Sunday, 22-11-20

 Good morning!

Yesterdays photos:

The gingerbread waffles went down a real treat, topped with strawberries, blueberries, grapes and kiwi and what was left of the gingerbread yogurt.  I indulged in half a tbsp agave nectar as well, just because.

I finished off the smoked salmon trimmings by making this dip - Philly lightest (which I rather illegally called my A choice), the salmon, a dash of superlight mayo, lemon juice and some dried dill.  

No-one could say this lunch was short on speedy veg, could they?

It's just as well I had plenty of speedy veg for lunch because I didn't fancy another salad so I lazily plonked some tomatoes on the plate.

This is the burger version of hunter's chicken.
I cooked the burgers in a pan with spray oil.
In an oven dish I layered some sliced mushroom and laid the burgers (yes - two of them, bad me, but they were M&S skinny burgers so SW free).  Then I spread over some sauce that I made by mixing some tomato puree, garlic and onion granules, soy sauce, Henderson's sauce, sweet chilli sauce, bbq sauce (both Crucials) and a squeeze of super light mayo, all mixed well together.  It's my go-to sauce for anything that needs a tomato-ey based sauce.
Then I baked it at 180C for ten minutes before adding 30g grated cheddar and giving it another ten minutes.
Really nice.

Today's plans

B:  fruit

I don't feel like much so will have a selection of fruit

SW:  free

L:  cheesy beans on toast; fruit

Beth is coming round so no leftover beans afterwards.

SW:  one healthy extra A and one B

D:  roast lamb, roasties, veg, mint sauce; yogurt/kvarg

When I was in Aldi, they had some nice looking lamb joints not terribly expensive (cheaper than the happy chicken I bought last week anyway!) so I'm treating myself to slow roast lamb, a great favourite and rarely enjoyed because lamb is so costly.  It's part of a leg so not too fatty.  I think I have one parsnip left to use up so I will roast that and maybe posh it up with some maple syrup as well.

SW:  one syn for one level tbsp mint sauce, two for one tsp oil on the roasties/parsnip and half for dessert.

Body Magic:  Not sure yet but definitely some balance exercises

Summary:  one healthy extra A and one B plus three and a half syns

Saturday, 21-11-20

 Morning, everyone.

Yesterday's photos.

The smoked salmon and mushroom omelette was nice but would have benefitted from a bit of cheese on top, I think.

The bubble and squeak slice was lovely but the sweet chilli sauce didn't really go.  BBQ sauce would have been better - I will know next time.

After umming and ahing about whether to cave real rice or cauliflower rice, I decided I didn't really want either!  So I didn't.
I made up one portion of the Mayflower curry sauce and to it added the sweet chilli sauce I didn't use much of at lunchtime and some tomato sauce I had made for the hunter's chicken and didn't use then or with the steak the day before.
It made a really delicious curry sauce!

Today's plans:

B:  waffles, fruit and yogurt

I haven't had waffles for ages, not since I found a space in my cupboard to put the waffle maker away.  It's about time to get it out!
I use the same recipe as for the pancakes but without adding water to slacken the mixture and I think it will be gingerbread flavour again, simply because the gingerbread Mullerlight won't be around after Christmas.

SW:  one healthy extra B for the wholewheat flour and half a syn for the yogurt

L:  Smoked salmon dip, vegetable batons; fruit

I will make the dip the usual way, zizzing smoked salmon up with some soft cheese (which I will count as a healthy A choice (it isn't really so a bit of a cheat), a bit of mayo, lemon juice and dill.

SW:  one healthy extra A, two syns for mayo

D:  cheesy burger, chips, salad, coleslaw; yogurt or kvarg

Not a burger in a bun but I will cook the burger, pop it in a dish, cover it with onion, pepper, mushroom, tomato sauce and then grated cheese and bung it in the oven for the cheese to melt and go gooey.

SW:  one healthy extra A, one syn for dipping mayo, two syns for oil and half a syn for dessert

Body Magic:  Not sure today

Summary:  two healthy extra As, one B and around six syns

Recipe: chicken pasta bake

 

Chicken pasta bake

I used:
one tsp oil (two syns) and/or spray oil as needed
one smallish onion, peeled and sliced
half a small sweet potato, peeled and chopped
one chicken breast fillet, cut into chunks
half a yellow pepper, sliced
three mushrooms, sliced
some passata from garden tomatoes and half a can chipped tomatoes (you could use a whole can
instead)
garlic puree, tomato puree and mixed herbs
one tbsp chicken stock powder
70g pasta – I used wholemeal spirals
one heAs worth of cheddar, grated 

Heat the oil/spray oil and soften the onions in the oil.  Add the sweet potato and continue sizzling.  Then add the chicken and brown all over before adding the mushroom and pepper.  Turn the heat right down, cover if possible and let it gently sizzle for around ten minutes, stirring occasionally.

