Saturday, 04-04-20

Good morning.
Yesterdays meal photos.

Bacon and egg roll with tomatoes on the side.  Yum!

The sort of lasagne went a bit wonky as I forget to use the second sheet of lasagne but it was jolly nice all the same.  The other half is now in the freezer.
What did I do with the second sheet?  Well, I'd soaked it so had to use it so I cooked it separately, had half under yesterday's portion and when the other half had dried, I carefully lifted the cheesy top, put the pasta on and replaced the tom - I'll never know after a freeze and then a reheat.

 I felt stuffed after this.  Steak, sweet potato fries and broccoli with a peppercorn sauce.  So stuffed that I didn't have any sort of dessert.

Today's food plans:
B:  waffles, fruit and yogurt, mini yogurt drink
SW  one heB and two syns

L:  spicy bean soup topped with grated cheddar; apple
I have a broccoli stem that I can add to all the other veg in this soup which is one of my favourites.  It won't be from the freezer, I shall make it from scratch.
SW:  one heA

D:  chicken and veg casserole with pasta or rice, runner beans; fruit and/or yogurt
The casserole is a portion from the freezer.
SW:  probably free

S:  fruit

Body Magic:  Lindsey's PT programme, perhaps a walk

Summary:
one heA and one B
two syns - maybe one more as I can't remember whether the chicken casserole has any syns but it's not a problem as it will be written on the container
the soup uses up all sorts of bits and bobs of vegetables so it very thrifty

Friday, 03-03-20

Good morning

Inside these pancakes was a lovely mix of natural yogurt, raspberries, blueberries and chopped strawberries.  Lovely!

I am definitely going to make more of this sweet potato and celeriac gratin.  It's absolutely gorgeous with coleslaw!
Next time, I might add some pulses of some kind for a bit of extra protein.

A very tasty dinner indeed.  Nothing difficult.  I did the chips in the actifry with a tsp oil and a good shaking of Cajun spice.  I put the runner beans in water in the bottom of my on-the-hob steamer, wrapped the salmon in foil and put that in one of the tiers, boiled the runners and salmon for five minutes and then added frozen peas to the tier and gave it all another five minutes.

Today's menu plans:
B:  bacon and egg roll, tomatoes, mini yogurt
Just because . . . it's Friday!
SW:  one heB, two syns

L:  sort of lasagne, coleslaw
Just my savoury mince, layered with grated cheese and lasagne sheet, baked.
Actually, depending on how the mince stretches, I might make enough for two and freeze one portion.  It seems sensible and I can add some cooked mixed veg to the mince to bulk it out (it's already got added lentils).  If I do that, I will make a cheese sauce for the top, consisting of an egg, beaten up with yogurt and grated cheese with seasonings instead of just using grated cheese on its own.  Also, I will have more cheese to play with too.
SW:  Assuming half the amount I make, it comes to half a syn for the mince, up to two heAs for the cheese (and the same for the other portion) and one syn for some mayo in the coleslaw.

D:  bavette steak, peppercorn sauce, chips, veg (maybe broccoli as it needs using); fruit and/or yogurt
I fancy a treat!  The peppercorn sauce is the Pinch of Nom recipe.  I made some a while ago, froze some in little pots and promptly forgot about it until I sorted the freezers last week.
SW:  two syns for some oil for the chips and one syn for some mayo for dunking.

S:  fruit

Body Magic:  I've got into a routine with this - PE with Joe and Lindsey's exercises

Summary:
up to two heAs and one heB
six syns
lots of things from the freezer - bacon, bread roll, cheese, mince, steak, sauce . . .

Thursday, 02-04-20

Good morning, everyone.

Yesterday's food photos:

Breakfast that was more like a lunch.  It was delicious and perfect for just before a PT session.  Tuna salad wrap with extras.

A breakfast for lunch.  A big plateful that kept me topped up right until dinner time.

Well, it said turkey curry on the container but it wasn't, it was veg curry and the other is chick pea curry out of a pouch.  Not a pretty bowl of food but it tasted great!

I now have the rest of the chick pea curry to use up.  Maybe I'll freeze it?












I made a batch of chick peas - a fast soak and then a gentle simmer for about two hours.  Some bay leaves and a chilli (both from the garden) gave the finished pulses a great flavour.  Not spicy at all but with more flavour than just using water.  I open froze them and they're now in a big bag ready for when I want to scoop some out to use.

Pulses are a slimmer's best friend.

