Tuesday, 18-11-25 and the recipe for 'sort-of-arancini'

Good evening, everyone.

I had to chuckle this morning.   After the post explaining why I have always counted wholemeal/wheat/grain flours as a healthy B/fibre, I learnt that in the new year it will officially BE a fibre choice.    And about flippin' time too. 
Do you think SW reads this blog?

Answer: Not a chance!  😁

What I ate today:

I was quite hungry after Groove so breakfast was a bit bigger than usual.  Mango, pineapple, peach and nectarine slices and stewed apple, all frozen and defrosted/warmed up in the microwave (I don't swip any cooked fruit), plus the yogurt and one and a half swips of fruit coulis on top.  Warming and surprisingly filling.  I like fruit and yogurt but at this time of year you need something warm; I think I will be heating fruit up a fair bit over the next months.

Nice, simple baked beans on toast for lunch.

One fibre and one swip for some brown sauce in the beans.

Later on, I had some melon.

This was a total winner, so much so that I', posting the recipe below.  Sort-of-arancini with salad.

One syn for the Spanish rice.

Half a healthy oil for avocado oil.

10g grated parmesan and 20g cubed cheddar for a calcium choice.
Three swips for home zizzed breadcrumbs and a bit of wholemeal flour.

One swip for a little squirt of sriracha chilli mayo sauce (I weighed it to make sure because - you know - mayo!)

And one swip for some 70% lighter salad cream.

A close up so you can see the melted cheese inside

And that was that.  A great mouth-feel and flavour, totally satisfying!  No need for anything else.

Tomorrow's plans:

B:  spray roasted vegetable cubes with bacon and egg, tomatoes on the side - or I may just go for yogurt and fruit, I'll see how I feel when the time comes.

L:  soup with added chicken

D:  on the 19th November I always remember my Dad's birthday by having his favourite dinner meal - steak and chips with a salad and a mushroom sauce

And fruit

No class tomorrow; personal training is Thursday this week.

Sort-of-arancini - I've called it that because proper arancini is made with let over risotto.
The rice and the beans were used up from the day before.

Ingredients:

Half a pouch of Spanish rice (mine was from Aldi) - one swip

Half a can of cannellini beans, drained and mashed

Some onion and a couple of mushrooms, finely chopped and softened in spray oil

Garlic granules, salt and pepper 

10g grated Parmesan and 20g cubed cheddar - one calcium in total

Bit of flour - you don't need much or you could leave this out - swip it or possibly count it as part of a fibre if wholemeal

Beaten egg

Some bread crumbs - blitz some wholemeal or use commercial - wholemeal can count as a fibre choice or swip
Avocado oil or use spray oil - count as part of a healthy oils choice

Method:

Put the flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs into three bowls (or just dust your hands with flour when needed).

Mix together the rice, mashed beans, softened onion and mushrooms, seasonings and grated parmesan and squidge together with your hands.

Take some of the mix and flatten out in your hand.  Place some little cubes of cheddar in the middle and shape into a ball enclosing the cheese.
Flour (if using), egg and breadcrumb the ball.

If not cooking straight away, chill in the fridge.

Before baking, spray each ball with some oil - I used avocado oil.

Air fry at 200C for about twelve minutes or so.

Serve with sauce and sides of own choice - remember to swip, if necessary.

I had enough mixture for two balls with cheese and one patty without cheese.  The latter was also delicious and a great way to make a burger.  It might be nice with some added chopped/crumbled nuts, eg chestnuts and brie for a festive flavour.

Monday, 17-11-25

Good evening again!  Welcome to my blog.

Today's meals:   

Breakfast - and I didn't half mangle that egg!  The tomatoes are still garden ones so they tasted great!

One and a half swips for the pancakes.

More of the Sunday soup with added bacon bits.  Very tasty.

I had more bread.  It came to one and a half fibre choices.

Later on I had a banana.

It looks a bit of a mess but it was nice.  Spray fried veg with cannelloni beans (all I had), some Spanish rice from a pouch  and some grated cheese.

The rice was one swip and the cheese was one and a half calciums.

