Sunday, 28-11-21

 Good morning!
Yesterday was a Very Good Day to make up for my 'celebration' on Friday.  Onward and downward again now.
I did feel a bit peckish through the morning, particularly around eleven when I usually have breakfast so I suspect habit rather than real hunger.  It didn't hang around anyway.
It's good to know that I can do it, should I have a particularly busy sort of morning, and it's OK.  I'm thinking longer term here, not as a way of losing weight.

Yesterday's meals:

How I enjoyed this brunch and it was really nice to have proper sausages.  I've given up on the 'skinny' variety - I used to like them but recently, I don't know, maybe the recipe has changed but I really don't like them any more and I never did like the SW variety.  I will pay the syns for proper sausages from now on.
The hm hash browns were very nice.  Very obviously home made but they worked.

I followed this with three small easy peelers and I was stuffed!

Another filling meal.  I know it looks very beige but it was loaded with speed - those chips were butternut squash!
It filled me up and I had no room left for any yogurt.

Actually, I still feel fairly satisfied this morning!  Interesting.

Today's meal plans:

B:  fruit and yogurt
I have plenty of fruit, having bought loads at my weekly shop and I'm looking forward to this.

L:  roast chicken, assorted veg, roasties, pigs in blankets, cranberry sauce; fruit
I was going to Beth's for lunch but she's not very well so it's been postponed until another time.
I will use the last of the cooked and sliced roast chicken that I froze a while ago.  Come the new year, I will probably get some more as it is really nice to have pretty much a re-heat-ready roast dinner - the meat, anyway!  A roast dinner is really an easy meal, it just takes time.
The pigs are the LM red onion and rosemary sausages so will serve as both pigs and stuffing.  
And finally, I will do what I often do and deliberately make extra veg so I only have to reheat tomorrow.
SW:  the cranberry sauce is one and a half syns but the rest should all the speed and free.

D:  teriyaki pork noodles; yogurt
This is the last portion from the Hello Fresh meal.  It was very tasty but not really 'special' enough to make as a general rule and quite synful.
SW:  four syns for the pork noodles (but low in calories) and half a syn for the yogurt

E:  I'm trying a Goldster session on (don't laugh) Contemporary Ballet!

Summary:
no healthy extra As
no healthy extra Bs
(but it's not a unhealthy day's food!)
six syns

From the freezer:
the teriyaki pork noodles meal
chicken
LM sausage
bacon

Saturday, 27-11-21

 Good morning!

Two pounds off this week.  I am so, so happy with that.  So I'm back into the nine stone whatever banding.  Also I was joint slimmer of the week which really made my day.  And all my Christmas jumpers fit again!

As a result, I most unwisely had a celebration.  Ooops.  It wasn't absolutely terrible but it has probably taken me above my calorie deficit.  Oh, well, not to worry, I'm back on it right away.

I'm having just two meals today as I fancy trying reducing my eating window to six hours which means eating brunch at around one.  Not every day, just occasionally and partly because I know that after yesterday's little indulgence, I really won't feel hungry until about one, not proper hungry.  Working with what I know.

Yesterday's meals:

A lovely breakfast of apple pie porridge, one of my favourites.

It took longer than expected to do the potato in the actifry but now I know how long it takes, I will always bake them that way, it was so easy;  all I needed to do was flip it over after half the time for evenness.  It was lovely and fluffy with the best crispy skin ever.  So delicious.

No dinner photo because no dinner.  I just didn't want anything after my 'little' celebration.

Today's meal plans: 

Brunch:  bacon, sausage, egg, hm hash browns, tomato and mushroom
Someone posted on our FB group a way of making hash browns using the actifry and, although I won't be doing it that way, I thought I would give the idea a go.  If it doesn't work, it's not the end of the world, after all.  It's supposed to be a cold day so it should be a perfect brunch and ought to see me through until dinner.
SW:  two syns for the sausage

D:  loaded steak burger, butternut squash chips, salad; yogurt
The steak burger will be loaded up with cheese, leaves and chutney and is the steak I had thawed out yesterday but never had.
The squash chips were prepped yesterday but ditto.  It's speed veg so that's good.
SW:  one and a half syns for cheese, one healthy extra B for the roll and  half a syn for dessert.

E:  I've signed up to Goldster and there's two classes I might try - Core Pilates and Core and Balance.  I will have to choose as they are both an hour and straight after each other.

Summary:
one and a half healthy extra As
one healthy extra B
two and a half syns

From the freezer:
bacon
sausage
bread roll
steak (thawed yesterday)

Friday, 26-11-21

Good morning!

