Morning, everyone.
Monday always feels a bit odd - it ought to be the beginning of the week but, for me, for this part of my life, the week begins when I step off those scales on Friday morning. So, in here, I'm half way through the week, more or less. And apart from one blip, it's going OK.
Still working on the freezer, still trying to create gaps and pleased that today is quite freezer heavy, one way and another.
Yesterday's photos:
This was NOT what I had planned.
The trouble with planning ahead is that there is potential for confusion and what I had was what I planned for this morning, not yesterday.
I don't care. It was lovely, a perfect Sunday morning start to the day.
Oh.
My.
Gosh!
This was absolutely lush.
I know it looks like a big old plateful but look - three thin, very lean slices of beef, loads of vegetables, some SW free gravy and . . that Yorkshire. So, so delicious.
I felt full afterwards but not uncomfortable, just satisfied and happy. I always plan a piece of fruit as a dessert but, more often than not, I save it for the 'danger time' around four thirty.
Works for me!
The air fried Yorkshire worked fine. I got in such a muddle with working out the syns that, in the end, I went into Nutracheck, put in the oil and the flour but not the egg (SW free) or the milk (part of a healthy extra A) and called it four portions (which it did, in fact, make) and it came out as 46 calories each which is two and a half syns.
In case you're interested, this is what I did.
I used equal capacities of a medium egg, plain flour (30g) and semi skimmed milk (around 60 ml) and whisked it all up together with some salt, pepper and a small splash of water. I left it stand - that's fine and it means you're not having to mix a batter when other stuff is hotting up in the kitchen.
I used four little pudding moulds which just fitted into one side of Nellie and into each measured half a tsp of vegetable oil. I then preheated them on air fry for five minutes. I would say longer might be better - the batter did sizzle when I added it but not loudly. I quickly put the tray back in and air fried on 210 for around thirteen minutes - I'd set it for fifteen but they were done at thirteen. Next time I'll see if 200 works OK.
So each pudding is two and a half syns but two of them, would be four and a half, just because of how the syns are worked out (20 calories = one syn).
As soon as the other three had cooled, I bagged them and they are in the freezer, to avoid me wondering how well they crisped up again if I used max crisp for a few minutes.
Anyway - I was so pleased. When the other three have been used up, I will try using wholemeal flour instead and, then, perhaps, a quarter of a tsp oil rather than half. It's worth a go anyway!
Dinner was a mix of leftovers and 'new' food.
I got a WW wrap and spread over one tbsp lighter creme fraiche and 20g grated cheddar. Then I added some leaves. I re-heated yesterday's leftover fajita mix (chicken, red onion, yellow pepper, mushroom and tomato with fajita spice, garlic granules and lime juice) and sweet potato from lunch, popped that on and folded up the wrap. The rest is just a simple salad with some 70% lighter salad cream.
So good and filling too. No yogurt needed!
Today's plans:
B: omelette filled with bacon, mushrooms and tomatoes
. . . and I am going to add a bit of grated cheese to the mix - it makes a very tasty addition, for sure.
SW: half a healthy extra A
L: home made fish finger pitta, salad; fruit
Basically, this is a fillet of fish from the freezer, cut into strips, egg and breadcrumbed and actifried.
It will go in a pitta with shredded lettuce and salad cream (and maybe other salad veg too). Doctor Who may prefer fish fingers and custard but I love fish fingers and salad cream or mayo. Yummy!
SW: the pitta is my B choice so I will have to weigh and syn the wholemeal breadcrumbs I use so let's estimate three syns to be on the safe side, plus one syn for salad cream or super light mayo
D: turkey kofta curry; maybe extra veg; yogurt
SW: it says this recipe is syn free (check the spice mix though) and half a syn if I have the yogurt.
Ex: Circuits today
Summary:
half a healthy extra A
one healthy extra B
four syns approx.
What do I mean by low spend?
At the beginning of this year, as part of a de-cluttering thing, I did a detailed audit of all the food I had in cupboards, fridge and freezer and was somewhat horrified at how much stuff I had.
So I determined to make a huge effort to reduce it down and use it up with minimal waste.
January and February were no spend and low spend months respectively. March is going to be another low spend month with just a few exceptions and, of course, all the essentials. It has got to work with Slimming World.
'Essential' means food such as fresh fruit, veg and dairy/eggs and other essentials including things like cleaning products and toiletries as needed. A few other things will come up through the month but generally it is just real essentials as I see 'essential'.
Of course, all regular bills, direct debits, etc, will still be paid as usual - they are essential.
It's really helping in these difficult times. I am still able to save a wodge of my income (which is all pensions now) as I have done since I retired, plus a bit more. After all, at some point, I will have to start replacing things - just not yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment