Thursday, 31-08-23

  Good morning, everyone.
Weigh in tomorrow and I have to admit I have hopped on the scales a couple of times earlier in the week after the co-codamol created gain last Friday.  I won't be making a habit of it though and that was then, not now.

Are you a scale hopper?

Yesterday's meal photos:

Such a nice breakfast - cheesy omelette with bacon and mushroom plus tomatoes on top.  Yum!

I had an apple much earlier, before Personal Training

Apologies for the super-bright lunchtime sunshine.  A very nice dinner of mainly leftovers.

Later on I had an easy peeler.

It doesn't look much but the cod, courgette and tomato bake was really delicious.

And that was the end of the day's eating.

Today's plans:

B:  baked egg custard with fruit

I watched someone's vlog where they made and had this and I thought why not try it.  I could use sweetener or, perhaps, I might use real sugar and syn it -or even half and half.  I'll decide when I make it but a level tsp is one syn.

Here's the recipe, from the British Heart Foundation site.
https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/support/healthy-living/healthy-eating/recipe-finder/baked-egg-custard-with-nutmeg

SW:  let's assume I use two tsps sugar for two syns plus pretty much half an A for 150mls semi skimmed milk

L:   tomato and roasted red pepper soup, crunchy salad veg; fruit

I planned this for a few days ago but changed the planning so I'm making it today instead.  Gotta use up some of those tomatoes.  :-)

SW:  syn free

D:  chilli in a wrap 'taco' bowl, salad; fruit/yogurt

The bowl is easy.  Just drape a wrap over an oven proof bowl (or in a mould, if you have one) and pop in the oven for five minutes or so until it has baked hard.

The chilli will just be my bog-standard recipe with <5% beef or pork mince, veg, tomatoes and either some mixed beans or some kidney beans.  I'll pop yogurt on top, if it is too spicy.

SW:  one healthy extra A for cheese (because it's chilli and you have to . . .), one healthy extra B for the wrap

Exercise: gentle back exercises x 3 (from Lindsey, just six or seven minutes each time)

Summary:

one and a half healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

two syns

Wednesday, 30-08-23

  Good morning, everyone.

Yesterday's meal photos:

It's hard to beat a simple good old cooked English breakfast, I think.

I enjoyed the stuffed pepper which I made using Monday's leftover bol mixture plus a few added veggies and a small, green pepper.  I softened the halved pepper in Nellie, spooned in the mince, topped with cheese and put it all back into the ninja for a short while.  Lovely with coleslaw and some tomatoes.

I had an apple and some grapes for afters.

The fairly bog-standard but absolutely scrummy chicken and veg pasta with one syn's worth of mixed seeds sprinkled over.  I couldn't manage all of this so there's a bit left for today's lunch.

I had some fruit and yogurt that was left over from Monday's breakfast.

Today's plans:

B:  bacon and mushroom omelette, tomatoes

Just what it says.

SW:  should be syn free but if I add some cheese (and I probably will because it's nice), that will be an A

L:  chicken and beef pasta bake, coleslaw. salad; fruit

It's three cheers for leftovers!  I have leftover pasta bake and I have two thin slices of cooked beef so I will cut the beef up and add it to the bake, reheat it, add some mixed pulses and have it with leftover coleslaw and, probably, cucumber and tomato, both from the garden.
Sounds awful, doesn't it, but I bet it will taste great because the sauce is delicious.
SW  one syn for some philly light in the sauce and one for salad cream

D:  cod, tomato and courgette bake; fruit/yogurt

My hairdresser gave me this idea so I'm trying it out.

Put a cod fillet in a small oven proof dish and layer tomato and courgette slices over the top and bake, uncovered.  Then sprinkle over breadcrumbs and grated cheese and pop it back in the oven for a while.

SW:  two syns for 20g breadcrumbs and one A for cheese.

Exercise:  a shorter personal training session with back exercise and some massage.

Summary:

up to two healthy extra As (cheese)

no healthy extra Bs

four

Tuesday, 29-08-23

  Good morning, everyone.

Yesterday's meal photos:

It was well worth the little bit of extra time and effort it took to souffle the omelette for breakfast.  Light and fluffy but filling at the same time.

I so love a toastie and this was delish.
I hadn't synned it properly yesterday.  It was one B plus three extra syns for the bread, one A for the cheese, two and a half syns for the ham and one and a half for the chutney so quite high syn but worth every last bit.

Later on, I had an orange.

A very nice spag bol for dinner, ever so much tastier than it looks, and a pear and a few grapes to finish the day off.

