Weeks 39 & 40 – post-holiday healthy eating

Does anyone go on holiday and not over-indulge just a teeny bit? I always do, and although that over-indulgence is usually balanced out by lots of physical activity, this time it comes on top of a period of unhealthy snacking to combat the sleep deprivation caused by little Ioan, so I am really feeling the extra pounds.

However, Autumn is here, and that means warming soups and nourishing stews … and that in turn means an easy way to get back to being healthy again. I probably said something similar in the run up to summer (the season of salads and the like), but those Magnum ice creams are crafty little things and sabotaged my healthy eating plans. Here’s hoping that those naughty little Autumn crumbles don’t do the same for this season’s plans! Whoops, I just made an apple and blackberry one … oh well …

Our break in Centerparcs was fantastic – I highly recommend Longleat Forest for a holiday which is as relaxing as it can be with a baby: no plane journey (therefore no limited baggage allowance); self catering but with plenty of family friendly restaurants, complimentary baby food, and soft play areas everywhere; plenty of indoor activities if it’s too wet to appreciate the great outdoors; and very friendly staff.

But our self catering mainly consisted of bacon and eggs! Otherwise we ate out at Centerparcs restaurants, or local pubs, or even made use of their takeaway service.

We did have a fabulous sticky beef in a local pub:

Followed by my favourite treacle tart:

And I did have a truly awful Yorkshire pudding (to be fair, when I sent it back the kitchen gave me a gorgeously huge one to replace it):

Now I really want to remember how delicious fresh fruit and veg is, and get back into the kitchen.

With that in mind, I have planned a lovely nutritious, warm and comforting menu for the coming days, which once again can be shared by Ioan.

Breakfast during the week will be homemade granola and greek yoghurt:

For packed lunches this week, I have made a creamy sweetcorn soup with homemade soda bread – the creaminess will come from the blitzed sweetcorn rather than dairy, and I will have some soda bread to mop up the goodness:

Dinners throughout the week are planned as follows:

  • Monday – meat free Monday returns with some pasta and homemade tomato sauce, made and frozen before we went on holiday
  • Tuesday – chicken, chorizo and pearl barley stew with red rice
  • Wednesday – faggots, mashed potatoes and peas
  • Thursday – chicken katsu escalope with veggies
  • Friday – a cookbook challenge from Nadiya’s British Food Adventure with chicken bhuna and garlic naan
  • Saturday – I am out with the girls so will leave Andrew with something from the freezer
  • Sunday – roast pork belly roast dinner

Here’s a sneak preview of the chicken and chorizo stew:

And, don’t tell the diet police but I also made a couple of batches of millionaire’s shortbread for my GBBO challenge:

How do you try and get back on track after a holiday full of indulgence? Any tips to share with me?

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