Friday, 28-02-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  At present, I am working to reduce my 'bad' cholesterol through diet, particularly using the Mediterranean way of eating.

A bit disappointing at SW this morning - I actually gained half a pound.  Not sure why  as, apart from last Friday evening, I have been on it 100% but there you go - some you win and some you lose so I carry on paying for now and, with hindsight, should have taken a six week countdown.  I didn't so no point bewailing it - just continue and enjoy the whole journey.

  

What I ate today:

I decided to toast some oats and some mixed seeds and have them on yogurt with fruit on the side.

Half a healthy extra B and one syn.

This was both tasty and filling.  I made the waffles in my electric waffle maker using 20g wholemeal SR flour (which I call a B - this was half a B), some grated hard Italian cheese and some milk which made up one A, an egg, some salt, pepper and mustard powder.  Most of the cheese went in the waffle mixture and a bit went into the scrambled egg.
One last bit of smoked salmon and some spray fried mushrooms and tomatoes and it was a super-filling lunch.

One healthy extra A, half a healthy extra B and no syns.

Later on, I had an apple.

Dinner was simple.  I put some chipped potato into the air fryer with spray oil and seasoning, I cooked some fillet steak and rested it in the oven while the chips finished.

The chips were free, the salad was speed but the dressing was two syns and I realised I had another healthy extra A so I sprinkled grated cheddar over the fries - and they were lovely.

I guess the photo sort of epitomises the Mediterranean way - the salad and the evoo based dressing takes pride of place.

Summary:

two healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

Only three syns.  That is pathetic for Eat Your Syns Friday but I have eaten well and am totally satisfied.

Tomorrow's plans:

B:   fruit, yogurt and seeds

L:  cauli-mac and cheese, side salad; fruit

D:  chickpea salad with avocado and lemon-Dijon dressing

Exercise:  I'm shopping so a bit of a walk.

Thursday, 27-02-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  At present, I am working to reduce my 'bad' cholesterol through diet, particularly using the Mediterranean way of eating.

Weigh day tomorrow.  Will I or will I not lose that pound?  I have absolutely no idea and have stayed off my scales this week.

What I ate today:

I was busy and not hungry this morning so just skipped breakfast - and didn't miss it.

Lunch was the Greek chicken with butterbeans and feta and I added some peas and corn for colour and some olives for flavour.  It was really very nice and filling too.

So - one A for feta, one syn for olives, one syn for evoo - I think that's it.

The lighting was terrible and I have over-brightened this in editing - sorry.

Another I had to brighten as it was just a dark lump.
This is how I made some 'garlic bread ' to go with the above.

I measured out two tsps garlic infused olive oil (for two slices of bread, one slice each), brushed it over one side and then toasted both sides until crunchy.  Really nice and dead easy too.

One healthy extra B and two syns.

Because I had my healthy B at lunch time and because I really wasn't that hungry, I changed dinner plans to a mushroom and chia omelette with feta.  It was really tasty.

I had an easy peelers for afters.

One healthy extra A and one syn for chia seeds.

Summary:

two healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

five syns

Tomorrow's plans:

B:  fruit, yogurt and seeds

L:  I might have waffles with fruit and yogurt - haven't had them for absolutely ages.

D:  probably steak, chips and salad

Exercise:  Rest day.  

Wednesday, 26-02-25 and stuff about bread

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  At present, I am working to reduce my 'bad' cholesterol through diet, particularly using the Mediterranean way of eating.

Do you make sourdough?  I've tried on several occasions and have rarely got beyond a starter that begins well but then dies a nasty and painful death, poor thing.  When I did achieve a decent starter, the loaves were rubbish!
Every time, I vow and declare that there's no way I will ever try again - and each time, after a suitable gap, I get the urge to have another go.
So there is, currently, a second day starter sitting in my kitchen - and I haven't killed it - yet.

I've done some research - well, watched videos on YouTube - and there's such a lot more info out there now than there was last time I tried so never say never, eh?  I even found a formula called Baker's Maths - 100% flour, 60-80% water, etc.  I tried so hard to find something like this before.

IF it works this time - big if - I will have to think of a name.  I gather people name their sourdough starters.  Any ideas - the punnier the better (that's not a typo).

