Sunday, 31-05-20

Good morning.

A cooked breakfast.  I hadn't planned for fried bread but I really fancied some to I used half of the slice I got out of the freezer for lunch, sprayed it with oil and fried it.  Really nice.

Then, just because I was eating in the garden, I fancied one of my home made ice lollies.
Strictly speaking, one should syn the fruit because it's been pureed - but I have my own opinion about that!

I will continue making these through the hot weather and I MUST hunt for one missing 'sippy' handle out of the four - I won't have thrown it away.  I'm now well stocked with frozen fruit after a trip to Aldi and real fruit really does make the most delicious ice lollies!!

Because the yogurt (the white part) is fairly 'set', one can make these rough layers in one go but, if using various fruits only, the first layer would need to be frozen before adding the second layer, and so on.

I had a simple Nigella recipe for lunch.  It was nice but could have done with some mayo on the tuna/beans.  I couldn't find borlotti beans (suggested in the recipe) in the freezer so had to use chick peas instead and have made a mental note to cook some more borlottis as soon as I can get some from the shop.

 It is surprising how few bits you need to make quite a substantial quiche/frittata/tortilla/whatever you call it.  I had a couple of small Jersey royals, some peas and a few broad beans left over from Friday and some tuna and chickpeas left over from lunch and they, with two eggs, 45g grated cheese and a few seasoning bits and bobs made a substantial dishful.  Half last night and half for lunch.  Lovely!


And then I went and spoilt it all by discovering frozen stollen in the freezer.  Oh, I could kick myself now but it's too late to do anything about it except to deal with the rest of the stuff so I'm not tempted again.  What a wally!

Today's plans:
B:  fresh fruit and yogurt
I have a melon that needs starting off, some rather nice satsumas and, of course, strawberries from the garden.
SW:  half a syn for the yogurt

L:  The other half of the quiche with some salady bits and bobs; ice lolly
SW:  half a heA for cheese on the quiche, one syn for superlight mayo on the salad and half a syn for the lolly (and that's because I don't syn pureed fruit!)

D:  lamb leg steak, peas, runner beans, Jersey royals; fruit salad
I treated myself to a couple of lamb leg steaks at Aldi's on Friday so am having a treat.  I sort of roast them long and slow so they fall apart - purists may shudder but they are lovely.  I'll mix the resulting tasty stock with a few thickening granules and some mint to make a minty sauce.  As it is now the very short Jersey royal season, I'm making the most of it.
SW:  up to one syn for thickening granules

S:  none

Body Magic:  watering and weeding down the allotment

Summary:
half a heA
two syns

Saturday, 30-05-20

Morning, everyone.  It's nice to be back.

Yesterday's food:

Overnight oats, made with 20g oats for three syns (I think) and I had made some ice lollies so tipped the remnants of the fruit purees over too.  It looks a mess but tasted pretty good.

I decided to turn a bacon bap into a BLT with a crunchy salad.  Very nice.

One of the ice lollies.  Very refreshing on a warm afternoon.

I thought I had bought a side of salmon to cut up into pieces but it turned out to be trout.  I spent three syns on a pat of butter and pan fried it the traditional way.  It was so good with some Jersey royals and a mix of broad beans and peas, well worth the syns.
(the rest of the trout is now in the freezer)

Dessert was this - a sort of trifle.  The bottom is two thirds of a low sugar jelly, made up to 14 fluid ounces with water, set in three dessert dishes with some strawberries and raspberries.  The middle is fluff, with the last third of the jelly crystals, made up to a quarter of a pint and with half a Mullerlight whisked in.  The top is natural yogurt with vanilla and some stevia stirred in and the cherry is out of the freezer.
 It made three good helpings and the whole lot was under two syns,

I'm looking forward to the last one this evening.

