Saturday, 31-01-26

Good evening, everyone.  I hope you've had a delicious day.

I've been busy planning my meals for the coming week - breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I find breakfast and dinner fairly simple to plan but often get stuck for lunch ideas so I had a trawl through some saved recipes on Readly and found some likely ones to try.

Fingers crossed.

The plans for the day all changed.  By the time I got back from the weekly food shopping, sorted everything out and put it all away, it was halfway between breakfast and lunch so I decided to sort of amalgamate the two meals.

So this is what I did.

I softened chopped onion, mushrooms and peppers in spray oil.  I added chopped fresh tomatoes and added the grain mixture left over from yesterday./
When that was hot, I stirred in some chopped avocado, salt, pepper and a tbsp mixed seeds, stirred in some quark (the last bit in the old pot) and sprinkled over some feta which also needed using up.

I topped it with an egg and had a bit of the salad stuff on the side (needed using!!)

It was very tasty!

Grains:  two and a half swips
Feta:  calcium

Avocado and seeds: healthy fats

Later in the afternoon I had another apple.

I found this recipe for the chicken curry.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/easy-chicken-curry
I added pepper and mushroom to the onion.

It cost two and a half swips for ground almonds, two swips for the curry paste, and half a swip for some garlic and ginger paste.  I stirred in some mango chutney for one and a half swips and with it, I had one of the SW naan breads for my fibre choice.

A really nice sort of Saturday night fakeaway and very satisfying.

Summary:

Healthy extras:  one of each

Swips:  nine

B:  sourdough pancakes with yogurt and fruit

L:  soup and bread - not sure what soup yet, I have choices in the freezer

D:  roast dinner

And fruit

Rest day.

I'm still working on perfecting as wholemeal a pasta dough as I can without sacrificing the flexibility that's necessary for good rolling and cutting.

Today I used some of my active sourdough starter after reading about it here.  I didn't want to make so much so I slightly adapted it and this is what I used.

40g activated starter (my starter is a rye starter)

80g flour (40g white and 40g rye)

one medium egg

half a level tbsp psyllium husk powder (probably optional but it's supposed to make a better dough).

a splash of oil

I put the lot into Thermione and kneaded it for three minutes as the recipe said.  The dough came out beautifully soft and pliable, just what a pasta dough should be.  It rolled well and the bits cut off kneaded together well and rolled out again with no cracking.

From that amount I got twelve ravioli and a good portion of tagliatelle from the bits.

I think I have my basic recipe now and I just need to keep upping the rye and downing the white to see how far I can go with it.  Todays was essentially a 60-40.

Recipe: Savoury Bean Crumble

 This is a recipe in two parts, the tomato mixture and the crumble topping.  Sorry, no photos at the moment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let's take the tomato mix first:  Below is the basic but, really, you can add what you want.  Any other vegetables such as peas/corn, lentils, seasonings like Henderson's, soy sauce, brown sauce.  What you fancy.  It's very flexible.
Or you can use a chunky bolognaise sauce with mince, chicken, etc.  
It's over to you really.

Ingredients
(amounts to own taste)
chopped onion, pepper, mushroom and carrot
oil
garlic granules/puree/fresh and any other herbs/spices you fancy - I quite like smoked paprika and a few chilli flakes
can of beans of some kind, drained and rinsed
can of chopped tomatoes
stock powder - I like Marigold Bouillon stock powder
tomato puree
salt and pepper

Method.
Soften the onion, pepper, mushroom and carrots in a little oil.
When they are ready, add garlic and spices/herbs to own taste.
Add the pulses and the chopped tomato plus some stock powder and mix well.  Bring to a simmer, cover, and allow to bubble.  If it seems too watery, take the lid off.
Add the tomato puree and seasonings.
Set aside to cool a bit.

