Month: August 2014

Yay! Holiday!!!! Up early but sat and read for a bit before getting up. Our flights were in the afternoon so no need to rush about. Bacon omelette and express for breakfast then pottered for a bit, remembering little extra bits to pack – nail varnish!

Whole30 @ Heathrow is tricky but probably saved us a fortune in pre-flight treats. Only got a black coffee from Pret and wandered round the tax free shops. I was tested. We were upgraded to business class and I declined food and booze, but it was an afternoon tea of sandwiches and cake so I wouldn’t have eaten it before Whole30 anyway. Enjoyed a packet of nuts and a bottle of water in flight and read most of a book.

Landed on time and just had to make our way across Madrid on the Metro to collect our apartment keys. Made it to our new temporary home by 8pm so plenty time for a change of shirt and a visit to the local supermarkets. Fairly small stores, being a city centre, but managed to get some coffee, fresh meat and veg. As I hadn’t eaten since breakfast (I won’t count the packet of nuts) I was starting to feel a bit woozy verging on hangry so wasn’t feeling all that inspired to cook. Cobbled together griddled steak with tomato and onion salsa, and some baby gem leaves dolloped with guacamole. Had a few crunchy cortezas de cerdo on the side and sampled the Paleta ham we’d picked up. Lots of water and hit the hay quite early

Getting up was a bit easier today. Tea, shower, omelette and out the door. Not as much coffee at work, mostly fruit tea and water. Was peckish at midday so just had some fruit. Had my packed lunch later, made from everything I could find leftover in the fridge last night: roast butternut squash, red pepper, mango, cucumber, lettuce, anchovies, capers and added tuna. Very filling but I was starting to flag just an hour later. Possible it was due to the fruit I’d eaten earlier in the day. Huge cravings for cheese, and bacon.

Eventually went home and blitzed the kitchen before starting dinner; Czech meatballs, roast carrot and butternut with bacon braised cabbage. While that was cooking I got on with packing for my hols which was quicker than I expected since my huge wardrobe clear out last month.

More Breaking Bad with dinner. Pushed myself a bit too far, falling asleep during the 3rd episode. Hauled arse to bed and out cold. Zzzz

Definitely harder to escape from the duvet this morning. Sore throat and sniffy nose. Probably due to me spending my days in an office full of germ-ridden people. Usual routine of black tea and an omelette, then out the door.

To deal with my munchies I made a snack pack with nuts and sliced smoked sausage to nibble in the afternoon. It was gone by 11am.

Had a friend coming in to visit so hadn’t taken any food in with me for lunch and was at the mercy of the canteen. Managed to get a grilled tuna steak and some salad (just lettuce, cucumber and carrot) which was ok but think I’ll stick with taking my own food.

Hungry again in the afternoon and really fancied chocolate, but had a banana instead. Not sure if I’m actually hungry or just wanting a treat to cheer me up. Supposed to be full of bounce and wake up feeling refreshed but starting to think “Whole27” might be more than enough.

Home early and spent the extra time just reading and having some me time. Nice easy dinner. Just had to reheat stew and steam some greens. More Breaking Bad (nearly finished series 4!) and in bed, lights out at 10:30

Eek! Over slept 🙁 Super quick hair and make-up, and hoovered an omelette before dashing out the door. Made it through to lunch time with a few cups of raspberry tea.

Waited as long as possible before having lunch (mackerel, egg and chunky salad) but was still hungry after that. Funny, I’ve not been hungry for a couple of days but now my appetite is back in full force. Maybe it knows the end is nigh 🙂 Held out for an hour before grabbing a banana to get me through the afternoon.

Picked up snacks en route home to nibble while dinner cooked in the oven. Pork spare ribs, chicken wings and butternut squash wedges served with the last of the coleslaw. Nothing to watch on TV so had to be more Breaking Bad, then off to bed at 11pm.

Back to work. Thank goodness it’s a 4-day week!

Omelette and black tea, shower, blow-dry and make-up and still got to work early. I’m getting the hang of this.

Took nearly a whole hour lunch break. Wasn’t especially hungry but had my BBQ pork with coleslaw, egg and cherry tomatoes anyway. Had a coffee and catch up late in the afternoon but felt a bit woozy so had some more water.

Got home and flopped. Fortunately dinner was fairly quick to prepare, and only needed a couple of trays in the oven and one saucepan; garlic and rosemary chicken with roast butternut squash and steamed savoy cabbage – one of my favourites as it’s so tasty and easy. Even easier when someone else cooks it for me 🙂 Drank some more water but no snacks as not hungry after dinner.