Weigh in today.  Fingers crossed.  I'd like to have lost one and a half as that takes me back into the single digit stone range again.  That would feel major.  
However, we will see and what will be, will be!  I'm loving my food, really don't want to go for the higher calories 'tempting' stuff and have every motivation for continuing, especially with the Advent Challenge starting on Wednesday next.  Whatever the scales show, I'm happy with things right now.

Yesterday's meals:

A very yummy breakfast - kiwi, nectarine and east peeler with some Greek yogurt flavoured with some skinny syrup.  I find this sort of thing surprisingly filling.

The second of three portions of the turkey hotpot and just as satisfying as the first.

I didn't have any fruit - just wasn't hungry enough.

This lemon chicken stir fry was lovely although not very lemony.  Next time, I'd double the lemon and maybe add some zest as well.

A kvarg finished off the day nicely.

It's not been a hungry day today so very easy to stay on plan.

Today's plans:

B:  apple pie porridge
. . . because I simply love it

SW:  one healthy extra  for 40g porridge oats and half a healthy extra A for 125 mls semi skimmed milk.

L:  loaded jacket potato with cheesy bacon and mushroom filling, salad; fruit
I've discovered that one can bake a potato in the actifry for much less effort and time than in the oven AND get that lovely, crunchy skin I love so much.  At least, that's what I read!
I will scoop out the soft potato, mash it up with cheese, some quark, some cooked mushroom and bacon and some seasonings and then pop it back in for another few minutes to re-heat to piping hot (must remember not to use the paddle!)
Fingers crossed!
SW:  one healthy extra A for 30g grated cheddar (or I might use 45g so it makes two healthy extras - can't go wrong with cheese on a jacket potato!)

D:  steak, butternut squash fries, roasted tomatoes, chutney; yogurt
Not potato chips because I've already had some for lunch and anyway, I LOVE butternut squash fries
Instead of the chutney, I might try a sauce I saw Jamie make on one of his endlessly repeated Christmas specials.  It was just crème fraiche, horseradish sauce and mustard mixed together, that's all.  I'll do it using quark and see how it works.  If I like it, it will do for the Advent challenge as I saw it on a Christmas programme < grin >.

SW:  if I have 1 tbsp chutney, it will be between half and one and a half syns, depending on which one.  If I have the sauce, made with 10ml each of horseradish and mustard, it will be two syns.  Dessert is half a syn

E:  a walk

Summary:
two healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

two and a half syns at most - and that is assuming the worst!

From the freezer:
the steak

Thursday, 25-11-21

Good morning!

Yesterday's meals:

I'm quite cross with myself.  I was in such a rush, I totally forgot to photo breakfast.  It was nice thought - porridge with mango.

Got to love leftovers!  The cheesy mash topping was specially yummy!

I had two easy peelers and an apple.

This was OK - just OK.  I didn't feel the excitement.  I added two cheese triangles to the mince and that worked quite well and made up my second A choice.

Dessert was a yogurt and about an hour later I gad a pear.  And that was it.

Today's plans:

B:  fruit salad and yogurt

I'm really feeling the urge to have lots of fresh fruit and veg at the moment.
SW:  speed and free, no syns

L:  turkey hotpot; fruit
Our version of hotpot anyway, an old family favourite, from the freezer.
SW:  free and speed, no syns

D:  lemon chicken stir fry, roasted tomatoes; yogurt
I found this in BBC Good Food.  https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/sticky-lemon-chicken
I have frozen stir fry veg and will use them instead of the fresh veg because they are very convenient.  There's a few syns attached to the sauce but syns are not something that concern me right now, I'm keeping them very low.
SW:  one tsp honey is one syn, one level tsp cornflour is half a syn and I will use spray oil, of course.  I might use a bit more honey and cornflour but that won't be an issue.  Dessert is half a syn

E:  garden work

Summary:

no healthy extras - I don't need them for today's food

estimated four syns max

From the freezer:

hotpot

chicken

stir fry veg

This week's Slimming World food haul and a couple of other things.

 Good afternoon.  It's been a busy day so this is up later than usual.  It wasn't a big shop and almost all fruit and veg.

Veg including salad veg

Plenty of veg.  Just one parsnip as I already had one left and the cabbage wasn't in the list but looked so very lovely.

Fruit:

Plenty of fruit too and I felt like splashing out so got some nectarines and some kiwis as well as the other stuff.  

J just want to have plenty of fresh stuff this week to balance all the stuff from the freezer.

A few extras.

My nutmegs were so old that there was little aroma when I grated one the other day so I have replaced them.

The two bake in sauces are cajun (eight and a half syns for four servings) and a BBQ one at three and a half syns for four servings.
I know I don't need any meat but I just fancied a proper sausage - not that these are good sausages but they are two syns each so I thought I'd give them a go.

And finally . . .

. . . I was waiting for Aldi to get in their usual snowman and snow dog loo paper.  If I see it, I get it but they can be sold out too quickly.  It's very popular and very reasonably priced.

