Be on Plan, When You can

Yes! 4.5 lbs lost this week and on weigh in day felt on top of the world and very pleased with myself.

Got home and made the mistake of thinking about the next 7 days. It's going to be hard as we have my Nan's funeral on Tuesday. I want so much to be in control of my eating, however I need to be a bit kinder to myself and chill out about it. It's going to be emotional and I need to roll with that.

'Be on plan,  when you can'

Rachel Davies (SW Consultant)

Because I am away for 2 nights and 3 days, I have planned up to Wednesday and will hit the supermarket again when we are back. Not so detailed planner either, as I am on holiday so don't need to work out lunches in advance.

Saturday
Meatza and coleslaw (Cheese as HEA and 1 syn for the coleslaw

Sunday
Full English SW style
Paprika Pork

Monday
Scrambled Eggs and Bacon
Gammon, egg and chips for lunch before we travel up

Tuesday and Wednesday we are away but will try and choose wisely! 

Not much of plan there really now I have seen it written down! But onwards and upwards

Will leave you with some of the meals I cooked this week.

Confessionals and Quotes

'You never fail, unless you stop trying'

Albert Einstein

Well old friend, old blog of mine, I'm back. I'm back on the weight loss thing which has been something I've fought with for a very long time. This feels a little bit like a confessional. 'Please forgive me for I have synned (pun intended) It has been 18 months since my last post and proper week at Slimming World'

Eeek, it's out there now. I thought I could go it alone, but I don't like it. I like having people around to bounce ideas of. I like learning new things, trying things out, making new friends.

I've rejoined, new group, new consultant, new weigh in day. New me? Probably not. I know my weaknesses, just got to learn to embrace my strengths and carry on.

So onto one of my strengths, I love a good meal planner! Although weighins are now a Wednesday (at my place of work so no excuse for not attending) meal planning will run Saturday to Friday to help with 'big shop day.' I've gone the whole hog this week and planned every meal. My first weigh is this week and I know if I can get through the first couple of weeks, I will be on fire. I need some losses to keep me motivated.

The Plan
I like to keep the food bill as low as possible. At the moment I aim for the whole week to be about £40 for two of us. I am still however cooking huge portions, I can't get out of Mum mode even though the kids have left home. So, I will either repurpose a meal (bolognaise sauce one night, the next with extra veggies will make a cottage pie), dish up 4 plates and have the same meal the next evening, warmed up in the microwave or freeze to use again the following week. Saves time and money.

Saturday
Breakfast - Loaded Bacon Sandwich
Lunch - Ham, tomatoes and cucumber
Dinner - Homemade burgers with SW coleslaw and salad

Sunday
Breakfast - Omelette with beans and spinach
Lunch - cold meat and pickled onions
Dinner - Roasted chicken, with roasted potatoes, carrots, cabbage, brussels and green beans

Monday
Breakfast - Beans on toast
Lunch - Chicken salad
Dinner - Roast chicken dinner as above

Tuesday
Breakfast - SW Fry up
Lunch - Loaded chicken sandwich
Dinner - Vegetable bolognaise, with pasta

Wednesday
Breakfast - Egg on toast
Lunch - Egg salad
Dinner - Spicy vegetable chili and rice and spinach

Thursday
Breakfast - SW Fry up
Lunch - left over chili and rice
Dinner - Baked potato, beans, ham and spinach

Friday
Breakfast - bacon sandwich
Lunch - leftover baked potato and beans
Dinner - Fish risotto, with any vegetables left in the fridge

Here's to the week and a loss!

Meal Planning Monday w/c 9th of February

This was posted in February 2015

Posting early, getting organised, that's the name of the game this week. Can't quite believe I am up at 9am on a Sunday, let alone meal planning,  internet grocery shopping and now posting on here. The joy's of having a puppy who doesn't sleep in! 