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

L:  tuna and beans. one piece of fruit
This is a very simple Nigella recipe, found online.
https://www.nigella.com/recipes/tuna-and-beans
I'm cutting the oil by half and the rest is very simple and free.  I'll probably have it just with fresh tomatoes and a nice piece of bread to sock up any leftover dressing
SW:  three syns for half a tbsp olive oil and one heB

D:  crustless quiche, SW style chips and salad, sort of trifle
I have potatoes, broad beans and peas left over from yesterday and some tuna from lunch
SW:  up to two heAs, two syns for one tsp oil and one syn for the trifle

S:  none

Body Magic:  work down the allotment

Summary
up to two heAs and one heB
six syns

Thursday, 28-05-20

Morning, everyone.  I'm taking a few day's off from blogging but will be back at the weekend.  Stay healthy and alert.  xx

Wednesday, 27-05-20

Good morning.

A simple and filling breakfast yesterday.  Two Aldi skinny sausages (one syn), de-skinned, each cut into four, rolled into little balls and spray fried before adding half a can of baked beans and one tbsp bbq sauce (half a syn).

Perfect, eaten out in the warm sunshine.

(the book is Scarlet Feather by Maeve Binchey, if you were trying to read what's on Kindle).

This filled a few gaps at lunch time and it was followed by a Mullerlight yogurt.

A nice dinner - hunter's chicken, chips and a mix of tomatoes and red pepper.  I have another hunter's chicken for tomorrow as well - yummy.

Dessert was coffee egg custard which was nice but I only took the photo because the strawberry is the first picked from the garden this year - and it was wonderful.  There's a couple more strawberries that will be ready for this evening and another egg custard (half a heA).  Lovely!

Today's plans:
B:  beans on toast.
Using the half can of beans opened yesterday and a pat of butter
SW:  one heB and three syns (for the butter)

L:  burger and beetroot slaw; Mullerlight
Just what it says really
The beetroot will be in a wholemeal roll with one tbsp onion chutney and a bit of salad and the slaw is rather an experiment really, adapted from a recipe on the BBC Good Food site
SW:  one heB and one syn for the chutney

D:  balsamic glazed sausages with roasted vegetables, runner beans; egg custard with garden strawberries (nom nom)
This is a recipe from the Slimming World site, Lifeline Online.  I don't have courgettes so will just miss them out (I might add baby corn instead) and I will exchange potato for sweet potato.
SW:  half a heA for the egg custard (made yesterday)

S:  none

Body Magic:  half an hour of personal training

Summary:
I've swappeed around and am having half a heA and two heBs today
four and a half syns
two new recipes - three, if you count the beetroot slaw - and I'll let you know

Tuesday, 26-05-20

Hello, everyone.
A pound off this week - I'm happy with that after last week's maintain.  I'm within half a stone of target now so it's bound to be a bit slower plus my age doesn't help.  I'm so relieved it isn't another 'stayed the same' or even a gain!

Yesterday's breakfast on a lovely late spring morning.
Mushroom omelette, tomatoes, strawberry fluff and coffee.

I wanted to have salmon for lunch but do you think I could find it?  So annoying.  So I finished off the pork instead and left half of it because I wasn't hungry.  I did have all the salad though.

This was rather nice.  Three veg - cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower - and the casserole was chicken with onion, pepper, baby corn and mushroom with half a can of chopped tomatoes, half a chicken breast, garlic, bbq sauce and seasonings.

Today's plans:
B:  sausages and beans
Half a can of beans so I will need to think of a way to use up the rest tomorrow.  Not so tricky really.
SW:  one syn for the sausages and half for one tbsp bbq sauce that I will stir in

L:  jazzed up mince and noodles; yogurt
I will use one of my little pots of savoury mince and jazz it up with spices and extra veg before adding the protein noodles
SW:  the mince is free and the noodles are two syns while the yogurt is half a syn

D:  hunter's chicken, chips, side salad; egg custard
I know from experience that one chicken breast in hunter's chicken makes enough for two so that's one of tomorrow's meals sorted out..  The chips are because I really, really fancy them, that's all  :-)
SW:  one syn for bbq sauce, two syns for oil to actifry the chips, one and a half heAs for cheese on top of the chicken and tomato and half heA for milk in the egg custard.

