Diary of a Foodie - Libby's Culinary Adventures!

[ariellookalike]

Hi everyone!! My name is Libby I joined SW 3 weeks ago and have lost 4.5lb to date

I'm starting this diary as I want to keep myself accountable for what I'm eating and maybe share new recipes and yummy things I'm cooking. I absolutely LOVE food and cooking and I'm finding SW soooooo good for letting me eat all the nice stuff I want to, it's fab! I was using the paper diary thingys but I think an online diary would work better for me, seeing how I spend my whole life online anyway hehe.

I weighed in tonight and lost 0.5 lb - better than nothing but I do need to be stricter with myself and make sure things aren't creeping into my mouth when they shouldn't be *coughpastrygoodscough*

So, here goes! First day of my diary!! Ooh it's like Bridget Jones, this


28/1/14

B
SW rice pudding (a little odd but I enjoyed it, good for the days I want to use my HExB on bread so can't have muesli)
1 tsp sugar - 1
Banana

L
SW quiche (bacon, onions, sweetcorn, eggs, cottage cheese, spinach, sprinkle of grana padano over whole thing before baking so I guess 1/2 syn per slice?) 1/2
Spinach
Cucumber
Roasted red peppers (from a jar)
Double choc Alpen Light (HExB)

D
SW carbonara (AMAZING!! spaghetti, quark, eggs, garlic, onion, bacon, chicken breast)

40g reduced fat cheddar (HEXA)
3 triangles of Toblerone 170g - 9 (eating up Christmas choc )

Syns - 10 1/2 (EDIT - I am trying out the 105 syns a week thingy just to see if it works for me...so 10 1/2 down, 94.5 to go!)

A good day, I think!

 

[ariellookalike]

Today has been good! Super busy at work so no time to snack or think about food really!

B
SW porridge
Raspberries
Banana
WW Vanilla yogurt

L
SW quiche
spinach, roasted red peppers
Alpen light double choc HeXB

We're off to fiance's Dad's for dinner tonight, think it's jacket potato and salady bits so will stay away from the butter *sob* and report later!

EDIT: Ben's Dad and Stepmum-to-be made us a lovely SW friendly spread of salads and stuff I filled my plate with salad and the baked potato and then had a tbsp of the other bits so pretty happy Normally I would have had butter on the potato, 2 or more slices of quiche and a few very large glasses of wine!

D
Baked potato
Quiche (not SW But I had a teeny slice, gave the crust to the boy and only had the bottom bit of pastry…4?)
5 Olives (I counted haha) 1
Salad
Pesto pasta bows (Syns online says 9 for the whole pack but I had a TBSP…so 3 syns, to be on the safe side)
2 slices Mozzarella HExA
Tsp St Agur spread - 3
Broad bean/edamame salad
125ml Prosecco (wedding planning…) 4

15 syns
(79.5 left for week)

Ooooh, close one! I'm happy with that though, we had a nice evening Not sure what to have tomorrow, fiance is out for the evening so I'll make whatever I fancy when I get in Maybe something with king prawns as I bought some at the weekend!

 

[ariellookalike]

30/1/14

B
Dorset Cereals Muesli 40g HEXB
Asda Strawberry/rhubarb yog
Apple
Banana

L
2 slices of HM SW quiche
Most of a packet of Pasta n Sauce Mushroom and Garlic…it wasn't great!!
WW Pear dessert yog

Snack
I don't normally snack but my colleague offered me the rest of his caramel shortbread which is my favourite treat of ALL TIME so unfortunately I was powerless to resist. It was a small, thin bit, so I'll say 6 syns, based on the Thorntons mini choc shortbreads that are on the Syns online at 4 each.