That's my loo and bathroom set up now!

The other is a pretty candle with citrus slices, etc, embedded in a gel around it.

And that's it for this week.  There was plenty to tempt but I resisted reasonably easily.  :-)

Wednesday, 24-11-21

Good morning!
The colder weather really has struck now and my food choices are reflecting this - more soups and cooked veg, much less salad and fewer cold meals.  Are you finding this too?

Yesterday's meals:

A simple and very satisfying breakfast.  There's little nicer than a fried egg on fried bread, even when adapted to work with SW.

The turkey hotpot was tasty - Dad would have enjoyed it very much.

I had an apple later on in the afternoon.

This chicken mince cottage pie looks a bit messy but it was deliciously good and I'm so glad I have exactly the same for lunch today.  Loving my leftovers!

I had drained off some of the passata based sauce and thickened that with a few thickening granules so let's count an additional syn (to be safe).

The day finished off with the usual yogurt.

Today's plans:

B:  porridge and fruit

I'll add some skinny syrup to the porridge although I'm not sure which flavour yet.
SW:  half a healthy extra A (milk) and one healthy extra B (oats)

L:  cottage pie and veg; fruit

The second half of last night's dinner and I did extra veg so they can just be warmed up.

SW  one healthy extra A for cheese in the mash

D:  chilli con carne, konjac noodles; yogurt
I will use one of the cartons of savoury pork mince from the freezer, add some kidney beans and I have noodles in water in the fridge that really should be used up today.  I'll probably add some mushroom and red pepper to the mix too.

SW:   I'm pretty sure the mince is free, the kidney beans certainly are and the noodles are one syn (three quarters of a syn really).  Dessert is half a syn

E:  an hour of personal training today.

Summary:

one and a half healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

one and a half syns

From the freezer:

fruit

savoury mince

ingredients in the cottage pie, made a few days ago

Tuesday, 23-11-21

Good morning.
Well, I used up the accidental chicken mince yesterday, half for the meatballs you see below and half to make a tomatoey, vegetabally mixture to top with mash.
I just spray fried some onion, added the mince to brown, added some other veg, added some home made passata and seasonings and just let it all simmer.  With all the additions, it has made quite a lot, so I'll probably use my bigger dish, make more mash and it can do two meals, dinner today and lunch tomorrow.  That'll save some time, won't it.

Since last Christmas, I have had a pot of turkey in stock and two smaller pots of turkey stock that were saved for a specific reason.  The latter was to provide a good base for this year's Christmas gravy and the stock and meat were because I intended making Dad some of his favourite turkey hotpot (what we call it - it's really a very chunky soup) in the summer, as I have done for years now.
However, as Dad passed away in June, the meat and stock never saw the light of day so I bit the bullet and got it out, thawed it and, yesterday, made the soup.  Three portions so two are now back in the freezer and I intend to have them over the next few weeks.  Made with Christmas leftovers as they are, they will work with the Advent challenge, won't they?

Yesterday's meals:

A nice, simple breakfast that filled me up nicely.

I do so love these toasties.  Just cheese and some spicy red onion chutney and it was lovely!

I had a banana for afters.

And then, for dinner, chicken meatballs with konjac noodles and the last of yesterday's leftover veg.
I had just a few breadcrumbs left over from making the Christmas pudding so added them to the meatball mix for one syn.

The day's eating window finished with a yogurt.

Today's plans:

B:  egg on toast, mushrooms on the side

One slice of toast and I don't know how I will cook the egg yet.

SW:  half a healthy extra B

L:  turkey and veg soup; fruit

The turkey and stock as described above with lots of delicious veg.  Mostly free veg rather than speed veg but that's OK.   I made this yesterday so it should taste great today
SW:  free/speed, no syns

D:  cottage pie with cheesy potato topping, vegetables; yogurt.
Is that what you call it when it's chicken mince?  Anyway, whatever the name, this will use the rest of the accidentally thawed chicken mince.  As described above, I've already made the base as it needed using asap and will make the topping later - mash with an egg yolk beaten in (left over from the meatballs yesterday - lovely and makes up for no butter) and some grated cheddar.
I nearly always say 'vegetables' because I don't decide which veg until later but I do aim for most of them to be speed veg.
Sometimes I think I ought to play 'lucky dip' with the freezer more often - it's resulted in two delicious meals.
SW:  one healthy extra A for the cheese and half a syn for the yogurt

E:  Some work in the garden today (weather permitting)

Summary:

one healthy extra A (as I'm having half the pie today and half tomorrow)

half a healthy extra B

half a syn - wow!

From the freezer:

turkey in stock

chicken mince

passata (last of the garden passata)

mixed veg 

bread