Yummy in your Tummy

Spinach and mushroom omelette made in the air fryer! Perfect!

Had a bit of a hectic day so didn’t have first meal til tea time!

Lovely salad of green leaves, seafood, beets, carrot, corn etc.

Not very hungry but need to take pain killers so second “meal” prawn n cucumber “sandwich”.

Sea Bass with king prawns, Brocolli, courgette and asparagus ❤️

Brunch - chicken sausages, scrambled egg with spinach and lean bacon.

If at first, you don’t succeed, try try again……. okay, so I could be seen as a big fat failure because every time I try and lose weight I get so far and then I give up usually just because life gets in the way and bad habits start again. However my weight is now impacting my health, specifically my joints and as such, I’m now finding it difficult to get around doing just a simplest of tasks. So my choices are  to allow things to get worse or try and do something about it.

I’m starting this year with the detox that I did about five or six years ago with great success. It’s a plan devised by a lady called Rachel Holmes. You can Google her find her on YouTube and I think she’s on Facebook as well but anyway if you stick to the detox plan, you can see amazing weight loss results and actually I do remember my skin hair and everything else Was amazing after just a couple of weeks.

So we are in 2024 and like many yo-yo dieters going to try again - just your average middle-age woman who often fails but never gives up ha ha!

i’ve decided to try and track my progress on the page because it does help as I’m not planning on. Going to any classes to get weighed each week as I just find that depressing and soul destroying - especially when Sharon has been to the chippy five times that week and then stuffed two loves of tiger bread down her throat covered in lurpack before going to the pub and Downing 12 double vodkas and still lost 5 pounds.

So I hope you follow me, and if you want any of the recipes, just give me a shout and I’ll gladly put them on the page for you😊

Dinner - lamb steak stew packed full of greens - no starchy carbs - onions, mushrooms, leeks , cabbage , tomatoes - yummy !

Takeaways made this week. Chicken chow mein and lamb rogan Josh - both very tasty😎

I’ve changed tack after coming to a stand still so to try and give my weight loss journey a boost I’ve been eating “clean” this last week - no caffeine, dairy or starchy carbs.

Greens with every meal and lots of water 😊😊

Weight loss so far 15 1/2 lbs 😊

Fajita Friday!

So I was absolutely certain that Pinch of Nom had a lasagne recipe but noooo so I made up my own. This is 4 syns per portion - yes you can make a virtually syn free lasagne with the SW recipe but I did have jar of Dolmio Lasagne sauce in the fridge that really needed to go - it was a small jar at a whopping 24 syns so I spread it right out and made 6 portions out of the tray to get an accurate syn count :D

Pasta is 0 syns on slimming world unless you use the 'fresh' stuff and then you must syn it - I used dry pasta in this recipe to save on the syn value.

The meat sauce base - 500g less than 5% fat mince, tinned tomatoes, passatta, garlic, - you can add whatever you like to your mince base if you want to add more speed food then add mushrooms, peppers, grated carrot - it all works really well in this dish.

I'm a bit of a lazy cook so I just fried off the onions till soft, I added garlic then the mince and fried off until browned before adding in the 2 tins of tomatoes, a jar of passatta and let it simmer for around 20 minutes. I added my chosen herbs - not traditional in lasagne but they work for me are the herbs de province and oregano. I say experiment and see what happens :D

Layered the mince sauce along the dish then a layer of pasta and repeated making sure the final layer is pasta on top. I then spread the Dolmio pasta sauce over the top and added grated cheese using my HEA choice.

Baked in the oven for 35 minutes and its ready.

This was really delicious and felt like a proper cheat - my daily syn allowance is 15 syns so I could have had 2 portions and still have syns left so well worth it for me.

Its my turn to take lunch in tomorrow for the workforce so I made 2 :D x

I'm a very bad page admin! I've been very rubbish at keeping on top of everything - I will absolutely 100% blame stress and work!

So last week I got my 1 stone award which was great - really if I'd been very good I might have got it a few weeks earlier but hey ho! A stone is a stone is a stone so whoop whoop!

I've been kind of on plan then kind of off plan - and not doing much experimenting in the kitchen sticking mainly to tried and tested - salads, jackets, omelettes, chicken and veg ... pretty boring and because I got bored I started picking! Not helped by getting into a really bad habit of ordering in lunches all week at work for the workforce and me ..... we were all as guilty as each other as we munched through panini's, and burgers lol but I did order salad on 2 days so I was only 50% bad haha - so this week I knew it would be bad news and there it was a 2lb gain - after all that hard work!

