Tuesday, 31-12-19

Good morning!
Thankfully, yesterday went according to plan.  I didn't need any breakfast (still too full from the evening before, I suspect) so the eating windown was less that seven hours apart from the mini yogurt drink which I see as mediction (I wouldn't have it if it were not for the cholesterol thingy).
The turkey soup thingy was absolutely delicious - there's nothing qote like a good stock for making soup special, is there?  And dinner was also very nice.  Wholewheat pasta is definitely more filling.

Today's plans are not especially SW friendly but I will do my best.

B:  apple, if anything, because today carries its own problems!  Nice problems though.

L:  a family meal for four of us.  I'm doing a turkey, ham and leek pie with carrots, sprouts and roasties followed by fruit and Christmas cake.
So - for me I will save some of the filling and have it without the pastry, estimating around six syns and the roasties will be done in the actifry in one tbsp oil so that's just one and a half syn for me, should I have a quarter of them.

Evening:  Beth is staying all evening and overnight.  I'm using mostly what I already have so . . .
a deli antipasti platter of olives and red peppers
a few veggie and not veggie sausage rolls, home made so thin pastry, that are still in the freezer
some salad
small jacket potatoes
grapes
Doing my best and back to strict on New Year's Day.

Wishing you all a very healthy and . . .

 and, if you are celebrating this evening, have a wonderful time!

Monday, 30-12-19

Good morning.
Yesterday turned out to be an absolute disaster.  Pig, pig, pig all afternoon and evening.  I have no idea why, I just did.  I hate waste, but today I am going through everything and chucking out stuff that shouldn't be there.  I'm getting desperate as the clothes are feeling tight and I got rid of all my bigger sizes.
Drawing yet another line and hoping for better today.  Send me strong vibes, please.

So - today's plans.
B:  I'm skipping breakfast and will have some fruit later on.  To be honest, I'm not at all hungry.  I will just have my yogurt drink for two syns

L:  turkey and vegetable chunky soup
I have onion, leek, carrot, parsnip and sweet potato so that should make a tasty, filling and nutritious lunch
SW:  free, although if I have a roll with it, that will be my healthy extra B

D:  turkey and ham macaroni cheese, sprouts
I will make a cheese sauce using cornflour, use wholewheat pasta and chop some turkey and ham leftovers in the bottom of the dish.
SW:  I won't use more than two level tbsps of cornflour which is two syns and the cheese/milk will be my healthy extra As

I hope I won't eat after seven this evening - yesterday would have been so much better had I followed that one - but I don;t know when I will start the window.  It won't be early anyway.

It's a meat day (obviously) with two As, one B and four syns.

Now to make sure I do it!  Motivation, where are you?

Sunday, 29-12-19

Good morning.
Well, I managed to sort out the rest of the turkey yesterday.  There wasn't as much left as I thought.  Apart from the bones and bits, nothing else was wasted, which I was pleased about.  The only thing I have lots of is stock but that's not such a bad thing in the soup season.

I find that if I get going with meal/food preparation before breakfast, I feel less hungry - and that's not because of nibbling because I'm careful not to.  As a result, yesterday's eating window was between ten thirty and seven so eight and a half hours.  Not bad!

I was going to post about the bubble and squeak but I won't because I adapted it so much (i.e.e added a bit of left over bread sauce) that it splodged in the pan, becoming decidedly unphotogenic!  Despite that, it was lovely.  Potato, sprouts, some leftover broccoli that I found lurking in the fridge, a little dollop of bread sauce, 15g finely grated cheese, seasonings and nutmeg - and fried in a little turkey dripping.  Gorgeous!

Finally, the vegetable chips were lovely!  Potato, carrot and parsnip, all actifried in a few sprays of oil.  I put them all in together and had to remove the carrot and parsnip chips about ten minutes before the end of the program so next time I'll add them ten minutes in.

Today's plans:
B:  fresh fruit and natural yogurt with a sprinkle of toasted oats, mini yogurt drink
Must get some oats in somehow, although there won't be enough for a healthy extra
SW:  one syn for 5g of oats, toasted; two syns for the yogurt drink

L:  cold meat platter (sort of like a ploughman's), apple
Bit of turkey, bit of ham, coleslaw, salad veg, beetroot, caramelised onion chutney, roll.  No butter but will have a bit of cheese spread and I've remembered I have a couple of little roasties so I may slice them, spray them and brown them in a pan.  I don't like pickled onion or I'd have some of them too.
SW:  one syn for mayo in coleslaw, one and a half syns for 1 tbsp chutney,  half a healthy extra A for 40g dairylea light. one B for a roll

D:  coronation turkey, jacket potato, salad or cooked veg
This is the recipe I will be using, quartering the amounts for no leftovers.
SW:  the recipe gives weights and SW does spoons so I'm not totally sure until I make it but I reckon the mayo will be 1 syn, some mango chutney will be 2 syns and some dried apricots (30g) will be half a healthy extra B

Body Magic:  a walk to Morrisons and back and balance ball exercises.

Today's not a meat free day, I'm still using leftovers, etc, so quite frugal and the eating window will be between ten thirty and seven as I will have breakfast after I have popped to Morrisons for a few bits and bobs so eight and a half hours.

Half a healthy extra As (ooops, must build another one in somewhere, maybe for lunch), one and a half Bs and eight and a half syns.  Works for me!

Saturday, 28-12-19

Good morning.

Yesterday went fine until the evening when I rather forgot the no eating after seven rule.  Ooops.  It goes to show it's rather a necessary thing for me, I think.

I really shouldn't, as I have so much turkey, but today is going to be a vegetarian day, more or less.  I need one; tomorrow I can return to the turkey with more enthusiasm.  It will all be in the freezer by then anyway, carefully portioned out.

Today's plans:
B:  porridge with fruit and natural yogurt, mini yogurt drink
SW:  half a healthy extra A, one B and two syns

L:  bubble and squeak cakes, egg, mushroom and tomatoes
This is taken from the SW site although you can find it anywhere really.  SW has cut the fat and uses spray oil but, to add flavour, I will be using half a tbsp of turkey dripping to brush over the cakes before baking them which means it isn't vegetarian, strictly speaking.  I'm also going to add 15g of finely grated cheddar.  It's one of those adaptable recipes and may very well change from here to getting-the-pan-out time.
The sides are recommended on the recipe which also recommends baked beans but I don't think I will have the beans.
SW:  the meal itself is SW free but the cheese will add half a healthy extra A and the dripping will add three syns.

D:  beanburgers, chips, sprouts
I'm pretty sure I have home made and free beanburgers in the freezer; I just have to find them.  The chips will be a mix of potato, carrot and parsnip, done the SW way in the actifry (how I love my actifry - it did the Christmas Day roasties beautifully) and I have loads of sprouts so they will be piled high!
SW:  if I add extra oil to the chips, it will be another two syns.

It's a non-meat day, one A and one B, and the window will be between nine (or later, if I can last out) and seven.  Also fairly frugal and uses only things I already have in.

How are you getting on with leftovers?

Friday, 27-12-19

Good morning.

Christmas is over although there's still plenty of stuff to eat up, some naughty and some nice.  It's now time to get properly back on track again and I've started by planning for a full week, like I used to do.  The plans feature quite a lot of turkey, ham and veg as I have rather a lot of leftovers.
I've managed to palm off quite a lot of the naughty stuff on my student grandson, Alex, who goes back to uni soon and Dad will take some stuff as he goes.

