Slimming World Awards

Last Saturday saw myself and my wife (Lisa) and my Slimming World Consultant (Diane) make the trip to Birmingham for the Slimming World Awards Ceremony 2010 and the culmination of the Woman of the Year 2010 Contest.

10 Gorgeous women and their respective consultants were on stage having battled though regional heats to reach the final, every one of them had lost 8st or more and the completion was won by a beautiful lady called Harriet Jenkins who has lost almost 15st in 15 months, an amazing achievement and she has transformed her life totally and is achieving things that 2 years ago she couldonly dream of.

The event was held at the ICC in Birmingham and we stayed at the 5 star Hyatt Hotel and had the Man Utd team for company as they stayed there before playing Aston Villa in the Premiership.

Compere for the evening was Justin Lee Collins, a supremely talented and generous guy who opened the show with a version of “It’s Not Unusual” before getting on with the evening’s events whilst making every contestant feel like Royalty, I collected my award from him and shared the stage for about 5 minutes while we shared a little banter about running and I even managed to tie him down to a £10 donation for my Fundraising efforts for the London Marathon 2011.

All in all was an unforgettable night and one that will stay with us forever, fantastic venue, delicious food and about 2000 amazing and inspirational people for company.

Menu was

Starter

Seared Lemon and Thyme Chicken with coriander potato salad

Main Course

Blade of beef with root vegetables and dauphinoise potatoes, served with red pimento chutney and beetroot sauce

Dessert

Hot chocolate fondant pudding with vanilla pod ice cream and chocolate sauce

Followed by Tea / Coffee and lots of partying

In the oven today is:  Shepherds Pie with Swede Mash Topping

• Extra lean minced beef, onion, beef stock cube, finely chopped carrot, handful of peas and small amount of finely chopped fresh parsley.

• Fry the minced beef and onion until browned thoroughly, make up half pint of stock and add carrots, peas and parsley.

• Spoon mixture into small earthenware oven bowls or a large  shallow Pyrex cooking dish.

• Steam the mash until soft, mash well with lots of crushed black peppercorns.

• Top the mince and cook on 200 for 30 mins.

• Try making using mashed cauliflower with 2 Laughing Cow X/L mixed in with black pepper / chilli chilli flakes etc