As an encouragement, I also made one of my normal loaves - a delicious, SW friendly loaf made with wheat, rye and spelt wholemeals with added seeds for crunch and flavour.  It always works, never fails (touch wood) and it is now sliced and in the freezer.  It will see me through until the third week of March, maybe longer.

(I made one before Christmas that had added chopped olives, sundried tomatoes and crumbled chestnuts and it was lovely - but that's for special occasions . . .)

Finally, for Sooze and anyone else, here's the link to Roy's video showing how to make the white bean sauce again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzrRGQe7Mi8&t=418s

What I ate today:

I'm really pleased that, again, each meal used something from the freezer - using what I already have is great and I don't want to go food shopping until Saturday, if I can help it.

Breakfast was the usual.  The fruit was the last of a bag of mango chunks, the dregs of some tropical mix fruit from Lathcoat's and some blueberries.

One syn for the chia seeds and one syn for some mixed seeds.

I got a container of soup base mix (that mix of dried grains and pulses that you boil up) and some fresh (ie. real) chicken stock from the freezer and added to it some left over salad from last night because why not.  The leaves act like spinach and the rest is just veg while the dressing adds flavour.
The soup base is two syns and I am going to add one syn for the salad (it was four syns and there's less than a quarter left - it was a VERY big salad!).  The croutons were a healthy extra B and the grated cheese a healthy extra A.

I had an apple a bit later.

The Cook's sweet potato katsu curry looked super-beige but the flavour - wow.  Not too hot but  good hit of spice and so many different vegetables and some seeds too.  Definitely getting that again when I next place an order - which probably won't be until April.

Afters was a some grapes.

Four and a half syns for the curry.

Summary:

one healthy extra A

one healthy extra B

nine and a half syns

Tomorrow's plans:

B:  just some fruit as I have a busy morning and can eat that on the go.

L:  I have my friend, Val, round for lunch and I am trying a recipe from the new SW recipe book, One-Pot Magic.  If you have the book, it is on p 64 and is Greek chicken with butter beans and feta

D:  toasted bagel with scrambled egg and smoked salmon.

Exercise:  I'm just doing the Strike part of the SET class online as I have plenty to do and not a lot of time.

Tuesday, 25-02-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  At present, I am working to reduce my 'bad' cholesterol through diet, particularly using the Mediterranean way of eating.

I'm well pleased that every meal today has used something from the freezer.  

It's the 'batch and leftovers' bag in the freezer that bothers me the most - all sorts of random bits and pieces from portions of soup through stocks, butter, pastry, etc, to some savoury crumble topping.

Today's usings are some apple puree (not synned), some soup and some bean chilli that provided the base for the lasagne.

I'm now low on home made ready meals but I have a selection from Cook's so that's OK.  I don't want to do any more batch cooking for a while as I have so much meat, veg and fish to use.
It's fortunate I love cooking.

What I ate today:

I folded the stewed apple into yogurt flavoured with cranberry skinny syrup and chia seeds and had fresh fruit on the side.  
One syn for the chia seeds.

The soup was a portion of the chicken, leek and barley I made from the Pinch of Nom recipe and it was lovely.

One and a half syns for the soup and the croutons used one healthy extra B.

I was a bit uncertain as to how the white bean sauce would behave in a lasagne.  I didn't want it baking too long and, anyway, I needed to cut the lasagne to fit the dish so I did what I usually do now and soaked the lasagne sheet in water for a while.  It then cuts easily and also it shortens the cooking time.

The 'red sauce' was actually a portion of mixed bean chilli, not really lasagne vibe but nice, all the same.

I made a big old salad - three syns for evoo and one for mixed seeds.

This was the cooked lasagne . . .  one healthy extra A and two and a half syns for the cheese sauce with mozarella on top and two syns for the chilli (the evoo in it).

And this was what it looked like inside.

It was really, really good and, with a proper ragu sauce, it would be even better.
Definitely one to make again although I think the next effort using the cheesy white bean sauce will be cauli-macaroni cheese.

Summary:

one healthy extra A

one healthy extra B

eleven syns - all for seeds and evoo

Tomorrow's plans:

B:  fruit, yogurt and seeds

L:  soup again plus croutons; fruit

D:  Cook's ready meal - I am finding these extremely handy when I have come home from a personal training session and want something tasty, nourishing and easy -and SW-friendly.  The Cook's meals are processed, of course, but not ultra processed.

