Thursday evening, 30-05-24

Good evening, everyone.  

Weigh day tomorrow and I'm not looking forward to it.  It's not been a great week, what with sinus and migraine and eating whatever came to hand because I was feeling rough and wanted comfort.  SO let's face the music - and dance anyway!

What I have eaten today:

I had an apple and two easy peelers for breakfast - no photo.  Syn free

I'd planned a crustless quiche but I found I had some Jersey Royals that really did need using up so I cooked them and made a Spanish tortilla.  I slow softened the onions for flavour, in spray oil to start with and then I added half a tbsp butter - purely for the flavour - and I'm glad I did because it turned out delicious.  I had a third and the other two thirds are in the fridge for tomorrow and Saturday (or maybe if I get hungry tomorrow)

The salad was what I didn't finish yesterday.

One syn for butter and half for the mayo in the little bit of coleslaw that I left yesterday.

Later on, I had an apple and half a dozen strawberries from the garden.

Another Scott Baptie recipe, Mexican chicken traybake, found here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptvbvnlqAE0&t=11s

I made half amounts except for the chicken which was one portion.  After baking (and I followed the recipe), I had half of the vegetables and all of the chicken.  The sauce had one tbsp olive oil, six syns, so I am calling what I had today four syns and the leftovers two syns.

It was delicious.

The remaining cooked veg will either go into the freezer or, more likely, go into a wrap or quesadilla for lunch on Saturday (I already have lunch made for tomorrow)

Summary

no healthy extra As

no healthy extra Bs

five and a half syns

Tomorrow's meal plans

B:  overnight oats

L:  Spanish tortilla with beans (or maybe salad, it depends on the weather really)

D:  spaghetti with hm meatballs, side salad; fruit

Exercise:  Online class, maybe some gardening - weather permitting.

Wednesday evening, 29-05-24

Good evening, everyone.  

Things are definitely picking up a bit, thankfully.  Back on track again after several days of very mixed and muddled eating which really hasn't helped either my physical or mental well being.

Slimming World has brought out what they call Slimming World Kitchen which is like Gousto or Hello Fresh but for SW syn free meals.  You have to order between three and five meals in a box, they can be for two or four and you can order the boxes weekly, fortnightly or monthly (I think).
There's a choice of fifteen meals per box and skipping or cancelling looks very easy.  You don't have to search for a hidden link/button as you do with some subscription services.
Included in each box is everything you need apart from salt, pepper and spray oil plus a booklet that contains all the recipes (fifteen) that you chose from.

Sounds good, doesn't it?   The catch is that they are horrendously expensive - as, indeed, all these subscription meal services are.

I thought I would give it a go and ordered three two portion meals which came to £34.50 with free delivery.  That's a lot in anyone's book.
I expect that the amounts will be generous (they always are) and will probably do three meals rather than two and that most of them will be freezable (I chose with that in mind) but even so . . . phew.   I can't see me wanting to order more than maybe once a month at most.

The site is now live.

https://slimmingworldkitchen.co.uk/

and it's worth a look because the recipes are there to look at and copy/use although I'm not sure if you have to subscribe before you can see the recipes or not - because I have subscribed.

They start delivering on June 12th and I have one arrive on the 13th.  I'll let you know . . .

What I have eaten today:

I had some fruit for breakfast, partly fresh and partly thawed from the freezer.  

The three whole strawberries in the middle are from my strawberry patch.  I love it when I can pick home grown produce, even if it is only a little bit.

Syn free.

I had planned cheese on toast for lunch but didn't have any bread (I do now - I made a couple of loaves today), so I got out a wrap and used my crimpit to make a cheese, egg and tomato wrap thingy.  OK, so it didn't seal properly and it had limited time in the Ninja because of the edge catching but nice.  

It was filling too - I couldn't finish the salad and I'm really glad I forgot I had intended to chop some apple into it.

Two healthy extra As, one healthy extra B, one syn for mayo in the coleslaw.

Some days ago I made a lemon chicken thingy using a Scott Baptie recipe.  It made loads of sauce so I froze it and today had it with added chicken, some basmati rice (also from the freezer) and some green beans (ditto freezer).  Can you tell it is the end of the month and I am trying to not shop until Saturday?
Sorry, no photo - I forgot.

Two and a half syns.

Tomorrow's meal plans

B:  fruit

L:  not sure

D:  Mexican chicken traybake

Exercise:  an online class

Tuesday evening, 28-05-24

Good evening, everyone.  

Really sorry about yesterday's non-appearance.  Early evening, I developed a nasty migraine/sinus sort of  thing that carried on through the night and into this morning and I really wasn't up to uploading photos, let alone sorting out meal plans.