Today's food plans:
B:  pancakes, fruit and yogurt; mini yogurt drink
Half of the pancakes I made last week and froze.
SW:  half a heB and two syns

L:  sweet potato and celeriac gratin, maybe some salad; apple
Another made last week, half eaten at the time and the other half frozen.
SW  one heA (cheese)

D:  salmon, peas, runner beans and SW-style chips; fruit and/or yogurt
SW:  two syns for one tsp oil to cook the chips and one syn for some mayo for chip dunking.

S:  fruit

Body Magic:  PE with Joe, personal training exercises

Summary:
half a heB and one heA
five syns
A good day for freezer based food.

Last night's online SW meeting was surprisingly successful.  Eight of us managed to gather online and I'm looking forward to next week's now.

Wednesday, 01-04-20

Good morning.
Yesterday's food:
No photo of breakfast but it was lovely!  Overnight oats is a favourite.

Crunchy, colourful and packed with speed veg and fruit.  What's not to love about lunch?

Dinner looks a rather brown splodge on the plate, I know, but it was so good.  Yet again, I am very glad I froze so many runner beans last summer.

Confession time:  Yesterday was difficult because a year ago Mum died. 
I opened a bottle of wine to toast her memory and may, just possibly, have had a few more glassfuls after that!  However, I didn't over-eat, I didn't binge, it was just the wine, so I'm very pleased about that.  Old bad habits are definitely less powerful than they were.

(new month, new divider)

Today's food plans:
B:  a cooked one today and I might throw in the last potato waffle from the freezer too
I've called this breakfast because it is a breakfast meal but I'll be having it at lunch time (around two pm) because it's personal training at twelve and I reckon having this at eleven will just be too heavy
SW:  two syns for the potato waffle and one for a couple of skinny sausages

L:  tuna salad wrap, tomatoes; apple
Just what it says and eaten as my first meal.  I will mix tuna with mayo, grated carrot and shredded salad leaves, spread over a wrap an then rolled up.
SW:  one heB, two syns max for mayo in the tuna

D:  turkey curry, rice, lentil dahl; fruit and/or yogurt
The curry and rice are both in the freezer and I shall make a batch of lentil dahl because it's actually quite hard to make a small enough amount for one.
SW:  I think this should be free

S:  fruit

Body Magic:  personal training, PE with Joe

Summary:
maybe two heAs, one heB
four syns
I'm still maintaining the restricted eating; I've got used to it now and, in fact, since my social life closed down, it's very easy to do - there's nothing that gets in the way. 

The only problem, and it is a problem, is that now I'm doing the Joe Wicks thing at nine to nine thirty, I'm getting quite giddy and lacking in energy (his exercises do require energy!!) and I put that down to having fasted from seven the night before.

There's two options - well, three, but the third (not doing the PE) is not one I am considering.
The first is to do the PE at nine and break my fast an hour before, thus abandoning the restricted eating.  The other is to do the PE later, around midday.  It would mean I'm not doing it live at the same time as millions of others, but I could keep the restricted eating which I really want to do.
So that's the way I'm going!

I'm hoping to take part in my first online SW group meeting this evening.  I've sent off this week's results, weighed on my own scales.
And I'm very nearly back to where I was when things went doolally in the last three months of last year and especially over Christmas.  It's taken three months but now I know I can do it.  As soon as I reach where I was, I'll start mentioning losses again.  :-)

Tuesday, 31-03-20

Good morning
Food photos from yesterday.

Breakfast - good, old fashioned scrambled eggs on toast and very tasty it was too.

Lunch was a bean burger with home made spicy beans.  I was going to open a tin of baked beans but found these when I got the breakfast bread out of the freezer.

Dinner was most satisfying.  I'm glad I saved some of the beans to have at dinner.

Today's plans are:
B:  overnight oats, fruit and yogurt; mini yogurt drink
I might add the yogurt drink to the overnight oats instead of so much natural yogurt
SW:  half a heA, one heB, two syns

L:  smoked salmon pate, carrot batons, salad leaves, tomatoes; apple
The pate is from the freezer, made two to three weeks ago, I can't exactly remember when.
SW:  I vaguely remember adding a bit of mayo to the mix so half a syn

D:  toad in the hole, lamb gravy, runner beans, roasted sweet potato (or maybe sweet potato fries); stewed apple and blackberry with a bit of * real * sugar <gasp >
The toad in the hole is the other half of what I made a couple of weeks ago and the gravy was saved from yesterday's dinner.  One of the advantages of planning ahead is that one can do that sort of thing!
SW:  firstly, I am NOT synning the stewed fruit, so there!  :-)  Three syns max for one level tbsp sugar
for the toad in the hole:  one heB and a quarter of a heA, two syns for the oil and one for two sausages - I synned the gravy yesterday

S:  plums, easy peelers, pears

Body Magic:  PE with Joe and Lindsey's PT programme

Summary:
three quarters of a heA, two heBs - not the right way round but never mind
eight and a half syns
using up stuff from the freezer

Monday, 30-03-20

Good morning:

More delicious meals yesterday:

This was breakfast except that I was full before the apple so I had it late afternoon instead.  The drink is sparkling water (made in my soda stream) with a slice of lemon.  It's a great way of making sure I get enough water through the day.