Exercise:  personal training

Monday, 24-02-25 and Roy's sauce.

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  At present, I am working to reduce my 'bad' cholesterol through diet, particularly using the Mediterranean way of eating.

I had a wee look at my home made stuff in the freezer and realise I have quite a lot of soup - so guess what lunches are going to be for a while!  Fortunately, I like soup and soup likes me!  :-)

I had a go at making that white bean 'Alfredo sauce' from Roy's vlog today.  It was very easy, pretty quick and rather tasty.  Not as smooth as a real cheese sauce but that's not a problem when you are adding extra stuff.  And very SW friendly - I added extra cheese and one portion came to half an A and two and a half syns.

Good for lasagne, cauli cheese, macaroni cheese . . . that sort of thing.

What I ate today:

For breakfast, the fruit was an easy peeler, blueberries and melon, there were chia seeds in the yogurt and some mixed seeds on top.

Two syns for the seeds.

I had baked beans left over from yesterday so beans on toast was the obvious solution.  I added an egg for extra filling power and had some tomatoes as well. 

There's something deeply delicious about  the simple combination of toast, baked beans and egg - it's just so right!
One healthy extra B.

The white bean sauce worked brilliantly.  I spray fried onion, pepper, sugar snap, tomatoes and olives, cooked 40g wholemeal spaghetti, added the sauce and heated it up before adding the veg and mixing well.  So tasty with a side salad and very filling.  And no greasy feeling in my mouth.

I could have added more cheese on top too.

Half an A and two and a half syns for the sauce, one syn for the olives and two syns for salad dressing.

Summary:

half a healthy extra A

one healthy extra B

seven and a half syns

Tomorrow's plans:

B:  avo toast with smoked salmon and a side salad

L:   soup, maybe side salad; fruit

D:  sort of lasagne, side salad; fruit

Using more of the white bean Alfredo sauce and a beany mix - if I can't find one in the freezer, I can make one.

Exercise:

Sunday, 23-02-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  At present, I am working to reduce my 'bad' cholesterol through diet, particularly using the Mediterranean way of eating.

What I ate today:

I really wasn't at all hungry this morning so I decided to sort of amalgamate my plans for breakfast and lunch into a sort of Sunday brunch.

So it was a whopping plateful of a two egg omelette with chia seeds, baked beans, two Heck sausage slices (half a sun each), mushrooms, tomatoes and the very last bit of the cheesy mash from Friday that didn't go on the pie.  After I look the photo, I added some Crucials brown sauce.

I was so, so full afterwards.

So - one syn for the sausage slices, one for the brown sauce, one A for the cheesy mash and I'm estimation four syns for butter, also in the mash, although I think that's probably an overestimation.

Dinner.
I had two more sausage slices thawed so I had them in a pitta toastie with chutney and cheddar and some finger veg on the side.
The sausage slices are OK - not amazing but not nasty either and low in unhealthy fats.  UP, of course.  I have two more slices in the freezer and I don't think I will be getting any more.

One syn for the sausage, one and a half for the chutney and the cheese was an A and three syns while the pitta was a B.

No dessert - I was full up.  To be honest, I hadn't quite recovered from the brunch!

Summary:

two healthy As

one healthy B

eleven and a half syns

Tomorrow's plans:

B:  fruit, yogurt and seeds

L:  beans (leftovers from today) on toast, tomatoes and mushrooms on the side; fruit

D:  I am trying that white bean sauce Roy posted in his vlog the other day, probably with veg and pasta.  There's plenty of protein in the sauce.

Exercise:  circuits

Saturday, 22-02-25, a possible trigger description and Recipes with Roy!

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  At present, I am working to reduce my 'bad' cholesterol through diet, particularly using the Mediterranean way of eating.

Yesterday was a day totally off plan and very unbalanced but it was so nice to have Dave and Anna round for dinner.

There's some leftovers of the cheesy potato topped chicken and leek pie, just enough for one.   I did make a lot and Dave and Anna both had seconds, which was nice.  All the veg went which I am happy about because I'm really not short of veg now, am I.  I need to have a veg packed week!!

