Month: January 2017

Snacks & Nibbles

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I absolutely love this feature on the SW website, which I’ve included below, that is all about snacks & nibbles! This is perfect whether you’re in need of a tasty lifesaver to keep you going, a mid-morning munch or simply a healthier alternative to a high-Syn snack, for when a ‘nibbly’ moment comes. Some need no cooking at all and some are simple to cook in advance and keep in the fridge ready for those times. Please do share using the comments box below what your favourite snacks & nibbles are.

Speed Free Food snacks
Snack on these for the BEST weight loss results. The more Speed you choose the more weight you’ll lose!

Savoury

  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Veg crudités – carrot, peppers, celery, sugar snap peas, and dips like homemade houmous
  • Sweet baby cucumbers
  • Roasted butternut squash chips (cooked in low calorie cooking spray)
  • Pickled beetroot, gherkins, cabbage and onions
  • Slimming World quiche muffins packed with your favourite Speed Free Foods

Sweet

  • Fruit bowl favourites – apples, satsumas, pears, peaches
  • Melon chunks – pop in the freezer for a cool nibble
  • Fat free Greek-style yogurt mixed with 1 tsp sweetener and top with strawberries and raspberries
  • Apple wedges dunked in your favourite syn free yogurt
Other Free nibbles include:

Savoury

  • Boil or bake a fresh corn on the cob, season well – I like to add chilli powder to it too
  • Hardboiled eggs

    Boiled Eggs, Clementines & Activia 0%

    Boiled Eggs, Clementines & Activia 0%

  • Seafood sticks dipped in soy sauce
  • Lean turkey, chicken,  chicken drumsticks (skin removed)
  • Sweet potato chips
  • Drain a can of tuna in spring water and blend with lemon juice and quark to make a pâté. Mix in chopped chives and spring onions, and serve with veg sticks
  • Asda Chosen by You Vegetable Chilli, from a 400g can, topped with a dollop of fat-free natural yogurt
  • Whizz roasted red peppers in brine from a jar with fat-free natural fromage frais and paprika, then use as a dip for cooked and peeled prawns.
  • Mugshots – my favourite one has to be the Cajun pasta flavour. Be aware that if you buy this flavour in a sachet it is 0.5 syn! The pot is FREE.

    Cajun Pasta Mugshot

    Cajun Pasta Mugshot

Sweet

  • Fat-free yogurt. Not all fat-free yogurts are Free eg. Onken Fat Free Yogurt Vanilla is 5 Syns per 450g pot  (double check your favourite flavour in Syns Online to protect your weight loss)
  • Freeze an Activia 0% strawberry yogurt in an ice-cube tray and enjoy like frozen sweets
  • Ice cream: Chop a handful of cherries and stir into two pots of Activia 0% (or similar) cherry yogurts and a large tub of fat free fromage frais. Pop it in the freezer for a couple of hours, stirring occasionally
  • Fresh pineapple chunks
Healthy Extra bites – If you’ve got your Healthy Extras left, tuck into one of these super snacks!
Hifi Light Bars

Hifi Light Bars

  • Cereal bars – 2 Hi-fi Light or Alpen Light bars (Healthy Extra ‘b’ choice)
  • 4 Ryvita Original/Dark Rye (Healthy Extra ‘b’ choice) topped with 4 Laughing Cow Light Triangles (Healthy Extra ‘a’ choice) and mixed pickles like gherkins and onions
  • 60g of any wholemeal bread, toasted (Healthy Extra ‘b’ choice), topped with 40g reduced fat Cheddar (Healthy Extra ‘a’ choice) and halved cherry tomatoes
  • 30g bag Ryvita Minis, all varieties (Healthy Extra ‘b’ choice)
  • 500g cooked rhubarb (Healthy Extra ‘b’ choice) topped with fat free Greek-style yogurt mixed with 1 tsp sweetener
  • 35 pistachio nuts (Healthy Extra ‘b’ choice)

Homity Pie

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This is one of my favourite Slimming World’s recipe, it is such a good comfort food. Perfect for cold nights. I also added some broccoli to mine as I had some that needed using up, you can add any extra speedy veg to it that you like. In the past I’ve added carrots in it too!

