vegetarian

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.

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

Falafels

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Delicious little treats, perfect as a snack or as part of a meal.

Makes: 20

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 30 minutes, plus chilling

Difficulty: Moderate

Falafels

Falafels

ingredients

  • 2 tins chickpeas, drained
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 4 spring onions, chopped
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • handful of fresh coriander
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Low calorie cooking spray

method

Put all ingredients together in a bowl and blitz together until the mixture is a coarse paste.

Shape mixture into falafels and chill for at least 15 minutes to set their shape.

Cook them in a preheated oven, gas mark 6 for around 30 minutes turning them halfway.

Caribbean Rice Salad

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Serves: 4

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: less than 30 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Caribbean Rice Salad

Caribbean Rice Salad

Ingredients

  • 1 cup cooked basmati rice
  • 1 fresh mango, diced
  • 1 fresh pineapple, diced
  • 1/2 cucumber, diced
  • 1 small red onion, finely chopped
  • 1 red chilli, finely chopped
  • Seasoning to taste

Method

Cook the rice, drain and rinse under cold running water.

Mix the rice and all the ingredients together in a large bowl and season to taste.

Minestrone Soup

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I came across this Jamie Oliver recipe the other day and thought I’d give it a go at making it Slimming World friendly. It was really easy to do and very filling. This recipe would work really well if you are following Extra Easy SP, all you need to do is skip the spaghetti as the rest of the ingredients are all Speed or Protein rich food.

Serves: 6

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 45-60 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Minestrone Soup

Minestrone Soup

 

Ingredients

  • 2 tins of chopped tomatoes (without the juice, save the juice for a curry/pasta based dish)
  • 3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 3 medium leeks, sliced
  • 5 sticks of celery, chopped
  • 2 red onions, chopped
  • 1 small white cabbage, sliced
  • 5 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 1tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
  • 1lt chicken/vegetable stock (use more if needed)
  • a handful of spaghetti, cut into small pieces
  • tin of mixed beans
  • a handful of chopped fresh basil
  • chilli flakes, optional
  • 1cal cooking spray oil

Method

Spray a large pan with plenty of 1cal spray oil and cook the carrots, leeks, celery, onion, garlic and rosemary over a medium heat for about 15 minutes.

Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for a further couple of minutes.

Add the stock and bring to the boil before adding the cabbage and cook for a further 10 minutes, covered on a low heat. Add the spaghetti, the mixed beans and the basil and cook for a further 8-10 minutes till the spaghetti is cooked. Add chilli flakes and season to taste.

 

 

 

Sausage Rolls

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This is another quick and easy recipe perfect for taster sessions in Slimming World groups. These work out at only 1 syn each for a bitesize sausage roll. It only needs 3 ingredients! It can’t get any easier than that.

You can use any sausages of your choice but remember to find out syns before you make them as sausages tend to be quite high in syns!

I have used the Linda McCartney’s vegetarian sausages which are only 0.5 syn each. I am on the lookout for low syn halal sausages, if you know of any, please comment with what you use.

Sausage Rolls

Sausage Rolls

 

Makes: 18

Syns: 1 syn each

Time Taken: less than 30 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 6 Linda McCartney’s Vegetarian Sausages
  • 3 Kinsmill thins
  • 1 egg, beaten

Method

Cook the sausages according to the packet instructions, but don’t fully cook them as you will be cooking them again for a few more minutes later.

Once the sausages are mostly cooked, remove them from the oven and set them aside.

Brush the inside of each Kingsmill thin with the beaten egg. Place a sausage in each half and roll.

Brush the egg all over the outside of the thins and place them in the oven for around 10 minutes (or less) till the rolls are nice and golden.

Once cooked, remove from the oven and cut each sausage roll into 3 pieces.

Broccoli Soup

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Broccoli is one of my favourite veg! I love it simply boiled with my meals but this is another favourite way to enjoy it – in soup!

This is a creamy, comforting soup. You can replace the cream cheese with fat free fromage frais but I personally prefer to use my healthy extra A choice or syns on cream cheese as it makes it more indulging. Another alternative which is equally tasty is the Laughing Cow Blue Cheese triangles, you can have 5 as a healthy extra A choice or count them as 1.5 syns each. 2 triangles are plenty for this soup.

Syns: FREE (if using cream cheese as part of healthy extra A choice)

Serves: 2

Time Taken: 20-25 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 1 whole fresh broccoli, chopped
  • 1 medium baking potato, peeled and chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 vegetable stock pot or cube
  • 2 x 35g tubs of Philadelphia light cream cheese (healthy extra A choice)

Method

Place the broccoli, potato, onion and stock pot in a pan of water (place enough water to cover the veg) and boil for about 15 minutes till the potatoes are cooked.