Someone ought to bring out a book - 101 Easy Recipes for Christmas Leftovers.  I'd buy it like a shot!

It is a relief to be back on track.  How did it all go for you.  Did you do what I did and forget completely about SW or did you keep an eye on things and try to adapt things so that they worked?

Today's plans:
B:  porridge with cinnamon, blueberries and natural yogurt, mini yogurt drink
SW:  half a healthy extra A, one B and two syns

L:  Christmas quesadillas, salad, fruit
The filling will be shredded turkey and cooked sliced bacon mixed with 15g cheddar, finely grated so it goes a long way, and some cranberry sauce or, maybe some caramelised red onion chutney; I'll see how I feel when I make it.  The salad isn't posh - just lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and red pepper.  Arranged around the outside of the plate, it looks like a ferstive wreath.
SW:  one healthy extra B and the other half of an A plus a couple of syns for the sauce/chutney

D:  turkey and vegetable curry with posh rice.
The SW site features some leftovers recipes this week and there's several I'd like to have a go at.  this curry is actually a chicken recipe but I will sub cooked turkey and adapt the vegetables to what I have.  I have plenty of brown meat turkey which is very flavoursome for a curry.
SW:  free

Body Magic.  MUST get back on track so I plan to do some salsacise, some balance ball exercises and perhaps go for a walk in the park, weather permitting.

The meal window will be between eight thirty and seven today, it's a one A and two Bs day and definitely not meat free!  In fact, that bit may have to go by the board until the turkey has all been sorted.

WHat are your plans for today?

Christmas Day

Good morning, everyone.

I'm not posting plans for a couple of days but popped in to post the following . . .

Tuesday, 24-12-19

Good morning.

Today's plans are as follows, fingers crossed.

B:  porridge with the usual - blueberries and natural yogurt plus a mini yogurt drink
One healthy extra B, half and A and two syns

L:  crackers, cheese and chutney
SW:  lord only knows!

D:  small steak, sweet potato fries, broccoli and another veg

My Dad is arriving for Christmas before lunch so things are a bit off SW for a few days.

Monday, 23-12-19

Good morning.
Well, yesterday didn't quite work out as planned but never mind.  You have to go with the flow at this time of year!

Today's plans are a bit up in the air too.
B:  porridge, etc
The one point of stability!
SW:  half an A, one B and two syns

L:  sausages, peas and chips; fruit
. . . the reason being I have Beth and a little friend around and this is little-friend-friendly!
SW:  No idea, unfortunately.  The sausages are cocktail ones so small but generally that means one has a few more.  The chips are SW ones.

D:  maybe something simple like egg on toast or a toastie or quesadilla of some kind.

Body magic:  A walk - definitely!

Sunday, 22-12-19

Good morning.
Well, the less we say about yesterday evening, the better!  Oh, my head!  It was all delicious though.
And now there's three days of comparative sanity before the next blow out!

Today's plans:
I have a lot of ham today because yesterday I cooked some, sliced some and then forgot to put it out on the buffet table!  D'oh!  It's jolly good gammon ham too, beautifully lean and tender.

B:  porridge with fruit, cinnamon and natural yogurt, mini yogurt drink
SW:  half a healthy extra A, one B and two syns

L:  ham and lentil soup, fruit
The water I boiled the ham in turned out to be a very good stock.  It's not always so - sometimes it's lacking in flavour and sometimes it's too salty but this time it's perfect so soup it is!  I'll make a smooth soup and add shreds of ham before serving.
SW:  should be free

D:  good old fashioned ham, egg and chips, done the SW way!
It's nice to have something like that and feel confident that it works with the SW programme.  I'll do the chips in the actifry and the egg in my mini pan.  I'll have a very simple plain salad on the side too - must have some speed and today is a bit speed-sparse!
SW:  I might splash out three syns on a bit of extra vegetable oil in the actifry (half a tbsp, more than enough) and one or two for some light mayo for dunking the chips.

If I get peckish in between times, I have lots of easy peelers.

Not a terribly good plan for the old cholesterol and a bit high-salt but I don't have much processed meat/bacon/ham nowadays so a bit won't hurt.  The lentils and the oats will add fibre and I will add carrots, onion and celery to the soup (as I usually so) so that's a bit of hidden speed.
The window today will be between nine and seven - ten hours is fine.

Now, where's the coffee?

Saturday, 21-12-19

Good morning!
It's all going to be quite higgledy piggledy today so I have ne definite plans.  Tomorrow and Monday will/should be back to normal.

See you then.  :-)

Friday, 20-12-19

Good morning.

All week I've been pondering on certain changes I need to make after a not-so-good blood test that found my cholesterol and blood pressure are both up.  The BP is down again after a change of meds so that's OK and here's a summary of what I'm try in order to get the cholesterol levels sorted.
1.  Have oats nearly every day.
2.  Aim for as much fibre as possible.  Linked to that, if needed, have one healthy extra A and two Bs rather than the other way round.
3.  Restrict eating times to between eight thirty and seven, shorter when my schedule permits.
4.  Have one of those enriched yogurt drinks every day.  From what I have read, it really does make a difference and, for two syns and using supermarket own brands, it is affordable.
5.  Cut down on red meat.  Three meat days (mostly poultry) , two oily fish days and two vegetarian days each week, more or less.
6.  Cut down on salt as much as possible.  Sugar is less of an issue for me but, even so, I need to be more aware
7.  Focus more on foods that have been shown to lower cholesterol and be careful with foods containing high levels of saturated fat.

If all of the above doesn't have its desired effect, I will accept that I need to go on statins. 
I have until June.

The strawberry fluff went down very well yesterday at the Christmas thingy.  At two and a half syns for the whole lot (what's in the photo is about two thirds, it makes a lot because it's filled with air bubbles), you can't go wrong really.  I will try using a lemon jelly and an orange Mullerlight next.  I think that will be lovely!

Photo taken by our group leader.

Today's plans:
B:  porridge with blueberries, cinnamon and natural yogurt, yogurt mini drink
SW:  half a healthy extra A, one B and two syns

L:  I have a good friend around for lunch and am doing cheese and not-wine (ie, schloer) with fruit so I have absolutely no idea of the SW values.  I'll have just a little bit of cheese and fill up with fruit - I have strawberries, blueberries, apples and easy peeler oranges..

D:  Chicken in orange with rice, side salad, apple
This is from the new Pinch of Nom book and the rice is half of a pouch of wholegrain, wild and red rice from Aldi.
SW:  one and a half syns for the rice and, from what I can see, the rest is free

Body magic:  none planned but it will be a fairly active day really.

I'll be able to eat between nine and seven today.

Thursday, 10-12-19

Good morning.

As well as the mini yogurt drinks (such as Benecol) and fortified spreads, etc, other foods also show cholesterol lowering effects.  Oats and barley, oily fish, veg and olive oils,  fruit and vegetables, higher fibre foods, nuts and soya based foods to name some.  Obviously, on SW, some of these have to be limited so I'll have to choose with care.

Some foods are better limited or avoided.  Basically, anything with high levels of saturated fat is not a good idea.  Sadly, that includes cheese, butter, some oils, cream and meat (animal fats generally).  Eggs are, interestingly enough, OK.  Phew.