What I have eaten yesterday and today:

Yesterday:

Breakfast was bagel with guacamole and scrambled egg.

One healthy extra B and two syns.

A roast dinner for lunch - chicken roasted potatoes and sweet potato, carrot, corn and broccoli.
Three syns for oil and one and a half for cranberry sauce.

Later on, I had some 'treats' that took me out of my syns limit but that wasn't what caused the migraine, it was the two small glasses of sparkly wine.  For a while now (and I think I have already mentioned this), I have suspected that I am reacting to alcohol in more than the usual way!!
I thought to give it one more go with plenty of soaking up sort of food and yup - that was me flattened.  Not drunk, that wasn't it, it was a very painful migraine or sinus (or both) issue, one sided and really horrible.  I didn't get much sleep, unfortunately but self inflicted so no sympathy requested or expected!  😁

So that is me off alcohol totally from now on.  It's just not worth it.  And my weight loss will thank me, I am sure.

Today:

I should have had Groove class and that walk there and back but, obviously, I cancelled that.

No breakfast, thank you.

This was lunch.  Just something plain, nourishing and easy.  Scrambled egg on plain toast.

One healthy extra B,

I got a cottage pie out of the freezer for dinner and there were a few vegetables left over from yesterday so I simply added a bit more cheese to the top of the pie and reheated it all.

Two healthy extra As (probably a bit less but let's call it two) and two and a half syns

Summary:

up to two healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

two and a half syns

Tomorrow's meal plans

B:  fruit

L:  cheese on toast, side salad; fruit

D:  lemon chicken, side veg, rice; fruit

Exercise:  personal training

Sunday evening, 26-05-24

Good evening, everyone.  

What I have eaten today:

Breakfast:  a two egg omelette with some bacon and mushroom, with a few leaves and tomatoes on the side.

Syn free

A plateful of vegetables and lean beef.   
The broad beans, parsnips and sweet potatoes are free food, the cauliflower, broccoli and carrot are speed foods, the beef is protein and the one tsp horseradish is one syn.

Dessert was some strawberries - bought, not garden!

Later on I had an orange and 30g cheese to nibble - six syns because I'd planned my As for dinner.

                                    

A toastie with salad and coleslaw for dinner.

Two healthy extra As, one B, two syns for some chutney and half a syn for mayo in the coleslaw.

And that was that for the day.

Summary:

two healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

nine and a half syns (I try not to go over ten syns so that's OK)

Tomorrow's meal plans

B:  avo egg on toasted bagel, leaves, maybe mushrooms and tomatoes

L:  roast chicken dinner (Beth and Alex are sharing it with me)

D:  leftover chicken salad or something like that, depending on the leftovers.

Exercise:  Circuits class

Saturday evening, 25-05-24

Good evening, everyone.  

Proper back on track today.  Phew.

What I have eaten today:

A nice, simple fruit and yogurt for breakfast with these three strawberries, the first fruits from this year's strawberry plants.

Syn free.

Another simple meal for lunch - a choppy salad with some ham.

One syn for salad cream.

A not quite so simple dinner.

Two home made burgers (recipes at the end) with coleslaw, tomatoes and chunky chips.

It was delish!

Two healthy extra As for cheese, either in the burgers themselves or sliced, one B for the bread roll.

As for syns:

two for one tsp oil

one and a half for mayo in the coleslaw

one and a half for chutney

Summary:

two healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

six syns

Tomorrow's meal plans

B:  bacon and mushroom omelette

L:  roast beef dinner

D:  cheese toastie

Exercise:  rest day.

I made the burgers by mixing together 100g beef  mince (<5%), one rosemary and red onion sausage (from Aldi), 15g grated hard Italian cheese, some finely chopped and softened onion and some finely chopped cornichons, plus salt, pepper and a pinch of chilli flakes.  This amount made two good sized burgers.  It could also make meatballs, kofta type things, etc.

You could ring the changes by using pork or chicken/turkey mince or a combination and varying the seasonings.  The cheese adds flavour and keeps the inside moist.

Friday evening, 24-05-24

Good evening, everyone.  

At group this morning, I was struggling not to feel disappointed with a half pound loss.  Yes - a loss, but I wanted more and felt extremely frustrated.  I got loads of understanding and support, which was nice, and it is a pattern I have seen before but . . . still, frustrating.

Jen suggested that I might think about trying a couple of SP days this week and I will give that a go.  SP days are when you have just foods that are speed or protein on the SW plan, plus your usual healthy extras and up to ten syns (but not from foods that are usually classed as 'free').

In other words, go lover carb.

I'm thinking about that.  I'm not so keen on SP days - without some carbs I get a bit bunged up although, to be fair, the healthy B helps.  I do have recipes I can use so - well, let's see.