After a 3lb loss this week (Yay, go me!) I am determined to keep the good work up with a healthy variety of meals. I've planned

• Vegetable Lasagna
• Homemade burger and SW Chips
• Baked eggs with peppers, spinach and tomatoes (page 34 in this months SW magazine)
• Cod Mediterranean Tray Bake (page 68)
• Cottage Pie with carrot and swede mash (page 69)
• Tagliatelle Puttanesca (page 73)
• Fish rissotto and vegetables
• Pizza and chips

If you hadn't already worked it out, I took inspiration from this months Slimming World magazine. It's good to flick through and get some ideas. Although old favourites are good, variety does spice things up and keeps your taste-buds happy too. 

And yes, I know there are more than 7 meals on there, but I go with what I fancy that day and what I am doing and is most convenient to cook. Am beginning to realise I don't follow the planner that much, but for me knowing I have got healthy meals in, means I have no excuse for not eating well.

Got green eggs and ham planned for one breakfast, porridge and banana and good old favourite of beans on toast for others. Lunch will be leftovers and am thinking of investing in a desktop crockpot, what do you think? Cool aren't they and no need to use the communal work microwave! 

For more inspiration of what to eat this week, get yourself over to At Home with Mrs M

Meal Planning Monday w/c 16th June

Meal planning is my forte, sticking to it......meh! However I did say I would post each of my evening meals to FaceBook......and I stuck to it

Helped having to post an image, because I knew I couldn't cheat!....now if I could just sort out the crafty chocolate, crisps, ice-cream etc I will have it cracked.......

Onto this week

• Cauliflower cheese with sausages (6 Syns)
• Vegetable rice with prawns (Syn free)
• Creamy pasta with chicken and vegetables (4 Syns)
• Sweet potato and bacon stew (from the freezer, Syn free)
• Saag Alloo (Syn free)
• Sticky gammon stir fry (1 Syn)
• Chicken and SW chips (Syn free)

This week the challenge is to continue to post my dinner images, but also make sure I'm having a good healthy lunch. Next week the challenge will be to cut out the unhealthy snacks! Small steps, to make big changes.

I'm not pleased with my eating habits at the moment, but only I can do something about that. 

Hope you all have a great week, speak to you soon

Fay xxx

Meal Planning Monday W/C 9th June

Oh my! Haven't done this for a while, but time to get back on the band wagon of planning. And the best way to commit to something, as we all know, is to write it down! 

My slimming world menu for the week looks like this;-

• Wholemeal pasta with tomato and garlic sauce with roasted Mediterranean vegetables (syn free)
• Butter chicken with rice and veggies (syn free)
• Leftover butter chicken with baked potato and salad (syn free)
• Homemade burger, Slimming World Chips and beans (syn free)
• Butternut squash risotto and veggies (syn free)
• Butternut squash soup with wholemeal roll (8 syns for the roll)
• Butternut squash and sweet potato curry (I think, it's in the freezer but no label!)

I love starting my day with a bowl of porridge, with banana and blueberries (plus MrC enjoys it too, added bonus!) Lunches will be a little on the fly. Maybe leftovers, or a bachelors rice. I've got the makings of a Slimming World quiche in the fridge, so may have that one lunch time too.

I've also linked back to the butter chicken recipe, which I've fallen back in love with.

All of the meals are simple, tasty, easy to prepare and should ensure I have nothing left going mouldy in the fridge.

I'm also going to try and photograph each evening meal in the hope it keeps me on plan and shame's me into doing what I say

Wish me luck! 

Slimming World Friendly Sweet Sticky Onion Relish

This is sooo good, it doesn't last long in my house because I keep eating it! Easier than you think and should keep for three or four days in the fridge, plus its Syn free on Slimming World

Ingredients
500g of thinly sliced red onions
100ml balsamic vinegar
150ml apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons of sweetner
2 cloves of crushed garlic
2 tablespoons of chopped thyme
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Put all the ingredients into a large, heavy bottomed pan. Bring it up to the boil and then simmer, covered for an hour. Give it an occasional stir to make sure it doesn't burn. Remove the lid for the last 10 minutes or so, to thicken up the lovely sticky sweet syrup. Once cooled, season to taste.

