Monday, 28-02-22

Good morning!

Yesterday's meals:

A tasty breakfast!

No photo of lunch because Beth and Alex were round but I had chicken, two small roasties, broccoli, sprouts, cauliflower, mixed veg and parsnips and it was lovely!

Dinner was the steak bake made with a wholewheat thin with cheese and the chilli leftovers inside.  Baked in the oven, it was surprisingly like pastry, especially the edges where the two halved has been pressed together.  Definitely doing that again, for sure.
And yes, the veg was all leftovers.  Planned leftovers!

Today's plans:
I'm off to Hyde Hall for a course this morning so the Intermittent Fasting is going by the board today.

B:  overnight weetabix.
This seems to be a new 'thing' which personally I think is a bit silly as weetabix needs little encouragement to mush down and soften!  However, as it is a thing, let's go for it!
I have an awful lot of choccy weetabix crumbs at the bottom of the jar so I will use 40g of that, add fruit and yogurt and some skinny syrup and there you go.  Very easy!

The splash of oatly drink I will add will be so little, it won't really register on the syns scale.

SW:  one healthy extra B, half a syn for the oatly drink (if that) and half a syn if I use a flavoured yogurt

L:  chicken pasta soup; fruit
I never know whether to call this a thick soup or a thin casserole - chicken, real chicken stock, assorted veg and some orzo - delicious and pretty sustaining too!

SW:  I'm hoping this will be syn free

D:  sweet and sour chicken and veg with noodles; yogurt

I'm cheating and using a sachet of sweet and sour sauce - well, half a sachet - with the cooked chicken leftovers, some stir fry veg from the freezer and some pineapple or mango, also from the freezer, plus noodles I discovered when sorting out my dry goods shelves the other day.
SW:  the sauce is three syns but I think the rest is syn free providing I don't go bonkers and decide to syn the fruit (which I won't!!).  The yogurt is half a syn

E:  no circuit training today but I will be walking around Hyde Hall just a bit.

Summary:

half a healthy extra A for oatly drink

one healthy extra B

four syns

From the freezer:

fruit

butternut squash and sweet potato chunks

a bit of sweet corn

a few peas

stir fry veg

more fruit

and, by using chicken leftovers, I am keeping it out of the freezer!

Sunday, 27-02-22

Good morning!

Yesterday's meals:

It didn't look quite so pretty once I'd started eating, but this yogurt (under the muesli), fruit and muesli tasted wonderfully fresh and 'wholesome'.  

I had fun making the lentil pancake and, true to form, the first one was a bit of a mess while the others came out really well.  I quickly realised that they take a lot longer to actually cook that ordinary pancakes but that was not a problem.  As it was first time, I did them on pans rather than use the teppanyaki but next time I'll try them that way, remembering to keep the heat a bit lower than usual.

They came out very nicely.  I used the first one, the not-very-good one as a taster (yummy), made two more big ones and six little ones for an idea I had for tomorrow.
Unfortunately, I rolled up the third big one, intending to have it as a wrap for dinner tonight but it's just all cracked and broken - lesson learned - so I've had to replan.  I'm not sure what else I can use it for.
The little ones are in the freezer right now.

Next time, I will follow Eileen's advice and add some spices to pep it up a bit.

Chilli and rice for dinner.  I used one of my home grown chillis that dry so nicely just on the window ledge to spice up the mince and it was lovely.

Today's plans:

B:  egg, potato waffle, tomatoes and mushrooms

I'll have this a bit earlier than usual because lunch will be a bit earlier than usual - my usual, that is.

SW:  two syns for the potato waffle

L:  roast chicken, etc, a selection or veg, roasties; fruit

As Beth and Alex are round for dinner, it's a good excuse to do a good old roast dinner.  I've got some bog-standard stuffing mix which I won't have, but Beth and Alex will and I have all sorts of oddments of veg which I can use up.  Nice.

SW:  I reckon it will be syn free.

D:  chilli mince steak bake, leftover veg; yogurt

I have some chilli left over from yesterday so I'm going to make a steak bake with my crimpie (do you pronounce it crim-pee or crim-pie, I wonder?) with a bit of added grated cheddar for gooey-ness and have it with some left-over veg from lunch.

