Wednesday, 30-06-21

 Morning!
A great start to my renewed healthy eating yesterday.  I really enjoyed everything and it was so nice to be eating meals cooked from fresh/scratch again.
One day down, now for today!

Yesterday's meals:

Breakfast was one slice of wholemeal toast with some rather over-fried tomatoes (still OK though) and three scrambled eggs.  Very nice and kept me going until dinner time.

The colours in this photo have come out all funny, especially the tuna mayo, sorry.  It was very tasty and, to my great delight, the cucumber was from the garden- yummy!
I had planned an apple but didn't go shopping so I had an out of date kvarg instead - and it was perfectly OK.

The dressing is Heinz balsamic with a hint of garlic spray dressing.  It's most acceptable.

I felt nibbly late afternoon - a result of all the grab and snack behaviour recently, I guess.   As I hadn't planned any healthy extra As, I nibbled on some cheese triangles and made a nice pot of tea so that was one and a bit of my As.

This was lovely.  The salmon was actually a smoked salmon fillet; I have both in the freezer and that's the kind that came to hand.  I just baked it for 15 mins and then topped it with sliced cucumber (from the garden).
The sauce was one tbsp super light mayo (half a syn), one tsp tomato puree, half a tsp Dijon mustard (half a syn) and some lime juice to slacken.  Maybe next time I'll halve the amount of mustard but it was jolly nice.
The veg was some frozen mixed Chinese stir fry veg and I added a tbsp Tesco oyster sauce (free) at the end.
Dessert was a yogurt

Today's plans:

B:  eggs on toast with mushrooms and tomatoes; banana
One slice of toast and two eggs, probably fried the SW friendly way.  I'm so looking forward to the day when I can go out and pick the breakfast tomatoes directly before they are needed; the plants in the garden are doing well, considering the weather we have had this year.
SW:  one slice of toast is half a B choice, if I have half fat butter it will be two syns and the rest is free or speed

L:  cheesy tuna melts, salad, coleslaw; apple
This is a recipe from the SW site that I have made before.  As I have tuna left over from yesterday and a slice of bread to make up my healthy extra B, this will work well.  I just make the coleslaw with fresh veg and super light mayo/fromage frais
SW:  half a healthy extra B, one healthy extra A, one syn for mayo

D:  pork curry, konjac rice, broccoli; fruit foam
I think this recipe is from the Good To Eat site and it is fairly bog standard.  I'll most likely add some mushroom and pepper to the mix.
After making lunch, I will have an egg white left, hence choosing to make the fruit foam which is frozen fruit, egg white, skinny syrup and a good old whisk in Thermione.
SW:  On the SW site, curry pastes are between one and half a syn for a tbsp so let's counmt it as a syn to be on the safe side.  The 'rice' is one syn and, as I will be using spray oil, the rest is protein, free and speed

E:   I have an appointment with Lindsey this afternoon, not to work out but to discuss physio sort of exercises for my calves and have some massage.  I had a very gentle bounce on the rebounded yesterday and felt that it helped so I will do more of that today.

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

I was a bit naughty yesterday.

I have a slow cooker in the form of my Instant Pot, and very good it is too but it's huge.  Usually huge is good, for batch cooking, but sometimes I want something a lot smaller to do just one or two portions and no more.  After a bit of trawling on Amazon, I have ordered a small slow cooker, just one and a half litres and it should be coming today.  At one and a half litres, it should be just the right size.

The other news is that I'm feeling the urge to bake a bit of bread today.  Something nice and homey and comfortable.  Wholemeal, of course.  Even if SW didn't promote wholemeal, I would anyway - I like it very much.

Tuesday, 29-06-21

 Good morning!
I'm back after being away for a fair old time.  Sadly, after an illness, my dear Dad passed away last Saturday.
Now I have to pull my socks up and get on with losing the stone and a half-ish that I have gained during some difficult times.  I've always been a comfort eater but I'm ready to deal with the results now.

Now I am home again, I will be back at Slimming World, going to Jen's new Friday morning group.  The weigh in won't be nice but once I know, I can see those numbers tumbling again.

