Food Shop – 26.05.15

Posted in Food Shopping, Uncategorized by

Hi guys,

As promised, here’s my food shop from last night. I was a tad over budget (I bought a few things for next week – not sure why!) so I decided I’m going to alter my meals a bit for this week. Instead of KFC on Friday, I’m just going to replicate Monday’s treat dinner so I don’t have to spend any more money this week 🙂 and I forgot to freeze my curry so I’m just using some other stuff I have on hand for a couple of lunches instead.

2015-05-26 21.20.01

Fruit and veg: clementines, mushrooms, 2x strawberries, gala apples, carrots, new potatoes, sweet potatoes, honey dew melon and nectarines

2015-05-26 21.25.56

Everything else: French Fries multipack (2pp/pack), tin of sliced peaches in juice, tin of fruit salad in juice, wafer thin honey roast ham (1pp for 35g), 2x mini cravings cheese (0pp for 1, 1pp for 2 or 3), laughing cow extra light triangles (1pp each), 2x lean corned beef (10pp/tin), pack of 3 houmous stackers (3pp for 35g) crumpets (3pp each or 5pp for two), bacon medallions (1pp each), brown sandwich thins (3pp each), bagel thins (3pp each), Ryvita original (1pp each), mini meringue nests (3 for 1pp), 2x Dairy Milk Oat Crunch (4pp/bar) and Morrisons milk chocolate rice slices (1pp each).

I also bought a pack of frozen peas (2pp for 80g), frozen mediterranean vegetables (aubergine, courgettes and peppers – 0pp) and a pack of 2 Chicago Town deep dish four cheese pizzas (12pp each) which I forgot to photograph as they were defrosting pretty quick when I got home! My total was £42.50 which would have hit my target if I didn’t buy so much cheese or the corned beef or any of the treats >.<

Anyway, it’s still quite a bit less than normal and I shall refrain from any “top up” shops throughout the week!

Until next time.. x

Food Budgeting

Posted in Daily Thoughts, Food Shopping by

Hi guys,

Hope you’re all well after the Bank Holiday and rearing to go – I definitely am!

I spent the day in Knaresborough (near Harrogate) with my family without the OH and we had a lovely day. We did plenty of walking (which was good as I had overindulged a little the night before) and the views are absolutely stunning. I will definitely have to go back and have a good wander and row on the river next time!

Anyhow, I’d forgotten my love for outdoor activities and I have to admit Knaresborough is hilly! I was a bit out of puff whilst climbing a million and one stairs and it’s made me more determined to get my act together. I know I keep saying that but I don’t want to spend anymore of my twenties not feeling confident in myself. With all the issues me and OH have been having with his severe depression, I know I need to be there for him, but I need to make sure I’m doing the best possible for myself too.

This leads on to my blog post today on food budgeting. As me and OH are a bit shaky at the moment, my sister and I have decided to buy a house together next year (with OH living with us). We have a good chunk of deposit between us, but I want to make sure I have a decent amount with some left over for any unexpected stuff. As I live in my Dad’s house in return for managing his tenants and all the rental stuff, I don’t really have much outgoings if I strip away all the non-essentials. So, I am kind of hoping to put away a decent amount in the next few months as my sister’s lease isn’t up until January so we have a bit of time to save. I’m hoping to put away £1K a month for the foreseeable future anyway.

One place which I do spend quite a lot on is my food budget. Even I have to admit that sometimes I just buy things for the sake of it. So much food goes to waste if I’m not focussed on what I actually need (even with a shopping list!) and I just don’t limit myself, which I think may be why I have little willpower at home with all the junk food surrounding me! I am hoping to bring down my food budget by half as I’m no longer responsible for OH’s food. So I will be looking at £30 a week/£130 a month. I have so much food in the cupboards and freezer so I need to run this down as well. Unfortunately for me, I forgot to label some of the meats I received before putting it into the freezer so it might be pot luck when it comes to defrosting things to use the next day.