The hash brown breakfast bake I made yesterday was really lovely.  It may say 'breakfast' but it would work for any meal and I reckon it will be nice with leftover turkey added after Christmas.  Sprouts went very well with it.
I just got it polished off by seven so yesterday's 'window' was ten hours.  I won't be getting it lower than that unless I deliberately skip breakfast.

Today, I won't be able to stick with the 'eating window' as it's taster evening at SW.  I haven't been to SW for several weeks now and, as a result, the weight has piled on so weigh in won't be much fun, but I need to do it before Christmas.

Here's my plans.
B:  beans on toast, yogurt mini drink
The beans are left over from yesterday so it's instead of porridge.  Plenty of fibre in wholemeal toast and baked beans!
SW: one healthy extra B for the toast and two syns for the drink

L:  mushy pea soup
I ended up making this yesterday and there is a portion left over so that's today
SW:  half a healthy extra A

D:  taster evening.
I'm taking strawberry foam.  It's just a strawberry jelly, made a little more concentrated.  When it's just starting to set, I whisk in a strawberry yogurt and it goes all foamy and fluffy and it's really nice.  You have to catch it at just the right time, but if you add the yogurt a bit early, leave it for a while and then whisk it up again.
The whole lot (and when it's whisked up it makes a lot) is two and a half syns.

Body Magic:  a walk, balance ball exercises

It will be meat free until the evening.

Wednesday, 18-12-19

Good morning!

Regarding my aim to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, we need a bit of salt and it's pretty impossible to avoid really.  However, I've been adding too much, I know I have, so that must change.   I'm going continue to steam vegetables as I have a lovely double tier steamer pan, discovered a long time ago in Matalan and well used ever since.  The vegetables in the steamer sections never have added salt anyway and I will stop adding salt to the water too.  I often use reduced salt stocks anyway.  In a way it's very little change apart from adding salt at the table and I will stop that most of the time.
But I must have salt on my chips!

I don't have a lot of sugar in any form really, apart from stevia, so that's not an issue.

Yesterday more or less worked out OK.  No, the meal wasn't healthy or particularly frugal (although I reckon £15 for three courses was pretty good really) but it ended up as the only meal I had in the day.

I really didn't want any breakfast, only starting to feel peckish around eleven so was able to wait.  The lunch (dinner really) was enormous and I had . . .
chicken wings in a cranberry glaze - and I took off as much of the skin as I could
turkey, stuffing and cranberry pie with peas and mash - I ate the contents of the pie but left most of the pastry (not a hardship as it was very thick and quite hard) and I didn't finish off the mash or peas either as I was feeling rather full by that time
I ate all the dessert and very nice it was too.  half a portion of limoncello cheesecake and half of brownie with a hot cherry sauce (shared with Beth)
So all of that was certain to be over calories/syns/whatever
However, as a result, I really didn't start to feel in any way like eating again until nearly bedtime, well outside my 'window' so I didn't!

Interestingly, I'm not overly hungry this morning and I'm hoping a coffee or two will satisfy until after nine.

Today's plans are:
B:  porridge with blueberries and yogurt, mini yogurt drink
SW:  half a healthy extra A, one B and two syns

L:   home made soup of some kind, apple
Probably carrot based as I have loads and lentils go well with carrots, don't they?
SW:  it will be syn free and I may use up the other half healthy extra A to make it taste creamy.

D:  hash browns breakfast bake, sprouts and maybe broccoli as well, easy peelers
I know - it's not breakfast, but I want to crack open the new Pinch of Nom recipe book and I opened it at this recipe (page 38, if you have the book).  It does look and sound nice, simple and down to earth.
SW:  free, unless I use a tsp of oil to soften the onion, which I may well do and which will be two syns.

Body Magic:  an hour of personal training which is going to be a killer after two weeks being unwell and therefore not exercising very much at all.

Not a no-meat day today as there's bacon in the bake and I will use chicken stock in the soup but it's not going to be meat-heavy and should be pretty frugal too.

Tuesday, 17-12-19

Good morning.

Some foods also show cholesterol lowering effects.  Oats and barley, oily fish, veg and olive oils,  fruit and vegetables, higher fibre foods, nuts and soya based foods to name some.  Obviously, on SW, some of these have to be limited but an awful lot doesn't.
So, as well as the yogurt drinks, I'm going to cut down on meat.  I think.  For now, three days with meat, two with oily fish and two vegetarian is the ideal although I'm more than happy to have more beans and pulses in place of meat. 
Less meat and more beans, veg, oily fish, etc, should be good for the purse too, especially as I like to soak and cook my pulses from dried.  They really are amazing value.

Today was never going to be an 'good' day.  It's the monthly 'Girls' Lunch', this time a Christmas dinner.  I can't remember what I ordered now but L, who organised it, will know.  What I remember is that I tried to make good choices but there really weren't any obvious ones.

I will wrap around that with two light meals.
B:  fruit and yogurt, mini yogurt drink
SW: two syns

D:  salmon and a salad, easy peeler
SW:  two syns for some lighest mayo

And nothing after six thirty!

Monday, 16-12-19

Good morning.
It's back on the waggon after a day of slight indulgence.  Not nearly as bad as it could have been but still, a bit off plan.  Never mind.
I was so pleased that there was a bit of bean and veg chilli and half a jacket potato left but later on Beth scoffed the lot for supper.  Never mind, I can make some more and I will at some point as it was really very nice indeed.

Another of my cholesterol lowering/statins avoiding strategies is to have an enriched mini yogurt drink each day.  It doesn't have to be Benecol, the brand leader and expensive.  Supermarkets do their own versions which, I am sure, are just as good and loads cheaper.  I'm getting Morrison's at the moment and I think they are rather nice

I looked up the whole Benecol thing and found articles/advice from various years,  The message is that in the earlier articles the advice was that it was a waste of money and doesn't help, whereas in the most up to date information the opinion (based on 'research' but they rarely say what that research is and who commissioned it but the sites are reliable, I think) is that if you have no problems with higher cholesterol then, yes, it's a waste of money, there's no preventative effect but, if you do then they do seem to make a positive difference.
This goes for all foods enriched with sterols and stanols.
So now I know!

Today's plans are:
B:  porridge with blueberries and natural yogurt, mini yogurt drink
SW:  half a healthy extra A, one healthy extra B and two syns

L:  a toastie with tuna mayo and a simple side salad
The tuna mayo is leftovers from yesterday and there's plenty, enough for dinner too.
SW:  another healthy extra B and two syns for the bread, the other half heA for some grated cheese (20g) and a couple of syns for the mayo (this last is hard to work out and I'm over-estimating really)

D:  jacket potato with the rest of the tuna mayo, sprouts and broccoli
I need some green veg so, while this might sound a bit of an odd mix, it should work.
SW:  I'm just totting up what I've allowed for syns in the tuna mayo and I think one more syn should more than cover it.  The rest will be free.

Today is, obviously, a fish day and a one A and two Bs day
All eaten between nine am and seven pm.

Sunday, 15-12-19

Good morning.

I've decided to give the 'restricted eating' concept a go.
It said this on an internet site:

"People who practice time-restricted eating typically eat during an 8- to 12-hour daytime window and fast during the remaining 12 to 16 hours. Unlike intermittent fasting, which involves caloric restriction, time-restricted eating permits a person to eat as much as they want during the eating window."

