Sunday, 31-10-21

  Good morning!

Yesterday's meals:

Nice, filling, but I'm not terribly fond of the skinny sausages, I have decided.  I think I'd rather get high meat ones and pay the syns.

Lunch (the frozen Chinese curry and rice) looked distinctly unappetising but the flavour!  Wow.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Dinner was a chuck it all in together and hope for the best.  Onion, peppers, mushroom, chicken, bacon, seasonings, some Amatriciana sauce and a little pot of passata made with garden tomatoes.  Oh, and a pouch of konjac noodles.

It was really nie and there's half left for this evening.

I can't pretend konjac noodles are the same as real noodles and on SW real noodles are a free food while a pouch of konjac noodles is one and a half syns.  However, they are less than a tenth of the calories, so I pay the syns and they are OK, just not proper noodles.

Today's plans:

B:  fruit platter
Nothing fancy, just seasonal stuff really, apart from an orange
SW  speed

L:  roast chicken dinner; fruit
Beth and Alex are over so I'm doing what Alex loves best - Nan's roast dinner.  I'm spoiling us with the works - roasties, cranberry sauce, bread sauce (the nice SW friendly sauce I found the other week), Yorkshires and lovely veg - sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower.
Beth's having a veg and bean savoury crumble instead of chicken.
SW:  a bit lavish but I won't go bonkers.  The bread sauce I am counting as a B and one and a half syns (crème fraiche)), the gravy will be one syn, if I have some and I may very well not, each Yorkshire will be around two syns plus a healthy A (milk in the Yorkies and in the bread sauce - it won't be quite as much as that so if I have a cuppa tea in the afternoon, I won't bother to count the milk) and I will spray roast the potatoes in the Actifry.  The cranberry sauce will be around one and a half syns-ish
So it could be an awful lot worse!

D:  the other half of the spicy chicken, bacon and noodle thingy; yogurt
This is the easiest meal ever - a quick warm up in the microwave!
SW:  half a syn for the konjac noodles (I counted the other one syn yesterday) and half for the yogurt

E:  Something inside as it is absolutely chucking it down today.

Summary:
one healthy extra A
one healthy extra B
a maximum of eight and a half syns (that's OK for a good old Sunday's food)

From the freezer:  it's a goodie today
two pieces of chicken
cranberries (for the sauce)
onion, peppers, mixed beans, sweet potato cubes, passata, all for Beth's beany mix
and I'm using up the spicy noodle thing instead of freezing it.

However, there's some crumble topping left over which will go in the freezer for another time.

Saturday, 30-10-21

  Good morning!

Yesterday's meals:

I just had a couple of satsumas for breakfast so no photo.

Lunch was the Thursday even lasagne, reheated and it was still lovely!

Dinner doesn't look nearly so lovely as lunch but it was absolutely delicious.  I'm not sure why the SW friend's effort didn't work for her - I suspect the stock she used wasn't very good (I used home made stock, made by boiling up a chicken carcass and reducing the liquid down) and I did use the suggested topping cubes of bread, sprayed with spray oil and crisped up in the oven, plus a bit of cheese because I'd defrosted the bread for breakfast and just fancied the cheese.

Today's plans:

B:  a cooked breakfast of bacon, skinny sausage, beans, egg and mushroom
I'm feeling rather hungry and am hoping that this fills the gaps.
SW:  half a syn for the sausage but the rest should be free

L:  Chinese beef curry and egg fried rice; fruit
One of the home frozen 'ready meals' and I really can't recall the original meal so fingers crossed it is OK
SW:  one syn (it says on the container lid)

D:  chicken and bacon Amatriciana noodles; yogurt
I have a little pot of Amatriciana sauce in the freezer so I will stir fry some bacon, chicken and assorted veg, add the sauce and stir in some konjac noodles, serving it with a topping of grated cheese
Real Amatriciana sauce is made starting with a 'good glug' of olive oil so this effort is nothing like it, but it'll be OK.
SW  one and a half syns max for the konjac noodles and half a syn for dessert.

E:  an online walk, I think

Summary:
one healthy extra A
no Bs today
three and a half syns

From the freezer:
one sausage
Chinese beef curry and rice meal
chicken
bacon
Amatriciana sauce

I looked up Amatriciana sauce.  It's similar to arrabiata sauce which means 'angry' sauce.  Amatriciana sauce is similar but originates in the town of Amatrice in central Italy.
So now we know!