S: one level tbsp each of sunflower and pumpkin seeds (for my heB)

Body Magic:  watering down the allotment, bit of gardening, maybe a walk

Summary:
up to two heAs and one heB
seven syns

Monday, 25-05-20

Good morning.

I remembered photos yesterday.

A 'slightly' over done egg but it was still very nice.

The seedy coleslaw was really tasty and there was a bit of both salad and coleslaw to have as a side for dinner too.

Dinner:  chicken and apple stir fry with protein noodles and leftover salad.

Today's plans:
B:  mushroom omelette and tomatoes; fluff
Made with the omelette maker and the tomatoes will be raw, not cooked
SW:  free

L:   salmon with a mixed salad; fluff
I'll probably steam the salmon in foil with some lemon or lime juice and seasonings
SW  Free

D:  chicken and veg in a bbq sauce, assorted veg; fluff
The leftover half chicken breast with the usual veg with a sauce made from chopped tomatoes with seasonings and some Crucials bbq sauce
SW:  one syn for two tbsp bbq sauce - if I have more I will syn it at half a syn per tbsp

S:  none

Body Magix:  allotment work

Summary:
no healthy extras - ooops - but they are extras!
two syns

The fluff looks OTT so I need to say that one sugar free jelly and one strawberry Mullerlight comes to two syns and it whisked up super light yesterday, giving me six portions so that's one after each meal for a total of one syn.

Sunday, 24-05-20

Morning!
Unusually, I have no photos for you.  That's because I had no breakfast, lunch was down the allotment and I just forgot about a dinner photo, not that it would have looked great because - you know - barbie food comes in drips and drabs.

Although I wasn't hungry through the day, I did have a craving to eat and eat and eat.  I wonder if that was the accidental sugar from Friday's mistake.  I don't have very much sugar nowadays apart from that found naturally in fruit, etc.  It could also have been the reason I didn't sleep well at all over Friday night, thinking about it.

Anyway, I had a yogurt extra and a few satsumas and after all the barbie food, I was stuffed anyway.  Two chicken thighs and two skinny sausages with random veg on a skewer might not sound much but it's more than I'm used to and to the mix I added a wholemeal roll at the last moment as I fancied the sausages in a bun.  So I did get a healthy extra B in there.

I made the egg custard using a different recipe - eggs and flavoured yogurt, basically.  I used a coffee flavoured yogurt and, while the flavour was lovely, the texture was quite different, not the least how I expect an egg custard to be, so I will go back to the egg and milk version, use 250 mls semi-skimmed milk instead of 280, so I can call it just a healthy extra A and add flavourings from my collection of 'essences'.  It's nice with vanilla and it should also be lovely with coffee essence too.
I might try that tomorrow.

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

L:  roast beef and a mixed salad; satsuma
The beef is a slice from last week's slow roast which I froze in single slices and the salad is just - salad.  I might make some slaw and add to it a few dried apricots, chopped, and half a tbsp each of pumpkin and sunflower seeds which will total one heB
SW:  creamed horseradish is half a level tbsp for one syn and I have some Crucials mint dressing which is half a syn for a level tbsp for the slaw plus one heB for the spricots and seeds.

D:  chicken and apple stir fry, protein noodles; strawberries and fluff
This is an old recipe for which I can't find the original but I can remember some of it.  Basically, you stir fry some appropriate veg (I have onion, baby corn, pepper and mushroom) with thin strips of chicken breast and thinly sliced eating apple, add liquid (it should be white wine or cider but I will use stock) and seasonings, add some philly and thicken if necessary and then mix with cooked pasta or noodles.
I have some Philly super light which I will use and, naughty me, call it my heA (it used to be).  Cheese wedges are too cheesy for this.
I have some protein noodles which were on YS and need using.
Thinking frugally, I will probably only need half of the chicken breast so I will keep the rest in the fridge for tomorrow.
SW:  thickening granules are one syn per level tsp and I might only need one tsp of it.  The Philly will be my healthy extras (naughty) and a third of the pack of noodles will be two syns.
The fluff totals two syns but I very much doubt I will have it all in one day.