Well, if you're thinking what I'm thinking, you're thinking that it is perfectly possible to shovel down enough food during the day to foil any attempts to lose weight but, as I do have an issue with evening nibbling, I will give this structure (which is what it is really) a go.  I'm starting with an eleven hour window, eating after eight o'clock am and finishing dinner before seven o'clock pm.  My lifestyle won't allow me to keep to a six or eight hour window but, if I can use this to stop evening nibbling, I will be happy.

Of course, as soon as I have decided on this, along comes an awkward day.  It is Christmas Tree Day today.  Beth, Alex and Dave are round for lunch and Beth is also staying for dinner.  Food choices may be a bit wider but this is what I am trying to stick with.

B:  porridge with fruit and yogurt, mini yogurt drink

SW:  half a healthy extra A and one B, two syns

L:  jacket potato with a selection of toppings, salad leaves, tomatoes and coleslaw, fruit

The toppings will be chilli beans, tuna mayo and grated cheese.  I won't have the cheese but I'm not sure which of the others I will choose.  The chilli is leftover from yesterday as I deliberately made a lot more than I needed and is a delicious mix of - takes deep breath - onion, carrot, celery, red pepper sweet potato, sweetcorn, various beans, chopped tomatoes, baked beans left over from breakfast and a chilli from the garden, now dried, with other seasonings.  It was lovely yesterday and the flavours will have developed since then.
SW:  er . . . well, the chilli had three syns worth of oil but as it will serve four with maybe some left and has already provided a dinner, I'm forgetting about it.  The mayo will have about two syns.

D:  pizza, salad, fruit

OK, I know pizza isn't great but I will have just a thin slice and it is Christmas Tree Day so it's a family tradition.

SW:  don't really know - I will just try to be super sensible.

Not so frugal today, especially dinner.  I ought to be able to stick within the time window of eleven hours though.

Saturday, 14-12-19

Good morning.
It was nice to get back to proper healthy eating again and nice to feel so much better too.

I wrote a great long verbal-ramble about plans for the future and then decided it would bore the socks off everyone, so I'll break it down and cover one bit each day. Here's today's

Oats are great cholesterol lowering things (it says everywhere I've looked).  Fortunately, I like oat based things.  I've decided I will have oats in one form or another more or less every day.
However, that poses a bit of a problem with healthy extra Bs - sometimes I will want bread.  Oats and bread tend to be my Bs all the time.

A year ago, the rule was two healthy extra Bs and one A.  Then they changed it and now it's one B and two As.  Since then I've had a lot more constipation (sorry about TMI) and wonder if there's a link.  Also, wholemeal/wholewheat things are good for lowering cholesterol (they say)
Anyway, I have decided to be flexible and will have either two As and one B OR one A and two Bs.  Any more will be synned.
As before, pasta and rice will be as fibre filled as possible.

Today's plans:
B:  oat waffles with fruit and yogurt, mini yogurt drink
I'm looking forward to getting back on the old oat waffles again; they're so delicious.
SW:  one healthy extra B and two syns

L:  beans on toast, easy peelers
SW one healthy extra B

D:  bean and vegetable chilli with wholewheat pasta, apple
I'll make the chilli with bits and bobs of vegetables from the fridge, beans from the freezer and a topping of natural yogurt and grated cheese (not mixed together).  I've bought some lower fat cheese and will have 30g of it, which is the amount I'm used to.
SW:  one healthy extra A, three syns for half tbsp olive oil for softening the onions (it works so much better than spray oil.

Body Magic:  a good walk around town

Definitely a vegetarian day today and also fairly frugal!  Even the bread for the toast was a YS item.

Friday, 13-12-12

Good morning.

Thank you for all the advice, both in here and in my other blog.  I've had a good think about it all and am reaching certain conclusions which I will share with you soon

Today is a non-meat day and the plans are . . .
B:  porridge with fruit and natural yogurt.  Yogurt drink
SW:  one healthy extra B and half an A.  Two syns for the drink.

L:  home made soup of some kind. fruit
I'll see what I have lurking in the fridge.  It needs a good pre-Christmas tidy up anyway
SW  up to half a healthy extra A for some milk in the soup

D:  salmon, actifry chips, green vegetables
SW:  pretty much free really
Body Magic:  balance ball exercises; a walk

The new Pinch of Nom book, preordered from Amazon, arrived yesterday so I have promised myself a good browse through it.  It does look great!

Thursday, 12-12-19

Dipping a toe back in the water . . .

B:  porridge with blueberries and yogurt, Benecol drink
Oats are great for lowering cholesterol and the drink is what it is
SW:  one healthy extra A, one B and 2 syns

L:  carrot and lentil soup
Home made and a bit spicy too
SW:  free

D:  tuna jacket potato, salad leaves and tomato
I'll mix the tuna with some mayo
SW  two syns

Ss:  none

Body Magic:  A walk to the polling station

Wednesday 11-12-19

Things are a bit upside down right now, I'm not 100% and I need to think over an approach that will lower my cholesterol so - any advice will be gratefully received.
Thanks.

I'll be back!

Monday, 09-12-19

Good morning, everyone.  Here's today's plans.

B:  fruit
They had some nice grapes in Morrisons so, as a treat, I will have some with my usual apple and easy peeler.  I do love fresh fruit.

L:  probably nothing as I'm due at the dentist at twelve.

D:  soup or chicken and veg, depending on how the fillings feel!

Body magic:  Maybe a walk although, with this cold, I'm very 'chesty' so might not.

What are your plans?

Sunday, 08-12-19

Good morning.  Apologies for yesterday.  Colds can be miserable and I didn't feel up to very much yesterday, certainly not planning.

Today . . .
B:  some fruit

L:  Soup.  I have to go shopping so I will do the unthinkable and buy some soup, maybe a can of cream of chicken.  Blow the syns.

D:  chicken, roasties, carrots and broccoli.  I have a couple of guests for dinner and this is dead easy to make.  It shouldn't be too synful.

Things will be back to normal in a few days.

Friday, 06-12-19

Morning, all.  Really not feeling great today but I have a bowl of tasty turkey and veg soup which I will rely on, followed by easy peelers.
Back tomorrow, hopefully, feeling better and ready to rock again!
xx

Thursday, 05-12-19

Good morning.

Being full of the joys of a cold, it's comfort food that's easy to make today.

B:  Not sure - maybe beans on toast.  At the moment I don't really feel like anything but that might change.
SW:  one healthy extra B

L:  turkey and veg soup
Made yesterday, ready to reheat.
SW:  one syn for some oil I used to soften the onion.  The rest is free.

D:  macaroni cheese
I'll use my healthy extra As to make a cheese sauce plus a few syns for cornflour and I'll probably roast some sweet potato in the actifry to go with it.

S:  fruit

Body Magic:  none today

Wednesday, 04-12-19

Good morning!
I must tell you about the turkey pate I made yesterday.
I used cooked brown turkey meat, some philly extra light, some mayo, some Dijon mustard, some lemon juice and seasonings.  It all went into my mini-blender for a good zizz up until it was a meat paste texture (it was quite zizz, taste and add, zizz, taste and add).  Right at the end I though it needed a little something else so I zizzed in some dried cranberries and it was perfect!  In fact it was so nice that I didn't have my toast for breakfast, I saved it for lunch to have with the pate!