The good news is it kicked my head into gear and I've been mostly back on plan this week - only one bread bun has got in the way so far!

Tonight I've cooked from fresh a chicken curry using lovely free range chicken breasts, onions, green beans, bean sprouts and it was very yummy - no point in putting on the photo as you've seen it before and I've also made the base for a lasagne for tomorrow's tea.

I've been on 3 long walks in 3 days and have managed 50 squats every morning and I'm supposed to be doing sit ups at night but keep forgetting. I'm hoping to lose that nasty 2lbs by Monday and be back on track for more fat loss over the coming weeks. I've got 8 weeks to lose another stone .... thats my target!

Anyway hope you are all keeping safe and I will post pics of the lasagne tomorrow :D xx

Pinch of Nom sausage casserole. Very tomatoey - a bit too for me if I make again I will use half the amount I think. Otherwise very tasty 😊. 1.5 syns x

As predicted I had a small gain this week :( but my head is back in the game. A simple chicken dinner tonight with lots of veggies and some mash. Ive got the rest of the week planned and some new recipes to try so hopefully will be posting those to the group later this week. :D

Hi all hope you are all well and keeping safe - I've not disappeared I'm still here lol!

I know its been over a week since I last posted on the page - I've been so busy with my craft business and with my proper job, that I've really fallen by the wayside over this last week. Its not so much that I've been eating loads but that I've not been eating properly - more like the 'grab and go' just to get some fuel inside of me - and its so easy to sabotage the plan when doing this. So this week my goal is to be much more organised and I've shopped and filled my fridge with lots of good healthy food - I'm planning my menus this evening.

We didn't have sunday roast today for a change and I'm making chow mein because I had some chicken to be used up.

The good news is that I lost another lb last weigh in and achieved slimmer of the week again - I always laugh when this happens as there is only a few of us that bother to do the zoom classes but I think they are really important - my slimming world consultant Linda always says I must claim it haha! So I am now 11lbs into my weight loss journey. I'm not looking forward to tomorrows weigh in mind you - no doubt I've done some damage but theres gonna be hiccups along the way! So I'm 100% back on plan now and hoping to see some good results over the coming weeks.

xx

Lost another 1lb this week making it 10.5 lbs in total so slowly heading towards getting rid of those lockdown pounds from the first time round! I've been pretty boring this week mainly sticking to tried and tested. Last night salmon fillet with jacket potato and veg and tonight chicken breast, jacket potato and veg - mainly because its the hubby's 60th on Friday and Ive got lots of food treats planned for an isolated birthday at home - we were supposed to be going away for the weekend booked last year but obviously that is not happening now so we will be making the best of it :D Can not wait for all this to be over so we can plan something to look forward to :D x

We enjoyed last weeks Nando’s takeaway so much I made it again tonight !

Totally forgot to post yesterday’s dinner and ate it before taking a photo haha! This is what we had if anyone wants the recipe just shout 😊

Lovely home made chilli con carne with jacket potato , HEA cheese on top and a nice mixed salad leaves 😊

Tonight has been Fakeaway Nando’s. This entire meal just 1 syn. Lemon and herb chicken using actual Nando’s marinade available almost any supermarket. Jacket potato with HEA grated Lower fat cheese and long stemmed broccoli.

I adore the Nando’s hummus but made my own Syn free version using chickpeas, garlic, paprika, quark and lemon juice 😊. and then used my b choice to make tortillas out of a toasted WW wrap. Carrot sticks to dip and strawberries for dessert. All Syn free 😊😊

Goulash tonight served with cabbage and sprouts 😊. Recipe available if anyone wants it xx

Monday was weigh in day and this week I maintained and it feels disappointing especially as I have such a long journey ahead of me. I think my metabolism is very sluggish but I’m hoping with perseverance the lbs will come off.

I had another busy day with work and before I knew it was 8pm and I still hadnt eaten so I dug out a slimming world freezer meal. I’m not a great fan of freezer meals but it filled a gap.

Chinese style chicken curry Syn free.

We won’t talk about the Daim Bar sweeties I nibbled on - I’m blaming the hormones! Tuesday will be better!

I’m
A bit behind due to my workload I have t posted for a couple if days.

On Sunday we ordered in Sunday lunch from The Marine Hotel, Seaton Carew.

