Good intentions...went to pot, or old macdonalds!

Today started really well. Suuuper hoops for little miss, obviously. Two pots of fromage frais and a rusk for the piglet. And a bowl of raspberries, grapes, banana and shape yogurt for me. Then we went out...

We attempted to get to a baby/toddler story time group, but traffic meant we would miss the start so decided to sack that off in favour of a trip to mothercare! Partly to collect a hat I'd ordered for little miss' world book day costume, and partly to try out booster seats. On the way back from our holiday in Wales last week we discovered that she's learnt how to undo her car seat straps. So figured we should look into a different seat.

It took way longer than I expected to go through various car seat trials. Before I knew it it was 2pm and none of us had eaten lunch. So I bundled them into the car to head home when little miss spotted the Golden Arches and asked if we could get lunch from 'old macdonalds?'  As I knew it'd take at least 40 mins to get home I caved and got us both a happy meal. I figured it was the lowest syn option I could go for! We both ate them in the car while little man slept, then headed home to feed him. Given the timing I opted for Ella (I feel like I've been sponsored by Ella's kitchen this week, just without the sponsorship element...really need to find them on offer somewhere!) he troughed down 2 pouches, butternut squash version for his main and 'the White one' for pudding. I swear that boy has hollow legs.

Then we had a lovely hour or so playing with threading alphabet beads, until I got a bit frustrated that little miss couldn't find the letters she was 'looking' for. Hint, it helps if you actually look at the beads and not everywhere else in the room. 

At this point I decided to leave the children in the living room with daddy whilst I escaped to the sanctuary of the kitchen to make tea. Pasta bake. Or so I thought until I realised I was missing half of the ingredients. Eventually I opted for sausage, mash, beans and gravy. Mostly as that was the only complete meal we had available. I think I must have been drunk when I did the shopping this week. Or maybe it was just forgetfulness caused by sleep deprivation.

Little miss had seconds and thirds of her sausages and actually a fair bit of mash and beans, which is largely unheard of. Little man spent about half an hour eating the biggest bit of sausage he could shove in his mouth, and would not let me get it off him. 

Once madam was safely tucked up in bed I spent the rest of the evening with a glass of wine, a small KitKat and my sewing kit, making costumes for world book day on Thursday. 

Total Syns = not sure, I daren't add it up, but I'm guessing roughly 30-35. Its weigh-in day tomorrow so I'll assess the damage, draw a line under it and start again from scratch. 

Little man slept through!

I can count on one hand how many times little man has slept through the night. Last night thanks to a fabulous pouch of Ella's kitchen vegetable and lentil bake administered at 8.30pm (in a last ditch attempt to stop the grizzling) was one of those nights. Hoorah! So from now on I shall be feeding him around 8-8.30pm in the hope of a repeat performance. Until it stops working anyway and then we can go back to a respectable dinner time.

Now that all visitors have gone and holidays are becoming a dim and distant memory, it's time to get my act together and get back on plan. So we started the day with toast (healthy extra.) Little miss obviously had Suuuper Hoooops before being bundled off to preschool. 

Once me and the little man got back home we shared some

Hot cross buns as a snack, I knew they weren't great syn wise, so spared the butter. And what a good job, having just checked it turns out they're 8 Syns each!! This is why you really should check before eating. 

For lunch I made a bacon, tomato and bean soup. I used to live on this soup and thought it'd be a great way to kickstart getting back on track. It's both syn free and packed full of veg to speed up weight loss and increase satiety. It's also great for packing loads of healthy nutrients into the baby and sneaking veg into little miss! 

Spray pan with fry light, add garlic, red onion, brown onion, red peppers, diced bacon (all fat removed), carrots, tomato purée and some paprika and mixed herbs and soften on a low heat. 

Then add chicken stock, tin of tomatoes, tin of mixed beans, a bay leaf and a carton of passatta and bring to boil. Simmer for 10-15 minutes (once all flavours have infused.) Blitz about half of the mixture into a purée. Siphon half off into pots to freeze down for the baby, and pour the rest back into the soup pan. 

Very tasty and easy to make. It lasts a few days too (although I recommend freezing it quickly and defrosting portions as and when, otherwise the peppers can make it turn quite quickly.) I love bread with soup,  so I find if I make it thick and chunky I don't miss having bread so much. I did do a slice of bread and butter soldiers for little man to pick at, or more accurately smear across his face, clothes, hair etc. After 2 mouthfuls he refused to eat anymore, so I got him a fromage frais from the fridge which he scoffed happily, then tried him with the soup again. I couldn't get it on the spoon and into his mouth quick enough. Either he's teething and needed to cool his gums a bit, or he just likes having his dessert first. This has become a bit of a regular thing in the last week or so. 

The Mr picked little miss up from preschool, neither could remember what she'd eaten beyond 'fruit salad I think' and 'we had cake, no not cake, erm...' (She got distracted by a baby signing book that she'd found in a cupboard somewhere.) Shortly after this she decided that I needed a foot rub because I was cold. Who am I to argue! 