I used the philly extra light because I was out of the SW legal dairylea, but I'm not too fussed as it has been on the healthy extra list in the past so really cannot be all that evil.  It was about one syn's worth of mayo and two syns for the cranberries (around 15g).

One to remember after Christmas when there will be more turkey leftovers.

The curry was good too.  Instead of using mango chutney, I threw in a few dried cranberries which gave a little burst of sweetness now and again.  In the curry there was onion, red pepper, mushroom, sweet potato, peas and some cooked edamame beans I found in the freezer, plus the chicken, turkey and cranberries and it was lovely!

On to today:
I'm mixing the meals around somewhat as I have some school governors training this evening, slap bang in the middle of the time I have dinner usually.

So:
Late breakfast:  yogurt and fruit
SW:  if I have a fruit yogurt, it will be half a syn

Dinner at about three:  Christmas quesadillas - shredded turkey, cheese, cranberry sauce - with side salad; apple and easy peeler
SW:  That will be one healthy extra B for the wrap, one A for 30g grated cheese,  around two syns for some cranberry sauce (home made, so I can work it out precisely when I make it)

Supper:  soup
It'll be turkey/chicken, of course, nice and chunky, and I'll add onion, sweet potato and any other veg I find lurking.
SW:  should be free

Ss:  chicken, turkey and fruit

Body Magic.  Nothing organised today but I'll be up and down stairs all day and will do some of the balance ball routines Lindsey showed me yesterday.

Tuesday, 03-12-19

Good morning. 
Yesterday went reasonably well, a day to maintain, I thinkl.  Shame about those mixed nuts that needed to be finished off!!  However, they've all gone now and at least nuts are reasonably good for you.
I now have copious supplies of chicken, turkey and wonderful stock.  In fact, the stock is in the instant pot on saute with the lid off so it reduces a bit as the flavour is great but there's just too much of it.  I will let it cool once it's concentrated enough, skim off any residual fat and then pot it up and freeze it.
Some of it will have to go into the freezer but it is soup weather so it won't be there for long!

Today's plans are:
B:  boiled eggs and toast, apple
I have some crustless bread (Kingsmill or Warburton, I can't recall which) in the freezer and you can thve three slices of that for your healthy extra so I will use one slice for breakfast
SW:  a third of a healthy extra B

L:  turkey pate on toast, tomatoes, salad leaves, easy peelers
To make the pate, I just pound some turkey meat with a bit of cheese spread, lemon juice, mustard and maybe some ricotta until it's spready, using my mini blender which is perfect for this.  I'll spray the other two slices of bread with some spray oil and bake it in the oven so it's crunchy, like melba toast.
SW:  the rest of my healthy extra B, up to half a healthy extra A on the cheese spread and whatever the mustard will cost in syns (not much because you don't need a lot).  I've just remembered when I made it before I added a bit of mayo too so, maybe, one syn for that.

D:  turkey/chicken curry, dahl, maybe some rice
The dahl is in the freezer and is SW free.  I'll use onion, sweet potato and maybe red pepper in the curry which should also be pretty much free.  I have some protein noodles so might use them instead of rice.
SW:  I'm allowing up to eight syns for bits like some coconut milk and a bit of mango chutney.

S:  chicken, turkey or apples

Body Magic:  my personal training has changed to today this week so that's my body magic.

Monday, 02-12-19

Good morning.  I'm back after a lovely weekend where I have feasted, not wisely but very well and now it's onto the SW Advent bandwagon!  You've heard of Strictly Come Dancing - this is Strictly Frugal Slimming World!

When I went shopping after arriving home yesterday, they had turkey legs in - two huge ones for around £4.50.  Today I will slow roast them with some herbs from the garden, strip off all the meat and use it as a basis for main meals, soups, lunches, etc.
I also managed to get a reduced cooked chicken so ditto for that (apart from the cooking, of course)
Then all the bones, chicken and turkey, and other bits will go into my instant pot for a long slow boil up and some delicious stock.
Dad loves turkey hot pot so guess what I'm making for us this weekend!

Today's plans:
B:  two boiled eggs and some chicken
I know the chicken sounds odd but it's lean protein, filling and satisfying and I need all the help I can get!
SW:  free

L:  chicken salad roll with an apple and an easy peeler
I also got a bag of four wholemeal rolls for 8p yesterday - one can't ignore that sort of bargain.  I have tomatoes and will mix up a bit of coleslaw to go with it.
SW:  one syn for a bit of mayo and one healthy extra B for the roll

D:  fish pie, sprouts and broccoli
After last week's ready made fish pie disaster disappointment, I shall make my own today.  In the freezer I have small portions of salmon, smoked basa and prawns so will use them.  I will poach the fish in milk and a bay leaf and then use the flavoured milk with some cheese spread and thickening granules to make a sauce.  I'll soften some onions to add to the mix and, maybe, add some peas and mushrooms too and some dried parsley.  The topping will be home made mash with some added grated cheddar.
SW:  the final bill should be two healthy extras for the milk, cheese spread and grated cheddar and the thickening granules will be a maximum of three tsps for three syns (but I'm guessing I won't need to use as much as that)

S:  chicken, fruit

BM:  a walk the long way round to school and back again.

Wish me luck!
What are your plans for today?

Friday, Saturday and Sunday

Just to let you kinow that I won't be posting about my meals for a few days.  Back on Monday.
Have a good weekend.

Thursday, 28-11-19

Good morning!
First of all - that SW ready meal.  Forget it.  There's no way I'm buying that again.  I guess I just don't like 'free' sausages very much!

However, I really did enjoy the marmite and cheese on toast.  Lovely, savoury, comfort food.

On to today:
B:  scrambled egg on toast
One healthy extra B for the toast

L:  the last portion of chicken, bacon and veg soup
Gorgeous soup and just one syn

D:  jacket potato, cheese and beans
SW:  the cheese will be one or both of my healthy extras

Danger time:  apple and easy peelers

It's a bit back to basics today but it's all food I love and is easily prepared.  Nice.

What are your plans?

Wednesday, 27-11-19

Good morning.
It was another good day yesterday - two in a row is good at the moment.  I did scoff some cheese but I had two healthy extra As and some syns to use so I didn't go over.

The soup I made for lunch was lovely.  It had all sorts of vegetable bits and bobs, chicken, bacon and orzo and I had a great big portion, safe in the knowledge that a third of the whole lot was just one syn from the half tbsp oil I started it off with and it was loaded with lovely veg.  That has sorted out lunch today and tomorrow!

Dinner was a SW ready meal, chicken balti.  The chicken was good, the sauce was delicious but the 'slow roasted petals of onion' (???) were not pleasant, being hard and over chewy.  Obviously not 'roasted' for long enough although I might dispute that they were roasted at all!  I've saved the recipe!

On to today.
B:  sausage, beans and maybe an egg
Nice and substantial to keep me going until after personal training
SW:  one syn for two Aldi skinny sausages (must get some more)

L:  more of the soup, a big bowlful after personal training
SW:  one syn

D:  smokey sausage and bean casserole, probably with some rice as I have some cooked rice in the freezer
This is the last of the ready meals I bought on Monday.  The tally is one good, one bad, one so-so with good parts and this one.  We will see.

Ss:  I will use my healthy extras at danger time (around four thirty), maybe on cheese on toast or something similar.  If I spread a bit of marmite under the cheese, it will be a good, savoury hit, something I love.

