Thursday, 17-07-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now around target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

What I have eaten today:

This was lovely.  The cucumber and the tomatoes were from the garden and, because the feta was 'off', I just grated some cheddar instead.  Really tasty.

One healthy A, one syn for salad cream and one syn for olives.

In the afternoon, I had an orange.

This was a recipe from the new SW book, Street Food and it was lovely.    Buffalo chicken with blue cheese dip.
I had to use Stilton because I didn't have Danish blue and I'm calling what I had a healthy A although Stilton isn't really a healthy A.  I'm definitely making that dip again.  It was so easy, just ripe Stilton and yogurt, mashed together.  Very tasty!

So - one syn for honey in the marinade and the rest was either free or so little that it doesn't count, plus one syn for salad cream.

I had baked a loaf so I tried a bit of that before freezing for my healthy extra B.

Summary:

two healthy extra As (sort of)

one healthy extra B

four syns - which makes up a bit for yesterday.  

Tomorrow's plans:

L:   cheesy lentil and aubergine layer bake, salad; fruit

I know I had this Wednesday but I have several portions in the freezer and anyway - it's delicious!

D:  not sure because I'm at a neighbours and not sure if or what food there might be there.  If necessary,  I'll grab something from the freezer.

Exercise:   rest day

Wednesday, 16-07-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

I forgot to say last night - the Indian meatball recipe I made yesterday from the SW magazine was a member's recipe.  Each year there's a Slimming World Free Food Festival when groups have taster sessions and the best dish that conforms to certain criteria gets sent off (the recipe, not the actual food) to be entered into a competition.
The overall winners have their recipes made into frozen ready meals that are sold in Iceland.
I won't be buying it as a ready meal (very expensive), but I will be scanning and printing out the recipe because they were absolutely delicious!  It was as nice as any Indian takeaway I have tried.
Ditto for the base curry sauce that was in the last magazine.

I've made a full batch of the meatballs and they are in the freezer.

What I have eaten today:

The lentil bake is really nice - it's going to be a regular, for sure.

One healthy extra A and one syn (for oil)

I had an apple and an orange for afters.

The past was OK, not amazing.  I think the pumpkin concoction needed more flavour - maybe some spice of some kind.

One healthy extra B and one syn plus two syns for some oil.

Then I went a bit bonkers and had chocolate, crisps and crackers.  Oh, dear.  Not a successful day!

Summary:

one healthy extra A

one healthy extra B

goodness knows how many syns

Tomorrow's plans:

 

L:   chickpea, feta and olive salad; fruit

D:   buffalo chicken with blue cheese dip, salad; fruit

From the Street Food recipe book, p15)

Exercise:   Groove online

Tuesday, 15-07-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

What I have eaten today:

I had an apple after Groove.

Lunch was nice - a sort of crumpet based mini-pizza with salad and some lightly pickled cucumber and apple which was really very nice indeed.

Afters was an orange.

Half an A and half a B for the mini-pizza, part of a B for seeds and two syns for dressing.

These Indian meatballs were very, very tasty.  The sauce wasn't the one in the recipe because I had sauce in the freezer.

Afters was an apple.

I added cheese to the meatballs because it helps to make them less 'solid' so that was half of an A but the rest was syn free.

Summary:

one healthy extra A

one healthy extra B

two syns

Tomorrow's plans:

L:   lentil and aubergine layer bake, salad; fruit

(from the freezer, made last week)

D:  chick peas and veg on a pasta and pumpkin butter base, ?salad?; fruit

An odd name - the idea is to stir fry some veg and some chickpeas, cook pasta, stir some of the pumpkin butter I made the other day which tastes much nicer than it sounds, and top it with the veg.  I can but try!

Exercise:  personal training

Monday, 14-07-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

What I have eaten today:

The left over risotto, left over coleslaw and a big old mixed salad.  Delicious!

One syn for salad cream, one syn and half an A for the risotto and a bit of B for some mixed seeds.

Dinner was a slimming world recipe.  It was OK - nothing special and the sauce was very one dimensional,  Basically, it was hunter's chicken sans cheese.