Anyway, the sauce for the base of the pie was a wine and cream sauce (naughty but nice) and there's a bit of sauce left over.  I've popped it in the freezer for now in hopes that it will freeze OK - I'm not sure about this but I guess I will find out.  I can have it on an Eat-Your-Syns day, can't I?

I also had a bit of double cream left, around the pot, maybe; it wasn't a large pot, just a 300ml one, but I didn't want to waste it.  I had a go at making butter in Thermione - I've made it before but I wasn't sure there would be enough cream for it to work.  However, it worked perfectly and made 112g butter for around 75p - so it's probably cheaper to make your own butter than to buy it right now . . .  It's now in 5g pats (two syns each) in the freezer to use when I want a bit of a buttery flavour.

There was some toffee and pecan roulade left but Anna very kindly(!) took it home.

So my day off SW is over, there's been very little waste and I am back on it like a shot now - apart from finishing off the leftover pie this evening!

What I ate today:

I didn't really fancy much breakfast but thought I ought to have some, so I settled for an apple and an orange.
I can have the yogurt and chia seeds as a dessert later.

Syn free.

I really dithered over lunch - I could have waffles, fruit and yogurt or beans on toast or scrambled egg and smoked salmon on toast or chicken, leek and barley soup.  In the end, I went for the last because I felt I needed something warming, hearty and very Mediterranean in vibe to get my insides back to normal after yesterdays high-syn-fest!  I found the recipe on the Pinch of Nom site, here.  Just scroll past all the ads.   https://pinchofnom.com/recipes/chicken-leek-and-barley-soup/

I added some peas and a bit of sweet corn lurking in the bottom of the freezer and I saw it contained garlic so I used two tsps of my garlic infused olive oil for four syns so I am calling it one and a half syns per portion.

I made half amounts, supposed to be for two, got three hearty portions so that's two for the freezer (to which I can add extra veg if I want) and the one I had was absolutely delicious, so, so good, much nicer than I expected.  Thank you, Pinch of Nom.

One healthy extra B for the croutons and one and a half syns.

Dinner was almost the same as yesterday.  The leftover pot pie, cabbage, broccoli and carrots and I had intended to have yogurt and those chia seeds for dessert but I was full up..

It's not possible to work out the syns, etc, for this but I'm saying two healthy extra As and all the syns I had left which should cover it and some.  

Summary (approx)

two healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

up to fifteen syns

Tomorrow's plans:

B:  tomato and mushroom filled omelette wrap, maybe some baked beans on the side.

L:  roast lamb dinner (using freezer leftover lamb and some of those lovely vegetables)

D:   toastie, salad; fruit

Exercise:  an online Lindsey class.

The Extra Bit:

This is an occasional section when there's something else to rabbit on about!

I subscribe to an YouTube channel called 'Recipes with Roy'.   Roy lost a lot of weight, has regained some of it and is now on a mission to get back into a weight range he is happy with (I totally understand that).  He is also an admin on the Slim Win group I often talk about.

He is American so some of his recipes involve ingredients you can't get over  here and I would have to work out those syns but the other day he did one for an Alfredo sauce made with white beans and way more SW friendly.

It appears, from Googling, that this is a known 'thing' and is supposed to be really nice so, one day this week, I'd like to give it a go.

Have you ever made this?  How did it work out?

Here's the link to Roy's channel - do go and take a look and, maybe, subscribe.  
https://www.youtube.com/@RecipeswithRoy

Friday, 21-02-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  At present, I am working to reduce my 'bad' cholesterol through diet, particularly using the Mediterranean way of eating.

Weigh in - one pound off, one to go.  Woo hoo!

Also, I won the raffle and what a useful one it was this week.  Bags of onions, carrots, a cabbage, some leeks and some chestnut mushrooms.  I will use all them, for sure; they will see me well into March.

What I ate today:

I haven't eaten very much today.  I wasn't very hungry and, knowing I was having a big meal this evening, I decided to not eat much.

No photos today.

I will post this now, at around four o'clock

Tomorrow's plans:

B:   fruit, mixed seeds, yogurt

L:  hm waffles, fruit and yogurt

D:  either leftovers or steak and chips; fruit

Exercise:   a walk.

Thursday, 20-02-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  At present, I am working to reduce my 'bad' cholesterol through diet, particularly using the Mediterranean way of eating.

