Sewing retreat countdown - minus 8

Well I have now accepted that, baring a miracle, I won't lose the 11 1/2 lbs that I need to reach my self imposed target in 8 days - but I can give it a good go and see how near I can get!  To this end, this blog, for the next 8 days will be hijacked by my food intake and general efforts to lose as much as possible - in a healthy way of course!  I will share one secret with you though - the 11 1/2 lbs is based on my SW weigh in next Monday - yet I started this journey a week before at home.  If I could stand on the scale in my own bathroom a week on Wednesday and have lost the 5 stone then I would be over the moon - so that means I am looking to lose (just) 9lbs this week - still a far stretch but a little less!

Anyway, back to today.  Due to the seals being up and hundreds of people coming to see them and blocking the car pack, I have been remiss lately about taking the dogs up to the beach - walks on the lead just aren't the same (especially with Millie pulling!) so my first task was to get up and go out early up to the beach.  The car park was empty at 8:45am, the rain drizzling and it was cold - but we made it home glowing and deserving my breakfast.  As I was showering and getting dressed, I had some weetabix muffins cooking in the oven.  This recipe makes 4 / 5 muffins from the two weetabix biscuits and "costs" me 2 syns plus my Healthy Extra B.  That means that I can enjoy 2 for my breakfast and snack on the other 3 during the day.

2 weetabix (I used Apple and Raisin) crumbled into a bowl.

One pot of fat free yoghurt / 1/2 a muller light yog

2 eggs

2 tablesoons Apple Sauce

mixed spice

mix together and put into silicone muffin moulds.  Cook for 25 minutes at 180 degrees C

After turning the heating on (trust me - its that kind of day) it was then onto the cleaning and tidying.  I try to sort the craft room out on a Tuesday and Millie has tried to help me by emptying the contents of the bin across the floor - even taking some into the lounge - how helpful!!  Once sorted, my thoughts turned to my freezer.  It has become a dumping ground (how many bags of grated cheese can a girl have - and as for frozen garlic!!!!!) and I have little idea what's in there - so, every now and then, I sort it out and make a list so that I can plan meals around the contents.  That's got to help the pennies - and revealed a number of meals that I have portioned out / odds and ends like a bit of spare mash / rice n peas / quarters of lemons and limes frozen after I have just grated them etc.  I need to do the same to the store cupboard - but I will save that "treat" for another day!

Lunch was another portion of the lovely pumpkin and bacon soup that I blogged about last week - well, I have half a pumpkin to use up!  You are supposed to reserve some bacon to fry and add at the last minute before serving.  In the spirit of using things up, I had two cooked low fat sausages in the fridge so cut one of those up and added it -well, it was pork after all! Whilst I was channelling my Domestic Goddess, I also started a risotto in the slow cooker and stewed some gooseberries that I found in the freezer.  I have never done a risotto this way and am intrigued to see how it turns out - I normally stand and stir - endlessly!  Again, I am using up mushrooms from the fridge that look fine but am out of date by a couple of days.

With the freezer list completed and the fridge sorted, I could then sit down and plan a week's menus - I am planning to only buy fruit and veg.  The trouble that I have found with SW is that you get tempted to try new recipes and then go out and buy all the ingredients!  Of course, I wouldn't be me, if I didn't do anything craft related and so, naturally, I ironed the backing squares for the Scamblesby quilt blocks, sorted out everything for the sewing class tonight  and set my BFF to sew the back of a gingerbread man to send to a woman who is making bunting out of these to take into hospital at Christmas.  I even found time to do some "leaves sweeping up" before collapsing onto the sofa for an indulgent afternoon - well, I deserved it don't you think?  I came across the finale of "The Quilt Project" and wanted to see who was going to win!