The little salad was lush - garden cucumber and some of the tomatoes were fresh picked to.

two syns for salad cream to dunk the mini roasties in - I just love salad cream and potato (sorry).

I have some of the sauce left.  I've added it to the rest of the canned tomato I didn't use and I will jazz it up into a sauce with mush more depth of flavour

 I nibbled some bread and cheese later.

Summary:

two healthy extra As
one healthy extra B

twelve syns - I had to count the bread I nibbled later on as it was more than a B

Tomorrow's plans:

L:   mini discard sourdough pizza, salad; fruit
OK, so the base is more like a crumpet because I tried to make it in a pan rather than bake it but not to worry!  I will try again using the air fryer.

D:  Indian meatballs (new SW mag, p 61)with curry sauce (from the freezer) and rice (also in freezer), side salad; fruit

Exercise:   Groove class.

Sunday, 13-07-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

Yay - managing to get this up on time for once.

What I have eaten today:

I had an apple around half past eleven.

This was lunch.  Am English muffin with some ham (all visible fat removed), the rest of the broad bean hummus and then a bit of the garden cucumber I pickled earlier this morning.  So, so delicious.

One B for the muffin, four syns for the hummus and one syn for  salad cream.  I sprinkled a few mixed seeds over but not enough to count.

Later on, I had some watermelon - very refreshing!

Not a great photo but dinner was absolutely delicious.  I adapted a risotto recipe to include chicken, ham and a bit of tomato sauce in the fridge that really needed using up.

It was supposed to make two portions but made three so that's one eaten, one for tomorrow lunch and one for the freezer as soon as it is cold.

The brown circle things around the coleslaw is the last of the quick pickled cucumber - and I'm keeping the liquid for more as there's three cucumbers that are going to all be ready at the same time.

So one syn for oil, half a healthy extra A, one syn for salad cream and that is all.

Afters was some watermelon - and I am thinking of making watermelon rind pickle.  Have you ever made it?

Summary:

half a healthy extra A

one healthy extra B

seven syns

Tomorrow's plans:

L:   leftovers of chicken and veg risotto, salad; fruit

D:  seared chicken breast in bravas sauce (from the new SW magazine, p44)

Exercise:  circuits

Saturday, 12-07-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

What I have eaten today:

For lunch, I made some broad bean hummus (really nice) and as tomato, cucumber and preserved lemon salsa.  

four syns for the hummus, one B for the toasted bread and one syn for the hm coleslaw.

I threw together some mashed butterbeans, grated cheese, onion and garlic granules, chopped preserved lemon and seasoning.  It came together quite well and baked in Nellie but the resulting patties were quite dry.  Maybe add a bit of egg next time.

One A for the cheese, one syn for the sauce and one syn for the coleslaw.

I had a sweetheart cabbage that needed to be used so I took off the outer leaves, shredded the rest and mixed in grated carrot, chopped apple and salad cream and now I have a big bowl of coleslaw to use up in the next few days.

Tomorrow's plans:

L:   I have the other half of the hummus to use up so I will probably toast an English muffin, bagel or crumpet (all hm), spread the hummus and add some chopped ham on top.  It should be OK with a side salad.  Then fruit.

D:  chicken and ham risotto (using chicken bits and chicken stock from the freezer and a thermomix recipe which makes risotto a whole load easier as it does all the stirring!), maybe a side salad; fruit

Exercise:   rest day

Thursday, 10-07-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

It's weigh day tomorrow.  It's been a really poor week, one way and another and I don.t want to face those scales - but I will.  No point not.

And then . . . no idea but I will have to sort it out. 

What I have eaten today:

This was lovely - lentil and veg pasta bolognaise.  One healthy extra A and two syns plus one syn for salad cream.

I had an apple and an orange in the afternoon.

I got four portions of lentil, veg and aubergine layer bake so that's three for the freezer.  

One healthy extra A and three syns for oil.

Summary:

two healthy extra As

no healthy extra Bs

six syns plus goodness knows what for bits and pieces.

Tomorrow's plans:

L:   sausage hot dog, salad; fruit

D:  egg and chips, salad; fruit

Exercise:  rest day.

Wednesday, 09-07-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

Late again, sorry!  It's not going well again - I really must get this worked out.