If you have stayed with me during these last weeks of silence, thank you very much indeed.  I'm hoping that my posts will be consistent and daily again from now on.  I ought to change the title, I suppose, and the description, just temporarily, until I hit my target weight again.

Today's plans:

B:  scrambled eggs on toast, tomatoes
I have loads of eggs to use up so they will feature heavily in the next few days, I expect.
SW:  half a healthy extra B

L:  small jacket potato with tuna mayo and salad; apple
This is one of my favourite ways of filling a jacket potato - yum!  It's simply drained tuna, mashed with some mayo and with seasonings - a bit of chilli is nice, or a bit of mustard.
SW:  up to two syns for the mayo and half a syn for some spray salad dressing

D:  smoked salmon fillet, stir fry veg, home made sauce; yogurt
I shall make a sauce to drizzle over the salmon with some mayo, tomato puree and a bit of mustard.  The salmon will probably be done in the actifry with a bit of spray oil and the paddle removed and it's also spray oil for the stir fry veg.  My fruit and veg intake has been shockingly low recently so it's going to feature heavily in the coming weeks.
SW:  up to one syn for mayo and Dijon mustard is half a syn per tsp.  I think the rest is free, protein or speed

E:  this is a tricky one because I managed to damage my lower calves so I can't do much.  I'm going to see if I can do some static cycling and some gentle rebounding without pain.

Now I am off to snuggle in my comfy chair and plan my meals for the week.  It worked before and it will work again!

Monday, 14-06-21

 Good morning.  
Things are still not good, food-wise.  I've always been a comfort eater and control this by not giving that sort of food and shelf space in my home.  Where I am at the moment, I have no choice, the stuff is there and calls out to me.  Oh, dear!

One meal at a time, eh - just take it one meal at a time.

However, I did remember to take some photos so . . .

What I ate yesterday:

Breakfast was a smoothie made with a peach, an easy peeler, strawberries, blueberries, yogurt, milk and a bit of stevia and very nice it was too.   No photo though.

Lunch was chicken salad and I made a dressing using one tbsp each of 0% fat crème fraiche, super low mayo and balsamic vinegar plus some lemon juice, garlic granules and water to slacken it.
The base of crème fraiche and mayo really does make a very nice dressing/sauce for just one syn and then you can whatever other flavours you want really.  Honey and mustard would be nice, I think.

Then dinner was a Hello Fresh meal, sweet chilli beef and it was delicious.  This is the lot, two portions for under 500 calories each and you would have to syn the sweet chilli sauce and the sesame seeds.   I had less than half so I'm thinking it might do me two more lunches which would be good.

And then, unfortunately, all the snacking started.  Oh, dear.  However, during the day, because I kept busy, it was much better, so that's possibly the way to go.  I have to do something or I won't have anything to wear.

On to today and the plans are:

B:  bacon, egg, mushrooms and tomatoes
I fancy a cooked breakfast today.  I've brought my spray oil from home so can use that to keep the calories/syns down.  I might splash out on a slice of 'fried' bread for the egg to go on - using spray oil to keep the syns down, of course.

L:  sweet chilli beef; fruit
Yesterday's leftovers and I am estimating around 330 calories, assuming the whole lot has given me three portions.  Good old microwave!

D:  pizza, salad; yogurt
Before you mutter 'too many syns/calories' I hasten to say that it's one of those Sainsbury's lower calorie pizzas so my conscience is clear.  The salad will be  just a simple one with a spray dressing.

E:  I will be going up and down stairs all day so I reckon that will be my exercise for the day.

Sunday, 13-06-21

 Morning, everyone.

No photos, but the modified Hello Fresh dinner was nice.  It was a steak with a glaze made from honey, mayo and various spicy things.  It was supposed to green beans but I have loads of mushrooms to use up so it was them instead.

This is what I plan to have today.

B:  I am currently enjoying a smoothie made with a peach, an easy peeler, some blueberries and strawberries, yogurt and milk plus a bit of stevia.
Like is too complicated to worry much about SW values but I think this will be absolutely fine.