I've had this with burgers, lovely and tangy in a salad, goes well with chicken and beef on the side of your plate, or stirred through plain rice or couscous to liven it up.

Go on give it a go! 

Slow Cooker Beef Tomato and Red Pepper Casserole

This is a delicious, melt in the mouth and incredibly easy to make recipe to boot. Was inspired by the Coleman's Slow Cooker sachet, but objected to the Syns. So created my own version.

You literally chuck all the ingredients into the slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours or low for eight hours. Creates its own sauce or gravy from the juices, serves 4 and is Syn free on extra easy

Ingredients
400g of casserole beef with all visible fat removed and cut into cubes
2 large red onions, cut into wedges
3 red peppers, cut into slices
Tin of chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons of tomato puree
2 cloves of garlic
2 beef Oxo cubes (or equivalent)
2 tablespoons of mixed herbs
Salt and pepper to season

As I said, chuck it all in, stir and leave for as long as you. I had this with steamed greens and new potatoes, but it's very versatile. Try it with spicy couscous. Or baked or mashed potato with plenty of superfree veggies. 

Sunshine Roasted Root Vegetables

Oh my goodness, this was divine. I've been wanting to try it for a while after I saw this recipe for roasted beetroot and sweet potato. It looked so delicious.

Finally managed to track down some beetroot from Tesco and, me being me, decided to not follow the recipe but go my own way. So here it is!

The beetroot stains the other veggies, which is where I got the name from. It's so tasty, filling and Syn free.

Ingredients

3 sweet potatoes
5 beetroots
3 parsnips
3 small potatoes
4 carrots
1 onion
2 tbsp garlic granules
1 tbsp dried rosemary
1 tbsp dried thyme
Salt and pepper
Fry light

Method

All the vegetables were peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces before putting into a large roasting dish. I know beetroot is very red, but was surprised by how much it actually stained my chopping board and hands, so be careful! I don't know why, but didn't think they were THAT red when raw. I had lobster in mind, which changes colour once cooked. But I was wrong, beetroot is very very red. 

I sprinkled the herbs and garlic over the vegetables, with a good amount of salt and pepper. Added some hot water, enough to just cover the bottom of the pan, before spritzing with fry light and covering tightly with tin foil. I put it in a hot oven for about 50 minutes. You're aiming to almost steam the vegetables. If you chop them smaller, they'll cook quicker and visa versa. Check your veggies are cooked through though with a knife; Your oven may take longer than mine.

Take the tin foil off about ten minutes before the end to help them crisp up.

The natural sugars in the beetroot, make the dish lovely and gooey, as well as a beautiful pink colour. It's comfort food of the highest order and delicious.

I had it by itself, but it would also be beautiful with grilled chicken or your weekly roast, or even some shredded cabbage.

Enjoy! 

Slimming World Friendly Mixed Bean Stew

This mixed bean stew is versatile and free on the extra easy plan. It's another meal where I use whatever I have to hand. So don't worry if you have to improvise, that's my type of cooking! Just to warn you, it makes a lot so use a large pan with a lid.

Ingredients
1 large chopped onion
2 leeks shredded
3 chopped peppers
2 chopped carrots
1 chopped courgette
Tin of chopped tomatoes
500g passatta
3 tbsp of tomato puree
3 tins of beans - I used chick peas, black eyed peas and adzuki, but you can have any combination
3 tbsp of mixed herbs
3 crushed garlic cloves
3 tbsp of Worcester sauce
2 beef stock cubes (or you can use vegetable stock)
Couple good glugs of balsamic vinegar

Method

• Put the onions in the pan with enough water to cover the bottom and cook until softened, takes about 5 minutes
• Add all the chopped up vegetables, balsamic vinegar and garlic and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring regularly.
• Chuck in all the other ingredients, plus about 200ml of water (I usually half fill the empty tin from the tomatoes and use that) Stir and simmer with the lid on the pan for about 30 minutes. 
• The stew should be thick and glossy, if it isn't thick enough for you, continue simmering for another 10 minutes with the lid off.
• Season to taste and serve! 

