Sunday, 28-02-21

 Good morning!

Yesterday's photos:

The toffee apple porridge was delicious and kept me going all morning.

The lo dough actually made quite nice 'crispbread'.  Nothing like nachos or, indeed, any kind of crisps, but crunchy and with a good texture.

The 'pizza topped chicken' was very like Hunter's chicken really, without the bacon.  It was tasty and satisfying.  I didn't have salad as well, I just couldn't be bothered!

Today's plans:

B:  fruit and yogurt

I'm actually not feeling all that hungry.  I dished my back a bit yesterday and am loaded with pain killers right now.  If I do want anything later, fruit will be fine.

SW:  speed/free

L:  roast gammon, roasties, assorted and multiple vegetables; fruit

As usual, Beth and Alex are round for Sunday lunch and I can manage it if I take things slowly and don't rush.

SW:  two syns for oil for the roasties and two for gravy and I think everything else will be free

D:  gammon and salad roll or sandwich; yogurt

I'm banking on having left over gammon to turn into an easy sandwich!

SW:  one healthy extra B, two syns for spread, one for mustard

Body Magic:  Given the state of my back and the fact that I've done loads this week, today is a rest day!

Summary:
no healthy extra As - oh, well!

one healthy extra B

six syns

Saturday, 27-02-21

 Good morning, everyone.

Yesterday's photos.

Due to lack of time, I had to change breakfast.  I'd planned pancakes but they take time to make so I just had blueberries, strawberries and yogurt.  It was delicious but I was rushing around so didn't remember to take a photo, sorry.

Lunch was the M&S Count on Us chicken mushroom and red wine sauce and it also had cabbage and spring onion mash.

Surprisingly, it was quite nice.  The sauce was flavoursome although a bit short on the actual mushroom, there was a reasonable portion of chicken and the mash wasn't watery, although there wasn't much cabbage or spring onion in sight.
With the broccoli added, it made a tasty lunch for under 350 calories.  I might very well get that again, especially if it's yellow sticker reduced (as this was).

Dinner was nice too although I think I should have added a but more something to the sauce as it was a fraction on the dry side.  I did set aside some pasta water to add but totally forgot - that would probably have helped.

Today's meal plans:

B:  toffee apple porridge
I will flavour this with some of my apple pie spice mix, caramel skinny syrup and some grated apple with sliced apple on top.  Should be nice!
SW:  half a healthy extra A for milk, one healthy extra B and I'm not synning the apple

L:  chicken pate with lo dough crispy triangles and salad fingers; fruit
I have some cooked chicken to use up so I am going to zizz it up with some mayo and some seasonings to make a sort of pate.  I have a piece of lo dough to use up from the pack I opened the other day and I have read that you can roll it out a bit more, cut it into triangles, spray it with oil, sprinkle it with seasonings and bake it to crunchy in the oven.  I will give that a go and see how it works.
SW:  two syns for the lo dough and probably one for mayo in the pate, maybe one and a half.

D:  chicken based pizza, chips, side salad; yogurt
To make this, you hammer out a chicken fillet between pieces of cling film or parchment until good and thin (or butterfly it), fry it to colour it, then pop it on an oven tray and , cover it with pizza ingredients and bake it until the chicken is cooked and the cheese melted.
It's a SW recipe, on the site.  If you have access, you can find it here.
SW:  one healthy extra A for cheese, maybe one and a half as I could, two syns for oil for the chips and half for the yogurt

Body Magic:  Day 34 of the 100 day challenge; allotment work (surprise!!)

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

Friday, 26-02-21

 Good morning.
I lost two pounds this last week so that's sorted out not only last week's gain but also the gain the day after weigh day.  I'm very happy with that.

I'm also happy with what came in the post today!  Because I'm out of target range, I have to pay again, so I have just taken out a Countdown - pay for five weeks and get week six free.  This time it carried a freebie - the latest SW recipe book.  Lovely!

I will enjoy reading through this one.

Yesterday's photos:

Breakfast was poached eggs on marmite toast and I added a tomato, really just for extra colour as though it, the meal can look quite dreary.

Adding the marmite to the toast before popping on the eggs was definitely a Good Thing and something I will do again.  I love marmite!

