Wednesday 31 July 2024

Wednesday evening, 31-07-24

Good evening, everyone!

What I ate today

Such a delish bowl of fruit.  Kiwi, pear, nectarine and orange with some 0% Greek yogurt and one tsp pumpkin seeds.
One syn.

This was perfect for lunch.  Not too much.  So bagel, avo, on scrambled egg and some salad bits.
One healthy extra B and two and a half syns for the avocado.


Dinner really doesn't look great.  It was yet another portion of that bolognaise with some added fusill;y and grated cheddar and I started scoffing before remembering to take a photo.  Ooops!
One healthy extra A

Summary:
one healthy extra A
one healthy extra B
three and a half syns


My meal plans for tomorrow:

B:  fruit

L: cheese and bacon lentil quesadillas, salad; fruit
Let's give it another go, eh?

D:  chicken salad; fruit

Exercise:  SET online

Tuesday 30 July 2024

Tuesday evening, 30-07-24

Good evening, everyone!
Are you a scale hopper?
I have spells when I check every day, sometimes as a strategy and sometimes just because.
At the moment - no!  I'm doing my best, trying hard, enjoying my meals and if it works it works and if it doesn't, give it time.  A daily jump on the scales won't make any positive difference and, potentially might impact negatively.
So no scale hopping for me so close to getting back into my happy range.
What I ate today

Lovely bowl of fruit for breakfast - watermelon, pineapple and nectarine.
Syn free.
Banana and peanut butter pancakes with strawberries and yogurt.
I don't syn fruit just because it has been mashed, blended or cooked and I count wholemeal flour as a healthy extra B because it is pretty much the same in calories and fibre as things that are healthy extra Bs.
That's why I am not a very good Slimming World Girl and would make an awful SW consultant.

And this was so good!
Half a healthy extra B and one and a half syns.

A bit later on I had a nibble of cheese for one A.
A very simple sort of chicken, bacon and veg casserole type thingy and I had coleslaw to finish from yesterday so I did!
It was nice and I was absolutely stuffed afterwards.
No dessert - no room.
One syn for salad cream

Summary:
one healthy extra A
half a healthy extra B
two and a half syns


My meal plans for tomorrow:

B:  fruit

L: toasted bagel, avocado, scrambled egg. salad; fruit

D:  pasta bolognaise bake, salad; fruit

Exercise:  circuits class and personal training - although I will see how hot it gets . . .

Monday 29 July 2024

Monday evening, 29-07-24

Good evening, everyone!

What I ate today

I chose to have my breakfast fruit salad style so cut up a nectarine, a kiwi, some watermelon and strawberries and added to that some blackberries.  Very nice it was too, with a little sprinkle of sweetener.  Refreshing!
And syn free.
Stuffed pepper with a salad.  
I didn't pre-.cook the pepper and it was fine.  It was a 'fresher' taste and texture.  Underneath the cheese, stuffed into the middle of the mince, was a cheese triangle (in each half) and that worked really.  Something to remember.
I tried that lemon vinegar I am making on the salad.  A bit soon, maybe, but it was very, very tasty.  Zingy and fresh.
It was very filling, surprisingly.  I ate all the salad but could only manage one half of the pepper so I will abandon the meal I was planning to have (which I hadn't started, fortunately) and have another stuffed pepper and salad.  Maybe a different kind of salad.  The last SWK meal can wait.

One and a half healthy extra As in total including this evening.

I made coleslaw to go with the tomatoes and beetroot and the other half stuffed pepper.   Really very tasty indeed, all of it.
Dessert was an orange.
One syn for some salad cream.

Summary:
one and a half healthy extra As
no healthy extra Bs
one syn

My meal plans for tomorrow:

B:  fruit

L: banana and peanut butter pancakes, fruit and yogurt

D:  creamy chicken and bacon casserole, veg; fruit
A chuck it all in thing and the 'creamy' will be yogurt.

