Saturday, 08-10-22

Morning, everyone.

Well, as expected, it wasn't good news at weigh in.  Four and a half pounds on and I think I have escaped lightly, to be honest.  At least I now have my starting point for the Christmas Challenge which is to lose one stone before the last weigh in before Christmas.
An extra motivation is that if I don't, some of my Christmas jumpers will not look great.

Today is going to be tricky as far as meals are concerned as I am off to a friend's wedding and reception.  I have no idea what the reception will be.  I think a buffet would be best as I can have a little bit and then come home for a proper meal and, as I am driving, no alcohol will be consumed!

Yesterday's meals:

Breakfast was a banana - no photo taken

I had a friend over for lunch and it just wasn't appropriate to take a photo.  That was a bit sad because it looked amazing and tasted great!

So I took a photo of the gizmo I used to make a wrap basket.  The wrap was small and, as it turned out, wasn't a healthy extra B, it was three syns.  Swings and roundabouts!
All you do is push the wrap into the mould, no need to oil, and pop it in the oven for about ten minutes.  It goes crispy and holds its shape when you take it out of the mould.  
Then you can fill it with whatever . . .just imagine a wrap basket with a mince and rice mixture inside.  It could be chilli or anything that's not too runny and the base can go a bit soggy but it doesn't leak - at least it never has for me. 

We filled the baskets with the Mexican pork one pot (delicious), added some grated cheese (so I did get a bit of healthy extra A) and with a salad on the side it was attractive and tasty.  My friend had seconds so it must have been nice.

Once again, I must recommend Simply Cook.  The Mexican pork one pot is delicious and a so-called two portion kit makes enough for four moderate portions.  I have two pots of it in the freezer and will reproduce the meal in the coming week.  I do have a referral link and will post it down at the bottom with an explanation of Simply Cook.

This was dinner and oh, my!!
I think my eyes were bigger than my tum - I couldn't manage both the bacon chops so that's today's breakfast sorted out, pretty much.

Today's meal plans:

B:  bacon and egg butty or roll, tomatoes and mushrooms

I'll have this late morning as I have no wish for tummy rumbles just as the bride says 'I do'!  And knowing my luck . . .   :-)

SW:  one healthy extra B and, maybe, one syn for some BBQ sauce

L:   I really don't know but fingers crossed it isn't too 'bad'.  No alcohol anyway, as I'm driving - that will make a difference

D:  Again, I really don't know as I might be hungry or I might be full so I've got a Spanish rice and veg portion from the freezer to which I can add some chopped bacon, if wanted, and if I don't want it, I can have it tomorrow instead.  Actually, thinking about it, I am sure I have some smoked fish in the freezer so I could make a sort of kedgeree for breakfast, couldn't I?

E:  probably not much at all

Summary:
I really can't give a summary today but I hope it will all be sensible and 'healthy'

I said above that I'd do another waffle about Simply Cook.  I haven't been asked to do this by Simply Cook, nor do I receive any payment apart from what it says in the last bit.  I just happen to think it's a really good thing and am happy to share

Simply Cook is a recipe kit service that gives you a way of cooking interesting and different meals very simply without the hassle of buying specialised spices and sauces, etc, that might then just sit in the back of the cupboard until you do a clear out (been there, got the certificate!).  It differs from services like Gusto or Hello Fresh in that you provide the other ingredients, none of which are particularly hard to get or costly. 

It provides the sauces, spice mixes, etc, in a compact, letter-box friendly, recyclable cardboard box.  When you open it up, this is what you get - four meal kits and the recipe cards to match.

Inside each kit are three clearly labelled little pots and, I believe, everything is recyclable - I recycle it all anyway.

When you sign up, you get an introductory free kit of four meals and recipe cards for just the cost of the postage (see below).  You do have to 'sign up' but can choose every two week, every month or every six week (I do every month) or you can delay a delivery or ask for an extra one straight away (mine arrived within two days).

I haven't tried cancelling completely, nor do I intend to as it is really good, but, from other reviews I have read, I gather cancelling is also dead easy and trouble free, pretty much a click of a button.

Each set of four kits is a tenner plus postage.   Depending on what preferences you have set, you get a varying range of choices to match what you have set but I have found that I am spoilt for choice.  To make it better value, I have also found that each kit to serve two actually makes enough for three or four and there's a lot of flexibility there too - the recipe cards suggests some substitutions and it's not the end of the world if you use less rice/pasta, more or different veg, etc.

OK, so here's the bit I sort of feel uncomfortable with in a way but hey - whatever!

You do indeed get your first month's box free apart from postage but I also have a referral link which means that if you use my referral link to access the site, when you order your first box, I also get a free box.   You don't have to, you can access via Google or whatever but I'd be a bit daft not to say, wouldn't I?  Everything helps at the moment!

My referral link is  https://www.simplycook.com/invite/YPG20X?t=cp&pg=ref&via=dt