Friday, 29-10-21

  Good morning!
Not feeling great so I'm staying home and not weighing in this week.  I've let Jen know.  It's a shame but I need to be sensible.

Yesterday's meals:

Nice, simple breakfast.  I didn't want any sauce with it.  No speed food but that's OK.

The Chubby Cubs' butter bean hummus was really very nice indeed.  I think maybe one tsp toasted sesame oil was a bit too much - I added half a tsp to the actual mix and it did create a great texture, while the other half went on top.  However, I think a quarter tsp for each would be enough for one syn extra.
Also, roasting the garlic first would be super-delicious!

Definitely doing this again.

The SW ultimate veggie lasagne was an absolute winner.  I didn't quite follow the recipe in the magazine (p. 69) though.
I used some frozen chargrilled Med veg from the freezer.
I had one bacon medallion to use up so I chopped it and added it.
I used three tomatoes that were going soft, peeled and chipped, instead of opening a can of chopped tomatoes.

I spent some healthy extra As on cheese in and on the sauce - mozzarella doesn't give me the necessary cheesy hit.  However, it was the nicest SW style cheese sauce I have yet tried and one to make again for other meals.

All in all, a winner and the best thing is that there's leftovers for today.

Today's plans:

B:  scrambled egg and smoked salmon on toast
Just what it says - lovely
SW:  half a healthy extra B for one slice of bread.

L:   leftover lasagne, salad; fruit
SW:  Now I've made this, I can be sure.  One and a half As for cheese, one and a half syns for the milk and half a syn for cornflour.

D:  not-crispy chicken bake, assorted veg; yogurt
This is another from the SW magazine but I'm not doing the crispy topping.  
I'm doing it partly because someone in our group said it really wasn't very nice at all and I can't see why it shouldn't be nice.  I just wonder if the stock they used was not a good stock.  I have some 'real' (boiled off a chicken carcass) stock in the freezer so I will use that and, perhaps, thicken the sauce a bit.
SW:  without the bread, this recipe is free although, if I add some thickening, that will be one syn max, probably less.  Dessert is half a syn

E: still not feeling 100% so taking things carefully

Summary:
one and a half healthy extra As
half a healthy extra B
three and a half syns

From the freezer:
chicken
chicken stock
bread

This week's food haul . . .

. . . from M&S and Aldi.

Not a big one this week.  I did a shop for Beth's birthday meal and still have stuff from that.

Fruit
I still have plenty in the fridge and fruit bowl so just a few things.  The plums were an impulse - wonky plums that look really nice.  I might do some spiced plums with custard on Sunday when Beth and Alex are here.
The rest will go down nicely for both meals and late afternoon snacks.

Salad and veg
Right at the back, there's a bag of Maris Pipers, almost hidden from view.  As with the fruit, I was already fairly well off so there's not much here.

Other
Eggs and cheese were needed, the smoked salmon is because I rather fancies it and can made some pate with it as well as maybe having it on potato pancakes again - it was so tasty.  And it always brightens up scrambled eggs, doesn't it?

Naughty Christmas stuff
Honest!
The bread and the puff pastry are for the veggie sausage rolls we always have at Christmas (make them up and freeze them before cooking).
The alcohol and sugar are for fruit gin/vodkas, partly for presents and partly because it's nice with tonic or prosecco!  

And that's it for this week.  I have some meal plans for the coming week but didn't really need to get very much more for them, given the ongoing fullness of my freezers.
 

Thursday, 28-10-21

  Good morning!

I don't have photos of yesterday's meals, being out pretty much all the time but, suffice it to say it didn't really go according to plan.  Thankfully, the next several days are without anything stressful so fingers crossed.

Today's plans:

B:   bacon and egg roll
I have more Spoilt Pig bacon so I'm looking forward to this!
SW:  one healthy extra B for the roll

L:  butterbean hummus, crudités, etc; fruit
This is a Chubby Cubs recipe, found here (be careful if you are easily offended - they have a very individual sense of humour!)
https://twochubbycubs.com/2020/05/27/syn-free-butterbean-houmous-perfect-for-lunch/
I have a bag of butterbeans in the freezer so will use some of them and, probably, will follow their suggestion and splash out on a tsp of flavoured oil or maybe toasted sesame oil, which I love.  It makes such a difference to the texture and the flavour.
SW:  the hummus is free, the oil will be two syns.

