Wednesday, 29-03-23: more-low-spend-March

Morning, everyone.

Well, it's all change today.
I was planning to have a day at Aqua Springs Spa with Beth (daughter) but she's gone down with a sore throat.  No point doing something like that when you're not feeling well.
So I have hastily rejigged my meals for today!

Yesterday's photos:

Just yogurt and fruit (blueberries, raspberries and grapes) for breakfast.

I got a bit peckish before lunch so had one healthy extra A in babybel lights.

The teriyaki skewer from Iceland was really very nice indeed.  I'm glad I got some.

Under the skewer is a sort of warm salad of roasted sweet potato and red onion, cooked broad beans (I LOVE broad beans), tomato and pepper with a dressing of ketchup, balsamic vinegar and agave nectar.  Really good.

Later on, I had a pear.

The sticky chicken was delicious and I just cooked some frozen stir fry veg to go with it.  Very easy and very satisfying.

I had a yogurt and an orange for afters.

Today's plans:

B:  sweet omelette with fruit and yogurt

I do love a sweet omelette!

SW:  half a syn for the yogurt

L:  jacket potato topped with tuna, tuna mayo (or salad cream) and cheddar, salad; fruit

I haven't had a jacket potato for an age.  I'll start it off in the microwave and finish it off in Nellie to get the crispy skin.  With a big old salad, it will see me through the afternoon and evening with the fruit at around five o'clock.

SW:  one to two healthy extra As for cheese and one syn for mayo or salad cream

D:  chunky bean and chorizo soup; yogurt

It's tricky this evening as I have a meeting from six to eight and don't want to eat before then.  I've used various bits and bobs from the freezer plus some chopped tomatoes left over from Sunday and made a very substantial soup to which I will add some finely chopped chorizo (a little goes a long way with chorizo) and some chopped bacon.  I did originally plan to pop in some vermicelli at the last moment but it probably won't be needed.
It's very substantial and just needs reheating when I get in, so that's good.  It should be pretty digestible too.

SW:  two syns for the chorizo and half if I have a yogurt

Ex:  I had cancelled personal training but have contacted Lindsey in case she hasn't made any other arrangements.  If she has, I will do a pre-recorded online class.

Summary:

up to two healthy extra As

no healthy extra Bs 

four syns

What do I mean by low spend?

At the beginning of this year, as part of a de-cluttering thing, I did a detailed audit of all the food I had in cupboards, fridge and freezer and was somewhat horrified at how much stuff I had.
So I determined to make a huge effort to reduce it down and use it up with minimal waste.

January and February were no spend and low spend months respectively.  March is going to be another low spend month with just a few exceptions and, of course, all the essentials.  It has got to work with Slimming World.

'Essential' means  food such as fresh fruit, veg and dairy/eggs and other essentials including things like cleaning products and toiletries as needed.  A few other things will come up through the month but generally it is just real essentials as I see 'essential'.
Of course, all regular bills, direct debits, etc, will still be paid as usual - they are essential.

It's really helping in these difficult times.  I am still able to save a wodge of my income (which is all pensions now) as I have done since I retired, plus a bit more.  After all, at some point, I will have to start replacing things - just not yet.

The week in meals

  These photos show most of the meals I have had over the last seven days, excluding desserts, snacks, naughty things, etc.

For details of syns, healthy extras, etc, see the individual posts.

Saturday, 18-03-23

B:  pancakes, fruit and yogurt
L:  leftovers of sweet and sour chicken with added stir fry veg
D:  chilli con carne with rice

Sunday, 19-03-23

B:  cheese and chive waffle with bacon, egg and tomatoes

L:  roast chicken dinner

D:  bubble and squeak with salad and coleslaw

Monday, 20-03-23

B:  bubble and squeak with egg, mushrooms and tomatoes

L:  tomato and roasted red pepper soup

D:  chicken and bacon hash, veg

Tuesday, 21-03-23

B:  fruit salad

L:  toasted pitta, coleslaw and salad

D:  cheesy chicken pasta bake

Wednesday, 22-03-23

B:  scrambled eggs on toast, tomatoes

L:  one pot chicken noodles

D:  polpette di pollo

Thursday, 23-03-23

B:  fruit grabbed on the run
L:  eating out with a friend - cheese and tomato toastie
D:  Peshwari chicken and veg

Friday, 24-03-23
B:  fruit
L:  cheesy meatball pitta, salad
D:  cheesy chicken and ham pie with veg

And that was last week's meals - apologies for this being out late - I just forgot.  

Tuesday, 28-03023: more-low-spend-March

Morning, everyone.