Super tired so off to bed at 10pm for more Kindle.

Woke up to rain, and a cup of black tea. Excellent room service. Glad I got so much done yesterday. No way I would be going outside and roads would be chokka with people leaving Reading festival anyway. Bacon and eggs for breakfast, with some delicious freshly ground coffee.

Pottered online for far too long with IKEA related projects then made some lunch BBQ pork with coleslaw for Mr. Wasn’t hungry so just had some tea. Ran a few errands then came home and cleaned the kitchen, again.

Another Breaking Bad-a-thon with an interval for dinner; the last of the monster marrow roasted in chunks and topped with beef ragu. Minimal wash up 🙂

More Gingersnap tea and off to bed at 10pm with my Kindle.

Ah, Sunday! And a Bank Holiday weekend too so no sinking feeling come the afternoon that I have to go to school in the morning. Had booked a yoga class in the morning so had to get out and make up for my sloth-like behaviour during the week. Quick omelette for pre-gym fuel and a yummy gingersnap peach tea.

After a week of sitting in a desk chair, instead of using my standing desk at home, I could really feel the difference in my hip flexors. A lot less flex! Will have to keep working on it and walk around more in the office. Made a quick Greek salad and lamb meatballs before making the most of the good traffic and going to IKEA Southampton to do some returns – Bank Holiday weekend should have been a nightmare but actually ok. Had to pick up some padkos for the drive home and luckily there was a Tesco Express open. Best option available? Well, it wasn’t the plain roast chicken breast which I bought without checking the label – why would we? It’s only roast chicken. Wrong. Rice Flour, Potato Starch, Cornflour, Dextrose, Brown Sugar, Rapeseed Oil….

The bag of almonds and Mattessons smoked sausage were fine though. Surprising that a Vac-Pak deli sausage could be so crap-free!

Filled up on that during the drive home so didn’t really want dinner when I got in and just had a bottle of water. Stayed up late watching TV and fell asleep on the sofa. Crawled to bed just after midnight.

“It’s the final countdown!… du du doo doo…”

Ok, so it’s a bit more than a week – it’s 9 days but as I shop at the weekends, and we’re going away next weekend, I have to plan up to the end of the Whole30 test period.

After 3 weeks of cooking and freezing meals we actually have enough stored to cover us for the remainder of our Whole 30; just need vegetables and other fresh items. I also need to plan ahead for when we get back from holiday, which will probably entail a bit of clean up, some economical meals and dinners we can get on the table with minimum effort after work and gym. I’m thinking “A week of dinners from 12 items” or similar.

Hubby had gone for a morning run so had breakfast a bit late; grilled bacon with fried eggs and some lovely coffee. Got to spend most of the morning wrapped in my Slanket™, poring over cook books and planning for our final week of Whole30.

Hit the supermarket a bit late but managed to get everything we needed before coming home for lunch and some nice fruit tea in the sunshine. Tried the new Twinings Gingersnap and Peach infusion at Costa coffee the other day, got hooked and managed to track it down in Tesco. Easier than slicing up ginger root, for the office at least. More expensive than your average “fruit tea” bags but still only work out at under 30p each, so cheaper than the café options.

Snacked on anchovies, olives and prosciutto while watching rubbish Saturday night TV. Realised the time and got dinner ready; lamb curry (already made) with roasted cauliflower, then caught up on Breaking Bag – on Series 4 now (shh! No spoilers!) Got to bed a little late but ok, not a school night.

 

Very tired still this morning but managed to get out of bed at a reasonable time. Friday, so was going in “casual” which makes getting out the door a bit quicker. Omelette with smoked mackerel for breakfast. Nice for a change. Avoided the fruit bowl all morning but did have a couple of coffees. Tuna salad for lunch, then had a plum while sitting on a conf call.

Ended up staying late due to another meeting (on a Friday?! FFS!) but drive home didn’t take too long.

Didn’t feel up to doing a full shop so just grabbed some bits to go with the enormous marrow we had for dinner – stuffed it with chorizo and peppers.

Took forever to cook the marrow; recipe said 30mins but I suppose this was a bit of a monster marrow. The other half (nearly a kilo left over!) got stashed in the fridge. No pictures as was too tired.

Only got to bed at 11pm so didn’t expect to be up early in the morning – but what the heck, it’s the weekend 🙂