D:  Ultimate veggie lasagne, salad; yogurt
This recipe is from the current SW magazine, p 69.  Someone in our FB group has recommended it and I can reduce it and jiggle it to work for what I have in.
SW:  one healthy extra A for some cheese, maybe a bit more, half a syn for some milk (not enough to call it part of an A choice), the roasted med veg I am using will be one syn for some mayo and half a syn for the yogurt

E:  Nothing today.  I tweaked my back a bit yesterday so am being careful today.

Summary:
one to two healthy extra As
one healthy extra B
four syns

From the freezer:
wholemeal roll
butterbeans
the last of a bag of chargrilled Med veg

Wednesday, 27-10-21

  Good morning!

Yesterday's meals:

Naughty, isn't it?  So, so good though.  It's the cheesecake I made for Beth's birthday yesterday and as far removed from SW principles as the east is from the west.
Occasionally is OK!

I didn't take any other photos.

Back to normal now.

Today's plans:

B:  yogurt and fruit
SW:  half a syn for the yogurt

L:  jacket potato, chilli con carne, cheese, salad; fruit
All leftovers from yesterday's family meal and easily re-heated.
SW:  one A for cheese and the rest should be free.

D:  amatriciana noodles, side salad; yogurt
I have a pot of hm (using a JD seasoning) amatriciana sauce in the freezer so I thought I would stir fry some bacon and veg in spray oil, add the sauce and stir it into some konjac noodles for an easy and tasty dinner.
SW:  the yogurt is half a syn and the konjac noodles one syn while the rest should be speed, etc.

E:  continuing to clear Dad's house so loads of moving about, lifting and carrying

Summary:
one healthy extra A
no Bs today
three syns

From the freezer:
Just the amatriciana sauce today but loads from yesterday which originally came from the freezer

However, some of the leftovers will need to be re-frozen.  It's had a jolly good boil up so it's safe to do so.

Tuesday, 26-10-21

  Good morning!

Today is a bit different as it's Beth's birthday and I have the family round for dinner.  Beth's asked for jacket potatoes and various toppings with salad on the side, which is great, but she's also asked me to make a rather luscious looking cheesecake for afters and there may very well be the dreaded alcohol so . . .  I'll do my best.

Yesterday's meals:

A tasty, cooked breakfast.  Quite big because I thought I would have circuit training later on (it was cancelled).

Because it was cancelled, I started in on making both the Christmas fruit cake and that cheesecake, had to taste and check (obviously) and then didn't want anything else for lunch so didn't have anything!

The hotpot, with its leftover root veg, drained baked beans and lamb in stock, was absolutely gorgeous and the sprinkle of grated cheese on the top finished it off nicely.  Quite apart from not wasting food, I am so glad I did what I did with that old lamb over the weekend - it's going to provide me with some super meals.

Not a good SW day, what with all the nibbles, but that dinner was worth the effort.

Today's plans:

B:  fruit salad with yogurt
I have plenty of fruit and I will use natural yogurt.
SW:  speed, free and protein

L:  bacon and lentil soup; fruit
I'm hoping this will be enough to keep me going.  I should be pretty busy which will help.
SW:  speed, free and protein

D:  jacket potatoes with various toppings, side salad; birthday cheesecake
SW:  lord only knows.  The main will be fine but the cheesecake is evil!!!

E:  I'll be up and down and in and out all day and that will have to do!

Summary:
I will have my As as cheese on the jacket potato.
no planned Bs
syns unknown

From the freezer:
bacon and lentil soup
beany tomato mix (as topping for potatoes)
savoury pork mince (to turn into a chilli topping)
kidney beans (ditto)

Monday, 25-10-21

 Good morning!

Yesterday's meals:

Not exactly beans on toast, more like dippy beans.   Ooops, just looking at the photo and I realise I forgot the cheese.  Oh, well . . . it's still Sunday morning as I'm writing this bit so I will have some on the soup for lunch instead.

I had serious reservations about lunch.  Lentil and root veg soup is fine but with meatloaf crumbled in?  It didn't look all that tempting; in fact it looked distinctly off putting but you know what?  It was absolutely delicious.  Phew.

