syn free

Kheema Biryani

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I love a good biriyani and this recipe is so easy to make and perfect for us slimmers. All the taste without any of the syns!

Serves: 4

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 45-60 minutes

Difficulty: Moderate

Ingredients

  • 1 kg chicken mince
  • 2-3 onions, chopped
  • green chillies, to taste (optional)
  • 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp garlic/ginger paste
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 1 tsp red chilli flakes
  • 1 tbsp garam masala
  • Food colouring deep orange or yellow, just a few drops
  • 4 cups of white rice
  • Low calorie cooking spray

Method

Put mince and all the spices in pan, add enough water to cover mince meat and cook for around 30 minutes.

Boil the rice separately. In a pan of boiling salted water, add your rice and cook for about 8 minutes. You do not want to cook the rice fully at this stage. Once cooked, drain the water off the rice and place the rice in a colander.

In the pan you cooked the rice, spray the bottom and sides of it with a low calorie cooking spray. Put in a layer of the rice at the bottom of pan then layer some keema on top and layer again with rice and sprinkle with both food colours then keep repeating the method until rice/keema finishes ending with rice.

Cook for about 20 minutes on low heat.

Spice-N-Tice Meal Kits

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I came across Spice-N-Tice when one of my lovely members and friend gave me a very thoughtful gift – Chilli Rocks! Some of you may know that I absolutely love chillies and spicy food, so when the lovely Halimah (@Halimah_official on Instagram, please check her out and give her a follow) gave me this, I was just over the moon.

The chilli rocks came in a pack of 6 different types of chilli pots ranging from an earthy, sweet and mild heat from Sweet Ancho to the world’s hottest chilli on record – Carolina Reaper! Perfect gift for chilli lovers like me and those who like it hot, hot, hot!

Chilli Rocks

Chilli Rocks

The fab people at Spice-N-Tice got in touch with me and kindly sent me some of their Meal Kits to try out . I was hoping to have tried a few of the kits by now but have been super busy with the summer break and have only tried one so far and it did not disappoint!

Spice-N-Tice Meal Kits

Spice-N-Tice Meal Kits

 

I tried the shawarma style Turkish Doner Kebab and even my fussy younger children loved that. All of the spice kits came with a shopping list and a very easy to follow cooking instructions. All of the meal kits I was sent were gluten free, vegan friendly and Slimming World friendly.

Shawarma Style Doner Kebab

Shawarma Style Doner Kebab

 

Keep an eye out for more about these spice kits on my instagram page – @Rahema_m

For a 20% discount code you can use the code RM20. Let me know in the comments which of the spice kits you have tried and is your favourite. Feel free to share the code with friends x

Bulgur Wheat

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Bulgur wheat is a great alternative to rice or couscous. It is a Free Food and quite easy to make.

I used 120g of bulgur wheat and cooked that in with 600ml cold water for around 15 minutes. I also added one vegetable stock pot to it for flavour.

After the 15 minutes, I drained the water and added chickpeas, some garlic granules and chilli flakes.

Bulgur Wheat

Bulgur Wheat

When I made it again the other day, I added feta cheese to it and it was amazing!

We had it served with Peri Peri chicken and salad. It was delicious! You can add anything to the bulgur wheat – peppers, cherry tomatoes, sweet corn etc.

How do you have bulgur wheat when you make it? Comment below with your ideas.

 

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.

Non Alcoholic Pimm’s

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This is a really refreshing and cool drink, perfect for the summer days! I am not sure who came up with this but this recipe has been around for years. I remember trying this years ago before I became a consultant (around 2011).

It is super easy and simple to make, and syn free! I couldn’t find any pictures of when I made this so I am using the one below I found the net (not my picture).

All you need is diet lemonade (the cheap brand will do, in fact, it tasted even better when I’ve made this with the really cheap lemonade instead of a leading brand!) and mix in 2 tbsp. of balsamic vinegar to every 2lt of lemonade (I tend to use a splash more vinegar, it is better that way).

