Thursday, 30-04-20

Morning!
Isn't it a shame making a microwave mug cake is so very easy, that's all I'm saying! 
(I don't suppose adding raspberries to the mix makes it any healthier either)

Lunch:  baked bean falafels with mint dip, coleslaw and salad.I didn't have the pitta bread in the end - it was fine without.
And the orange zest worked a treat.  Really, really delicious.

Not particularly colourful but a lovely dinner and the rosti worked well.  I could have eaten a lot more.

One reasonable sized jacket potato made four rostis of the size you see in the photo, quite thin.  I also used 30g grated cheddar and two tsp of oil (one heA and four syns respectively) so two rostis (a portion) is half a heA and two syns.

I microwaved the potato for 3 minutes and let it cool.  I grated it all, including skin (a starchy process!) and mixed it with the cheese, the oil and some salt and pepper.  I spooned it into four rounds on a baking sheet with parchment (using a cookie cutter as a guide) and baked them in the oven at 180 for around half an hour.
I'm using the other two today.

(the last view - a new one tomorrow for May)

Today's plans:

B:  leftover rostis with fried eggs and roasted tomatoes
I'm being a little piggy and having a fried (SW style) egg on each rosti.
SW:  half a heA and two syns

L:  red pepper hummus with carrot and celery batons, coleslaw leftovers; apple
This is part of a recipe in the SW magazine, p 61.  It's supposed to go with chicken shawarma but I'm just making the hummus.
SW:  the hummus is free but I may add two syns for a tsp olive oil to improve the texture plus half a syn for the mayo in the leftover coleslaw

D:  loaded wedges, salad; fruit or yogurt
I shall use one of my pots of savoury mince, jazzed up with some cajun spice, plus some grated cheddar.  The idea is to make the wedges (in the actifry, using spray oil and cajun spice) and while they are doing, heat up the mince and let it bubble until it's nice and thick.  Then put the mince into an ovenproof dish, spread over the wedges, sprinkle over the grated cheddar and let it all melt together in the oven for about ten minutes.
SW:  one and a half syns for the mince, one and a half heAs and that's it, I hope.

S:  fruit

Body Magic:  Not sure yet.  There's not much to do at the allotment apart from watering (and it doesn't need watering!) and won't be until it's time to plant stuff out

Summary:
two heAs
six syns

Wednesday, 29-04-20

Morning.  Yesterday's weather was miserable and I'm glad I had planned some feel-good type meals.

This went down a treat.  I made a sausage patty simply by taking off the skin (which I find rather tough anyway) and reshaping the sausage meat and I sprayed the cut sides of the roll and just 'fried' them in the pan after everything else was done.  It took about a minute for the bread to crisp up.
So tasty with one tbsp brown sauce.

Afters was some fresh pineapple.

Lunch was leftovers from dinner the day before and perfect with baked beans.
I had half the beans and will finish the rest today.

I was looking forward to dinner all afternoon and it didn't disappoint.

Today's food plans - designed to keep me cheerful on another gloomy and damp day:
B  bacon and scrambled eggs, sliced pineapple
Again, I have lots of eggs to use up - they may not get to the supermarkets but there seem to be plenty around.  I've opened a small pack of bacon and don't particularly want to freeze any of it, hence bacon based breakfasts for a few days.
SW:  free

L:  baked bean falafel pitta with salad and yogurt mint dipping sauce; apple
I drained the rest of the baked beans and have just zizzed them down with seasonings, spices, onion and one level tbsp gram flour plus, oddly, some orange zest (because I have some to use up).  It's chilling in the fridge right now and later I will make some small patties to spray and oven bake.  The dip is just yogurt and mint sauce with some lemon juice and seasonings.
SW: one heB for the pitta, two syns for the gram flour and one syn for some mayo (if I have any)

D:  steak, potato rosti, roasted med veg
Normally I would have SW style chips but I had chips yesterday so I thought I'd have a go at something I haven't made before and that's rosti.  As I haven't planned any heAs, I thought I might add some cheese so I've looked around and it is a thing, definitely.  I'll play around with grated potato, cheese, egg yolk and various seasonings and then, probably, spray bake in the oven as it will be on for the veg anyway.  Fingers crossed.
The steak is what's left of what I bought for my birthday and I decided then not to freeze it; it needs to be eaten up by today - that's my excuse anyway.
SW:  definitely one heA for grated cheese, perhaps more, one syn for two tsps of mustard (to go with the steak) and three syns for half a tbsp olive oil for the roasted veg.