Exercise:   Groove class and the walk there and back

Sunday 28 July 2024

Sunday evening, 28-07-24

Good evening, everyone!
I've become quite fond of splashing a bit of fruit flavoured vinegar on my salad.  I had a couple of little bottles of the stuff - one was raspberry based and one strawberry (with herbs but can't remember exactly what without looking).  One had now finished and the company has stopped making them, darn it!

So I thought 'How hard can it be?', did a bit of Googling and found a recipe for lemon vinegar that looked really straightforward.  Seeing as I had an overabundance of lemons right now, I had a go and it is now refrigerating for two to three days.  If that works, I might try additions - lemon and thyme?  lemon and garlic?

I'll let you know.
What I ate today

I had an apple earlier as I was feeling peckish.
Breakfast was a selection of fruit, eaten out in the sunshine.  Lovely!


After dithering around for a while, I decided to see how the lentil wraps behaved in a quesadilla type thing.
I softened onion, peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes with a bit of chopped bacon and some seasonings, spread it over one wrap, added grated cheese, topped with the other wrap and used my wonderful Lekue microwave toastie thingy.
How did it work out?  Well, I think the filling was too sloppy as it didn't crisp up in the middle so it had to be eaten with a knife and a fork but it was really tasty.  When I've made some more wraps, I will have a go with a dryer filling because I really want to have something similar again.
One healthy extra A for cheese.

Later on, I had some water melon and a nectarine

Dinner was the second of this batch of SWK meals, 'best ever bolognaise'.  It wasn't as nice as I make it, to be honest, it certainly wasn't 'best ever' and I ignored the last bit of the instructions and cooked it long and slow in my slow cooker - I love slow cooked mince and it makes the house smell very tasty!
I haven't had much cooked veg recently as it's really salad season, so I had sides of broccoli and carrots.  Very nice, even though the broccoli looked somewhat 'rusty'.
Mind you, the amount it made!!!  Five portions - yes, FIVE.  Most is going into the freezer and when I use it up, I will add some balsamic vinegar, soy sauce and Hendersons as I always do to give it a bit of a zing.
Dessert was a sort of Eton mess thingy made with yogurt, strawberries and a crushed meringue nest - lovely.
Two and a half syns for the meringue.

Summary:
one healthy extra A
no healthy extra Bs
two and a half syns

My meal plans for tomorrow:

B:  fruit, of course

L: bolognaise stuffed pepper, side salad; fruit

D:  golden butterbean and veggie paella, side salad (if needed); fruit
The last of this month's SWK box recipes - hope it is nice.

Exercise:   a bit problematic.  I have a blood test booked just before circuits so, depending on whether I get it done early or late (which is not up to me), I will go to the last part of circuits if I can.  However, I have also booked an online Groove class in the evening so one way or another I will get my exercise!.

Just to explain, over the five weeks of the summer break, starting tomorrow, if you pay for one block of classes, fine, if you pay for two, you get unlimited access to any other class as well.  I always subscribe to two classes (Groove and circuits) so why not make the most of it and enjoy some extra classes.

Personal Training is separate from classes - I'll still be doing those anyway.

Saturday 27 July 2024

Saturday evening, 27-07-24

Good evening, everyone!

What I ate today

Fruit as usual for breakfast - a nectarine, a pear, some strawberries and some blackberries so all speedy fruit.
I crushed and already broken meringue nest over the fruit.
Two and a half syns.

Breakfast bake for lunch.  :-)

I air fried some cubes of potato in Nellie and turned the oven to 180 (because the solar panels were working their little socks off!)
While the potatoes were doing I spray fried onion, bacon, red pepper and mushroom  and then that was softened/cooked, I added baked bean leftovers, tomato halves, old bay seasoning, garlic granules and a few spinach leaves to heat up or wilt down.
I mixed in the potato cubes,tipped the lot into an ovenproof dish, topped the lot with cheese and popped it in the oven for about fifteen minutes.  Served with some more of the mango slaw, it was very tasty.
Dessert was an apple.
One healthy extra A.

