Erm's Photo Diary

[ermintrude]

Wednesday 07th - Green

Breakfast: Coffee & Toast - 1 HEXA & 1 HEXB, 2 syns.
Lunch: I half forgot to have lunch.... I was hungry before lunchtime and couldn't decide what to have so started snacking on the superfree veggies and stuff that I'd normally have with it anyway while I made my mind up, then I was tootling about and before I knew it I was cooking tea when I realised I never actually had a proper lunch! And I didn get stupidly voracious or anything! How can this be? So lunch was a load of mixed veg and some Quorn slices :sigh:
Tea: Sort of mixed buffet thang - Big bowl of pasta in Honey's pesto, spicy jalapeno hummus and mixed salad. 1HEXA for Parmesan, 1 HEXB for extra virgin olive oil
Snacks: Apples, satsumas, plums, 1 Mullerlight cheesecake 1 syn.

Honey's pesto is SERIOUSLY good ommmmmm!

When I was making it I wasn't too sure, I had a taster of it on its own and it tasted a lot like the Waitrose version which I dont really like (but less oily). Im a bit cheap with pesto I prefer the Sacla stuff where its all salty and whizzed up, Im *addicted* to the stuff and eat it a jar at a time, on its own So when I stuck a finger in this and it didn't have that oily, salty, basily nuttiness I thought I was gonna be disappointed, but I left it in the fridge overnight (as I buggered up my HEXes yesterday, see previous post) and once it was all mixed in a big bowl of pasta it was actually really yum! It isn't like the jarred stuff its true but I still really liked it, as a different kind of sauce. And as Id ballsed up lunch I ate the entire bowl of pasta and pesto, yum yum (Although as theres less oil in it it didnt stick as much so theres still a bit leftover for today so I actually had a few less syns than Ive written down).

Oh, and the b/f loved it!

Hummus:

And salad to go with it:

 

[Latte]

That looks amazing. I am a new subscriber to your diary as a lot of stuff you eat I find myself wanting to lick the screen !

Do you have a recipe for the pesto please

 

[ginlin]

Well done on your 4.5lb loss!

And as per usual, your food looks gorgeous

 

[ermintrude]

That looks amazing. I am a new subscriber to your diary as a lot of stuff you eat I find myself wanting to lick the screen !

Do you have a recipe for the pesto please

That's the lovely Honeyoc's pesto recipe - she's put it here

I only put the juice of 1/2 a lemon in mine as I squeeze every last drop out Also Id probably put more GARRRRRRRLIC in next time but thats because Im a vampire :sign0151:

 

[LVLLM]

I just have to say i dont do slimming world, but was looking on here for a friend but OMG your food diary is wondeful. Im starving! Wish I had the time to cook up these feasts!

 

[ladyfelsham]

Hi Erm - I'm the friend LVLLT just mentioned! I normally hang out on the Atkins forum but low carb hasn't been working out that well for me lately, so thought I would revisit SW.

Your pics are so lovely, my entire office is salivating, and as a newbie to SW this week, I now have lots and lots of menu ideas, thanks so much

 

[ermintrude]

Thursday 08th - Extra Easy

Breakfast: Coffee & Toast - 1 HEXA & 1 HEXB, 2 syns.
Lunch: Jalapeno hummus with carrots & mixed veg - Free
Tea: SW Coq au vin from this month's mag - 2.5 syns for red wine & tomato puree
Snacks: Apples, satsumas, Quorn slices, raspberries, pineapple, Total 0% yoghurt with strawberry - 2 syns

The coq au vin was not bad, I put double the amount of wine in as it looked really pale and wan :sigh: Also 4 tbsp tomato puree and a couple of bay leaves. I also left it uncovered for the last half hour to reduce but it was still very watery. I wouldn't bother with the water next time and probably add a bit of cornflour near the end. It still lacked something really, although the chicken was cooked to perfection. (I don't like chicken legs/thighs so used about 600g breast)

The celeriac mash was great though! Not been much of a fan in the past (although I adore celeriac chips!) but this was gawjus, (reminded me of cauliflower cheese or something bizarrely...) Used the Total 2% rather than fat free fromage frais, I think that was what did the trick Also it soaked up the OTT juices perfectly.

Er... forgot to put the tarragon in the stew until I'd served up which is why it's sitting in an arty pile on the top...