Leftovers of the steak and kidney pot pie with root veg topping.  It was still lovely.

Dinner was brilliant - a proper roast dinner.  I'm glad I have more beef in the freezer as well as some portions of roasted root veg and two more Yorkshires to freeze.

Today's plans:
B:  scrambled egg on toast; mini yogurt drink
I haven't had this for ages and, thanks to the generosity of a friend, I have eggs I can use.
SW:  one heB and two syns

L:  Jackburger and baked beans, apple
The burger is the famous Jack Monroe cumin, carrot and kidney bean burger recipe and I have one left in the freezer.  I think they're delicious, I really do.  I'll cook it in spray oil and, looking at the rest of the day, I can afford to sprinkle some cheese over the beans.  Mmmmmm.
SW:  One syn for oil in the burger (I will spray fry it).  Also one heA and maybe two syns for some onion chutney as I have just a tbsp left in the jar

D:  Aldi minted lamb shank, runner beans, roasted root veg; fruit salad or yogurt
All stuff I already have.  Yum.
SW:  two and a half syns for the lamb shank, two syns for the roasted veg

S:  fruit

BM:  PE with Joe

Summary:
one heA and one B
seven and a half syns
the lamb shank is the most costly item, although really good for what you get, and I'm not sure it will do more than one portion

Sunday, 29-03-20

Good morning.
A couple of yesterday's really not very good photos - but the food was OK!

The breakfast waffles were nice and the mixture made six.  I was gong to save three for another breakfast but later on I got the nibblies so decided it was better to nibble something like that than to dive into the bread and cheese!

A lot nicer than it looks.  Skinny burger with onion chutney on top, coleslaw and a simple salad.

I didn't take a photo of the non-photogenic dinner but it was lovely.  The root veg mash topping was the nicest I've ever had.  It was equal amounts of potato, swede and celeriac, finely diced, boiled, seasoned and roughly mashed, grated cheese mixed in and a bit more on the top.  Over the steak and kidney and baked for 30 mins at 180C.  And there's leftovers for today too as half was more than enough with cabbage and sprouts!

Today's plans:
B:  fruit and yogurt; mini yogurt drink
Lunch and dinner are quite beefy meals so I fancy something simple for breakfast.
SW:  two syns for the yogurt drink
(which, for new readers, I have as my cholesterol levels were higher than they should be and I'm trying to get it down in a non-meds way)

L:  steak and kidney pot pie with cheesy potato, swede and celeriac topping, tomatoes on the side.
Leftovers from last night.  I will probably have the tomatoes raw rather than cooked as they look more that way!
SW:  I'll be good and count the one heA for the cheese and one syn for the steak and kidney, even though I also counted it yesterday.

D:  roast beef, Yorkshire pud, roasted veg, sprouts, all the trimmings.
Goodness, doesn't that sound posh!
A while ago, I slow roasted a beef joint that I found on YS (or in some other way cheap, I forget the details) , sliced into fairly chunky slices, wrapped and froze most of it.  That's what I'm using - one or two of those slices anyway.
I will make a batch of Yorkshires and freeze the ones I don't use.  I have enough root veg to do some in the actifry and, again, freeze what's left or maybe make a roasted veg soup for tomorrow or something.  I have roasties in the freezer but I know I will have enough without potato as well.
The gravy is what I spooned off from the canned steak and kidney yesterday and I will syn some creamed horseradish.
So not really posh at all but how nice to be having a good old Sunday roast dinner and it goes to show you don't have to cut these things out to eat healthily.
SW:  The beef and the veg are free, as is the gravy as I synned the whole can yesterday and at lunchtime but I will spend four syns on two tsps of oil, counting two today and the other two for the leftovers.
Half a heB for the Yorkshires (if I have two out of the four) plus one syn each for oil.
And the horseradish is one syn for a level tbsp for the hot horseradish while the creamed horseradish is two syns for the same.  I'll decide which to use at the point of serving.  :-)
(sorry, I seem to have gone on rather!)

S:  fruit

BM:  Lindsey's PT programme (which I can do while watching telly!) and I have a good collection of her shorter clips saved on Facebook too.  Looking forward to Joe Wicks again tomorrow. 

Summary:
one heA and half a B
around eight syns
fairly thrifty (although beef is never cheap) what with using what I already have, making batches and using leftovers