Thursday, 14-07-22

Good morning, everyone.

More sunshine, more salads!  Salad style lunches are just perfect when the heat is rising, don't you think.  They don't have to be clever or complicated (mine today is leftovers from dinner yesterday) and they are so quick and easy.  

Changing the subject . . . 

A Slimming World friend told me about 'Simply Cook'.  It's a company that seems to be a cross between JD Seasonings/Spice Queen and Hello Fresh.  They provide all the spice and sauce needed to make a recipe that they provide, you get all the other ingredients to make it up.  Because I've not used it before, I got the first order free - four recipe kits free and you pay a pound postage.  The pack fits through the standard letter box.  Quite a lot of the kits are already SW synned and on the site which is very useful.

The kits and recipes focus on Eastern cuisine with just a few other cuisines and I have to say they look jolly good, mostly the sort of thing I enjoy but would not necessarily make myself.  So I've decided to give them a go and see what I think.  As you know, I'm always on the lookout for new ideas and flavours.

You can choose how often you want to order - every week, every two weeks or once a month - and you can cancel at any time, either just the next order or completely.  The kits are £2.50 each which compares well with others of the same ilk but remember, you have to provide the other ingredients yourself.

This is not a sponsored thing, I haven't been paid to say all this and the free starter kits are available for everyone.  There is a thing about recommending a friend and sharing a free box but I really can't be bothered with all that complication.  I'll let you know what I think as and when I make each recipe but, if you're interested in taking a look, here's the link to information and the free starter offer.

Yesterday's meals:

I went fruit picking before breakfast (strawberries, raspberries, apricots and plums - so gorgeous) and by the time I got home and sorted everything out, I didn't want to fuss around with eggs so I put together a nice big bowl of fresh fruit (probably more than I should have really), dolloped one syns-worth of 5% yogurt on top and it was absolutely perfect, filling me up until lunch time.

The coronation chicken recipe worked really well.  I used two level tbsp superlight mayo and one of 5% yogurt for the sauce (one and a half syns) and grapes instead of the sultanas.  I didn't want any bread or whatever with it so I just made a nice salad with some of my agave nectar/grain mustard/lime juice dressing and dolloped the chicken on top.  Gorgeous.

After Personal Training, I had a lovely, juicy peach.  Yum.

I ummed and ahed about turning dinner into a risotto but a risotto is lots of rice plus some other stuff and I wanted lots of other stuff (chicken and veg) plus some rice.  So I kept it simple and it was deliciously filling.

There's some left over so that will form the basis of a salad for lunch today.

I finished off with just a Mullerlight.  I couldn't be bothered to blend it with frozen fruit or anything fancy.

I did the hour of personal training and the steps for yesterday were just over 12,000

Today's plans

B:  bacon, egg, tomatoes. mushrooms

My usual cooked breakfast and very nice too.

SW:  speed, free and protein

L:  chicken and rice salad; fruit salad

Leftover from last night plus salad veg.  All nice and easy.

SW:  one syn for a bit of my dressing

D:  salmon, green beans and broccoli; fruit and yogurt

This dressing I keep going on about was originally a dressing for salmon to drizzle over before cooking, so that's what I will do tonight.

SW:  one syn(ish) for the dressing and half a syn for a Mullerlight

Exercise:  nothing organised today but I'll probably do an online walk and some strength stuff - squats, plank, etc, when I remember.

Summary:

not healthy extras - I don't fancy faffing around with these in the very hot weather but I know they are there, should I feel a bit peckish.  Two As and a B make a nice cheese sandwich, for example.

two and a half syns - however, big however, I have a friend round this afternoon and I'm making just a small amount of shortbread so I will probably have just one piece.  I won't mind because I have the syns.