SW:  up to one healthy extra A for cheese, one healthy extra B (that's what I'm calling it anyway) for the wholemeal thin and half a syn for yogurt

E:  ankle weights, kettle exercises and perhaps a Lindsey YouTube session.

Summary:

one healthy extra A

one healthy extra B

two and a half syns

From the freezer:

potato waffle

chicken to roast

mixed veg

wholemeal thin

the mince was from the freezer yesterday

grated cheese

Saturday, 26-02-22

Good morning!

Half a pound off at SW group yesterday which I'm happy about.  Better a loss than a gain!

It was a good all round time.

It was a taster session so there was some nice food.  It was also the Free Food Festival comp which I won by default (no one else entered, which was a shame but not everyone is happy to invent a recipe, to be fair).  Mine may not be unique but I know it is original because I remember making it up from bits and bobs.  It was my roasted tomato and red pepper soup with garlic croutons and, though I say it myself, everyone liked it very much, so I didn't feel too fraudulent.

And then I got the slimmer of the week hamper, not because I was slimmer of the week - I certainly wasn't - but because she and the second in line both didn't stay to meeting so Jen drew the raffle again and I won it.  

And finally, there were some left over bits so the social team shared them out./  I came home with a lemon and mint mixer thingy from Aldi and a pot of 0% yogurt.  Nice.

Later on, my ankle weights arrived so I wore them for the rest of the day.  They're not all that heavy, just half a kilo each, so I hardly knew I was wearing them but when I took them off before bed, it felt like I was walking on air!

Yesterday's meals:

Breakfast was tasters.

Lunch was not very much because I was busy doing some clearing and organising in the kitchen and didn't realise how late it was.  I just had the last Skinny Dream bar.

Dinner was really nice.
One of the good things about sorting and reorganising is that one finds things that one had forgotten about and so it was with the rice.  I found half a bag of basmati and wild rice and another half bag of wholegrain jasmine rice, red rice and riceberry - whatever that is - which I will use once the first one has all been used up.  I've labelled the jar as 'posh rice' which should cover it.

Anyway, dinner was onion, red pepper, mushroom and chicken, all cooked in spray oil, then add some stock and some lighter crème fraiche and it was delicious without needing much in the way of seasoning at all.

Today's plans:

B:  muesli, fruit and yogurt

I'd half forgotten I had the muesli but now everything is in glass jars, it's loads easier to see what I have available.

SW:  one healthy extra B for the muesli

L:  lentil pancake wrap with feta, carrot, cabbage and mayo, side salad; fruit

I first saw this wrap recipe thing on YouTube.  It's a Frugal Queen recipe and is so, so simple but she sings its praises so I thought I'd give it a go and see.  I like lentils so they won't be unpalatable however they turn out, I think.
Here's the links:
https://www.frugalqueeninfrance.com/recipes/ocimyivw5vuygis1rea7wpcc2r6ilr

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkfF2yOrmy0

SW:  one healthy extra A for the feta, one syn for the mayo.

D:  chilli, rice and mixed veg; yogurt
I have the rest of the rice to use up, I'll get some cooked mince from the freezer, spice it up, add some red kidney beans and Bob's your uncle!

SW:  half a syn for the yogurt

E:  I'll wear my ankle weights but my back is a bit sore so I won't do much else today

Summary:

one healthy extra A

one healthy extra B

one and a half syns

From the freezer:

mince

mixed veg

Friday, 25-02-22

Good morning!

Yesterday's meals:

Breakfast - the one I had planned to have yesterday!

Lunch  and very filling it was too.

I saved the fruit (an orange) for around half past four.

Just some cooked savoury mince, some cooked pasta and some cheese.  Mix the first two, spoon it into an ovenproof dish, sprinkle over the grated cheese and bake in a 180C oven until the cheese is melty and browning.  So good.

A kvarg finished off the eating window.

Today's plans:

B:   taster day at group

It should all be free/low syn food but I doubt I will want anything afterwards

SW:  I'm assuming no syns

L:  cheesy tuna jacket potato, salad; fruit

I'll mix some canned tuna with some super light mayo and some cottage cheese and serve it on a small jacket potato

SW:  one syn for the mayo

Sn:  oatly skinny drink

SW:  one healthy extra A

D:  creamy chicken and rice, roasted tomatoes, some other veg; yogurt

Just some chicken with some onion, mushroom and red pepper plus, probably, some peas, cooked in a pan, add some stock and some crème fraiche and thicken, if necessary, with a bit of cornflour.

