Saturday, 25-03-23: more-low-spend March

Morning, everyone.

I was extremely happy with one and a half pounds off yesterday at group.  Getting back there, slowly and steadily.

I was also very happy to win the raffle.  

It was about roasted veg and I put some to use for dinner.  The foil trays have gone away for now because I am mostly using Nellie for that sort of thing and they are way too big.  However, come Christmas, quite a different story.

I was very pleased to be able to cross a few things off the 'needed' shopping list.

I discussed my plans for lowering my final target slowly with Jen and she was perfectly happy with it.  I'll see how it goes next week and maybe will drop it a couple of pounds.  I don't want it to be too far away but far enough that I am not likely to achieve it in one week.

The main criterion for my target is getting comfortably back into my size 10 jeans again.

Yesterday's photos:

I didn't have the orange segments at group so I just piled them onto the plate with a couple of slices of melon and it made a deliciously juicy and refreshing breakfast.

The pitta toastie was very tasty but more like a quesadilla really, in texture anyway.  I decided against making coleslaw and just had the salad cream on the lettuce, etc.

Later on I had a plum and a pear.

I really felt like I was eating a rainbow for dinner.  The vegetables I used were sweet potato, red onion, yellow pepper, mushrooms, courgettes and tomatoes, with some chip seasoning and a sprinkle of garlic granules.  Extremely yum.

No room for any dessert.

Today's plans:

B:  waffle, fruit and yogurt

I'll make just one waffle; two is too much really.

SW:  half a healthy extra B and half a syn for yogurt

L:  pasta bake, salad; fruit

The pasta bake is from the freezer and I will top it with 15g grated cheese for extra yumminess.  I might have coleslaw instead of salad (or as well as!).
SW:  half a healthy extra A and one syn for salad cream

D: chicken fajitas, salsa, salad, chips; yogurt

I'll spray fry chicken with red onion, yellow pepper and, maybe, mushrooms plus a fajita spice mix, knock together a little salsa and I haven't yet decided if the chips will be potato or sweet potato.  Both will be nice.  I have some crème fraiche so will dollop some on for extra poshness!  :-)

SW:  half a syn for yogurt and two tbsps. lighter crème fraiche is three syns

Ex:  online SET class

Summary:

one healthy extra A

half a healthy extra B

five syns

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.