Meal Planning Monday: 27th June 2016

Regular readers will have noticed the absence of a meal plan last week - we were off on our hols to the lovely Centre Parcs at Woburn. A wonderful time was had by all, Harry loved the bike and swimming pool. I was blissful at the spa, and M had a go at fencing which he really enjoyed. Overall a hit. I'm writing up some posts covering what we learned, enjoyed and would do differently so keep an eye out for those in the weeks to come. 

As enjoyable as last week was, talk about falling off the Slimming World wagon: ice cream, wine, biscuits, chocolate and garlic bread all featured. And were wonderful. Now to face the music and get back on it. 

Breakfasts are yoghurt and fruit this week. I'm not a fan of the Slimming World staple Mullerlights, because of the sweeteners which we think trigger my migraines (although I did enjoy a banana and custard one today but - headache ensued). Instead I adore the Total Greek 0% fat which is lovely and not packed full of additives. Aldi had melon and grapes on their Super 6 this week so those will both feature alongside my usual apple and banana. 

Lunches -  I'm going to have a go at some mini crustless quiches this week. I'm planning on a smoked salmon, broccoli and cherry tomato batch and will post about them if they're a success.  I've got lots of salady bits in the fridge so will make sure to have that too. 

Suppers - we had a roast chicken today which as you know is my favourite way to start the week, because: leftovers!

Monday: Cold roast chicken, baked potatoes, carrots, peas

Tuesday: Chicken and mushroom risotto

Wednesday: Leftover risotto

Thursday: Freezer surprise

Friday: Breakfast for supper

Saturday: Tomato, lentil and veg pasta

Sunday: Leftover pasta 

So that's our week - it's just a normal one: Baby groups, Brownies, Guides, work for M and stay at home mummying for me. But it keeps us all out of mischief. 

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Chickpea curry recipe: vegan, dairy free, soya free, syn free

This quick, easy and incredibly tasty recipe is vegan, dairy free, egg free and soya free - when I Instagrammed it I used the #veganuary hashtag and it got lots of interest, similarly in both my Slimming World and CMPA groups people were after the recipe.

I wrote that first paragraph back in January. And then abandoned this post - and to be honest a lot of the blog. Without wishing to jinx things, I do have a few posts lined up at the moment.

This recipe was supposed to be the Chana Masala from the Oh She Glows cookbook, and it is still loosely based on that. However, I did that food blogger thing of adding a bit of this, a bit of that - until it became a bit different. Then when I made it the second and third times I did it from memory rather than a recipe and we seem to have set on my recipe so I thought I'd take the opportunity to blog it.



Chickpea curry - dairy free, soya free, vegan
Syn free on Slimming World

Fry light spray (or coconut oil if you're not on Slimming World)
2 red onions
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 red chilli
Thumb sized piece ginger
3-4 carrots
2-3 sweet potatoes
2 - 400g tins chickpeas (if you're egg free, keep the water and use it to make awesome egg free meringues)
2 - 400g tins chopped tomatoes
1 400g carton passata
1.5tsp cumin seeds
1.5 tsp garam masala
1.5tsp ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric
If not feeding a baby - Half tsp salt
Large bunch coriander

Either by hand or in the food processor, peel and finely chop the onions, garlic, chilli (I deseed it as I'm feeding Harry too) and ginger
Peel and grate the carrots and sweet potatoes
Liberally spray a large pan with the Fry light - or add about a tablespoon of coconut oil and warm it so that it's liquid
Add the cumin seeds and fry gently until they start to pop
Add the garlic, chilli, ginger and onions and cook over a low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring regularly. The onion should be really soft and completely translucent
Add all the spices and stir well
Add the grated sweet potatoes and carrots, and both tins of chickpeas. Stir to make sure that everything is coated in the spice/ onion mix
Add the tomatoes and passata and stir well.
Bring to a gentle simmer, put a lid on the pan and leave for half an hour - 45 minutes
Top with lots of freshly chopped coriander and serve with rice or roti.

Quick, easy, and super healthy. What's not to like?

If that's piqued your interest in a dairy free or vegan curry - why not try one of these recipes from some other lovely bloggers too:

• Over at The Veg space there's a lovely Swiss chard and new potato dhal that's ideal for those of us who are dairy free as it's packed full of calcium containing greens.
• Recipes from a Pantry has a gorgeous looking Roasted pumpkin red thai curry  Do not that you'll want to omit the fish sauce if you're veggie or vegan. Bintu suggests simply and easily replacing it with extra lime juice
• There's another Thai curry - this time green from Tin and Thyme - packed full of loads of lovely veggies and with my favourite cashew nuts too
• Tinned tomatoes has a curry my hubs would love - Mushroom and potato 

I'm adding this post to Attachment Mummy's Friday fabulous linky...