SW:  three syns for some crème fraiche, one syn for cornflour and the rest should be free apart from the yogurt which is half a syn.

E:  kettle exercises, Lindsey's homework and I've ordered some ankle weights and if they come today I will be trying them on as I generally move around the house as usual.

Summary:

one healthy extra A

no healthy extra B but there will probably be some at taster

five and a half syns

From the freezer:

chicken

peas

Not so good today

Thursday, 24-02-22

Good morning!

It was another two meal day yesterday.  Alex came round and I just didn't have breakfast - but, to be fair, I wasn't hungry and hardly missed it until around one o'clock.

That's definitely a thing about Intermittent Fasting; a number of people who do it have two meals a day (and possibly a 'snack', which I call a small meal really!), not three.  I'm not particularly fussed one way or the other but it doesn't bother me to have just the two main meals from time to time.

If you read my other blog, you'll know that I've started sorting through my dry goods with a view to putting them all in some nice, glass jars I found in Pound Stretchers, square jars that don't waste space in between.  As a result, I have found bits and bobs of stuff that I need to use up - don't want to waste them and I hardly realised they were stuffed on the shelf really.  I need to find somewhere to pout them so they don't get absorbed back into the general darkness of a cupboard.  If I leave them out, I will use them up.

Yesterday's meals:

So - the first meal was a cheese, onion and tomato toastie and, as you can see, the outside got toasted before the inside had melted.  I popped the second half into the microwave, briefly, to melt it off a bit and it was very nice!

I had three very small easy peelers (counts as one portion of fruit)

After personal training, I had one of the remaining Skinny Dream bars for three syns (or 70 calories)

Here's dinner.  The steak looks large but it was pretty much the same size as usual, just thinner.  As I missed mushrooms at breakfast, I cooked some to have on the steak.  Nice.

And I finished off with a Mullerlight, as usual.

Today's plans:

B:  egg, potato waffle, mushrooms and tomatoes (same as yesterday)

SW:  two syns for the potato waffle

L:  ham salad roll/sandwich/pitta, finger salad; fruit

I'll see which B choice I fancy nearer the time.  The ham is nearly the end of the Christmas ham that I sliced and froze.

SW:  one healthy extra B for the bread and a bit of an A for cheese triangles to use instead of spread.

D:  pasta bolognaise bake, veg on the side; yogurt

I'll use one of the frozen portions of mince with some wholewheat pasta and some grated cheese on the top.  Very easy, very simple and very tasty.

SW:  one healthy extra A for the cheese, one syn for the mince (it says on the container) and half a syn for the yogurt

E:  kettle exercise and Lindsey's homework.  I've ordered some ankle weights to help with continuing to strengthen my calves, ankles and feet.

Summary:

around one and a half healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

three and a half syns (plus another three if I have a Skinny Dream bar)

From the freezer:

potato waffle

bread or whatever

ham

savoury mince

grated cheese

A SW food haul from Morrisons

Not terribly big, not particularly exciting, but this is what I needed this week.   For newer readers, I am catering just for myself.

In no particular order . . .

For the freezer:
I know these are not the most frugal choice but they are so very handy when you're pushed for time or just can't be bothered and therefore in danger of making poorer choices.  One bag is a jolly good portion for one or two smaller servings and takes three minutes in the microwave.  Syn free and a mix of speed and free veg - this particular one is all speed.

Drinks:

No added sugar, syn free on SW and there's so many flavours to choose from.  Nice with loads of ice.

I had completely run out apart from Winter Warmer and Winter Spice which I tend to have hot.  I'm weaning myself off cans of fizzy pop, especially the cola kinds - I don't think they help my sleep patterns at the moment.

Salad:

I'm now OK for tomatoes again.  The little ones are for salads and the bigger ones for frying in spray oil for breakfasts.  

I got bags of leaves because I have a little bit of little gem lettuce left and leaves are very handy.  Leave the bag open in the fridge and they don't go slimy so quickly, I have found.

