!

I took my measurements this morning, after four weeks of weight loss, and was really pleasantly surprised at the losses already. It got me thinking about exercise. I know how important exercise is to weight loss, stamina, organ health, mental health etc but I'm not really an exercise sort of person. I know I need to change.

I don't want to do too much too soon as I won't stick to it but am going to slowly introduce new fitness routines in bit by bit. As well as weight loss, I do want to tone up my body and increase my stamina and I know it will help with saggy skin and when I have fewer ProPoints, it will help with that too! I love swimming but have never really found anything that I enjoy. My doctor has advised against running (thank goodness!) and yoga as I have hyper-mobility and very damaged knees. I also work strange hours, so I never know whether I will finish work at 5 or 6:30pm. However, I can't make excuses. I want this whole health change and I therefore need to change to achieve it.

My plan: 

September: Two walks per week (at least 1 mile)

October: Two walks per week (at least 2 miles), 30 mins beginners aerobics (using YouTube videos) per week

November: One walk per week (at least 3 miles), 30 mins aerobics using YouTube videos per week, 1 swim per week (30mins)

December: 2x 30 mins aerobics using YouTube videos per week, 2x swim per week (30 mins)

January: 1 x higher intensity aerobics using YouTube videos per week, 2x swim per week (40 mins), 1 strength/ tone/ Pilates type class per week

February: 1 x higher intensity aerobics using YouTube videos per week, 1 x swim per week (45 mins), 1 strength/ tone/ Pilates type class per week, 1 x higher impact/ Zumba/ aerobics type class

March: maintain February

April: 30 day shred, 1 x swim (45 mins), 1 strength/ tone/ Pilates type class

I can't yet imagine myself beyond that! Obviously, my plans may change but I do like a plan!

I started off with a 1 mile walk today. It only took 15 mins 20 sec to do 1.09 miles and I burned 164cals according to Map My Walk. Not amazing but it is a big start for someone who has been a couch potato for over a year!

Goal Setting

Today, I've been mulling over BMI, goals and mini targets. I like having little mini goals to achieve along the way and I've started setting some on the right --->. I know this weight loss thing is going to take me a long time and I also know that if I get disheartened about my achievements, I risk giving up and going back to my old, unhealthy ways. 

People keep asking me about how much weight I want to lose and the truth is, I don't know. To be in the 'overweight' BMI category, I need to weigh between 11st 2lbs (156) and 13st 5lbs (187). That seems completely achievable. I really want to lose a nice round number, so to lose 6 stone (to get me to 11st 10lbs/164) would be great. However, that is not an 'officially' healthy weight. To get to a healthy BMI and satisfy my need for round numbers, I need to lose 7 stone (98lbs) to take me to 10 stone 10lbs. I haven't been that weight for more than fourteen years! 

Then there's the part of me that craves a bikini body! I have photos of me wearing one at 10st 10lbs all those years ago and I don't think I look thin enough to wear one. Close, but not close enough. Plus, I'm 14 years older and my skin has been stretched by seven extra stone over that time. I think it'll take at least another stone than that to make it a possibility! So that means I'd need a goal of losing 8 stone! 

After all that rambling, I think I need to just take this one step at a time! My next big goal is to lose 10% of my body weight, so 15st 13lbs (1st 11lbs lost). That is very achievable and not too scary! I hope to be there by the end of November, if not before. 

A Jolly Good Weigh In

After all the worrying about the effect of the festival binge, I needn't have worried. I lost a very respectable 3.5lbs this week, bringing my total to 12lbs. That means I've lost 5% of my body weight.  I'm not noticing much difference yet but I do feel genuinely pleased with myself. The meeting was about taking time for yourself this week which as a single woman without children, isn't really a problem for me. I do need to make sure I get a good work/life balance though. I'm struggling with lunches already! I've frozen some ready made bolognese sauces and after my supermarket delivery tonight, I'll make some more easy to cook meals to stop me having a takeaway. I think I'm going to take some cracker biscuits and cheese triangles to work to leave in the fridge so I can avoid the dangerous trip to the supermarket in my breaks. This week brings back to work stresses but not much else so there's no excuses. I'd love to lose 2lbs this week to get to a 1 stone loss but anything would be wonderful! 

A Gazillion ProPoints but Loads of Fun!