I had an apple later on.

Dinner was just amazing, absolutely gorgeous.  It looks a real plateful and so it was but with loads of vegetables - roasted carrot, sweet potato, parsnip and shallots, runner beans, a couple of SW friendly Yorkshires and that lamb shank.
Being a bit canny at times, because the oven was on, I did extra root veg (for tomorrow) and jacket cooked a potato.

A yogurt finished off the day's scoffing!

Today's plans:

B:  bacon, egg, tomatoes and mushrooms
My go-to cooked breakfast
SW:  speed/free except for bbq sauce, if I have any, which will be a maximum of one syn

L:  meatball pasta, side salad; fruit
I made this dish a long time ago and it's the leftovers.  I will add another 15g cheese to make it up to one A
SW:  the meatballs and pasta are 4 syns and half a heA (it says on the lid) plus another half A of cheese added while the rest will all be free, etc

D:  lamb hotpot, mixed veg; yogurt
To make this, I will use one of the pots of lamb from the other day, the onions, carrots, parsnip and sweet potato roasted yesterday, a little bit of lamb shank and gravy left over, plus the leftover baked beans rinsed of sauce, all reheated, top with potato slices, spray with oil and brown it in the oven or maybe under the grill.  Simple and tasty but not traditional as everything is already cooked.
SW:  I didn't really know how to syn the lamb so I've given each pot an arbitrary two syns.  I was very careful to remove all the visible fat but just to be on the safe side . . .  Dessert is half a syn

E:  circuit training with Lindsey

Summary:
one healthy extra A
no healthy extra Bs
seven and a half syns

From the freezer:

meatball pasta
lamb in stock
mixed veg

Sunday, 24-10-21

 Hi, everyone.

It took me a while to deal with all that lamb I mentioned yesterday.  I seared it all first in spray oil and then casseroled it with the lamb stock and some onion for several hours.  I must say, it came out lovely and tender.  After straining to separate the stock and cooling, I took ages getting every last bit of visible fat off the meal.  Lamb fat sets hard after chilling so removing it from the stock this morning after a night in the fridge was a doddle.
Now I have six pots of lamb in stock to make casseroles, hotpots, etc.  Sometimes I feel like I take one step forward and two back with my freezer but at least it is now all ready to use and it's gone on my audit list so I won't forget about it.  Job done!

The house smelled wonderfully savoury.

All I need to do now is sort out what's in the fast freeze area.  Most of that is not mine, I think, it belongs to Dave and Anna and can stay there.  There's some ice cubes and the pigs in blankets which can now go in the pork bag, thinking about it.  And then all is done as the other two drawers in the upright freezer are bread products and frozen fruit and don't need clearing out.
It's takes ages but was worth the effort.

Yesterday's meals:

Breakfast - absolutely lovely!
If you have the new SW mag, take a look.  Potato cakes with smoked salmon.

Lunch - the meatloaf with a bbq sauce.  It was OK, nothing special but quite nice.  
The recipe was for six, I cut it to a fifth because that worked with the amounts and it made enough for two portions for me.

If I make it again, I will spice it up considerably - and I've just realised I should have added some beaten egg and I didn't.  Oh, well, it held together OK.

I was disappointed - the fishcakes weren't as nice as I remembered.  Maybe they shouldn't have been frozen.  I ate some of the potato/fish and the melted cheese in the middle was delicious but there were tough bits of broccoli in them and some fibrous bits of fish - goodness knows what bit of the fish they were.

Never mind - can't win 'em all!

Today's plans:

B:  cheesy beans on toast
I haven't had beans on toast for ages.  There's a bit of the bbq sauce left over from yesterday and I will stir that into the beans for extra flavour and also to use it up.
SW:  one healthy extra A for grated cheese, either one or half a healthy extra B depending on whether I toast one slice or two

L:   meatloaf, lentil and root veg soup, fruit
I found the lentil and root veg soup when sorting out the vegetarian bag in the freezer.  More soup, cheers.  It's definitely the soup season now.  I will crumble the meatloaf leftovers into it for added texture and so on as there's not enough to freeze, it wouldn't be worth it.
SW:  I'm going to count one syn for the meatloaf addition and the soup is free/speed/protein

D:  lamb shank in mint gravy, veg; yogurt
Found in the hidden depths of the freezer, this has now gone up to five syns per portion which is quite a jump but I'm hardly surprised.
I'll actifry some root veg to have with it, and use some runner beans frozen this summer.
I have a few frozen, home made individual Yorkshires which I will call one syn each.
SW:  five syns for the lamb, two syns for a couple of little Yorkshires and half a syn for dessert.