Once all the veg are cooked add the cream cheese and blitz.

Broccoli Soup

Broccoli Soup

Hash Browns

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This is a recipe one of my lovely members shared with the group and I the other day. I always pick up so many new ideas from my members, they are all amazing! The hash browns are so easy to make and were a huge hit even with my fussy eater middle child too!

You can adapt the recipe and add an onion to it as well but I kept it simple.

If you do anything differently please do share!

Makes: 8

Syns: Free

Time Taken: 30 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 1 tin potatoes
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • Seasoning
Hash browns ingredients

Hash browns ingredients

Method

Drain the water off the potatoes and coarsely grate them.

Squeeze out any moisture from the potatoes before adding the egg and season.

Place a large spoonful of the potato mix on a frying pan with lots of fry light and gently fry on each side. Be patient and try not to flip the hash browns too early or you’ll end up with a mess.

Once they are cooked on each side, place the hash browns under the grill for a few minutes till golden brown if you wish.

Serve with a cooked breakfast!

 

Cooked breakfast

Cooked breakfast

Nadiya’s Samosa Hack!

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I thought I’d try Nadiya’s samosa hack from her latest TV show and give it a Slimming World friendly twist!

If you don’t know who Nadiya is, she was the winner of the Great British Bake Off in 2016! A well deserved winner too, all her bakes looked absolutely delicious.

I used potatoes and peas for the filling but you can be more adventurous or just stick to regular samosa fillings such as kheema. Just remember to syn accordingly.

I used mini tortilla wraps from Aldi which are 4.5 syns for each wrap and you can get two samosas out of one wrap, making it only around 2.5 syns each samosa! (See picture below).

Aldi Wrap

Aldi Wrap

You can if you prefer (and can get hold of!) use the Weight Watchers white wraps that can be used as a healthy extra B choice. Your samosas will be slightly bigger though, I prefer using the mini wraps as you can batch cook them and freeze.

If you use any other brand of wrap, please remember to check syns as not all similar products have the same syn values.

Let me know if you’ve come across a lower syn alternative to making samosas!

Adjust spice levels to how spicy you prefer, I made mine quite mild as they were for a taster session in group. Enjoy and let me know what you think! Feel free to tag me in your posts when you’ve made them.

 

Samosa

Samosa

Makes: 16 samosas

Syns: 2.5 syns each

Time Taken: 45-60 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 1 pack Aldi mini tortilla wraps
  • 2 medium potatoes, boiled
  • handful of frozen peas, cooked
  • 1 tsp ginger/garlic paste
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red chilies
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1 egg, beaten

Method

Make samosa filling by boiling the potatoes first. Once the potatoes are boiled and cooled, slightly mash them or you can chop the potatoes in little cubes and boil them if you prefer your potatoes quite chunky rather than mashed.

Mix in cooked peas, ginger/garlic paste, cumin seeds, salt, chilli and garam masala.

Cut each wrap in half so you get a semi-circle shape.

Shape each wrap half into a triangle shape and fill it with your filling. Use the beaten egg to seal all around the edges and egg wash the top of the samosa.

Once all the samosas are filled and egg washed, bake them in a pre heated oven at gas mark 6 for around 12-15 minutes or until they are nice and golden.

You can freeze them once the samosas are cooked and cooled.

Tip: Watch the video here on how to fill the samosas.

Crustless Red Onion and Courgette Quiche

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This is one recipe I haven’t made in absolute ages! Mainly because I don’t really buy courgettes but I was given a mahoosive courgette by one of my members that grows his own veggies in his allotment so the first thing that came to my mind was this easy to make quiche. This recipe is perfect for those following Extra Easy SP (EESP) plan as it is packed with Speed and Protein rich foods. You can serve this with a large salad or butternut squash chips to keep it EESP friendly!

Serves: 4

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 60 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Crustless Red Onion & Courgette Quiche

Crustless Red Onion & Courgette Quiche

Ingredients

  • 1 large courgette or 2 regular
  • 2 red onions, halved and finely sliced
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
  • 100g low fat natural cottage cheese
  • 6 large eggs
  • 1 tsp dried mixed herbs

Method

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4.

Coarsely grate the courgette and place in a large sieve. Press down to remove as much liquid as possible and set aside.

Lightly spray a round, shallow baking dish with low calorie cooking spray and set aside.

Spray a large frying pan with cooking spray and place over a medium heat. Add the onions, courgette and chilli and stir-fry for 10 minutes. Season well and transfer to the prepared baking dish, spreading evenly across the base. Spread the cottage cheese over the vegetable mixture.

Beat the eggs in a large bowl, season and add the dried mixed herbs. Pour the egg mixture over the cottage cheese.

Place in the oven and cook for 30 minutes or until set and golden. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for about 15 minutes before cutting into wedges.