Yesterday's photos:

It looks a bit like a pizza, this omelette, doesn't it?  A great way to start the day when you have an exercise class coming up.

This was very nice.  I used a basa fillet, that being what I lifted after dipping into the fish bag.  I suppose they're goujons really, not fish fingers, but they were delicious egged, crumbed and cooked in Nellie.

Much later on I had an apple

This was a recipe I found on the SW site and it was OK, I suppose, but I won't be making it again like that*.  The kofta meatballs were as dry as a bone - good flavour but the texture was - just no!  I made six and ate three.  The other three have been chucked, sadly.  Oh, well, can't win them all, can you?

A nice sauce though - I swapped green beans for broccoli and somer broad beans and that was tasty.

I finished off with a yogurt.

*However, I liked the idea and will likely use the same spices/seasoning but use my own meatball construction which is 100g lean mince to one rosemary and red onion sausage and 15 g grated cheddar.  It produces a meatball that is not in the least bit dry and very flavoursome (I think).

Today's plans:

B:  fruit and, maybe, yogurt

For no more reason than that's what I really want this morning.  I have a nice selection of fruit to choose from.

Actually, a bit of me rather fancies a smoothie, that naughty bad SW no-no - another time when I ignore the rules.
SW:  half a syn for the yogurt or, if I have a smoothie, also one and a half syns for 10g oats.  I do NOT syn fruit just because it has been blended, sorry.

L:  teriyaki chicken skewer, some sort of salad, maybe a warm one with edamame, sweet potato, etc; fruit

I was a bit bad and fell for these in Iceland.  I got two bags of the teriyaki ones and one bag of the satay ones (I think they are satay anyway, must check) - three for a tenner.

SW:  one and a half syns for the skewer

D:  sticky chicken pieces, a mix of med veg; yogurt

A PoN recipe and here's the link.

https://pinchofnom.com/recipes/air-fryer-sticky-chicken-nuggets/

However, I'm not making nuggets, just chicken chunks in the sticky sauce.

SW:  10ml ketchup is one syn, same of honey is two syns, and the rest seems to be speed or free.  Half a syn for a yogurt

Ex:  Groove class today

Summary:

no healthy extras today - ooops (unless I have a smoothie and there's some oats in that)

five and a half syns

What do I mean by low spend?

At the beginning of this year, as part of a de-cluttering thing, I did a detailed audit of all the food I had in cupboards, fridge and freezer and was somewhat horrified at how much stuff I had.
So I determined to make a huge effort to reduce it down and use it up with minimal waste.

January and February were no spend and low spend months respectively.  March is going to be another low spend month with just a few exceptions and, of course, all the essentials.  It has got to work with Slimming World.

'Essential' means  food such as fresh fruit, veg and dairy/eggs and other essentials including things like cleaning products and toiletries as needed.  A few other things will come up through the month but generally it is just real essentials as I see 'essential'.
Of course, all regular bills, direct debits, etc, will still be paid as usual - they are essential.

It's really helping in these difficult times.  I am still able to save a wodge of my income (which is all pensions now) as I have done since I retired, plus a bit more.  After all, at some point, I will have to start replacing things - just not yet.

Monday, 27-03-23: more-low-spend-March

Morning, everyone.

Monday always feels a bit odd - it ought to be the beginning of the week but, for me, for this part of my life, the week begins when I step off those scales on Friday morning.  So, in here, I'm half way through the week, more or less.  And apart from one blip, it's going OK.

Still working on the freezer, still trying to create gaps and pleased that today is quite freezer heavy, one way and another.

Yesterday's photos:

This was NOT what I had planned.
The trouble with planning ahead is that there is potential for confusion and what I had was what I planned for this morning, not yesterday.
I don't care.  It was lovely, a perfect Sunday morning start to the day.

Oh.

My.

Gosh!

This was absolutely lush. 

I know it looks like a big old plateful but look - three thin, very lean slices of beef, loads of vegetables, some SW free gravy and . .  that Yorkshire.  So, so delicious.

I felt full afterwards but not uncomfortable, just satisfied and happy.  I always plan a piece of fruit as a dessert but, more often than not, I save it for the 'danger time' around four thirty.

Works for me!

The air fried Yorkshire worked fine.  I got in such a muddle with working out the syns that, in the end, I went into Nutracheck, put in the oil and the flour but not the egg (SW free) or the milk (part of a healthy extra A) and called it four portions (which it did, in fact, make) and it came out as 46 calories each which is two and a half syns.

In case you're interested, this is what I did.
I used equal capacities of a medium egg, plain flour (30g) and semi skimmed milk (around 60 ml) and whisked it all up together with some salt, pepper and a small splash of water.  I left it stand - that's fine and it means you're not having to mix a batter when other stuff is hotting up in the kitchen.