Oh, this was good !  Just what I needed after allotment time.  Mmmmmmm.

A simple, straight forward dinner.  I made the couscous in advanced and reheated it in the microwave.  The salmon I baked in the oven with another piece of salmon and one tbsp sweet chilli sauce for both, wrapped in foil.  It takes around fifteen minutes if the oven is already hot, around twenty if starting with a cold oven.  The runners were just boiled.

No room for anything else.

Today's plans:

B:  Blueberry pancakes with strawberries and yogurt
The usual pancake recipe, a SW cheat counting the wholemeal flour as a B choice.

SW:  one healthy extra B

L:  M&S Count on us chicken in mushroom and red wine sauce, extra veg

I've looked this up and it is six syns or three hundred and something calories - fine for a lunch.

SW:  six syns

D:  cheesy salmon pasta, side salad; yogurt
I've adapted this from a recipe in my new book (see above) called cheese triangle carbonara.  It's adapted because I don't have all the ingredients and I do have a piece of cooked salmon that needs using up.

SW:  half a healthy extra A for 37g primula light and another half for 15g not-parmesan, plus half a syn for the yogurt.  I think that's it.

Body Magic:  day 33 of the 100 day challenge:  More digging guess where.

Summary:

one healthy extra A - might be more if I need more cheese in the pasta for dinner

one healthy extra B

six and a half syns

Thursday, 25-02-21

 Morning!
It's weigh day today and, having had a much better week this week, I am hoping to have undone some of the damage the binge caused.  I know that last week, the next day after weigh in, my weight had shot up another two or three pounds (fluid retention, I'm guessing) so I am asking a lot but we will see.

I had my vaccination yesterday but, apart from an achey arm, I feel fine (so far).  And the arm could be the results of Lindsey's work out yesterday as the other arm is a bit achey too.
Anyway - nothing to stop me going to Zoom Group this evening yet.  Fingers crossed.

Yesterday's photos:

Finally, I  had the cheesy beany mushrooms and they were lovely.  

I just had lovely, squishy tuna sandwiches for lunch and didn't bother with any salad, having an apple and a couple of strawberries afterwards.

The PoN chicken kebab recipe was absolutely gorgeous.  I didn't faff around with sticks, etc, I just marinated two thighs in the yogurt spice mixture and popped them on a baking tray for just over half an hour and wow!  So easy and so good.  

When I make this again, I think I will cut the chicken up into chunks - the marinade gives such a lovely flavour and the smaller the pieces, the more flavour.

Here's the link again.  https://pinchofnom.com/recipes/chicken-kebab/

Today's plans:

B:  poached eggs on toast
Just as it says but with added marmite on the toast, I think.
SW:  one healthy extra B for two slices of toast and two syns for spread

L:  lo dough pizza, salad; fruit
I really love this.  I have some chicken to go on top plus the usual onion, mushroom and pepper and I'll probably add pineapple too.  The sauce is a mix of ketchup, bbq sauce, mayo and tomato puree with onion granules and herbs
SW:  two syns for the lo-dough, two for the sauce and at least one healthy extra A for cheese

D:  sweet chilli salmon, vegetable couscous, runner beans; yogurt
I just use a tbsp Crucials sweet chilli sauce over the top of the salmon, wrap it in foil and bake it for fifteen minutes.  To make the couscous, I will rehydrate the couscous in boiling chicken stock before adding some spray cooked onion, mushroom, red pepper and, maybe, some petit pois
SW:  half a syn for the sweet chilli sauce and half for the dessert

Body Magic:  Day 32 of the 100 day challenge:  more allotment work today, all being well

Summary:
one healthy extra A
one healthy extra B
seven syns

Wednesday, 24-02-21

 Morning, everyone.
Yesterday was another good day, food-wise.

Again, I changed breakfast because when I got back from the allotment, it was nearly twelve so there seemed little point in having anything but an apple.

Apologies for the strange colour of the lunch time photo.  It was cheese and tuna jacket potato and salad.  I have loads of tuna left because I'd opened two cans (some for Alex) and then Beth told me that he didn't like tuna and he had a bit of an upset tum so was skipping lunch anyway.  She took everything else with her for later.