I like it in a huge bowl with a big spoon! MrC enjoys it with a chunk of bread to wipe up the gravy. You can try it stuffed in a wholemeal pitta, or on a baked potato, or with rice or over pasta (with a little cheese ??! ) or maybe all of them if you're good with leftovers! It makes a lot! I've got my eye on some which I'm planning to use to stuff red peppers and then bake.

Oh, and if you like it spicy, try adding some chilli, beautiful! 

Beef Casserole Recipe - Slimming World Syn Free!

This is a delicious, warming and easy recipe for beef casserole. I'm not very good at following recipes myself, I tend to not weigh anything unless I have to or forget to buy an ingredient here or there. Whoops! So this one, although my own, is to be used as a guide. Go with what you fancy (or have in the fridge!)

It's Syn Free on Slimming World's Extra Easy plan. Pack it full of vegetables if you want to and/or serve with extra vegetables and get food optimising.

Ingredients
500g of stewing beef
1 large chopped onion
4 carrots, sliced
4 or 5 large handfuls of fresh washed spinach
Beef stock made with 2 stock cubes (about a litre I think)
1 minced clove of garlic (or 1 large tbsp of garlic granules/powder) If you haven't got a mincer, bash it around a bit with the back of the knife and chuck it in.

Method

1. Dry fry the beef in a hot pan until all browned. 
2. Set the meat aside, drain out any fat from the pan, but leave the brown bits.  Add the chopped onions to the pan and add a little water (just enough to cover them) Soften the onions, making sure all the lovely brown bits from the beef are dislodged from the bottom of the pan. These will give your casserole a lovely flavour.
3. Once softened, add the beef you'd set aside earlier, sliced carrots and minced garlic (or granules/powder) and add enough stock to cover the ingredients in the pan.
4. Bring everything up to boil, turn the pan down, add the lid and simmer for about 60 minutes. Stir occasionally and if needed add more water.
5. Five minutes before serving, check and see if it needs any salt or pepper. I tend to season at the end, especially when using stock cubes as they can be very salty.
6. Once seasoned, add the spinach leaves and stir through.
7. Voila! 

The casserole can also be cooked in the slow cooker or oven. 

Slow Cooker
Brown the meat and cook the onions as directed, add all the ingredients into the slow cooker and cook for 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low. Add a little less stock and only check it once about half way through. Did you know every time you lift the lid on your slow cooker, you should add 20 minutes to the cooking time? Stir the spinach in 25 minutes before serving.

Oven
For the oven, follow points 1 to 3, then transfer into a casserole dish. Put in the oven with a lid for 60 to 90 minutes at 190 degrees. Stir the spinach leaves in 5 minutes before serving.

Can be frozen, just leave the spinach leaves out and add when its reheated.

Served with rice or potatoes and a portion or three of vegetables, whatever takes your fancy. Would also be great over a baked potato.

Enjoy! 

Variations
Try adding some extra herbs or chilli to spice it up
At the end, you an always add a dollop (technical term) of fromage frais to make a lovely creamy gravy. (this will add a couple of Syns though)
Worcester sauce or mustard powder can also be added to give the casserole added depth of flavour and taste. 

Experiment, find what you like. That's what makes cooking fun! 

Meal Planning Monday 24th June

Meal Planning this week was delayed until I went to weigh in. Was touch and go whether I stayed in group or not, I've just not been feeling it. Got a few things on my plate at the moment and a terrible comforting eating habit which I can't see improving. However once I'd got over the bad news (a massive 5.5lbs on!! A record even for me) staying to group gave me lots of inspiration for my menu. Thank you everyone for all the ideas

Mushy pea curry with rice (syn free)
Bachelor rice quiche chips (syn free)
Vegetable stew(syn free)
Vegetable stew & cobblers (8 syns)
Baked potato beans, cheese triangles (syn free)
Smash Pizza (syn free)

Mushy pea curry and Smash pizza are new recipes for me so wish me luck!