(At this point, you can chill, portion out and freeze)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the topping, I eyeball it really but this recipe is what I do - just the crumble part, not the rest:  
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/veggie_crumble_28446
Sometimes I add some chopped nuts and for Christmas I crumbled in some chestnuts and that was lovely.  I often use finely grated parmesan for a lovely cheesy hit.

(This also freezes well.  I just pop it all in a poly bag, it freezes loose and you can then spoon out just the amount you want)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then:

Preheat your oven to around 180/200-ish.  Into an ovenproof dish, spoon in the tomato mixture and then sprinkle over the crumble topping.
(at this point, you can freeze it rather than bake it, if you want.  Defrost it properly before baking at a later stage)

Pop it into the oven and bake until the underneath is bubbling and the crumble topping is lovely and brown.

Or use your airfryer with a slightly shorter time and a slightly lower temperature, covering with foil for the first half because the topping flies around if you don't!!

Serve piping hot.

Friday, 30-01-26

Evening, all.

Half a pound off this week.  I was a bit 'meh' before remembering that I have eaten out twice this week and, anyway, off is always a Good Thing (in my current situation, I mean).
So three cheers for half a pound off!

Poor old Alex has yet another cold (caught from Beth who caught hers from Alex so . . . ho hum.  He didn't come over and I changed my planning.

Breakfast was porridge with fruit.

I made the porridge with 40g oats and water, adding a dollop of yogurt and, because I had it from the SoW basket last week, an options choccy drink.  Underneath was some blackberries, raspberries and pineapple (from the freezer) .

One fibre choice and two swips - and a full tummy!

I abandoned the plan for jacket potatoes and went full on Med.  It's a bowl - not necessarily Buddha or poke or whatever they are.  Let's call it a SW the Med Way Bowl.  😉

I used half a pouch of Jamie Oliver's Super Grains, five and a half swips for the whole pouch, warmed up and I'm calling it three swips.  With it, I had three swips' worth of black olives, croutons for one fibre, feta for one calcium and a nice choppy salad.  Over it, I drizzled some balsamic vinegar.  Oh, it was so good.
(I'll use up the rest of the grains tomorrow)

Later on, I had an apple and, because I felt an attack of the nibblies coming on, I made some sort of 'crisps' by slicing a small potato with a peeler, spraying a bit of oil (one swip) and crisping them in Nellie.  It worked!  The nibblies subsided and I felt satisfied, far more so than I would with a bag of crisps.  

Dinner was a Slimming World frozen meal from Iceland, aromatic duck noodles.  It's odd but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I membered I did (if that makes sense).  It was OK and it filled me up but I probably won't get it again.

It was swip free.

Summary:

Healthy extras:  one calcium and two fibres.  I had some healthy fats as swips.

Swips:  nine

B:  mixed grains (I just typed mixed brains!) and avocado chunks with an egg on top and tomatoes on the side

L:  cheese and chutney toastie, side salad

D:  chicken curry with rice

Exercise:  a Lindsey video.

Thursday, 29-01-26

Evening, everyone.  

Breakfast was just a little bowl of left over baked beans.  Half a swip for a bit of brown sauce.

Lunch was a wrap pizza and it was lovely.  I had half and my friend had the other half and I really should have taken a photo but totally forgot.

Six swips for pepperoni, both on the pizza and what I added to the sauce for dinner, half a fibre choice, a bit of oil, one calcium choice and one swip for some salad cream.

Afters was an apple and later on I had more fruit - an easy peeler, an orange and another apple.

For dinner, I finished off the ravioli I made a week or so ago (and froze) with tomato sauce left over from lunch to which I added chopped pepperoni, onion and pepper.  On top I sprinkled some grated cheese.

I had salad and coleslaw left over too so I had that instead of cooking veg.  It was absolutely lovely!

The ravioli was free, the sauce was free apart from the pepperoni which I have already counted, three swips for cheese and one swip for the coleslaw.

Summary:

Healthy extras: one calcium, one fibre and half a fats (for softening some onion)

Swips:  eleven and a half

B:  fruit

L:  cheesy jacket potato and salad

D:  SW ready meal

Exercise:  a walk

Wednesday, 28-01-26

Hi, everyone!

