Quite simply; mostly Green and EE :-)

[Coconut Cupcake]

Hello!

So I've finally taken the plunge and got back on the Slimming World horse again. Go me! And I have to be honest, I'm actually really excited about it. Not only did I lose really well last time (at my own comfortable pace), but I really loved the food I was eating. Unbelievably enough, so did my husband. Slimming World definitely gets a thumbs up from both of us!

The challenge this time around is that we're no longer living in the UK. In practice, this means that we no longer have access to the same SW friendly ready/easy-made products any more. I guess I'd better mentally prepare myself for more time in the kitchen and a lot more time spent researching - but we'll just have to see how things go. As I say, I'm actually feeling really optimistic.

So here's to a great weight loss ladies and gentlemen, please raise your glasses for all of us!

-Coco

Yesterday - EE
Brekkie: 2x weetabix, skimmed milk, banana
Lunch: Crappy tuna-salad from company cafe
Dinner: stir-fry with noodles and quorn pieces

HexA: skimmed milk
HexB: 2x weetabix

Snacks: boiled egg and pears
Syns: Not quite sure, but saying 15 to be safe.

To my defence this was day 1 of diet and I'd had no time to shop or prepare!

Today - Green:
Brekkie - Toast with baked beans
Lunch: SW frittata, recipe found on SW website. Simply divine!
Dinner: ...I'm thinking SW pasta bake

HexA: skimmed milk & cheese for pasta bake
Bex B: toast for brekkie

Snacks: banana, mangetout, strawberries
Syns: 6 for pasta bake so far

 

[Coconut Cupcake]

Saturday - Green

Brekkie - Fried eggs, fried mushrooms & onions, baked beans. 1x slice bread (HexB) and 1tbsp HP sauce (1syn)
Lunch - Leftover SW 'Baked Vegetable Frittata'. Divine!
Dinner - Veg chili con carne & jacket potato. Reduced fat jarlsberg cheese (HexA). Home made guacamole - (5 syns)
Snack - Apple with vanilla dairy dip (2 syns)

HexA - skimmed milk in tea + cheese for chili con carne
HexB - slice of bread
Syns - 8

 

[Bean Feast]

Hi Coco, it sounds like you will have to make more things from scratch with living abroad. I look forward to following your plan and am sure you'll do great once you're in the swing of it all.

 

[Coconut Cupcake]

Hello Bean, thanks for popping by! Yes, I fear there will be a lot more home-cooking than ever before. but hey, hardly any weighing and measuring so that's a HUGE bonus for me!

So, today's menu... GREEN again today

Brekkie: Weetabix (HexB) with skimmed milk (HexA)
Lunch: Leftover veg chili with rice + 1tbsp guacamole. I think this is about 3-4syns, but not qute sure.
Dinner: SW recipe: pasta cannelloni with cottage cheese and spinnach. Simple passata & garlic sauce with 1tbsp parmesan on top (3 syns according to recipe)
Snacks: Had big meals today so not really needed much to snack on. Had a couple of scrummy nectarines!

HexA: skimmed milk
HexB: weetabix
Syns: guacamole 4 syns, parmesan topping 3 syns.. and may just use my last syns on something sweet! Remains to be seen...

 

[Barbette]

Hello, here to subscribe if that's okay?

 

[Coconut Cupcake]

Hello, here to subscribe if that's okay?

Hello Trace, how lovely! Of course you may. Hope it's ok if I subscribe to yours too, simply can't get enough of the ole' vegetarian SW inspiration!

Yesterday - Green

Brekkie - 2x weetabix (HexB), skimmed milk (HexA)
Lunch - 2x Ryvitas (HexB) with free cottage cheese and 2tbsp no added sugar strawberry jam (1syn). Had a "lunch pudding" today (which was great!) fruit salad with strawberries, blueberries, kiwi and fat free vanilla yoghurt.
Dinner - Creamy pasta recipe from SW website: fried mushrooms, onion and garlic with 75g light philadelphia (HexA)+ some spices, mixed with wholemeal pasta.

Now, a word on the topic of wholemeal pasta before I continue. I've tried again and again with this, but I'm really sorry I still...just can't stand it. I wonder if I may be cooking it wrong? Ugh.. I'm afraid it looks like it's going straight onto the "only when hell freezes over will I ever cook this again" list for me.

Anyway, where was I.
Snacks - Couple of nectarines and an apple.

Hex A: skimmed milk + Light philly
HexB: Weetabix + 2x ryvitas
Syns: jam 1, lunch pudding 3, tiny bit of oil - 5 = 9

 

[Barbette]

Of course it's ok to subscribe It's great being able to get new ideas, they're all meat eaters at my group.

