To say the diet has gone out of the window would be an understatement ;o)
On Tuesday we had our Christmas lunch at Loch Fyne it was really nice. As I always do when chosing what I want to eat, I work my way from the dessert backwards. The chocolate orange tart was so nice I had two pieces! For main course I had duck with roast parsnips and for starters I had game terrine.
To drink we had champagne, white wine and port...
...I have to admit I was a bit squiffy and had to stop myself from falling asleep on my way home, luckily the train I caught was only going as far as Braintree (our trains can go as far as Peterborough!) so at least I would have still been in Essex.
I got a text message from James Tuesday morning asking if I was expecting a hamper from John Lewis? To which I said no, anyhow halfway through the lunch my colleague Alan gets a call from his wife saying that he had received a hamper too, at least that solved the question as to who it was from ;o).
To continue my "I'm only working half of December" ethos I had Thursday & Friday off. James suggested that we stay overnight in a hotel in London and have a meal in Chinatown. We stayed at a Best Western Hotel which was right by Chinatown.
The meal was really nice I ended up having a sizzling beef with ginger & spring onions and boiled rice (in a veiled attempt to be healthy) but then had banana fritters (they were truly scrummy).
Poor James (like most blokes) really hates going shopping, by lunchtime he was getting really fed up with all the walking about so we went to Pret A Manger (an upmarket sandwich shop) and we both went for the soup.
I must say Ive started to worry that Im turning middle class because...
- Ive started eating posh soups and enjoying them
- I have been buying my underwear in single pairs as opposed to packs of five
- buy my biscuits in Fortnam & Masons
- buy my clothes in Marks & Spencers & Next instead of Primark
- I read Daily Mail as opposed to the Sun
- Im a member of a chocolate tasting club
- buy some organic food
Wait...
...I can counteract all that because I enjoy eating peanut butter & cheese and onion crisps sandwiches (yes both together) phew what a relief ;o)
On Friday morning on our way home we went into Hamleys and bought a Steiff bear in a suitcase, he has been looking very cagey and has been using the pc (I have a feeling he may be writing his own blog ;o)).
On Thursday its Christmas Day (and yes I'm very excited), I'll be leaving a glass of diet cola and a cinnamon swirl out. My hes tastes have changed...
...when I was little he liked a glass of Irish Cream and a slice of Christmas Cake ;o).
Ill also be tracking Santa and Ill be leaving a pillowcase at the bottom of our bed to see what presents Ill be getting ;o).
Merry messy Christmas!
Im not normally someone who likes soups, but a few weeks ago I saw that the New Covent Garden Soup Company was doing a Choc full of Beans soup which was a chili bean soup with rice and a touch of chocolate, that sounded really nice so I bought it and put it in the freezer.
Anyhow on Thursday I got the soup out of the freezer to have for my lunch (I was using up yet more of my holiday), and to my surprise it was really nice. So nice that when out shopping this morning I bought another two cartons of soup...
This time I have gone for their "Soup of the Month" Chicken Vegetable & Pearl Barley and Toulouse Sausage & Puy Lentil.
Next Ill be appreciating the bouquet in a bottle of 1962 Pinot Grigio, well maybe not ;o)...
I had the Friday off also to ruin James' first day of his redundancy.
On Tuesday we have our Christmas lunch at Loch Fyne, I even treated myself to a nice purple top to wear from Next (Im just showing off that I can now fit into stuff from Next ;o)).
My Mum has been reading my blog (hello Mum) and she said that I look thin in the photos. This doesnt sound like the Mum I know and love so it must be true as she never normally says nice things like that ;o).
While buying the fruit yesterday to juice they didnt have any cheap plums so I bought a punnet of kiwi fruit instead (having apples, grapes and kiwi) the concoction was quite nice and is a dull green sludge colour.
We were in Starbucks yesterday, we were really surprised that they gave us a present of two mugs with two chocolate bars in them. They said they were giving presents to their "regular regulars". We were really touched by this, I guess the fact that we are friendly with them and bring in sweets sometimes has meant that we are recognisable. They even know our orders ;o)...
...James sticks with the same thing day in day out (Americano with whipped cream) but I'm always having different things, mind you the drink is always non fat ;o).
In Marks and Spencers yesterday I bought some chipolatas wrapped in bacon to have (I have only ever seen cocktail sausages done in this way). Im sure they are going to be scrummy.
I weighed myself this morning and was well chuffed to have lost two pounds, that was despite the bits I ate last week and the bread and butter pudding I bought on Thursday (I have had a quarter each night).
I only have another five pounds to go to get to where I was before the holiday ;o).
Last week I had Monday and Tuesday off using up more of this years holiday.