Body Magic:  an hour of  personal training

Tuesday, 26-11-19

Good morning.
Yesterday ended up as all change.  On the way home after the walk, I just missed a bus so popped into Iceland (as you do when you miss the bus!) and treated myself to some SW frozen ready meals with the idea that they might help me stay back on track.

Yesterday, I had a chicken tikka masala for lunch with a portion of rice from the freezer and dinner was a fish pie with some home cooked veg on the side.

The chicken was really nice and I enjoyed it very much indeed.  Plenty of chicken, plenty of sauce and a great flavour.  One to get again or to make myself using the recipe that is always provided on the packaging with SW frozen meals.

The fish pie wasn't nice.  The was plenty of fish and the prawns were nice and big but I didn''t like the sauce and the mash topping was watery and soggy.  Not one to make again.  My own fish pie which costs just a few syns is much, much nicer.

On to today.
B:  blueberry and apple pancakes with natural yogurt
This is a Pinch of Nom recipe, apple and cinnamon pancakes, to which I will add some blueberries because they need using up.
SW.  One healthy extra B for 40g oats plus 50 mls of milk which it's easier to syn at one syn.

L:  chunky chicken, bacon and veg soup
I have bits and bobs of vegetables to use and am defrosting a chicken breast and a bit of bacon to add more flavour.  There should be enough for two portions or more which will be very useful tomorrow
SW:  free

D:  Either a smoky sausage and bean casserole or chicken balti with rice.
Both are SE frozen meals and both are free.

Body Magic:  A walk to the shops and back again

I know I'm not being all that rugal right now but, apart from those ready meals, I am using up what's in the freezer.  It's not frugal to not use things you already have in the freezer because they're not frugal!
There are a few gaps now.  Not enough to think of defrosting but getting there.

What are your plans for today?

Monday, 25-11-19

Morning

Yesterday was the first day in a very long time when things went completely to plan.  Quite encouraging but at the moment it's one meal at a time so on to today!

B:  choccy drink, easy peelers.
Not a great breakfast but I really fancies a choccy drink made with milk, not water, so extra rich.
SW around six syns for the drink and one healthy extra A

L:  soup
I need to see what's in the freezer but it will be free and veg based

D:  chicken quesadillas with peas (probably)
- just because that's what I fancy
SW: one healthy extra A and one B.  I might knock up a bit of cranberry sauce as well so that will be about three syns.

Body Magic:  I have a walk booked today (and need to leave for the bus in ten minutes so I'd better stop and get ready!).

Sunday, 24-11-19

Good morning!
I was so good yesterday, resisting all the temptations of town and market just before Christmas and then went and spoiled it in the evening with some chocolates.
Ah well, it's a new day today.

My plans:
B:  a cooked breakfast - bacon, sausage and potato.
I love my actifry.  I cook the potatoes first on the chips setting for fifteen minutes, then add sausage rolled into little balls, than add the bacon with five minutes to go.  I only use spray oil and it cooks wonderfully with the potatoes absorbing the sausage flavour. 
SW:  half a syn for the Aldi skinny sausage, that's all. 

L:  salmon with something.  I'm not sure what yet but it might involve some healthy extras!

D:  lamb leg steak with whatever vegetables I have in and maybe some mash.  I have some syn free gravy in the freezer.
I cook the lamb long and slow so it more or less falls apart and it's lovely
SW:  free

S: apples, easy peelers

Body Magic.  Nothing specific today.

WHat are your plans?

Saturday, 23-11-19

Good morning - or do I mean good afternoon?
Sorry about the lateness; I just didn't get it done this morning.

Yesterday didn't quite work out as planned but today is a new day and so far I have been very good and resisted all the temptations in town - and there were many!

Today's plans
B:  I didn't have breakfast which is maybe why things in town were more tempting!

L:  jacket potato with tuna and cheese with tomatoes on the side.
Rather more substantial than usual because I'm really hungry but well withint SW rules.
SW:  one healthy extra A for 30g grated cheddar, three syns for some salad cream (because I adore salad cream with potato and tuna)

D:  The steak and chips I didn't have yesterday plus some mayonnaise
Bad me - but I can't waste that steak, can I?
SW:  a few syns for some dijon mustard and three syns for half a tbsp oil to cook the chips.  One syn for some mayo in the coleslaw.

S:  I have some 'free' veg souip to finish off so I'll probably have that at 'dfanger time; - around four thirty.

Body magic:  lots of walking around town as well as running for the bus!

What are your plans for today?  xx

Friday, 22-11-19

Good morning!

Today's plans are . . .
B:  porridge, fruit and yogurt
SW:  one healthy extra B for the oats

L:  salmon with some tomatoes, apple
I just really fancy some salmon and I have some in the freezer.
SW: free

D:  steak, chips, coleslaw
Another thing I just fancy.  I'm going to Aldi today and their steak is both good and not as expensive as other places (note, I don't say 'cheap' because it isn't).  The chips will be actifried using the SW method but I will use my healthy As on some grated cheese to have on the chips.
SW:  one syn for some super light mayo and up to four syns for some dried cranberries (that's for 24g and I won't have as much as that) plus two healthy As of grated cheddar.

E:  plenty of walking today as my energy is coming back again as the virus departs.

What are your plans?

Thursday, 21-11-19

Good morning. 
Things changed a bit.  Beth came round just before lunch so we had the bits and bobs leek and potato soup and I'm having the defrosted bacon for breakfast today instead.
The soup was lovely.  Made with mostly bits that one would otherwise chuck - the tough, green tops of a couple of leeks, a broccoli stem, carrot peelings and some potato that was going off so I had to cut bad bits out - it felt very frugal and tasted wonderful!

Today's plans are . . .
B:  bacon and egg muffin
This is a wholemeal muffin so a healthy extra.
SW one healthy extra B

L:  the rest of the bits and bobs leek and potato soup made yesterday
SW:  free

D:  egg, beans and jacket potato with cheese
Beth's having dinner with me so it needs to be veggie friendly.
SW:  two healthy extra As for grated cheese

Ss:  I'm having coffee with a friend so will probably have a biscuit.  Some syns, don't know how many.

E:  not sure yet.

What are your plans for today?

Wednesday, 20-11-19

Good morning.

Today's plans
B:  porridge with yogurt, fruit
SW  free

L: bacon, egg and beans
SW free

D:  cuban beef, jacket potato and veg
I made the beef ages ago and it's been in the freezer since.  More than time to use it up.  The veg will probably be carrots and brocccoli and then I will have stems to make some soup for tomorrow.
SW free

BM:  some salsacise, if I feel up to it.

WHat are your healthy plans for today?

Tuesday, 19-11-19

Morning.  I'm feeling unwell so have no specific plans for today.  I'll be back soon!  :-)

Monday, 18-11-19

Good morning!

Well, yesterday ended up a bit - er - disastrous!
I had an Open House in the afternoon so a considerable number of home made biscuits got consumed and in the evening I was so tired I just made a bowl of chips.  SW friendly, yes, but hardly healthy.

Back on track this morning.
B:  porridge with blueberries and natural yogurt
SW:  one healthy extra B for oats and half a healthy extra A for milk.