I'm going for a roast at my parents this week, so will take my own roast potatoes and will just have to be careful out for lunch at Wagamama's. Will need plenty of willpower and no dramas this week but will give it my best shot.

There's very little chocolate in the house, plenty of yogurt fruit and sugar free jelly so fingers crossed it'll be a better week

I'm linking with Mrs M, so check out the other menus on the links.

Posted with Blogsy

Meal Planning Monday 10th June

Meal planning today and linking up with At Home with Mrs M. I've loved drawing up my plan this week, tried to think of the yummiest food, something to tempt me, but would still be simple to cook

Chicken breast, bacon, broccoli and barbecue sauce (2 syns)
Jamie Oliver pasta (2 syns)
Chickpea rice and chicken (syn free)
Wedges, quorn sausages, beans (syn free)
Slow cooked beef, roast potato and vegetables (syn free)
Something quick and easy, maybe a fridge frittata

I've become a bit obsessed with using dried beans, but they go with nearly everything! I've discovered so far, if you'd use minced beef, you can substitute a mix of beans and it still tastes fab! It means I'm eating less red meat, less fat and increasing my fibre. The only thing it doesn't work with is a homemade beef burger, but then the clue is in the name.

I've felt reasonable well this week, plus I made sure to have yogurt after my main meal, which seemed to stop sugar cravings in the evenings, which will have helped with a 4lb loss.

Cue .........** little happy dance **

I'd like to say, long may it continue, however if it doesn't, can you guys remind me to not beat myself up? It's more important to be happy and eat well most of the time, than unhappy and upset with myself when I don't.
Don't forget, I'd still like to know what you've been getting upto, and have planned.

Happy eating!

(Check out the other plans over at Mrs M's!!)

Posted with Blogsy

Meal Planning Monday - another week, the same meals

It's Meal Planning Monday with At Home with Mrs M, and it comes around so fast! I've really not put too much thought into this weeks meal plan, I've been a bit lazy to be honest and fallen back onto firm favourites and things I've got already prepared in the freezer.

I've also been to Slimming World weigh in, but asked not to be told the damage! Not sure why I've done that, I know I've put on because I haven't been following the plan, but eaten what I fancied, full fat stuff and all. But I'm not quite prepared mentally to accept the numbers. I'm going to think on this and maybe write about it later.

Onto the menu for this week

Pork chop, veg and turnip mash

Mixed bean chilli and rice

Soup and bread (think its butternut squash from the freezer)

Minced beef hash ( made it last week and froze it )

Cottage pie ( again made last week and frozen )

Slimming world chips and egg

I've only planned 6 days, ran out of inspiration, but my freezer is packed, so I won't starve!

Talking of the freezer, I must get better at labelling when I batch cook. It can sometimes be a bit of a lucky dip when I go investigating. Not a bad thing, but would make life easier when I send other people in to get stuff for me!

And before I forget, thank you to everyone in group who witnessed my mini meltdown last week. I'm fine, better than I was, but still wobbly. But like I read somewhere, wobbly can be a fun place to be too, it changes your perspective, literally and figuratively.

What've you got planned this week? Something I can pinch???Do tell!

Meal Planning Monday w/c 27th May

Bit late writing and linking up with Mrs M, but was having a bit of a melt down today following weigh-in. After a guilt free Chinese taking away, I'm back up and running and ready to go.

This weeks menu

Slimming world beef hash

Baked potato beans and cheese

Cottage pie

Mixed bean casserole

Mushroom risotto

Roast chicken and the trimmings

So lets see if I can reverse the trend and post a loss next week!

 

Posted with Blogsy

#MealPlanningMonday - w/c 20th May

I've linked up with At Home with Mrs M

Fingers crossed with this weeks weigh-in. I've been ok....ish. I was tempted with jam butties late at night (In my defense I had them without butter!) and could have decided to carry on with the naughty eating, but stopped with just that. Phew. 

Did a shop at Lidl this week and then Tesco for the stuff I couldn't get there. Was hoping it'd work out cheaper, wasn't the case this time. However will persevere. Budget shopping I think is something I need to practice!