What I have eaten today:

A terrible photo that was taking in light that was far too bright but the egg salad itself was delicious.

I just hard boiled the eggs, halved them, scooped out the middle and mashed it with cheese, salad cream and a pinch of mustard powder.

It took me right back to childhood - Mum used to make this fairly often.

I'd been craving this - two Richmond sausages (eight syns, ouch) in a home made roll with some onion and some Tracklement's sweet mustard ketchup (delish).

And other stuff that should not have got anywhere close.  Oh, well.  xx

Tomorrow's plans:

L:   Lentil pasta, side salad; fruit

D:  cheesy lentil bake, veg; fruit

Exercise: Groove

Lots of lentils today but different lentils and I'm using what I have in without needing to buy anything.

Monday, 07-07-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

What I have eaten today:

Just the one meal today because lunch and dinner were the same thing, falafels, pasta, tomato sauce and cheese on top . . . 

. . . and a nice big salad with salad cream.

I also had an apple and an orange through the day.  

Summary:

two healthy extra As

no healthy extra Bs

eight syns - oil, salad cream.

Tomorrow's plans:

L:   I have another friend round and today I'm doing gazpacho (already made and chilling in the fridge overnight), cold meat and salad maybe coleslaw too; fruit

D:  lentil and veg pasta, veg; fruit

Exercise:   groove and the walk there and back, depending on the weather

Saturday, 05-07-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

What I have eaten today:

Before I get into the two meals, this morning I made . . . 

. . . these - using the baguette recipe from yesterday and shaping into rolls rather than longer products.

The recipe made nine at roughly one B and three syns - ish.

Seven are in the freezer, I had one for my burger and one is making a filled roll for tomorrow.  Nice!

It looks messy but it was just as delicious as yesterday's.

Working out syns is pretty much an estimate.
I think the pancakes and the cheese together make one healthy extra As and half a healthy B while the salad has one syn's worth of mixed seeds and two syns for the evoo in the dressing.

That's the best I can do really.

I had some strawberries for afters.

A home made burger in a home made roll with home made chutney.  Lovely!

One and a half syns for chutney,  one B and three syns for the roll. one A for cheese, one and a half syns for stuff in the burger.

Summary:

two healthy extra A

one and a half healthy extra Bs

nine syns

Tomorrow's plans:

L:   cold meat roll, finger salad; fruit

D:  meatballs in tomato sauce, pasta, grated cheese

Exercise:  a lot of walking

Friday, 04-07-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

I woke early this morning so set to and made some baguettes for the first time.  Not 'proper' ones, just my usual recipe to give me some practise in shaping and using my newly acquired baguette tin.

And at SW I weighed for the first time in eight weeks.  No, I wasn't in target range but I wasn't far off and I'm in the nine stone bracket, not the ten stone.  Very happy about that!

What I have eaten today:

Alex made carrot crepes with a tomato, cheese and spinach filling - except that the carrot batter didn't work properly so I knocked up a quick batch of normal batter to make crepes.

Later on, I tweaked the batter and it pancaked perfectly - too much milk or not enough eggs and flour.  I have made a note to that effect on the recipe.

This was Alex's portion . . .

And this was mine.  No idea of syns and I have one of Alex's to reheat tomorrow as they were very, very filling.

No idea of syns and I'm not fretting, especially as this evening is an off plan meal anyway.

When I make it again, then I will work out the syns properly.

How I enjoyed this!  The baguettes turned out lovely, the chutney was home made as was the butter (leftover cream after Christmas, popped in the freezer).

So naughty in SW terms and I couldn't eat like this every day, but oh, it was good.

Back on track tomorrow.

Tomorrow's plans:

L:   The leftover tomato, cheese and spinach filled pancake with salad; fruit

D:   h.m. cheese burger, salad, coleslaw and chips; fruit

Another I have been fancying for a while. My recipe makes one me-sized burger and some meatballs.  I read somewhere that you can add sourdough starter to your mix rather than breadcrumbs.  I don't add breadcrumbs anyway but I might have a go, just to see.