When you are ready to serve then add any fruit of your choice to it and cubes of ice (this is best enjoyed cold) – it works well with chopped strawberries, oranges, fresh mint leaves and cucumber. It is up to you what you put in it, be adventurous!

I’ve sometimes had this without the fruit when I was making it for myself, it tastes great! Don’t let the vinegar put you off!! Just make sure you use balsamic vinegar and not the type you put on your chips.

Leave me a comment if you’ve tried this before or feel free to share any other mocktails you’ve made. Cheers x

 

SW Pimm's

SW Pimm’s

Skinny Dips

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Skinny Dips

Skinny Dips

I came across these Skinny Dips whilst at the BBC Good Food Show a couple of weeks ago. There are a range of different sauces/dips to choose from and they are all gluten free, low in salt and sugar and also suitable for vegans. That doesn’t mean they are lacking in flavour though! They all taste delicious and are perfect for Slimming World members as they are very low in syns. The values below are for a serving of one level tablespoon.

Skinny Dips Tomato Ketchup– 4 Calories (0 Syns)
Skinny Dips BBQ Sauce– 6 Calories (0 Syns)
Skinny Dips Sweet Curry Sauce (Chip Shop Curry Sauce)- 7 Calories (0 Syns)
Skinny Dips Vegan Peri Mayonnaise– 26 Calories (1 Syns)
Skinny Dips Vegan Salad Dressing– 38 Calories (2 Syns)

 

Below is a comparison of the nutritional info in similar products which may be of use to you.
Ketchup

Ketchup

BBQ Sauce

BBQ Sauce

Curry Sauce

Curry Sauce

Peri Peri Mayo

Peri Peri Mayo

Salad Dressing

Salad Dressing

The company has provided an exclusive discount code for Slimming World members – for an extra 25% off your purchases please use discount code ‘Slim25’. There is also free delivery for all purchases over £10.

You can buy them from here: http://www.salternativeseaweed.com/shop/

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.

Prawn & Pesto Linguine

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A really quick and easy meal ready in less than 15 minutes! The pesto sauce can be stored in the fridge for a couple of days but I prefer to make it when I need it as it is super quick to prepare. If you do make extra, you can use the spare pesto over chicken and bake it for another quick meal.

This is syn free if you use the cheese as part of your healthy extra A choice (you can have 30g), I only use half the cheese allowance as I use milk in my coffees for the other half of healthy extra A choice. It is perfectly fine to split your healthy extra choices, you may not get the full calcium/fibre benefits but that is okay. I tend to do that with healthy extra B choices too. If you follow me on Instagram (@RahemaSW) you may notice that most of my breakfasts consists of 1 chocolate Weetabix, I almost always have a hifi bar for the other half of my B choice. You can find more information about splitting healthy extra choices on lifeline online if you are SW member, or your consultant can give you more info about it.

I have added chilli to this (I know, you don’t add chilli to pesto) but you can leave it out. I think most people know that I love spicy food so I tend to add chilli in almost everything! This isn’t a conventional pesto sauce as I didn’t use pine nuts (too many syns!) but tastes amazing nonetheless. Let me know if you make this and feel free to tag me if you’re on social media.

Prawn & Pesto Linguine

Prawn & Pesto Linguine

Serves: 2

Syns: FREE if using cheese as healthy extra A choice

Time Taken: Less than 15 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 200g linguine
  • Cooked Prawns

Pesto Sauce:

  • 25g basil leaves
  • 15g rocket leaves
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 30g parmesan cheese
  • 50ml vegetable stock
  • 75ml fat free fromage frais
  • 1 green chilli (optional)

Method

Cook the linguine according the pasta intructions and whilst that is cooking make the pesto sauce by adding all the ingredients together and blending it all till smooth. Set aside till needed.

Once the linguine is cooked, drain and mix in the pesto and prawns. You can serve this with extra rocket leaves and cherry tomatoes.