Slow Cooker Balsamic Mushroom and Chicken Stroganoff

 

Hey guys....been quiet for a while but I'm trying to get motivated for the summer...did really well when we were away for our Christmas break 2022 (first holiday in 3 years!!) sadly Ron got the flu two days in so activity was a little restricted but we undaunted!! Fully motivated to get back to my goal weight (I only have 8lbs to go) but sadly the week we got back I got the flu and I've been suffering the results of that since then, it completely knocked us sideways and prevented me from getting on with it... but I'm trying to work on my stamina And am hoping to blog a bit more to help me stay on track.

I have a great dish for you today, its not mine, I got it from SkinnyMs Here I've done no modifications to this recipe other than instead of the greek yogurt I added Tesco Half fat creme fraiche. This recipe gives a good 8 portions (you can freeze without the yogurt and reheat) I got 6 portions because slightly reduced the amount of mushrooms.

I'd really love to know how everyone is getting on so please feel free to hop over to my facebook page and drop me a commentat  Slimmed Down Sue

Gonna try and be more active here

Lets stay strong guys
Sue
x

PS....This is me at Christmas....totally chilled ...look at that view 

Kitchen catch up

Had a bit of a kitchen day today.......last night I put another batch of my Vegetable Stock in the slow cooker and then sorted it out into portions this morning....then hubby and I walked down to our local farmers market and I bought a lovely big Celeriac......I decided that as the Slow Cooker Butternut Squash mash worked out so well (its here ) I would try the same method for Celeriac....I want to use it to make some Celeriac and Sweetcorn Fritters (I've made them before and they are great but the mixture always comes out a bit wet)....so I've got my Celeriac in the slow cooker as I type this. Slightly different method than for the squash (the celeriac is a very knobbly, mucky creature and it gets mud and rubbish caught up in th knobbles so it can't go into the slow cooker without some preparation). So I cut off all the dirty and inedible bits. The first time I did the butternut squash in the slow cooker I put it straight into the pot (as instructed) butI was a bit disturbed with the markings on the bottom (they came off but I want to protect my pot) I put a layer of foil in the bottom, it worked a treat and made it easier to get the squash out....so I did that again this time.....I've left it on low until tomorrow morning and I'll update you later how it turns out.....I'll do the fritter recipe too.

So dinner tonight.......hubby wanted pizza.....and I didn't have any cauli left to do a Cauliflower Crust Pizza Base (I'll post that later this week....I think you'll like it).....So I did a bit of using up from the fridge.....I had some broccoli so I took the stalk out and made my Smoked Mackerel Broccolisotto   . I usually do croutons with this but tonight I fancied something a bit different, I had some mixed baby tomatoes in the fridge so I chopped a few and scattered them around.....the texture was lovely....

......and I really fancied something to finish, I'm not big on desserts (I know....call me weird!!)....so when I fancy something to finish my meal its usually fruit....so this is blueberries, grapes and strawberries topped with two tablespoons of quark mixed with some cranberry sauce that I made in the slow cooker last week, finished with a mini meringue and a teaspoon of Choc Shot ....mmmmmm yummy

Sp breakdown is....Broccolisotto 6sp, fruit 0sp, 80g quark 1sp and cranberry sauce 0sp , choc shot 1sp

Lets stay strong guys
Sue
x

Swartz Mix Lamb Rogan Josh

We wanted curry....!!!!

Rogan Josh is my second favourite.....Korma being my favourite....(I'll be working on a slimmed down version of that before too long)....so while we were shopping yesterday we picked up a couple of lamb steaks and a packet of Swartz Rogan Josh Mix.

Chucked some sliced shallots, a tin of chopped tomatoes (should really have been a half of a tin but I forgot!!), half a red pepper diced and half the packet of mix, topped it with an extra tablespoon of tomato puree....all in the slow cooker and whacked it on high for 6 hours.

Mine was served with cauli and broccoli rice and a little onion, lemon juice and mint side dish.

I have to be honest here and say that, because I halved everything (except the tomatoes!!), the recipe should have made two portion but really, we don't do huge portions and this looked enough for 4 (of our sized portions) so I've halved it and we're having it again in a day or so........so with that said my portion was 5sp so with the mini Naan and the broccoli/cauli  rice and side it was only 9sp.....not bad eh........

Slow Cooker Pork Chops with Apple Butter

Hey guys...this is a BEAUTY!!!