D
I attempted to made a creamy pesto sauce using basil, spinach, garlic, a bit of grana padano, quark and cottage cheese, all blended up and poured over gnocci. But, the sauce curdled and I wasn't loving it so I abandoned it, stuck it in the fridge for fiance to nibble on later and made SW cheesy chips instead!! So:
SW chips
40g reduced fat cheddar HEXA
Hellmans EL Mayo
1/2 courgette (roasted)
1 Quorn fillet
I did sample some of the gnocci as I was trying to decide if I wanted it or not, so I'll say 3 syns for that.

It wasn't a great dinner and it depressed me haha. However, steak is on the menu for tomorrow night so I shall look forward to that!

I just had a hazelnut Options hot choc too which is literally the best thing ever!! 2 syns

Lots of water all day and 1 black coffee

Syns - 11

68.5 left for week
I'm pleased with that, that choc shortbread really wasn't worth it though and it was very out of character for me to eat it, but that's life!! We're going out for lunch at work tomorrow and the options in the pub aren't great, I've chosen a grilled chicken breast burger with chips but I won't eat the bun and you only get a few chips, which I'll syn eeeek.

 

[Borderlass]

Hi you seem to be doing really well with your food, what is grana padano please? I never thought of having rice pud for breakfast! what a good idea to save the 'B's x

 

[ariellookalike]

Hi you seem to be doing really well with your food, what is grana padano please? I never thought of having rice pud for breakfast! what a good idea to save the 'B's x

Aww thank you Grana Padano is parmesan, hard cheese! From a specific region in Italy, I believe. Yeah the rice pudding was really lovely, nice and filling! It's just pudding rice and cream soda, boiled together! So easy! Means you can have a sandwich or something for lunch which is handy. Hope you've had a good weekend!

 

[ariellookalike]

Ahhh, Sunday afternoon. I've had a lovely weekend with lots of yummy food, not all of it SW friendly though….let's start with Friday!

31/1/14

B
The usual,
40g Dorset Cereals Fruity Muesli
Banana
Apple
Asda Strawberry/rhubarb yog

L
Hmmm…we had a work lunch out at the pub
Chicken breast (grilled) with bacon (fat removed) and cheddar cheese slice (HEXA)
Pub chips…not sure about these, it was a small portion of chunky chips but they were fried…I'll say 8 syns, for the oil?
Small scoop of salted caramel ice-cream - so yummy and worth the syns! 6 (based on 100g of Walls Light being 7, approx 2 scoops)

D
Sirloin steak
SW chips
Tbsp St Agur spread - 4 syns
250ml Pinot Grigio - 8

26 Syns…eeek!!

And then yesterday, we had friends coming to stay who we haven't seen for ages (Uni friends of fiances) and I was fully prepared to flexi-syn/go off plan, whichever you want to call it - I couldn't avoid it!

The day started well though

1/2/14

B
Banana and WW yogurt

L
This was a lovely spread I put together of freshly baked olive bread, humous, olives, manchego cheese cubes and tomatoes. I didn't overeat though and I enjoyed it all, my favourite kind of food!

We then went to the pub and myself and my friend got through 2 bottles of wine...

D
Chinese takeaway! I had all vegetarian stuff i.e mock chicken satay, veggie chow mein, boiled rice, kung po tofu…all amazing. I didn't eat much though and gave most of it back to DF.

We all went to bed before midnight, very different to our University days haha! I also woke up this morning feeling bright and fresh which I was really pleased about, no hangover for me as I stopped drinking early on!

Syns…countless!!

2/2/14

B
I made the other guys American pancakes with crispy bacon, maple syrup and scrambled eggs…ooooh it smelt amazing!! I was angelic though and decided to get right back on plan after yesterday, making myself a little SW fry up of oven cooked potato slices, onions, 2 fried eggs, beans, Quorn sausages and bacon with the fat removed.
Only 1/2 a syn for Low salt ketchup

L
Gnocci 4 syns
with basil, spinach, garlic, cottage cheese and quark
Quorn chicken fillet
WW yogurt

Not sure what to have for dinner tonight, possibly a butternut squash and bacon risotto but I haven't decided. DF is having leftover Chinese….luckily there isn't much left of the stuff I like otherwise I'd be joining him!!