I had to use syns for the Yorkshire’s , roasties and gravy and as I could only estimate I decided to just not use any more that day to be on safe side.

Can highly recommend these for lunch it was delicious but I couldn’t manage it all 😊

Feel like I'm stuck in a bit of rut this weekend but have managed to stick to plan - I could have demolished have the cupboards but have kept munching on fruit even though I wanted cake and doughnuts haha! I havent even got a sweet tooth as a rule so must be feeling hormonal.

Anyway I dragged myself out in the rain again for a wet and windy walk and then had a snuggle down for an hour before forcing myself to make this Classic Chicken Curry for our Saturday Night Fakeaway. This is one of the easiest curry recipes to make and I've made it countless times. You do need a well stocked spices cupboard but its worth it.

This serves 4 people and is completely syn free on Slimming world.

4 chicken breasts sliced and diced
low cal cooking spray
1 onion peeled and chopped
2tsp of grated ginger
2tsp of crushed garlic
1 large tablespoon of medium curry powder
1tsp each of ground cumin, ground corriander, ground cinnamon, paprika
1/4 tsp of crushed cardamom seeds, cloves and tumeric
400g can chopped tomatoes
300ml chicken stock.

Spray your pan with low cal spray and cook the onions for around 5 minutes until soft. Stir in the ginger, garlic and all of the spices and stir fry for 1-2 minutes.
Add the chicken and cook for a few minutes until sealed then add the tomatoes and stock. Bring to the boil then cover tightly and allow to simmer gently for around 45 minutes stirring occasionally.

If you enjoy a creamier curry you can add fat free natural yoghurt 😀

Serve with boiled rice and voila! Guilt free curry night 😀 x

My fave - if we go to a restaurant I always order sea bass - love it! Baby potatoes done in the actifry and lovely steamed veggies completely Syn free dinner 😊

Having a can’t be bothered to cook day as I’ve put my back out again 😢 so I just made tuna, pasta sweetcorn. Got fruit salad to munch on later. I used reduced fat Mayo so synned it at 1 Syn per portion xx

The kids wanted something “naughty” so sausage egg n chips it is. I had grilled chicken sausages and actifry chips so only 2 guilt free syns - 😊

Chicken Chasseur

as it happened when I looked at the PON recipe I was missing quite a few of the ingredients so here is my adapted recipe 😀

Low cal cooking spray
chicken breasts (1 per person)
Shallots (as many as you like)
Garlic (fresh or from a jar)
Button Mushrooms (as many as you like)
6 Smoked bacon medallions cut into strips
3 Carrots chopped
2 sticks celery sliced/chopped
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1tbsp Herbs de Provence
(alternatively you can add parsley, thyme)
approx 200ml Chicken or vegetable stock (I used chicken)

Method:

Spray a large pan with cooking oil and 'fry' the chicken breasts on both sides until golden brown. Remove from the pan and place in an oven proof dish.

Then to the pan add the shallots, mushrooms, garlic and bacon and fry for about 5 minutes before adding the carrots and celery. Cook for a further 5 minutes then add the puree, tomatoes and give it a good stir. Add the stock and herbs of choice and simmer for around 5 more minutes.

Pour the vegetables over the chicken breasts and cover with a lid or foil and pop in the oven at 200 C for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and cook for a further 40 minutes or until the chicken and vegetables are fully cooked.

sprinkle with fresh tarragon if you have it.

Serve with your choice of potatoes and more vegetables.

Enjoy!

Wow I've been so busy with my work this week that I forgot to post my photo of Sundays roast dinner - I synned the gravy and the parsnips to be on the safe side as sprayed lightly with olive oil instead of the low cal spray. I didn't have yorkshires this week so I thought what the hell haha!

I was disappointed with the pork - it looked lovely until we started slicing it and was very fatty inside .... so had a bit of a do trying to get some lean meat 😞

Monday I had a day off cooking as I was working from morning til night - so we ordered - I stuck to chow mein and asked for the meat not to be cooked in oil so stayed well within my daily syn allowance.

Weigh in yesterday another 1.5lbs off so 9.5lbs in total and got slimmer of the week for the 3rd week in a row .... go me haha!

I'm cooking chicken chasseur for tea tonight from the PON book will post pics a bit later on.

.....sometimes leftovers will do especially when they are so yummy! Diet cola chicken again 😊

Eating a bit late tonight but thought would give this Diet Cola chicken a go. It’s smells delightful but still cooking - I’m starving so I’m sure it will go down a treat 😜