 

[lollypop1985]

looks delish, i have now started a diary after always reading yours

 

[blackwidow]

the coq au vin looks lovely.. its the mushrooms i want.. i had the urge to fork the screen and get them

 

[chun-ky]

Can i ask a quick question please ermintrude, is the celeriac and swede super free or just free? Your chips look AMAZING

 

[craftylucyloo]

Erms your coc oh whatsit looks gorgeous! Mmmmm and I really need to write down CELERIAC on my shopping list as I keep forgetting to get it. xx

 

[ermintrude]

Can i ask a quick question please ermintrude, is the celeriac and swede super free or just free? Your chips look AMAZING

Yep, both superfree. I hardly do potatoes anymore! It lets me have a few red days without having to measure my chicken

 

[ermintrude]

Erms your coc oh whatsit looks gorgeous! Mmmmm and I really need to write down CELERIAC on my shopping list as I keep forgetting to get it. xx

Mmmm I went to Waitrose the other day and bought half the shop... Six celeriacs, two acorn squash, a forgetwhatchacallit squash and a spaghetti squash.

SIX celeriacs, yum yum!

 

[craftylucyloo]

Flip you'll be turning into one soon lol. Enjoy your chips! x

 

[ermintrude]

Friday 09th - Extra Easy

Breakfast: Coffee 1 HEXA, mixed fruit salad with coconut Mullerlight
Lunch: Mung bean wrap stuffed with cheese, jalapenos & salad, with mixed veg. 8 syns for cheese (was going to be a Green Day but I changed half way through the day to EE so can't HEXB it )
Tea:Middle Eastern chicken & apricot stew with bulgur wheat part of HEXB for apricots. OMG this was LUSH :drool:
Snacks: Apples, satsumas, Bovril, Muller light.

Well managed to sort the mung bean batter thing I think. This time I left it for 3 days (although not by planning ) added a smidgen of water (although less than I added last time on 2 days soak) and whizzed for over a minute. Got a much more liquid, smooth batter, no resemblance to my previous one:

And it turned out looking fairly similar to Honey's version so it must be OK

Now all I have to do is, er, come up with summat vaguely interesting to put in it *cough*

And then for tea it was this chicken & apricot stew - it was way, way WAY better than the similar SW thing the other day OMG this was LUSH! SO, so, so worth the syns for apricots! It was supposed to serve 4 but we have big appetites so as usual it made 3. If you serve four it works out at about 2.75 syns each. EDIT: or use it as part of your your HEXB! I am soooooo dense

If you make this you MUST use the pomegranate, it absolutely makes it! Gives it that slight sweetness and also an amazing slight crunch, I know that might sound like it doesn't belong there but it SO works! Also, if you want to see their pinkness put them in right before serving like you're, er, supposed to. I left it for a while til we were ready to eat and the pinkness had dissolved. It still tasted great though!

Served with bulgur wheat as I dont like couscous.

 

[ermintrude]

PS the reason there is often green stuff on top of my soups/stew etc is cos the OH doesnt like coriander so I usually dont mix it into the stew (unless Im feeling energetic enough to whack half into a separate pan, which is frankly pur-et-ty rare ) so I just chuck a handful on top of my serving and mix it in when Im eating. Also it makes it look much prettier dontcha think?

I think thats one of the things that makes me stick to this, when I make things LOOK tasty even if they're nothing special, I feel like Im getting something naughty or expensive Like the hummus, there's no reason to chuck paprika on top, but it just LOOKS so much better you think youre getting something more 'luxurious' or whatever? Thats my theory anyway

 

[ermintrude]

I KNEW it! Just looked it in the book and I can have 71g apricots as a HEXB! Woohoo! I dont know why it didn't occur to me when I made it and was thinking how bizarre to have only one HEX in a day. Yay, so yesterday I both HEXes and only 8 syns for the cheese.

 

[*Emsie*]

Hi Erm just wondering what you do different to your celeriac chips as plan to have them tonight. I have tried reading through and searching but its not coming up
Just thought you probably had a way to make them extra tasty nom nom

 

[ermintrude]

Hi, I just parboil for 2 mins then stick them in the oven in Fry Light like normal (plus whatever salt/spices you fancy). About 30 min in my oven.

(When I say 2 min I mean pour boiling water over, bring it back to the boil and THEN count about 2 mins. But its personal preference really, I just find about this long makes them soft enough without going too mushy).

Hope you like them

EDIT: here we go, found my original link here

 

[tillymax]

Your diary is brilliant. If I'd just seen the name of some of the recipes you've made I'd probably have thought that's not for me but the pics look lovely so I'm gonna give them a go. Thanks for giving me loads of ideas