A menu example of a SW Food Optimising day

One of the most common questions I get asked by members when they first join Slimming World is ‘So what should I eat?’ A lot of members get so overwhelmed by the amount of food you can eat on plan that they simply do not know where to start. So here is an example of a day on plan. You can find a 7 day planner on the SW website here (there is also a vegetarian option) or the SW magazines. If you have your own suggestions please comment below, I’ll be making changes to this list based on feedback.

Breakfast

Overnight Oats – super quick, prepare night before, using porridge oats, fruit and yogurt. Recipe is here.

breakfast brunch eggs beans etc

breakfast brunch eggs beans etc

Weetabix – really simple, just Weetabix with milk and topped with fruit of your choice.

Cooked Breakfast –  eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, baked beans, sausages and optional toast. See my favourite here.

Lunch

SW Ready made soup – available exclusively in Iceland. My favourite is this one

Homemade tomato soup – easy to make using only a few ingredients, recipe here.

Jacket potato – top it with your favourite toppings.

Dinner

Chicken curry with rice – super easy recipe here

Pasta with meatballs – one of our favourite meals

Fish & chips – eat chips and still lose weight! Make your own perfect chips.

Snacks & Syns

Fruit

Veg crudites

Hifi bars (available from SW groups only)

Low syn crisps – French Fries, Snaps, Walkers Pops etc.

Example Snack, Fruits and hifi bars

Example Snack, Fruits and hifi bars

 

Quark Pancake

I know this may sound like a weird combination, but it tastes lovely when topped with fruit. It is so low in syns that you don’t have to feel guilty about having a couple or more!

Serves: 1

Syns: 0.5 syn

Time Taken: 10 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon Quark
  • 1 tablespoon sweetener
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Crack the egg in a cup and mix it with the Quark, sweetener and vanilla. Try not to over mix as the Quark will make the pancake thicker!

In a frying pan, spray a low calorie spray oil and add the pancake mix. Cook on a low heat for a few minutes before flipping the pancake. Do be patient, try not to flip it too soon.

Easy Tomato Soup

Easy peasy soup you can make with a few ingredients from your store cupboard without using up any syns! A tin of Heinz tomato soup can set you back by 11.5 syns!!!

Serves: 4

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 1o minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 2 tins chopped tomato
  • 1 tin baked beans
  • 1 tin carrots, drained
  • 1 pickled onion
  • Vegetatble/Chicken stock

Method

Open up all your tins and place the ingredients together in a pan. Add your pickled onion and cook everything together for about 5 minutes.

Add enough stock depending how thick/thin you want your soup.

Blend everything for a smooth soup.

 

Chicken & Spinach Curry

Easiest way to cook a chicken curry! You can replace the chicken with any other meat or veg.

Serves: 4

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 60 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 500g chicken breast, chopped
  • 3 onions, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon worth of Garlic and ginger, chopped
  • 500g Passata
  • 1 tablespoon Tomato puree
  • Frozen chopped spinach
  • 1 tablespoon curry powder
  • ½ tablespoon paprika powder
  • ½ teaspoon cumin powder
  • Handful of fresh coriander stalks and leaves
  • 250 ml chicken stock
  • Salt to taste

Method

Spray a pan with lots of fry light and fry the onions, garlic and ginger until golden with the lid closed. This takes around 15-20 minutes. Add some chicken stock to stop it from burning.

Add passata, tomato puree, frozen spinach, coriander and spices and cook on high heat for about 5 minutes. Add stock if needed to stop it burning again.

Add chicken and cook for another 5 minutes on high heat, stirring constantly. Add chicken stock (however much or little needed) and salt to taste. Let it cook on low heat until chicken is fully cooked, around 25-30 minutes depending on how big the pieces of chicken are.

Easy Stir Fry

This is one of the easiest stir fries ever! You can add any meat/fish to it for a more filling meal. We usually have this with chicken mince.

Serves: 4
Syns: FREE
Time Taken: 15 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Easy Stir Fry

Ingredients

  • Bag of stir fry vegetables
  • Bunch of spring onions
  • 1 red chilli (optional), chopped
  • Dark soy sauce
  • Light soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp ginger/garlic paste
  • 2 cubes of Maggie seasoning, crumbled
  • 1 tbsp Chinese 5 Spice
  • Low calorie cooking spray
  • Egg Noodles

Method

In a wok sprayed with low calorie cooking spray, add 3 chopped spring onions, the ginger/garlic paste and the red chilli (if using). Fry for about 3-5 minutes.

Add the stir fry vegetables, soy sauces, Chinese 5 spice and the crumbled seasonings and stir fry for another 3 minutes.

Add any meat or fish at this stage and cook accordingly before adding the cooked noodles and giving everything a good stir. Adjust the spices if you need more.