On Saturday, I went to my final festival of the summer - The Big Feastival. It was a food and music festival in the Cotswolds, set up by Alex James and Jamie Oliver. It had loads of amazing food outlets with a myriad of goodies to sample, local crafts and great music. The highlight, apart from the free Green and Blacks chocolate, was Fat Boy Slim, who did an incredible 90 minute set. I danced my way to all his greats, mixed up with classic hits and new, bass heavy tracks.

I knew this one would be difficult, diet-wise. I had a choice to make. Put off starting Weight Watchers until after or accept that I may gain weight this week. I went for the second option! It's very hard to work out exactly how many points I went through but I've had a good guess:

B: fruit and low fat yog (1)

L: paella (18)

D: Higgety Chicken Pie (20!) cheesy mash (8) churros (18)

Drinks: (6)

Freebies: (15)

Total: 86 points!! 

Luckily, I had saved my weekly 49 points, plus the 38 I had for the day, so:

(49+38) - 86 = +1

It looks like I might be off the hook! 

That's not including the exercise points earned from walking and dancing. 

In other news, I'm back to work tomorrow (boo!) but it does make planning, eating and exercising a lot easier. 

Weigh-In Day!

                                      

I've just returned from my weekly weigh-in and I lost 1.5lbs. I'm really pleased with that considering what a tricky week this has been. I knew this week would be hard and at the back of my mind, I keep thinking that maybe I should have waited to join WW but I guess I wouldn't be 8.5lbs lighter and would probably have put on another stone in that time! 

I've decided to move from Filling and Healthy to just doing Propoints. The reason being, I eat a lot of foods that aren't on the lists and because I'm not very good at portion control. I completely understand the Filling and Healthy plan and would definitely recommend it to others but as I eat mostly whole foods, cooked from scratch anyway, it doesn't really make that much difference to me. 

The next week is also a difficult one. I have a food festival on Saturday and I'll be staying at my sister's house (although she is on WW too). I'm going to try and save all 49 weekly Propoints for then so I can enjoy all the treats on offer! I'm back to work on Monday, which has pros and cons. The pros are that I'll be active and busy (so less time for thinking about food) but the cons are that I'll be around biscuits and cakes in the staffroom and I'm very tired when I get in. This has, previously, led to grabbing a takeaway when I get home. I'm going to make sure I have some ready made meals in the freezer for those times!

Festival Madness

This weekend I went to a music festival with a group of friends. It was amazing! Great music, great location and great times with people I enjoy spending time with. I knew it would be tough keeping to my diet over the two days but I've tracked everything this weekend and I don't think I've done too bad. Actually, I'm quite proud of myself! 

The food choices there were not healthy but I think I chose well, considering. I avoided too much bread and only had one pint of lager on Saturday. On Sunday, I bought some cooked chicken and wholemeal pittas with me and took them in so didn't have to buy food from the stalls. I didn't drink alcohol at all on Sunday either and drank lots of diet coke and water. I also did more exercise in those two days than I have done in the last 2 months! Saturday, I walked (slowly) the 40 min journey there and back after it finished and Sunday I walked back. I walked (again, slowly) all day, especially Saturday and even danced! 

My ankles and knees are killing me today, but that's not surprising considering they've been holding up 17stone for the last two days! I need to be very good all week as have another festival on Saturday and this one has a food focus! I'll be driving to this one and back so will have to dance, lots! 

Prawn Soup

Some food experiments work, some are a disaster! Luckily, tonight's experiment culminated in a rich, low fat, filling and tasty soup that I will definitely make again.

Ingredients:

* 1 red onion, diced

* 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

* 1 medium carrot, diced

* 1/2 red pepper, chopped

* 1/3 red chilli, deseeded

* 1 mug of passata

* 1 small squeeze of tomato purée

* 1/2 tsp fennel seeds

* 1/2 tsp shrimp paste or 1 fish stock cube

* 150-200g prawns (I used the cheap, tiny ones)

Method:

1) Sweat down the onion and garlic until softened

2) Stir in the carrot, chilli and red pepper with the tomato purée and fennel

3) After about 2 minutes, add in the passata and 2 mugs of water. Combine well and add the stock cube or shrimp paste

4) Leave to gently simmer for 6 minutes

5) Add in the prawns and allow to gently cook for another 6 minutes

6) Remove from heat and blitz with a hand 'gobbler' 

I had it on its own but could serve with croutons, fresh bread, grilled 'posh' prawns, a swirl of creme fraiche or chilli oil or with some fresh coriander.

1 propoint per big batch (enough for 3 big bowls) on Filling and Healthy.