E:  I'm clearing out some of the high kitchen cupboards today so I will be up and down stepladders for a while.

Summary:
one healthy extra A
up to one healthy extra B
eight and a half syns

From the freezer:
Bread or toast, the soup, the lamb shank, Yorkshires, runner beans.  Not bad at all.
However, into the freezer:  six pots of cooked lamb in stock and some breadcrumbs in portions.

Saturday, 23-10-21

 Morning, everyone!

Weigh in results - half a pound off.  Not much, I know, but better than a maintain and even better than a gain.  I'm happy.
Mind you, if I continue at this rate it'll be almost Easter before I get back into my target range (OK, slight exaggeration here), but slow and steady is fine by me.  It feels less urgent now I am into my smaller sized clothes again.  I want to lose a bit more, sure, but I'm not getting stressed about it

I got the pork and veggie bags sorted out.  I found several more lamb items there so some of them are now in the correct bag and the rest is thawing.
These are some 'sizzle steaks' that weren't very nice, I remember, too tough for a quick sizzle and also some very fatty and random sort of chops (cheapo from Aldi, I think) that are very, very old.  I'm thawing them out (well, thawed them by now)and will casserole them long and slow in some stock I also found before chilling the results and removing every last bit of fat, both from the chops and from the liquid.  Yes, it will all go back in the freezer in single portions but ready to use which will make life easier.  Can't waste lamb, it's so expensive.

At the moment it's all scribbles in my notebook so I will take some time to type it all up properly on a document.  I'm already finding planning is so much easier with a definitive list in front of me that tells me what I can cheese from.

This is a lo-o-ong intro, sorry, but I want to say a great big thank you to Eileen who sent me a really, really helpful email yesterday.  Many, many thanks, Eileen, I will reply in kind later on  xx

Yesterday's meals:

Apple pie pancakes.  I used oats, ground into flour, an egg, some yogurt, some water, some apple pie spice mix, some caramel skinny syrup and some grated apple for the pancake.  It tasted great but the texture was a bit pudding-y.   Maybe next time I will try blending the apple with the oats to get them finer.

Perhaps it was a bit too stodgy because later on I didn't feel great again so the rest of the day's eating was minimal with no photos.  I was also desperately tired, didn't have the energy to photo my shopping (sorry, no food haul post this week) and slept most of the afternoon.

I do hope today is back to normal although I'm still feeling quite tired, despite a good night's sleep.

Today's plans:

B: potato cakes with smoked salmon, tomatoes and leaves on the side.
This is a recipe from the new SW magazine.  The potato cakes are not the conventional ones, there's no flour or butter but I will add one Laughing Cow triangle to the potato and egg yolk mixture.  The 'sauce' will be lighter creme fraiche, Greek yogurt and horseradish (don't have any fromage frais which is what the recipe asks for.
It's supposed to be on a mixture of spinach and rocket leaves but, as I don't really like spinach, I will just use mixed leaves instead.
I'm quite looking forward to this - it's a bit different and, if I really like it, I might earmark it for Christmas or Boxing Day breakfast.
SW:  the triangle will be one and a half syns and the sauce will be one syn (for the crème fraiche).  The rest is speed or free

L:  easy meatloaf with bbq sauce, salad; fruit
Someone on our local SW Facebook group suggested this recipe, from the SW site.  It's a mix of lean beef and pork mince with added 'stuff' while the sauce is a mix of bottles sauces which I won't use as I found some pots of home made bbq sauce in the freezer so I'll use one of them - it's leftover sauce from when I made the PoN hunter's chicken so I know it's OK to have and I know it's really delicious.
I'm not convinced that this recipe is any different to a burger recipe really but I'll give it a go and see.
SW:  one syn for breadcrumbs.  It also asks for milk but it's so little it doesn't really register on the syns scale!  Maybe half a syn for some mayo.

D:   salmon, smoked cod and haddock fishcakes with loads of veg; yogurt
These are the Morrisons fishcakes that are not in breadcrumbs and have a little bit of cheese in the middle and they're really nice.
SW:  four syns for the fishcakes and half a syn for the yogurt

E:  Really not up to much today - I'll see how things go.