S:  none

Body Magic:  a walk

Summary:
up to two beAs and one heB
seven syns if I have all the fluff

Saturday, 23-05-20

Morning!

I didn't take a photo of yesterday's breakfast but here's lunch.

Eaten out in the garden, it was a very pleasant experience!
Quiche, a mixed salad and the other half of the minty couscous which had mellowed beautifully and I wish I'd had more left.

Dinner was simple and very delicious!

And here's some radishes I picked from the allotment.  Scrummy.

I did, however, goof up.  I went shopping yesterday morning and treated myself to some Irn Bru 'Lite'.  I rather like Irn Bru once in a while.  It went into the fridge to chill and then I had a can - then another - and another.  Yes, piggy, but it's a rare treat.
It was when I was on the fourth can, late in the afternoon, that I looked at the can and turned cold.   Of course, it wasn't a diet drink at all, it was the full fat variety.  Aaaarrrggghhh.  I'm sure I picked up the right kind but, obviously, not.
So that drove a coach and horses through my carefully planned day.  I clawed back some calories by not having the cheese on the chips and I hadn't wanted my apple after lunch, plus I was well down on syns but I was annoyed with myself.
It'll teach me to look more carefully in future - and also, maybe, not to be quite so greedy!  :-)

 Today's plans:
B:  none
(see dinner)

L: salad and fruit down the allotment
SW:  one syn for some dressing

D:  barbecue in the garden.
I'm stepping off the SW wagon for one meal, not because I'm going crazy with the food but just as a bit of a change.
I thought I would have a vegetable skewer, chicken, sausages, all in some sort of marinade, mixed salad and, for dessert, an egg custard.
Not very lavish but my appetite is smaller than it was and even having chicken AND sausages seems quite a lot.
And  I may have brushed oil on the skewers, at least.
 I'm really looking forward to it!
For drink, as well as the irn bru, which I will give to Alex, I  treated myself to some diet Lilt - and it really is, I've checked - as I love Lilt.

S:  none

Body Magic:  allotment work

No summary today.  Back on the wagon again tomorrow.

Friday, 22-05-20

Good morning!

Breakfast:  it doesn't look much but, by the time I'd had the orange and the yogurt, I was full so didn't have the apple until after lunch.

When I was looking in the fridge for salad things for lunch, I remembered I had some couscous left over from coating the Scotch egg so I added this and that to it.
I added a bit of finely chopped onion, some chopped roasted red pepper, some quartered little tomatoes, some chopped dried apricots, some sunflower and pumpkin seeds, some balsamic vinegar, mint sauce and lemon juice.  It was gorgeous and I have half of it left for today.
I synned it all out and, given that dried apricots and the seeds are all healthy extra Bs, the whole lot came to two Bs, one for yesterday (I hadn't planned in a B so that was OK) and one for today.

Dinner was the roasted veg pasta bake and it was lovely!  I did wonder how it would work but I wasn't disappointed.  I cooked some sweet potato and parsnip, cut into bits, in half a tbsp toasted sesame oil in the actifry for twenty minutes at 180.  Then I added some onion and some sliced roasted red pepper and gave it another ten minutes.  Finally, I added the last of last year's tomatoes from the freezer and a bit of salt and gave it another five by which time the veg had all caramelised beautifully.  I stirred in the cooked pasta, tipped it into dish and topped it with grated not-parmesan.  I should have then popped it in the oven or under the grill but I couldn't be bothered.
That was it.  No spices, no herbs and minimal salt and I scoffed the lot.  Three syns for the oil and one heA.

