I felt very tired today so decided to take care of myself by resting a little and eating well.  I have got really sore feet from walking so far in shoes that were too small.  My feet are blistered, bruised and swollen so I didn’t go out for either a walk or a swim today.  The shoes have been given away as I am not going through this again.

I also made an effort today because I have been amongst several people recently with colds and I do not want to catch one.  So I started my day with a hot water with ginger, lime and cayenne pepper.

As I drove back to Hastings from St.Leonard’s at 9am this morning, I pulled over to look at the sky which was stunning.  It was very cloudy but there were gaps in the sky where you could see rays of sunshine streaming though.  It was beautiful.Last night I had soaked 1 cup of buckwheat groats in water so they were softer and easier to cook this morning.  I fancied making a porridge with cinnamon and a fresh orange.

It was delicious.  Warming and comforting and packed with nutrients.

I made sure I was well hydrated all day and sipped plenty of water.I spent the day doing paper work as it needed doing and was a sedentary activity.  To make my room smell lovely I burnt palo santo which I love.These two kept me company all day.  I love how Beryl finds the sunny spot to sit in.For lunch I made a salad from an Anna Jones recipe book.  It was really good but can be better and when I have made it again I will share the recipe.  It was slices of cucumber, with crispy garlic slices, broccoli stir fried until crispy in soy sauce, maple syrup and sesame oil with chilli and a peanut dressing made with peanut butter, fresh ginger, lime juice and maple syrup.  It was good but I had converted a recipe for 4 in to a recipe for 1 but made several mistakes.  So I will make it again and then share the recipe.

We had a yellow and orange afternoon.  The world became darker and yellow.   The sun was a bright blood orange colour and we ended with a gorgeous sunset.  The sky became orange and apparently this is due to all the sand from the Sahara in the sky, blown over by hurricane Ophelia.I am not sure why this one is pink as it should have been orange.For supper I made a simple salad with cucumber, tomato and alfalfa sprouts.  I heated up 2 of the mini burgers (there were 8 in the packet) and I made sweet potato fries.  I rubbed the fries with a little oil, seasoned them with salt and pepper and added 1 tbsp polenta to add crunch.  Served with 2 tbsp humous.  It was very tasty.

It is hard to be certain of the syns for everything but here’s an attempt.

Breakfast – 0 syns

• buckwheat is free – that was a nice surprise
• Cashew milk as HEA

Lunch = 13

• 1 tbsp peanut butter = 4.5
• half tbsp sesame oil = 3.5
• half tbsp cooking oil = 3
• 1 tbsp maple syrup = 2

Dinner = 15 1/2

• 2 tbsp humous = 5
• 1/2 tbsp polenta = 1/2
• 1 tsp cooking oil = 2
• 2 mini Biona burgers = 8 (estimated based on 1 syn per 20 calories)

Oh dear, I managed double the amount of syns I am allowed and with little exercise to offset it, that is not good.  I did however get some much needed rest and ate plenty of mutinous food, even if it did come with too many calories.