S:  fruit

Body Magic:  30 minutes of personal training.  No allotment as it's nasty and wet!

Summary:
one to two healthy extra As and one healthy extra B
seven syns
not in any way frugal, not with steak, but the falafels are leftovers and I'm using stuff from the freezer and in the cupboard.  No special ingredients (apart from the steak, of course)!
as I have PT at ten thirty, I will have to have my breakfast earlier than usual, at ten.  The last time I had a PT session before eating, I went all giddy and don't want to repeat the experience

Tuesday, 28-04-20

Good morning!

Yesterday's food all turned out very nicely.

The usual waffles with fruit and yogurt, one of my absolute favourites.  I sprinkled over some Stevia.

Leftovers are almost always a Good Thing.  This certainly was.

The recipe was from the SW magazine.  I made quarter the amount (for one instead of four) and I have half of it left for lunch tomorrow plus a little pot of chicken gravy for when I fancy a roast dinner.
It was very, very nice.

Today's food.  It's chucking it down outside and likely to remain dull all day so I'm doing some colourful meals today.

B:  bacon and sausage roll, pineapple slices
I just suddenly fancied this so why not.
SW:  one heB for the roll, half a heA for some cheese spread on the roll, one syn for two skinny sausages and one syn for a level tbsp brown sauce

L:  The chicken, leek and mushroom back leftover from yesterday evening with some roasted tomatoes or, maybe, some baked beans; apple
I love a lunch you just have to warm up!
SW:  half a syn

D:  giant cheeseburger and chips; fruit and/or yogurt
 . . . or, more accurately, slightly bigger than usual cheeseburger and chips.  That's because the recipe makes one giant cheeseburger, with toppings, to be cut into four wedges!  No roll.
It's from the SW mag, p 50.  The burger has lovely additions of oregano (it says dried but I have fresh - ooooohhhhh) garlic, onion and lea and perrins while the toppings are cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and gherkin slices (cornichons, in my case, as I don't have any gherkins) plus a 'burger sauce' which I will give a go and see.
SW:  it says that all this glory, plus SW style chips, is just two syns per serving but that is for the cheese and I will be having a lot more cheese and calling it my heA.   Those two syns can be for a tsp of oil - it makes the chips so much crunchier than spray oil does. 

S:  easy peelers, plums

Body Magic:  well, nothing outside, that's for sure.  Some Lindsey exercises, I think.

Summary
two heAs and one heB - the first time I've been spot on for ages!
four and a half syns
I've been sticking to the restricted eating regime very happily but today I will be breakfasting a bit earlier as there's SW zoom meeting at then and then I have a chat scheduled at eleven so I will squash it in between them.

I've weighed, before the meeting, and it's one and three quarters off, despite the birthday excesses.  I'm very pleased about that.

Monday, 27-04-20

Good morning.

Breakfast went down very well after a stint at the allotment.

I wasn't sure about this.  I added a bit of curry paste to the tuna mayo and that was nice but I think I prefer avocado with just a bit of vinaigrette or balsamic dressing really.

I was feeling a bit 'meat-hungry' so swapped the potatoes for another slice of beef.  That's the end of the frozen cooked beef now and I really must look out for another 'special' soon.  It was so useful to have those slices in the freezer.

The just slightly charred mixed veggies were delicious.  It was onion, red pepper, courgette slices, mushroom and tomato with olive oil, garlic granules, salt, pepper, a couple of bay leaves and some thyme.  Very tasty indeed.

Today's food plans:
B:  waffles, fruit salad and natural yogurt
These are the other waffles made on Saturday and they crisp up nicely with a short time in the toaster.
SW:  half a heB

L:  Some mixed veg frittata with a mixed salad, fruit
I made the frittata last week and froze half of it cut into four pieces.
I'm going to explore salad dressing recipes and see if I can cut the oil a little bit.  Failing that, I could get some commercial fat free dressings but devil and the deep blue sea come to mind here as I'm not sure they are all that nice really.
Any suggestions, please?
SW  half a heA for the cheese on the frittata and whatever I decide to do for salad dressing.