Both are SW speed.

I didn't need any other veg this week.

Fruit:

The melon is a treat fruit and the easy peelers are essential!

Both speed

Dairy:

Just Mullerlights and a Kvarg - both are half a syn per portion and I almost always have one after my evening meal.

Cupboard items:

I really did run short of tomato-ey stuff.  
Both are speed or free on Slimming World.

I'm find with all the other stuff - veg, pasta, rice, cheese, and so on, and the freezer is loaded!

Wednesday, 23-02-22

Good morning!

Yesterday's meals:

This was an incredibly filling breakfast!   Leftovers of the campfire stew  with the usual breakfast mushrooms and tomatoes.  Lovely.

Could anything be more different to what I had actually planned.

I went out shopping (not for food) between breakfast and lunch and fell for the Skinny Dream rocky road bars.  Three syns per bar so two are easily 'within plan' and I enjoyed them so, so much.  There's three left and I'm hoping I can have just one each day rather than scoffing them all and then feeling bad about it.

And I was still full through the afternoon so no more fruit or oatly drink.

Dinner used up the last of the pork and it really was very, very nice indeed.  Soften onion and mushroom in spray oil, add the cooked pork, chicken stock powder and a bit of boiling water.  Stir in three cheese triangles and when that's melted in, add the cooked pasta.  Really simple.  It'd be nice with chicken or turkey as well.

A yogurt finished off the day.

Today's plans:

B:  egg on a potato waffle, tomatoes and mushrooms

Just what it says.  I do love tomatoes and mushrooms for breakfast.

SW:  two syns for a potato waffle

L:  cheese, tomato and onion toastie, side salad; fruit

Easy and perfect after personal training.

SW:  one and a half healthy extra As, one healthy extra B

D:  steak, chips and coleslaw; yogurt

Another favourite.  The steak is from Aldi and not as expensive as you might think.

SW:  one syn for mayo in the coleslaw and half a syn for the yogurt

E:  Personal training

Summary:

one and a half healthy extra As (cheese)

one healthy extra B (bread)

three and a half syns plus another three syns if I have a Skinny Dream

From the freezer:

potato waffle

bread

steak

Tuesday, 22-02-22

Good morning!
It looks like today is a day of leftovers rather than using up freezer food but at least I'm saving them from the freezer

Yesterday's meals:

This had 175mls Oatly skinny, a dollop of natural yogurt, some raspberries, mango and strawberries (all from the freezer) and 10g oats all zizzed together.
So delicious and very filling too.

I mixed the leftover apple, onion and some of the pork with some grated cheese, piled it into a pitta, wrapped it in foil and warmed it up in the oven.  Very nice - much nicer than it looks.

Lovely campfire stew with some orzo cooked in it.  Yummy.

And I finished with a yogurt

Today's plans:

B:  campfire stew, mushrooms, tomatoes

I know it sounds daft but what is campfire stew after all but ham and beans and that's very breakfast-y.

SW:  syn free

L:  soup, croutons; fruit

More of the broccoli, leek and butterbean soup from the freezer, to which I will add a couple of cheese triangles and a splash of oat drink for half an A choice.

SW:  half a healthy extra A and one healthy extra B for bread

D: pork and apple pasta, mixed veg; yogurt

I still have loads of pork left which really must be used today.  You seem to get such a lot when you slice it thinly.  I'm definitely getting pork fillet again, it seems great value.
Anyway - I plan to do very much the same as Sunday except that I will used some cheese triangles instead of crème fraiche in the sauce and I'll probably add some thinly sliced mushrooms to the mix as well.  Oh - and the pork is already cooked, of course.

SW:  half a healthy extra A for two cheese triangles and half a syn for the yogurt 

E:  kettle exercises, Lindsey's homework and perhaps a walk

Summary:

one healthy extra A

one healthy extra B

half a syn

From the freezer:

soup

mixed veg

and I've stopped the leftover stew from going in the freezer!

Monday, 21-02-22

Good morning!

I felt rather guilty yesterday when I worked out that I was having nothing from the freezer so this week I really must make more of an effort.  It won't reduce if I don't use it, will it?
Of course, having realised this, today, typically, has leftovers to use up.  Ah, well, from tomorrow I will focus more on freezer food again.