The fish pie didn't look great but it tasted OK.  Not one I would necessarily buy again though.  I do love a plate of vegetables and the sprouts, cauliflower and runner beans (last year's harvest, frozen) were delicious.

I added some strawberries and blueberries to some natural yogurt for dessert.

Today's plans:

B:  Third time lucky with the cheesy beany mushrooms and tomatoes on the side

Fingers crossed!
SW:  one healthy extra A

L:  tuna salad sandwich, salad; fruit

Yesterday's tuna, or as much as I can pack in and the usual salady stuff, leaves and cucumber in the sandwich and a mix of stuff on the side
SW:  one healthy extra A and one B; two syns for mayo and two for spread

D:  chicken kebab, chips, salad; yogurt

This is a PoN recipe and you can find it on their site.  Someone on our SW group tried it and said it was amazing.  I've had my B for the day so I might make some actifry chips instead of some pitta.  I'll see how I feel nearer the time

Here's the link.   https://pinchofnom.com/recipes/chicken-kebab/

SW:  looking through the recipe, it looks SW free plus two syns for some oil for the chips and half a syn for yogurt

Body Magic:  Day 31 of the 100 day challenge:  personal training with Lindsey
I'm certainly making up for any deficiencies last week - 90 minutes on Monday, 120 yesterday and 60 for p.t. today.  For me, that's a lot of exercise.
I love that the allotment work is so productive too.

Summary:

one healthy extra As
one healthy extra B
four and a half syns

Tuesday, 24-02-21

 Good morning!
Really sorry, still no photos.  I just forget when I have people round, even when I know they won't mind at all.  I'll be back to normal this evening as Beth and Alex will be home again.  Having them round hasn't caused any SW problems.  They've been happy to have whatever I am having so I've been able to stick to plan very nicely.

Breakfast was just an apple rather than the mushroom thing.  I'll have that today instead.
Lunch was a good bowlful of the SW not-Heinz tomato soup which is absolutely delicious and so very easy to make.  Two cans of chopped tomatoes, one can of baked beans, one can of carrot (and the water), one stock cube, onion (I didn't have any pickled onions which is what it's supposed to be), stock cube, seasonings and water.  Chuck it all in together, simmer for 30 mins and blend down.   It fed Beth, Alec and me with another large bowlful for the freezer.
Dinner was some Mayflower curry sauce with leftovers from Sunday dinner thrown in.  It was so easy; I made up the sauce (six syns altogether) and then added the cubes beef and the vegetables cut into chunks plus some pineapple (just because . . .).  Alex and I had it with some egg fried rice (three syns the lot) and some reheated broccoli and it was so delicious.  AND - there's a portion in the freezer for another time.  Each portion was around three syns.

Today's plans:

B:  the cheesy beany mushrooms planned yesterday
SW:  one healthy extra A

L:  cheesy jacket potato with tuna, salad; fruit
I'm still feeding Beth and Alex and this is something we can all have.  Beth might have beans instead as she can't have tuna, being vegetarian.
SW:  one healthy extra A for cheese, up to two syns for mayo to mix with the tuna

D:  M&S Count on Us fish pie, assorted veg; yogurt
When I was doing my veg shopping yesterday, I saw this reduced so grabbed it.  I can syn it so I will but it's good in calories - three hundred and something.
SW:  seven and a half syns for the fish pie and half a syn for the yogurt

Body Magic:  Day 30 of the 100 day challenge;  weather permitting, more allotment digging, weeding, etc.  I did 90 mins yesterday - brilliant exercise.

Summary:  
two healthy extra As
no Bs (but potato skin and plenty of veg)
ten syns (but the fish pie is instead of, not as well as - in other words, syns but not more calories)

Monday, 22-02-21

 Good morning!
I don't have any photos of yesterday but I stuck to plan and everything was fine.
I managed to have just a pear for breakfast and it's just as well I did because Sunday lunch was a feast of good things, all synned and within plan.  In the end I had cheesy beans on toast for tea and that was lovely too.