D:  chicken, leek and mushroom bake, broccoli and cauliflower; fruit salad and natural yogurt
This is a recipe from the new SW magazine, p. 22, and I don't think I need to adapt it at all, although I might just possibly add a bit of red pepper to the mix.
SW:  one syn (for cornflour or thickening granules) - the recipe says half of that but I reckon it will need a bit more.

S:  fruit

Body Magic:  mowing the grass down the allotment, weeding

Summary:
half a heA and half a B
one syn (so I can afford some for a nice home made salad dressing, can't I?)

Sunday, 26-04-20

Good morning!

I forgot to take a photo of yesterday's breakfast.  Suffice it to say, it was lovely and I have half the waffles left for another time.

I said lunch was a big salad and so it was.  The mix of protien-y/Greek-y things was nice but I don't think the prawns I added gave anything much to the taste and weren't necessary.  The grapes I added at the last minute definitely did.
Three and a half syns was just about right for the avocado - it wasn't a very big one.

Dinner was a bit disappointing, maybe down to the dressing.  Subbing yogurt just didn't work.  I think I'd have done better to zing up some proper tartare sauce really, given that I'm too frugal to go out and get something specially (and it's hard to find anyway).  Or creamed horseradish might have worked.
It was OK, just a bit boring.



I think a big problem is that oil free dressings really don't work.  They just taste 'dry' and lack that certain 'je ne sais quoi' that makes a good dressing work.  A shame.

Today's plans:
B:  bacon, egg and roasted tomatoes
SW:  free

L:  tuna mayo stuffed avocado, salad
I'll just take out the stone and fill the hole with some tuna mayo.  It'll be nice with a side salad and uses up the half avocado and the half can of tuna left over from yesterday.
SW:  three and a half syns for the avocado and one for some mayo to mix with the tuna.

D:  roast beef, new potatoes, assorted roasted Med veg
I'm still working my way through the slices of slow roast beef from a YS joint I found ages ago and I have plenty of suitable vegetables to roast, including onion, assorted peppers, courgette, mushroom, tomatoes and I might also add some cauliflower to the mix.  Seasonings will include salt and pepper, garlic granules and some oregano as that's now ready to start picking.
SW:  three syns for half a tbsp olive oil and two syns for creamed horseradish

S:  plum, easy peeler

Body Magic:  Work down the allotment

Summary:
no healthy extras today but the whole day's eating is healthy enough anyway!
nine and a half syns - bit more than usual but well within the 15 recommended as a maximum.

Saturday, 25-04-20

Good morning.  Well, here I am, slightly muggy headed, feeling more than a little bit stuffed after yesterday's indulgences and truly ready to get straight back on track again.
It was nice, yesterday was, but I am so glad I don't eat and drink like that every day.

(Must sort out a divider for May!)

So straight on to today's plans.  I find that after yesterday's f&v box delivery, I have loads and loads of fresh stuff so that's going to be reflected in my meal choices over the next week.

B:  waffles, fresh fruit salad and natural yogurt
SW:  half a heB

L:  prawn and feta avocado with a large mixed salad - a blogging friend calls it a 'choppy' salad.
I need to weigh the avocado to work out the syns so I will gently mix the flesh with a few prawns and 45g cubed feta plus a few olives and one tbsp super-light mayo and pile it on a bed of shredded lettuce.
I'll have the other half tomorrow*
SW:  For now, I am estimating three and a half syns for the avocado (two syns per 30g and the avocado isn't too big), one heA for the feta and one and a half syns for eight olives plus half a syn for the mayo.

D:  tuna and new potato salad with tartare sauce dressing
This is one of the recipes from the new SW magazine, p 63.  I'll have to modify the dressing as I don't have fromage frais; it will have to be yogurt instead so fingers crossed that it works.
It will require only half a can of tuna so the rest will match perfectly with the other avocado half tomorrow.
SW:  free

S:  lots and lots of water!!!

Body Magic:  some time at the allotment, some ironing

Summary:
one heA and half a heB.  I'm not fussed about the rest today.
five and a half syns but it might be a bit more after I've weighed the avocado flesh.
a non-meat day.  That's nice.

* I will keep the stone in the other half of the avocado, brush some lemon juice over the cut flesh and closely wrap it in cling film.  This, kept in the fridge, should keep it fresh.

Friday, 24-04-20

Good morning, everyone.

Yesterday's meals.

All I did was cut two tomatoes, full sized, not baby ones, sprayed them with oil on a non stick baking sheet and bunged them in the oven at 200C to  roast.  They were ready when they had just started charring.