 

[Lanarkwitch]

Subscribing, I am a mostly green but odd EE if I fancy some mince, I also live abroad and it's hard to find anything SW friendly, (or in English!) and a lot of packaging doesn't have an ingredients list never minds nutritional values, so like you I have to cook from scratch for each meal, although I almost turned a cartwheel a few weeks ago whent hey had some pasta 'n sauce on the shelves LOL

 

[Coconut Cupcake]

Hahaha - that's fantastic Lanark! Gosh, what I'd do for some good old pasta'n'sauce. So quick and easy and frankly.. quite nice! Where are you living if you don't mind me asking? I live in Norway - land of the vikings!

Yesterday was NOT a good day, even if I stuck to plan. Behold:

Yesterday - EE

Brekkie - LF cottage cheese, jam (1syn), apple
Lunch - 2x Ryvitas, cottage cheese and jam again. Pear and banana.
Snack - unmemorable piece of fruit and a pickled egg (God how I love those)
Dinner - Here we go. I started off with a lovely piece of fresh cod, boiled potatoes and heaps of steamed vegetables. With it I tried to make a SW friendly parsley sauce but sadly my attempt crashed and failed misreably. First of all I'd dropped 2 heaped tbsp of corn starch instead of 2 level tsps, so you can only imagine how thick this stuff was. Honestly, you'd have to axe it. Then, I'd mistranslated a dairy product that, apparently, you MUST NOT BOIL. Well, I did. Even the "everything goes" dog wouldn't eat it. Oh, and to make matters even worse still: I'd chopped fresh coriander and put into the darn thing instead of parsley! Fail fail fail.

You think that was bad? I'm still not done! When I finally sat down to eat my sauce-free meal, the fish turned out to have a worm in it! You can't even imagine! Well, non-surprisingly I ate no more at all that night.

I'll get back to today's menu later. hope it goes better this time!

 

[Lanarkwitch]

Oh god you know something I never ever eat fish, I don't like it, but when I lived in Abu Dhabi the women on our local forum there had a massive thread about wormy fish, apparently it's really common and nothing to worry about, I felt even less inclined to eat fish after that news I can tell you.

Perhaps it was for the best that the sauce didn't turn out as if you had smothered it in parsley sauce you might not have noticed Mr worm in there, yikes aaargh.

Good day food wise though, well done on that score, I live in Egypt now after 5 years in the UAE we moved to Cairo in April, had no idea that all the trouble would kick off again though so it's not been too good so far, still hopefully things will settle down soon and I can finally get to see the flamin pyramids up close instead of staring out the window at them!

 

[Lanarkwitch]

P.S. Glad someone else likes the cheese/jam thing, I went through a phase of having toast and philly with jam, I've since moved on to marmite though, weirdo I am!

 

[Coconut Cupcake]

Oh god you know something I never ever eat fish, I don't like it, but when I lived in Abu Dhabi the women on our local forum there had a massive thread about wormy fish, apparently it's really common and nothing to worry about, I felt even less inclined to eat fish after that news I can tell you.

Perhaps it was for the best that the sauce didn't turn out as if you had smothered it in parsley sauce you might not have noticed Mr worm in there, yikes aaargh.

Good day food wise though, well done on that score, I live in Egypt now after 5 years in the UAE we moved to Cairo in April, had no idea that all the trouble would kick off again though so it's not been too good so far, still hopefully things will settle down soon and I can finally get to see the flamin pyramids up close instead of staring out the window at them!

Wow Lanark, that's amazing. I truly have so much respect for you! I hope everything settles down very soon, both for you and your family, and of course for everyone directly or indirectly touched by the troubles too.

And thanks for the info regarding the fish! I've always been quite keen on fish myself, but I can't honestly say that I eat that much of it. As we live in Norway where the sunlight is limited during the winter I always wish for us to eat more oily fish (for the vitamin D), but .. we're not quite there yet. Onwards and upwards I guess!

And the cheese/jam thing.. I really couldn't do without it! Will definitely be trying philly with jam too, that's a new one on me. First of all I'm a cheese-addict anyway, but secondly I must say that I do find it quite filling too. Keeps you going I suppose! Do you use marmite on its own, or with something? I'm a big marmite fan myself but haven't gone there so far yet as trying to cut down on butter etc.

So anyways, menu for today!

Today - EE

Brekkie: 2x weetabix (HexB) with skimmed milk (HexA) -never have been too good at breakfasts
Lunch: Free cauliflower soup, which was absolutely divine. Finally found a free easy-peasy-out-of-a-packet soup here in Norway!
Dinner: Shell fish stew with lots of SS veggies. Was very nice too!
Snacks: some lovely chocolate 7 syns. A real Saturday treat for me!!

HexA: Skimmed Milk
HeXB: 2x weektabix
Syns: 7 syns chocolate galore!

 

[Lanarkwitch]

Menu looks lovely for today, we could be food twins, I love soup as well!!