Afters was an orange and two easy peelers - must get my vitamin C!!

Tomorrow's plans:

B:  tomorrow morning is busy so it's just some snatched fruit

L:  beans on toast or similar - still busy!

D:  I have Spanish rice and cannelloni beans to use up so I think I will make a sort of arancini type thing only patties rather than balls

Exercise:  Groove class

Sunday, 16-11-25, a recipe and why I count some flours as B/fibre choices

Good evening, everyone.

What I ate today:

Breakfast was really lovely.  I made sourdough discard pancakes and topped them with shredded smoked salmon, avocado, a sprinkle of mixed seeds and lime juice.

I'll post the pancake recipe below but, suffice it to say, the batter made four pancakes so I have two wrapped up in the fridge and that sorts out tomorrow's breakfast.  It's quite neutral and seasoned with just salt and black pepper so I could go sweet or savoury.

Half a fibre for all four (see below for why) so I can count my sprinkle of seeds as part of the half.

Lovely soup for lunch.  I just threw in onion, leek, butternut squash, sweet potato, carrot and green lentils plus chicken stock and seasonings and boiled it up until everything was cooked.  Then I added some orzo, some pinto beans, some frozen peas and frozen corn and finished it all off.  The starch from the pasta helped to thicken the liquid and it made four good portions of yumminess.

The soup is all SW speed/free and the toast and the sprinkle of mixed seeds finished of my fibre for the day.

Later on I had two easy peelers.

And here we are at dinner.  I hammered out half a chicken breast fillet, shook over a spicy mix, sprayed it with avo oil and griddles it.  Very quick and very tasty with roasted parsnip plus steamed broccoli and sprouts.

The oil, plus what I used for the parsnip was pretty much a healthy oil choice and the cranberry sauce was one and a half swips.

I had an apple for afters and that's that for the day!

Edit:  Next day and I realised that the avocado was my healthy fats so ooops.  I'm still under the swips limit though so it's a not a disaster; it just shows how easy it is to make a mistake.  Sorry!

Plans for tomorrow:

B:  the other two pancakes with either fruit and yogurt or bacon, tomatoes and mushrooms.  I'll see how I feel.

L:  more of the soup, maybe with some added bacon chunks

D:  At the moment I feel like some sort of rice and beans.  That might change, we will see.

Exercise:  circuits class

The pancake recipe and some info

First of all, some info and an explanation.

	0ats	Buckwheat flour	Wholemeal flour	Dark rye flour
fibre	8-11g	10g	11g	16g
protein	11-17	13.3	11.6 (more for bread flour)	10-13
calories	370-390	343	309 - 339	325

The table above compares fibre and protein, oats, buckwheat flour, wholemeal flour and dark rye flour (thank you, Google); the numbers are approximate as it depends on variables such as  type, growth conditions, etc, but it's around these amounts.  They're all very similar - dark rye is higher in fibre, oats are quite a bit higher in calories.  

I didn't go into soluble/insoluble fibre as both a necessary for a healthy balance

40g oats are classes as a healthy extra B or a fibre choice.

So I feel perfectly justified in counting these flours as B/fibre too.

However, it's not SW canon so make up your own mind.  This is just how I do it.

Now - my recipe

20g dark rye starter discard (which is 50/50 rye and water)

10g buckwheat flour

one egg

some Greek yogurt

some water

bit of appropriate seasoning depending on what you want

Mix it all together, adding water to get the thickness right for you.  If you want a bit more fluffiness, add some baking powder and leave the batter for about ten minutes.

Heat a pan and cook as you would cook any pancake.

My basic recipe is half a fibre choice and swip free.  With the flour, the egg and the Greek yogurt, it's not bad for protein either.

Saturday, 15-11-25

 What I ate today

Melon, mango and two easy peelers - lovely!

I enjoyed my all day breakfast so very much.  Two swips for a bit of oil and the rest was free/speed.

Later in, I had some dried fruit for my fibre choice.

Using up the leftover steak in a cheesy pasta thingy.

Two calciums for some seriously lighter cheddar and some nibbles of feta.

