Thursday, 2-12-21: Festive Challenge day 2

 Good morning!

Has anyone ever heard of  Lakeland Mues?  It's a small Lakeland company that makes the best muesli you could possibly wish for.
Dad first discovered the company after seeing a segment on a TV programme, got in touch, tried their product and was smitten!  
It's NOT cheap and it doesn't show on the SW site so I have no idea how it works with SW, which is a shame, but I have spoilt myself by ordering some of their seasonal muesli, the winter wonder.  The description sounded so amazing!
I know it is bending those rules but I will have some as a healthy extra B, when possible.  It's a Christmas treat!

Here's the link to their site, if you're interested.  https://www.lakelandmues.co.uk/

Yesterday's meals:

I can confidently say that the festive spice mix I mentioned yesterday is really delicious.

These ' Christmas canapés' were so good.  You can't really see that the bases are Christmassy shapes - stars and trees - but they are and the photo doesn't do them justice.
On the bases (sprayed wholemeal bread, actifried for ten minutes until browned and crunchy), I piled one of two things - smoked salmon pate (smoked salmon, some Philly light, some dill, lemon juice and black pepper , all blended together) or a simple rose marie sauce (equal amounts of super light mayo and quark, a splodge of tomato puree and a dash of Hendersons or Lea and Perrins).  On top of the smoked salmon pate I put a shred of smoked salmon and on the rose marie sauce I put a prawn and on both an assortment of cucumber, tomato, pepper and/or lemon juice.  It felt like a party!
Then I had a pear and it all totally filled me up until dinner time.

I know it looks as if I have a super-large portion but the plate was a little bit too small, sadly.  I don't seem to have any small Christmas dinner plates but not to worry!

Ironically, I totally forgot the one Christmassy thing about this meal (apart from the plate) until after I had taken the photos but I assure you that chestnuts (two!) sprinkled over are quite, quite delicious. 
Thankfully, the rest of the pack of chestnuts are now in the freezer because I could very cheerfully have scoffed the lot.  I rather like chestnuts.

I finished off with a yogurt.  Nice!

Today's meal plans:

B:  bacon and mushroom omelette, tomatoes on the side
There's nothing particularly festive about this - I just fancy it!  What makes it special is the tomatoes, the very last of the garden tomatoes, picked yesterday.  Who picks outdoor tomatoes in this country in December?  A sign of how very mild it has been.  Anyway, I hope they taste OK.
SW:  speed and free, no syns

L:  cranberry chicken salad; fruit
I found this on the BBC Good Food site.  https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/cranberry-chicken-salad
I'll use one of the chicken sizzler slices from Aldi and I might crumble over a chestnut, now I know they are OK with SW.  Have I mentioned that I love chestnuts?
SW:  15g dried cranberries will be around three syns (they will need a bit of hydrating, they are VERY dried!) and the cranberry sauce will be one and a half syns-ish - estimated as it's hard to tell when it is home made in larger amounts.  The chestnut will be one syn.

D:  pork steak, maple syrup parsnips, other veg; yogurt
Here's the recipe:  https://www.goodto.com/recipes/maple-roast-parsnips-with-sesame-seeds
I will use one tsp butter and make up any deficiencies with spray oil and I probably won't use sesame seeds as I don't have any and don't use them regularly.  I suppose there is the ubiquitous chestnut but I think I'll probably just leave that element out.
I'll just slow bake the pork steak.
Maple roast parsnips feel very festive to me.
SW:  two syns for the butter, one syn for half a tbsp maple syrup and half a syn for the yogurt.

E:  maybe a good walk, maybe a Goldster class, maybe both

Summary:
again, low on healthy extras!  Never mind.
nine syns (but three healthy extras are the calorie equivalent of eighteen syns  so I'm not too fussed)

From the freezer: 
chicken sizzler
pork steak
maybe some veg