I have my marmite on toast with philly as well, I recently found a few local cheeses here that are half the price and exactly the same as philly ( imported and very expensive unfortunately). I am going through a thing right now where if I can't have marmite on it I'm not having it, theres worse things to be addicted to I guess !

 

[Coconut Cupcake]

Hahaha! Yes, it's marmite galore here too. How do you get hold of it though, are there shops that sell it by you? I have every single one of my guests "smuggle" jars over in their luggage! And with regards cheeses and such like, I think it's all about finding local alternatives that just get the job done. I think I've already mentioned my latest new find; the lovely out-of-a-packet cauliflower soup. It's really nice and completely syn-free. Perfect for those lazy lunches, and let's face it.. we all can do with a lazy lunch every once in a while

So, menu for yesterday:

Yesterday - Green

Brekkie: 2x Weetabix (HexB) + skimmed milk (HexA)
Lunch: 2x ryvitas, one with cottage cheese and strawberry jam (1 syn) and one with pickled herring (5 syn).
--Dinner would be very late today so squeezed in some leftover cauliflower soup!
Dinner: Spaghetti with lots of veg sauce + parmesan cheese 1 1/2 syn. V nice!
Snacks: nectarine, carrots, apple, pickled egg.

HexA: Skimmed milk
HexB: 2x weetabix, 2x ryvita
Syns: strawberry jam 1 syn, pickled herring 5 syn, parmesan cheese 1 1/2 syn = 7 1/2 syns

 

[Lanarkwitch]

Yeah can get marmite the odd time but its about 7 pounds a jar, I brought some back from my holidays though!

 

[Barbette]

I'd cry if I had to pay £7 for a jar of marmite, I use it in all sorts. My OH has just found the delights of marmite so we go through tons x

 

[Coconut Cupcake]

Yes! I always fear the "Can you show me what is in your bag, Madam?" - Haha!

Today - Green (plan!)

Brekkie: Cottage cheese, strawberry jam (1 syn), fresh blueberries, and 4x finely chopped almonds (1 syn). Was really nice!
Lunch: Leftover cannelloni from SW website. Cottage cheese and spinach job with garlicy tomato passata sauce on top. Touch of parmesan (1 1/2 syn) an basic lettuce salad on the side.
Dinner: Waitrose recipe "Korma-Style Dhal" Had this before, I think it's really nice. Looking forward to it! (2 syns)
Snacks: Banana, nectarine (about 3 and probably 4 by the time I get back home!)

 

[Barbette]

That korma looks really yummy, not had a curry for a while, might make one this week x

 

[Coconut Cupcake]

Back again!

I've not had chance to post much for the past week. Most days have been good except for an evening thing at the US Ambassador's residence (let's face it.. I wasn't about to say no thanks!) so a couple of glasses of wine and some quite synful food consumed. But it could very easily have been worse). Next day I had a quite large baguette (I always find eating diet- and veggie friendly when business travelling quite challenging. Baguette was only veggie option available at the services). Lastly, a delightful cheese cake slice on Friday gone, bosses treat. So all in all last week wasn't great, but miraculously I still had a small loss of 1/2lbs. I must confess that though it was small, I am quite pleased!

Sadly, I expect this to be a not-good week too as we're visiting sister's for a birthday party this weekend. It's a long journey for one, and also we're likely to be going out for drinks on Saturday night. Not sure how to go about it all, but I suppose all I can do for now is to stick to plan as best I can and hope for the best once the weekend gets here.

Anyway. Yesterday - EE

Brekkie - LF cottage cheese, strawberry jam 1 1/2 syn, almonds 1 syn.
Lunch - 2x Ryvitas (HexB), mackrell in tomato sauce, kaviar
Dinner - egg fried rice: Rice, egg, soy sauce, worcester sauce, sweet corn, peas, carrot, spring onions, prawns.
Snacks - pear, banana, carrot

HexA: skimmed milk
HexB: 2x Ryvitas
Syns: 1 1/2 syns strawberry jam, 1 syn chopped almons, 5 syn for norwegian snack treat thing.

 

[Coconut Cupcake]

Today - Extra Easy

Brekkie - weetabix (HexB) with skimmed milk (HexA)
Lunch - Was going for salad but change of plan, ended up with 2x Ryvita (4 syn) + mackrell in tomato sauce and caviar.
Dinner - Right now fancying vegetable soup. Sadly it's not very filling so must think about how not to snack later, but right now I really fancy it. I'm thinking carrots, cabbage, leek, root of parsley or celery, swede. Possibly some potatoes to make it more filling. Oh, and a really nice veg tock of course!
Snacks - pear, cucumber, pepper, kiwi.

Hex A: skimmed milk
Hex B: Weetabix
Syns: strawberry jam and almonds (=2 1/2 syns) + 2x Ryvitas (4 syns) = 6 1/2 syns.