Summary:
Not exactly good SW plans - no specific healthy extras.  Never mind, tomorrow is another day as Miss Scarlett famously said.
eight and a half syns

From the freezer:   pork mince, beef mince, bbq sauce, fishcakes - and all that lamb and stock but that doesn't count because it will all be going back in again, won't it?

Friday, 22-10-21

 Hi!  
Weigh day today at SW meeting and, after that, whatever the outcome, I have planned a super delicious day's eating within SW parameters.  Indulgent with syns, rather above what I normally have but not off plan (I don't count the few little rule benders like maybe wholemeal flour and synning cooked apple because I think they are a bit silly)

I've been looking through the new SW magazine and there are some lovely looking recipes in there to add the collection I already have.  No chance of getting bored with my food at the moment.

Today I think I will sort through and audit the pork and vegetarian section of the freezer.  Getting there!
Then, when the weather is colder, I can just lift out all the bags, knowing that all is in good order, and defrost much more easily.  Both the freezers do need a defrost, the upright one more than the chest one, so roll on the colder weather.

Yesterday's meals:

A very satisfying breakfast with frozen raspberries originally picked down the allotment.

Unfortunately, more than likely due to an 'over consumption' of sugar free chewing gum, I - er - suffered!

I changed lunch to a banana and a pear.  No photo.

And that was it (apart from drinks) because a) I just wasn't hungry at all and b) - er - wind!!
(sorry if that's tmi)

Sadly, I have had to throw out the chicken casserole.  I thawed it before I realised I wasn't going to be able to eat it.  Oh, well, some you lose.

I feel fine this morning and expect to enjoy my planned meals today

Today's plans:

B:  apple pie pancakes
The mix of apple pie spice, caramel skinny syrup and apple is so lovely in the porridge the other day, I decided to try pancakes as well.  I think the spice mix just has a 'seasonal' vibe.  It could just as easily be called pumpkin spice mix or even Christmas spice mix with maybe the addition of a bit of ground cloves.  Anyway, fingers crossed and I will let you know.
SW:  Whether I use oats or wholemeal flour, it will be one healthy extra B and if I have a drizzle of chocolate sauce (likely) it will be one and a half syns.  The grated apple semi-cooks in the pancakes but I'm not synning it.

L:  cheesy jacket potato with salad; fruit
I'm having a bit of a craving for a jacket potato so why not?  A small-ish jacket potato and up to 60g grated cheddar with a nice big, crunchy salad on the side.  Lovely!  I might finish the indulgence with the penultimate apple from my little flamenco tree.
SW:  up to two healthy extra As for cheese and up to two syns for superlight mayo because you have to have mayo with a jacket.  Yes, you do!

D:  crispy chicken steak in batter, chips, peas or other really nice veg; yogurt
I found a box of these chicken products in the freezer - well, not exactly 'found', I knew they were there, but they had been covered and out of sight, out of mind.  I have no idea what they are like but someone on a vlog said they liked them so I thought I'd give them a go.  They're from Aldi - and I will let you know.
Potato made chips are pretty much a weekly treat now and I will splash out a couple of syns on real oil to actifry them in.
SW:  the chicken is five and a half syns, the oil is two syns, some bbq sauce (if I have it) is one syn and the yogurt is half a syn.  Not too bad at all!

E:

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

From the freezer:  Not so much today - just the chicken and some peas.  Must get back on it properly tomorrow.

Thursday, 21-10-21

  Hi!  
Ready meals (bought and hm) in the freezer all now audited and listed.  It will make the daily planning much simpler.

Yesterday's meals:

Lovely porridge for breakfast.  35g oats, 125 ml milk, some apple pie spice mix, a bit of caramel skinny syrup, an apple (three quarters grated and in the porridge and a quarter on top because it looks nice) and, to finish it off, a little drizzle of chocolate sauce.  

It set me up beautifully for my personal training session.

I really fancied a big salad although I didn't have any leaves left which was annoying.  It's the weekly shop today though, thank goodness.

The last of the frozen sushi but I will refrain from getting any more for now.

Look at the colour difference - same backing, different lighting.  