Tricky Times

Wednesday saw the start of a tricky couple of weeks for me. I had Ma to stay, have two weekend festivals to go to and I have to go back to work. The last couple of days have been filled with delicious food but I've tracked it all as best I can. I lost 2.5lbs when I weighed in on Weds which means a total of 7lbs. Am really pleased! Just got to get through the next week and a half without blowing it.

I'm really enjoying eating fresh, 'clean' food again and making new recipes which fit the plan. I'm especially enjoying all the fesh fruit and vegetables, in particular local raspberries and strawberries.

I've also made a Thai prawn curry using my original Thai curry paste recipe and Chinese pork balls. Not sure what I'll eat at the first festival this weekend. I will probably try and avoid bread to help and I won't be drinking. Just got to make sure I dance lots to earn some activity points!

Things I'm Looking Forward To....

A post on the WW community got me thinking. I love a bit of goal setting so here's the list of things I'm looking forward to about losing weight:

* being comfortable enough to volunteer in a hot country. Fat+heat+physical work does not mix!
* hopefully being able to sleep without my CPAP machine
* being able to wear smaller clothes (size 14 sounds amazing)
* enjoying fashion again
* feeling confident in my own skin again
* being able to have my photo taken without the fear engulfing me
* feeling fitter and being able to walk up a particular hill without stopping
* my PCOS symptoms decreasing
* not being everyone's fat friend
* getting positive comments from others
* being able to wear a cute play suit in a reasonable size (<16)
* sending off my details for WW magazine
* walking through obstacles without first assessing whether I will fit
* completing the 30day shred
* my joints feeling less achy
* being able to buy bras from shops rather than online
* not having a fat line down my forehead
* wearing heels
* wearing swimwear with confidence
* telling people how much I've lost and seeing their reaction
* being lighter than my younger sister
* being obese, then over weight, then healthy

I may add to this list over my journey, but that's it for now!

Portion Control

I'm still going well on the WW plan. I'm doing Filling and Healthy plus my 49 points over the week. It feels a bit wrong not weighing and measuring food before I put them into my mouth and it's got me thinking about portion sizes and portion control. Apart from the fact I've spent the last two months having two takeaways per week, I do eat quite well. I cook meals from scratch, use mostly fresh, unprocessed ingredients and love vegetables. However, my portion control is completely lacking!

My dinner plates, used for everything, not just dinner, measure 28cm in diameter and don't have that little inner lip thing. I would fill that plate! My pasta bowls, used for everything 'saucy' measure 20cm in diameter and are deep. The temptation to fill them is just too much. I think it may be time to buy some new, healthy-living-friendly ones.

I like these!

Healthy Stuffed Mushrooms

I get so bored of eating sandwiches and salads for lunch! Here's a really easy recipe that can be adapted to contain whatever takes your fancy.

Ingredients:

2 large mushrooms
2 slices of low cal brown bread
1 spring onion
2 rashers of bacon medallions
Handful of fresh parsley
30g low fat cheese
Salt and pepper

Method:

1. In a food processor, add the mushroom stalks, bread, roughly chopped spring onion, parsley, chopped bacon and salt and pepper. Blitz until the consistency of stuffing.
2. Stuff the mushrooms with the mixture and place the cheese, grated, on top.
3. Grill under a medium grill for 10 mins.

Changes

Today has been all about changes. For nearly 5 days I've not left the house, spoken to another human being or gotten any fresh air. My apartment is a mess. No, 'mess' isn't the right word. I'm living in a self-destructing bubble that involves wearing my dirty PJs while super glued to the sofa. The filth has built up in my home and even the flies are trying to escape. Getting into my (unmade, dusty) bed is a feat only a hill climber would contemplate and the bathroom, well... Depression sucks. I've actually found myself wanting to be back at work, that should say it all. It should come as no surprise. I mean, if I can't look after my health and body, then why should I have looked after my home? Reading this story http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyce_Vincent made me worry about people finding me in my filth!

Well, today I decided to change. I got up, showered and dressed in clean clothes (amazingly there were some). I faced the stinky bin head-on and left the apartment. I went for a walk down to the harbour where I live, breathed in fresh air and had coffee and fruit. Since then, I've felt motivated enough to get stuck in on the home of horrors! 

So far I've cleared all the washing up, cleaned the bathroom to within an inch of its life and done 2 loads of washing. By the time I go to bed, I will have a clean kitchen and tidy living space. There'll still be lots to do, so here's the plan:

Friday- Hoover living area, clean inside fridge, wash bedding, tidy 100 things in bedroom.