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

L:  crustless quiche with minty couscous and salad; apple
The quiche is from the freezer, the last piece and the couscous is what's left over from yesterday
SW:  half a heA and one heB (for the dried apricots and the pumpkin and sunflower seeds)

D:  steak with salad and SW style chips; yogurt
Just what it says really.  Given that I have some heAs going begging, maybe they can be cheesy chips.
SW:  one and a half heAs, three syns for half tbsp oil and whatever the grain mustard 'costs'

S:  none

Body Magic: allotment and half an hour of personal training

Summary:
two heAs and one heB
maximum of five syns
NOT a cheap day because of the steak but I will really enjoy it.

Thursday, 21-05-20

Good morning!

I had a go at an egg custard recipe that was on Lifeline Online; the only different from a 'proper' one was the kind of milk, the lack of any cream and using stevia instead of sugar.  It was dead easy to make and I ended up with three portions rather than the two the recipe stated.  No complaints.  The whole lot was one heA and 35 mls more which is just under one syn.  Next time, I will use my larger ramekins or use one larger dish as this makes the maths quite hard so I'm calling it half a heA and half a syn for half, regardless.
(I think they would be nice with a bit of squirty cream but no . . . )

Yesterday's food:

Breakfast, out in the garden, using my 'pretty' china.

A scrummy lunch and . . .

. . . the egg custard was absolutely brilliant.  I tried a little bit of agave nectar with it but, actually, it didn't need it and made it too sweet.
I shall be making this fairly often, I can see.

Dinner was also very nice although next time I will cut down on the amount of sweetness.

Today's plans:
B:  apple, orange and yogurt
SW:  half a syn for the yogurt

L:  SW style scotch egg and salad
Another Lifeline Online recipe which uses skinny sausage meat and couscous.  I made it last night and fingers crossed.
SW:  one syn for the sausage meat and half a syn for some M&S salad dressing.

D:   roasted veg pasta; egg custard
I found this idea in the Good Food magazine and will adapt it slightly as I don't have all the ingredients.  I intend to dice some sweet potato, squash and parsnip, cut an onion into wedges and add some home frozen mixed pepper, which I will roast in one tsp toasted sesame oil (and spray oil, if extra is needed), adding garlic granules and maybe some herbs half way through.  Ten minutes before the end I will add some tomatoes.  I think I still have a few pots of frozen ones from last year's harvest or perhaps just some halved cherry tomatoes.
When that's all done and slightly charred, I will just add some cooked wholewheat pasta of some kind, sprinkle with a bit of not-parmesan and scoff.
SW:  two syns for the oil and one heA for the not-parmesan, half a heA and let's call it one syn for safety's sake for the egg custard

S:  none

Body Magic:  Some work down the allotment, but apart from that, a rest day.

Summary:
one and a half heAs
five syns
quite a cheap day today!

Having found a little red bucket barbecue, perfect for one, while tidying out the shed, I'm having fun planning a mini barbecue, just for me, on Saturday.  I've found a marinade on Lifeline Online but if you have any ideas, do let me know!

Wednesday. 20-05-20

Morning everyone.
Weigh in result: stayed the same.  More than a bit frustrating but there you go.  Keep on!

Good news - I have found a low fat salad dressing that I actually like and it is only half a syn per (level) tbsp too.  It's M&S reduced fat French dressing; it doesn't have the extreme 'gloopiness' that other low fat dressings have and it's nicely herby in taste.
Naked salad is fine but it's nice to dress it up a little bit. 

Yesterday's food:

There's nothing quite like marmite on toast and I really enjoyed this.

Lunch:  quiche, coleslaw and salad.

Dinner:  cajun noodle bake.  Lovely!  I had leftovers of the lunchtime coleslaw on the side.