For tea, the little dude had the same again (at 8.30pm... Fingers crossed...) followed by another fromage frais. Whilst me and the Mr had homemade burgers, with lots of lettuce, tomatoes and gherkins, a smidge of low fat mayo, mustard and ketchup (3 Syns total), healthy extra allowance of cheddar cheese (30g), and a lightly toasted 400g wholemeal bread (3 Syns per slice.) 

Total Syns = 21. So much for getting back on track. I think I'm going to have to start writing things down as I eat them to get me back to plan. 

Bluestone HOLIDAY!!!

We are enjoying a lovely family holiday at Bluestone in Wales with friends who have two small people the same age as little man and little miss. Little man started the holiday with the tummy bug in full force. But judging by the way he wolfed down a whole bowl of bolognese, some pasta twirls, naan bread (we had curry) and a whole pot of fromage  frais I think we can assume he's feeling better.

My following of the slimming world plan is a bit half hearted this week. We are eating out as well as eating in and it's just not feasible to stick 100% to plan. But I am making conscious choices to at least limit my syn intake. We made a packed lunch yesterday for our trip to the farm/zoo  and I made sure to include fruit and veg, didn't add Mayo to my sandwich (using my healthy extra for the bread,) and just the tiniest smidge of low fat spread.

The biggest syn factor though by far is the prosecco consumption once the kids are in bed (as well as the cheeky glass whilst at the spa today!) in my defence I have been loading the glass with strawberries so my speedy fruit intake is up! 

We cooked a very scrummy curry and rice last night, semi cheating using a bit of pataks  rogan josh paste at 2 Syns per tbsp. Fresh garlic, ginger, onions, peppers, chicken, tomato purée, tinned tomatoes, passatta and spices. I was most impressed that the other 3 year old ate everything put in front of him, and wanted more. He had what was left over again for his tea tonight. 

Meanwhile we also made a basic Bolognese for my fussy little miss and the babies. Which also doubled up as my syn free lunch today. 
Tonight was my friend's turn to cook. She made a very tasty beef casserole loaded with onions, carrots and tinned tomatoes, and served with a jacket potato, broccoli and sugar snap peas. I had several helpings with lashings of the veg. 

Little man had a repeat of yesterday's bolognese and fromage frais fest, but with a slice of toast on the side. He also pinched a bit of the broccoli later. Little miss has 'basgetti' (or tinned spaghetti to the rest of us,) she didn't touch her toast. Whilst it was all very tasty my grand idea of  'one meal to suit us all' (why am I reminded of Lord of the rings at this point?) was blown out of the window. In fairness due to timing and the oven randomly switching off, but still. 

The other baby had been sick a few times today, so not really joined in with the food much, just the odd bit of bread. And just as we finally got little man settled tonight, little miss woke up being sick. I think the bug may be spreading! 

Post tummy bug weaning

After a shockingly bad night with a poorly little boy, we started the day with our good old favourite, scrambled egg, tinned tomatoes and toast. I've stopped using butter/marge on mine as the juice of the tomatoes makes it moist enough. 

Little man didn't each much, a couple of soldiers at most, it's hard to tell when he mushes it all up and chucks it all over the floor! 
As ever little miss ate all of the egg and had to be coaxed into eating some toast.  

For lunch I roasted some potatoes in fry light, reheated some of the chicken that I roasted the other day, and served with broccoli, green beans and sweetcorn (but not for little miss 'I don't like sweetcorn') and some chicken gravy. 2 Syns for the granules. I didn't manage to get a picture between little man screaming, which I roughly translated as 'I don't want food, how dare you put me down, and NO I am not tired!' And little miss 'mummy I did a wee!' In her rapunzel dress, whilst sitting in the dining chair. I still haven't gotten to the bottom of why she failed to even attempt to make it to the toilet. 

Eventually we got to eat a cold roast dinner, which was quite tasty. Little man isn't over yesterday's tummy bug (tuna fish cakes, jelly and ice cream are far less appealing on the return journey, and are a bugger to get out of a car seat!) So he screwed his face up at all of the food offered and reluctantly accepted a biscotti and some milk. 

Little miss was all about the grapes for the rest of the day, and a biscotti that she pinched from her brother. Once they'd finally gone to sleep I opted for vino. Not strictly slimming world friendly but it was a necessary syn to save my sanity! 12 syns. 

After much umming and aahing over tea, I finally opted to adapt a Bolognese from the freezer to make chilli and rice. It was seriously tasty. The addition of coriander might well be my new thing for chilli. Served with rice and 30g cheddar (healthy extra.) 


Total = 14 syns. 

Back to normality...then again!

The visitors have all gone home. And so it was back to normality this morning. Except I forgot to get a shop in, and the cupboards are largely bare! Well, bare of healthy-slimming-world-friendly foods anyway. If I wanted to live on rusks, biscuits, petit filous, and sweet chilli crisps I'd be sorted. 

Breakfast for the little man was a farley's reduced sugar rusk, most of which was briefly sucked and then unceremoniously thrown on the floor. Little miss had Soooper Hoooops, for a change. And I managed to scavenge 1 end slice of a 400g wholemeal loaf for toast (with a second slice later once I'd been shopping, it counts as my healthy extra.) 