The Szechuan beef was really very nice indeed.  I added onion and mushroom to bulk it out a bit and it was delicious.  Quite spicy but I like spicy.

I finished off with a Mullerlight yogurt.

Today's plans:

B:  choc weetabix, yogurt and fruit
The last two of the pack so I might just have to get some more soon.
SW:  half a healthy extra A for milk, one healthy extra B for the weetabix and one syn for a little drizzle of choccy sauce.

L:  chicken and veg casserole, konjac rice; fruit
This has been in the freezer for a while and I wrote 'needs thickening' on the lid.  However, I have half a pouch of konjac rice to use up so that will do.  It won't soak anything up but it will help.
SW:  one syn for the casserole and half for the rice

D:  Cajun burger, butternut squash chips, salad; yogurt
I made these burgers ages ago so it's about time I started in on them, isn't it?  I'll probably have some home made chutney with them.  I absolutely love roasted butternut squash and they go really well with salad.  Perfick.
SW:  one syn for some mayo, one for some chutney and half for the yogurt

E:  a rest day today

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

From the freezer:  some frozen fruit, chicken and veg casserole and Cajun burger

Wednesday, 20-10-21

  Hi!  
It's becoming obvious that I really ought to know exactly what ready meals I have available to use so I'm deferring sorting out the pork and vegetarian and getting the readies (both bought and home made) into some sort of list this morning.

The week's going well so far.  You will have noticed that I'm not mentioning calories - that's because I'm taking a break from them and using my common sense and knowledge.  I can see why people who count calories get fed up after a while.
Everyone's different and different strategies suit different people.

Yesterday's meals:

A filling egg mcmuffin type breakfast.

Soup and leftover stroganoff plus a couple of apples for lunch.

And a little nibble of cheese later on - still within my healthy As though.

And a hotpot with veg followed by yogurt for dinner.

All nice and filling.

Today's plans:

B:  porridge with fruit and yogurt
I may very well use my apple pie spice mix; I do love it and it's just right for these autumnal mornings.
SW:  one healthy extra B for the oats and half an A for 125g milk (I make up the rest with water but I really do like using some milk in my porridge)

L:  fish sushi, side salad; fruit
I still haven't got around to having a go at making sushi so this is the last of the Aldi packs, frozen a few weeks ago.
SW  The sushi is two syns and any mayo I use will be half a syn

D:  Szechuan beef, konjac rice
I found this on the SW site so, if you have access, it's easy to find in the recipe section.  I've never made it but seem to have nearly all the ingredients so - give it a go!  I'll use frozen peppers instead of fresh and the chilli sauce will be tabasco because that's what I've got.
It doesn't say what to serve it with apart from rice.  I might add some sliced onion and some mushrooms to the mix to go with the beef and the peppers.  All speed anyway.
SW:  it says the recipe is one and a half syns per serving so I will go with that because they should know and the rice is one syn.  As always, the yogurt is half a syn.

E:  it's personal training with Lindsey today.  I'm looking forward to it a lot - it's going really quite well at the moment.

Summary:
one healthy extra A (I will use the other half A in teas)
one healthy extra B
six syns

From the freezer:  the sushi, steak, peppers

Tuesday, 19-10-21

 Hi!  
Well, I got round to going through the poultry and fish bag in the freezer and, to my great shame, there's loads (including more fish hiding under the chicken).  Well, it is less to spend on food and more for Christmas or savings so I'm not complaining, just determined to use it all up properly this time (and there goes a flying pig!!).

There's more to sort out but I'll do the next bit later on in the week.

Yesterday's meals:

I got into a right  muddle yesterday morning.  I went into town for a few bits and bobs without checking the time.  When I did check the time I had to rush back to get home in time for circuit training and didn't have time for the planned breakfast (which I usually have around eleven) so I grabbed and apple and a banana instead because I didn't want to do 45 mins of fairly rigorous stuff on an empty tum..  No photos of them though!

I decided to try some processed cheese slices in my toastie (half an A) instead of two As-worth of cheddar.  It was lovely and melty but not all that cheesy.  I had prepped the tomato and mushrooms for breakfast so I had them instead of a salad.

Dinner was the BBC Good Food recipe for beef stroganoff, very simple, very straightforward, easy to adapt to SW requirements ('optimising' as they call it) and, best of all, very delicious.  It made loads so I decided not to cook any other veg (I had some leftovers from Sunday anyway) and there was a little bit left over to enjoy today.