I used four little pudding moulds which just fitted into one side of Nellie and into each measured half a tsp of vegetable oil.  I then preheated them on air fry for five minutes.  I would say longer might be better - the batter did sizzle when I added it but not loudly.  I quickly put the tray back in and air fried on 210 for around thirteen minutes - I'd set it for fifteen but they were done at thirteen.  Next time I'll see if 200 works OK.

So each pudding is two and a half syns but two of them, would be four and a half, just because of how the syns are worked out (20 calories = one syn).

As soon as the other three had cooled, I bagged them and they are in the freezer, to avoid me wondering how well they crisped up again if I used max crisp for a few minutes.
Anyway - I was so pleased.  When the other three have been used up, I will try using wholemeal flour instead and, then, perhaps, a quarter of a tsp oil rather than half.  It's worth a go anyway!  

Dinner was a mix of leftovers and 'new' food.
I got a WW wrap and spread over one tbsp lighter creme fraiche and 20g grated cheddar.  Then I added some leaves.  I re-heated yesterday's leftover fajita mix (chicken, red onion, yellow pepper, mushroom and tomato with fajita spice, garlic granules and lime juice) and sweet potato from lunch, popped that on and folded up the wrap.  The rest is just a simple salad with some 70% lighter salad cream.
So good and filling too.  No yogurt needed!

Today's plans:

B:  omelette filled with bacon, mushrooms and tomatoes

. . . and I am going to add a bit of grated cheese to the mix - it makes a very tasty addition, for sure.

SW:  half a healthy extra A

L:  home made fish finger pitta, salad; fruit

Basically, this is a fillet of fish from the freezer, cut into strips, egg and breadcrumbed and actifried.
It will go in a pitta with shredded lettuce and salad cream (and maybe other salad veg too).  Doctor Who may prefer fish fingers and custard but I love fish fingers and salad cream or mayo.  Yummy!

SW:  the pitta is my B choice so I will have to weigh and syn the wholemeal breadcrumbs I use so let's estimate three syns to be on the safe side, plus one syn for salad cream or super light mayo

D: turkey kofta curry; maybe extra veg; yogurt

This is a recipe from the SW site but it is also available here.
https://bestslimmingworld.com/sw-recipe-turkey-kofta-curry/

SW:  it says this recipe is syn free (check the spice mix though) and half a syn if I have the yogurt.

Ex: Circuits today

Summary:

half a healthy extra A

one healthy extra B

four syns approx.

What do I mean by low spend?

At the beginning of this year, as part of a de-cluttering thing, I did a detailed audit of all the food I had in cupboards, fridge and freezer and was somewhat horrified at how much stuff I had.
So I determined to make a huge effort to reduce it down and use it up with minimal waste.

January and February were no spend and low spend months respectively.  March is going to be another low spend month with just a few exceptions and, of course, all the essentials.  It has got to work with Slimming World.

'Essential' means  food such as fresh fruit, veg and dairy/eggs and other essentials including things like cleaning products and toiletries as needed.  A few other things will come up through the month but generally it is just real essentials as I see 'essential'.
Of course, all regular bills, direct debits, etc, will still be paid as usual - they are essential.

It's really helping in these difficult times.  I am still able to save a wodge of my income (which is all pensions now) as I have done since I retired, plus a bit more.  After all, at some point, I will have to start replacing things - just not yet.

Sunday, 26-03-23: more-low-spend March

 Morning, everyone.

I'm starting with a photo.

I found this idea on Diane Buswell's vlog.  It's so simple but really nice.

It's fruity frozen yogurt bark.  All you do is spread yogurt on some parchment on an over tray, add fruit, etc, and freeze.

I used plain yogurt and also sprinkled on some mixed seeds as well as the fruit.  It was a bit rough and ready but tasted like a treat.

Because yogurt freezes very hard, you can eat it like chocolate bark (but more quickly).
I did find that just plain yogurt frozen was a bit tasteless so next time I will try it with a Mullerlight or sweeten it up with skinny syrup, etc.

Yesterday's photos:

 More fruit for breakfast - on a waffle.  Lovely!

Pasta bake and some coleslaw - I decided not to make salad as well.

In the afternoon, I had to do some online school governor online safeguarding training.  It was a bit of a brain ache and I felt rather stressed afterwards, wolfing down a rather chunky cheese and salad cream sandwich before coming to my senses, thinking 'What ARE you doing?!?'.

So to compensate, I decided to adapt dinner by cutting the chips and swapping the crème fraiche for some natural yogurt.