Onto this week's menu

Roasted chicken thighs with butter bean and tomato and garlic roasted potato (Syn Free)

Slow cooker gammon, potato wedges and salad (Syn Free)

Stuffed red peppers with beans, rice and sweetcorn (Syn Free)

Mustard glazed sausages with carrot and swede mash (2 Syns a quorn sausage)

Salmon with lemon cousous and salad (Syn Free)

Butternut squash soup with potato skins (Syn Free) 

Baked potato, cauliflower cheese and beans (Syn Free)

Loving having beans or spaghetti on toast for breakfast, keeps me going! Lunches are leftovers and plenty of fruit for snacks. Fallen back in love sugar free jelly which I've been making up with fat free yogurt for a blancmange. Picked up a huge carton of fat free greek yogurt at Lidl for £1.58 so think that will be accompanying this week's jelly!

So, what do you think? A good Extra Easy Slimming World menu plan? What's caught your eye? What are you having? Do share

Meal Planning Monday - lots of the same #MealPlanningMonday

I'm joining in with Mrs M's Meal Planning Monday

This week I'm sticking with what I know, lots of my favourite meals. I'm still cooking for winter though, as I'm so cold, ALL THE TIME. The only time I seem to heat up is after a hot bath or a filling meal! Not that I'm complaining, I love a good casserole. The menu this week, looks like this:-

Spanish chicken with rice - Syn free

Bolognaise and pasta from the freezer and Syn free

Spicy bean stew and couscous

Cottage pie from the freezer with lots of vegetables and Syn free

Beef stew and dumplings - six syns for the dumpling

Butternut squash soup - Syn free

Fridge frittata with all the leftover veg in the fridge! 

It's all quick and easy to cook (even MrC can do a beef stew) which will help me in the evenings, as I'm suffering a fair bit with fatigue at the moment.

I've posted the spicy bean stew recipe, this week, I'll spice it up with chili flakes. Am sure the beans and spice will help with the weight loss.

Spaghetti or beans on toast is setting me up for the day brilliantly, so I'll continue with that for breakfasts. Lunch will be leftovers from the night before, maybe with a salad. I keep a bowl of apples and satsuma's on my desk for snacks and I've stocked up on Muller light yogurt for puddings.

I also need to keep well hydrated (having only the one kidney now its important to keep it working) so a pot of my favourite herbal tea gets at least 1.5 litres down my neck by lunch time (just have to make sure I time my frequent loo breaks in between conference calls!) I've also found a cup of fruity tea helps me curb my sweet stuff craving. Generally after a cup, I'm back in control and don't 'need' that chocolate bar!

Oh and I lost 1.5lbs this week, which I'm very pleased with. I'm still in the zone! 

What have you got planned?

Slimming World Friendly Bean Stew

I've been reading A Girl Called Jack blog, which is primarily about eating on a (strict) budget and have been inspired to give dried beans a go. I've always been a bit scared before and used tinned, it's the thought of maybe poisoning myself which has put me off in the past. But they are easier than you think, cheap and flavoursome  You just need to be a bit organised, as most need soaking for 8-12 hours, then cooking from 1 to 2 hours, but its worth it!

This started as a Barbecue style bean stew, using diet coke, but didn't work out for me; ended up as a tasty bean stew instead! Sorry if you don't do 'a bit of this' or a 'handful of that' type of cooking, but I didn't weigh of measure anything.

Ingredients

A selection of beans, already soaked, and cooked as per the packet instructions
I used a couple of good handfuls of the following
Cannellini beans
Butter beans
Kidney beans
Pinto beans
Chick peas
Large roughly chopped onion
Couple of peppers - I had green and yellow
Stock, about 400ml or a can of diet coke
Half carton of passata
Couple cloves of chopped garlic
Balsamic vinegar - couple of good glugs
Mixed herbs
Salt and pepper

Method

• Gently soften the onion for a couple of minutes, using either fry light or water
• Add the roughly chopped peppers and stir for another couple of minutes.
• Add in all the other ingredients, stir, bring to a simmer and cook for 1-2 hours to reduce down to a thick sauce. Stir every 20 minutes or so to stop sticking
• Check the seasoning and serve! 

