Day One

Well half way through day 1 and all is going well , I have missed my morning routine of picking up a coffee on the school run but on the upside think of all the money I will save over the next 30 days. I am putting my daily coffee money aside and will spend it on a reward at the end of the challenge.
I think the key for me will be preparation ~ planning meals and snacks ahead of time and packing my own lunchbox daily. Working from home with young children makes it easy to graze on the not so healthy and skip meals, so pre planning my days eating will be important.
The slowcooker has always been a godsend for me, making it easy to have a meal ready at the end of the day after training. The following recipe is one from my friend Wendy and it has become a favourite with my crew, it uses lamb shanks but it works just as well with a shoulder or leg of lamb. I serve it with mashed sweet potato and baby green beans. Guess what's for dinner .......

Maple syrup glazed lamb shanks:


1/3 cup maple syrup

1 cup chicken stock

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1.5 cups orange juice

8 lamb shanks (french trim)
Brown lamb. Put in slowcooker. Combine syrup, stock, mustard and juice and add to lamb. Toss lamb around to cover in the syrup mix. Cook 7 hours low.