While this is going on, cook the pasta, drain it and set it aside.

Turn up the heat, add the tomato, the garlic, the tomato puree, and the chicken stock with some black pepper and salt if needed.  Bring it all to a boil, stirring, then turn the heat down again and leave it to bubble gently as the sauce thickens. 

Heat the oven to around 180 or turn on the grill.

Finally, check the seasonings and adjust, stir in the pasta and spoon it all into an ovenproof dish.  Sprinkle over the grated cheese and melt it either in the oven or under the grill.

 

It makes lots and is very SW friendly with one healthy extra A, two syns and loads of speedy veg.

Friday, 20-11-20

 Good morning.
I very pleasing loss at weigh in yesterday.  Another two pounds down and I'm back in my zone again.  You're 'allowed' to be three pounds above or below to be a free member and, given the price is going up in January (for the first time in eleven years, I gather, so one can't complain - it's been tough for them this year), now is a good time to get back into ones zone.  

Yesterday's meals.

It was a bit 'all change'.  I simply wasn't hungry so I skipped the planned breakfast and had some easy peelers instead.

This was lunch - some sushi and some salad, followed by more easy peelers.

I'm not sure what I think of sushi really.  It seems a big kerfuffle over a very small thing!

I changed the afternoon snack.  Because I'd had no breakfast, I used all of a healthy extra B and decided to have cheese on toast instead of babybel lights.  It was simple but, oh, it was lovely!

I thoroughly enjoyed my steak and chips.  

Today's meal plans:

B:  smoked salmon and mushroom omelette

I have some smoked salmon scraps to use.

SW:  free

L:  bubble and squeak slice with some sweet chilli sauce, salad; fruit

I shall use one of the sliced of bubble and squeak I made last Monday.

SW:  half a healthy extra A for cheese in the slice, one syn for the crucials sweet chilli sauce

D:  chicken curry, rice (maybe cauliflower rice), broccoli; yogurt

I have some Mayflower curry powder that everyone seems to be talking about, one portion being four syns, so I'll give it a go.  It's supposed to make a Chinese style curry which I quite like and haven't had for years and years.  I can pack it out with plenty of speedy veg to make a nice big portion!

SW:  four syns for the curry powder and half a syn for the dessert.  If I use oil (and I might very well), it will be two syns for one tsp.

Body Magic:  Some step and balance exercise.  My balance (never very good) was much better at PT yesterday so obviously the practise is having a positive effect.

Summary:  half a healthy extra A and seven and a half syns.  Hmmm - bit low but never mind.  Once in a while won't hurt.

Thursday, 19-11-20

Good morning.
Another day on plan yesterday which I was really pleased about as it was what I call a hungry day - that is not proper hungry but more emotionally hungry.
I had more easy peelers than I can remember but, given that there's non-SW friendly food in the house (gifts and my Christmas stash), I am rather pleased with myself in a fairly smug sort of way!

Yesterday's meals (not everything, just what I photograph - I rarely take photos of fruit and yogurts but I have them each day as planned).

I enjoyed this simple breakfast.  Two boiled eggs and two slices of toast with half fat butter (two syns) and marmite (free).

To the last of the chicken and veg soup, I added some fairly new out ryvita, protein, linseed and nigella seed.  Four slices is one healthy extra B so I ended up having one A and two B choices yesterday.

Hunter's chicken for dinner.  

I know my plates look rather loaded at the moment but I'm trying hard to up my veg intake  The only things on that plate that were not speedy were the chicken (free/protein), some bacon (ditto), thee sauce (mostly speed with a few syns) and the cheese (one healthy extra A).  

The sauce was chopped tomatoes, onion, yellow pepper and mushroom, plus some sweet chilli sauce, some bbq sauce, some tomato and garlic purees, some soy sauce and some Henderson's sauce.  There's some left over for today so I counted it as one syn.

Today's plans:

B:  bacon, egg, fried bread and mushrooms

The fried bread will be made by spraying oil over one side of the bread and crisping up just that side - it's how Mum used to make fried bread when we were little and money was very scarce.  It works!  I might use my square pan for the egg so it fits nicely on the bread.  :-)

SW:  half a healthy extra B for the bread

L:  Sushi, salad; fruit

I bought a smoked salmon sushi snack in Aldo the other day.  You don't get much, do you, but it's one syn and it quite tasty.  I've only recently had sushi and this is only the second time so I feel quite adventurous!

