Still Time to Lose in 2024 with Slimming World.

maman

I read that Sainsburys has swede, carrots and red cabbage from 18th so I'll be making swede & carrot mash and Delia's braised red cabbage for the freezer. 👍

joedenise

Morning all, it's been wet and windy overnight and first thing this morning.  It's still windy but the rain has eased to a drizzle.  Had to pop out this morning as forgot to buy eggs yesterday which was annoying as I'd planned to make Spanish omelette for dinner last night but ended up making a bigger portion of the Breakfast hash I often make!

You'll probably end up moving stuff around in your kitchen once you have everything in and then struggling to remember where you put things @maman - I know I certainly did!  My kitchen feels so much bigger without the wall cupboards but of course that meant less storage although the larder cupboard made up for a lot of it.  Took me a little while once the kitchen was finished to decide on final places for things but now everything has a place it's so much easier.

Looking forward to the veg wars!  I won't make use of some of the offers - like the red cabbage.  I like braised red cabbage but DH isn't keen so it ends up in the freezer for ages and with having less freezer space I'd rather have things in there that we both eat!  I'll definitely be getting potatoes, carrots and swede but not sure what else - will make the decision once I know how much space I've got.  I'm hoping to pick up one of the small turkeys to put in the freezer but not until after Christmas when with a bit of luck they'll be reduced and we can have that at Easter!  No point in getting one for Christmas as neither DD1 nor GDG like turkey and to be honest I can take it or leave but DH enjoys it.  I much prefer the leftovers - curries etc!

Today's plan:

B - Toasted cheese sandwich, pickled onions - HEA2; HEB; S
L - Jacket potato, beans - F
D - green lentil stew with herby dumplings - P; S; F; 4.5

HEA1 - milk
HEA2 - cheese
Syns - Flour 4.5

Not much Speed by the look of it but there is loads in the stew!  I've estimated the syns for the dumplings as not sure how many I'll be making so it may actually be less.  The recipe also includes parmesan but I'm leaving that out this time as have already had my 2nd HEA and not sure dumplings really need it!

Have a good day everyone.

maman

You're right @joedenise. I'm sure I'll be moving things around for a while until I'm happy with where things are stored. We're in a similar position to you in that we've had an extra window put  in with a radiator underneath at one end of the kitchen so one wall of cupboards taken out completely. At the moment I have temporary storage in the larder (repurposed old units from previous kitchen) and then when I know what exactly I will be storing in there, DH will put in the permanent shelving. I want space for food obviously but also shelves for large items like the SC which I don't want living on the worktops. 

Today's plan-
B- HEB toast, HEA1 milk for drinks, scrambled eggs (P), tomatoes (S)
L- cold chicken (P), LO veg and pickles (F,S)
D- Spaghetti Bolognese (P, F,S), HEA2 Parmesan
Syns-0

Bluegreen143

Evening all! 

I’m very impressed with how often you all manage to have 0 syn days. I can’t actually imagine that happening here any time soon but I’m definitely getting the hang of starting to remember what things are (free, HE, syns) and how much to measure out without looking it up in my book all the time. Hopefully it becomes instinct just to choose free food most of the time! 

Today was pretty good, I was a bit miserable/cold and wanted some cocoa after work so used some Syns for that as I was making it for the children anyway (I measured my ingredients separately!). But well within target so it’s fine. 

B - strawberry overnight oats topped with banana 

Speed - strawberries
100ml whole milk - HEA (1/2 serving)
40g oats - HEB 
1tsp maple syrup - 0.5 syn

L  - leftover chicken & veg stir-fry with rice 

Speed - red cabbage, onion, broccoli & pepper
1tsp maple syrup - 0.5 syn

S - lovely wee cup of cocoa with a pinch of cinnamon & nutmeg in 😍 plus 1/2 my advent choc. 

200ml whole milk - HEA (1 serving)

2tsp cocoa powder - 2 syn
2tsp sugar - 2 syn
1/2 advent choc - 1 syn

Edit - I know it’s fewer syns to have instant hot chocolate instead. I have Strong Opinions about hot chocolate and the correct way to make it and I’m happy to use my syns and HEA for the proper stuff very occasionally! 😆

D - very, very nice and free chicken & veg curry with rice

Speed - cauliflower, pepper, green beans with tomato/carrot/pepper/onion blended in the sauce!

Total syns - 6 

bubbs

Evening all 😁

Maman i just change my cupboards around again last week as still not right and we have been here 6 yrs 🤣🤣 think i have got it right now 😜

Bluegreen syns are there to be used on what you want to use them on, if you want a hot chocolate that's fine 😁 remember we have been doing SW years 😂 You'll soon get use to it.