Today's plans:

B:  bacon, egg, fried bread, tomatoes

Just a bog-standard cooked breakfast.  I 'fry' the bread by spraying it with stray oil and popping it in the pan or under the grill.  It usually goes really nice and crispy.

SW:  one healthy extra B for bread

L:  stuffed pepper, salad; fruit

I had planned a Caesar salad but I have mince left over from last night so it's a stuffed pepper instead.  I can do it entirely in the ninja and it's really just a construction job although I'll add a few extra vegetables to the mince mixture.  I might make some coleslaw as I have cabbage.l

SW:  one healthy extra A for grated cheese and one syn for salad cream

D: creamy chicken and tomato pasta; fruit and yogurt

Just what it says.  I have loads and loads of tomatoes to use.

SW:  three syns for 40g philly light for the 'creamy' bit

Exercise:  maybe a gentle stretch routine and, hopefully, a bit of a walk.

Summary:

one healthy extra A

one healthy extra B

four syns

A week of meals on Slimming World

 These photos are a resume of most of the meals I have had over the last week, excluding desserts, snacks, naughty things, etc. It starts on Saturday and goes through to the following Friday because our group meets on Friday mornings.

Slimming World - restricting?  Few choices?  Going without?   Absolutely no way!

Saturday, 26-08-23

B:  bacon and egg bagel, mushrooms, tomatoes

L:  h m gazpacho, crunchy salad veg

D:  chicken and veg fusilli arrabbiata

Sunday, 27-08-23

B:  apple cinnamon oat pancakes with strawberry coulis and cinnamon yogurt

L:  roast beef dinner on a Yorkshire platter

D:  sweet chilli salmon, leftover veg from lunch

Monday, 28-08-23

B:  soufflé omelette with fruit and yogurt

L:  ham, cheese and chutney toastie, salad

D:  spag bol

 

(if you saw this Monday evening, apologies.  I didn't mean to post it then)

Tuesday, 29-08-23

B:  bacon egg, tomatoes and fried bread

L:  stuffed pepper, coleslaw, tomatoes

D:  chicken and veg pasta in a creamy tomato sauce

Wednesday, 30-08-23

B:  cheese, mushroom and bacon omelette

L:  leftovers of chicken and pasta, coleslaw, tomatoes and cucumber

D:  cod, courgette and tomato bake with a cheese and breadcrumb topping, broccoli

Thursday, 31-08-23

B:  baked egg custard with melon

L:  tomato and roasted red pepper soup, crunchy salad veg

D:  chilli in a wrap bowl, tomatoes

No photos for Friday (today) as I haven't been on plan at all so that's this week all wrapped up.

Monday, 28-08-23

 Good morning, everyone.

Yesterday's meal photos:

A very tasty breakfast although oats tend to give pancakes a rather pudding-y texture while wholemeal flour is much more proper pancake (obviously) and I think I prefer the latter.  Anyway, these were very good and I enjoyed them very much.

I didn't do the souffle method - couldn't be bothered.  😉

Doing a 'yorkshire' in a pan does not work but it was still edible, just a bit flat and un-crispy.  Oh, well, a lesson learned and from now on I will turn on the oven.
It was a very, very tasty dinner though with an apple for afters.

I had planned to have salad with my dinner time salmon but I had some veg left over from lunch so I just added tomatoes and peppers and gave it all ten minutes in Nellie.  Delicious.
I finished the day's food off with an orange.

Today's plans:

B:  sweet omelette, fruit and yogurt

I will use some frozen fruit (I have got out mango, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries) as I seem to have rather a lot and I might make it souffle seeing as I didn't yesterday.

SW:  should be syn free

L:  cheese, ham and chutney toastie, salad, coleslaw; fruit

Remember that can of ham I opened a few weeks ago?  I froze what I didn't need in portions and must start using it up, syns or no syns.  So I will use some plus an As worth of grated cheese and some hm green tomato chutney (I think there's a jar opened)

SW:  one healthy extra A, one healthy extra B, one syn for salad cream and the ham is two and a half syns.
Edited:  also one and a half syns for chutney and the bread was heavier than onme B so another three syns for that.

D:  mince and veg in a roasted red pepper sauce, spaghetti, cheese; fruit/yogurt

Using >5% beef mince and the usual veg plus one of the pots of roasted red pepper sauce to make a sort of bolognaise thingy.  Makes a change from chicken anyway.

I've taken to weighing out my pasta, because it's just too easy to cook a bit too much.  I find 40g dry weight is usually ample.

(If this makes too much meat/sauce, I will have the leftovers tomorrow as a chilli con carne/stuffed pepper thingy - so fingers crossed)

SW:  one healthy extra A for grated cheese over the top

Exercise:  gentle stretches

Summary: 
two healthy extra As
one healthy extra B
eight syns

Sunday, 27-08-23

  Good morning, everyone.