And A mummy too's Recipe of the week one too

Giant couscous salad: dairy free, soya free, syn free, vegan

This salad is lovely - slightly warm, with the fresh crunch of all the veggies, and the spice of the chilli really make it a light, and tasty lunch.

It's really yummy with a hefty dollop of my staple humous - why not try my aubergine humous which is so, so tasty - if I do say so myself. It'd be awesome with some chopped avocado as well, but despite it being pretty much the only bit of Slimming World I disagree with. It's healthy fat! We need healthy fats! I'm desperately trying to shift the last bit of weight.

A dairy and soya free recipe, it's quick and easy to knock up, and perfectly portable for packed lunches. I'm an Ikea Lagom ambassador and use their Fortrolig containers as I can see what's in them and so am less likely to forget what I've got and leave my lunches languishing in the fridge. 

Anyway, enough chatter - on to the recipe: 

Giant couscous salad 

Dairy free, soya free, vegan, syn free

150g giant couscous

Enough cold water to cover

1/2 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup frozen sweetcorn

1/2 cucumber, diced

1 red pepper, diced

3 small-medium carrots, grated

1 red chilli, finely diced

Cherry tomatoes to taste, halved (I add these as I dish up, as they go a bit bleurgh otherwise and use 7 per serving)

1 tin mixed beans in water, drained

Olive oil Fry light/ or a tablespoon of olive oil (but obviously the recipe won't be syn free if you add this) 

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

In a small medium pan, put the couscous and cover with the cold water. Bring to the boil and add the peas, sweetcorn and drained beans. Turn the heat down low and allow to simmer for 6 minutes

While this is cooking, prep your veggies and pop in a medium bowl. Although I just put them straight into a food container that can go in the fridge because I'm lazy efficient like that. 

Once the couscous is cooked - it'll be slightly translucent - drain the pan of any leftover water and leave to cool for 10 minutes or so. 

Spray with some olive oil fry light, or add a tablespoon of Olive oil at this point

Once cooled slightly add the contents of the pan to your bowl and mix thoroughly

Add the juice and zest of the lemon

Serve, with your humous, or just as it comes. It's really delicious and so lovely just slightly warm.  

As a side note - Harry wasn't keen (but he's teething and only wants to eat weetabix at the moment) but did enjoy picking up the giant couscous, peas and sweetcorn before daintily discarding them over the side of his high chair. So even if it's not a winner for eating, apparently it's nice for his pincer grip! 

If you're in the mood to egg the sunshine on with some more dairy free salads - why not have a look at these from some other lovely bloggers:

Tin and Thyme has what I suspect would be a beautifully fresh Fennel salad (I love fennel - I wonder what Harry would make of it)

Spring vegetable orzotto - Slimming world lighter lunches (dairy free, soya free)

I've not done much in the way of Slimming World posts of late, and to be honest my weight loss is all the worse for it. So last week I bit the bullet and returned to my planningy ways, making a big batch of this to keep in the fridge. Eaten while Harry napped it made me realise just how much easier it is to stay on plan when I actually eat a lunch as opposed to grazing and picking.

My problem with Slimming World is still that all treaty, low syn things are chock full of sweeteners that prompt my migraines, or dairy, soya or eggs which are all on our allergy list. Last week I was very honest (and nearly tearful) in group about just how hard I'm finding it and was hugely grateful for the support there.

I found this recipe online, but had to change it up to first off make it dairy free, and secondly to give it a bit more flavour - I've made it twice since the adaptation and am happy with it. According to the app, it works out as 1 syn per 4 portions.

You could use any combination of green veggies - I've used mange tout, brocolli, asparagus, broad beans, spinach and anything else we've had to hand. It's a great fridge bottom dish to use up those odds and ends languishing in the vegetable drawer.