I didnt get upto anything just walked into town on the Monday and got my train tickets to extend my monthly ticket to Liverpool Street for Wednesday & Thursday. And on the Thursday I walked to Asda for a look around...
The remainder of this week (yes I had to go to London on the Friday too ;o)), was spent wrapping, delivering and sending presents to our brokers.
Wednesday and Thursday wasnt too bad as I spent the time wrapping up 74 diecast dumper trucks, the afternooon was then spent starting to deliver them.
Friday was the killer...
...I worked out that I walked up and down 21 flights of stairs during the day, in my quest to be healthy I didnt use the lift in our building.
Friday was also the last day to post to South America before Christmas and a few of the presents had to be sent there. I just managed to send most of them off by the end of the day (dont you just love it when things are left to the last minute).
On the plus side of being in London I did get to look at all the posh shops that you dont get in Romford, and I did manage to buy a couple of Christmas presents too (one being for myself from James ;o)).
I also got to see our new office too that everyone will be moving into (only five of us) by the end of January next year. Its really nice and you need a fob to get in the office and theres a door release button to press when you want to leave. How posh is that (as they say little things please little minds ;o)).
I managed to have some nice lunches too, theres one sandwich shop Birleys where they will do half sandwiches for you using one slice of bread. I love their half a lamb sandwich (it always sounds like your being really greedy too ;o)).
On the way back from one trip out I saw a sandwich shop selling Chili Con Carne with rice, I thought yeah I could go for that (what with it being cold and all), so when I was getting some mango & papaya in Marks I saw on their Food to Go counter they were doing Chili. As I didnt have the energy to go elsewhere I plumped for the Marks' one and shock of all shocks it was a ready meal! It was nice enough though and warmed me through ;o).
I havent weighed myself this week as when I went into Tesco to get a few bits on Saturday morning the scales werent on (I took that as a sign that I neednt bother ;o)).
Sunday me and James went to Gordon Ramsays Taste of Christmas, it was really good...
The ticket price included a cooking demo show with the man himself which was good and not too much swearing either ;o).
There were restaurants (his ones were there for the whole four days) selling tasters of their food (typically some of the ones I fancied werent there on the Sunday), but I still got to try some nice food.
I think the favourite thing I had was Sticky Toffee Pudding with Caramel Sauce from The Narrow it was absolutely scrummy and the nicest savoury thing I had was Pork Belly with Spiced Apple Puree from Maze, the portions were really tiny, I ended up having two savoury things and two desserts to use up the currency (20 crowns each worth £10.00) we got with our tickets (I'm glad that I didnt buy extra when I bought the tickets).
There were loads of exhibitors there with samples too and me being me I headed straight for the chocolate ones, I could have kept going back in different disguises to eat all of their samples ;o) but I composed myself.
This morning I was doing my juice and decided to add a kiwi to my concoction (apples, grapes and plums) it really added something to it making it even yummier ;o).
Monday saw me & James' Mum going to Harrods...
I was well surprised that they had special offers on, such as three for the price of two, and buy one get one half price, and I'm pretty sure that before I hysterically collapsed I actually saw a buy one get one free!
A buy one get one free in Harrods, What is the world coming to? ;o)
The only things we bought were from the food hall. I bought two tins of biscuits, some fudge, some cakes and a Christmas pudding for James - so not too bad.
For our lunch we went to Cafe Rouge, I had a rather nice grilled spicy sausage baguette with chips (which I only ate half of ;o)).
I'm pleased to say we didnt get "asked to leave" or more importantly to "never darken their doorstep unless hell freezes over", and neither did we strangle each other ;o).
That Thai Coconut Curry Innocent Veg Pot I had last week was really nice, James didnt like it. In fact he said "Yuck, are you trying to poison me, you know I dont do any of that healthy muck".
I have bought another two to try this week...
The Tuscan bean stew and Moroccan squash tagine - I shall tell you what theyre like next week ;o)
I have just looked on the Innocent website to see what it says about them and for the Tuscan bean stew it says that Luigi is your uncle, well thats uncanny because hes my Dad ;o).
Tomorrow I can start on my Advent calendar - a chocolate one of course. It would be really good if they did a liqueur chocolate one. Perhaps thats the way I can make my fortune ;o).
I actually saw in Marks & Spencers that they are doing a biscuit one ;o)
Well youll be pleased to know I managed to get a packet of two custard tarts before the phantom custard tart napper got to them ;o).
So I hear you asking what did the sausage baguette do to your weight? Well I put on one pound and am not too surprised.
I dont think December is going to be good weightwise and it shouldnt be either ;o). Im umming and ahhing about whether to weigh myself at all in December and guess that I should do.
We have had the first snow of winter today and blimey its cold...