Jen posted this in our Facebook group yesterday.

Worth copying, pasting and holding on to, I think.   I can go from plan to plan, system to system but the bottom line is that it starts and finished with me and no-one else.

(Having said that, I know that it's a lot easier for some and a lot harder for others - that's for sure - no blaming and shaming going on)

Yesterday's meal photos:

The bagel is pretty much covered and the yolk was broken on purpose - it doesn't drip down me when I'm eating it!  

The tomatoes are just gorgeous.  I reckon I can rely on them for another month unless we have a very early and unexpected frost.  I will miss them so much once they stop fruiting.

I had an apple later.

The gazpacho was - OK.  I enjoyed it but it didn't seem quite right to have it chilled, somehow.  I think that if I had followed a proper recipe, it would have been very nice indeed.

Not one I will do again though, probably.

I had two easy peelers for afters.  They were part of what I got via Deliveroo and they were pretty much the sweetest and juiciest easy peelers I can ever remember having.

This all kept me full until dinner time.

What the leftover gazpacho was good for was as a base sauce for this pasta arrabbiata (not penne - I couldn't find any) which was absolutely amazing and the closest I have managed to get to the Prezzo version which I really love.

Dessert was some yogurt and some frozen black cherries, blended together with some chocolate caramel skinny syrup to make an iced thingy that was so delicious.

(No, I didn't syn the cherries either, just because they were blended although I get why they suggest this)

Today's plans:

B:  apple cinnamon oat pancakes with strawberry sauce coulis (let's be posh)

It's Sunday and, whether the sun is shining or not, a sunny Sunday breakfast is on the menu.  I fancy the more substantial texture of oat pancakes today - I saw someone on a YouTube video separating the egg and whisking the whites and I might try that and see if it makes any positive difference - it might, or the heavier texture of the ground oats and grated apple might cancel any potential fluffiness.  I'll see.

I'm just boiling up some strawberries and sweetener to make the coulis and the house is smelling wonderful.  I'll probably blend the lot to make it as smooth as possible but I won't sieve it because those little seeds are fibre.

I'm thinking it might make quite a lot of pancake and, if so, I will save some of them for a lunchtime dessert, maybe.  Only maybe though!

SW:  one healthy extra B for oats, I won't be synning the strawberries just because they are cooked, sorry, Slimming World.

L:  roast beef Yorkshire platter; fruit

The 'platter' is a Pinch of Nom idea, one I have used (and really enjoyed) before.  It take 15g flour and I think I will use white flour this time, just to see.  I'm also going to try cooking it pancake style in a very hot pan rather than turning the oven on to high for such a short time.  I'll get something edible out of it anyway.
For the roast beef, rather than buying a joint for a shocking price and having meat left over, I have treated myself to some cooked slices from the deli section, three for today and two left over for later in the week.
And I will do the usual roasted or steamed veg and I have some gravy in the freezer, if I want it.

SW:  two and a half syns for 15g plain white flour, one syn for gravy, half a syn for a tsp horseradish sauce

D:  salmon, salad, coleslaw; fruit/yogurt

Bog-standard and tasty!  I'm low on healthy extra As so I might make the coleslaw a cheesy version - that would be tasty.  I'll probably spoon a little bit of sweet chilli sauce over the salmon before baking it (in Nellie).

SW:  half a syn for a tsp sweet chilli sauce (which is all I will need), up to one healthy extra A on cheese, one syn for salad cream in the coleslaw

Exercise:  Stretches - very gentle ones

Summary:

one healthy extra A

one healthy extra B

five and a half syns

Saturday, 26-08-23

 Good morning, everyone.

Half a pound on at weigh in.  A bit fed up temporarily but fair enough as I must have been retaining fluid as well as being bunged up.  
One of those issues has resolved in that the bunged up is - er - no longer.  Why couldn't that have happened Thursday, eh?  Three pounds down this morning (on my scales).
Still, a good start to next week's loss, I guess.  

Yesterday's meal photos:

Oh, yes!  A lovely breakfast for a sunny Friday morning and it cheered me up no end.

Apart from the stock for the soup (and the seasonings) this is a plate of speed.

Can you O D on speed food?

I had an apple for dessert and a few grapes later on  Apples are speed and grapes free food.

Can I use the left over soup as a base for a chilled soup, I wonder.  I've never had a chilled soup.

I think 40g flour is slightly too little for Thermione to knead into dough.  I added a bit more and it was better so perhaps I will make double amount and freeze one base for another time.
I now have to count the pizza as a B and three syns.