I think the only thing I will struggle with is probably fruit and veg. Sometimes I go a little crazy as it’s all “healthy” and just grab everything. I’m definitely going to try and be a little more calm and collected. I have my list ready for the shop tonight and there doesn’t seem to be that much on it but I do think I spent around £60 last week on various things so there’s a lot leftover. I will definitely have a post for you in regards to my food shop tomorrow.

Until next time.. x

WW Meal Plan – 26.05.15 – 01.06.15 – 2lbs loss

Posted in Meal Plans by

Hi guys,

Feels like forever since I did a food plan for you to read. I will be pointing this week (I have 34 daily and 49 weekly). Bank holiday Monday would usually be in this plan but I’m just going to try and make the right choices and not stress too much about it. Any leftover daily or weekly PPs will probably used for a snack or two here and there!

Tuesday – 29pp
Breakfast: 2 egg omelet (4 pp) with spinach, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and a light cheese slice (1pp) = 5pp
Lunch: 60g smoked salmon (2pp) with 30g Phili light mixed herbs (1pp) with a plain bagel (6pp) = 9pp
Snack: carrot & celery sticks with 30g Waitrose organic houmous (3pp), 4 Tesco seafood sticks (2pp), apple, pear = 5pp
Dinner: 150g pork loin steak (7pp) with 150g new potatoes roasted (3pp), roasted carrots, butternut squash and mushrooms = 10pp

Wednesday – 28pp
Breakfast: 150g Yeo Valley 0% fat natural yoghurt (1pp) with strawberries, melon, banana = 1pp
Lunch: lamb and vegetable curry (6pp) with half a packet of Tilda microwave mushroom rice (4pp) = 10pp
Snack: 3 ryvita crackers (3pp) with cherry tomatoes and 50g Philadelphia Light mixed herbs (2pp), 4 Tesco seafood sticks (2pp) = 7pp
Dinner: 3 skinless chicken drumsticks (6pp) with 150g sweet potato (4pp), roasted carrots, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes = 10pp

Thursday – 28pp
Breakfast: 4 bacon medallions (3pp) on 2 sandwich thins (6pp) with 3tbsp ketchup (1pp) = 10pp
Lunch: lamb and vegetable curry (6pp) with half a packet of Tilda microwave mushroom rice (4pp) = 10pp
Snack: 150g Yeo Valley 0% fat natural yoghurt (1pp) with strawberries, melon, banana = 1pp
Dinner: 1 sandwich thin (3pp) split in half with tomato puree, 50g light mozzarella (3pp), 25g sun dried tomatoes (1pp), spinach, mushrooms and roasted carrot and butternut squash = 7pp

Friday – 34pp, 5 weekly pp
Breakfast: 2 egg omelet (4 pp) with spinach, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and a light cheese slice (1pp) = 5pp
Lunch: 3 skinless chicken drumsticks (6pp) with 150g sweet potato (4pp), roasted carrots, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes = 10pp
Snack: 150g Yeo Valley 0% fat natural yoghurt (1pp) with strawberries, melon, banana = 1pp
Dinner: 2 pieces of KFC chicken (13pp), small popcorn chicken (4pp), corn (2pp), regular coleslaw (4pp) and a Pepsi Max = 23pp

Saturday – 29pp
Breakfast: 150g Yeo Valley 0% fat natural yoghurt (1pp) with strawberries, melon, banana = 1pp
Lunch: 4 ryvita crackers (4pp) with cherry tomatoes and 60g Philadelphia Light mixed herbs (2pp) = 6pp
Snack: 90g wafer thin ham (2pp) on a bagel (6pp) with 40g Waitrose houmous (4pp) = 12pp
Dinner: lamb and vegetable curry (6pp) with half a packet of Tilda microwave mushroom rice (4pp) = 10pp