It was the right decision.  I didn't have all the chicken and veg fajita mix so that sorts out tea tonight.
I didn't miss the chips one bit, nor the crème fraiche.  Who needs chips anyway!

And I didn't want any yogurt.

OK, so I will be over syns and over deficit calories but not, I think over maintenance so that's good, I'm pleased how quickly I regained control and sorted it out.
Getting there . . .

Today's plans:

B:  potato waffle, bacon, egg, tomatoes and mushrooms

It's the last of the Birds Eye potato waffles from the freezer and now they've gone I want to try making some using Gizmo.

SW:  two syns for the potato waffle.  The rest is speed/free

L:  roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roasted sweet potato, parsnip and courgette, broccoli and cauliflower; fruit

Two things to say about this.  Firstly, I really fancied some roast beef but didn't want to get a whole joint with all the leftovers it would give me so I bought a pack of cooked topside from the deli shelf and will use that.  Cunning!
The other is that I'm going to try making Yorkshires in Nellie.  According to YouTube, it can be done and I will use some little pudding moulds, silicon cake cases and the equal quantity method.

This time, I am using plain white flour and synning it, plus half a tsp oil in each mould, so, assuming I get five, that's two syns each.  Two for Sunday lunch and three for the freezer.  I'll count the milk as part of a healthy A with the cheese I have for dinner.
If that works, I might try wholemeal flour another time and then I can count it as a healthy extra (not SW canon but sensible)
SW:  Assuming I get five, that's four syns for two Yorkshires and one syn for ten mls horseradish.  I have some free beef gravy in the freezer (from a can of M&S chunky steak) and the rest is all speed and free

D:  chicken fajita wrap, salad; yogurt

SW:  healthy extra B for a wrap, half a healthy extra A (10g cheese plus the lunchtime milk) and one and a half syns for one tbsp lighter crème fraiche plus half a syn for yogurt

Ex:  rest day

Summary:

half a healthy extra A

one healthy extra B

nine syns - unless the Yorkshires are rubbish, in which case it's five syns

What do I mean by low spend?

At the beginning of this year, as part of a de-cluttering thing, I did a detailed audit of all the food I had in cupboards, fridge and freezer and was somewhat horrified at how much stuff I had.
So I determined to make a huge effort to reduce it down and use it up with minimal waste.

January and February were no spend and low spend months respectively.  March is going to be another low spend month with just a few exceptions and, of course, all the essentials.  It has got to work with Slimming World.

'Essential' means  food such as fresh fruit, veg and dairy/eggs and other essentials including things like cleaning products and toiletries as needed.  A few other things will come up through the month but generally it is just real essentials as I see 'essential'.
Of course, all regular bills, direct debits, etc, will still be paid as usual - they are essential.

It's really helping in these difficult times.  I am still able to save a wodge of my income (which is all pensions now) as I have done since I retired, plus a bit more.  After all, at some point, I will have to start replacing things - just not yet.

Saturday, 25-03-23: more-low-spend March

Morning, everyone.

I was extremely happy with one and a half pounds off yesterday at group.  Getting back there, slowly and steadily.

I was also very happy to win the raffle.  

It was about roasted veg and I put some to use for dinner.  The foil trays have gone away for now because I am mostly using Nellie for that sort of thing and they are way too big.  However, come Christmas, quite a different story.

I was very pleased to be able to cross a few things off the 'needed' shopping list.

I discussed my plans for lowering my final target slowly with Jen and she was perfectly happy with it.  I'll see how it goes next week and maybe will drop it a couple of pounds.  I don't want it to be too far away but far enough that I am not likely to achieve it in one week.

The main criterion for my target is getting comfortably back into my size 10 jeans again.

Yesterday's photos:

I didn't have the orange segments at group so I just piled them onto the plate with a couple of slices of melon and it made a deliciously juicy and refreshing breakfast.

The pitta toastie was very tasty but more like a quesadilla really, in texture anyway.  I decided against making coleslaw and just had the salad cream on the lettuce, etc.

Later on I had a plum and a pear.

I really felt like I was eating a rainbow for dinner.  The vegetables I used were sweet potato, red onion, yellow pepper, mushrooms, courgettes and tomatoes, with some chip seasoning and a sprinkle of garlic granules.  Extremely yum.

No room for any dessert.

Today's plans:

B:  waffle, fruit and yogurt

I'll make just one waffle; two is too much really.