Spring vegetable orzotto - dairy free, egg free, soya free (adapted from the Slimming World website)
Serves 4

Fry light
300g orzo
100g spinach, leaves picked
1 head brocolli, chopped
100g frozen peas
300 ml vegetable stock
500g broad beans
Big handful asparagus/ french beans
1 Red onion, finely chopped
2 tins anchovies in olive oil (entirely optional, I know some people abhor them)
2 chillis, deseeded and finely chopped
3 cloves garlic
Salt and pepper

Cook the orzo in a ban of boiling, salted water. Once cooked (about 9 minutes) drain and set aside
At the same time, cook the spinach, brocolli, peas - and if you're using asparagus, the bottom of the stems in 300ml of veg stock (I use Marigold bouillon) for 5 minutes
Allow to cool - don't drain. Once cool pour the lot into a food processor or blender and whizz up. Put this to one side
Drain both tins of anchovies of oil, and chop the anchovies finely - put one tins worth to one side.
Spray a big frying pan liberally with fry light and over a medium heat soften the onion, garlic, chilli and one tin of chopped anchovies for about 10 minutes
Add the orzo to the pan, and then pour in the blended vegetable puree and stir to warm everything through
Stir in the second tin of anchovies, add pepper. Taste, and add salt if necessary - oddly I find it does need salt in addition.

I have this as is, eaten off my knees while Harry naps. It's also lovely at room temperature as a pasta salad, and if you're having it cold it goes really nicely with chopped tomatoes.

I'm linking this up with Pasta Please - hosted this month by Slice Off Me and Tinned Tomatoes  

Have you made anything from the Slimming World website? What are your favourites?

Meal Planning Monday

You may (or may not) have noticed that I gave myself a week off last week - M was in Le Mans, Harry and I went to visit my sister in Lincolnshire and catching up with the mountains of washing, and a family of coldified beings just wiped us all out for a few days.

This week is business as usual - we popped to Aldi in the middle of a downpour yesterday and stocked up on lots of fruit and veggies for the week ahead.

Breakfasts - overnight oats for me, with apple and banana. Or melon. Harry's been having porridge and crumpets as well as the mandatory banana

Lunches - I've found what looks to be a really nice Slimming World recipe for a Spring vegetable orzo 'risotto' I'm going to switch out the asparagus for some finely chopped brocolli, and am obviously leaving out the parmesan (although I have heard intriguing things about something called nutritional yeast?) I thought it'd make for some lovely fresh lunches this week. I've also got some Basics smoked salmon and tinned tuna for some salads at the end of the week.

Suppers -

Monday: Roast chicken, roast potatoes and veggies

Tuesday: Leftover roast chicken, baked potatoes and veggies

Wednesday: Chicken and mushroom risotto

Thursday: Tomato pasta

Friday: Sausages, baked potatoes and veggies

Next weekend is fairly up in the air as we're spending some time with M's parents.

Be sure to join in the linky over at At home with Mrs M

Slimming World lighter lunches - syn free beans

This post continues on my lighter lunches themes - so meals I can either pack up and take out, or eat at home that I know are dairy free, soya free and syn free.

Baked beans from a tin are syn free, but to be honest, unless they're heavily doused in cheese and on a baked potato or I'm using them to eke out a cottage pie they're not something I typically choose to eat. My beans, cooked in the slow cooker are low faff, make loads and taste amazing. Although the dried chillis I'm currently using are hotter than hell and not to be recommended unless that suits your tastebuds. 

Slow cooker baked beans

2 red onions, diced

2 large carrots, diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 peppers - I used red and yellow, diced

Handful of mushrooms, diced

1 red chilli - fresh or dried (I leave dried chillis whole, and chop fresh ones)

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 jar passata

Big splodge tomato puree

2 tins mixed beans

Put the vegetables, garlic, chilli, tomatoes, passata, tomato puree and beans in the slow cooker

Cook on high for 4 hours

Remove the lid and allow to cook for another hour

If you don't have a slow cooker, you can do these on the hob or in the oven on low. Get a casserole dish with a lid (Or fashion one out of a double layer of tin foil).

Spray your casserole with fry light, and soften your onion, fresh chilli if using and garlic for 10 minutes over a low heat

Add the other veggies and cook for another 5-10 minutes until softened

Add the tomatoes, passata, beans, tomato puree and dried chilli

Put the lid on and cook on a very low heat on the hob for an hour, or in the oven on 120 degrees for 2 hours (if you're doing it in the oven why not put some baked potatoes in too)

Serve as they are, or as an accompaniment for Slimming World sausages or meatballs, or on wholemeal toast (Healthy Extra B). If I weren't dairy free, I'd top them with some grated cheese as my Healthy Extra A stirred in so it goes all melty.