Sunday – 30pp
Breakfast: 2 eggs (4pp), 3 bacon medallions (2pp), 1 light cheese slice (1pp) on a plain bagel (6pp) = 13pp
Lunch: 4 ryvita crackers (4pp) with cherry tomatoes and 60g Philadelphia Light mixed herbs (2pp) = 6pp
Snack: 150g Yeo Valley 0% fat natural yoghurt (1pp) with strawberries, melon, banana = 1pp
Dinner: 3 skinless chicken drumsticks (6pp) with 150g sweet potato (4pp), roasted carrots, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes = 10pp

Monday – 34pp
Breakfast: 4 bacon medallions (3pp) on 2 sandwich thins (6pp) with 3tbsp ketchup (1pp) = 10pp
Lunch: 4 ryvita crackers (4pp) with cherry tomatoes and 60g Philadelphia Light mixed herbs (2pp) = 6pp
Snack: 150g Yeo Valley 0% fat natural yoghurt (1pp) with strawberries, melon, banana = 1pp
Dinner: Chicago Town deep dish four cheese pizza (12pp), 250g new potatoes 5pp and roasted carrots = 17pp

In the above I only use 5 of my weekly PPs so I have 44pp to play with throughout the week for snacks and random dessert splurges, etc.

Hopefully I’ll get a good loss despite the odd treat here and there 🙂

Until next time.. x

Instagram

Posted in Misc. by

Hi guys,

I’ve finally decided to join the world of instagram for my blog 🙂

You can find me if you search ‘aspiringskinnyminnie’. I will be posting my food photos (I’ll be still doing my blog posts) and bits and bobs I like (products, inspirational/motivational, non scale victories) as I find them.

Until next time.. x

Return to Blogging/Change of Plan

Posted in All Things Food, Monthly Updates, Weight Loss by

Hi guys,

Not sure if anyone’s around to carry on reading posts, but I’m here! Sorry for the prolonged absence. As you know I was going through a very difficult few months and I just felt totally overwhelmed. Unfortunately, something had to give, and that just happened to be blogging and generally looking after myself. So, I am kind of fresh back from my holidays, where I ate a lot of food. Fortunately I didn’t put any weight on (it was Florida after all!). Unfortunately I put a bunch of weight on before I went.

So, I’m back, ready to get back into it. I have decided to have a little change though. I decided to join Weightwatchers as I kept going off the rails a bit with Slimming World and thought I could do with a bit more structure to kick myself back into gear. I have to admit that I didn’t have great first impressions at group and the first week was a big mess. This week has been exam week and so I’ve not been counting (Daily PPs: 34, Weekly: 49) but doing WW’s version of SW – filling and healthy. Though I did have a moment the day before the exam and went to Mcdonalds >.< Well, Rome wasn't built in a day I suppose.

I weighed in on 11th May at 15 stone 12lbs. My last weigh in was 18th May and I lost 2lbs (though I had only really been counting for about 3 days due to a massive feck up online). This week isn't boding too well at the moment but my exam was yesterday and I'm going to make sure the rest of this week is up to scratch.

Although I'll be following WW for the foreseeable future (unless something goes horribly wrong or I just decide to go back to SW), I hope you'll carry on following my journey. I will be blogging my food once again and hopefully will be able to squeeze a few shopping posts in. At the end of the day, I feel that WW and SW are fairly similar in that they both advocate healthy eating and so far, it just seems (in my eyes) that WW is more controlled in regards to portion size and at this moment in time, I think that's what I need. I'm sure my food will still largely resemble a SW diet so hopefully you'll get some inspiration and just double check it's SW friendly 🙂

OK, so I think that's all for now.

Until next time.. x

Weigh In Monday – 02.03.15

Posted in Uncategorized by

Hi guys,

Went to weigh in today with my little sister who wanted to see what group was like. After my 7lbs gain last week (!) I lost 2.5lbs. It would have been better if I stuck to plan religiously but kind of failed on that front. It was nice having my sister there and we’ve made a plan for her to sleep over once a week and she can choose an SW recipe for us to cook for the first time. I have to say quite plainly that I’m not bringing her along to lose weight (as she’s only 11) but to learn about healthy eating. She seemed to really enjoy group and liked the consultant. My consultant also said she’d have more information about the Free2Go for her next week if she wants to go again.