Later on, I had an orange.

And then dinner.  I had half of the jerk chicken left so I spray fried some mange tout and some baby corn, added half of the portion to heat up and then mixed in a bit of Greek yogurt to make a sort of jerk curry type thing.
The other quarter is now in the freezer with 'add extra veg' written on the pot.
The salad on the left is the last of the mango slaw and the salad at the bottom . . . 

. . . is all from the garden.  Woo hoo.  OK, very simple, just leaves, cucumber and tomatoes, but so fresh and sweet.  Delicious.
I was full up so that was that for the day.
Syn free.

Summary:
one healthy extra A
no healthy extra Bs
two and a half syns

My meal plans for tomorrow:

B:  fruit

L: lentil wrap pizza (maybe), salad; fruit

D:  spag bol, side salad; fruit
The next SWK meal

Exercise:  Rest Day - probably!



Slimming World Kitchen - a review

For anyone who wants to know a bit more about SWK.  Thanks for asking, Cherie.

I'm on my fourth box now and , after a bit of dithering, intend to go with a four weekly subscription for a while, because I also love planning and cooking my own meals.  Usefully, there's always the option to order an extra box with just a few day's notice, if wanted.

Here's the link to the starting page:

From here, there's links to How it works, About us and FAQs as well as the option to log in and, separately, to see the meals on offer for that week.  From that last, you can see the ingredients with any allergens clearly signed as well as nutritional info but you can't see the actual method until you are subscribed - fair enough, I guess.

Once subscribed, you set your preferences - e.g. vegan, chicken, fish, etc, and how often you want a box (weekly, fortnightly, three or four weekly), how many meals you want in a box (three, four or five) and whether it's for two people or for four.
What it doesn't do is give dietary options and by that I mean keto, low carb, paleo, etc.  It is Slimming World, after all  But all the meals are syn free and balanced - at the very least a third speed foods, lean protein and reasonable carbs; I have rarely had all the carbs but keep some uncooked for another meal sometime.  
For those of us using the SW structure, there are no healthy extras included either and I think if the recipe is an SP recipe, it says so.

Changing preferences is very easy, as is skipping a delivery and cancelling - it's all there on your account page, you don't have to go searching as you do for some.

What do you get?
It's similar to other subscription boxes, of course.  You get everything you need to make your chosen recipes, sorted into bags with anything perishable (meat, yogurt, etc) in a separate part of the box with very efficient ice blocks keeping it chilled.

The very first box and the cauli was so big it wouldn't go into the relevant bag!

The only things you have to find yourself are spray oil, salt and pepper.

You also get - and this is different - a booklet/mini magazine with generic info, an article or two and recipes for all fifteen meal choices for your box.  That is very handy and I've made some of the other recipes with success.  The ingredients are all easy to get hold of, nothing 'niche'.
I'm keeping them all - there's some good recipes there.

I've numbered the booklets to make it easier to reference a specific recipe in future planning.

In classic SW style, the portions are pretty large.  After all, they are catering for tall, large men who need to eat substantial portions and littlies like me.  The meat and fish are generous amounts and the veg can serve three or more, depending on appetite.

The box itself is very substantial.  I've seen no damage apart from a couple of bashed corners.

Quality?
Excellent, so far.  Nothing has been less than really good.  Vegetables are fresh, meat and fish have been great.
As already mentioned, portions are large.  For me, as two person meal usually makes enough for three, should I choose.
I haven't had a missing ingredient yet (unlike a certain other delivery company where it got so bad it contributed very much to me cancelling the subscription).  The worst thing that has happened is that there have been a couple of substitutions - and they have worked so no problem.  They are clearly signalled too.


Let's look at one meal in a bit more detail.
When the box comes, I get out the chilled stuff I need for the meal I'm making that night and pop it in the fridge and the rest goes either in fridge or freezer (meat and fish).
Then I take out the bags and put them straight in the fridge as they are.  Now I am pretty confident everything will be there, I don't open and check.
I collapse all the packaging and take it to the card recycling bag.
Then I settle down with a coffee to read through the mini-mag.