Today's plans:

B:  cheesy beany mushrooms
I have two portobello mushrooms left plus some baked beans so I'll pile the beans into the mushrooms, top with some cheese and bake - easy peasy
SW:  one healthy extra A for the cheese

L:  tomato soup; fruit
I have both Beth and Alex here for lunch so I'm making some tomato soup which we all love, probably with bread to dip in.
SW:  one healthy extra B for the bread and the soup is speed and free.  

D:  Sunday dinner curry, maybe rice, side salad; yogurt
There's quite a lot of leftovers from yesterday so I will make up some Mayflower curry sauce and throw in the leftovers.  Alex is staying overnight so I'll see if he wants some rice or not; I may not anyway, just stick to the salad.
SW:  two syns for the curry sauce and half a syn for yogurt and I think the rest will be free.

Body Magic:  Day 29 of the 100 day challenge:  allotment digging

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

Sunday, 21-02-21

 Good morning.  Things seem to be getting on a more even keel again (hope it's not tempting fate to say this) and the last few days have gone really well.  The internal repercussions from the unwise eating seem to have finished now (phew) and I am working on getting back the good habits.

Yesterday's photos:

A tasty Saturday not-fry-up.  A shame about the egg - I forgot it for a short time and it overcooked.  No chance of getting salmonella from that egg, that's for sure.

Freezing a curry definitely improves its flavour.  This lunch was lovely!  Chinese chicken curry and stir fry veg.

Definitely one to make again now I know one portion of Mayflower sauce makes enough for two portions.

And then dinner was a sort of mild chilli with extras.  It was a delicious day's food yesterday.  The wrap 'bowl' makes it look so nice, doesn't it?

Today's plans:  a bit more complicated today today because Beth and Alex are over in the morning and are staying for the rest of the day and overnight as Beth's car and her internet are on the blink.

B:  I'll try to hold out until lunch but, if necessary, I can have an apple and an easy peeler with my coffee around eleven.
SW: speed

L:  Sunday roast - beef and all the trimmings; fruit
As Al and Beth are round, it's a great opportunity for a roast and I have one of those joints they call 'roasting'.  In other words, long, slow cooking in my useful, enamel pot.  With it, I will make some Yorkshires, roasties and, as we are a family that loves its veg, a great platter of roasted parsnips and sweet potato, carrots, broccoli, peas and corn.  Plus gravy and horseradish, of course.
No dessert - fruit is always on offer.
SW:  I think the only things that will carry calories are the Yorkshires, oil in the roasties, any gravy I have and the horseradish so I'm assuming one and a half syns for each Yorkshire, one and a half syns for oil (I don't have many roasties), two for gravy if I have any and one for horseradish.

D:  (evening meal really)  something on toast.  I'll see what Beth and Al fancy.  It could be beans, cheese, egg . . .; yogurt
I think I would like cheesy beans and it's the sort of meal where I can make different things.
SW:  assuming cheesy beans, that's one healthy extra A and one B, plus half a syn for yogurt

Body Magic:  day 28 of the 100 day challenge;  some core exercises using the resistance bands (and the door!!), maybe some rebounding too

Summary:  
one healthy extra A
one healthy extra B
around eight syns

Saturday, 20-02-21

 Good morning!  More weight on this morning - water retention, I expect.  Ho hum.   Anyway, I have determined that I will try not to worry about things I can't control and work on the things I can control.  Easy to say, now to put it into practise - again!!  Some things I just have to learn over and over and over!

Yesterday's meals:  a more colourful day.

I decided to turn the fruit and yogurt into a smoothie;  half a very ripe mango, some strawberries, a kiwi and a pear, some Greek yogurt, some coconut skinny syrup and a splash of water to slacken it a bit and it was lovely!

Smoothies are not beloved by Slimming World.  One is supposed to syn blended fruit.  I do not!  😊

This was a tasty toastie but the lo dough is pretty tasteless and I think I'd prefer to use a healthy extra B or pay more syns for a better 'wrapper'  The taco spiced beans were lovely!  Must get some more.

The breaded fish worked beautifully - I must do that again rather than using bought breaded fish at nine syns, or whatever it is.  The calories are probably not so different but doing it myself is much better value and just as nice.

I'm nearly out of frozen fish so must remember to put it on my next shopping list.

