Meal Planning 2013 - Week 49

I think I did pretty well on my two weeks of following the Slimming World 7-Day plan. I didn't entirely stick to it as I don't like all their suggested meals and I ate out a few times, but I did quite well and lost a fair amount of weight. Or rather, the scales at Slimming World showed I had gained - because the last time I weighed in there was before I went to America for two weeks. However, I weighed myself when I came back and in the time between then and going back to Slimming World (just under two weeks) I'd lost 4 pounds. Which is good but I still need to lose a few pounds between now and Christmas to get back to my pre-America weight!

I am sort of sticking to another Slimming World 7 Day meal planner this week; I'm not sure which magazine it is from as I tear out the recipes and put them in a folder and discard the rest of the magazine. But I am taking a few liberties with it this week to fit around our social plans.

Monday
Breakfast SW plan: scrambled eggs. I don't like eggs cooked that way and I have an early meeting to get to on Mondays so will have a yogurt I can eat at my desk.
Lunch Out for lunch with a friend
Dinner The Other Half is out and I'm visiting a friend and her new baby after work so am not sure what time I will be home; if I get in late and need a quick dinner I'll have pasta. The SW menu suggests tagliatelle with bacon and mushrooms but I may just have plain pasta in a tomato sauce.
SW plan suggested snacks: Fresh mango slices, and canned sardines in tomato sauce. I can't quite see myself eating those from the tin at my desk at work....


Tuesday
Breakfast SW plan: toast with Philadelphia, sounds good to me.
Lunch SW plan: lunchbox salad. I'm starting to think this magazine was from the summer... it's basically pasta with tuna so I will try to cook enough pasta on Monday night to have for lunch today as well.
Dinner SW plan: piri-piri lamb with rice salad. I will have the lamb, and do a small piece of steak for my boyfriend as he doesn't eat lamb, but rather than rice I will do it with potatoes.

Wednesday
Breakfast SW plan: muesli. So I will have cereal.
Lunch SW plan: Asda Good for You roasted couscous break with a side salad. I will take a packet of Ainsley Harriot cous cous if I can get hold of some (I tried two supermarkets at the weekend and they didn't have any) and some cooked chicken.
Dinner  SW plan: aubergine, potato and chickpea tagine. Really not my kind of thing. My boyfriend has a day off today so he can help with the cooking; he can have a chicken kiev and chips and I will have plain white fish (not in batter or breadcrumbs) with chips.


Thursday
Breakfast SW plan: beans on toast. I don't like baked beans (shocking I know) so think I will just have toast, or with a poached or boiled egg if I have time.

Lunch SW plan: barbecued steak with Mediterranean vegetables. We have a microwave at work but not a barbecue funnily enough.... I think I will have a baked potato and fill it with quark and chilli flakes to make it syn free.

Dinner The Other Half is out so I think I will take the opportunity to catch up on Made In Chelsea and Homeland (I can do low-brow and high-brow!) and cook something he doesn't like. I was going to have fish but I had to defrost two pieces of lamb at once for Tuesday so will have the other piece tonight.

Friday
Breakfast SW plan: masala omlette. I've just remembered I've got Quorn sausages to use up so will have those.
Lunch SW plan: roast beef sandwich. I will have some kind of sandwich anyway.
Dinner
SW plan: red pepper tortilla with crushed potatoes. Not something my boyfriend would be keen on and in any case I will need to use up the other piece of fish, so I will make an individual fish pie for me, and do fried egg and chips for him.

Saturday
Breakfast SW plan: hot kippers. I've tried to find plain kippers rather than the smoked kind that are boil in the bag with a pat of butter (very high in syns) but so far haven't been able to. So I will probably stick to a yogurt before I go to Slimming World.

Lunch SW plan: homemade pizza, using wholemeal toast with tomato puree, ham and cheese on top. This sounds like a version of a cheese toastie which I think my boyfriend would also enjoy.

Dinner SW plan: tomato and basil chicken with shoestring fries. Sounds nice but I think I will invite my boyfriend's mum over for dinner and she is vegetarian. I bought my boyfriend a burger recipe book for his birthday and there are some great-looking vegetarian options in there. I will make us blue cheese and apple burgers (which use potato rather than mince) and my boyfriend can have a green chilli burger which I made before but didn't put enough chillies in it for him to really be able to taste it! For dessert I think I will be rather indulgent and make Pave au Chocolat, a flourless chocolate cake in a New Orleans Desserts recipe book my boyfriend's mum gave me after they went on a trip there.

Sunday
Breakfast  Yogurt/toast
Lunch Out - Christmas pub lunch with some friends
Dinner Not sure how hungry we will be after we get back but I should be able to rustle something up - maybe beans on toast for him if we've had a big meal at lunchtime and I could have some syn-free pasta or macaroni cheese on toast (sadly the tinned kind is quite high in syns).