I had it the first day in a big bowl with lots of black pepper. Leftovers went a bit further when I added the rest of the passata, reheated and served with brown rice (and more pepper, chemo has dampened my taste buds a fair bit!)

I think for Extra Easy the ingredients make it Syn Free. You can spice it up and make a chilli or curry and imagine it would be nice with some lemon running through it too. How about stuffing it in beef tomato's or peppers? Lovely!

Let me know if you give it a go, I'd be interested in knowing what you think.

#MealPlanningMonday w/c 6th May - Beans, beans and beans

I've linked up with At Home With Mrs M

Just looked at my blog and seems all I'm posting are my meal planners! Not a bad thing I'm sure, but something I need to rectify soon.

Today I made the effort to actually walk around Tesco's to get some meal time inspiration. I usually shop online for delivery and after today I've realised why; my chemo feet are killing me. However it's worth it, because I've a few more cupboard staples I wouldn't normally have bought, which'll give me a few more things to try.

And because it's a Bank Holiday and no work, I've managed to weigh-in before I wrote this post. I'm pleased to say I've lost the 2.5 lbs I put on last week. I'm a happy bunny! My aim for this week is to lose a pound, which I think is doable.

The least meal plan saw me trying and loving Jack's chilli and kidney bean, carrot and cumin burger. Great success all round although next time I'm going to play around with the burger seasonings, as it was a bit flat for my addled taste buds.

This weeks menu looks like this

Quorn Sausages with mustard glaze and carrot mash (inspired by Nigel Slater's recipe but will adapt to Slimming World) about 4 Syns

Chilli bean and rice Syn Free

Homemade burger with SW chips and salad Syn Free

BBQ Bean stew Syn Free

Cottage Pie (from freezer) Syn Free

Bolognaise (from freezer) Syn Free

Egg and SW chips Syn Free

I'm discovering the gorgeousness (and budget friendliness) of dried beans and pulses, I'm really enjoying them. They're tasty and good for you. The BBQ Bean Stew I saw on Sunday Brunch but I'm going to adapt it, taking out the treacle and sugar and using diet coke and cooking it down. A bit like Diet Coke Chicken but with beans. Will let you know how it works out! 

I've been pretty terrible with comfort eating this week though, so I've planned in some treats. I've some muller light greek style yogurt in the fridge with my name on them, which are 0.5 syns each and I'm going to make a sugar free jelly with natural yogurt too. Lunches as usual will be leftovers from the night before, but I've also planned a Slimming World Quiche, like this one but with extra vegetables to fill me up! 

Wish my luck

Don't forget to check out Mrs M for other meal planning inspirations

#MealPlanningMonday w/c 29th April

It's Monday again, which means not only is it Meal Planning, but it's also weigh-in. Not unexpectedly, I put on 2.5 lbs, however I had a brilliant time putting that weight on! I had a meze one night, loads of slices of takeaway pizza (someone on Twitter said the trick to having a pizza is to eat it fast, before your body realises its actually full up. Wise words!) bacon sandwiches until they were coming out of my ears and loads and loads of white bread, with lashings of butter. I also managed a cream tea and a pasty, but I was on holiday in North Cornwall, its against the law to not have one of those......isn't it??

However on Sunday, I was back on track, kept to a Syn free day with grilled bacon sandwich, brown bread (no butter) and a lovely roast chicken dinner. I'm using the leftovers for a chicken stew and a chicken and noodle soup.

And leftover's leads me onto a beautiful blog I've discovered called A Girl Called Jack. I saw Jack on BBC breakfast over the weekend, talking about the campaign to eat for a £1 a day for five days called 'Live Below The Line'. Jack's blog is all about living frugally and her recipes piqued my interest. I try to keep my food bill down, it averages about £80 a week (for everything including washing powders, toilet rolls, that sort of thing), but know I could do better. When I first married, I had 3 months of feeding my little family of three with the child benefit which was about £10, twenty years ago and although a struggle it gave me a sense of achievement. Jack however has been doing it through necessity for 2 or 3 years now and she's got it down to an art form.