Today's meal plans

B:  bacon, egg, mushroom, tomato, 'fried' bread
Just a cooked breakfast.  I'll happily pay one and a half syns for half a slice of bread - I do love fried bread (just spray some frylight onto the bread and brown it in the pan) with egg on top
SW:  one and a half syns for the bread

L:  Chinese chicken curry and stir fry rice; fruit
I made the curry and rice a couple of weeks ago and it was enough for two portions so in the freezer it went.  The sauce carries syns as it was Mayflower curry sauce
SW:  two syns for the curry sauce; the rest is all free on Slimming World

D:  chilli con carne in a wrap bowl, salad; yogurt
You can make a bowl or 'boat' with a wrap to hold a chilli or other nice, spicy mixture so I thought I would dress my dinner up with one.  You can just drape a wrap over a pyrex bowl and then bake it crisp in the oven but I have a mould that works really well.
The chilli is some savoury mince from the freezer mixed with the rest of the taco spiced beans I opened yesterday plus any random veg I fancy adding, topped with some grated cheese and with some nice cooling yogurt and a salad as sides.
SW:  one healthy extra B for the wrap, one healthy extra A for cheese and half a syn if I have a Mullerlight (or equivalent) yogurt.  I think the rest is free

Body Magic:  day 27 of the 100 day challenge; the sun is shining and I'm off down the allotment later on to get on with the heavy digging.

Summary:
one healthy extra A
one healthy extra B
four syns

Friday, 19-02-21

 Good morning.
The weigh in yesterday was not good but I didn't expect it to be.  Two pounds on.  Oh, dear.
This has not been a great week.  Depression (not clinical, just a general feeling of lowness) has struck hard and I am trying hard to battle it with as much positivity as I can muster.  Never mind, things will pick up again, I am sure of that.  In the meanwhile, push on through!

Yesterday's meals:

A bit of a beige and googly eye lunch but these poached eggs on toast were pretty tasty

Another colourless meal but this lo dough pizza was truly delicious.  The sauce was a mixture or ketchup, bbq sauce, tomato puree and mayo and the toppings were some chargrilled Med veg and some shredded chicken (and cheese, or course).l

MUCH nicer than it looks.

I now have the second lo dough in the pack to use up today.

Today's meal plans:

B:  fruit salad and yogurt
I have a nice selection of fruits to use up so it should be much more colourful than yesterday's meals.
SW:  free and speed

L:  taco bean and chicken toastie, salad; fruit
I plan to use some of a can of taco mixed beans, simmer away most of the liquid and mash the remaining beans/sauce.  I've got some shredded chicken to use plus 30g grated cheese and the outside will be the other lo dough in the pack I opened yesterday.
SW:  the taco beans are free on Slimming World, the lo dough is two syns and the cheese is between one  and two healthy extra As, depending on how much I need for the toastie

D:  fish and chips, salad; yogurt
In the freezer, I have some home made wholemeal breadcrumbs, carefully weighed and synned so I will use them to egg and crumb a small piece of haddock.
SW:  two syns for breadcrumbs, two for oil in the actifry chips and half a syn for yogurt

Body Magic:  Day 26 of the 100 day challenge:  Lindsey taught me some exercises to do with my new resistance bans so I will practise them and also do some rebounding.  I'm hoping to get out into the garden to do some weeding too.

Summary:
between one and two healthy extra As
no specific Bs but the lo dough has fibre, the breadcrumbs are wholemeal and - beans!
six and a half syns

Thursday, 18-02-21

 Morning!
Yesterday went fine until the evening when I had possibly the worst binge since the gall bladder problems.  Why?  Well, I've been feeling quite low in the last few days so maybe it was emotional, I don't really know.  Obviously, I am suffering this morning and serves me jolly well right!

Yesterday's meals:

I didn't photo my toast and marmite!

The stuffed portobello mushrooms for lunch were delicious.  Must do this again.

I never got round to the lo dough pizza so that's on the menu today.

Today's plans:

B:  probably nothing

L:  egg on toast; fruit
Lunch is early, partly because of no breakfast and partly because we changed personal training from yesterday to today at one.  I'll probably poach the eggs.
SW:  one healthy extra B and two syns for spread

D:  lo dough pizza, salad; yogurt
I really enjoyed this last week so am looking forward to this.  I'll make my sauce with ketchup, bbq sauce and some mayo, top with veg and some bacon with cheese on top. 
(copied from yesterday
SW:  two syns for the lo dough, two for the sauce and an A for the cheese.  Also half a syn for yogurt.