It was really, really nice.  I baked it first, then added the toppings and gave it another five minutes or so in the oven.  Delicious.  I know it looks a bit 'caught' on the edge but it wasn't, not quite!  :-)

I had some yogurt and black cherries for dessert.

Today's plans:

B:  bacon and egg bagel, tomatoes and mushrooms on the side.

SW:  one healthy extra B for the bagel

L:  h m gazpacho, crunchy salad veg; fruit

I'm giving this a go.  It won't be authentic as the vegetables have been cooked and I won't be adding bread but it should be a tasty base and I can add chopped cucumber, extra tomatoes, courgette, pepper, tabasco, etc, and decorate it with some extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and mixed seeds.  I will Google for some ideas for tasty add ons.

SW:  one syn for half a tsp olive oil, half a syn for half a tsp mixed seeds (it goes a long way!) and I think that might be it.

D:  chicken and penne arrabbiata; fruit/yogurt

I will spoon off a little bit of the leftover tomato soup before making the gazpacho so I can use it as the base for a pasta sauce, cook and add some chicken and plenty of veg and pep it up with chilli flakes.

I might have cheese on top or I might stir in some philly light.  Not both though.

SW:  either up to 50g philly light for four signs or one healthy extra A for grated cheddar

I really like the sound/look of today's menu.

Exercise:  none - or, if I do, it will be very gentle stretching stuff, not weights or cardio.

Summary:

up to two healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

either one and a half or five and a half syns

A week of meals on Slimming World

These photos are a resume of most of the meals I have had over the last week, excluding desserts, snacks, naughty things, etc. It starts on Saturday and goes through to the following Friday because our group meets on Friday mornings.

Slimming World - restricting?  Few choices?  Going without?   Absolutely no way!

After several weeks following themes, I'm back to normal and back to basics as much as ever I possibly can.

Saturday, 19-08-23

B:  two apples and an orange eaten half way through a walk so no photo

L:  h m pizza and salad

D:  chicken and peanut butter pasta

Sunday, 20-08-23

B:  bagel, bacon and tomato

L:  roast chicken dinner

D:  Yorkshire pud wrap with roasted root veg and sausages

Monday, 21-08-23

B:  bacon, bubble and squeak patty, tomatoes

L:  wrap style chicken pasty, tomatoes

D:  rather sloppy lasagne

Tuesday, 22-08-23

B:  avocado egg bagel, tomatoes

L:  leftovers of lasagne
D:  hunter's chicken

Wednesday, 23-08-23

B:  fruit - no photo
L:  baked beans on muffin, tomatoes

D:  at a friend's home

Thursday, 24-08-23

B:  fruit platter

L:  quesadilla, salad

D:  bacon and courgette fritters, spicy tomato dipping sauce

Friday, 25-08-23

B:  pancakes with strawberries and yogurt

L:  tomato and roasted red pepper soup, crunchy salad

D:  hm pizza

And that is it for this week.

Friday, 25-08-23

 Good morning, everyone.
Ooops.  Still feeling very bloated from the inflammation and all the pain killers so am very pessimistic about anything helpful from those scales.  However, as I say each week, it is what it is, life is life and comes with rough and smooth.

I'll let you know.

Yesterday's meal photos:

Breakfast.  Yes, I had planned omelette and veg but I splashed out on a Deliveroo fruit shop (didn't want to stress the back) and it looked so good that I changed to a fruit platter.

Delicious!

The h m wrap - the second attempt - worked well and was tasty.  Just flour, yogurt and water with a pinch of salt.

(apologies for the weird colour)

I had an orange for afters.

I'm going to experiment with different recipes and make a batch when I run out of current supplies.  Definitely worth it!

I knew these fritters would be delicious and they were.  The added bacon worked really well.  No need for a side salad or a dessert - I was stuffed!

This week has not been consistent, what with pain killers for a very painful back and not being able to spend a lot of time food prepping and being all bunged up, etc, etc, etc, but we will see how the weigh in goes and move on from there.

End of Pity Party!  :-)

Today's plans:

B:  pancakes, fruit and yogurt

I've had fritters (very similar) but I haven't had pancakes for a week or so, so it's time to remedy that!  I'm actually quite craving them with lemon and sugar (well, sweetener anyway) and I could still have fruit on the side, couldn't I?
SW:  three and a half syns for flour and a bit of an A (around half) for some milk but the rest, I'm fairly sure, is speed/free food

L:  h m tomato and roasted red pepper soup, crunchy salad veg; fruit

I have rather a load of tomatoes and hm tomato soup is so, so gorgeous made with the home grown ones.  I might add some courgette for extra speed.flavour but it will all be blended smooth.

