Blog catchup

Sorry I have neglected the blog for the past few days I was away on the weekend and then got a stinking cold so energy levels have been low. I will catch you up on all the fun frolics and snot since Friday.

First some good news I have accepted a new job. Those who regularly follow my blog will know I have been off sick for some months due to my ears. I will be having an MRI scan to find out the cause. It was becoming increasingly likely I wouldn't be returning to my job, I adored the people I worked with but with my ears it was just not possible to do the job (full days taking calls = feeling like your head will explode). I start my new job on the 16tn December so I have a few more weeks to get back to as close to full health as I can before I start back to working. The people seem really lovely in the new job so I am looking forward to being a decent earning again. 2013 is ending on a good note after some rubbish times. 

So, let's go back to Friday now anyone who is offended by drunken antics I'd scroll past now ;) I did start the day on plan 

I got this inside me before I went and met the girls. We met Manda on the train and got ourselves at a table and began the celebrations.

See we were classy and had wine glasses....

We got to Cardiff at lunchtime and headed for the pub to find food and drink before shopping commenced.

We shopped our little socks off and I got some new shoes and a cardi to go with my outfit. We did make a pit stop for a drink before heading back to the hotel to begin getting ready

Hehe were you expecting more alcohol ;) just a toffee nut latte which was yummy.

We did he typical girl thing of getting ready I'm one room aka party central

 We were all pretty full from lunch so just had sandwiches and fruit for our dinner

Once we were all pretty we headed over to the venue 

The support act wasn't great....I don't really have much more to say about him as can't remember him.  We entertained ourselves with a few more drinks

And danced our feet off when the main event came on....it was constant dancing and singing. To quote Jen it's like being 14 again except for no parents and with alcohol

After the concert we headed out into town and danced the night away to some rock and metal tunes and drank from a bucket

The next morning we woke up lacking hangovers though feeling rather knackered and I was very croaky....maybe due to the amount of singing and screaming I was doing. We left the hotel to head for our train via weatherspoons first for breakfast but the wait was too long so we headed to Starbucks instead.

Once we got on the train we got right back on the wagon. I got home about 2 and needed lunch and comfort food so went for a burger sandwich.

I used two healthy extras on this beauty. I spent most of the afternoon catching up with Rich and trying to rest as was feeling pretty rough....maybe I'm getting a bit too old for this much partying.

Dinner was a simple affair

Mushroom pasta with a tub of low low.

The next morning I woke up feeling still quite rough and it looked evident that I was getting a cold. A day of much resting was in order but I did have plans so got myself some breakfast. 

Me and Doug went out for a quick walk after breakfast.

Lunch was orzo with blue cheese laughing cow, sweet pointy peppers mushrooms and tomatoes. Once this was consumed I got ready to go out as I was going to a friends Christmas market. It was really lovely and I purchased some of her gorgeous cakes for Rich. She also made this which is amazing

Once I got home I glued myself to the sofa with no plans to move. We ended up ordering takeaway which I thoroughly enjoyed but obviously not sensible.

Monday I woke up with the cold in full force so my plan for the day was doing nothing and eating comfort food.

Tuesday was weigh in day and the scales showed a 3.5lb gain which I was expecting considering the amount of alcohol I put away.

Food for the rest of the week has been simple and cheesy and comforting as I have had no energy. 

There are a few pictures missing it seems but that's you all caught up to date I think.

On to today, thankfully the cold appears to be going now. I dropped Rich off at work and me and Doug went to explore a new park area we had found.

It was a nice early morning walk and I enjoyed it. Doug got to meet lots of other dogs and it's pretty close to our house so I'll definitely take him there again.

Once we got back I got ready for a day of Breaking Bad as I am on the final season now with only a few episodes to go. Cannot wait to see how this turns out.

Breakfast - Everything is free except the 2tbsps of tomato sauce which was 1 syn.

Lunch - Good old cheesy pasta again with mixed veg (2 x hex)

Dinner - Sticky sausages with slimming world chips mushrooms and onions. The sausages were really easy to make

2 tbsp hoison sauce,  4 tbsp tomato puree,  4 tbsp dark soy sauce,  1/4 tsp sweetener and 1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes.  Mix together and coat the sausages.  Cook in pre heated oven for about 30 or so mins till sausages are cooked and sauce has gone sticky over the sausages.

They tasted really nice like the sauce you would have on duck if you ate duck.

For pudding I wanted to try something different so after consultant my bible I decided to try the baked apple with a tbsp of mincemeat. I added an extra tbsp for 2 syns and warmed some banana and custard muller to pour over the top.

It was gorgeous and a proper winter pudding. Will be making that again for sure.

That's you all caught up so I will leave it here and thanks to anyone still reading ;) night night all xoxo

Productive girl time

Firstly a little addition to last nights food, I ended up watching The Hunger games I'm preparation for seeing the new one today and ended up having some snacks.

A muller chocolate dessert for 5 syns and a Christmas pudding hifi bar. They satisfied my sweet tooth perfectly. 

For some reason I have been rather productive today I'm amongst bouts of pure laziness and got lots of little things done that had been waiting my attention for a while. I woke up feeling slightly better than yesterday though still not perfect. I lazed in bed reading until it was time to get up and take Rich to work. One I got back I decided to have some breakfast whilst catching up on Hollyoaks (thanks Kalli for filling in the gaps).