Dessert was the other half of the lemon mousse, just as nice as the first portion.

Despite the breakfast muddle, it was a good day's food.

Today's plans:

B:  egg mcmuffin (sort of), mushrooms on the side
I'm looking forward to this.  one slice of cheese, one fried egg, a couple of bacon medallions and, probably, some bbq sauce
SW:  half a healthy extra A for a cheese slice, one B for a muffin, half for the sauce and that's pretty much it.

L:  soup, stroganoff leftovers, fruit
I've checked and it looks as if I have a couple of pots of lentil and bacon soup left now so that's good.  I was going to add some cheese but I have that stroganoff to use up instead.
SW:  the soup is free/speed/protein, I'm calling the stroganoff two syns (there's not loads) and the fruit is speed

D:   minced beef hotpot, assorted veg; yogurt
I have some cooked mince in the freezer so I will use that, top it with sliced potato, spray with oil and bake until the potato is soft and brown.  I might add a bit of cheddar in the last ten minutes, that would be nice
I have a little casserole dish with a lid, just right for one, so I'll use that and take the lid off for the last little bit so the potato crisps up.
SW:  the hotpot and veg should be speed, protein or free apart from the cheese which is half a healthy extra A while the yogurt is half a syn

E:  a walk

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

From the freezer:  muffin, soup, cooked mince

Monday, 18-10-21

 Morning!
Well, I didn't get the poultry and fish bag sorted out yesterday so that's moved on to today's list of Things To Do.  Not to worry, there's plenty of time, isn't there?

Yesterday's meals:

Typical me cooked breakfast and very nice too.

This was - er - interesting.  I vaguely remember not particularly like the chicken and rice before but didn't want to waste what was left.  Oh, well, it's gone now!

I had another apple from my little columnar flamenco (two left on the tree now) and it was delicious.

This was so good.
I can't say the Yorkshire was any better or worse than when made with oats ground into flour in my blender.  However, I do think it would be worth spending a couple of syns on a tsp oil rather than using spray oil.
I had actifried sweet potato and parsnip and there's some left over for tonight's dinner

And this was the lemon mousse which hasn't come out all that well in the photo, sorry.

I used the juice and zest of one largish lemon plus more lemon juice from a bottle, two smallish eggs and one tbsp stevia, beaten together and cooked like lemon curd in a bowl over simmering water.  It tasted a bit lacking so I added one tsp caster sugar (one syn) which improved it no end!
When the curd was cold, I mixed in one pot of kvarg (it should have been plain quark but I didn't have any.  I'm really glad because I think it was much nicer than if it had used quark.  I used the stracciatella with chocolate pieces but the white chocolate flavour or the lemon cheesecake flavour would have been lovely too.
Finally, I whisked up one small egg white (left over from making mash for Saturday's fish pie) and folded that in.
It made two portions for three quarters of a syn per portion and it was absolutely lovely, really delicious.
I'll do a separate recipe, I think

Today's plans:

B:  Bacon and mushroom omelette with tomatoes on the side
Self explanatory really.
SW:  protein, speed and free

L:  cheese and onion toastie, side salad; fruit
Not only is this really scrummy, it also uses up my healthy extras.
SW:  two healthy extra As for cheese, one B for bread and half a syn for one tbsp of the caramelised onion chutney to go in  the sarnie and maybe one for another chutney on the side (all home made - yum).  The rest is speed or free.

D:  beef stroganoff, mash, assorted veg; the other portion of lemon mousse
I have a couple of recipes but the one that sounds the best (with a bit of tweaking) is the one from the BBC Good Food site.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/beef-stroganoff
I will reduce amounts down to one serving, use spray oil instead of olive oil and butter (shame but one must suffer for one's Slimming World!!) and I have lighter crème fraiche.
I've listed mash but, as I have some starchy veg left over from yesterday, I probably won't have any potato as well, just some green veg
SW:  one tsp plain flour is half a syn, two tbsp lighter crème fraiche is three syns and the rest is free (if I use mustard powder).  Dessert is three quarters of a syn - call it one for convenience

E:  circuit training today.

Summary:
two healthy extra As
one healthy extra B
six syns

From the freezer:  bacon, bread, steak, maybe some veg, but no ready meal today.