After skipping dinner last night (see below), I feel absolutely fine this morning, not the least bit hungry, and I slept like a log.

I'm still dithering about what to cook for the free food taster on Friday morning.

Yesterday's meals:

Breakfast:  some oat drink, an apple and an orange and it was lovely!  I didn't have any yogurt.

The pork with apple and onion was absolutely lovely although I reckon it's rather a long winded way of cooking it and one could cut out the oven bit completely by slicing the pork raw and cooking in the pan instead.
A splash of cider would be nice too!
With it I had carrots, sprout, broccoli and cauliflower and it was so filling that when it came to dinner time I just wasn't hungry.
So I simply skipped dinner.

Today's plans:

B:  smoothie

. . . made with fruit, oats and oatly drink

SW:  one healthy extra A for the oatly drink.  Rules to the contrary, I don't syn fruit just because it's all blended up, any more than I syn veg because I've blended them into a soup.  Also two syns for 10g of oats as I'm having my B choice for lunch

L:  Pork, onion and apple cheesy pitta, finger salad; fruit

I have quite a lot of the pork tenderloin left plus some of the apple and onion.  I'll thinly slice the remaining pork, add some grated cheddar to the mix, stuff a pizza and toast or griddle it.

SW:  one healthy extra B for the pitta, one healthy extra A for grated cheddar and one syn for the crème fraiche that I added to the apple and onion yesterday

D:  Campfire stew with pasta and veg (planned for yesterday); yogurt

The veg is already cooked and just needs warming up so this will be quite a speedy dinner and very easy too - I will cook the pasta in the stew.

SW:  half a syn for the yogurt and the rest is syn free

E:  circuit training

Summary:

two healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

three and a half syns

From the freezer:

fruit

pitta

Sunday, 20-02-22

Good morning!

I made that campfire stew from Rachel's blog and it was so easy and very delicious but, if you make it, do remember to soak the ham for twenty four hours before hand or it will come out very salty indeed.  As it was, I didn't need to add any salt.
And it makes LOADS!

This recipe wasn't Rachel's own, I need to emphasise, it was adapted from one from the Pinch of Nom site/book and, to be fair, that wasn't original either; it's a very old recipe.

This whole thing about being 'original' is exercising my brain somewhat at the moment as SW are running a Free Food recipe competition and one of the things on the sheet that you fill in is a box to tick saying it's an original recipe.
But where does 'adapting' stop and 'original' start?  I can't honestly say that many of the recipes/ideas I use are original - they have all come from somewhere and been adapted, 'optimised' as SW calls it.

What do you think.  At what point does a recipe become more 'original' than 'adapted'?

Yesterday's meals:

Breakfast was choccy weetabix minis with oat drink and some defrosted fruit from the freezer - raspberries (from garden and allotment and so yummy) and black cherries.

On the YouTube SW and calorie counting vlogs I follow, it is becoming quite a 'thing' to have what they call 'overnight weetabix' - like overnight oats but with weetabix although, to be honest, it could quite as easily be called 'quarter of an hour weetabix' seeing how quickly it mushes!  Anyway - I have a lot of weetabix crumbs in the container so I suspect this will be featuring at some point soon.

Sushi, coleslaw and tomatoes for lunch and very nice too.

I also had a couple of easy peelers and later on in the afternoon I had some cooked chicken (SW free/protein)

The campfire stew, described on her blog by Rachel.

It's really, really nice although next time I will leave out the smoked paprika (or add a lot less).  I had it as it came out of the pot, given that it has some speed veg in it already and it was filling.  I suppose it would be with ham and beans in it.

Today's plans:

B:  fruit and yogurt, oat drink
I'm not feeling particularly hungry this morning so just a lighter breakfast
SW:  half a healthy extra A for the oat drink

L:  roast pork with apple and onion, various veg; fruit

I treated myself to a proper pork tenderloin (or fillet) from Aldi and realised that . . .
a)  they are not terribly expensive (£3.65) and

b)  it's a very good way of getting a roast pork dinner when you just cook for yourself with just enough leftovers for the next few days
I'll do the same as before and just add some lighter crème fraiche at the end.
Here's the recipe I used and adapted:  https://www.inspiredtaste.net/21117/perfect-roasted-pork-tenderloin-recipe-with-apples/

SW:  I will use spray oil, one syn for two tsps Dijon mustard, up to three syns for two tbsp lighter crème fraiche and I will miss out the butter completely

D:  campfire stew (again); yogurt

This time, I am adding some orzo to the mix as it reheats.  I think pasta texture will go well with it.