Serves: 4

Syns: FREE when using cheese as a Healthy Extra A choice

Time Taken: 60 minutes

Difficulty: Moderate

Ingredients

  • Low calorie cooking spray
  • 340g potatoes, peeled and cubed
  • 225g onions, chopped
  • 225g leeks, thinly sliced
  • 198g frozen peas
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • A handful of fresh parsley, chopped
  • A handful of fresh thyme, chopped
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 85ml of vegetable stock
  • 160g reduced-fat Cheddar cheese, grated
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Homity Pie

Homity Pie

Method

Preheat your oven to 220°C/200°F/Gas 7. Spray a medium-sized, ovenproof dish with low calorie cooking spray.

Boil potatoes for 15-20 minutes, or until tender. Drain return to the pan and mash. Set aside until needed.

Spray a large non-stick frying pan with low calorie cooking spray and stir-fry the onions, leeks and peas over a medium heat for 6-8 minutes, or until the vegetables have softened.

Add the mashed potatoes, garlic, parsley, thyme eggs, stock and half the cheese, season and stir to combine. Spoon the mixture into the prepared ovenproof dish and scatter over the remaining cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.

Eating Out Advice & Pizza Hut

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As a Slimming World member you might think that you have to stop eating out to lose weight. But luckily you don’t have to give up on your social life, you just need to make better choices.

I know that is not always an easy thing to do. If you’re anything like me and go to a restaurant hungry, you might order a lot of things that you don’t normally eat or end up ordering more than you need.

What helps me and a lot of other slimmers is to check out the menu before going. Nowadays that is not hard to do, nearly every restaurant has their menu online. Study the menu well – opt for foods that are grilled or baked but watch out for creamy sauces or any other hidden syns.

If I am going to an Indian, I will always choose boiled rice over naan bread or even chappati. I ditch the poppadoms and sauces too! I choose a grilled chicken/meat starter and I tend to stay away from kebabs as these are most likely made in meat that is not lean.

If going out for a dessert, I tend to choose a sorbet over an ice cream and have a fruit platter with it.

Pizza Hut

Last night we went out for a meal to celebrate my youngest daughter’s birthday (I can’t believe she is 7 already today!). The only place she wanted to go to was Pizza Hut! That is one place that we stopped going to as a family because it is usually so high in syns and a slimmer’s nightmare to be honest! But life is all about balance and I didn’t want to be a party pooper so I made sure I examined the menu really well a few days before so I knew what to have once there.

To be honest there wasn’t much choice available, I could have had one slice of pizza which would have been within my 15 syns allowance but I knew I could not stop at just 1! I would still be hungry. So I chose to have the healthier pizza available which was their Virtuous Veg pizza at only 3 syns per slice and it was supposed to be cut in 6 so 18 syns in all not bad at all! When it arrived though it was not cut into 6 and it wasn’t that big at all so I did end up eating the lot! 18 syns for a whole pizza is great!! I filled up on all the free salad as well. Best to avoid all the pasta salads as they are quite high in syns, the couscous is ok. It is 2 syns per 100g but I am not very good at guessing 100g so I just had a spoonful and counted 2 syns to be on the safe side. For drinks I chose the unlimited Diet Pepsi (Syn Free).

Pizza Hut

Pizza Hut

I even took some hifi bars with me to have as dessert! I knew the kids would have cookie dough as they absolutely love it, so I planned to have a coffee with my bars whilst they scoffed on the cookie dough.

It worked out perfectly! All in all I only used 20 syns for a meal out and felt in control the whole night and back on track this morning.

Caribbean Beef Pepperpot Stew

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I don’t know why it took me so long to try this recipe! This is absolutely delicious. You can replace the beef with chicken instead if you prefer and adjust cooking times as chicken will not take as long to cook. We had it served with boiled rice. Don’t let the long ingredients list put you off! It is really easy to make this.

Serves: 2

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 1.5 hours

Difficulty: Easy

ingredients

  • Low calorie cooking spray
  • 400g stewing beef, all visible fat removed, cut into bite-size pieces

    Caribbean Pepperpot Stew

    Caribbean Pepperpot Stew

  • 2 red peppers, deseeded and cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 200g green beans, trimmed and halved
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp jerk seasoning
  • ¼ tsp sweetener
  • 200g passata with onions and garlic
  • 200ml beef stock
  • 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 200g dried long-grain rice
  • A small handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped, to garnish

Method

Place a medium, flameproof casserole dish sprayed with low calorie cooking spray over a high heat. Add the beef and fry for 4-5 minutes, or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally.
Add the peppers, sweet potato, beans, garlic, jerk seasoning, wine vinegar, sweetener, passata, stock and Worcestershire sauce. Season and stir well. Cover and cook for 1½ hours, or until the beef is meltingly tender.