Yummy Stir Fry

Overnight Oats

This is a very popular breakfast option with members in group. I love it too as it is very easy to prepare and it is ready and waiting for you when you wake up! You can add any fruit to it, frozen fruit works really well as it is perfectly defrosted by morning.

Serves: 1

Syns: FREE if using porridge oats as Healthy Extra B choice

Time Taken: 2 minutes plus overnight chilling

Difficulty: Easy

Overnight Oats with Fruit

Overnight Oats with Fruit

 

Ingredients

  • 40g porridge oats
  • 200g fat free natural yogurt or a flavoured variety (check if syns)
  • Mixed blueberries, strawberries and raspberries

Method

Layer the porridge, yogurt and fruit in a jar or bowl. Cover and put in the refrigerator overnight so the porridge absorbs all the yogurt.

In the morning stir so all the layers are mixed together and top with more fruit.

Kheema & Pea Curry

Love Kheema curry served with boiled rice and a raita. For extra Speed you can serve with cauliflower rice instead.

Serves: 4

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 30 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • Low calorie cooking spray

    Kheema curry

    Kheema curry

  • 450g lean beef mince (5% fat or less)
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 2 tsp chilli powder
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 400g can chopped plum tomatoes
  • 200g frozen peas
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp salt

Method

Spray a non-stick frying pan with low calorie cooking spray and brown the mince with onion and garlic. Add salt, turmeric, chilli powder, garam masala, and stir in.

Add tin of tomatoes and stir well. Half fill the tomato can with water and add this to the pan. Add the peas and stir well.

Bring to boil and simmer for about 45 minutes. Add more water if necessary.

Remove from heat. Add ground coriander and stir.

Onion Bhajis – Pakoras

These are a perfect little snack. The recipe should make 12 pieces, making each only 1 syn.

Makes: 12 pieces

Syns: 1 syn each

Time Taken: 30 minutes

Difficulty: Easy


Ingredients

  • 200g onions, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
  • 60g gram flour
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed
  • 1 tsp deseeded and chopped green chilli
  • 1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
  • ¼ tsp baking powder
  • Salt
  • Low calorie cooking spray

Method

Place the onions, gram flour, lemon juice, cumin, coriander seeds, green chilli, chopped coriander and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Season with salt and add a few tablespoons of water to form a thick batter that coats the onion. Leave to rest for 15 minutes and then, using your fingers, mix again to combine thoroughly.

Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C Fan/Gas 7. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and, using your fingers or a dessert spoon, drop small mounds of the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet to give you 12 bhajis.

Spray with low calorie cooking spray and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and serve immediately sprinkled with the paprika.

Mince Tarts

I have to admit I have never been a fan of mince pies until I made these little tarts – they are so delicious! A lot of my members love these whenever I make them for group tasters. I like to use Asda’s own make of mincemeat!

Makes: 45

Syns: 2 syns each

Time Taken: 25 minutes, plus chilling and baking

Difficulty: Moderate

Mince Tarts

Ingredients
For the pastry:

  • 225g plain flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 110g margarine or butter
  • Cold water, for mixing

For the filling:

  • 16 level tbsp mincemeat
  • level tbsp icing sugar for dusting (optional, I usually skip it)

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C Fan/Gas Mark 5. Lightly spray some bun trays with low calorie cooking spray.

Make the pastry. Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Add the fat, cut up into little pieces. Gently rub it in with your fingertips. Add sufficient cold water to mix to a ball that leaves the sides of the bowl clean. Rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Roll out the pastry thinly on a lightly floured surface. Cut out 32 rounds with a 7½cm fluted cutter. Use to line the prepared bun tins.

Divide the mincemeat between the pastry cases. Roll out the remaining pastry trimmings and make some little stars with a small star cutter. Use to decorate the tops of the tarts.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, until the pastry is crisp and lightly coloured. Cool on a wire rack and dust lightly with sifted icing sugar if using.

 

Chicken Kebabs

Who doesn’t love chicken kebabs?! You can use any other type of meat if you want, but chicken is our favourite. We like to have these on their own as a starter, or you can serve them with a huge salad and some Slimming World chips.

Serves: 4

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 30 minutes plus marinade

Difficulty: Medium

Chicken Kebabs Recipe

Chicken Kebabs preparation

Ingredients

  • 1kg chicken mince
  • 2 teaspoons garam masala
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin powder
  • 2 medium onions, minced
  • 3 green chillies, minced
  • 1 tbsp ginger/garlic paste
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper

Method

1 Mix everything together until it is evenly distributed, let it marinate for a couple of hours minimum or overnight (in a fridge) if time permits.

2 Shape into patties and grill sprayed with fry light, turning halfway. Takes about 10-12 minutes depending on how thin/thick they are.