This is the bag for golden butter bean and veg paella, one of their vegan meals.  I plan to have it Monday and have scribbled paella on the tape at the top, for convenience.
As it will make at least two portions, most likely three, looking at the individual ingredients, I will have the first one as per the recipe, the second on maybe with added prawns and the third maybe with chicken or it might go in the freezer for another time.  I'll see how I feel.

Here's what's inside the bag - veg, herbs, spices, everything.  I might add some mushroom too as I love mushroom and there's nothing to stop you subbing, adding, leaving out - whatever works for you.

Cons:
1.  It IS a subscription service; you do have to sign up.  However, you don't have to be a Slimming World member and there's full nutritional information on the back.  It's easy to skip and cancel.

2.  There's no getting around the fact that it's comparatively expensive.  Meals are around £6 per person plus cooking costs.  Cheaper than a meal out or a take-away but I can make the recipes with my own ingredients for less.  However, portions are large and generally enough for three me-sized portions so that brings it down to around £4 per portion, much more reasonable.
Postage is extra, by the way.

3.  While they are happy to leave the box on the doorstep, it is better to take it in and sort it out straight away; after all, quality does deteriorate fairly fast in the warmer weather.  That makes it awkward for those working away from home - or it would do, except that there's a free choice of any day in the week, including Saturday and Sunday, for delivery.

4.  What might be a con for some is that it is very much Slimming World structure based.  It's not 'quirky' in anyway, it is down to earth, balanced and pretty wide ranging but wouldn't necessarily suit everyone.  It restricts fat and sugar but not carbs, for example.  It uses spray oil but you could use 'real' oil and allow for it.

5.  You do have to like cooking.  It's not a takeaway.  I happen to really enjoy cooking and the instructions are clear and have worked well (so far).

6.  As with all these, there's a default choice and you do have to remember to go online to look at what they are and change them.  It's dead easy but you have to do it.


I think that's about it except to say that while it's a subscription service, it is not one of these services where you can get discount codes, free meals, money off if people use your discount code and so on.  What you see is what you get.  So I get no benefit or advantage at all from recommending or reviewing it.  I just genuinely think it is really good and helpful for anyone who wants to enjoy healthy, balanced, delicious meals that fill you up and leave you feeling great.

It might change at some point but, for now, I am really happy to go for a box every four weeks, to broaden my recipe base and enjoy things I might not usually have.

(disclaimer - as mentioned, this is an independent review.  SW hasn't asked and doesn't know I am making it.  I hope I have all the info correct; apologies if there are any errors.)



Friday 26 July 2024

Friday evening, 26-07-24 - Eat-Your-Syns-Friday

Good evening, everyone!

I'm liking this current strategy for keeping things sensible on Fridays after weigh-in.
It's working, I think, because . . .
  • normally, I eat pretty low syn, as you may have noticed if you're a longer term reader, so I do have wriggle room
  • I can have extras but not go completely bonkers on Eat-Your-Syns-Friday (I know I can any day but I choose not to most of the time)
  • I can have a few extra things (possibly more ultra processed than normal but let's not worry about that right now) and feel a bit 'wicked' but know I am still keeping on track overall so no feelings of doom and gloom to make me feel a bit down the next day.
  • It's preparing me for maintenance again.

And, talking of maintenance . . . today I lost two pounds which means I am so close to my target range again and back into single stone digits.
Maybe next week, most likely the week after.  Wouldn't that be great?

What I ate today

My usual fruit breakfast but I'm not getting bored of it because there's so many different kinds of fruit, aren't there?
Syn free.

Lunch was good, good, good,  Now that I am focusing on fruit for breakfast, I can have something breakfast-y for lunch, should I want to.
I added a level tbsp peanut butter powder to the waffle batter (so, so delicious) for one and a half syns and topped them with one tbsp maple syrup for two syns.  Mmmmmm.
The yogurt and strawberries went with the waffles perfectly.
So lunch was three and a half syns.