Caribbean Pepperpot Stew

Caribbean Pepperpot Stew

Tip: Make it serve 4: Increase the beef to 800g, add another red pepper and small sweet potato, increase the beans to 300g, add another garlic clove and double the amount of passata and stock. Cook for an extra 20-30 minutes, or until the beef is tender.

Ways to eat more Speed Foods

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Free Foods are naturally low in calories, bulky and filling. Speed Free Foods are even lower in calories so they’re the very best foods to eat when you want to lose weight. So if you swap one third or more of the slimming Free Food on your plate for super-slimming Speed Free Food, you’re naturally reducing the calories – without weighing, measuring, counting or going hungry.

You can find the fruit and vegetable lists that are just bursting with Speed Free Foods in your Food Optimising book – just look for the ‘S’ symbol. If you haven’t got your book handy, in the Weight Loss Planner section of the Slimming World website you’ll find drop down lists of all the basic Free Foods. Speed Free Foods are all marked with an ‘S’.

If you are a Slimming World group member you must have heard at least once in your group ‘The more speed you have, the more weight you’ll lose’!!! And that is correct, but it does not mean filling up on Speed Foods after a meal full of syns hoping it will counteract the calories consumed! What Slimming World mean by ‘The more speed you have, the more weight you’ll lose’ is replacing Free Foods and Syns on your plate with Speed Food, not adding extra calories if you do not need them.

Below are just some of the ways that helps me and my members get our Speed Free Food in our day. Please do share how you get more Speed Foods in your day!

  1. Fill at least 1/3 of a plate, add more if you like! I always find filling my plate up with Speed Free Food first helps me get this right
  2. Reach for them first as a snack between meals – whether it be a Satsuma, an apple, carrot batons or cucumber sticks, whatever you enjoy the most, reach for that Speed Food first
  3. Enjoy them for desserts – you can make a delicious Speed Food fruit salad with all your favourite fruit
  4. Whizz them into a soup, great for lunch or as a warming snack – soups are a great way of getting more Speed vegetables into your day
  5. Cram them into your Free main meals – this is ideal especially if you don’t enjoy bulky veggies or have fussy eating children and partner like mine!
  6. Sizzle them in a stir-fry – drizzle some soy sauce and oyster sauce for flavour
  7. Load them into a quiche, frittata or omelette – I love adding veg like onions, mushrooms and peppers into these
  8. Enjoy them as an alternative to pasta, rice and noodles – if you haven’t tried cauliflower rice yet, you must! There are so many other veg that can replace pasta too like courgetti or butternut squash lasagne sheets!
  9. Get creative with your cooked breakfast – how about using asparagus or spinach into your cooked breakfast for a change!
Lasagne with butternut squash sheets

Lasagne with butternut squash sheets

Pancakes

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You don’t need to wait till Shrove Tuesday to enjoy these pancakes! This basic recipe is perfect whether you like a sweet or a savoury topping.

Makes: 8

Syns: 1.5 syns each

Time Taken: 45 mins (inc 30 minutes standing time)

Difficulty: Easy

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Ingredients

  • 50g plain flour
  • 2 medium eggs
  • 150g fat free fromage frais
  • 150ml skimmed milk
  • Low calorie cooking spray

Method

Sift the flour into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the eggs and fat free fromage frais and whisk until smooth. Pour in the milk and whisk again to form a batter. Stand for 30 minutes, then cook one at a time in a non-stick pan lightly sprayed with low calorie cooking spray.

TIP: If you’re in a hurry use a ready made pancake mix (128g pack makes 12 small pancakes, around 2 Syns per pancake)

Rice Pudding – Slimming World style

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In group this morning we were talking about rice pudding amongst all other things! My gorgeous members were sharing some pudding ideas and somehow we all ended up talking about almond milk, then cheese and then bread, suddenly we were talking about crustless bread!! It is funny how talk of one thing can lead to something completely different.

I absolutely love rice pudding, it is one of those comfort foods that makes you feel all warm inside. This is one of the easiest ways I have found of making it Slimming World friendly. I find that it does dry up if you leave it till the next day but I don’t mind cold rice pudding! I love it when it is all stodgy.