So a very off-plan day but one I was prepared for and I feel I handled it well; I didn't overeat and I let myself enjoy it Going to be super on plan now til WI on Tuesday.

Hope everyones had good weekends and been better than me on the food front!!

 

[ariellookalike]

Found some bonus photos of SW food I've made and thought I'd share!

Roasted vegetable and tomato risotto…so good!!

Slimming World friendly roast dinner, HUGE plate haha I couldn't eat it all Everything free apart from the yorkshire puds (2 syns each) including the gravy as I made it with stock cube and a bit of smash to thicken it Cauliflower cheese made with HEXA of LowLow spread!

 

[lauralozzle]

Popping in to subscribe. Your food looks lovely! Making me hungry!

 

[ariellookalike]

EDIT:

I had some toast after I posted earlier,

2x WM 400g loaf slices, with marmite. No butter! Was actually nice! HEXB

Had a really lovely dinner! I was craving chinese because Ben was having it so I decided to make a SW friendly one Egg fried rice, noodles, chilli and garlic king prawns, garlic sauteed broccoli and satay chicken So nice!!

Rice
Egg
Noodles
King Prawns
Broccoli
Chicken breast
Peanut Butter 4.5 syns for a level Tbsp
Soy sauce
Garlic

So 4.5 syns for all that and it tasted amazing! The satay chicken mixed with the noodles was so good, I could have just had a plate of that!

So total syns for the day - 9 I might treat myself to an Options hazelnut hot choc whilst we watch TV tonight

This was dinner!

 

[ariellookalike]

Popping in to subscribe. Your food looks lovely! Making me hungry!

Aww thank you! Welcome Hope your journey is going well!

 

[lauralozzle]

Aww thank you! Welcome Hope your journey is going well!

Okay so far - weigh in tomorrow so I'll know for sure then!

That Chinese looks amazing. How did you do your prawns?

 

[ariellookalike]

Okay so far - weigh in tomorrow so I'll know for sure then!

That Chinese looks amazing. How did you do your prawns?

It was so good! They are just frozen cooked king prawns, I defrosted them and sauteed them in the pan with Fry light, chopped red chilli, chopped garlic and soy sauce Super easy and yum! Hop your WI goes well

 

[ariellookalike]

So I very naughtily weighed myself this morning...I just can't resist! It looks like the weekend takeaway has caught up with me So going to be strict today and tomorrow before my actual WI.

B
1 Apple
WW Berry Dessert Yogurt
40g Dorset Cereals Muesli HEXB
Apple and cinnamon tea

L
Roasted sweet potato
Roasted butternut squash
2 x Quorn LF sausages
Broccoli (burnt...not very nice hahaha!)

Not sure what to have for dinner...maybe the risotto I didn't make last night. Going to try to eat earlier too as I feel better if we don't eat late at night

xxx

EDIT

I made Chicken and Bacon risotto for dinner and it was amazing! Going to roughly jot down the recipe in case I want to make it again: 1 onion, grated, fried in frylight with garlic, add roasted butternut squash, cubed, add cooked bacon bits, add arborio rice and stock and keep adding. finally, add chopped cooked chicken breasts and then add HExA parmesan at the end. Delish!!

Syns - Sainsburys bakery cookie - 6 syns

 

[lauralozzle]

It was so good! They are just frozen cooked king prawns, I defrosted them and sauteed them in the pan with Fry light, chopped red chilli, chopped garlic and soy sauce Super easy and yum! Hop your WI goes well

will deffo have to try that then!! Thanks, weigh in went well, I'm down 2 lbs!

 

[ariellookalike]

will deffo have to try that then!! Thanks, weigh in went well, I'm down 2 lbs!

Congratulations, that's fab!! xxx

 

[ariellookalike]

5/1/14 - WI Day!