Oooh, it was good after some allotment time.

Packed with chicken (and Christmas turkey), bacon and assorted veg with some orzo, this was as filling as a bigger meal.

I think I've found 'my' diet cola recipe.  I'll post about it in a separate entry at some time.
As you can see, I swapped the side salad for some couscous - perfect.


I finished the day realising that I'd have to 'trust the plan' because it had been a splendid day's eating.

Today is a special day and I will be stepping outside the guidelines.  I had a good think about what I really, really fancy to eat today that's semi-SW friendly (plus a few extras)

B:  waffles with fruit salad and natural yogurt
In case you've never noticed, I dearly love a waffly breakfast.
SW:  one heB and maybe a bit of heA

L:  toasted hot cross bun with butter; pineapple slices
Yes, this is naughty.  Last week, my friend, Chris, left a couple of hot cross buns outside my door, bless her.  I put them in the freezer and will have one of them today.
The pineapple is fresh - I had a fruit and veg delivery and one of the things was a pineapple.
SW:  the hot cross bun is nine syns (eeeek) and the pat of butter is three syns.  Well worth it!

D:  prawn avocado; steak, SW style chips and a side salad;  fruit salad and yogurt
SW:  not a lot of point synning all this.  It will be well over today, that's fine and it's a lot better than the meal out I would have under more normal circumstances.

S:  fruit

Body Magic:  I have an hour's personal training today  If I go to the allotment, it will just be to water the seeds.

No summary today because as well as the above I will also be imbibing in whatever alcohol I choose to buy when I go shopping in a few hours' time.
I was umming and ahhing about a cake but no, I reckon that urge will be satisfied by the hot cross bun.

Back to normal tomorrow.

Thursday, 23-04-20

Good morning!
Yesterday wasn't a great day in some way.  I didn't sleep much over Tuesday night and my silly neck and shoulder were plating up so I ended up postponing personal training.  I could tell it was going to be what I call a 'hungry' day.  It doesn't mean hungry as in 'I could eat that elephant someone left in the middle of the room', it's emotional stuff.  However, apart from a spoonful of crunchy peanut butter, I stayed in control, so that cheered me up no end!
And on the good side, the Slimming World magazine arrived.  This month's is a freebie for everyone who is taking part on the Zoom online meetings (what a good come-hither) and I'm looking forward to discovering a new set of recipes to try.

My meals were nice.

Breakfast went down a treat.  I used a little bit of Primula light to spread over the thin halves and it worked well as another 'layer' of flavour, as the chef-types say.  So, what with that plus a few bits of cheddar that fell into my mouth while I was grating a block of Cathedral cheddar of the freezer, it made up the other healthy extra A.

Lunch was those courgette fritters.  The halved mixture made seven fritters so next time I will try to get a more convenient eight.  Baking them was very easy although I'd like to try frying (in spray oil) at some point.  The dipping sauce was a good match and I couldn't get through all of the salad so I have some for today.
The recipe is in yesterday's entry as a link.

Dinner looked a right mess but was tasty and scrummy.  I didn't cook the vegetables as there were plenty in the casserole.  Dessert was a mixed fruit salad with some fat free natural yogurt on top.

On to today's plans:
B:  Tomatoes on toast
I'll spray roast the tomatoes (yum) and spread a bit of primula light on the toast to prevent sogginess.
SW:  one heB and half a heA

L:  chicken, bacon and vegetable soup; apple
From the freezer.
SW:  free

D:  diet cola chicken with a side salad; fruit salad
There are so many recipes out there for this.  Basically it is chicken and veg with a sauce that has diet cola as its base with herbs/spices to suit the creator.  I've put something together that has onion, mushroom and peppers (my favourite combination) while the saue is cola, chicken stock, garlic granules, tomato puree, balsamic vinegar, Lea and Perrins, soy sauce and some lemon juice. 
I'll be honest and say that proper cola does better as the sugar caramelises and makes for a gorgeously gooey and sticky sauce, but this works well too.
The salad is yesterday's leftovers.
SW:  With any luck, this well be SW free, but see below in summary

S:  plum, easy peelers

Body Magic:  ironing, bit of work down the allotment

Summary:
half a heA and one heB
hmmm - it looks as if I haven't planned in any syns which is a bit 'dangerous'.  Perhaps I will use half a tbsp oil in the cola chicken - I'll see how it goes.