All you need is 125g pudding rice (you can find this on the baking aisles in the supermarkets, or you can use any type of short grain rice), 1lt of unsweetened almond milk (healthy extra A choice or 6 syns), 1 tsp nutmeg and sweetener (0.5 syn per tbsp.) to taste (it is best to add this at the end of the cooking) and cook it in the slow cooker for around 4-5 hours on low. I also like to add a bit of cinnamon once cooked, but this is optional. You can leave it out if you prefer it with just nutmeg.

Mmmm! Simply delicious.

Topping mad

Although this pudding tastes perfectly delish on its own, sometimes a little dollop of that certain something can top it off perfectly:

  • Sweeten it up with one level tablespoon of reduced-sugar jam for 1 Syn or 1 level teaspoon of honey for 1 syn
  • For a chocolatey treat, why not indulge in a 15g bag of Cadbury Chocolate Buttons stirred in until they melt, for an additional 4 Syns (soooo good)
  • Bananas, blueberries, raspberries or strawberries can be added for Free
Supermarket sweep

Ready made rice puddings tend to be quite high in Syns, due to the sugar content. Co-op’s Truly Irresistible Clotted Cream Rice Puddings are a whopping 23½ Syns per portion!!! And a 180g pot of Mulle Rice Original (described as low-fat) is a surprisingly high 9 Syns. Here are a couple of selections that are better options for us slimmers:

  • Ambrosia Rice Pudding, light, 115g pot, 5 Syns
  • Ambrosia Rice Pudding, Chocolate , 120g pot , 6½ Syns

How do you make your rice pudding Slimming World friendly? If you do it differently please comment below how you make them.

Aldi Yogurt

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I have to admit when it comes to yogurts I am extremely fussy! I absolutely love the Alpro ones so when my members raved about this Aldi yogurt, I was a little dubious. I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised that it tasted quite nice!

I love coffee and it is so difficult to find syn free yogurts that are suitable for vegetarians as well. I wasn’t expecting it to be as thick as it was for some reason.

Although it was nice, I don’t think I would be rushing out to stock up on them. I do have so many Alpro yogurts in my fridge that will last me for another couple of weeks.

These were at a bargain price of only 30p!!

Brooklea Light Skinny Latte Yogurt

Brooklea Light Skinny Latte Yogurt

Do you have any favourite yogurts? Please comment below with your favourites so that I can try something new.

Alpro Dessert Moments

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I popped in Tesco this morning to pick up a couple of things and noticed these Alpro Dessert Moments – as soon as I saw Hazelnut and Chocolate on the packet, I knew I had to get it! Plus it was only £1 for a pack of 4! I found them in the chilled section at Tesco’s.

Alpro Dessert Moments Hazelnut Chocolate

Alpro Dessert Moments Hazelnut Chocolate

I thought it was delicious! I was expecting a stronger hazelnut taste, it was quite a subtle hazelnut but it was chocolatey. The texture wasn’t as thick as I’d hoped either, for some reason I was expecting it to be thick like the Alpro Go On pots! But I can’t complain as it was perfect to dip in my oaty doughnuts and only 4.5 syns each pot which has quite a generous amount in it.

Alpro Dessert Moments with Oaty Doughnuts

Alpro Dessert Moments with Oaty Doughnuts

There are also a couple of other flavours available but I am yet to try them – Almond Vanilla (4.5 syns) and Coconut (5 syns). I am quite excited about the coconut one as I love coconut! If you have spotted them do let me know where please.

My oaty doughnuts are just baked oats ( recipe here) made in my mini doughnut maker I bought from B&M Bargains. I love the gadget! You can also make waffles in it.

French Toast

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I fancied something different for breakfast this morning so made French toast and it was ready in less than 15 minutes. This is such an easy recipe (like most of my other recipes). You can also add a couple of tablespoons of milk from your allowance if you wish but I don’t bother. I served it some speedy raspberries and strawberries and also added a dollop of my favourite Alpro Plain with Coconut yogurt. It was simply divine!

Serves: 1

Syns: 1 plus Healthy Extra B choice

Time Taken: 10 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

French Toast with Berries

French Toast with Berries

Ingredients

  • 1 slice of wholemeal bread from 400g loaf
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp sweetener
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Method

Mix together the egg with the sweetener, vanilla and cinnamon if using. Place the egg mixture on a shallow plate.

Dip the bread in the egg mixture and let it soak up all the mixture for a couple of minutes.

Spray a low calorie cooking spray on a frying pan and place the eggy bread on it. Cook for about 4 minutes on each side.