Once breakfast had settled I got Doug ready and took him out for his walk whilst I was on a mission to get the first task done. It was only a trip to the cashpoint to get my money out for tomorrow but it had to be done so I worked it into my walk.

Not a bad walk and no crazy people encountered today....well other than me when I looked I'm a car window ;). 

When I got back I had to get on with packing as tomorrow I am going to Cardiff with my lovely girlfriends to see 5ive (yes really) and we are staying overnight. Doug decided to interfere with my packing and try and help me.

The only problem was he cannot come with us....once he got out of the case (sorry trace it has been dedogged) he decided to help by taking whatever I put in there out again.......he may need to be taught the concept of packing.

The suitcase is all packed complete with my outfit...and my backup outfit just incase ;) one this was done I got on with the task of filling in forms and writing letters that were needed. This time I was assisted by the lovely Paul Hollywood. I also prepped dinner for tonight as I was going to the cinema.

Lunch was simply but good sweet potato and butternut sqush soup.

The afternoon has been spent watching Paul Hollywood and then Masterchef and taking delivery of this

It is a new rice cooker as I fail at cooking rice more often than not. Cannot wait to try it out next week!

This evening I went to see Catching Fire with my lovely friend Jen. It was fantastic as I expected and kept close to the book. Rich very kindly put my dinner on so I could have it when I got home.

Veggie pasta bake with two healthy extras of cheese.

There won't be a blog tomorrow as I will be away but I will catch you up on Saturday I will warn you here will be some alcohol involved xxx

Wet windy wednesday

Today has been a bit of an odd day, I have been feeling pretty blah all day thanks to my wonderful ears being mean and not starting the day very well. Rich was on a weird shift today which meant he was in the office from 11 till 5 then working from home 6 till 8. I decided to set an alarm so I could get up and have breakfast before I took him to work. I think I should have stayed in bed ;)

I decided to have a mushroom and courgette omelette so whilst the veggies were cooking off I mixed my eggs. I managed to get them cracked perfectly no shell or anything...I then decided to knock the cup over and spill the eggs everywhere :( the second batch were made and my omelette created...

Looked fab and tasted fab until I came across some egg shell boilk!!! Completely ruined it for me and left me feeling quite vomey for the rest of the morning.

I dropped Rich off at work and heading first to Aldi then Asda for the shopping. I decided when I got home to take Doug straight out. It was only a short walk today due to feeling unwell and also my normal route was a bit blocked by a crazy man stating I was part of societies problem as I was a rich snob....trust me if you saw me today I looked neither rich or snobby but I didn't really want to go the same way as this man so took a shorter route.

Once we got back and warmed up a bit my thoughts turned to lunch, I had originally intended something more elaborate but went for comfort food in the shape of chilli cheese fries

I did a mixture of sweet potato and regular chips chucked the syn free chilli on top and then topped with my healthy extra of cheese.

The afternoon and part of the evening was spent attempting to study but I was foiled by a question I didn't really understand so now need to wait for tutor feedback.

Dinner was a tad later than normal tonight as Rich had to work till 8 think I did the onion gravy a bit....

Quorn lamb fillets with roasties and veg.

As I am out on Friday and drinking will be involved I am aiming to only have 5 syns a day, I currently am too full for anymore food and still have a HEB left so may not have anything else will see how the evening progresses.

Will say night night for now xoxo

Weigh in day and coffee

Well I have been to face the scales and another 2lbs bites the dust! Thats 8.5lbs in two weeks which is really good progress. Next week may be a bit trickier due to a planned night out but I have going to have lots of superfree and 5 syns per day to help my case. I have been looking forward to this for ages and want to enjoy it with a mind on next weeks results. There will be much dancing/walking/general merriment involved and I really cannot wait.

Apart from weigh in today has been pretty sedate again as I had to wait in for a delivery but it was worth it when it came

Lots of coffee, the bags are white chocolate and sticky toffee and I got some yummy christmas coffee too which I will not have until 1st December as it's a bit too earlier for christmas stuff for me. 

Once the delivery came me and Doug got out for a walk...I am glad I was wearing these

It was absolutely freezing outside and my ears are hurting a lot because of it as they were not protected enough. I need to invest in some ear muffs. Despite the weather we still go another 2 miles under our belts.

Once we got back I need to defrost and where better to do it than a warm bubble bath.

Doug is my constant bath monitor incase I dissapear down the plug hole...he is a good boy. 

Food wise...I will admit post weigh in I entered the takeaway bubble. Now I am not a great fan of the bubble and know ultimately it isn't wise but i have done this for the past two weeks and mentally it has helped me. I will not be continuing this as don't want to get into the habit of a post weigh in binge as once you step of those scales your in a new week but for the past two weeks it has helped. I am certainly feeling more secure on the bus now. It's amazing how things change it's a good combination of exercise and generally looking after myself. 

Until post weigh in my food was epic though

French toast made with wholemeal bread (60g HEB) I soaked the bread in a cinnamon, egg and milk mixture (using milk from my HEA) and then fried in frylight. I topped it with a tsp of honey (0.5 syns) and banana.

Cheesy orzo (HEA and HEB) I added mushrooms, onions, courgettes and quorn chicken fillet pieces.

That's it for me today so night night all xoxo