And that was that.  I was tempted but stayed very firm.  Phew.

Tomorrow's plans

B:  savoury pancake or waffle with avocado and smoked salmon.  Tomatoes and mushrooms on the side.

L:  soup and toast

D:  roast chicken dinner

And fruit

 

Friday

Evening, all.  I'm back at it again . . .

What I ate today.

Breakfast was some fruit.  No photo.

I had cheesy beans on marmite toast for lunch.  One calcium and one fibre.  Afters was an apple.

Steak and chips for dinner with tomatoes, mushroom and pepper.  The steak was ginormous so there's sole left to slice and reuse tomorrow.

One and a half swips for some 70% lighter salad cream for chip-dipping.

Tomorrow's plans:

B:  fruit platter

L:  a sort of cooked breakfast type thing

D:  steak pasta bake

Exercise:  depends on the weather - maybe a walk.  

 

Tuesday

Evening, everyone.  Just to let you know I won't be posting tomorrow evening but will be back on Thursday.  

What I ate today:

I had an apple before Groove class.

Delicious avocado and smoked salmon on toast.
One fibre and one fats choice

Mug of home made soup, packed with speed vegetables and very filling and warming.
One swip for oil and three swips for some fresh baked bread to dunk.  So good.

This is what I felt like having.  One and a half swips for some sweet chilli sauce

Tomorrow's plans:

B:  fruit and a ham sandwich

I know that's off but I'm out all day and can have the sandwich in the coach.

L:  eating out somewhere

D:  chicken pasta bake from the freezer

And fruit

Exercise:  Plenty of walking.

Monday

What I ate today:

I had a couple of small apples before circuits and personal training.

Breakfast was yogurt mixed with some stewed plums (I don't swip) and chia seeds and the fruit was frozen nectarine and peach slices, blueberries and a kiwi.

Two swips for chia seeds.

I couldn't be bothered to faff around with a toastie and, anyway, the bread wasn't the right shape really.  Same in ingredients, different presentation, that's all.

Afters was an easy peeler.

One fibre and two calciums (should that be calsia?).

I know this looks like something the cat dragged in but this chicken and lentil korma was absolutely delicious.  I used a low fat korma paste, coconut milk, green lentils, orange lentils, black beans and various veg yesterday and today I added cooked chicken thigh and some mango chutney.

Not the lowest swipped meal at a total of seven swips (including the rice) but so, so worth it.

I had an orange for afters.

(it was a very wet day today . . .)

Tomorrow's plans:

B:  smoked salmon and avo on toast, veg on the side

L:  soup from the freezer with grated cheese

D:  salmon baked with sweet chilli sauce, roasted veg

And fruit

Exercise:  Groove

Sunday, 09-11-25

 Good evening

Today's meals:

I decided on beans with my toast with a sprinkle of avocado topping and a squidge of bbq sauce mixed in.

One fibre for the bread, one swip for the sauce and I have a few beans left for tomorrow.

Yes, it looks a bit 'caught' and perhaps it was, just, but there was a gorgeous 'roast' flavour to it all and no burnt flavour.  I guess I got lucky!

Two thirds of a calcium choice, one third of a healthy oil choice and loadsa veg - sweet potato, onion, mushroom, tomatoes and peppers with some evoo.

I had a couple of easy peelers later on.

A simple roast dinner in the evening.

The rest of my healthy oil choice to roast the veg and the rest is free/speed.  

Very filling!

And that was that for Sunday.

Tomorrow's plans:

B:  fruit, chia seeds and yogurt

L:  toastie and beans (left over from today) - I might have the beans in the toastie rather than on the side

D:  lentil korma curry, rice

And fruit

Exercise:  circuits and the personal training

Saturday, 08-11-25

Hi, all!
I received a link to this article  on the British Heart Foundation site that compared weight loss for people eating at least n80% ultra processed foods (UPFs) and people eating at least 80% minimally processed foods (MPFs).
I thought it was interesting and you might do too, especially as it also mentions reduced cravings when eating mostly MPFs.

What I ate today:

When I made my sushi first thing, I polished off leftover carrot and cucumber and a slither of smoked salmon may have joined them.