I'd love to also add some broad beans or edamame beans but I need speed veg, not starchy veg, so it will be a choice from cauliflower, broccoli, sprouts or carrots, left over from lunch (no point cooking twice when once will do!).
The rest is going into the freezer for now.

SW:  half a syn for the yogurt

E:  Kettle exercises and Lindsey's homework

Summary:

half a healthy extra A

no B (but there's plenty of fibre in the plans)

five syns

From the freezer:

nothing from the freezer today and rather a lot of campfire stew going in.  Oh, dear!

Saturday, 19-02-22

Good morning!

Well, I did go to group and I lost one and a half pounds, yay!
I had decided not to go and had messaged Jen to that effect.  However, when the time came, my conscience was bothering me (I'm on the social team so there are commitments for me), the winds were very slight and I thought if they strengthened quickly I could always leave after the weighing (as several others did).  However, while the walk home got a bit interesting, it was OK and safe enough so I'm very glad I went.  I wouldn't have gone, had it been the afternoon!

Hoping everyone reading this is safe and sound and that UK readers haven't had any problems during such strong winds.

Yesterday's meals:

OK, so breakfast was  - er - different because I popped into Morrisons on the way home and bought some naughties which I promptly scoffed.  Ooops.
And then at lunch time the cleaners arrived and when they'd finished I just made myself a nice chicken sandwich - I haven't had an ordinary sandwich for ages - and it was very nice indeed.  I forgot to photo it though.

That's what I call a good Friday Fakeaway.  Delicious!

Today's plans:

B:  weetabix, oat milk and fruit.

I had taken some fruit out of the freezer for the breakfast I never had yesterday so I must use that up today

SW:  one healthy extra B for the weetabix and an A for 350 mls oatly skinny - I won't have all of it with the weetabix, I will have some as a drink in the afternoon.

L:  sushi and salad; fruit

Again, planned yesterday and not eaten and I must have the sushi today.  I'll probably make some coleslaw to add variety.

SW:  one and a half syns for the sushi and one for some mayo

D:  campfire stew, jacket potato and various veg; yogurt

The lovely Rachel (Eternally 28 and Trying to be Less Fat) posted this on her main blog and I remembered that I have a 'Be Good to Yourself' small gammon ham in the freezer that I could use.  I got it out last night and it will simmer away in the slow cooker all day!
Here's the link to the recipe post.
http://eternally28.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2022-02-17T15:35:00Z&max-results=1

Do pop over and take a look (if you don't already) - I always end up smiling/chuckling over her posts; they're very cheering.

SW:  as far as I can see, it is syn free apart from dessert which is half a syn

E:  Lindsey's homework and kettle exercise

Here's a link to the 'homework' clip on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cvWtetz9YY&list=PLjBnYixEZmRfRruJ5WJglcRhyO_G62g4h&index=5&t=27s

Summary:

one healthy extra A

one healthy extra B

three syns

From the freezer:

fruit

small gammon joint

Friday, 18-02-22

Good morning!

Weigh day today.  That is, if SW happens.  At the moment the wind is just a bit gusty but by seven it is supposed to be horrendous - 60 or 70 mph, which is pretty extreme for round here.  Jen has said she will get there if she can but, if the wind does pick up as expected, I will be urging her to stay safe at home.   She can perhaps organise a Zoom meeting, if necessary.

Yesterday's meals:

Baked beans two ways! (see below for t'other)

As with a lot of my meals, this was loads nicer than it looks.   I added leftover chilli to the baked beans and enjoyed the lot on toast.  To be honest, I could have got two portions out of it but wanted to use them up.

I must make these baked beans again.

 Afters was three little easy peelers.