B
Banana
40g Dorset Cereals Muesli
WW Toffee Yog

L
Broccoli
1 Quorn Sausage
1 Quorn fillet
Sweet potato and butternut squash wedges
Low salt/sugar ketchup - 1/2

Weigh In

- 1/2lb. Not amazing but still a loss and I've accepted that it's going to be slow! I just need to make sure it's always going in the right way Eating earlier, getting the SF in smaller portions are my goals for this week (optimistic haha)

D
Leftover risotto, no cheat night for me!
Sainsburys Bakery Cookies x 2 - 12 syns

Syns
12 syns / 93 left for the week

 

[ariellookalike]

5/2/14

B
40g Fruity Dorset Cereals Muesli HExB
Banana
Apple
WW Berry Dessert Yog

L
Hmmm…got taken to the pub to celebrate my appraisal (and payrise ) and succumbed to what I really fancied, avocado!! So had a chicken and avocado baguette with a few chips. Only ate about half / 3/4 of the baguette though and picked the chicken and avocado out. Having had a quick look online at sandwiches, I'm going to estimate about 25 syns for what I ate It was nice but not amazing haha! Not going to beat myself up about it though, we were celebrating and I enjoyed it. Was uncomfortably full after though!!

I did a lottttt of walking this afternoon so hopefully that will have helped. Being on SW is making me realise how much my eating habits have changed though; I would have thought nothing of eating a whole baguette, all the chips, a glass of wine and possibly dessert too!!

D
We ate late tonight as we had some people over so needed something speedy.
Baked potato
Beans
2 x Meat Free burgers - 1 syn
Low salt/sugar ketchup - 1/2 syn
2 x Reeses Cups - 4

It was actually yummy! I normally hate those boring kind of storecupboard meals!

So total syns for the day 30 1/2, 62 1/2 left for the week.

 

[ariellookalike]

Saturday 8/1/14

B
Sw rice pudding
WW yog
Banana
1 scan bran (HEXB)

L
Tuna
Sweetcorn
HeXb – 4 scan bran

D
2 vodka diet coke – 5
smash pizza
80g Cheese – HEXA x 2
Pepperoni – 2
Chorizo -28g – 2.5
Chicken breast
Red onion
Tomato passata
Potato
Bacon

Syns - 11.5



Sunday 9/1/14

B
SW Rice pudding
Apple (cinnamon, nutmeg, splenda)

L
Baked potato
Leftover beans/quorn burger chunks
½ HEXA cheese
Scanbran ferrero rocher – HEXB + 2 syns

D
Salmon fishcakes (tinned salmon, leftover mashed potato, spring onion, red onion, sweetcorn, herbs and spices, EL mayo)
Spinach
Ainsley Couscous ½ pack – ½ syn

Chocolate - 5
3 Reeses mini cups – 6
Vodka diet coke – 2.5

Syns - 15



Monday 10/2/14

B
SW rice pudding
2 x banana

L
2 x salmon fishcakes
¼ Ainsley Harriott cous cous
Lettuce


Snack
½ SW smash pizza – 2 syns

D
SW chips
2 x snack size wholemeal rolls HEXB
Quorn roast slices
40g reduced fat cheddar – HEXA
Chorizo - 2

Failed ferrero rocher - 6

Syns - 10

Not a bad weekend really! We were supposed to go out yesterday for a cream tea as we had a 2 for 1 voucher given to us as an engagement present back in October But the hotel said they were fully booked for cream teas til past the expiry date of the voucher! Hmm, suspicious! So we were going to go out for lunch anyway as we'd been really looking forward to it but in the end, we chose to save our money and our syns and stay in So I was happy about that! WI tomorrow, don't feel I've lost a lot but I did have a relatively syn free weekend unlike most weekends, so hoping for a small loss I've got used to not having big losses haha but I'm going to start walking and maybe running again now the days are getting a bit longer, I did use to enjoy it in the summer!
Hope everyone is doing well! xxxxx

p.s the failed ferrero rocher…hmmm, weird! My scan bran wouldn't break up in the food processor and stayed in big bits, plus I didn't have any golden syrup and it just didn't hold together. I froze the little balls though and they were edible….looking forward to making the proper ones this week though as we've just done a big Asda shop online and I bought all the ingredients!!