Body Magic:  Day 25 of the 100 day challenge:  personal training

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

(Sorry this is so late - I started earlier but was interrupted)

Wednesday, 17-02-21

 Good morning.

Yesterday's meals:

I only took one photo and that was of breakfast so here it is, nice and big,  Delicious!

Today's plans:

B:  toast and marmite; fruit
SW:  no spread so one B choice

L:  Savoury mince stuffed mushrooms, salad; fruit
I bought some portobello mushrooms this week after seeing stuffed mushrooms on a vlog and thinking 'I rather fancy that'.
I have some cooked mince in the freezer so I will get that out, simmer it down to very thick, spoon into a couple of mushrooms and top with cheese.  Should be nice.
SW:  I think the mince is free and the cheese will be a healthy extra A

D:  lo dough pizza, salad; yogurt
I really enjoyed this last week so am looking forward to this.  I'll make my sauce with ketchup, bbq sauce and some mayo, top with veg and some bacon with cheese on top.  Nice!
SW:  two syns for the lo dough, two for the sauce and an A for the cheese.  Also half a syn for yogurt.

Body Magic:  day 24 of the 100 day challenge:  personal training day!

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

Tuesday, 16-02-21

 Good morning, everyone.  Back to normal times today, although I will be trotting down to the allotment in a little while.  If it is too sticky-muddy, I will do a bit of collecting some horse manure from the communal area but I am really hoping that I can do some more forking over as well.  Great exercise!

Yesterday's photos:

Breakfast was a cheese and marmite 'hot cross bun' and I didn't take any photos so here's one I have borrowed from Google Images although personally I think it's quite marmite-y enough without adding any more!

(Wish I could take photos like that)

Lunch was leftovers, apart from the potato.  I know it looks like a dog's dinner but actually it was really tasty.

Dinner was the other (rather small) jacket potato topped with onion, chicken, bacon and mushroom and finished off with grated cheddar plus a nice, big salad.

I had no room for the yogurt I'd planned for dessert.

Today's meal plans:

B:  fruity pancakes with yogurt

It has to be, doesn't it, seeing as today is Shrove Tuesday/Pancake day.  I may add blueberries to the mix, seeing as I bought some yesterday.

SW:  one healthy extra B for 40g wholemeal flour (I know that's a big tweak but one can have that much fibre in bread for a B so I'm just being pragmatic!).  The rest is speed or free.

L:   chicken and veg casserole/soup; fruit

This is from the freezer and the sauce is a little thin so I can either thicken it by adding some pasta and letting the starch thicken or, more likely, treat it as a soup instead.

SW:  one syn (it says so on the container!)

D:  sweet chilli salmon; chargrilled med veg, side salad; rice pudding

I got the chargrilled vegetables in M&S yesterday and, as they are SW free, I will use a tsp of toasted sesame oil to roast them.

SW:  one syn for some Crucials sweet chilli sauce, two syns for oil and one healthy extra A for the milk in the rice pudding (plus a bit of milk for cuppas)

Body Magic:  Day 23 of the 100 day challenge: more digging down the allotment

Summary:

one healthy extra A

one healthy extra B

four syns

Monday, 15-02-21

 Good morning - I mean afternoon - everyone.
Really sorry this is late.  It's been quite a busy morning what with an early shop and then digging down the allotment!

Yesterday's photos:

Breakfast was lovely toast and marmite - a bit more than usual and it seems to have sorted out the bunged up problems!  :-)

This was the roast lamb dinner and it was lovely.  I did loads of vegetables so the plate looks more loaded than it really was.

I totally forgot to photo the evening meal.  I used the leftover noodles from the chow mein, stir fried some veg, added bits of leftover lamb, some chow mein spice and some soy sauce and it was delicious!  I love a good leftovers meal.

Today's meal plans (more in retrospect than in advance now)

B:  a really naughty cheese and marmite how cross bun from M&S

I'd heard that this was a thing so, obviously, I had to, didn't I?