Wednesday, 22-04-20

Good morning.

I went all cheffy for breakfast as I had on-vine tomatoes.  It's incredibly easy to spray them with spray oil (I used olive oil type) and pop in a medium to hot oven for twenty minutes.  It really does add a great flavour to tomatoes.

The quiche/frittata was lovely second day, gently warmed up.  I left the parsnip chips too long in the actifry so they were a bit bashed up by the paddle but they had caramelised beautifully and even gone a bit crunchy so that was a lucky error and one I will repeat.

I've halved the other two quarters and frozen them for half a heA each.  They'll make a good lunch or snack.

Today's food plans:
B:  bacon and egg butty, tomatoes on the side
I might use a wholemeal thin instead of a roll
SW:  one heB

L:  Jack's versatile vegetable fritters with a mint yogurt dipping sauce and a nice big salad; apple
This was on Daily Kitchen live and I really liked the look of it.  I will halve the amounts which will make two portions, one for lunch and one to freeze or keep for tomorrow.  As luck would have it, I have half a courgette that needs using up anyway. 
The recipe is below but on the programme Matt separated the egg, stirred in the yolk and whisked up the white before folding that in so that's what I will do too.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/versatile_fritters_21029
I've measured out the gram flour and it's 40g which is six syns so three per portion and I will use spray oil for the frying although I wonder if they will bake in the oven.  Maybe I could fry half and bake half and compare.
SW:  three syns for the gram flour (per portion) and half a syn for one tbsp super-light mayo to have with the salad

D:  chicken and veg pasta bake, broccoli and cauliflower; fruit salad and yogurt
The chicken and veg is already cooked and in the freezer so this will be really easy.  I'll cook the pasta, mix the two together, top with some grated cheddar and bake it while the vegetables cook.
SW:  one syn for the chicken and veg casserole and one heA for the cheddar

S:  easy peelers, plums

Body Magic:  time down the allotment (maybe) and one hour of personal training with Lindsey

Summary:
one heA and one B
four and a half syns

Tuesday, 21-04-20

Good morning.

When I got going to make the asparagus quiche, I realised two things.  Firstly that six asparagus spears doth not a quiche make (said the recipes) and secondly that I actually had quite a lot of bits and bobs of stuff that would work in a more general quiche.  So I dug out my nice big quiche dish and all the veg I needed and off I went.
Earlier, I sprayed and roasted some yellow pepper (because that's what one of the recipes said) until charring (doesn't take long) and then just covered them to cool.  When they were cool, the skin just peeled off nicely.  I will do that again, it does make the pepper taste delicious.
I boiled some new potatoes and sliced them to line the bottom of the dish (after spray oiling it).  Then, in the same water, I gave the spears and some frozen peas five minutes of cooking while, in a non stick pan, I spray fried some courgette slices until they were just starting to 'char' (more flavour and it stops them going all watery in the quiche).

On top of the potato I placed the asparagus, peas, the chopped yellow pepper and a couple of baby corns, cut into chunks before putting the courgette slices around the outside and dotting cottage cheese around - like this.

I beat up some eggs - I think I used eight altogether.  I just kept adding and adding until it looked enough.  To them I added some thyme, some salt and pepper, some garlic granules, some thyme from the garden, a pinch of mustard powder and 90g finely grated cheese (three healthy extra As-worth).  After pouring it into the dish, I placed some halved mini-tomatoes and finished it off with another 30g grated cheddar (the fourth healthy extra A) before baking it for around 30 mins at 180C.

And it came out beautifully.


I suppose it's really a baked frittata rather than a crustless quiche because I didn't add any milk (or cream, heaven forbid) to the egg mixture.

It looked quite 'arty' when it was cut.

I cut it into four but, really, I should have cut it into six; it was certainly substantial enough.
Even making four portions, each portion contains one healthy extra A, no syns and plenty of speed as well as carbs from the potato and protein from the egg and the cheese.  Very balanced and complete.

And it made a lovely lunch!


There's two slices left and I shall wrap them well and pop them in the freezer which takes care of two more lunches this coming week.