 

[honeybee40]

Saturday 8/1/14

B
Sw rice pudding
WW yog
Banana
1 scan bran (HEXB)

L
Tuna
Sweetcorn
HeXb - 4 scan bran

D
2 vodka diet coke - 5
smash pizza
80g Cheese - HEXA x 2
Pepperoni - 2
Chorizo -28g - 2.5
Chicken breast
Red onion
Tomato passata
Potato
Bacon

Syns - 11.5

Sunday 9/1/14

B
SW Rice pudding
Apple (cinnamon, nutmeg, splenda)

L
Baked potato
Leftover beans/quorn burger chunks
½ HEXA cheese
Scanbran ferrero rocher - HEXB + 2 syns

D
Salmon fishcakes (tinned salmon, leftover mashed potato, spring onion, red onion, sweetcorn, herbs and spices, EL mayo)
Spinach
Ainsley Couscous ½ pack - ½ syn

Chocolate - 5
3 Reeses mini cups - 6
Vodka diet coke - 2.5

Syns - 15

Monday 10/2/14

B
SW rice pudding
2 x banana

L
2 x salmon fishcakes
¼ Ainsley Harriott cous cous
Lettuce

Snack
½ SW smash pizza - 2 syns

D
SW chips
2 x snack size wholemeal rolls HEXB
Quorn roast slices
40g reduced fat cheddar - HEXA
Chorizo - 2

Failed ferrero rocher - 6

Syns - 10

Not a bad weekend really! We were supposed to go out yesterday for a cream tea as we had a 2 for 1 voucher given to us as an engagement present back in October But the hotel said they were fully booked for cream teas til past the expiry date of the voucher! Hmm, suspicious! So we were going to go out for lunch anyway as we'd been really looking forward to it but in the end, we chose to save our money and our syns and stay in So I was happy about that! WI tomorrow, don't feel I've lost a lot but I did have a relatively syn free weekend unlike most weekends, so hoping for a small loss I've got used to not having big losses haha but I'm going to start walking and maybe running again now the days are getting a bit longer, I did use to enjoy it in the summer!
Hope everyone is doing well! xxxxx

p.s the failed ferrero rocher...hmmm, weird! My scan bran wouldn't break up in the food processor and stayed in big bits, plus I didn't have any golden syrup and it just didn't hold together. I froze the little balls though and they were edible....looking forward to making the proper ones this week though as we've just done a big Asda shop online and I bought all the ingredients!!

Im thinking of giving sw another go but im terrified of eating too much, I hope you dont mind, but I subscribed so I can see how much others eat...hope you don't mind me asking, but do you have good losses?

 

[ariellookalike]

Im thinking of giving sw another go but im terrified of eating too much, I hope you dont mind, but I subscribed so I can see how much others eat...hope you don't mind me asking, but do you have good losses?

Hi honey, no of course not I'm not sure if you'd call them good but I don't have a huge amount to lose in the first place. I lost 2lbs the first two weeks, and the past 3 I've lost 1/2 each week. Slow and steady haha! I'm happy with that though as I feel it's more realistic, I really don't feel like I'm on a diet and it's just becoming second nature now. I hardly do any exercise too so if I upped that, I'm sure I'd lose more. Maybe when it's a bit warmer I will!

I really don't think you can eat too much hun, it won't work if you're hungry Obviously you need to realise when you're full (which can be hard with all the yummy food!!) but I feel relaxed as theres no portion sizes - if I knew I could only have so much, I'd want more if you see what I mean? Hope this helps! xxx