SW:  All syn free and almost all speed too.  Perfect!

D:  h m pizza, salad; fruit/yogurt

Making my 'tweaky' base.  It's not really a SW tweak as such but never mind.  I'll make it a proper yeast based base and use my taco press to see if I can get it really nice and round.
I'll save a bit of the soup from lunch to make the sauce and top with bacon, mushrooms, courgette, pepper and, of course, cheese.

I give the base about ten minutes in the oven on its own before topping it and finishing it off.

SW:  one healthy extra B for wholemeal flour for the base, up to one and a half As for cheese, one syn for some oil (in the base and half a tsp will be fine)

Exercise:  Still none.  Doing a bit of ironing was more than enough yesterday so today is being careful day.

Summary:

two healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

four and a half syns

Thursday, 24-08-23

 Good morning, everyone.
I had my fish and chips yesterday evening, followed by ice cream, and it was lovely.  The so-called 'small' portion of chips was far from so I left a fair few but I enjoyed the change from my usual much more healthy menu, just for once.

And if I gain, I gain!!

Yesterday's meal photos:

Breakfast was just some melon, an apple and an orange.  All Speed fruit.

This was lunch.  Because I've been on painkillers all week, I'm feeling decidedly bunged up so I went for baked beans on my (home made) muffin.
Yes, I had a go and the results are very edible.  I have five in the freezer now, made with wholemeal spelt flour and I'm counting them as a B.

However, I swear tins of baked beans have fewer beans and more juice nowadays.  I took off quite a lot of sauce before plating up.

Dinner was the fish and chips, ice cream and a sop to SW in some fruit salad.  :-)

Today's plans:

B:  omelette topped with tomatoes and mushrooms

I'm getting through an awful lot of tomatoes at the moment because they're now ripening thick and fast on the garden and they are so delicious!  This will be two eggs and a pile of speed!

SW:  syn free

L:  cheese, tomato and onion quesadilla, salad; fruit

I'm having a go at making a sort of wholemeal tortilla wrap thingy to turn into a quesadilla.  I have some SW approved B choice wraps in the freezer but they can be hard to find so I'm now on a quest to find a half decent recipe for home made ones.
(I may have not-quite-accidentally bought a tortilla press thingy from Amazon - ooops)

SW:  today I AM counting 40g wholemeal flour as a healthy B and the cheese is a healthy extra A.  I think the rest is going to be free/speed

D:  courgette and bacon fritters, spicy tomato sauce, salad; fruit/yogurt

Because I have loads of courgettes as well as tomatoes.  No complaints!  I think some finely chopped bacon will be lovely in the fritters.

SW:  25g wholemeal flour is 4 syns and grated cheese is my second healthy extra A

Exercise:  None.  I've decided that, to give my back a proper chance to recover, the only organised exercise I will do next week is a modified personal training (if that's OK with Lindsey).  The following week she is away so I have a really good opportunity to get it all back on track again.

Summary:

two healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

four syns

Wednesday, 23-08-23

 Good morning, everyone.

Oh, dear, I am feeling so bunged up and bloated right now.  Since Sunday, I've been taking pain killers for my back pain and they do have an effect apart from the desired one.

Co-codamol is the worst for bunging you up, I think.  
Friday's weigh in is not going to be great but at least I will know why.

As I am feeling very bloated and also because I hope to be well enough to pop round to Julia's for our Girls' Meal together this evening, postponed from about twelve days ago, I'm going very minimalist today.

Yesterday's meal photos:

There is mashed (or 'smashed' is the buzz word, I believe) avocado as well as egg in that bagel and I find it is much easier to eat if you break the yolk in the pan.
Still loving a home made bagel and I've found an English muffin recipe or two to have a go at.

Not so sloppy lasagne for lunch.  Maybe I had more 'slop' yesterday!

Anyway, it was very tasty.

During the afternoon, I had an apple and an orange.

Basically, hunter's chicken.  No added speed because the sauce was all speed and I added inion, pepper and mushroom as well.
It was enough - filling but not too much.

And that was that.

Today's plans:

B:  fruit and yogurt

SW:  should be syn free

L:  something on toast; fruit

Possibly cheese on toast, maybe some beans.  I'll see how I feel.  I have grandson with me so I'll ask him what he fancies

SW:  maybe one healthy extra A, definitely a healthy extra B

D:  chip shop fish and chips

Before I hear your sharp intakes of breath, I find that I really cannot get through very much of this sort of thing nowadays so most of it will probably come home for Alex.

SW:  unknown

Exercise:  None this week - poor old back!  I'm missing it very much though.

Summary:

As and syns unknown

one healthy extra B