Slimming World lighter lunches - Syn free tabbouleh

My healthy 2015 is going well, I'm losing weight slowly but steadily and am as active as my hips and back will allow. One of the bonuses of baby led weaning is that Harry and I seem to eat very healthily - lots of vegetables and next to no processed food. Despite a wet, cold and rainy morning the baby and I are eating an apple (he is very keen on eating what you eat) and I have a herbal tea.

Lunches however are my downfall - only of the things that happens if we're busy is that I skip lunch and end up trying to eat the entire kitchen before supper. I seem to be someone who needs to know that what I've got to eat is tasty and satisfying, the mugshots etc which can be so popular at Slimming World just don't tend to hit the mark for me, so I typically make a batch of something up for lunch that I can either eat from the fridge or as a pack up. This gets around the difficulty of finding things I can grab and go that are dairy and soya free as well.

This is more of a tabbouleh-esque recipe as it doesn't use bulghur wheat and is more of a guideline. I tend to have it with a piece of fish, or leftover chicken, or ham. The protein is important as I'm discovering that it's that that keeps the munchies away and stabilises my blood sugar (previous attempts at weightloss that have involved *ahem* skipping meals tend to fail when my blood sugar spirals into my ballet flats at about 3pm - see comment above about eating the entire kitchen).

Syn free tabbouleh

1 cup couscous
2 tsp vegetable bouillon powder
1 cup boiling water
1 cucumber
4 big vine tomatoes
Big bunch flat leaf parsley
Big bunch mint
1 lemon
1/2 clove garlic
salt & pepper

Put the couscous in a bowl with the 2 tsp of vegetable boillon and the grated garlic (you could use a stock cube, but I found 1 cube made it too salty) and the boiling water. Leave to absorb for about 15 minutes
Dice the cucumber and tomatoes
Finely chop the parsley, and the mint leaves - I don't worry about the parsley stalks, but pick the mint leaves first. 
Zest the lemon, then juice
Add all the extra ingredients to the couscous, taste then season.
Serve with salmon, ham, chicken - anything really.

 If you aren't being healthy, then add some extra virgin olive oil when you season this - 2 tablespoons should do nicely.

Of course you can use this as a base and add any and all veggies you like, chilli would be a nice addition too. 

Spicy pepper and tomato soup: A Slimming World syn free recipe

Lunches for me of late are soup. Lets face it, until it's warm enough for salad - soup is pretty much the standard. I tend to rotate between favourites, of late my minestrone soup has been my go to. This week I fancied a change. Lacking much in the way of inspiration I remembered something I'd seen on our Slimming World group and decided to work with that as a starting point. The poster said hers was quick and easy and my variation really was too. The best part of it is that it's all storecupboard ingredients, so it's an easy one to have the ingredients for on hand, just in case you're in need of something quick, easy and syn free.

Spicy Pepper and tomato soup - syn free, dairy free, soya free, egg free
Serves 4

1 jar Peppadew peppers or similar - I used the hot piquant ones as I like a bit of spice, but if you're not a fan of heat, why not have the sweet ones
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 litre chicken stock
1 tin cannelini beans

Drain the peppers, and pop the lot in a pan
Add the tin of tomatoes
Add the chicken stock
Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes
Take off the heat and cool, before blitzing to a consistency you're happy with
Add the drained cannelini beans, warm through before serving

If you're doing Slimming World then you could use your Healthy Extra B to have wholemeal bread with it. I tend to use my Healthy Extra B for oats so just have it by itself. M has it with my homemade 50:50 wholemeal.

Getting better - minestrone soup for the soul

We're all in the process of shifting these rotten bugs, and I always turn to soups to help. There's just something about a hot bowl with lots of veggies and other good things in it that makes me feel better.

It was actually a suggestion at Slimming World that I try making soup - one of the things I struggle with is snacking. Biscuits and tea had become a bit of a habit during my pregnancy and then to 'keep me going' when breastfeeding. It was a habit I needed to shift, and happily I seem to have managed it. That said, fruit in the middle of winter is only ever going to have a limited appeal, and a cup or bowl of soup keeps me going nicely. This is the second time I've made my minestrone and although it's not in the slightest bit authentic I do really like it.