I have a few days off this week but I think I have a fever so I spent a lot of today just resting as I haven’t been sleeping much the past few weeks. Doesn’t bode well as I wanted to get so much done this week but may or may not be on the back burner. Not done a food plan this week but I think I’ll see how much I can make from leftovers in the house as I spent quite a bit last week.

Until next time.. x

Food Shopping – Asda – 23rd February

Posted in Daily Thoughts, Food Shopping by

Hi guys,

This post is a bit late and without photos but better late than never, right?

Fruit & veg: 2 bunches of celery, a punnet of peaches, nectarines, leeks, grapes, honeydew melon, 2 punnets of strawberries, clementines, carrots, a grapefruit, pears, fine beans, mangetout, spinach, basil, chives, red pepper and passion fruit.

Other: 2 packs of 5% beef mince, almond milk, roast peppers in brine, chickpeas, mackerel in spicy tomato sauce, WW cumberland sausages, frozen black forest fruit mix, quark, cottage cheese, fromage frais and a loaf Kingsmill Great White.

Total came to £53.41.

I’ve tried the houmous recipe on the SW website and it’s not for me which I’m a bit upset about as I was looking forward to a syn free dip! I might just stick to synning the shop bought stuff. Similar views on the leek and potato soup but it’s more edible than the houmous!

I’ve not been totally following my meal plan either but it’s been nice to spend some quality time with my sisters and trying to throw myself back in college life. The past few days have been getting better and I’m taking some time off next week just to catch up on some rest and organise my life a bit more so hopefully I can get back into the blogging swing of things 🙂

Until next time.. x

Meal Plan – Tuesday – Monday (24th Feb – 2nd Mar)

Posted in Meal Plans by

Hi guys,

As promised I’m getting straight back on it. One thing I’ve been obsessed about since I posted at the beginning of the month is Pinterest. I’d been a member for a while but I’ve only just realised how useful it is. I’ve been loving all the organisation pins and when I get some time I’m looking forward to organising my fridge and cupboards! One pin which I want to take on board is where you prep slow cooker meals and then put them in the freezer so you just need to take it out the night before to defrost and bung it in the slow cooker in the morning – something I definitely want to do in the near future!

Tuesday
Breakfast – mackerel in spicy tomato sauce with scrambled eggs, cherry tomatoes (s) and ketchup (2 syns) with 60g of Kingsmill Great White (HEB)
Lunch – leek and potato soup with carrot sticks and houmous (Homemade – FREE)
College – jacket potato with baked beans
Dinner – tomato soup

Wednesday
Breakfast – fromage frais mixed with half HEA milk with papaya (s), pear (s) and berries (s)
Lunch – soy salmon with roasted carrots (s), fine beans (s) and broccoli (s)
Dinner – tomato soup with a cheese (half HEA) and cherry tomato (s) toastie using Kingsmill Great White 60g (HEB)

Thursday
Breakfast – Coco Shreddies (HEB) with milk (HEA) with pear and papaya
Lunch – leek and potato soup with carrot sticks (s) and houmous
College – jacket potato with baked beans
Dinner – tomato soup

Friday
Breakfast – bacon, sausage (1 syn), mushroom (s) and spinach (s) omelette
Lunch – beef chilli with rice
Dinner – red pesto pasta (3.5 syns)

Saturday
Breakfast – Coco Shreddies (HEB) with milk (HEA) with berries (s) and pear (s)
Lunch – red pesto pasta (3.5 syns)
Dinner – spinach (s) and sausage (2 syns) pasta

Sunday
Breakfast – baked beans on 60g Kingsmill Great White (HEB) with berries (s) and grapes
Lunch – beef chilli and rice
Dinner – red pesto pasta (3.5 syns)

Monday
Breakfast – Coco Shreddies (HEB) and milk (HEA) with berries (s), pear (s) and grapes
Lunch – leek and potato soup with carrot sticks (s) and houmous
Dinner – spinach (s) and sausage (2 syns) pasta

Until next time.. x