food optimising

Subway Guide

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I absolutely love Subway! Pre SW days I would always go for a foot long sandwich but that isn’t the best option if you are trying to lose weight or just want to eat healthier.

It can be quite overwhelming when it comes to ordering – the vast choice of breads to choose from, all the different meats, salads and sauces too. If you are following SW it can be quite straightforward though. First choice is to not have the bread! Opt for a bread-free sub – the salad bowl.

Subway Beef Salad

Subway Beef Salad

You can chose to add any of the salad options to your salad bowl including – lettuce, tomato, cucumber, gherkins, jalapenos, red onion, sweetcorn, peppers, olives and even grated carrot (although I found not all branches do the carrot).

All of the salad options are free apart from olives which you can count 1/2 syn if you enjoy a small sprinkle on your salad and the rest are all Speed options (apart from the sweetcorn) which makes it perfect if you are following Extra Easy SP.

You then chose from the meat options to add to your salad bowl. You can have that cold or ask them to warm it up for you (there may be a small charge for this). Choose from beef, chicken breast, chicken tikka, chicken teriyaki, turkey ham and turkey breast – all fab Free fillings as it is all lean meat and they’re not processed which tend to contain hidden syns and be high in Syns, such as the meatballs, pepperoni and salami.

Not all Subway franchises are halal but if you live in Birmingham there are quite a few branches to chose from. My favourite branch is the one in Hall Green, the staff are super friendly and make up your salad beautifully and are generous with their portions! You can search the Subway website to check if your local branch is halal or not http://www.subway.com/en-gb

If you are vegetarian watch out for the veggie pattie – although it contains Free Foods, it also contains hidden extras and is high in syns – around 9 syns for the pattie! If you don’t have a halal Subway nearby then a better option can be the Tuna Mayo for 4.5 syns.

There is also the option to have cheese with your combo – count 2.5 syns for a slice of Peppered and 5.5 syns for a serving of Monterey grated cheese. I always count the cheese as syns and never use them as part of my healthy extra A choice as these types of cheeses are not listed as healthy extras. I know that there are many people that do count it as healthy extra, so if you decide to do so and it is not affecting your weight loss then why not? As a SW consultant I would always advise to syn the cheese but you can make your own mind up!

Then you can chose your sauce for your salad (I always ask the staff to add the sauce to my salad before they add the meat! If you like me prefer to not have a dry salad, ask them for the dressing on the salad first).

Sauces in general are where a Free Food salad can quickly become packed with Syns. In Subway, you’re in charge so you can have as much or as little dressing as you like. If you find the staff have been generous with the dressing then increase the syns. My favourite go-to dressing is sweet onion!

  • Sweet onion – 1.5 syns per serving
  • Honey mustard – 1.5 syns
  • BBQ sauce – 2 Syns
  • Ranch dressing – 2 syns
  • Sweet Chilli – 2.5 syns
  • Light mayonnaise – 2.5 syns
  • Chipotle Southwest – 4.5 syns

If you are super organised and want to make sure your salad is all syn free then you can have it without any of the sauces or carry your own dressing or measured amount of cheese with you. I have a couple of members that do that every time they go to Subway. I am not that organised and I love the dressings and cheese from Subway anyway, that’s what makes the salad special in my opinion.

Black Eye Bean & Coconut Curry

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This is one of my favourite curries I loved eating when I was younger. The version I used to have would be a lot higher in syns so this is a SW friendly version I’ve adapted. The way my mum used to make this was a lot more complicated and she used some more spices but I find this way works well too.

I had a few people messaging me saying this is an odd combo but I don’t see how it is odd. Maybe because of my background I’m used to having a variety of different foods from different parts of the world that this is just another meal for me. I don’t know where it originates from but I am sure this type of curry is eaten a lot!

It is easy and very economical to make too. We have this served with boiled rice and masala fish.

Black Eye Bean Curry with Coconut

Black Eye Bean Curry with Coconut

 

Serves: 4

Syns: 2.5 syns per serving

Time Taken: 30 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 2 medium onions, finely chopped
  • Pinch of cumin seeds and chilli flakes (optional)
  • 1 tbsp. ginger/garlic paste
  • 1 tbsp. curry powder (or more if you prefer spicy)
  • Salt to taste
  • 2-3 tbsp. tomato puree
  • 2 tins of black eye beans, drained
  • 200ml reduced fat coconut milk
  • 5g desiccated coconut
  • fresh coriander, to garnish

Method

Fry the onions with the cumin seeds and chilli flakes (if using) and the ginger/garlic till the onions have softened and are lightly golden.