L:  chunky veg soup
Made on Saturday so should be very flavoursome today (flavours definitely develop, don't they?).  Any left over from today will end up in the freezer.
SW:  free

D:  chicken curry, rice, fruit
I really fancy a curry this evening so will get a chicken breast out of the freezer and knock one up this morning so it will be tasty this evening.
SW:  I will try to keep it free although I may possibly add some dried apricots which I will have to syn.  I'll see how it goes as I make it.  The base will be the chicken with onion, peppers, sweet potato and mushrooms.  **

S:  after yesterday, none!!

Body magic:  quite a lot of furniture moving, carrying, etc, plus some ironing and a short walk.

What are your healthy eating plans for today?

** edit:  I did add some dried apricots - 30g for three syns - no complaints from me.   In fact, if I don't have porridge (not sure I'm hungry enough), that can be half a healthy B!

Saturday, 16-11-19

Good morning!

The tuna cheese not-really-a-quesadilla was really nice as well as being dead easy.  I had some baked bean leftovers so had them on the side and, weird as it sounds, it all went together well.
Filling too.

I changed my plans for dinner.
I prepped potato, sweet potato, carrot, parsnip and sprouts.  I chopped the planned chicken into about seven chunks and got some vacu packed chestnuts - just a few for about four syns.

I put the root veg and the sprouts into the actifry with a little spray oil and cooked it on the chips setting for twenty minutes.  Then I added the chicken, chestnuts, one tbsp lemon juice and one of maple syrup (two syns) and finished with the last ten minutes of the chip setting.
It was gorgeous!

Today's plans.
B:  bacon, egg and tomatoes
Believe it or not, the last of the garden tomatoes are just ripening on the window ledge and ought to be eaten
SW:  free

L:  Some sort of home made soup, probably something like roasted carrot and lentil as I have carrots to use up, followed by some fruit
SW:  free


D:  I found a recipe for a syn free pizza on Slimming Eats.  The base is made with ground oats, baking powder yogurt and egg and I thought I'd give it a go.  I'll let you know.  Then a yogurt.
SW:  one healthy extra A (50g light mozzarella), one B (40g oats)

S:  none

Body Magic:  nothing organised but I shall be busy moving furniture around for a fair old time so that counts!

What are your plans for today?

Friday, 15-11-19

Good morning!

Today's plans are:
B:  2 slices French toast (the crunchy kind, bought in packs) that just jumped into my mouth.
SW:  four syns, unfortunately!  What a waste of good syns, eh?

L:  tuna cheese wrap toastie, fruit
I hesitate to call it a quesadilla but it's that sort of thing.
SW:  one healthy extra A for cheese and one B for the wrap

D:  chicken, veg and chips
I'll wrap the chicken in foil and bake it, there are loads of veg in the fridge and the chips will be made the SW way
SW:  free

S:  none

Body Magic:  Still not 100% so am taking it easy.

What are your healthy plans for today?

Thursday, 14-11-19

Hi, everyone.  I'm not feeling great so will be taking it easy for a few days.  Back again soon, full of SW enthusiasm again!
xx

Tuesday, 12-11-19

Good morning.
Yesterday's food went really well, thank goodness.  Dinner was especially good with the sausages, cheesy mash (lovely!) and sprouts.

There are some interesting things you can do with vegetables rather than have them plain, if you're willing to pay the syns.  Things like maple glazed carrots and parsnips or sprouts with bacon and chestnuts.  Given that it's definitely the season for cooked veg rather than raw ones (e.g. salads), maybe I ought to investigate.  Do you have any favourite SW friendly combinations?

Today's plans are a bit problemmatic as I will be out for the day and will be eating out at lunchtime before getting home tired and disinclined to cook.  I've been out to the freezer and found a pasta bolognaise bake (home made and SW friendly) and I'll look for something vegetabally interesting when I am out which, if necessary, I can syn.  Then it's just a question of bunging in the oven/microwave.

So . . .
B:  fruit and natural yogurt . . .
. . . because it's quick and easy

L:  don't know

D:  pasta bake with veg

Ss:  none

Body Magic:  loadsa walking

Monday, 11-11-19

Good morning.
After a pretty disastrous weekend at Dad's, I'm home this morning and back on track again.

Today's plans:
B:  yogurt and fruit
The usual and very nice too.

L:  a tuna wrap, fruit yogurt
Just tuna mixed with mayo and some grated carrot in a WW wrap.  I will mix fresh fruit with natural yogurt for a free dessert
SW:  one heB for the wrap and two syns max for the mayo

D:  bangers and cheesy mash, baked beans
I'll probably make the cheesy mash in advance and reheat it in the oven so it gets a nice crusty coating.  I love it that way.
SW:  the sausages are half a syn each and I may be bad and have three!  Both healthy extra As for the cheesy mash (but no butter!) and baked beans are free.  I'll have some dijon mustard too at one and a half syns per level tbsp

S:  none

Body magic.  A walk.

Edit:  I've changed my mind - I have lots of sprouts so am having them instead of baked beans.  I love sprouts and these are little and sweet flavoured, no bitterness about them.

Saturday, 09-11-19

Good morning.
I'm at Dad's for the weekend so not strictly counting SW values.  Still being careful and making healthy choices though!

Today's plans
B:  porridge with fruit and yogurt.  That's a healthy extra B for the oats

L:  probably beans on toast, apple.  An extra healthy extra B (!!!) for the toast

D:  Dad has some leftover bits in the fridge so probably a cobbled together steak and corned beef potato topped pie with some fresh veg.  I have no idea if canned steak and corned beef go together but we will find out, won't we?  The steak is M&S so SW free and I will weigh the cheese in the potato topping.  I think it should be OK.
Also, having peeked into his pantry, maybe some melon too, either before or aft.

Ss:  fruit

Body Magic:  probably taking a walk to the local garden centre this afternoon so that will be around forty minutes (both ways) plus however long I wander round for.

Friday, 08-11-19

Good morning.

Breakfast yesterday was very nice indeed.  the skinny sausages weren't the best I have ever tasted, of course, but they were OK, an awful lot nicer than the SW ones, with a proper sausagey texture, not solid and some flavour.  After I took the photo I added one syn's worth of brown sauce and I really enjoyed it.

I'm now thinking bangers in onion gravy with cheesy mash and beans - but not today!








The rest of the day's meals were fine but it all went to pot in the evening after something very worrying and stressful.  Things are OK now but I did dive into the carbohydrates yesterday and I've just had chips (home made, SW friendly ones) for an early breakfast.

Stuff happens sometime and we just have to cope and get back on track asap, don't we?

Today's plans are:
B:  chips as mentioned above.  SW friendly but hardly balanced!  I'mm probably have some fruit later as well

L:  home made soup of some kind, using fridge rubble.  It will be SW free.

D:  eating out with my Dad.  I'll have to see what's on offer.

Not a great day today, is it?  Life's like that and it's best to roll with the punches, get back up again afterwards and carry on.  That's what I will do!

Thursday, 07-11-19

Good morning.
The good news.  Another two pounds off.  I'm now within a couple of weeks of making good my holiday gain.  That makes me happy.
And I have discovered that protein noodles do not freeze well.  Ooops!

(This is to separate the sections and because it brightens things up - I thought I'd make a different one each month)

Today's plans:
B:  cooked breakfast
This is to try out the Aldi skinny sausages I bought yesterday.  Bacon, sausages, mushrooms, egg, potatoes.  It should be very nice and filling which is just as well as I'm off into town for the morning!.
SW:  one syn for two sausages and I hope they're worth getting.