Sat - wash floors in kitchen, living room, hallway and bathroom, finish tidying bedroom, take all bags of rubbish out, Hoover bedroom.

Sun- Dust throughout, wash windows and glass, wash living room curtains, clean oven.

I'm feeling good, motivated and healthy! Still ticking to my WW plan and loving living in a clean(er) space.

Before Pictures

I always get very motivated by seeing people's before and after pictures, especially from those who have lost a lot of weight. I've taken all my measurements too and recording them on the FitJourney app. I'm also going to take photos every half stone - face, full front and full side. I'm not comfortable showing my face yet, so excuse the white blanks! Eeek, they're bad!

Getting Healthy

One of the major reasons I want to lose weight, is to get healthy. In the previous 3 months, I've become completely inactive, moving only from my sofa to my work place. I was eating at least 2 takeaways per week and wasn't cooking my meals properly. My health is becoming more of an issue. I have been diagnosed with Obstructive Sleep Apnoea, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and have very weak knees. I know I must be teetering on the edge of Type II Diabetes and I have a family history of heart problems and breast cancer.

At 34, it's time to sort myself out before I get really ill. At the moment my most hated ailments are the oily, acne ridden skin as a result of the PCOS and the Sleep Apnoea. There's no guarantee that weight loss will cure either of these conditions but I know they will make them better. 

I can't face exercise at the moment but I know from past experience that after a few losses on the scales, I'll be motivated to get fit! 

Had a positive day, food wise. Nothing special but healthy and on-plan.

Fat, frumpy, unhealthy and sad

So I've stepped back onto the scales at Weight Watchers today. In many ways it goes against everything I believe in but the truth is, I just can't seem to lose weight on my own. I'm horribly over weight and need to lose 7 stone 10lbs to be in my 'healthy' category. I have numerous health complaints that would be solved or at least minimised by losing weight and I just want to feel comfortable again. I'm setting my goal for 11 stone 10lbs which means I need to lose 6 stone. I can do this! I really, really want to spend next summer volunteering in Africa or India and a significant weight loss would make this soooo much easier. 

This blog will still be about food and recipes but will also document my weight loss. I'm doing the Simple Start programme at least for the first week. I don't think I'll be able to stick to it beyond a week as it's quite restrictive but it's very healthy and will do my body some good! 

Thai Potato Noodles

I don't normally eat potatoes, let alone tinned ones, but I bought them so I could use the tins as plant pots! This easy, one pan recipe uses the curry paste I made in my previous post.

2 tablespoons of Thai red curry paste (see recipe)
Handful of mange tout
Handful of baby corn
5 tinned potatoes, halved
Thin egg noodles
2 tablespoons of peas
Half a tin of low fat coconut milk


Add the Thai paste to a pan on a med-high heat until it starts to sizzle. Add the vegetables and stir gently. Break up the softened noodles and combine. Pour over the coconut milk and allow the curry to simmer for 8 mins, stirring occasionally.  

Any of the vegetables could be substituted or omitted. Other ingredients could include: chicken, prawns, tofu, Quorn pieces, white fish, butternut squash, sweet potato. 

My score: 5/10 (the fragrant spices, veg and noodles were lovely but I've remembered why I don't buy tinned potatoes! Also, for a higher score I'd really want full fat coconut milk!

Fragrant Red Thai Curry Paste

I admit that I used to make curries with a spoon of Patak's curry paste. There's nothing wrong with that, but I wanted to make my curries taste different and more like the ones at my favourite Indian restaurants. Recipe books always scared me off, with their long list of spices I'd never heard of, and ingredients I would need to travel half way across the world to retrieve. In the past year, I've been brave and thrown out the scary recipes. I've discovered the art of flavour, experimentation and a love of trying new things!

Red Thai Curry Paste

Cumin seeds (1 teaspoon)
Coriander seeds (1 teaspoon)
Black peppercorns (1/2 teaspoon)
Salt (1/2 teaspoon)
Sugar (1/2 teaspoon)
2 shallots
2 cloves of garlic
2 chillies, de-seeded
Thumb sized piece of ginger, grated
Lime zest
Lime juice (1/2)
Coriander leaf (teaspoon)
Lemon grass (1 stick)

Chop up all the bigger ingredients.
Mash up the dry ingredients in a pestle and mortar and slowly add the other items.

Mixture will keep for a few days in the fridge or can be frozen for up to 2 months.

The ingredients can be substituted or left out as you like. Experiment with different combinations or amounts to change the flavour!