Really sorry I didn't finish and post this last night.  It was a long and busy day and by the time I got home at nine, I was ready for bed.
Please pretend this was posted yesterday, Wednesday evening.  Ta!  :-)

The day started off with a banana before early morning personal training (I reckon 7:15 is early in anyone's book!!)

At around 10:30 (I had to be out by around 11:40) I put together an all day breakfast.
Bacon, sausage (they have to be used up), fried mash, beans, tomatoes and mushrooms.  My goodness, that filled me up good and proper.

Half a swip for brown sauce in the beans.

At the Harvester, I had two trips to the salad bar, avoiding the creamy mixtures and dressings.  I did have some black olives and one splash out with bacon bits.  I love bacon bits!
My main was the chargrilled chicken, no potato and the veg wasn't that nice which is why I had more salad.  The salad bar is unlimited anyway.
It really filled me up so I just had a coffee while LK and J enjoyed their desserts and I wasn't remotely tempted.
Can you see the halo?
Most of what I had was free on Slimming World.  The olives would be a healthy fats/oils, probably two, but I didn't have and fibre choices or calcium choices.  I have no idea about bacon bits but I bet they wouldn't have taken me over swips so. for a good meal and all full up, I was really happy.

Back to normal today.

B:  leftover baked beans

L:  I have a friend round:  Wrap based pizza with salad

D:  small ravioli (hm and leftovers)  in tomato sauce, side veg

Plus fruit

No exercise classes today.  

Tuesday, 27-01-26

Evening, all.

I didn't have the planned breakfast as I had someone round - fruit is always a good substitute for a missing meal!  Apple, easy peelers, and a banana.  Very nice.

The wrap contained hm hummus, grated beetroot (not pickled), grated carrot, shredded lettuce and some feta.  The choppy salad had some lighter Caesar salad dressing

I made the hummus when it was still syns and I know they were for tahini which is now a healthy fats choice.

So - hummus - part of a healthy fats; dressing - two swips; wrap - one fibre choice; feta - one calcium choice; and mixed seeds in the choppy salad - the rest of the healthy fats choice.

I had an apple for afters.

The chicken stroganoff was pretty easy to make and I just used spray oil and lighter creme fraiche plus a bit of quark.

It was absolutely scrummy!
(link in yesterday's post)

Three swips for the creme fraiche.

Summary:

Healthy extras:  one of each
Swips:  five

Tomorrow is a muddled day.

Brunch:  something fairly substantial - probably a cooked breakfast - to keep me going until dinner

D:  out at the Harvester with friends - the app doesn't really cover specifics but I know the griddled chicken is OK (and nice) and they have a good salad bar.  I'm driving so won't be tempted by alcohol - January has been dry so far.

And fruit.

Exercise:  personal training

Monday, 26-01-26

Hello again, everyone.

For breakfast, I made savoury waffles (recipe below) and added an egg, some tomatoes and some mushrooms.  Very tasty and very filling.  

Three swips for the flour and one swip for some sprayed oil on the plates of the waffle maker.

For lunch (and dinner), I opened a can of taco mixed beans from the SoW basket.  I'm not that keen on them to be honest, but I wasn't going to waste them.
I drained the beans, saving the sauce for something else and used about two thirds of them, roughly mashed, with some chutney and some grated cheese to make these quesadillas (also using one of the hundreds of wraps I have in the freezer right now).

Very filling.

One calcium, one fibre and three swips for the chutney.

To the rest of the mashed beans I mixed some softened chopped onion, some hm breadcrumbs, some grated parmesan and some seasonings and shaped the results into a burger.  Surprisingly nice!

Half a healthy fats choice for oil the chips were air fried with.

Two swips for parmesan, one swip for breadcrumbs, one swip for salad cream and one and a half swips for chutney.

I had a banana to finish off the day's eating.