L:  cold meat salad; fruit
There's plenty of cold meat in the fridge so I will dive into that for plenty of protein.

D:  sweet chilli beef with noodles and veggies; yogurt
This is another Hello Fresh meal.  I'll make both portions and that's tomorrow's lunch sorted out.  The bumph says it is 480 calories so that's OK!

Saturday, 12-06-21

 Morning.

Today's plans are:

B:  fruit and yogurt

L:  bacon roll, tomatoes and mushrooms

D:  a Hello Fresh meal - I'm not sure which one but they're all reasonably calorie light (for a main meal).

Must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not to snack, must try not . . . . . . . . . . . 

< grin >

Thursday, 10-06-21

 Well, having said I wouldn't be around, I find I am settled at Dad's for a few weeks so may as well carry on.  After eating carbs for England over the past two days, I MUST get a routine going and this will help.

So . . . good morning, everyone!

No photos of yesterday's meals (thank goodness) but here's today's plans:

B:  yogurt and fruit

L:  cold meat salad; apple

D:  steak, mushrooms and hm oven chips; yogurt
I treated myself to a nice looking steak while shopping yesterday.  Nothing like a treat for raising the spirits, is there?

Hopefully, photos tomorrow!

Wednesday, 09-06-21

 Apologies but I won't be writing this blog for a few days following a bit of an upheaval meaning I can't really plan, etc, as usual.
I'll be back.

Monday, 07-06-21

 Good morning.

No food photos from yesterday so here's what greeted me when I got home yesterday.  Good old garden!  Apologies for the squiffy look - the bowl isn't entirely regular as is evident when you see the top is straight.  :-)

Today's plans are:

B:  fruit and yogurt
This goes down so well on a fine, summer morning.
SW:  half a syn for the yogurt

L:  spicy chicken wrap, a side salad; fruit
I'm going to have a go at making a sort of dressing - not exactly sour cream dressing but sort of close, using some 0% fat crème fraiche I found in Tescos (maybe a bit of an abomination, but we will see).  You mix mayo, crème fraiche, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper and a bit of Dijon mustard might be nice too.
SW:  half a syn for a tbsp super low mayo, ditto for the 0% creme fraiche and one healthy extra B for the wrap

D:  salmon, mushrooms and veg; yogurt or kvarg
Same as yesterday's plan, more or less.  If it turns out to be a hot day, I might change the dessert to some fruit fluff instead which will be zero syns
SW:  half a syn for the dessert

E:  I'm still having to be careful because of my back but I need to do a bit of watering down the allotment and there's always the exercise cycle.

Sunday, 06-06-21

 Good morning, everyone.  Yesterday may not have been SW friendly but it was a lovely, friendly family time and, goodness, knows, there haven't been so many of them over the last year or so.  Back on it today.

Today's plans, just the plans today, no SW values as I'm not totally sure.

B:  fruit and yogurt

L:  spicy chicken salad.
On the way home, I will be stopping off at Tesco and I want to get some sort of cooked spicy chicken and also some sour cream dressing I have seen on a vlog and which doesn't seem too high in calories.  I might use a piece of lo dough and turn it into a wrap; I'll see how the spirit moved when the time comes.

D:  salmon, broccoli and mushrooms; kvarg
The salmon is in the freezer at the moment so I must remember to get it out, and I have loads of mushrooms so that will go down nicely!

Back to normal tomorrow, hopefully, photos and all.

Saturday, 05-06-21

 Good morning.  I'm still at Dad's so this will be a very brief outline.  Things are not going well at all, food wise but that's just life.

Today's plans are:

B:  yogurt and fruit

L:  salad, cold meat, fruit

D:  pizza, garlic bread, salad; rhubarb and strawberry crumble

Friday, 04-06-21

 Good morning.
I'm spending a few days with my Dad so no photos and plans are subject to change.  However, this is the general idea for today.

B:  yogurt and fruit

L:  some sort of salad; fruit

D:  steak, maybe, new potatoes and peas or corn, maybe both.

Back to normal soon.

Thursday, 03-06-21

 Good morning.