During the afternoon, I nibbled on a meringue nest for two and a half syns and some cheese for a healthy extra A.

Dinner was the first SWK meal from the box that arrived today; jerk chicken with zingy mango slaw.
I changed a few things.
I had chips instead of the rice - because it's Friday.  Chip day!  That was three syns for half a tbsp toasted sesame oil
When I made the slaw, I left out the leaf coriander because who wants to add a soapy flavour to a delicious slaw:  With shredded red cabbage, grated carrot, chopped mango, lime zest and lime juice, it was absolutely lovely.
I made the jerk chicken straight apart from leaving out the spinach.
So - three syns for oil and the rest was syn free.


The Eat-Your-Syns treat.
I made some yogurt ice with frozen cherries (which I did not syn) and a Mullerlight toffee yogurt, blended together and popped in the freezer for an hour or so.
One nest has the yogurt ice on it and the other has some 0% Greek yogurt and some fresh strawberries.  Then I sieved over a bit of cocoa powder.  I weighed the plate as I did so and it didn't even register, it was so little.  I'm going to remember that one, for sure.
It was a real treat.
Five syns for the nests and half a syn for the Mullerlight.

And I couldn't manage another bite, even if you paid me!

Summary for Eat-Your-Syns-Friday:
one healthy extra A
no healthy extra Bs
fourteen and a half syns - perfick!!

My meal plans for tomorrow:

B:  fruit
I have such a nice mixture of fruit to choose from.

L:   all day breakfast bake - bacon, egg, tomatoes, mushrooms, potato and baked beans with some cheese on top, maybe salad; fruit.  ALso, I might be brave and add a few spinach leaves, the ones I didn't use today.

D:  the other portion of jerk chicken, mango slaw, salad; fruit

Exercise:  SET class online

Thursday 25 July 2024

Thursday evening, 25-07-24

Good evening, everyone!
Weigh day again tomorrow and another SWK box is landing.  Exciting!

What I ate today

I have no photos of breakfast or lunch.
Breakfast was just an apple, snatched between busy bits.
Lunch was exactly as planned; the cheesy bean and lentil wrap bake with a side salad and Val enjoyed it so much, I've sent her the recipe.  However, because I was hostessing, I didn't take a photo - I don't think Val would have minded but, to be honest, we were so busy chatting, I didn't remember!
Breakfast was free and lunch was one and a half healthy extra Asa and one syn for brown sauce.

I had a really nice fillet steak for dinner.  Morrisons really does such lovely steaks and I am willing to pay more for fillet.
I hammered it out, seasoned it with some Montreal steak seasoning and cooked it.  WHile it was keeping warm and 'resting', I made the mushroom sauce, using some Seriously Lighter cheddar.  The salad was left over from lunch.
And that was that.
Half a healthy extra A.

Summary:
two healthy extra As
no healthy extra B
one syn


My meal plans for tomorrow (Eat-Your-Syns-Friday):

B:  fruit

L:  waffles, fruit and yogurt

D:  jerk chicken with rice (or maybe chips) and zingy mango slaw; Eton mess (sort of) - one meringue nest = 2 1/2 syns.

Exercise:   rest day

Wednesday 24 July 2024

Wednesday evening, 24-07-24

Good evening, everyone!

The party at school last night was lovely and it was so good to see old colleagues.
The fish and chips - not so lovely so it was no hardship to leave a reasonable amount.  I was satisfied but not tempted to eat on.  There was no opportunity to take a photo.
What I ate today

As always, fruit for breakfast.  The kiwi wasn't so nice, not ripe enough, so I'm afraid that was wasted.
Syn free.
Grandson was round and I made us both a cheese, bacon and chutney toastie with salad and coleslaw for lunch.  It was delicious.
Afters was a apple.
One healthy extra A, one healthy extra B, one and a half syns for chutney and one syn for salad cream in the coleslaw.
I know this looks a right mess but it was delish.  I gently spray fried onion until caramelising and then added pepper, mushroom and tomato, some old bay seasoning and some garlic granules, plus some shreds of bacon I had left, a splash of water and some chicken stock.
Cooked the penne, reheated the sauce, added a bit of yogurt and mixed it in (off the heat so it didn't split), and then mixed the penne and the sauce together.   The salad is what was left over from lunch.
I didn't add any cheese and I'm glad I didn't.  
Totally lovely!
Syn free.