I used my usual waffle recipe but tried cooking them in a silicon mould in Nellie.  They didn't rise as much but they were nice and crunchy and I think I will give it another go.

Half a fibre for the buckwheat flour and the sourdough starter* and I am pretty sure the rest is syn free.

*not SW canon but I apply this very carefully.

Lunch was sushi.  Home made sushi is very SW friendly.  Nori is free, pickled ginger is free, most of the fillings are free (I had smoked salmon, ginger, cucumber and carrot) and the rice could be free, depending on how much you have as it has a bit of added sugar.  I'm counting half a swip for the sugar, one and a half for the spicy mayo inside, one swip for some mixed seeds and I think that's it.  Oh, and half a swip for a little bit of Philly light along the bottom of the nori before rolling.

And the roasted tomato, red pepper and sweet potato soup.  It should be one swip for some olive oil but I'm counting that as part of my healthy oils/fats.

And I had the end of a fresh baked load I was slicing for the freezer to dunk for the other half of my fibre.

Afters was a small apple.

Loads of photos today - I didn't eat all the sushi at lunchtime so had the last bits as a starter - I've listed the swips by the lunch photo.

And finally, a bacon and green lentil spaghetti bolognaise and it was absolutely delicious.  I used half a pouch of French Style Lentils with some onion, pepper, mushroom, baby corn and chopped bacon with garlic, chilli flakes, cumin and tomato puree.  With wholewheat spaghetti under and some grated cheddar on top, it was lush!

Afters was two little easy peelers.

The lentils were one swip and the cheese was one calcium.

Tomorrow's meal plans:

B:  egg or beans on toast

L:  Spanish tortilla, either baked beans or salad, depending on how cold/dismal it is

D:  roast beef dinner  - beef, roasties, roasted and steamed veg and I might exert myself and make a few Yorkshires.
(not fresh roast beef, I bought slices from the deli)

And plenty of fruit.

Friday, 07-11-25 and a snack recipe

Hi, all.

Today's meals:

Breakfast was just two apples - no photo.

I took photos of lunch but I'd accidentally moved the setting dial on my camera so they came out as 'impressive art'.  I'm not sure the results are either but never mind!
However, it was one fibre for a bagel and one healthy fats for avocado.  The bacon was free/protein (I think) and it felt cold so I air fried onion, tomatoes,  mushrooms and yellow peppers to have with them.  Really delicious.  

I had an orange for afters.

Later on, I grated some cheese for the freezer and measured out 30g for my calcium choice.

I tried something for a snack and it was nice so I will post it below.  I think I saw it on a Nigella programme although she deep fried!

I had a nice, old fashioned fish and chips for dinner.  The cod goujons were a stonking 11 swips but worth it.  I also had one swips-worth of salad cream because - you know, chips!

And that was it for the day.

Tomorrow's meal plans:

B:  savoury waffles with bacon and tomato (I have bacon to use up)

L:  hm sushi, salad veg

D:  spag bol with side veg

and fruit!

Crunchy potato spirals

I spiralised one small (a little goes a long way) Maris Piper potato, dried it off, sprayed it with some spray oil and air fried it for around ten minutes or so until crunchy and golden.

Just like crisps with a sprinkle of salt but free on SW.

I know 'free' doesn't mean calorie free so be careful . . . but loads better than a bag of crisps.

And my total potato intake today wasn't enormous so I'm OK with it.

Wednesday, 05-11-25

Posting this early as I will be busy later.

Today's meals:

Smoked salmon trimmings and avo on toast with toms and watercress.

One fibre, one fats/oils.

The best photo of a bad bunch.
Made with bits and bobs and really nice.  I have a second portion left for tomorrow.

One swip for the grains.

I made a cheese roll and some popcorn to take with me plus a couple of apples.

One calcium, seven swips (for the roll), one syn for some salad cream and I have no idea about the popcorn but it was fresh popped with no oil.

Tomorrow's plans:

B:  fruit and yogurt

L:  cheese and onion toastie, salad.

D:  rest of today's lunch

Exercise:  personal training