My minestrone (serves 6-8)

1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 sticks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
3 peppers - I use red and yellow, diced
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 box passata
1 big splodge tomato puree
2 big handfuls of small pasta (or just break up some spaghetti)
2 pints of chicken/ veg stock
Fry light

Spray a big saucepan with Fry light and soften the onion, garlic, celery and carrots for about 10 minutes or so. If it starts to stick, add a splash of the stock
Add the other veggies, give the pan a good stir
Add the tomatoes, pasta and tomato puree, and fill the tomato tin up with water and add that too
Add the stock and leave to simmer for 30 to 45 minutes
After the soup has been simmering it should be nice and thick - add the pasta and if it feels like it might need it, another tinful of water
Turn the heat up so the pan's at a gentle boil for 7 or so minutes to cook the pasta through.

It's now ready to serve, you could garnish with shredded basil, and if you're not on Slimming world or dairy free (or both!) a big handful of grated chese in the middle of the bowl would be fabulous.

Don't feel restricted by this recipe though - if you have tinned beans, then add some for some extra fibre and protein (and if you're me to make it go a bit further although this makes lots and lots). Lardons would add some extra flavour, or even chopped leftover ham - if you've done a ham in Coca-Cola lately it's a great way to use up the end of the joint. Which is now making me want to do another ham. If you've got some courgettes or mushrooms, they'd be nice additions too.

I don't serve this with bread, because of the pasta. But I know that soup is always better with bread for dunking.

Stuffed butternut squash - a Slimming World recipe

I'm not doing too badly at Slimming World - steadily losing a pound or so a week. I struggle with snacks, as there's only so much fruit that is appealing and in season at this time of year and as I can't have dairy products, lots of the suggested snacky bits are off the table for me.

I'm finding lots of inspiration for recipes on line, and either adapting things like paella, or using other people's slimming world recipes as a starting point for my own tastes. I've set up a Pinterest board for recipes that already are suitable, or I think could be adapted... it's here, and if you'd like to be added to submit either things you've tried or dishes you've found online then drop me a line in the comments, or via email.

This is one of those recipes - adapted from here. I ended up making a few changes, based mainly on the fact that I tend not to shop specifically for a recipe any longer - see this post for why. I actually really enjoyed it and would definitely make it again. I would also say that for us, this easily did 4 portions, plus loads of the topping for the freezer.

If you're doing SP (which I haven't yet) I think this would work as there's no carbs in there. If you know SP well, and could comment below, that'd be terrific. 

Stuffed Butternut squash

1 butternut squash, halved lengthways
300g chicken breast (it was one of that week's Special buys at Aldi, otherwise I'd have used thighs)
1 red onion, finely diced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 sticks of celery finely diced
1 large (or 2 small) carrots, finely diced
1 red & 1 yellow pepper, finely diced
250g (or so) mushrooms, quartered
Big splodge tomato puree
1/2 head cauliflower, whizzed up to rice in the food processor
3/4 pint veg stock (I use the low salt bouillon from Marigold)
2 tsp paprika - I think the sweet smoked paprika would taste fantastic, but I don't have any in
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp red chilli flakes
Salt & Pepper
Fry light
If you have it, then cheese from your HEA - we used a little pecorino as it's sheeps cheese and Harry seems to be able to tolerate this.

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees
Halve the butternut squash, scoop out and discard the seeds* and then scoop out some of the flesh to make a nice sized hollow for the filling. Dice this and put it to one side for the filling
Season the 2 halves of squash, spray with fry light and put, skin-side down on a baking sheet - bake for 20 minutes or so

Your veg and chicken all want to be diced about the same size. Spray a large pan with fry light, and soften the onion, garlic, celery and carrot for about 10 minutes. If it starts to stick add a splash of water
Add the chicken and cook until it's lightly browned
Add the rest of the veggies - peppers, mushrooms and butternut squash
Pop in the tomato puree, spices and chicken stock
Add the cauliflower, give everything a good stir, turn the heat down and let it simmer uncovered.

Now I should say this made bucketloads - enough to freeze at least half for another day. Which is great as we enjoyed it. It'd also be lovely with a baked potato, and if you had a HEA (and aren't dairy free) then some feta or halloumi would be amazing. 

Fill the butternut squash halves with the chicken mixture, top with the cheese if you're using it. Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is nice and melty/ browned.

Serve with steamed greens - I had kale and brocolli.

Meal Planning Monday - A healthy start in February

Last week was a bit of a disaster on the Slimming World front - although I've not been weighed yet - but a combination of a few things just meant that the plan went out of the window. Today is a fresh start and to help, I've really focussed on some new recipes that are all free food. I'll be writing everything down to help me stick to my guns.