Another one that doesn't look 'Instagrammable' in the least but which tasted great.
I cooked broccoli and cauliflower (I bought some in the end) but decided I didn't need any more veg on the side
In a pan, I spray fried onion and some cubed chicken until both were cooked through.  Then I added some boiling water.  I meant to also add chicken stock powder but I forgot and, actually, it wasn't necessary anyway.  I melted in two cheese triangles and some grated cheddar and then just a bit of cornflour to thicken (I added a bit too much). I put the veg in an ovenproof dish, spooned the chicken and sauce over, added some grated cheddar and just popped it all under the grill for about five minutes.  Then I had a Mullerlight for dessert.
Dead easy and very tasty.

Today's plans:

B:  roulade and fruit or yogurt and fruit
A favourite breakfast to have once the SW meeting is over.  If the power has gone, I enjoy fruit and yogurt too so win-win
SW:  if I use a flavoured yogurt or kvarg, that's half a syn

L:  I'm not really sure, it depends on if we have power or not.  I have some sushi and some cooked chicken in the fridge so I think I'm planning a salad.  Then fruit (which I always fancy!)
If we have power, I might do a jacket potato.

SW:  the sushi is one and a half syns, the chicken is syn free and mayo/coleslaw would be one syn.

D:  burger with the trimmings, chips, salad; yogurt

I very often have a treat meal on Fridays, trying to stay on plan but not fretting too much if I wander a bit outside.
I sit and think 'what do I REALLY fancy' - there's not a lot one can't adapt with a bit of imagination - and today it was a really nice, home made burger in a roll.  At the moment, I intend to use half beef mince and half pork mince, both from the freezer, which will make two good sized ones so that's tomorrow's lunch sorted out, with some cheddar, some bacon, some sliced tomato, gherkins and shredded lettuce and some burger sauce.  Plus a few chips and a side salad.  

It will be a wholemeal roll - I'm not going too far out and anyway, I prefer wholemeal to white.

SW:  the burger sauce will be four syns but half of that will do for tomorrow so two syns this evening, the roll is a healthy extra B, the cheese will be a healthy extra A, maybe more.  One syn for some breadcrumbs from the freezer as they really do improve the texture of the finished burger.  Dessert is half a syn

E:  Lindsey's homework, kettle exercises

Summary:

two healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

six and a half syns - not bad for a treat meal!

From the freezer: 

beef and pork minces

wholemeal roll

chips

(that will be the last of the hm frozen chips and I am definitely making some more - it was so very useful to be able to count out eight or nine chips and loads better value than buying a bag of what are certainly not Maris Piper potatoes)

Thursday, 17-02-22

Good morning!

Yesterday's meals:

I enjoyed this breakfast.  Two eggs, two pieces of bacon, mushrooms and tomatoes.    Very filling indeed!

I do love a toastie!

Dessert was an orange.

After personal training, I had some oat milk/drink.

It way not look great but it was very tasty.  I finished off with a yogurt and a couple of very small easy peelers.

There's a bit of the chilli left and I will add that to the beans for lunch

Today's plans:

B:  home made beans and sausage with an egg on top
I made the beans yesterday with leftovers of this, that and the other and I added two 'real' chipolatas as well.
SW:  four syns for the chipolatas but I think the rest is free, pretty much.

L:  beans on toast; fruit
Using up the rest of the baked beans made yesterday because I don't want to freeze them.   I'm adding what's left of the chilli and I might use some of my healthy extras on grated cheese to sprinkle over.
SW:  I've already counted the syns for the beans, half a healthy extra B and half a healthy extra A

D:  chicken, broccoli and sprout bake, other veg; yogurt

I've adapted this from a slimming eats recipe to cut out the pasta and use sprouts instead of cauliflower because I have the former.

Here's the link to the initial recipe:
https://www.slimmingeats.com/blog/chicken-broccoli-and-cauliflower-pasta-bake

SW:  up to a tbsp cornflour is one and a half syns (I won't need as much as that), the cheese will be one and a half healthy extra As (two laughing cow triangles and 30g cheddar), a tsp wholegrain mustard is half a syn and I think that's it.  Oh, and half a syn for dessert

E:  kettle exercise, maybe a walk

Summary:

two healthy extra As

half a healthy extra B

six and a half syns

From the freezer: 
bread
bbq sauce (for the beans)

mixed veg