Add the curry powder and salt to taste and fry for a further 5 minutes stirring constantly. If the spices start to stick to the pan, add a little hot water and keep stirring.

Add the tomato puree and the beans with the coconut milk and cook on a low heat for about 10 minutes.

Once the curry is done, you can garnish it with fresh, chopped coriander and serve it with boiled rice.

Mary Berry’s Cornflake Cookies

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My daughter made these cookies over the weekend following one of Mary Berry’s recipe (all credit to Mary Berry for this amazing recipe). The recipe stated you could get 34 cookies but she made them slightly bigger and only got 18 cookies out of the mixture. The whole recipe is 135 syns (using light margarine, more syns if you use regular margarine), if you make more or less cookies then you can adjust the syns accordingly (divide the total syns value by the amount of cookies made to find out individual syn value).

These cookies were absolutely delicious – crunchy on the outside and a soft cake like texture in the middle. I am so glad I took the time to work out the syns, I honestly thought these would work out at much higher syn value! And the size she made them were just perfect and one was enough, even for me who has the worst sweet tooth ever! Not sure if I would have eaten more if I had not been fasting that day but I think if they were smaller I could have easily had a few more in one sitting.

If you do make these and make 34 out of the mixture then each cookie is only 4 syns which is not bad at all for homemade cookies.

Someone on Instagram suggested using Crunchy Nut Cornflakes instead of regular, which sounds absolutely divine and I thought the syns would be higher but it is not! So if you replace cornflakes with crunchy nut cornflakes let me know how they turn out please. I haven’t bought crunchy nut cornflakes in years, it used to be one of my fave cereals. I could easily just eat bowlfuls of them pre SW.

These cookies will be a fab addition to our Eid bakes this year, they’re perfect to give as gifts to friends and neighbours too. Everyone loves home baked goodies and these are super easy to make.

Feel free to let me know how your cookies turn out and tag me on your bakes. Happy baking!

Mary Berry's Cornflakes Cookies

Mary Berry’s Cornflakes Cookies

 

Ingredients

  • 225g light margarine
  • 175g caster sugar
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 275g self raising flour
  • 50g cornflakes, lightly crushed

Method

Pre heat the oven to gas mark 4 and grease or line a baking sheet.

Beat the margarine and sugar together with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy then add the egg.

Slowly mix in the flour until combined. If the mixture is too soft to handle, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for about 15 minutes.

Wet your hands lightly and roll the mixture into balls. Coat with cornflakes. Arrange on the baking sheet with enough space to flatten slightly with your hand (the cookies will slightly spread during baking).

Bake for around 20 minutes until browned around the edges. Cool on the sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. The cookies will get crunchier as they cool.

Chickpea & Paneer Curry

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Paneer is one of my favourite foods! I don’t cook it often as it is quite high in syns so making it in Ramadan is perfect for me as I don’t tend to use syns like I normally would. There just isn’t enough time to eat any snacks!

25g of paneer is 4.5 syns, I used 150g in this recipe for 3 of us but there was enough to feed 4 people. I guess we just don’t eat as much as we normally would in Ramadan! If your serving is for more or less people then adjust the syns accordingly. We had this served with a pea pilau & salad.

Chickpea & Paneer Curry

Chickpea & Paneer Curry

 

Serves: 4

Syns: 7 syns

Time Taken: 25 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 150g paneer, cubed
  • 1 tin chickpeas
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 tomatoes, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tbsp ginger/garlic paste
  • 1/2 tbsp bassar (or any curry powder of your choice)
  • 2 Maggie seasoning cubes (or salt to taste)

Method

Spray a pan with low cal spray and fry the paneer till its lightly golden and set aside.

Fry the onions with the chilli flakes and cumin seeds till golden. Add water if the onions are starting to stick to the pan. Add the ginger/garlic paste, tomatoes, seasoning cubes and bassar. Cook for around 5-8 minutes (adding a bit of water if needed) till the tomatoes have soften. I then blitz this with a hand blender so that there aren’t any lumps in the sauce. You don’t have to this, it is completely optional but we prefer it this way.