Summary:

Healthy extras:  one calcium, one fibre and half a healthy oils

Swips:    twelve and a half

B:  bacon, egg, tomatoes and mushrooms

L:  hummus rainbow wrap with finger salad

D:  chicken stroganoff with mash and runner beans

I found this recipe by Googling - good old Google, eh?  I can adapt it to work with Slimming World.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chicken_stroganoff_05255

And fruit

Exercise:  Groove class

The savoury waffle recipe:

20g sourdough starter and 10g wholemeal flour of some kind - I used buckwheat

OR

20g wholemeal flour of some kind

a pinch of baking powder

one medium egg

a dollop of Greek yogurt (around two heaped tbsps)

water

also

spray oil for the waffle plates

Mix everything together with enough water to make a thick pouring consistency.

Cook however you would usually cook your waffles.  This recipe also makes savoury pancakes.

salt, pepper and garlic granules

Sunday, 25-01-26

Good evening, everyone!

A mix of Greek yogurt, kefir and chia seeds folded with blackberries, raspberries and blueberries - and some sweetener.

Two swips for the chia seeds and half a swip for the kefir.

Lunch was very orange!
First of all, the second portion of the roasted carrot and red lentil soup, still super tasty and filling.  I could have watered it down a bit - it was very thick - but chose not to.

Swip free.

And with it I had a cheese salad roll,  Lettuce, cucumber, tomato, cheese and some salad cream.
One calcium, one fibre and pone swip for the salad cream.

Also, some carrot batons because I have loads of carrots at the moment.  I have discovered that carrots dunked in roasted carrot and lentil soup make both elements taste amazing!  Who'd have guessed!

And a couple of small easy peelers.

Now for dinner and it was so good.  I made the Yorkie platter with 15g wholemeal spelt flour (which CAN count towards a fibre, according to the app), one medium egg and 35mls semi skimmed milk plus salt and pepper.
Two swips for the flour and one for the milk because I used my healthy extras at lunch time

I used all my healthy oil choice on a tbsp oil for the Yorkshire and it didn't stick at all.

Inside was some beef slices, some horseradish (half a swip), roasted potato, sweet potato, carrot and parsnip, and some boiled broccoli and cauliflower.  Really good.

Summary:

Healthy extras:  one of each

Swips:  six

Using some of the food in the SoW basket.

B:  not sure but I might go for waffles and swip the flour for three and a half swips

L:  cheesy bean quesadillas, salad

D:  beanburger (no roll), chips of some kind, cauli and broccoli

Saturday, 24-01-26

Good evening, everyone!

Today really did not go according to plan.  I had my financial adviser over for a meeting to which Beth and Dave (my 'children') came.  I had an apple beforehand.
After the meeting we were doing a few family things and then Beth suggested we go out for a lunch (Dave had gone by then).

We went to a local pub and I had a sweet potato falafel and hummus sandwich with rocket, pickled onion, onion chutney (all in the sandwich) in wholemeal bread with chips on the side.  It was absolutely delicious and, while I polished off the chips, I brough half the sandwich home.

I have no idea of swips for the chips but the bread would have been up to two fibres and the chutney would be around three swips.  The tahini in the hummus might be enough for a healthy fat but who knows?

I had another apple in the afternoon.

Now we get to photos:

This is the other half sandwich, toasted.  Very nice indeed.

And here it is with a big old salad bowl with some mixed seeds but no dressing.

In the morning I had prepped some yogurt and kefir with some chia seeds and I had that as a dessert.

I have no idea of Slimming World values but, apart from the chips, it was a pretty healthy day so I'm not fussed.  Back on it tomorrow.

B:  yogurt, kefir and chia seeds, fruit

L:  soup and a cheese roll

D:  roast chicken dinner on a Yorkshire platter

And fruit

No organised exercise

Seven ways to use wraps/tortillas

I have so many wraps in the freezer at the moment and winning another pack in the SoW basket has made it even worse.  So I think wraps will feature heavily in my planning for a few weeks.

