Saturday morning, 16-11-24 and a simple recipe: red pepper and lentil soup

Morning, everyone!

I was right - a bit of a gaintain yesterday, taking my above my target weight but still nicely in my happy zone.
However, I would like to lose that gain this week.  I've looked through the diary and, apart from today, there's no meals out, nothing to sabotage.  That's good!

What's happening  today?  Well, our SW Golden Oldies occasional walking group is off on another walk this morning but instead of stopping for coffee, we are parking in a pub and having lunch there afterwards.
I've looked up the online menu and it doesn't look all that SW friendly, I have to say, but on;line menus are only a guide and I'm hoping there will be some fresher stuff - a salad, maybe - on the board.  
We will see.

I am having today as my Eat-Your-Syns-Day today and I will also happily dip into my extra syns, if necessary.  I hope it won't be but you never know.

And the 8-16 fasting will go to pot for today too but only today.

What I ate yesterday:

The usual breakfast - the fruit was a pear, a kiwi and the last of the blueberries.
I'm going to lean more on the fruit I have in the freezer - it does need using up, I think.

One syn for the mixed seeds

I changed the plans a bit for lunch.
I was going over some Facebook stuff and one group someone mentioned red pepper and lentil soup - well, that was a good trigger if ever there was one.  I went straight into the kitchen and made a batch!  I'll pop the recipe, such as it is, in the Extra Bit.
Afters was an easy peeler.

So - the soup was free/speed, the toast was a healthy extra B and the hm baked beans (very spicy - the flavour has developed!) were, I think, half a syn for some chorizo and one syn for some evoo I made a batch of four portions).  

Dinner was simple - some bits of fillet steak from the freezer (I bought it as a chunk from Morrisons fresh meat counter and sliced it at home), a mixed crunchy salad with a bit of my dressing and some cheesy chips.
Just what I was craving - not very Meddy though.  Oh, well.

Two syns for some spray evoo to cook the steak, another two for ditto on the chips, two syns for salad dressing and one and a half healthy extra As

Summary:

one and a half healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

eight and a half syns

Today's plans.

B:  The usual fruit, yogurt and seeds but earlier than usual.  Normally on these walks, I take some fruit with me but that won't work this time round.

L:  No idea - see above.

D:  well, that really depends but I think I will go full on Meddy and have something with fish and grains and lots and lots of salad veg.

Exercise:  Walking.  David is planning a slightly longer walk than usual so that's good.

The extra bit.

A simple red pepper and lentil soup

As always, with my soups, amounts are variable and I would just say go with the flow.

Ingredients:

Some frozen soup base mix (Morrisons does it, as do other supermarkets or just chop some onion, carrot and celery - you don't need loads)

Roasted red peppers from a jar (in brine, not oil, and I used two)

Red lentils (I used about a third of a cup measure of them)

Chicken stock (I used powder)

Various seasonings - go easy on the salt.  I used pepper, garlic granules and some all-purpose mix (home made)

Water - just cover the ingredients and you can always add more if needed.

Method.

So easy!

Throw everything into a pot, soup maker or whatever - I used my Thermomix.

Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, until everything is soft and cooked.

Blend smooth, check seasonings and adjust, if necessary, add water if too thick.

Reheat and serve.

Variations:

different spices/herbs/stock

use a can of tomatoes or passata instead of (or as well as) stock

add shreds of leftover roast after blending

add milk/creme fraiche/cream/yogurt - just be careful it doesn't split

sprinkle grated cheese, croutons and/or mixed seeds as a garnish

The basic soup is syn free but remember to count any additions

Oh - and it freezes well.