I also love veg wars, i only buy 1 red cabbage for coleslaw but the others i buy loads. Also get loads for refuge.

Don't know if i said but we are having a new boiler fitted tomorrow 🙄 think we are going to go out and leave him to it. DH has been busy this week, got rid of all curtains and had blinds instead, Painted all the kitchen cupboards to freshen them up and all the handles and shampooed carpets today 😁 Good job he is not at work now  doesn't have time😂

Food

Picky plate, free

Tea, lasagne, free, 1 hexa, salad, 1 syn ltl mayo

joedenise

Morning all, we've finally got a dry day and forecast to stay dry for the next few days.  I've done 3 machine loads of washing as the wash bin was overflowing with not having done any for quite a while!  I've hung it all out on the line but probably won't dry as it's very cloudy and don't think we're likely to get any sun.  There's a bit of a breeze but unfortunately not much.  Still if it gets the worst of the wetness from it then it shouldn't take so long to dry.

I'm another who rarely has syn free days @Bluegreen143 even if I think I might I usually end up having some syns later in the day!  It seems like you're getting your head around how SW works.  You're right that after a while you get to know what is Speed, Free, HEs and Syns and you'll start to choose Speed and Free as often as possible.

Today's plan:

B - porridge, fruit - HEB; S
L - toad in the hole, roast potatoes, veg - S; F; 20.5 (eek! - using up the last of the M&S sausages DH picked up as the only ones I could find in the freezer!)
D - burger, chips, beans - F; 0.5

HEA - milk
HEB - porridge
Syns - sausages 16; flour 4.5; burger 0.5

At this rate I'm very unlikely to lose anything this week particularly as we are eating out tomorrow lunchtime (local Parish Council providing a pensioners Christmas Dinner).

Have a good day everyone.

maman

The Parish Council should know pensioners need healthy food @joedenise. 🤣 Hopefully if it's a traditional roast then it won't be too bad. 🤞

I do find it relatively easy to eat syn free/low syn during the week @Bluegreen143 but that's because I choose to save my syns for weekends when I have loads. 

Not low syn today though. We've been really busy and I'm tired and rewarding myself with wine syns. 😁

We've defrosted and cleaned the two old freezers. A neighbour is having one and the other is going in the shed as an overflow. The old fridge has gone to the tip. All were heavy to carry. ☹️ In between I've changed the bed and done a load of washing. The dining room is now clear of extra stuff except for the kitchen table which we'll move out in the morning. Then we can clean it all and move the dining room table back in. 

Today's plan - 
B- HEB toast, HEA milk for drinks, bacon, eggs (P), baked beans (F)
L-  cold ham, cottage cheese (P), JP (F), salad (S) 
D- corned beef hash (P, F, S), broccoli and cauliflower (S) 
Syns - corned beef 4, wine syns 😁

beanielou

Enjoy your lunch tomorrow Denise. 

Bluegreen143

Hello all! 

Today’s meals:

B - overnight oats 
HEA (1/2 portion), HEB, 0.5 syn

L - cup HM lentil soup plus snacky box of fruit, veg, cold meat & 30g cheddar
HEA

D - spaghetti bolognaise 
Estimated 3 syns as I merged different freezer tubs of leftover bolognaise to make a meal for 7 people and some would have had oil & wine in (though the biggest tub was all free) and there were about four olives in my portion too (as only one of the three tubs had originally had olives!).

S - 1 syn for 1/2 advent chocolate

4.5 syns total. 

Bluegreen143

1.5lb off this week which I’m very pleased with given the challenges of this past week: Monkey’s birthday, lunch out, having a horrible cold all week so no walking has been done. 

Weight now 11st 0.5lb. Tantalisingly close to seeing a “10” as the first number on those scales. Aiming for another 1.5lb loss this week, which would bring me down to that 10 starting number but also mean my BMI will shift to be under 30 - a big milestone as I’ll be classed as overweight rather than obese! 

Upcoming challenges this week: Bambi’s birthday/party. Cake will be eaten. I’m having shop bought chicken kievs and oven chips for dinner on Saturday (she’s requested shop bought popcorn chicken for her birthday meal, which she’s getting, but Red and I swapped ours to kievs as it felt less like we were having a 6 year old’s dinner 😅). Yes I could make it myself, probably not for less syns, but we will be busy preparing for her party and won’t want to make a mess in the kitchen.