SW:  half a healthy extra B and half a syn for yogurt

L:  pasta bake, salad; fruit

The pasta bake is from the freezer and I will top it with 15g grated cheese for extra yumminess.  I might have coleslaw instead of salad (or as well as!).
SW:  half a healthy extra A and one syn for salad cream

D: chicken fajitas, salsa, salad, chips; yogurt

I'll spray fry chicken with red onion, yellow pepper and, maybe, mushrooms plus a fajita spice mix, knock together a little salsa and I haven't yet decided if the chips will be potato or sweet potato.  Both will be nice.  I have some crème fraiche so will dollop some on for extra poshness!  :-)

SW:  half a syn for yogurt and two tbsps. lighter crème fraiche is three syns

Ex:  online SET class

Summary:

one healthy extra A

half a healthy extra B

five syns

What do I mean by low spend?

At the beginning of this year, as part of a de-cluttering thing, I did a detailed audit of all the food I had in cupboards, fridge and freezer and was somewhat horrified at how much stuff I had.
So I determined to make a huge effort to reduce it down and use it up with minimal waste.

January and February were no spend and low spend months respectively.  March is going to be another low spend month with just a few exceptions and, of course, all the essentials.  It has got to work with Slimming World.

'Essential' means  food such as fresh fruit, veg and dairy/eggs and other essentials including things like cleaning products and toiletries as needed.  A few other things will come up through the month but generally it is just real essentials as I see 'essential'.
Of course, all regular bills, direct debits, etc, will still be paid as usual - they are essential.

It's really helping in these difficult times.  I am still able to save a wodge of my income (which is all pensions now) as I have done since I retired, plus a bit more.  After all, at some point, I will have to start replacing things - just not yet.

Friday, 23-03-23: more-low-spend March

 Morning, everyone!

Weighday today and, as usual, I have no idea but live in hope because I've stuck to plan pretty well this week.

Yesterday's meals:

Only one rather boring photo from yesterday because . . .

breakfast was just an apple before SET and a pear afterwards and

lunch was eaten in a nice garden centre café and it was pretty full so - just no!

Dinner probably looks a bit dull but it tasted absolutely amazing.  Chicken and a selection of veg, spray fried and then mixed with a portion of peshwari sauce and (almost) burnt - I just caught it in time.  You can see a few black bits but they didn't taste scorched, thankfully

It was filling so no room for anything else.

For lunch, as there were no calories on the menu, I just went for a cheese and tomato toastie which has a small salad attached.  It was nice, with wholemeal bread and not loads of cheese and I don't believe there was any butter or oil on the bread, certainly not enough to detect anyway.

But how on EARTH can a toastie and a small coffee come to more than £10.  Sign of the times, I guess, but really - two slices of bread, a tomato, some cheese (not that strong) and salad and coleslaw about a quarter of the size I make myself (OK, so I do go overboard on salad!) plus quite a small black coffee (but a really good one, to be fair).  Eye watering!

Today's plans

B:  a nice fruit platter

Maybe I can take a photo of this.

I will take some orange segments with me to group and have the rest after group.

SW:  syn free

L:  cheesy meatball pitta, coleslaw, salad; fruit

The two meatballs left over from Wednesday plus some cheese and some chutney, sort of toasted in a wholemeal pitta.  I'm looking forward to this.

SE:  half an A for cheese in both the meatballs and the cheesy mash (dinner), half a syn for olives (in the meatballs), one and a half for chutney and one for salad cream in the coleslaw.  Oh, and one and a half  healthy extra As for cheese and one B for the pitta.

D:  cheesy chicken and ham pie, veg on the side; yogurt

From several days ago, portions frozen.

SW:  The Aldi canned chicken in white sauce that I used for this is just too little per portion to count and I counted the cheese at lunchtime.  Also, half a syn for the yogurt.

Ex: a rest day

Summary:

two healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

three and a half syns

What do I mean by low spend?

At the beginning of this year, as part of a de-cluttering thing, I did a detailed audit of all the food I had in cupboards, fridge and freezer and was somewhat horrified at how much stuff I had.
So I determined to make a huge effort to reduce it down and use it up with minimal waste.

January and February were no spend and low spend months respectively.  March is going to be another low spend month with just a few exceptions and, of course, all the essentials.  It has got to work with Slimming World.

'Essential' means  food such as fresh fruit, veg and dairy/eggs and other essentials including things like cleaning products and toiletries as needed.  A few other things will come up through the month but generally it is just real essentials as I see 'essential'.
Of course, all regular bills, direct debits, etc, will still be paid as usual - they are essential.

It's really helping in these difficult times.  I am still able to save a wodge of my income (which is all pensions now) as I have done since I retired, plus a bit more.  After all, at some point, I will have to start replacing things - just not yet.