The wraps I use count as a healthy fibre choice on Slimming World

1.  Breakfast wrap.
Cook bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc.
Whisk up an egg or two and pop it in a suitably sized pan (big enough to take the wrap).  As the egg starts to set, lay the wrap on top and let the egg finish cooking.
On the egg lined wrap lay the cooked things.  You can add cheese and/or sauce, pickles, baby spinach whatever you fancy.
Wrap it all up and eat straight away or you can lay the rolled up wrap back in the pan to crisp up a bit before eating

2.  Make 'crisps'. 
Cut the wrap into wedges, spray with a little oil and crisp them up in an air fryer or in the oven.
Eat them with a dip like hummus or with soup, a salad side or just as a snack with salt or other seasoning sprinkled on

3.  Hummus rainbow wrap
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/hummus-rainbow
-wraps

4.  Wrap pizza
On the wrap spread pizza sauce (Mutti does a good one) and any toppings you fancy, including cheese.  Pop into the oven to melt the cheese and heat the toppings and enjoy with a salad.
Remember to count/swip as necessary.

5. Quesadillas.  Instead of me waffling on, take a look at this collection from BBC Good Food - some delicious sounding ideas there.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/quesadilla-recipes

6.  As a filled wrap/burrito.
Lay fillings on the wrap and roll up.  Beans, cold meat, salad stuff, mayo, salad cream or other sauce.  Here's a few idea links.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/mexican-chicken-black-bean-wraps
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chilli-chicken-wraps
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/ultimate-falafel-wrap
All from BBC Good food but there are recipes all over the place.

7.  A sort of cannelloni
Roll the wrap round a hot filling such as chilli, savoury mince, chicken fajitas, etc.  Add veg as wanted.
Cut in half and place in an oven dish, spoon over a heated spicy tomato sauce and sprinkle over grated cheese.  Bake in air fryer or oven until it's bubbling and the cheese is melted and golden.

I'll definitely be using some of these ideas as I work through my overabundance of wraps.

Friday, 23-01-26

Evening, everyone.

I was absolutely delighted with a two pound loss today.

And . . .

I was Slimmer of the Week which shocked me as, doing the weighing, I know the losses, etc.  However, you can't be SoW if you gained last week or if you weren't at group for at least a weigh i or if it is your first weigh in.

So I came home with . . . 

All these . . .

. . . and these.

Plus two bars which didn't last long (seven swips or a healthy extra fibre choice down straight away) and a bag of white long grain rice that I left in the basket for next week because I don't eat it, I prefer basmati or brown/wild/etc.

I've put the fruit and veg away, the wraps and the naans are in the freezer but I will leave the cans out while I ponder how to use them this week.  Ironic when I am trying to use up my stash of food but how very encouraging.

Breakfast was not fruit, it was those two bars from the SoW basket.  No photo and they count as a fibre healthy extra although I rather baulk at the term 'healthy'.

This is the Yorkshire pudding wrap that Alex made.  Inside was some of the M&S chunky steak in gravy, roasted potato, parsnips, carrots and onions.  He said it was lovely.
He made the wrap; I had the filling ingredients in the freezer and cupboard already and used pan and air fryer.

And this is what I gad - the rest of the steak in gravy.  It was lovely and all I wanted really.

Free on Slimming World.

Afters was an apple and later on I had some grapes and two small bananas that were looking a bit - elderly!

Still swip free.

Dinner was nothing fancy.  A steak with some grain mustard, some air fried chips, tomatoes and coleslaw left over from yesterday, a few spiced beetroots and some salad cream for dunking the chips.

Three swips for salad cream, the mustard is now a free food.

Summary:

Healthy extras:  no calcium, one fibre and no healthy fats - really not very good but see below!