Today's plans:
B:  mushroom omelette and tomatoes
. . . and that sorts out my over-abundance of eggs.
SW:  free

L:  asparagus soup, flat bread to dip; apple
I hesitate to call this 'cream of' because no cream has come any closer than next door (possibly!).  I will add a splash of milk when reheating it though.
When I made the quiche, I did the 'bend the asparagus spears and see where it snaps' (which does work) thing and was left with a little pile of stems that still have flavour and goodness and which I certainly wasn't going to throw away!
All I did was pop them in my thermomix (one could use an ordinary saucepan) with some chopped onion, some of the good chicken stock I made last week and some thyme from the garden and boiled it all up until the stems were soft (they don't lose their 'woody' element but they do go soft) and then gave it all a good blend before pushing it through a sieve.
Actually, while typing this, I thought I might add some soft cheese instead of milk - asparagus and cheese - lovely.
SW:  nothing for the soup itself, half a healthy extra A for some soft cheese and one healthy extra B for the dipping bread

D:  quiche, coleslaw, parsnip chips; yogurt
I may warm up the quiche and I just fancied some parsnip chips.  Done in the actifry, they don't actually go crunchy like the chips do but they do caramelise rather nicely and have great flavour.  The coleslaw, like the quiche, is leftovers from yesterday.
SW:  one healthy extra A for the cheese in the quiche, half a syn for the mayo in the coleslaw, two syns for one tsp oil to make the parsnip chips and half a syn for the yogurt

S:  plum, easy peeler

Body Magic:  Lindsey's exercises, allotment (it's mowing day today which is going to take considerable push power!

Summary:
one and a half heAs and one heB
three syns

Annoyingly, I have gained this week.  Perhaps it is muscle gain because actually since starting work on the allotment, my clothes are a fair bit loser so I was sure I had lost a bit of weight.  Or perhaps my blip on Saturday did more damage than I thought.
Oh, well, I'm staying on the wagon and, hopefully, it will be gone again before the SW zoom meeting next Tuesday.  I'm not at all fussed about it really.

And finally, did anyone see Daily Kitchen yesterday where Matt made Jack's Versatile Veggie fritters?  I thought they looked so good and I'm going to give them a go tomorrow, I think.

Monday, 20-04-20

Good morning.

By the time I got back from the allotment yesterday, it was nearly twelve and I decided to skip breakfast and wait till two for lunch.

Not a great photo but it was a very nice lunch indeed.  I'm definitely making more baked bean falafels at some point.

Dinner did look typically Jamie Oliver messy without his flair for messy-stylish, looking absolutely nothing like the picture on the relevant page but it was gorgeous.  Definitely making this again!  I added a bit of bacon that needed using and it went really well.

https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/sausage-recipes/sausage-and-apple-bake/

Today's plans:
B:  bacon and scrambled egg
I seem to have a lot of eggs with more coming today with a salad box order so it's egg-day today.
SW:  free

L:  asparagus quiche, salad, coleslaw; apple
The quiche is a SW recipe and I will have to swap a few ingredients but nothing too difficult.  The recipe makes four so I will have to halve it, I think, once I have weighed the asparagus that I have.  I might add some cooked new potatoes as well.
https://www.prima.co.uk/all-recipes/healthy-recipes/a31247391/slimming-world-crustless-quiche/
SW:  half a syn for one tbsp super light mayo and if I add some cheese on top (which I may well do), one healthy extra A

D:  salmon with broccoli, cauliflower and runner beans; fruit or yogurt
I may even be very naughty and use one of my pats of butter (as described in an earlier post) on the salmon as it bakes.  That would be lovely.
SW:  three syns for the butter

S:  fruit - easy peeler, plum

Body Magic:  More time down the allotment.  What with the walking to and fro for water, manure and bark chippings, plus the bending and stretching while forking over and weeding, it's a great all round exercise and I'm rarely there for less than an hour, more often nearer two.
Plus, in the end, lots of lovely freshy vegetables and fruit.  Win-win!

Summary:
just one heA - ooops.
three and a half syns
it feels like a really summery menu today, perfect for sunny weather.

Sunday, 19-04-20

Good morning!

Yesterday's food.
Breakfast was just fruit and very nice it was too.

The baked bean falafels were really good.  The recipe, quartered, made ten falafels so I had five for lunch and I will have the other five today in a pitta.
I followed the recipe for the falafels pretty closely, just adding some finely grated lemon zest which worked well.  The mixture was a bit sloppy so I popped it in the fridge to chill for a while before shaping the balls and that worked fine.  They browned more on one side (the side touching the baking sheet so I probably should have turned them a bit more but it was fine.