Harry has started having supper on the next step of his weaning journey, so we're now up to three meals which is very exciting. He's still getting nearly all of his calories from milk and seems to be doing very well. New flavours recently have included fruit bread, melon, rusk, plums, rhubarb, and cauliflower - all of which have gone down a storm.

Breakfast - porridge for me, with ginger, cinnamon, apple and banana and for Harry with a little of mixed spice and mashed banana. Alternatively scrambled eggs and mushrooms.

Lunches - we're sticking with soup, split pea for me.

Supper -

Monday - We've been visiting family so will be late home

Tuesday - Chicken and cauliflower 'rice' stuffed butternut squash

Wednesday - Leftovers

Thursday - Spanish chicken and cauliflower 'rice' (can you tell I got some caulifowers cheaply)

Friday - Pasta and meatballs with tomato sauce

Saturday - Sausages, baked potatoes and veggies

Sunday - Roast chicken (or whatever meat is on special)

Not too tricky a week - provided they're not dire, and I can get them photographed I'll blog them as I'm quite excited about their newnes.

That's us this week - be sure to pop on over to At Home with Mrs M to see what everyone else is up to. I'll make sure to link up. 

Meal Planning Monday:

The cold weather really hit us last week, Harry and I had to abandon a walk as despite all the layers and a massive snow suit he was just too cold, and we both ended up a bit under the weather. I'm hoping this week will be better so that we can get out and about - we're hoping to try a library Rhyme Time session for the first time.

The original plan was to cook a chicken on Sunday, but Aldi had pork leg joints on offer this week so I took the opportunity to save some money, I also picked up 5 of their 'Super six' veggies and some pork mince which was again on offer. I promise this post isn't an advert for Aldi, I'm just at the end of my Mat leave so saving money is a priority for us at the mo.

I did OK at Slimming World last week - something tells me that this week wont be as successful as I've felt dreadful and not managed to stay on plan at all. Although towards the end of the week I got back on it a bit more (save the end of a packet of liebkucken on Saturday afternoon while the men of the house dozed)

Mark's working silly hours at the moment and Harry's still teething (no teeth yet, but sore gums, red cheeks, all the dribble, and broken sleep but NO TEETH) so I'm after a relatively stress free week food wise.

Breakfast: Porridge with fruit or scrambled eggs with tomatoes and mushrooms for me. Porridge fingers, scrambled eggs or a bagel and fruit for the baby

Lunch: Soup, a baked potato or an omlette for me - fish cakes, or chicken and veggies or just veggies for Harry.

Supper:

Monday: Leftover roast pork with baked potatoes and veggies

Tuesday: Quick chilli wraps with leftover pork, a teeny bit of rice, avocado and veggies

Wednesday: Baked pasta with a ragu type sauce (a recipe I'm going to adapt slightly from my slimming world book)

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Freezer surprise

Saturday: It's St Dwynwen's next weekend (Welsh St Valentine's) so if we can find a friend to look after Harry for a couple of hours I'd like to try going out for tea. If not, it'll be steak and chips at home.

Sunday: Perhaps that chicken...

 My challenge for Monday is to remember to link up with Mrs M again.

Meal Planning Monday - late again!

I swear - first week of January and everyone else is all motivated and organised and I'm there flapping behind, trailing in a sleep deprived, teething baby haze of Calpol, concealer and coffee. But I'm here now. And almost organised. Ish.

Meal planning for the week actually happened at the end of last week as I did our online shop for Friday. It's been quite interesting planning as I've started doing Slimming World (I know it's a bit of a new mum, new year cliche but my default weightloss position of run isn't possible because of my hips) and combining that with being dairy free for Harry is a bit of a challenge. I suspect this first week won't be entirely successful as I'm struggling with balancing being dairy free, not eating artificial sweeteners, breastfeeding, Health Extra A's and also a lot of the things that seasoned slimmers rely on like low fat yoghurts are off the table for me. Overall I've been quite hungry and conscious that I'm probably not quite meeting the mark, but am hoping my food diary and notebook will help with that come Monday.

That said Harry's reflux is so much better and his weight gain (oh the irony) is off the charts with me off dairy (and soya) that even if it means that Slimming World isn't for me it's still worth it.