SW:  nine and a half syns for the bun and half a healthy extra A for some cheese triangles spread over.

And then I had another one when I got home from the allotment at midday.  Naughty me, but I'll swap it for a healthy extra B and the first one was instead of another breakfast so the calories will be fine.

L:  leftover Sunday lunch fry up

I cooked a jacket potato in the microwave.  Then I cut it up and fried the chunks with some onion in spray oil.  To that I added some leftover veg - cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower - plus the last scraps of the roast lamb and a dollop of gravy.  Lovely!

SW:  one syn for the bit of gravy

D:  jacket potato with chicken, mushroom, cheese and bacon topping, side salad; yogurt

I cooked another small potato at lunchtime so I can crisp that up in the oven while I cook the topping.  I'll serve with the potato split open, topped with the chicken, mushroom and bacon with cheese on top.

SW:  one healthy extra A for the cheese, two syns for some mayo and half a syn for yogurt (which I might freeze)

Body Magic:  Day 22 of the 100 day challenge:  I've done ninety minutes of work down the allotment, including quite a lot of heavy digging.

Summary:

one and a half (maybe two) healthy extra As

no Bs but I did have the buns

twenty two and a half syns, but most are substitutes for other things/meals so the calories work out just fine.

Sunday, 14-02-21

 Good morning!

Yesterday's meals:

Breakfast was brilliant.  Two eggs, whisked and made into a thin omelette.  Two bacon medallions, sliced mushroom and tomatoes, cooked in the same pan after the omelette had been taken out, spread on the omelette and rolled up inside it.
The beans heated in the microwave and I added some watercress, partly for extra speed and partly because I like it!

Afterwards I felt full, satisfied and warmed up inside.  It was great.

Lunch was the SlimWell chicken chow mein.  It was - OK.  Plenty of chicken for one, just about enough veg but noodles galore.  The sauce was a bit tasteless but better with a good splash of soy sauce.  I don't think I will buy it again; I can make it so much nicer myself.

I saved some noodles for tomorrow.

Dinner was lovely.  The Chinese curry was made with Mayflower curry sauce, spray fried onion, pepper and mushroom, cubed sweet potato from the freezer and I added some frozen mango at the last moment on impulse and it worked really well.

The egg fried rice was cooked rice, some frozen stir fry veg, a tsp toasted sesame oil and a seasoning made with five spice, garlic, ginger and soy sauce.

I am delighted to say that there was enough of each left for another meal so in the freezer it has gone!

The custard did make a lovely ice cream but it froze too quickly and erratically in the machine as the mixture was quite thin.  I will try again another time but do it the conventional, long winded way - start freezing and then blend several times.  Worth it for a delicious syn free dessert (and a way to use up a healthy extra A)

Today's meal plans:

B:  marmite on toast, fruit

I'm going to have an extra slice of wholemeal (gasp) because I need the fibre.  There are repercussions to not having enough healthy extra B and I have missed it a few times recently!  Swapping an A for a B won't dent the calories.
SW:  one and a half healthy extra Bs and three syns for spread

L:  Roast lamb, etc; strawberry and rhubarb crumble and custard

An off plan meal as Beth and Alex are round and it's the first time Al has been here since Christmas.  He's now been home and isolating for fourteen days so we can be sure he is infection free.

The crumble is from the freezer and is a proper crumble with naughty sugar but I will make the custard using skinny syrup because it works and I rather like it that way!

DSW:  no idea but I will get some healthy extra A in the custard!  The main should be fine but dessert might break the syn bank, depending on how much I have

D:  Chinese chicken and veg noodles, salad leaves; yogurt

I'm using up the noodles left over from yesterday, adding some chicken, Chinese stir fry vegetables and some chow mein spice mix with soy sauce.  That should give the flavour some ooomph!  And no waste.

SW:  the whole chow mein was two syns but I paid that yesterday so I won't bother.  Dessert will be half a syn.

Body Magic:  Day 21 of the 100 day challenge

Summary:

An off plan meal so I can't say.  Back on it tomorrow!

Saturday, 13-02-21

 Good morning.

Yesterday's food:
I didn't take a photo of breakfast which was just fruit and I totally forgot about snapping lunch so please imagine beans on toast!