I used all the drained off sauce, added what was required in the sauce recipe but didn't have any sriracha sauce so instead I added some Lea and Perrins, some soy sauce and a pinch of mustard powder.  I thought it needed a bit more zing so added more lemon juice and the result was lovely, both as a sauce for the coleslaw and as a dipping sauce.

This recipe would make a really good beanburger too - two, in fact - with added veg in it, if you wanted.  At 30p for a can of beans, it's very economical (assuming one already has the other things in) - around 3p a falafel is impressive.

Dinner, unfortunately, was a disaster.  Without going into details, I went to Morrisons and bought some - er - unfortunate things.  I suppose I enjoyed them at the time.  So no Jamie bake and probably no loss this coming week but never mind, it was one meal out of twenty one and I'm straight back on rack today!  Confession over!

Today's plans:
B:  bacon, mushroom and tomato
This will go down a treat after some allotment time.
SW:  free

L:  falafel salad pitta; apple
The rest of the falafels, coleslaw and dipping sauce from yesterday.  I intend to cut the pitta in half and pack each half with shredded lettuce, coleslaw and halved falafels with the dipping sauce drizzled in.  Maybe some tomato and cucumber on the side too.
SW:  Looking back to yesterday's syns (which I had half of, of course), it's two syns for the gram flour and half a syn for super light mayo.  Also one healthy extra B for a wholewheat pitta

D:  it has to be the Jamie recipe because I had thawed out the sausages and I'm not wasting them.
https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/sausage-recipes/sausage-and-apple-bake/
SW:  one syn for two skinny sausages rather than three as it asks for chipolatas and these are thicker sausages, one syn for one tsp honey (or maybe half a syn and use agave nectar instead) and three syns for half a tbsp of olive oil.

S:  fruit

Body Magic:  I'm down the allotment this morning

Summary:
one heB - hmm, I might add some crumbled feta to the falafels for a heA
six and a half syns

You probably already know this bit . . .
I like to keep some butter in the freezer, just in case.  I gave my last frozen block of butter to daughter Beth as she'd asked me to get some when I did my shop and I forgot!

The trouble with freezing a whole pack of butter is that you have to thaw a whole pack of butter.  Even if you cut it into, say, four, that's still too much for SW.

I have some little chocolate moulds that I got for making beeswax hand bars.  I got one out and smoothed in some of the butter to make little pats.  It's now in the freezer and when it's completely hard, I will push the pats out and into a freezer bag or a lidded container.  I did the maths and each pat is three syns.  If I want to use one to have, for example, some butter between toast and marmite or to fry some mushrooms as a treat (mmmm - lovely), three syns is affordable and I don't have to thaw out a lot more which will then be eaten.

I'm assuming they will pop out of the silicon mould without any trouble and then I will do the same with the rest of the butter.
If they don't, I will just freeze measured dabs on easy leave instead - but I do like the idea of pretty shaped pats of butter!

Saturday, 18-04-20

Morning!

Yesterday's food:
Breakfast was just some fruit - no photo.

Cheg'n'salad.  Just right for a lovely, sunny lunchtime.

This was gorgeous.  I do love a nice piece of cod and done in wholemeal breadcrumbs, it was worth the egg I needed, while the chips were crunchy and delicious.

Today's meal plans:
B:  pancakes, fruit and yogurt
The pancakes are the other half of the batch made on Thursday.
SW:  half a heB and one and a half syns for some agave nectar

L:  Nadiya's baked bean falafels, salad, coleslaw
Giving this a go today.  At first sight, the recipe looks very Slimming World friendly.  I'm reducing it to a one can amount (no way would I want to open four cans of baked beans).
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/baked_bean_falafel_36959
SW:  four syns for some gram flour and half a syn for one tbsp super light mayo but I'm hoping there might be some left over.

D:  Jamie's sausage and apple bake; fruit and/or yogurt
This was featured on Keep Cooking and I really liked the look of it.  It's one of his five ingredient recipes although I will be using mostly spray oil - Jamie's recipes tend to be a bit oil heavy.
https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/sausage-recipes/sausage-and-apple-bake/
SW:  one and a half syns for three skinny sausages (although in the interests of frugality, I'll probably make that two sausages for one syn), one syn for one tsp honey (or maybe half a syn and use agave nectar instead) and two syns for a tsp olive oil.