Yesterday's meals:

A very tasty breakfast which wend down a real treat.  I do like these omelette 'wraps'.  This one was two eggs-worth, spread over with a bit of bbq sauce (Crucials, half a syn) before piling in cooked tomatoes and mushrooms.  Very yum!

Lunch didn't look particularly special but, after some work out in the garden, it was very welcome and the flavour was great.  Proper chicken stock from a chicken carcass with veg and big shreds of chicken.

The bacon and pork loin went very well with the Singapore noodles.  I'd forgotten this already had chicken in it so it was a big protein hit.

Today's plans:

B:  bacon, egg, tomatoes and mushrooms

I'm methodically working my way through the Southwold bacon and wishing I'd bought more.  
SW:  free

L:  frittata and salad; apple

The frittata is home made and from the freezer.  It's actually labelled 'breakfast frittata' which means no cheese so I will probably sprinkle some cheese over it before warming it in the oven (or microwave).

SW:  one healthy extra A for the cheese and up to one syn for salad dressing

D:  take away Chinese

This is where it all falls flat but never mind.  I'm looking forward to it very much.
SW:  unknown!!

E:  I'm having a rest day today.  Yesterday was wall to wall exercise what with the allotment and the garden and personal training and my back hurts now.  A day off won't hurt!

Wednesday, 02-06-21

 Morning, everyone!

Yesterday's meals were . . .

I decided to turn the planned breakfast into a smoothie.  Not a semi frozen one, just an ordinary one with a bit of xanthan gum to thicken.  It contained strawberries, blueberries, natural yogurt, some strawberry skinny syrup and the xanthan gum and it was really very nice.  The shop bought strawberries are starting to have a little flavour about them now.

To my ham salad, I added some pineapple cottage cheese because ham and pineapple - you know!

It worked.

When I investigated, the chicken tikka masala wasn't one of those with rice so I decided to just forget the rice.  Earlier I had made a sort of raita (thank you, Sooze, for the idea) and that went very nicely with it.

As there was loads of sauce left over, that's gone back into the freezer for another meal sometime.  I think it would be nice with mixed veg and some beans or chickpeas.

Today's plans:

B:  breakfast roll up; yogurt

I will make a thin egg wrap, cook some tomatoes and mushrooms and roll them in the wrap.

SW:  all speed, protein and/or free as I will use 0% natural yogurt and flavour it with some skinny syrup

L:  chicken and veg casserole; apple

This is home made from the freezer and the sauce should be thickened.  Instead, I think I will mop it up with a bit of bread.

SW:  one syn and one healthy extra B

D:  Singapore noodles with pork and bacon; yogurt

Again, home made from the freezer, this recipe is from the SW site and was in the May magazine.  I had the last portion with chicken and prawns and this time I'm trying bacon and pork loin, thinly sliced.

SW:  one syn for the noodle dish and half for yogurt

E:   I've decided to stop calling this 'Body Magic'.  I've never liked the name which is more than a bit twee so, from now on, exercise is the term!  Today is double trouble - more allotment work and personal training

Tuesday, 01-06-21

 Good morning.  New month, new start.  The sun is shining brightly and the French window is open already.  Lovely and cheering.

Yesterday's meals:

I only have the one photo, that of dinner.  The tuna steak was lovely with the cucumber relish (cucumber, red pepper, spring onion, tomatoes, chilli flakes and lime juice.  I will do that again, for sure.

Today's plans:

B:  fruit and yogurt, maybe as a smoothie

SW:  speed and free

L:  ham salad; fruit

I have some ham left over from the weekend at Dad's so I can use that up.

SW:  one syn for some sprays of salad dressing

D:  Slim Choice chicken tikka masala; yogurt

I have this in the freezer, bought from Morrisons, I think.  The SW app doesn't have the syns for this but the Aldi Slimwell version is two syns and I'm going to assume it is very similar.  I really like that the ingredients for making it at home are on the back of the card cover.  Not the method but that's pretty obvious really.  If I like it, I will give it a home made whirl too.

SW:  two syns for the tikka masala and half a syn for dessert

Body Magic:  more allotment work