Swips:  three and I think I will treat myself to an Options choccy drink (two swips) with milk (my calcium choice) before bed

B:  fruit

L:  cheesy waffles with  beans

D:  chicken and bacon pasta carbonara

And fruit

Exercise will be a Lindsey video.  

Thursday, 22-01-26

Evening, all!

Weigh in tomorrow but who knows.  I've been working it all week but it's always a bit unpredictable, I find.
Fingers crossed, please.

Slimming World now sells pancakes at Iceland.  They are not THAT bad for ingredients but in the time it would take me to go and buy them, I could knock up several batches using good, pantry ingredients and knowing exactly what's in them.

So - no brainer.

Half a healthy fibre choice for these pancakes, made with rye sourdough and buckwheat flour.  Buckwheat isn't on the list of healthy fibre choices.  Nor is spelt.  So I looked up the numbers (because that's what I do) and the results are at the end.  I am counting buckwheat flour as a fibre choice!

Plus one and a half swips for some maple syrup

To make this soup, I roasted some carrots and onions, put them in Thermione with last night's leftover veg, about two thirds of a can of chopped tomatoes, also in the fridge waiting to be used, two level tbsp red lentils, some water, some chicken stock powder and some salt (not much) and pepper.  I boiled it all up and then blended it smooth with a dollop of quark.

I reheated it to just below boiling (95) and had it just like that without anything else.  It was absolutely delicious.
What's in the bowl was about half and I thought I could have the other half later if I felt hungry (I didn't).
Then I had an apple and some grapes.

Completely swip free and it doesn't use any healthy extras either.

I changed the plan for dinner because I forgot to get any chicken pout of the freezer.  I did have some bacon in the fridge so use that and it was lovely.  I didn't have chips; I'll probably have some tomorrow evening.

So - one fibre for the roll, one swip for salad cream in the coleslaw and two and a half swips for onion chutney.

I'm posting this now but later I will have a nibble of cheese for my calcium.

Summary:

Healthy extras:  one calcium, one and a half fibres and no fats

Swips:  five

B:  fruit, if I want anything

L:  a bit earlier than usual because Alex is round for his cookery lesson and he wants to make a Yorkshire pudding wrap.  I might have some veg and beef with him or I might just have a salad.  I'll see how I feel when the time comes.

D:  steak, chips and coleslaw/salad

An extra bit.

Fibre in various flours per 100g variable, depending on various factors: (thank you, Google)

Buckwheat:  10-12g

Rye:  11-16g*

Wholemeal (wheat):  10-12g*

Wholemeal spelt:  9-11g

Oats: 9-10g*

Oat flour:  7-9.3g

The ones marked with a * are on the healthy fibre list, the others aren't (yet).  However, I am counting them all as healthy fibre except, maybe, the oat flour because I see no reason why not, do you?

Wednesday, 21-01-26

Good evening, all!

I haven't had baked oats for the longest time and I really enjoyed this.  I had some kefir and some pineapple too.

One fibre and two swips for some chia seeds I added to the mix before baking.

Lunch was soup with a sprinkle of mixed seeds
I decided to spend another fibre of a fresh baked rolls.  I made a batch this morning and they smelled so, so good, I just had to.  After that I crunched on some raw carrot

So another fibre plus four and a half swips for the soup and one swip for some mixed seeds.

I changed my dinner plans and had roasted vegetable loaded chilli.  To make this, I chilli-fied one of my portions of savoury mince (a pinch of chilli flakes as it was warming up) and roasted some potato, carrot, parsnips and broccoli.  With a sprinkle of cheese on top, it was really lovely with just enough heat to tickle the tonsils, so to speak!

It was filling too.

Summary:

Healthy extras:  one calcium and two fibres

Swips:  seven and a half

B:  pancakes, fruit and yogurt with chia seeds

L:  roasted vegetable and tomato soup - I made more roasted veg than I needed and had some leftover chopped tomatoes to they can all go in with other bits and bobs to make goodness-knows-what-kind of soup.

D:  chicken burger, coleslaw and salad

And fruit