We were worried it would be busy in Chelmsford today as the Christmas lights are being switched on...
Luckily I think the weather has kept some people away, Starbucks was emptier than it is usually (I guess most of the people were using the mini ice rink ;o)).
After putting on our hats, gloves and scarves me and James went out looking more like we were going on an expedition to Antarctica than going to do our weekly food shop ;o).
Today whilst shopping in Sainbury's I spotted in the ready meal aisle some Innocent veg pots the one that really caught my eye was the Thai Coconut Curry one, it has three vegetable portions in it too (making it super healthy), they also do a Morrocon Squash Tagine one and a Tuscan Bean Stew they both looked pretty yummy too ;o). Anyhow I will try it tomorrow and will let you know next week what I think of them.
In Marks and Spencers they again had no two packs of custard tarts :o( Im sure someone (who is reading this blog) is puposely thwarting me and buying them all up before I get in there on Saturday mornings ;o). Hmmm its all happened since telling my Mum about this blog...
...could this be a coincidence? Who knows ;o)
I have been on my own (quite literally) at work for the past two weeks as my colleague has been off sick. Anyhow on Friday I had to bring some packs into London for a monthly meeting on Wednesday and my boss (feeling sorry for me) said I could meet my friends for lunch then go home afterwards.
I weighed myself this morning and despite my lunch of scrambled eggs on toast I managed to lose 300 grammes. So Im well chuffed.
I have Monday and Tuesday off this week (trying to use up my holiday by the end of the year) and am going to Harrods tomorrow with James' Mum so if you hear about a "disturbance in Knightsbridge" on the news tomorrow youll know its us ;o).
When we do our food shop on Sunday, I always buy enough fruit to get me to the middle of the week. James will then buy me the additional fruit to get me to the end of the week...
...anyhow last week I only needed some fruit for Friday, and on the Thursday he got me some blueberries, and I had already bought some to have with my lunch that day. Generally I dont mind what fruit I have as long as its stuff I like and that I have my five portions.
Now back to what Im trying to say...
...James said to me "but you had blueberries today surely you wont want them tomorrow as well...
...I dont like to have the same thing day in day out, but of course that doesnt include takeaways especially Fish and chips, hey you should blog that" ;o).
We were getting some bits In M&S on Saturday and shock horror they didnt have any packs of two egg custard tarts, they had the packs of four but James really doesnt like them so I thought I would have a looksie at their other desserts...
...I found some Christmas crumbles (I mean anything with Christmas in the title has to be good) theyre "mulled fruits (plums, sour cherries and blackcurrants) infused with Merlot wine & ruby port topped with an all butter crumble" and the one I ate last night was blooming lovely ;o)
I weighed myself this morning and despite having an extra flatbread during the week I have managed to lose another pound.
On Wednesday, the new Christmas drinks came out in Starbucks, and I've gone to great lengths and have tried all three of them, and mighty nice they all are too ;o).
The brand brand new drink was the Dark cherry mocha - it is super scrummy - just like how I think a liquefied black forest gateau would taste. I think I'm going to alternate it with the gingerbread latte which is my other current drink of choice ;o).
On Friday night I was out with my mates for one of their birthdays, we went to see Hairspray, Michael Ball was good as Edna Turnblad (the Mother).
In my quest to not be too bad foodwise and knowing I wouldnt have time to eat anything substantial for my dinner (I just got some extra bits at lunchtime to eat on the train going up there) I decided to take some nuts and dates to munch on during the show.
Let me go back...
...a few weeks ago whilst being dragged kicking and screaming (I was in my head anyway) into Poundland I bought some press and seal foodbags for a pound.
Anyway, one of the said foodbags was being used for my snacks and when I pulled the bag out there was a shower of macadamia nuts flying like confetti around the theatre. Yes, you guessed there was a hole in the bag along the bottom seam. James has also said that the useless bags also seem to tear just under the press seal too :o( I think I will have to go back to buying decent bags again... oh well.
Weve seen the new advert for Pizza Hut now being called Pasta Hut and just thought it was a marketing gimmick. But blow me, whilst in Theatreland I actually saw a Pasta Hut! In Romford the Pizza Hut there is being refitted so I guess that will become a Pasta Hut too. I will have to have a looksie at their menu to see if they have anything yummy looking.
I havent been too bad eatingwise this week, although I did have a jam donut on Friday. I havent had a proper jam donut for ages and had forgotten just how lovely they were. When I was a kid my Mum would buy a bag of frozen jam donuts from Bejam, and I would be allowed to carry them home in a carrier bag and I would always end up swinging the bag into my legs and would end up with bruised legs ;o).
I weighed myself this morning and despite having my jam donut I have lost the two pounds I put on last week so am well chuffed.