The weather here is freezing, so I've been having soup each day for lunch - a homemade carrot honey and chilli concoction that I really like. It's not quite syn free as it did have a couple of teaspoons of honey and a tablespoon of olive oil - but that was for the whole batch, which has done 10 portions thus far. Next week I'm doing a yellow split pea and veg soup - a variation on this Nigella one, but without the butter or frankfurters.

Breakfasts: I've been having porridge made with oat milk (but am going to try Almond milk next week) and mixed spices - aiming for a gingerbready flavour to compensate for a lack of sugar  with a chopped apple and banana in the bowl.

Lunches: It's strange that lunch is more important now as I've spent 7 months skipping it and compensating with large quantities of biscuits...  so I'm having either soup and a tuna sandwich, or a baked potato with prawns and a plateful of veggie sticks, or an omlette with mushrooms and ham.

Suppers: 

Sunday: Super slow cooked Brisket with extra veggies

Monday: Leftover roast beef with baked potatoes and veggies

Tuesday: Leftover beef turned into cottage pie with carrot, parsnip and potato mash on top and extra veggies. If I'm short on beef I'll be bulking it out with baked beans as randomly I've run out of lentils. 

Wednesday: Leftover cottage pie with frozen peas

Thursday: I've gone back to Brownies this term so will make a veggie pasta bake and leave it in the oven on low for M

Friday: Breakfast for tea

Saturday: I made a chilli con carne this week that I've frozen some portions of, so I think that would be a lovely warming supper

Sunday: Roast chicken (mainly to ensure an easy week next week!)

That's our week. Any of you out there doing slimming world with any suggestions for Slimming world friendly weeknight dinners that M would like and don't rely on heaps of dairy, please do leave your links below... I'd be super grateful for some inspiration.

Now, if someone could just poke me to remind me to link up with At home with Mrs M I'd be very grateful.

Frozen Grapes: Probably the simplest summer essential in the world. Ever

 

So much so, I can't believe I'm writing this post. I've coerced M into taking photos so I have to write it really. But even so, I'm blushing, futilely hiding behind my rose hoping that you won't abandon me purely for the fact that I'm writing this up on a food blog.

I'm a hardened dieter/ healthy eater and abandoner of both of those pasttimes, usually in the face of something with vast quantities of butter or sugar. Junk food has never been my thing and I eat pretty healthily most of the time, but there's nothing that's quite the same as crispy roast potatoes. So, I have to think about my snacks - make sure that my innate tendency towards fabulously flavoured badness is balanced out by fresh, clean, healthiness.

This tends to mean that Monday - Friday, fruit is my snack of choice - apples, bananas, satsumas, cherry tomatoes, sharon fruit. I get frustrated when I can't get British apples, but aside from that am fairly easily pleased. I tend to avoid berries as they don't travel well when wedged in between a laptop and 16 copies of handouts and tupperware containers add to unecessary bulk when travelling on trains that no longer give you somewhere to put your luggage when you're 5'4" and can't lift something above your head.

So yes, fruit. for years I've heard about freezing grapes as a dieters sweetie. It must come up at least annually as a suggestion in every women's magazine I've ever read - from Just Seventeen up to Easy Living. It's there in every Weight Watchers and Slimming world material I've ever read. And yet, I've never tried it. I've dismissed it, much like 'swap your regular sausages for Quorn - you'll never tell the difference!' Yes. I. Will. Or, 'try Turkey bacon in place of regular bacon for a Sunday morning fry (or grill) up' No, it has a weird texture - it's squeaky. Having tried those recommedations and been forced to dismiss them on account of the fact that they're RUBBISH, I also dismissed frozen grapes. Oh how stupid I was. Frozen grapes are a cross between grape flavoured sweeties and an ice lolly. Having stupidly sensitive teeth I choose to suck them and love when they start to go squishy.

I'm so embarrased by including this, but also so keen to spread the word - for those of you doing the 5:2 Feast:Fast I'm hoping frozen grapes might prove to be a something yummy you can fit in on your fast days - according to myfitnesspal, 1 grape is 2 calories and the good thing about freezing them is that you don't pop one in your mouth after another, barely tasting them as they go down. It forces you to slow down and to really enjoy each mouthful.

Quite simply, wash your grapes, put them in a tupperware or similar without a lid, and in your freezer - help yourself to them every time you're peckish.

If I weren't so embarrassed I'd submit these to Kavey's Bloggers Scream for Ice Cream this month, the subject of which is Ice lollies, but I'm too embarrassed. By far.