Add the tinned chickpeas without draining the water, cook for a few minutes till the sauce reduces and then add the fried paneer.

Mozzarella & Chilli Pasta Bake

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This is such an easy and simple dish to put together and it tastes amazing! It is one of my daughter’s favourite dish. I have adapted the recipe slightly from the SW Veggie Deluxe recipe book and have made this quite cheesy (just the way we like it!). You can have 70g of reduced fat mozzarella cheese as healthy extra A choice but you can use less if you prefer or put a mixture of mozzarella and cheddar cheese, but remember to count the syns depending on how much you use. All the other ingredients in this recipe are Free.

Serves: 3

Syns: FREE (if using the cheese as healthy extra A choice)

Time Taken: 30-45 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Mozzarella & Chilli Pasta

Mozzarella & Chilli Pasta

 

Ingredients

  • 300g dried pasta
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp. Very Lazy garlic
  • 1/2 tbsp. Very Lazy chilli
  • 500g carton passata
  • 2 x Maggie seasoning cubes
  • 100g frozen peas
  • 210g reduced fat mozarella

Method

Pre heat the oven to gas mark 4.

Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions, drain well and run the pasta under cold water to stop it sticking together. Set aside till needed.

Whilst the pasta is cooking, make the sauce. Fry the onion, garlic and chilli in a pan with low cal spray for about 5 minutes or until softened. If you find the onion is starting to stick to the pan, add some of the water that the pasta is cooking in (around a tbsp. at a time if needed).

Add the passata and the seasoning cubes, stir and simmer for 3 minutes. Add seasoning if needed. Add the frozen peas and cook for a further 2 minutes then remove from the heat.

Mix the cooked pasta into the sauce, ensuring the pasta is well coated. Tip the pasta into a medium sized baking dish sprayed with low cal spray. Top with the mozzarella and bake in the pre heated oven for around 12-15 minutes till all the cheese is melted.

Ramadan Meal Planner v.2018

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One of the best ways to be successful at food optimising during Ramadan is to plan, plan and plan. Planning is the key to success.

I already have a 7 day planner I did last year. Please click HERE to see the 2017 version of the planner. That page also has a lot of information on how to food optimise during Ramadan. I will be tweaking the planner slightly so it fits into my routine this Ramadan.

As the days are so long and the time we can eat & drink in is really really short (approx. 9pm to 2.30am), I intend on planning my days from iftar to suhoor.

So, fasting starts this Thursday. For me personally I’m changing my view of the ‘day’ – the time in which you can eat. I’ll try to explain:

The suhoor meal I will have on Thursday I will be counting the syns/healthy extras on Wednesday. That means everything I eat from iftar on Thursday night till suhoor very early on Friday morning will be counted as the same day.

You don’t have to follow my logic if it doesn’t make sense to you. Ramadan Mubarak!!!

Ramadan 2018 Meal Planner

Fried Rice with Salt & Pepper Chicken

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This recipe was one that was put together in minutes and have had many people asking me how I made it, so here it is. Apologies for the delay lovelies.

I used this Salt & Pepper Spice mix that I made following the Pinch of Nom recipe: http://pinchofnom.com/recipes/syn-free-salt-pepper-chicken-slimming-world/

It isn’t just adding salt and pepper to the chicken like I thought it was when I heard people talking about salt and pepper chicken in group! Please tell me I am not alone in thinking that 🙈 The spice mix makes quite a lot so once you’ve made some, you can store it in an airtight container and use it next time you need it. It is definitely worth making it! If you don’t have the time to make it or cannot be bothered with the hassle, you can buy ready made Salt & Pepper Spice kits from places like JD Seasonings (https://jdseasonings.com/product/salt-pepper-chips/).

I didn’t really measure anything with this recipe, you can add as much or as little soy sauce, chilli flakes and salt & pepper spice mix as you like.

