Saturday evening, 21-09-24, planning and my usual salad dressing recipe

Good evening, everyone! 

 

Do you plan your week's eating well in advance?

Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't.

When I'm generally on top of things, I spend some time thinking about recipes, possibilities and what I have to use up before I go shopping and then plan out the whole week including which day I'm having what so that leftovers get used and older produce isn't wasted - not that I always get it right but at least I try!

When I'm not on top of things, it can be from day to day but that's where this blog and a few Facebook groups help because I always know at least what I an having the next day.  I never wake up and think 'What on earth can I have/do I want today?'

In the long term, even at the minimal level, it keeps me on plan, reduces my food wastage, saves me both time and money, stops me stressing and keeps me interested.

It's flexible, of course.  Sometimes, a recipe I thought sounded really nice a few days before just doesn't wing it for me on the day.  That, I have realised, is a danger point for me so, if I don't feel that buzz, I change it to something that works better.

Do you plan before the day itself?  Does it help you stay on plan and/or budget?

What I ate today

I had breakfast early because of the walk and also because I was having lunch earlier than usual.  I added some chia seeds to the yogurt and had two rather wizened easy peelers which were lovely on the inside, plus the apple.

One syn for the chia seeds.

Apologies for the light - it's never very good that side of the room.
There were five of us and the pasta bake and salad went down a real treat.  There's a very scant portion left over which I will have tomorrow and bulk out with lots of salad.

Dessert was an east peeler and an apple.

One healthy extra A, four syns for the oil in the salad dressing, one syn in the pasta bake and one syn for a sprinkle of seeds on the salad.

It was all very Mediterranean life - out in the open air, a walk and then lunch outside is a very sociable context with lots of laughter and chat.  SO good.

A bit later on, I had some cashews for two healthy extra Bs (which is why I am synning the seeds).

And finally - dinner.
I combined mixed beans, drained tuna and capers with on syn's worth of salad cream because I think salad cream goes so well with tuna.  Also - how have I only just discovered capers?

The salad was just a mixed and choppy one with some more of my salad dressing.  It really is delicious and I have popped the ingredients in The Extra Bit, if case you would like to try it.

I finished off with a couple of easy peelers.

So - four syns for the dressing and one syn for the 70% light salad cream

Summary:

one healthy extra A

two healthy extra Bs

twelve syns and plenty of evoo.

My meal plans for tomorrow:

B:  fruit, yogurt and seeds

L:   bean and tuna burger (using leftovers), roasted and steamed veg, tomato and red pepper sauce; fruit

D:  leftovers of chicken pasta bake plus something because the leftovers are very small, salad; fruit

Exercise:  a rest day although I may do some gardening, weather permitting

The Extra Bit

The usual salad dressing I make is . . .

• Two parts evoo to one part acid which can be lemon/lime juice or vinegars, either flavoured or red/white - or even the pickling kind or the vinegar from things like cornichons, etc, if that's the flavour you want (this time, I used apple cider vinegar)
• Bit of mustard (I generally use dijon)
• Bit of sweetness - honey, maple syrup, sugar, sweetener (I generally use maple syrup)
• Bit of salt and a bit of pepper
• You can add herbs and spices too - if I use lemon juice, I add finely grated lemon zest too.

Bung the lot into a jar, put on the lid and just give it a good old shake.

Taste and adjust.  It's nothing super cheffy but it is really nice and you know exactly what's gone into it.  And you can make as much or as little as you want - just keep the 2/1 ratio correct and adjust the rest to suit your taste.

And I call it four syns per tbsp - the mustard and sweetness is going to be negligible per tbsp