Summary
one healthy extra A
one healthy extra B
two and a half syns
My meal plans for tomorrow:

B:  fruit

L:  cheesy bean lentil wrap bake, salad; fruit
I have a friend round so am trying this out on her.  

D:  creamy steak and mushroom, side salad; fruit

Exercise:   SET online

Tuesday 23 July 2024

Tuesday evening, 23-07-24

Good evening, everyone!

What I ate today

I had an apple before Groove for a bit more energy and then this afterwards - strawberries, raspberries, orange and the other half of the mango and very nice it was too.  
Syn free.

As I was eating light through the day, I made myself a salad for lunch.  Lettuce, cucumber, carrot, celery, pepper and tomatoes.
for some protein, I had 15g grated cheddar and one egg, made into an omelette, rolled and shredded.  The dressing was a bit of flavoured vinegar and you know what, not only was it a really tasty salad, it was also surprisingly filling.  I was please about that because I'd be eating later than usual this evening.
Half a healthy extra A

Later on, I had an apple and some cheese.

I don't know if I will be able to photo dinner this evening so I'll post this before I go out.

So - incomplete summary:
two healthy extra As
no healthy extra B
syn free

BUT

fish and chips this evening.

My meal plans for tomorrow:

B:  fruit

L:  toastie, side salad; fruit

D:  mushroom pasta, salad; fruit

Exercise:  personal training

Monday 22 July 2024

Monday evening, 22-07-24

Good evening, everyone!

What I ate today

Yummy fruit for breakfast.  Half a mango (from the SW hamper last Friday and it was lovely!), the last of the pineapple, some raspberries and a nectarine.
Syn free.
A lentil wrap pizza and a side salad.  It was so lovely and I've written what I did below.
It was filling so I saved the dessert fruit for later but never had it - these lentil wraps may be small but they sure are filling!
One healthy extra A.

Dinner - the other half of the creamy tarragon chicken and I had it with rice noodles this time.  Still nice but nicer with the roasted veg I had yesterday.
And that was that - a filling day's food.
Syn free

Summary:
one healthy extra A
no healthy extra Bs
syn free



My meal plans for tomorrow:

B:  fruit

L:  mixed salad; fruit
I'm out for a meal in the evening and the idea is to keep things really low during the day so I can enjoy with a reasonably clear conscience.  So just a salad, nothing else.

D:  fish and chips and I will enjoy every mouthful until I am satisfied.

Exercise:   Groove class and the walk there and back.


Lentil wrap pizza:



Ingredients to make one.
one lentil wrap - recipe is at the top of this link and I am assuming it's already made (I keep some in the freezer)
15g grated cheddar and 20g grated mozzarella (to make one healthy extra A)
tomato puree
garlic granules, herbs - whatever you fancy adding
onion, mushroom and pepper, softened in spray oil
mini tomatoes, halved

Method:
Preheat oven to around 180C
Spray a pizza tray and put the lentil wrap on it.  Spread over some tomato puree and sprinkle over seasonings.
Scatter half the cheese over, then spread the softened veg over the cheese.  They add the rest of the cheese and pop the tomato halves on top.
Pop into the oven for around ten to fifteen minutes.
Enjoy!  I thought it was REALLY delicious, nicer than using a normal wrap.

I was thinking I could also turn this into a bake by rolling the wrap around the toppings, popping in a dish, spreading cheese over and baking to melt the cheese - like the cheesy bean bake.