I cooked the chicken in the actifry, here’s a link to the one I have: https://www.tefal.co.uk/Cooking-appliances/Healthy-Fryers/ActiFry-Original/p/1500637231

Fried Rice with Salt & Pepper Chicken

Fried Rice with Salt & Pepper Chicken

Serves: 2

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 20 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • Cooked, leftover rice
  • Packet of stir fry veg
  • Soy sauce
  • 2-3 chicken thighs, chopped
  • Salt & Pepper spice mix
  • Chilli flakes

Method

Spray a wok with a low cal cooking spray and fry your stir fry veg. Once they’re cooked, add the rice and soy sauce and mix well together till the rice is heated.

Sprinkle the salt and pepper spice and chilli flakes on your chicken before placing it in an actifry and cook for 20 minutes.

That’s it! Really simple and so quick to make. Hope you enjoy it x

Oat Pancakes

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These pancakes are super easy to make and syn free if you’re using the oats as part of your healthy extra B choice. If you’re using your healthy extra for something else, you will need to syn these at 7 syns. This mixture makes 8 fluffy pancakes. The key to this is to use baking powder, but you don’t need a lot of it. Using too much baking powder can affect the taste of the pancakes and you’ll need to syn it at 0.5 syn per 1 tsp if you choose to use more than stated in the recipe! If you like your pancakes quite sweet, then you may need to increase the amount of sweetener used. But remember that if you’re using more than 1tbsp of sweetener, you’ll have to count it as 0.5 syn per tablespoon!

Stick to the recipe below and it will be syn free.

If you’d like to enjoy these on a SP day, you can replace the yogurt with plain natural quark. 2 or 3 tablespoons of quark should be enough.

Oat Pancakes

Oat Pancakes

 

Serves: 1

Syns: FREE (using oats as healthy extra B choice)

Time Taken: 45 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 40g porridge oats
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 pot of Activia 0% vanilla yogurt (or similar)
  • 1tsp vanilla extract
  • 1tsp sweetner
  • 1/4tsp baking powder

Method

Blitz all ingredients together with a hand blender and let it rest for at least 30 minutes (very important to let it rest so that the mixture can thicken up).

Spray a frying pan with syn free cooking spray of your choice and add a dollop of the mixture to the pan. If you want, you can use a metal ring to make all your pancakes the same size but I don’t bother with that. As long as you’re adding roughly the same amount of mixture to the pan each time, you’ll get similar sized pancakes!

Cook the pancakes for a couple of minutes on one side before turning them and cooking them for another couple of minutes on the other side.

You can serve them with fresh chopped fruit and yogurt.

Khichdi – Rice with Lentils

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Serves: 4

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 30 minutes plus soaking time

Difficulty: Easy

Khichdi with Kheema

Khichdi with Kheema

 

Ingredients

  • 1 cup basmati rice
  • 1/2 cup yellow lentils
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp. ginger/garlic paste
  • cinnamon stick
  • 3 whole cloves
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 green chilli, chopped
  • a pinch of turmeric

Method

Soak the rice and lentils in cold water for 30 minutes.

Fry the onion for around 5 minutes to soften them before adding the ginger/garlic paste, cumin seeds, green chilli, cloves, cinnamon stick and turmeric. Stir fry them for a couple of minutes before adding the rice & lentils (drain the water first) to the pan.

Mix everything well together and cover with 3 cups of boiling water. Season to taste. Cover the lid and cook the rice and lentils on a low heat for around 20-25 minutes, or until all the water has evaporated.

I like to serve this rice with kheema but it is lovely on its own too.

White Chocolate Mousse

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A few weeks ago I bought tofu as I’ve always wanted to try it but didn’t know what to do with it! I finally got round to making this super easy & delicious mousse after getting some advice from friends on Instagram.

One thing I didn’t realise was that there are different types of tofu you can buy, luckily I bought the right one to be used for making desserts – silken tofu.

Are you a fan of tofu? Are there any recipes that you’d recommend? Please comment below with your fave ways of using tofu.

Silken Tofu

Silken Tofu

 

Serves: 2

Syns: 1

Time Taken: less than 5 minutes plus chilling

Difficulty: Easy

 

Ingredients

  • Silken tofu
  • 1/2 tbsp. sweetener
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • one sachet of Options white chocolate

Method

Put all ingredients together and blitz till smooth. Divide the mixture into two ramekins and chill for at least an hour.

Tofu Mousse

Tofu Mousse