MONDAY

I was working from home, and as my partner was still away, I had to get up earlier than I usually would to take care of the dogs. I started my day with some natural yoghurt and the rest of the strawberries.

At breaktime, I sat down to write – as is my habit on the days I work from home – and had two more of those banana, peanut butter and oat cookies. I’m making good use of them!

There was some salad left over from the gathering of agility folks the day before, so I finished the greens with some bacon and egg thrown in. A couple of pieces of that dark chocolate went nicely with the cup of tea I had afterwards. My current lunchtime watch is season seven of Cold Feet.

Afternoon snack was one of Whitworth’s Shots. No, I’m not drinking on the job. These have become a particular favourite of mine as they come in several flavours, are quick, easy and tidy to eat and offer a healthier option to snack on than crisps, biscuits or chocolate. A welcome option when you’re feeling a little peckish.

Dinner was a vegetable stir-fry with noodles that I put together in a matter of minutes – what I usually want at the end of a working day. Dessert was a chocolate-toffee one straight out of the fridge.

Dinner - vegetable stir-fry. The laptop is out because I decided to watch my favourite Finnish talk show, Enbuske Veitola & Salminen, while eating.

SUNDAY

Busy day, so I made the most of getting up early and boiled some eggs in preparation for serving lunch later, and I had two of those for breakfast along with an apple.

Boiled eggs for breakfast.

I was hosting a course walking workshop for the dog agility club, so after we got through some of the presentation, we stopped for tea and coffee, and I had one more of those banana, peanut butter and oat cookies along with a square of dark chocolate.

Lunch was included in the workshop, so I had prepared a simple salad board to cater for all the different diets out there, including my breadfree week. Simple is best, and everybody was happy.

The workshop finished earlier than I had thought, so I sat down to do some odds and ends on my laptop while enjoying a few strawberries with whipped cream. I love strawberries; they’re one of my favourite things about summer. Irish strawberries are good, but nothing is as good as Finnish strawberries. They say that the nightless nights of the Nordic countries give strawberries the chance to develop an especially sweet taste. I can’t wait to get home next month and eat some of those!

Dinner was cold-smoked salmon, boiled potatoes and a side salad. This was the first day in my experiment when I sat down to have dinner as part of my usual routine which includes a cup of tea and a couple of biscuits as a plain dessert, but biscuits are off the menu this week. I made the most of the left-over rice porridge instead. I mixed in some whipped cream and canned mandarin slices, and voila – we have hedelmäriisi (fruity rice). Waste not, want not!

SATURDAY

It was one of those rare days when I had no schedules and could do everything at my own pace – wahey!

Breakfast was my favourite porridge with cinnamon, apple and natural yoghurt. It takes longer to make than the average bowl of porridge, which is why I rarely make it during the week, but it’s well worth it. You can find the recipe here. Because I always try to get my five a day, I also had a mandarin.

I was preparing to host a course walking workshop for the agility club on Sunday, so I made some banana, peanut butter and oat cookies, which I tested out as a snack. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that either as this recipe is vegan friendly and gluten free, so I broke none of my own rules!

Lunch was a stuffed tomato with a side salad, tortilla chips and hummus. One of my pet hates is food waste, so I wanted to make the most of those tortilla chips, and they were a nice addition to this meal.

Because I got up late, lunch was late and so I skipped straight to dinner. I treated myself to a Chinese. The only takeaway in the village where I live is a Chinese, but I have no complaints as their food is absolutely divine! I went for my favourite, crispy shredded chicken in sweet chilli sauce with boiled rice. I had prawn crackers, of course, which I don’t think break my rules either as they’re more like crisps. My dogs would have been disappointed had there been no prawn crackers – they always get a prawn cracker to share between them.

Dinner: Crispy shredded chicken in sweet chilli sauce with boiled rice. Yep, I still buy and watch DVDs!

I enjoyed my dinner in front of the TV while watching my favourite Finnish film of recent years, Teit meistä kauniin. Before I moved to Ireland, I wouldn’t have dreamed of watching a Finnish film, but they have vastly improved in the last couple of decades, and this particular film follows the early days of one of our biggest rock bands, Apulanta, who I’m a fan of.

I was quite full after dinner, but after my stomach settled a little, I had a cup of tea with a couple of squares of dark chocolate with sea salted caramel – yummy! – which just slaked the craving for something sweet.