In the shorter term - aaaarrrrgggghhhh!!!!

What I have eaten today:

I had planned to have pancakes/waffles but then realised I had planned my healthy B in for dinner so changed breakfast.

I just spray fried some onion, red pepper, pomato and strips of lean bacon with some seasoning and plonked a poached egg on top.  Filling, tasty and colourful so good on the eye.

Syn free.

Salmon with lemon mayo and a lovely choppy salad.  So good

One syn for the salad.

And that's where I stopped fighting the sense of 'It's not fair' - which is ridiculous and real.

I won't show you what else I downed.  I will be proper back on track tomorrow morning - promise.  

Tomorrow's meal plans

B:  soufflé omelette and fruit

L:  some ham salad; fruit

D:  Mexican chicken traybake (a Scott Baptie recipe)

Exercise:  SET class

Thursday evening, 23-05-24

Good evening, everyone.  

Weigh in tomorrow - fingers crossed.

What I have eaten today:

Breakfast was a very tasty fruit salad - pineapple, mango, blackberries, kiwi and melon - with a dollop of 0% yogurt on top'

Syn free.

I went out for lunch and chose a salad bowl - mixed leaves with coleslaw an a beetroot salad.  I could have had protein but chose not to and the French dressing came in a separate jug which was thoughtful.

The coleslaw and beetroot dressings would have come with somer syns but I have no idea how many.

Lemon chicken with some basmati rice for dinner.  This slow cooker recipe was absolutely delicious and I'm so glad there's a second portion to freeze (hopefully it will freeze) with some more chicken at some point.

Then I had an apple.

This is the recipe and I halved it.  I added some pineapple and some mushroom to bulk it out just a bit and I totally recommend it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Rw5iFYqR3k

Three syns per portion.

Summary:

no healthy extra As or Bs (I didn't plan any because I didn't know what I was going to choose for lunch)

three syns plus whatever was in the lunch

Tomorrow's meal plans

B:  pancakes or waffles, fruit and yogurt

L:  Unsure at the moment

D:  hm bacon burger, chips, salad

Exercise:  rest day.

Wednesday evening, 22-05-24

Good evening, everyone.  

Still going well.  Fingers crossed, please.  

What I have eaten today:

I had an apple before circuits class.

Breakfast was rice pudding with yogurt and mixed fruit.

Half a healthy extra A and one syn.

Lunch - a bagel thin with guacamole and two little round omelettes (made in my wee egg pan) plus some broccoli, red pepper and pine nut salad.  I had some chopped tomato left over so I made it into soup with some soup base mix and turkey stock plus a bit of seasoning, all boiled up and then blended down and pushed through a sieve.

Dessert was a slice of melon.  Lovely.

One healthy extra B, one and a half syns for the guacamole and three syns for the broccoli salad (which I forgot to count yesterday, I think).

Home made cottage pie from the freezer with broccoli and broad beans.  I added some more cheese to the top for xtra yum!

Dessert was a could of slices of melon

One and a half healthy extra As and two syns

Summary:

two healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

seven and a half syns

Tomorrow's meal plans

B:  fruit and yogurt

L:  eating out with a friend

D:  slow cooker lemon chicken and vegetables 

Exercise:  SET class online.

Tuesday, 21-05-24

Good evening, everyone.  

It all seems to be going well this week although speaking very warily because I said the same last week and then maintained.  That's OK but I'm still about half a stone or so above my target range.  It's not a bad place to be, the clothes all fit and I don't feel any more chubby than usual but it's just a bit - annoying, if that's the right word.

Thinking back can help sometimes and I've realised that every time I've got to this point, things have plateaued and I've just had to push on through until things get moving again.
I guess it's the same this time.

I had more than half a can of chopped tomatoes so I popped that in Thermione with some soup base mix and one of my portions of turkey stock and now I have a nice and very low calorie/syn free bowl of tomato soup that I will enjoy at some point soon.  I'd rather not freeze it but I can, if necessary.

What I have eaten today:

Before walking down to Groove, I had an apple and two plums.

Cooked breakfast.  Nothing unusual and jolly nice.

Syn free.

The turkey is all finished now, stuffed into a toastie.  I mushed it down a bit and mixed in the chutney instead of spreading it on the bread which made for a nice flavour.

Dessert was an apple.

Two healthy extra As, one healthy extra B, one and a half syns for chutney and one syn for salad cream.

Later on I had an orange.

Dinner was the last of the chicken and pancetta tortellini that I bought at Center Parcs and froze three portions.  I just added a bit of green to the bowl.  No dessert - it didn't look loads but it was plenty and I was full up.

Six syns - that includes the pasta itself, the sauce (from a posh jar) and a bit of cheese that you can't see because it's all melted in now.