S:  as usual - plum or easy peeler

Body Magic:  down the allotment, weather permitting!

Summary:
one heA and one B
ten and a half syns - a bit high for me but still well within the allowance.

Friday, 17-04-20

Good morning!

Yesterday's meals matched the sunshine - bright and colourful.

for breakfast I stewed some fruit that was going very soft - strawberries, grapes, blueberries, raspberries and plum and added just a bit of stevia.  The pancakes were 40g wholemeal SR flour, one medium egg, one mini yogurt drink (2 syns) and a splash of milk and it made seven so four are tucked away in the freezer for another breakfast.  I took the messy photo to show what it's like inside - layered pancake and stewed fruit with a blob of natural yogurt on top.
So good!

A tasty lunch, nothing difficult, just really nice, light and, as the same time, filling.  I found one more little can of tuna so used it all.

Dinner was the cheesy potato topped mince and I decided to have a go at a cauliflower 'steak' which was actually a lot nicer than I thought it would be.

Today's plans are:
B:  fruit and yogurt
Nice and simple
SW:  half a syn for the yogurt

L:  cheg salad, coleslaw (left over from yesterday); apple
Cheg is short for cheese and egg.  I think it is also called devilled eggs.  I will hard boil a couple of eggs and when they are cool, shell them, cut them in half and take out the yolk, mix the yolk with some mayo, some cheese and seasonings, including some chives from the garden.  Then pile the yolk mixture back into the whites and serve with a salad.
SW:  one heA for some cheese (or maybe a bit more) and up to two syns for mayo in the egg and in the coleslaw.

D:  fish, chips and mushy peas; fruit and/or yogurt
My Friday treat, proper fish and chips, using my healthy extra B for the breadcrumbs.  I have mushy peas in the freezer, nice home made ones, and the chips will be the usual ones and this time I shall make sure they're proper dry before popping them in the actifry.  I will spray and bake the breaded fish, I think, rather than do it in a pan.
SW:  one heB for the breadcrumbs, three syns for half a tbsp oil and one syn for some super light mayo

S:  fruit

Body Magic:  allotment work and an hour of personal training this afternoon.

Summary:
one (maybe a bit more) heA and one B
six and a half syns
I'm still sticking to the restricted eating and I'm used to it now; it feels natural.

Thursday, 15-04-20

Morning, fellow frugal slimmers (and others).

I'm having a great old time with the TV at the moment.  Lots of programmes on cheap and tasty recipes you can make with what's in the cupboard, etc.  I'm particularly addicted to Jamie's 'Keep Cooking' and BBC's  Daily Kitchen Live with Matt Tebbut and one of my personal favourites, Jack Monroe.  Did anyone catch it yesterday when Nadiya made baked bean falafels.  I think I really have to make (or adapt) this recipe.

After a couple of hours down the allotment, this cooked breakfast really hit the spot and tasted great.  They say hunger is the best thing for making simple food taste great, don't they?

I forgot to take a photo of lunch until I had scoffed most of it.  Never mind, you get the idea.

The con carne was tasty and filling and, as hoped, I was able to spoon off half of the mince mixture before adding the chilli and the kidney beans.

That's today's dinner nearly sorted.

Today's plans:
B:  pancakes, fruit and natural yogurt
SW:  one heB and one and a half syns for some agave nectar

L:  tuna mayo jacket potato, salad and coleslaw; apple
I mix the tuna with some mayo and, probably, with some cottage cheese as well as I have some to use up.  I might cook the last slice of bacon in the fridge to sprinkle in bits over the jacket potato/tuna.
I'm going to use half the potato for lunch and the other half to slice and top the mince for dinner with some cheese sprinkled over as well.
I might have some of the apple in the coleslaw.
SW:  a maximum of two syns for mayo in both tuna mix and coleslaw

D:  leftover mince with a sliced potato and cheese topping, veg; fruit and/or yogurt
I have so much veg to choose from, I'm not really sure, but it's all good stuff!
SW:  one syn for the mince, one heA for the grated cheese

S:  as usual - plums and easy peelers

Body Magic:  allotment

Summary:
one heA and one B
four and a half syns
it's all nice and thrifty today.  Extra veg has made the mince do two meals instead of one, I will use just half the can of tuna as I've used up all my small cans now and it's all home made.