Thursday, 18-11-21

Good morning!
I've been busying myself looking for merry festive recipes and ideas for my Advent Challenge - which is to make at least one festive feeling recipe or meal each day of December.
What constitutes 'festive'?  Well, I decided . . .

• anything from a Christmas Special magazine
• anything categorised as 'Christmas' on recipe sites
• anything from a Christmas recipe book
• anything 'party-ish) - canapés and the like
• anything containing cranberries, chestnuts, turkey, ham, smoked salmon . . . 

I'm sure you get the idea.

Anyway, I have amassed a fair old collection of ideas and recipes to choose from so that's great.

Why am I doing this?  Well, a number of reasons really.
Firstly, I need something to keep me on the SW straight and narrow most of the time and I do like my short term challenges, as you know.  I'm feeling excited about this so it's much more likely going to work.
Secondly - it will be fun!
Also, it's just too easy to stray with all the tempting but not-very-good-for you stuff around so I am creating my own array of tempting stuff to make the season special.

As Jen said last week at meeting, there are ninety three meals in December, assuming three meals a day.  By the time you take off all the 'specials', there's still a huge number of 'usual' meals.  For me, there's Christmas Tree Day (one meal off plan), our girls' Zoom chat (no naughty meals but drinkies!), I'll probably have Dave and Anna over for a meal and then there's Christmas day itself (three meals), Boxing Day (maybe two meals, maybe one) and New Year's Eve (one meal).  That's eight meals off plan, leaving eighty five where I can stay on plan but feel I'm having special stuff.

Fingers crossed, anyway!

Yesterday's meals:

A good old cooked breakfast.  OK, so I overcooked the egg but even so, it was lovely.

The throw together sausage casserole was good.  I wolfed down every last bit and followed it up with two east peelers and an orange (I had zested the orange to make some cranberry sauce so it needed using).

This was a proper roast dinner and I'm definitely using this as one of my December meals - it was delicious.
I was too full for dessert.

I made the cranberry sauce by using a good handful of fresh cranberries (from the freezer!), two level tbsp demerara sugar, some orange zest, half a tsp of my apple pie spice mix and a splash of gingerbread syrup (the zero calories kind), just boiled up together until the cranberries fall apart.  I did need to add a bit of water at one point - it needs watching.
The rest is now in a little jar in the fridge for future need.

Such a colourful day today - what a change from yesterday!

Today's plans:

B:  chocolate apple pie porridge
I will make the usual porridge with apple pie spice mix but I rather fancy adding two syns worth of Highlights chocolate powder to it, just to see how it works out.  
SW:  two syns for 11g Highlights powder, half a healthy extra A, one healthy extra B and the rest is speed or free

L:  tomato and red pepper soup; fruit
I have half a can of chopped tomatoes left over from yesterday's casserole so I've partnered it with two roasted red peppers from a jar, garlic and onion granules, chicken stock powder, water and seasonings to make a simple and uncomplicated soup.  Should be nice.
SW:  should all be free and speed with no syns

D:  beef, potato and leek gratin, green veg; pineapple and yogurt
The beef is some thin sliced deli beef that I bought and popped in the freezer.  It's about time to use it up.
The potato gratin is one I saw Tracy Mouse make on her YouTube vlog yesterday and it looked lovely.  I'll cut it down to a single portion though.
SW:  the beef is protein, the veg will be speed, the sauce for the gratin will be half a healthy extra A for milk and one A for grated cheese plus a max on one syn for one level tbsp cornflour and half a syn for one tsp dijon mustard on the beef.  The pineapple will be two syns - and that's the last portion.

E:  I rather think I will be in rest mode after yesterday's personal training and Monday's circuits although, to be fair, yesterday's work loosened everything up nicely and it's a lot more comfortable this morning.  Also, the bits that ache are the bits that need some work so no grumbles!

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

From the freezer: 
Just the beef today.  Oh, dear, must do better!

The link to the recipe on Tracy Mouse's vlog.