Off to preschool for little miss and to the new shopping centre for me and the little man. 
After a few hours exploring the shops and facilities I decided to stop by the food hall. Hmmm, it was a sea of KFC, Burger King, Costa, Taco Bell, Indian and Chinese food. This caused a long dilemma and much online syn searching. Having ruled out the big chains, and veto'd boots and sainsbury's sandwiches (something like 18 Syns for low fat egg mayo if I remember rightly.)

I decided I'd go for the Chinese option. In my head I reasoned that if I was going to use precious Syns, it'd be on something tasty and that I'd not had for ages. Having studied the menu for a disproportionately long time, I dismissed anything deep fried (aka scrummy,) and opted for chicken noodles. I hadn't factored that these would be coated in a sheen that I'm hoping was oyster sauce but suspect was likely to be grease. 

It wasn't until I sat down with my £6 tray of noodles that I spotted a Spudulike! I was gutted. I could have had a syn free lunch. Which would have been cheaper and something I could have shared with the little man. You live and learn eh?! 

When we got home I opened a pot of baby fruit purée which the little dude practically inhaled. He demolished the entire pot and followed it up with a Heinz biscotti. 

For dinner I roasted a chicken. Went shopping for some veg, fruit and bread and promptly ran out of time to do roast spuds! So I served up chicken with mashed potato (using a splash of milk from my healthy extra allowance,) green beans, tender stem broccoli, cabbage and a splash of gravy for me. 1 syn for the teaspoon of gravy granules. 

Hopefully this won't have too big an impact on the scales. My balance between good and naughty last week resulted in me maintaining (neither gaining nor losing anything) so hopefully the worst this will do is to have no impact! 

Visitors, or uh-ohs and ta-dahs!

We've had a number of visitors staying with us over the last few days, so both adhering 100% to plan! and weaning healthily have taken a bit of a back step. Although he hasn't done too badly, a few more rice cakes, breadsticks and soldiers than normal. 

That said where I can I've limited the syns. Breakfasts have largely been either Slimming World friendly omelette or fruit salad and yogurt. Little man has been enjoying toast or his new found favourite...fromage frais!

I fell of the wagon slightly with a scrummy lasagne, whilst it can be made slimming friendly, this one wasn't. When I asked Mr TWM for the quantities used in the béchamel sauce so I could work out syns, he told me he had no clue as it was made by eye. So I decided to just enjoy it and accept that it may have an impact on the scales. I did only have a small piece and served it with loads of salad. - my definite uh-oh of the week! 

Little man also had lasagne (well the bolognese bit) which he absolutely devoured. I think we've discovered a new favourite.

I did make a very low syn oriental soup. Usually it'd be free but I realised once I started I'd run out of chicken stock, so used a flavour packet from a pack of noodles! This was my 'ta -dah' of the week! 

Cooked chicken breast (shredded using 2 forks), pack of stir fry veg, baby sweetcorn, chicken stock, Chinese 5 spice, 2 kaffir lime leaves (optional), ginger, 1 stick of lemongrass crushed (whole,) soy sauce, nam pla (fish sauce,) garlic, and chillies. Put it all in a pot together, bring to the boil and then simmer for up to 30 mins (anything beyond that and it gets a bit bitter.) can be served with noodles or just as it is. Yummy.  - Note the chilli content means it's not really suitable for the children. 

Fingers crossed my good elements will outweigh the naughtiness on the scales tomorrow! 

Dancing and mayhem

Friday is dancing day. The baby heads of to nursery, where he is spoilt rotten with attention and playmates, whilst me and the preschooler go dancing. She has ballet followed by acrobatics. And  then it's 'mummy's class' where we do a kind of Zumba but without the annoying music,  whilst the kids play together nicely around us. It's great, Kathryn, who runs 'dance factory' is brilliant with the kids and novice exercisers like me! 

Before we left, didn't really have time for breakfast in the car, me and the preschooler had an Alpen light breakfast bar (3 Syns,) and a banana each. Baby had milk and then snack and lunch at nursery. 

Mid dancing snacks for the preschooler were chocolate and 'bear' fruit things!! I refrained, even though one of my fellow exercisers got a chip butty from the cafe next door! 
Once we'd all got home I reheated the stew and had my healthy extra wholemeal bread, baby fell asleep and preschooler refused to eat. 

Spent the rest of the day tidying like a madwoman ahead of a crazy few days of lots of visitors and sleepovers. 

Restocked the stew with more carrots and potatoes, ready for our tea. (I love stew but thank goodness tonight is the last of it!) I decided to treat myself, and join in with the tiger bread (approx 7 Syns) for dinner, and it was yummy. The preschooler, 6 year old visitor and baby also devoured the stew & bread. Washed down with a bottle of Becks blue. 


Total syns 14.5.  Not quite the low syn day I'd planned but it could have been worse! 

Quick note, best magazine (on sale until Monday 15th Feb,) has a voucher for free slimming world membership, so if you're thinking of joining it's worth getting!