So, I'm going to be trying one of her recipes each week and being more mindful of the food which gets wasted in my house.

Onto my menu planning this week.

Chicken Noodle Soup (Syn free)

Chicken Stew (Syn free, although MrC and James will have dumplings with theirs)

Cottage pie and vegetables (I made three portions a few weeks ago and froze it)

Liver and onions, mash and vegetables. (Syn free)

Carrot, Kidney Bean and Cumin burger from Jack's blog (I think about 2 Syns for the 4 burgers)

Bolognaise (Syn free, made with lots of vegetables and lentils)

Kidney Bean Chilli and rice from A Girl Called Jack (I won't use the wine or the chocolate so Syn Free)

Lunches will be leftovers from the night before with salad with plenty of fruit to keep me going throughout the day.

(The cottage pie, liver and bolognaise were all made and frozen a few weeks ago, love it when that happens!)

So I am planning for success, I will lose that 2.5 pounds very soon, I'm determined! 

What have you got planned? Let me know by leaving a comment or why not join in yourself with At Home With Mrs M who hosts this linky. Click the image at the top of the page for more meal planning inspiration.

Fay's Meal Planning Monday 22nd April

Monday, again! And time to plan for the week ahead. Wasn't going to join in this week, didn't see much point as I'm going away to the lovely The Olde House in North Cornwall on Wednesday for three nights. We generally tend to eat a lot of bacon and egg sandwiches, crisps and chocolate! Didn't see much point actually posting that, as I won't be staying on Slimming World plan, no incentive as I'd had a bad week.

I felt a little out of control, not sticking to plan. I ate a lot of bread (fish finger sandwiches, sausage sandwiches, peanut butter and jam sandwich. You getting the picture?) I was also given a huge bar of chocolate while staying away with work. I packed it in my case, so I wouldn't be tempted but ended up leaving the M5 at Bristol and unpacking it to scoff on the way home! How bad is that!?

However, look what I got today in group

I managed to lose 3.5 pounds this week and also won slimmer of the week! How did I manage that? No really, How did I manage that????

In my defence, as well as the rubbish choices,  I've also had some great Slimming World meals too, and chose really well when I was away. Chicken salad with dressing on the side one night (we'll not count the chili squid I had for a starter!) and a rump steak with baked potato and green beans another. (what I really wanted was chips and a pudding, but I resisted)

When home, I did have SW Chinese five spice gammon with salad and chips and chicken cooked in paprika tomato sauce with rice and greens. I also think I ate smaller sized meals, little and often. So looking back, the good must have outweighed the bad! Yay!!!!

Which has inspired me to post and menu plan this week and try to limit the damage while I'm on holiday. I did say in group I wasn't staying on plan. (I think I actually said I was just going to SOD IT). Been a tough few months and I deserved a blow out. But this weeks loss has helped me reassess, given me a boost and made me want to keep the good work going.

So onto THE PLAN

Beef Stew

Bacon Sandwich

Takeaway Pizza

Bacon Sandwich

Slimming World Roast Chicken, potato, vegetables

Bacon Sandwich

I'm having beef stew tonight ( I can smell it as I type) which is Syn free, as all the fat is trimmed off the beef and I won't be having dumplings. When I'm back from holiday on Saturday I've already planned to have a takeaway pizza (Well, I'm still on holiday) But Sunday it will be a SW roast chicken with all the free veg. 

I'm going to take away with me my lovely Tefal frying pan, which makes fantastic fried eggs with no fat! The bacon will be grilled, the bread brown, with no butter or ketchup. I'll also take the fruit I won as Slimming of the Week, which should help me cut the chocolate down a bit. And when I'm eating out, have what a fancy, but smaller amounts.

So what do you think? Tell me what you are having and join in by leaving a comment.

Don't forget to check out At Home With Mrs M for lots more inspirational menu's