Dinner went down a real treat.  A nice big steak and more chips than I ought to have had but not to worry, it was all very SW friendly and I enjoyed it very much as a Friday evening treat!

Today's meal plans:  yesterday was Chinese New Year so today some of my plans have a Chinese sort of feel - not in any way authentic, mind you!

B:  a breakfast wrap.

I will make an egg wrap and roll it up with beans left over from yesterday, bacon and mushrooms with some fried tomatoes on the side.  Or maybe roll it up with bacon, mushroom and tomatoes with baked beans on the side.  I'll see how I feel.   :-)
SW:  all speed and free

L:  chicken chow mein; fruit

This is another Slimwell mean so goodness knows but I have it, I know they are filling, I know there will probably be enough left for another lunch so let's give it a go!

SW:  two syns if I have the lot

D:  Chinese chicken curry, rice, stirfry veg; yogurt

I'm going to use the Mayflower chicken curry mix for the sauce and it does taste Chinese curry-ish.  30g of the powder costs four syns and I will use onion, mushroom, red pepper, sweet potato and chicken plus some stir fry Chinese veg on the side - or maybe with the rice to make a sort of stir fry rice - that would be nice.  That's the best I can do at being Chinese-y!

SW:  four syns for the curry sauce plus half a syn for yogurt

Body Magic:  Day 20 of the 100 day's of exercise and I'm afraid I fell short yesterday - didn't do any.  Never mind, back on it today with some YouTube clips.

Summary:

no healthy extras but see below

six and a half syns

I'm going to try this.  I know that Thermione makes a very nice pouring crème anglais with milk, egg yolks and skinny syrup flavouring.  
So - 250 mls of milk for an A choice, plus four medium egg yolks and some vanilla skinny syrup (or any flavour really) and eight to ten minutes in Thermione on 80 with the whisk blade reverse speed 2 (if you have a thermo, you will know what I mean there) and it should make a nice pouring custard.  If I then chill it, maybe I could churn it into a sort of ice cream.
Worth a try anyway.  I'll let you know.

Friday, 12-02-21

 Morning, everyone. 
Well you could have knocked me down with a healthy extra yesterday when I got on those scales and I had maintained.  I tried several times, just to be certain.  I'm baffled - sometimes I deserve to gain but haven't and sometimes I've done the right thing all week and find I've gained!   Very strange but no complaints from me, I will take what comes.  It does feel like a lifeline though, a real re-motivator.

Mind you - two weeks of maintaining . . . not great, time to give a bit more of a push.

Yesterday's photos:

This was a jolly good breakfast for a morning when it was as cold as the last ice age and my boiler decided to go on the blink for a couple of hours!

The lo dough made an OK 'pastry' case for the pasty but only just OK and I won't use it like that again.  Pizzas are much better.
It was good and filling though.

Next try is as a quiche case.

I sorted out the healthy extra A with a little lump of cheese to nibble later on in the afternoon.

And the Slimwell meal for dinner was also OK but I doubt I'll be buying it again, I didn't like it enough for that.  I find that in a lot of these ready meals, the herbs and spices are - well, maybe 'crude' is the best term.  Perhaps they are just not to my taste.  Also, often, they are too sweet and too much synthetic sweetener is not nice.  It's fine if the sweetness comes from fruit but not when it comes from synthetic sweetener of some kind.

There's a bit left over for a snack tomorrow, if wanted, too little to freeze.  I'll see how I feel

Today's meal plans:  I'm sticking to good old tried and trusted traditional things today!

B:  fruit and yogurt
SW:  speed/free

L:  cheesy beans on toast; fruit
A favourite for lunch on a cold day, I know this will go down a treat and fill me up too.
SW:  one healthy extra A, one B and two syns for spread

D:  steak, chips, salad; yogurt
A nice, traditional favourite and a Friday evening treat.
SW:  two syns for oil, one for some mayo, half for dessert

Body magic:  day 19 of the hundred day challenge, a Leslie Sansone walk video and maybe another You Tube video of some kind - I have several saved as favourites now.

Summary:
one healthy extra A plus a bit more for milk
one healthy extra B
five and a half syns