L:  chicken and broccoli soup
The same as yesterday because it made loads.
SW:  a bit of a healthy extra A

D:  chicken pasta bake, broccoli, some other veg, fruit
. . . because I have chicken to use up and I don't really want to freeze it.  I'll probably use onion, pepper, mushroom and chicken with some chopped tomatoes, mix it with some protein noodles (which I'm really getting quite fond of, despite the fact that it doesn't freeze well - unless you fancy eating string!) and top with some grated cheddar
SW:  one and a half healthy extra As for the cheese and one syn for the protein noodles

S:  fruit

Body magic:  a walk around town, PT exercises and balance ball stuff

Wednesday, 06-11-19

Morning

Yesterday's food worked really well.  For breakfast, I ended up slicing som potato, spraying it and actifrying it without the paddle.  With five minutes to go I cut two bacon medallions into three bits each and tossed that in with some halved mushroom and a bit more spry oil and finished it off.  Really tasty and dead easy too.  One to remember and added sausage would be nice too.  I've just discovered that Aldi's 'skinny sausages' are just half a syn each and, according to my informant, 'nice'.  I'll give them a go although I tend not to like the very low fat sausages.  Worth a try!

The soup would have done two days but I was so peckish after the walk, I had the lot and it kept me going all through the afternoon.

Dinner was so gorgeous, I have posted about it separately.
Christmas quesadillas - it have a nice, alliterative sound, doesn't it!
And it was filling too.

Today's plans:
B:  fruit and yogurt
SW: free

L:  broccoli and chicken soup
I have a broccoli stalk which, nowadays, I never throw away but make into a great soup and I will use some of the chicken stock and scraps of the chicken.  It should be very tasty and just the ticket after an hour of personal training
SW:  half a healthy extra A for some milk

D: bean and veg curry with protein noodles
Leftovers from whenever and popped in the freezer.  Easy to reheat after the SW group meeting
SW:  three syns for some coconut milk powder and the noodles

S:  fruit

E:  an hour of personal training

Recipe: Christmas quesadillas

No, it isn't Christmas - yet - but this was so tasty, I'm posting about it.

Ingredients for one:
a WW wrap (one healthy extra B)
some spray oil
some cranberry sauce (I reckon about two syns for my home made sauce)
a bacon medallion
a little bit of onion, very finely chopped
some leftover roast chicken (or turkey), shredded
45g finely grated strong cheddar (one and a half healthy extra As

Method
Spray oil on one side of the wrap, brush it all over and turn the wrap over.
Cook the medallion (I used the same pan as I crisped up the quesadilla) and cut it into strips.  Keep the pan hot.
Place the onion, bacon, shredded chicken and grated cheese in a bowl and mix well.
Spread some cranberry sauce over the wrap.
Pile the chicken mixture over one half of the wrap, fold over the other half.
Carefully place the filled wrap in the hot pan and cook until the underneath is browning and going crunchy.
Carefully turn it over and crunch up the other side.  In the time it takes to do this, the filling will be hot and the cheese will be melting.
Lift out of the pan and cut into two or three segments (I use kitchen scissors, it's easier than using a knife and squidging all the filling out).
Serve with whatever you fancy.  I used tomatoes and red peppers - Christmassy colour!

It's really, really delicious and the cranberry sauce just makes it!

Tuesday, 05-11-19

Good morning.
The chicken dinner went down a treat last night.  I prepped plenty of veg and potato in the hopes that there might be a few leftovers for today but Dave was obviously feeling pretty hungry and ate the lot, bless him.  However, there's plenty of chicken left and after he had gone I stripped the rest of the meat and set the carcass to simmer in the Instant Pot overnight so this morning I have some lovely stock (and the house smells great!).
I found a few frozen cranberries in the freezer so popped them in a pot with sugar and water.  As they were boiling up, I added some orange zest and a tiny slug of cointreau and it made a very tasty cranberry sauce that I think I will reproduce for Christmas Dinner.  I estimate the syns to be about three per portion - ouch but worth it.
I also made some rather nice pink fluff for dessert but I'll post about that in a separate entry at some point.

Today's plans:
B:  A cooked breakfast, apple
Bacon, egg and mushroom, I think, and I might spoil myself with a bit of potato done in the actifry for a treat.
SW:  free

L:  chicken, bacon and leek soup.
As I have leek that needs using, plus all that chocken and stock, I will make a really nice (hopefully) soup with onion, bit of carrot (gives a great flavour in soup) and leek, plus the chicken, stock, and a bit of orzo.  I love orzo in soup; it thickens things up nicely.  Oh and lashing of pepper!
SW:  should be free

D:  leftover chicken and bacon quesadillas, apple
Based on this recipe, and I will cut the oil in favour of spray oil and use what veg I have with the cooked chicken.  It should be tasty!
I'm not sure about veg; I have some cabbage so perhaps I could make a coleslaw and have pepper strips on the side as well.
SW:  one healthy extra B for the wrap and probably around one and a half healthy extra As for cheese but I will see how much I need when I make them up.

S:  fruit, chicken

E:  I'm booked for another Heart and Sole walk over lunch time, this time around Writtle, a local village.

Recipe: caribbean porridge

More an idea really but let's call it a recipe.

Ingredients for one
40g oats (one healthy extra B
125mls semi skimmed milk (half a healthy extra A plus water to own preference
pimch of salt
mango and pineapple cubes from the freezer or fresh (NOT canned), thawed if necessary
a pot of low fat vanilla and coconut yogurt (I use one from Aldi and half a syn per pot)
about two tsps sweetener (I use stevia)
1.5 tsps Sweet Freedom orange spice Choc Shot (one syn)

Method.
Put the oats, salt, milk and water in a non stick pan and stir well.  Then add the fruit.
Slowly bring to a boil, stirring often, and simmer for a few minutes until done.
Pour into a warm bowl, add the yogurt, sprinkle over the sweetener and drizzle over the choc shot.

Eat immediately.  It's very filling!

SW facts.
This uses
half a healthy extra A
one healthy extra B
one and a half syns

And I'm not doing the 'have to syn the fruit because it's cooked' thing but if you do, then that's what you need to do here.

Monday, 04-11-19

Good morning!

It may not be elegantly plated, in fact, it looks a bit of a mess, but yesterday's lunch was delicious.  And there was enough lamb for my teatime sandwiches too.

Those Aldi lamb shanks really are good value.  For under a fiver you get two separate shanks and, if each one does me two meals, that purs it almost into the frugal category (almost) and, for a treat, well worth it, especially as they are SW friendly.






Today's plans.
B:  porridge, yogurt and fruit
SW:  free

L:  roasted tomato and red pepper soup, apple
Leftovers from Saturday
SW:  half a healthy extra A for the milk I used in the soup.

D:  Another roast dinner!
I had a text from my son, Dave, yesterday, asking if he could come round for dinner.  You see, on Saturday, he had an operation (successful) on his wrist and, as a result, can't use that hand for a while.  Anna will not be in so I'm cooking him a dinner!
I thought I'd get a chicken and then I will have leftovers for a few days.  To go with it, I'll do roasties, broccoli and, maybe, carrots.  Nothing too challenging either for me to cook or for Dave to cut and lots of speed veg on the side.
SW:  should be free; I will make some gravy but I'm not a great gravy fan really.

S:  fruit (mostly apples), in the evening I will have chicken to nibble at.

Body Magic:  a walk, salsacise