Exercise:   a walk

Thursday, 03-07-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

What I have eaten today:

Unusually, lunch was sweet rather than savoury.  This morning, I made a batch of sourdough blueberry pancakes, all carefully measured out so I know what I have to count - and I don't syn cooked fruit.

Half a healthy extra B and one syn for a bit of maple syrup - the rest is all free or speed ingredients.  There's protein from the egg and the yogurt.

After Groove, I sliced the loaf I made in the morning and froze all but the two ends which I am calling a B and three syns.

When it came to dinner, I realised it was silly to cook something (and probably freeze half) when I had plenty of stuff already in the freezer so I got out the last portion of the chicken and mushroom risotto from the cooking demo and four sweet potato falafels (a SW recipe) and had them with a salad.  Afters was some grapes.

So two syns for the risotto and one for some salad cream.

Summary:

no healthy extra As

one and a half healthy extra Bs

seven syns

Tomorrow's plans:

L:   Not totally sure, it depends what Alex would like, but it will be on plan, for sure.

D:   I'm going off plan to have something I have fancied for a while.  hm baguette, French cheese (probably Boursin and camembert or Brie), chutney, grapes and some red wine.

Exercise:   walk to SW and back again

Wednesday, 02-07-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

It's so much cooler this morning, we have had rain and my system seems to have sorted itself out, thank goodness.  I think it must have just been a reaction to the heat.

What I have eaten today:

Lunch was a jacket potato with bean and veg chilli and some coleslaw I made yesterday but didn't have.
It was delicious but the portion was way too big so I saved half of the jacket, the chilli and the coleslaw with the intention of having it in the evening, maybe with a bit more salad and some cheese on top.

One syn for oil in the chilli and one and a half for salad cream.

To what I saved from lunch I added a salad, some mixed seeds and some grated cheese.  It was tasty, felt different and good and filling.
For afters, I had some garden blueberries, some raspberries and some yogurt.

On top of the syns for lunch, I had one healthy extra A and half a B for the seeds.

Summary:

one healthy extra A

half a healthy extra B

two and a half syns

Tomorrow's plans:

Br:   Blueberry pancakes with yogurt and fruit and, if that's not enough, I can have some salad later on.

D:  chicken curry with rice; fruit

Exercise:  Groove at Shimmy Studio

Tuesday, 01-07-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

(Written on Wednesday am - just pretend, please)

Not a great day, sadly.  It was baking hot and my tum went on me mid-afternoon (possibly the heat, I really don't know) so I had a few bits and bobs, nothing that I photo-ed.

What I have eaten today:

Breakfast was nice - I'm not great with eggs though, am I.  Not to worry!

Two and a half syns for avocado and one healthy extra B.

That's all the photos I have.

Things seem to have settled somewhat now so fingers crossed . . .

Tomorrow's plans:

Br:   jacket potato, chilli, salad; fruit

What I should have had for dinner and, as I defrosted the chilli, I must use it or lose it.  

D:  depends on the weather - probably a simple egg and cheese salad.

Exercise:  personal training

Monday, 30-06-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

What I have eaten today:

After circuits this morning (very tiring in the heat), I polished off the gazpacho that I had planned to have yesterday but didn't.  No photo so here's the one I took the other day.

One syn for evoo.

I will be making some more - it was so good and felt really 'healthy',

I had planned a salad with some baked salmon but remembered that I had veg that needed using up so I had them instead, steamed - green beans, corn and asparagus.

I made a little salad veg pickle to have on the salmon too.

A bit of light mayo for dipping the asparagus in was one syn but the rest was all syn free

It was light and refreshing and very, very satisfying.

Wimbledon has started so you have to, don't you.  Yogurt, not cream, though.

Syn free.

Dinner was more of the lentil and veg bolognaise sauce with added chicken, penne pasta and hard Italian cheese on top.  The salad had seeds added.

So half a healthy extra A, half a B and two syns for evoo

Summary:

half a healthy extra A

half a healthy extra B

four syns, all for evoo

Tomorrow's plans:

Br:   avo toast with egg and asparagus for dipping, bit of salad; fruit

D:  bean chilli in a jacket potato, side salad, maybe coleslaw; fruit

Exercise:   groove but, if it's as hot as today, I am driving down, not walking.