Weigh day tomorrow morning and, as always, I have no idea.  It would be wonderful to lose 2lbs and be back in my happy zone again but, at this point, it is a big ask and, apart from the paying side of things, I am fine with whatever those scales throw at me.

I'm enjoying what I am eating, it is almost all good, home cooked stuff or quality - those Cooks ready meals don't contain anything that would make them ultra processed and I do with they had some sort of cookery book that showcased their meals.

What I ate today:

The usual, the fruit being raspberries, apple and melon.  
Part of a healthy extra B for mixed seeds - I forgot to soak the chia seeds in advance.

This was so filling.  To be fair, it was a big chunk of fish, smoked cod, I think.  It was really nice and I ought to have it more often.

Four syns for garlic infused evoo

Later on, I had some slices of melon - now it is cut, it needs using up!

Dinner was the last of the liver and bacon ready meals.  I will get some more at some point but not this month as I've just picked up another order.

I had an orange for afters.
Four and a half syns.

Summary:

no healthy extra As - ooops

part of a healthy extra B

eight and a half syns

Tomorrow's plans:

B:  fruit, yogurt and seeds

L:  prawn noodles with mango and coconut; fruit

This is the ready meal I didn't have on Tuesday and I was looking forward to trying it so here it is!

D:  Very definitely off plan this evening, just for once.  Dave and Anna are over and I am doing cheesy potato topped chicken and leek pie with vegetables and a roulade for dessert (bought for Christmas and never used)

There Will Be Wine (imagine the voice of doom!)

Exercise:  rest day

Wednesday, 19-02-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  At present, I am working to reduce my 'bad' cholesterol through diet, particularly using the Mediterranean way of eating.

What I ate today:

The usual and the fruit was a pear, two kiwis and some blueberries.

One syn for the chia seeds.

This slightly adapted butterbean and feta bake was really delicious.

I had an apple afterwards.

Three syns for some garlic infused evoo and half a syn for UP dressing.

Dinner was a Cook's meal, salmon and asparagus gratin and it was so delicious.  Definitely one to have again.

It was eight syns (and 411 calories) and worth every penny of them.

Summary:

one healthy extra A

no healthy extra Bs

twelve syns (the chia seeds could be part of a B)

Tomorrow's plans:

B:  fruit, seeds and yogurt

L:  smoked mackerel with tomatoes, mushrooms and an egg; fruit

D:  liver, bacon and onions, side veg; fruit

Exercise:  SET class online

Tuesday, 18-02-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  At present, I am working to reduce my 'bad' cholesterol through diet, particularly using the Mediterranean way of eating.

What I ate today:

Pineapple, mango, raspberries and strawberries plus the yogurt and chia seeds.  All really delicious!

One syn for the chia seeds.

I brushed some garlic infused evoo over the bagel halves before toasting.  Really nice.

Two syns for the garlic evoo and two syns for the evoo in my lemon dressing, one healthy extra B and two and a half syns for the evoo.

Later, I had an orange.

The pork rarebit was absolutely lovely.  This is how I made it.

I sliced some onion and red pepper and softened it in spray oil.

I took three 1.5 cm sliced of pork loin and hammered them out to make mini escalope/steaky things which I dusted with some spicy steak seasoning (you can use whatever spices you like).

I tipped the veg into a small oven dish that fitted in my air fryer.

While the pork was cooking (it didn't take long) I finely grated 30g cheddar and to that added one egg yolk, a very little bit of yogurt (because it was very thick), some garlic puree and some mustard powder and mixed it all into a sauce.

I lay the pork steak over the soft onion and pepper and then spread the rarebit over the top.
I baked it in Nellie for about ten minutes, until the rarebit was cooked and browned.

And that was it.  Definitely doing this again, maybe with chicken or steak.

Afters was an apple.

One healthy extra A for the cheese and that was that.

Summary:

one healthy extra A

one healthy extra B

seven and a half syns

Tomorrow's plans:

B:  fruit, yogurt and seeds

L:  butterbean and feta bake, side salad; fruit

I have butterbeans that need using up so I googled and this came up from the BBC site.  I plan to do an adapted version of it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/butterbean_feta_bake_39817

D:  salmon and asparagus gratin; fruit

another Cook's meal, not one I planned in but I accidentally let it start defrosting and there's no way I'm wasting it!

Exercise:  personal training