SW:  one syn for the sushi

Afternoon snack:  three babybel lights and marmite on toast
I rarely have much in the way of a formal snack, preferring to grab an easy peeler, if reaqlly necessary.  However, meal timings are out today for various reasons and there's a long gap between lunch and dinner so . . . snack!

SW:  half a healthy extra B for the bread and one syn for a tsp light butter, one healthy extra A for the babybels

D:  steak, chips and salad; kvarg or yogurt

Not a frugal effort this evening, but never mind.  I will use up the rest of the sauce I made for the chicken yesterday to go with the steak.

SW:  two syns for oil (for the chips), one for some mayo, one for the sauce and half for the dessert

Body Magic:  an hour of personal training

Summary:  one healthy extra A and one B, six and a half syns

And it's weighday with Zoom SW in the evening.  I will weigh just before personal training as Jen needs the results before midday.  Fingers crossed.

Wednesday, 18-11-20

 Morning, everyone.

Yesterday's photos:

I should have overnight oats more often; they are so comforting and filling.  This was gingerbread - some ginger spice, a gingerbread yogurt and some gingerbread skinny syrup - and it went down a real treat.

This was a most delicious chicken and veg soup and I'm very glad I have another portion with chicken in and two more portions that I can add beans to.  Using 'real' stock makes such a difference.

(do you like my new Christmas mug?)

Chicken pasta bake.  It used to be the kids' favourite when they were little and I still love it now.

Today's plans are:

B:  Marmite on toast, boiled eggs

SW:  one healthy extra B, two syns for some half fat butter

L:  chicken and veg soup; fruit

Same as yesterday as there are leftovers.

SW:  one syn

D:  hunter's chicken, broccoli and sprouts; yogurt or kvarg

SW:  one healthy extra A, half a syn for dessert

Body Magic:  step and balance exercises.  It should be personal training but Lindsey has moved it to tomorrow.

Summary:  one healthy extra A, one B and two and a half syns

Tuesday, 17-11-20

 Good morning!

I was going to have a full English breakfast but when I made the bubble and squeak mixture, it made such a lot that I ended up getting five portions.
I mashed up the root veg (potato, carrot, sweet potato and swede), added the shredded or chopped green veg plus an onion, chopped and softened and some of the chicken, shredded.  I stirred in 60g (two heAs) of grated cheese and a beaten egg plus garlic granules, cajun spice and pepper (no salt).
With that I made three patties for dinner (photo below) and pushed the rest into a cake tin to bake for about 30 mins in a medium oven.
When it came out, it smelled so good, I decided to have a slice of that for breakfast instead pf bacon and egg, with the beans that were leftovers.   It was delicious.
The total healthy extra As stays the same as planned because each portion is a bit under half a syn.

Lunch was a sort of roast dinner quesadilla.  It had some grated cheese, shredded chicken, sliced stuffing ball (one and a half syns) and some sweet chilli sauce (half a syn) and that combination worked really very well.

I slightly changed dinner.  I had the bubble and squeak patties (so good) and the veg but I made some marmite mushrooms, something I saw on a Facebook Group.  You cook the mushrooms in spray oil and then they are done, add a splash of water and some marmite (to own taste but too much will make it very salty.  When the marmite water is bubbling, add one healthy extra As-worth of primula light and stir it in.  It makes a gorgeous umami-ish sauce which would also work well with steak.  I had used both my healthy extra As so called it six syns in my food diary.

Today's meal plans are . . .

B:  gingerbread overnight oats

SW:  one healthy extra B, half a syn for yogurt and half a healthy extra A for milk

L:  chicken and veg soup

I will use leftover chicken from Sunday, plus some lovely stock from the boiled up carcass and assorted veg plus, probably, some orzo.

SW:  should be free

D:  chicken pasta bake; yogurt or kvarg

Lots of chicken right now, I know, but I have some roast chicken to use up and I don't really want to freeze any.  I will use onion, mushroom, red pepper, peas and sweet corn with passata (made with garden tomatoes and frozen in the summer), wholewheat pasta and grated cheese.

SW:  one healthy extra A and half a syn for dessert

Body Magic:  probably a walk, weather permitting.

Summary:  one and a half healthy extra As and one B.  One syn.