Summary:

two healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

eight and a half syns

Tomorrow's meal outline

B:  rice pudding, fruit and yogurt

L:  guacamole bagel, egg, side salad; fruit

D:  cottage pie, veg; fruit

Exercise:  circuits (postponed from Monday) and personal training

Monday evening, 20-05-24

Good evening, everyone.  

It's been a very busy day today and the steps are good, despite not getting my circuits class in (see other blog for details).

Not to worry, lovely Lindsey can fit me into her Wednesday circuits class instead.

What I have eaten today:

I was feeling a bit peckish before I left for circuits so I broke my fast with an apple.

Overnight oats for breakfast.  So very delicious; it tastes a bit like an icecream free sundae or a trifle.  Very creamy

Half a healthy extra B for 20g oats and a quarter of a healthy extra A for some milk

Honey and soy turkey, adapted from honey and soy duck salad from the BBC Good Food site.  Actually, quite heavily adapted but it was delicious.
I mixed one tbsp honey with ditto of soy sauce and that was the dressing.  I mixed it into some leftover turkey and warmed it all up in the microwave before serving it on a bed of salad.  Later on, I had an orange.

Two and a half syns for one tbsp runny honey.

Just a classic pasta bake using more of the leftover turkey and it was delicious.

No dessert, I was full up.

One and a half healthy extra As

Summary:

two healthy extra As (pretty much)

half a healthy extra B

two and a half syns

Tomorrow's meal plans

B:  cooked breakfast

L:  toastie (using the last of the turkey) and salad; fruit

D:  chicken tortellini (leftovers from the freezer), side salad; fruit

Exercise:  Groove class with the walk thee and back with Chris.

Sunday evening, 19-05-24

Good evening, everyone.  

What I have eaten today:

Breakfast - a soufflé omelette with blackberries and raspberries and it was lovely.  More filling than it looks too.
One egg, separated.  Whisk the white.  Add yogurt and flavours to the yolk - I used vanilla and Sugarly - and whisk that up until a bit foamy.
Fold the two together and cook, firstly in a non stick pan over a medium heat and then the bottom has set, pop under the grill until the top sets too.

Syn free.

Just a roast dinner.  I slow roasted a turkey drumstick (and got loads of meat off it), air fryer roasted some sweet potato and boiled/steamed the rest.

One syn for gravy made with the turkey stock.

(I have plenty of stock too after boiling up the drumstick bone and all the 'bits').

Later on I had an orange.

I didn't fuss with hunter's turkey, I just mixed everything together, topped it with cheese and popped it under the grill.  With a salad, it was really very tasty even though the turkey shreds sort of 'mushed' with everything else.  Nice in a quesadillas.

Dessert was a couple of apples.

One and a half healthy extra As, one syn for pumpkin seeds, one syn for salad cream.

Tomorrow's meal plans

B:  overnight oats (already put together and sitting in the fridge overnight)

L:  honey and soy turkey salad; fruit

D:  turkey pasta bake, side salad; fruit

Exercise:  circuits class

Saturday, 18-05-24

Good evening, everyone.  

Back on it after lunch out yesterday.

What I have eaten today:

I wanted to make 'English' pancakes rather than the thicker puffy American ones so I added some extra milk to the mix and skipped the baking powder.

I sprinkled them with lemon juice and sweetener before rolling them up and adding fruit on top.  A really lovely breakfast for a Saturday morning.

A bit of a healthy extra A, half a healthy extra B.

A bit later, I had an apple.

Just bog-standard cheesy beans on toast for lunch - and isn't it good!

One and a half As, half a B and half a syn for some brown sauce in the beans.

Dessert was an orange.

Later on I nibbled on some cheese (measured) for six syns.

Dinner was nasi goreng from Scott Baptie's site.  It's one of his 'free' recipes and here's the link.

https://www.foodforfitness.co.uk/recipes/nasi-goreng-indonesian-fried-rice/

I've made this before using a Simply Cook kit and I think I liked this one better than that.  It was quick, easy, simple and, as I had some ketjap manis, I had everything needed.

Underneath the cucumber and watercress there's chicken, onion, rice, egg, and a mixture of spices.  I dolloped on some yogurt after taking the photo and it really was very good indeed.

The ketjap manis was half a syn for what I had and I am pretty sure everything else was syn free.

Afterwards I made a semi iced dessert with frozen cherries and yogurt.

Summary:

two healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

seven syns, despite the 'naughty' nibble of cheese.

Tomorrow's meal plans

B:  soufflé omelette with fruit and yogurt

L:  roast turkey leg, roasties, vegetables; fruit

D:  cheesy turkey pasta bake, side salad; fruit

Exercise:  rest day