Today's food plans:
B:  fresh fruit and yogurt
I have berries to which I will add an apple and some pineapple (because it needs eating up).
SW:  free

L:  burger and salad
Just a M&S skinny burger in a roll with onion relish, coleslaw and a side salad.
SW:  one heB and one syn for the onion relish (one level tbsp)

D:  lemon chicken with spring veg noodles; SW style egg custard
This recipe is from May's edition of Easy Cook.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/lemon-chicken-spring-veg-noodles
I will adapt it (of course) and halve the amounts because it's for one.  I will use stevia instead of caster sugar; I have no 'frozen pea and bean mix' but I do have fresh green beans, frozen peas and frozen broad beans so I will use them and I will cut the cashew nuts completely (sadly).  Oh, and the noodles will be the last third of the pack.  I must get some more, they were lovely.
The egg custard is from the SW Site, Lifeline Online, and the only thing it omits from the 'real' version is the double cream.  Worth a try, I reckon.  I don't have many desserts in my SW repertoire and another, different one would be welcome.
SW:  The oil is three syns, the cornflour is half a syn and the noodles are two syns while the milk for the egg custard can be counted as one heA.  It's not quite enough for a heA but I might have a couple of cuppas this afternoon to use up the rest.

S:   none

Body magic:  half an hour's personal training

Summary:
one heA and one heB
six and a half syns

Tuesday, 19-05-20

Morning.

Breakfast yesterday - two very nice soft boiled eggs and some tomatoes.  Very nice.

I changed my mind about lunch and had a beef salad.  I wanted salad because I thinned the radishes at the allotment and brought the thinnings home to scoff.

The stir fry was great.  I changed the vegetables to match what I had and really enjoyed it.

Today's meal plans:
B:  marmite on toast
 . . just because it's delicious
SW:  one heB and three syns (for a pat of butter)

L:  crustless quiche and salad
The quiche is from the freezer and I'll probably make some coleslaw as well
SW:  half a heA for the cheese on the quiche and one syn for  mayo in the slaw.

D:  spicy noodle bake; yogurt
I will take one of my little pots of savoury mince, add to it plenty of speed veg and some cajun spice plus a portion of protein noodles, sprinkle over some cheese (probably gruyere for its melting qualities) and pop in the oven for about ten minutes or so.
SW:  one and a half heAs for cheese

S:  trying for none again

Body Magic:  a bit of watering down the allotment and a walk

Summary:
two heAs and one heB
four syns

Monday, 18-05-20

Morning.

Interesting thought - if things hadn't gone upsy downsy with the virus, right now I would be on holiday, struggling with being on holiday eating and yet so close to target.  By the end of the week, I'd have given up the struggle and come home pounds heavier.
Silver lining - a personal one, I mean.
That's not to say it isn't all a bit of a struggle at times.  It can be.  However, nothing like being away and surrounded by goodies all the time.

I took this photo when I made up the overnight oats on Saturday evening for the simple reason that when I scraped it out of the jar, it would look a right mess.  And it did.  Tasted great though!  Strawberry yogurt with strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and pineapple.  Mmmmmm . . .

It looks a lot in the jar, doesn't it?

Lunch:  sausage and cheesy beans.
I de-skinned the sausages and cut each one into four, rolled them into eight meatballs and spray fried them before adding the leftover baked beans.  I'd already added some tomato puree to the beans yesterday or I might have added some bbq sauce.  The cheese was one and a bit heAs-worth so, combined with the milk in the oats, that's my two SAs.  I finished it off with an orange and felt satisfied.

This was a delicious dinner.  The beef was very tender and there's plenty left for other meals, starting today!

Yes, I missed the roasties, but it wasn't a tragedy.

Today's plans:
B:  boiled eggs and tomatoes
SW:  free

L:  beef salad roll; fruit
Just what it says, using my heB and a few syns for onion relish.
SW:  one heA (for cheese spread instead of butter), one heB and up to three syns for sauce/relish (it won't be as much as that, I think, I'm just playing safe)

D:  chilli beef stir fry
I was looking for recipes to use up some of the leftover beef and found this.
https://recipes.sainsburys.co.uk/recipes/20-minute-recipes/mild-chilli-beef-stir-fry
It looks lovely, I have all the ingredients (I have five spice powder so will use that) and I will swap the egg noodles for protein noodles.  I'll add some of my frozen bean sprouts to the mix as well.
SW:  two syns for the noodles and two syns for one tsp sesame oil

S: slices of beef

Body Magic:  allotment work, a walk

Summary:
one heA and one heB
seven syns