You know that phrase "salad dodger", usually used to describe an overweight person?  That could have been invented to describe me!  (Not only in that I'm overweight, but that I literally dodge salad too, I've never been much of a fan.)  That has had to change over the last few weeks as I can't see myself having boiled carrots and broccoli with every meal I ever eat.  Much to my surprise, it's turned out that I've really been enjoying having salad with my meals - result!

One of the key things that's been a part of that has been variety.  Nothing is worse than feeling like you're eating the same thing over and over while you're on some kind of eating plan and I've been doing my best to try to avoid that.  Even swapping out one ingredient and replacing it with something else goes a long way to keep things interesting and new.  Tonight for example, I had cucumber, tomato and spring onions, my usual, but rather than having lettuce as I normally would, I diced an apple instead and added that, with some frozen chopped parsley, to the salad.  Kraft Fat Free Italian is my favourite dressing and it's always the one I reach for first and the last thing I want to do is get bored with it so I added a couple of splashes of lemon juice too, not a huge addition but a noticeable difference in flavour to help keep things fresh.

There's a whole tool-kit of things I keep in my cupboards and freezer to help to mix things up if they start getting a bit samey.  Bottled lemon and lime juices keep for weeks in the fridge and are great for jazzing up a salad or even for sprinkling on fish or chicken.  I usually have 2 or 3 different fat free dressings in the fridge and rotate between them from meal to meal so that I don't get bored.  Frozen herbs like coriander, parsley and chilli are another good thing to have - they keep for ages in the freezer and a spoonful stirred into a salad or hot dish really lifts it to a different level.  Spices like garlic or onion granules, celery salt, curry or chilli powder can all be added to add an extra zest to something too.  Whoever first said "variety is the spice of life" really knew their onions! :)

Weigh-in night tonight, and I'd gained 1 pound.  I've had a few glitches this week in terms of following the plan (all the Thornton's toffee didn't help!), so I expected it.  Best thing to do now is look forward and make sure this week is better!  I also found out that I've been working out my HEb incorrectly, having 3 slices of bread when it should only be 2.  Thanks to my group leader, Sam, for pointing that out - hopefully getting that right in future will lead to some great results.

Got home from group to find my house guests had treated us all to an indian take-away as it was their last night staying with me.  Of course it was lovely, but not the way to start my week of getting back on track!  I've still got 6 days to turn this week's gain into next week's loss and I aim to follow the plan to the letter!

Breakfast
WW yogurt, diced apple, 35g muesli (HEb)

Dinner
Indian take-away (45 squillion syns)

This was always going to be a tough day - an early Christmas Dinner with house guests I've got staying.  Still, I tried to make the best of it, I made syn-free gravy (from a Slimming Eats recipe here - excellent BTW) and used sweetener in the custard instead of sugar.  As they say in Tesco... "Every little helps!"

Brunch
Tuna Mayo sandwich (1/2 syn and HEb)
12g Aldi cheese curls (3 syns)

Ingredients
1 small tin sweetcorn
1 pepper, diced
1 stick celery, diced
1 small red onion, finely chopped
12 cherry tomatoes, quartered
3 inch piece cucumber, diced
2 heaped tbsp chopped coriander (I use Sainsbury's frozen chopped coriander, more convenient and works out cheaper!)
Pepper and salt
FF Italian dressing
Lime juice
Sweetener

Method
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and add pepper, saldressing and lime juice (4 parts dressing to 1 part lime juice) and sweetener to taste.

Breakfast
3 sl WW Brown Danish (HEb), tomatoes, egg, baked beans
2 syn-free sausages, 2 slices turkey bacon, 1 tbsp ketchup (1 syn)

Lunch
Leftover Tuna Pasta Salad (snack size)

Dinner
Chicken Noodle stir-fry with spring onions, tomato, corn, bean sprouts, Tesco Stir Fry vegetables, egg noodles, homemade stir-fry sauce (passata, ginger, garlic, soy sauce)
1/2 tbsp oil (1 1/2 syns)

Apple pie and custard
(Yes, I know.  Shocking!  Not much I can do about it now, just resolve to have a better day tomorrow!).

Syns for the day - 17 Kajillion

3 sl WW Brown Danish (HEb)
Tomatoes, egg, baked beans
1 tbsp ketchup (1 syn)

When I use passata, say in a pasta sauce, I always just pour the whole thing in the pan and never have any left.  I hate to open a new carton for a recipe that just needs a few spoonfuls so I usually just bypass that recipe!  With that in mind, I thought I'd share a way that I've started to use to get around the problem...

Pour a carton of passata into ice cube trays and put in the freezer.  When they're frozen, remove from the trays and store in the freezer in a freezer bag.  The next time you have a stir fry, take a few passata cubes out of the freezer, let them thaw (you can zap them in the microwave if you're in a hurry) and add soy sauce, garlic, ginger, chillies for a great syn-free stir fry sauce!