Some time ago I was browsing the internet and came across a recipe for Slow Cooker Apple Butter by Gina Homolka at Skinnytaste (Recipe here)....It sounded fab so I thought I would have a go.
However I tweaked it to ensure it was 0sp using Truvia (haven't got a recipe as such but next time I make it I'll post it). When using Truvia the packaging indicates that you should use about 1/3 of Truvia to the quantity of sugar required in the recipe. I did this and the original batch of Apple Butter was unpalatably sweet. So I made another batch with NO Truvia in at all and mixed the two together. The resulting mix is lovely. So.... I made it and then thought ...what am I going to do with it (because I'm a bit like that!!)?

I found this recipe from Crystal & Co so I made it last week. It was really scrumptious!! Obviously I scaled it down for two of us and tweaked it a bit (I added some mushrooms too)
I chopped two medium onions and put them in the bottom of the slow cooker, added a handful of mushrooms and a squeeze of garlic puree, popped our chops on top and a tablespoon of apple butter on the top of each chop. I set my slow cooker to high and left it for 5 hours.

I weighed my chop before it went in and was intending to weigh the fat and the bone afterwards ....unfortunately hubby threw them away!!...so I've estimated 150g for the pork and calculated the points that way. It came out at 5sp for the pork....I served it with my Slow Cooker Butternut Squash (0sp) and my "Creamed" Leeks (2sp). Definite winner in our house...will be doing it again...stay tuned for more recipes using Apple Butter!!!
Sorry about my finished dish photo.....I should have styled it a bit better....sorry ....(but it really was delicious!!)

Sue
x

Slow Cooker Butternut Squash

OMG!!!

At my recent WW meeting our leader told us about this way of cooking a butternut squash...... I was pretty excited to try this because I use a LOT of it in different ways....but..... when I've tried mashing it (I boil it first to cook it) it makes for a VERY watery mash....I was planning on microwaving it and then mashing it (I want to top a Cottage Pie with it)....but when Leslie (our leader) told us about this I dashed straight out and bought one so I could try it......!!!

I was told to pierce the skin of the squash all over and then put it in the slow cooker and cook for 3 hours....job done!!! I was considering buying  a small squash to ensure that it went into the pot but I found a large one that was squat and wide so took a chance on that. I pierced it all over and then put it into the pot, turned it to high and left it (I did actually turn it half way through but I don't think there is any real need for this)

While the squash was in the slow cooker I decided to see if I could find this method on the internet so I googled and there were actually only a couple of posts about it.......basically they were just "...chuck it in, turn it on and go back in 4-5 hours..." no mention of piercing the skin....so I'll try it that way next time.....because there will definitely be a next time....because this is what I found when I went back four hours later....

.......so I cut the top off then cut it in half....

 .......scooped out the seeds....

 ....you can see how much liquid is leaking out of the squash.....as I was holding the squash and scooping the seeds out the liquid was pooling on top of the squash as well.....you can see here how much there was after I had scooped the flesh into a bowl...

 ....so I decided to try and squeeze out some liquid. I put the flesh into a sieve, I then placed a small plate on top and put my granite trivet on top (its very heavy)....

 .....I then left it to sit for 20 minutes....this is how much liquid came out...
 

......I've always used a hand mixer to do my potato mash....ever since Delia showed us how to ....YEARS ago....and I've always had lovely smooth mash....so thats what I did with my squash....it was a bit more fibrous than potato but thats ok....it worked just fine.
I had some Cottage Pie bases that I had made up last week in readiness for my search for a good Butternut Squash mash, so I dug one out and defrosted it, placed my squash mash on top and popped it in the oven on 180 deg for 20 minutes, I finished it off under a hot grill for ten minutes too.
The squash is still wetter than a potato mash would be but significantly better than if I had boiled it.....a keeper of a method I think. I served it with "Creamed" Leeks

Sue
x

Sweet and Sour Slow Cooker Sausage

Day 3 and another Sausage recipe......

One of the reasons I like the WW plan so much is that nothing is off the menu....I can have just about anything I want....its all about making compromises....and in this recipe thats what I've done....originally made with Smoked sausage (mmmm....yummy but containing ridiculous amount of fat and points) I've tinkered a bit.....used Tesco Healthy Living Cumberland Sausage, substituted Truvia for dark brown sugar and I replaced half the amount of ketchup it required with a small tin of chopped tomatoes to get the points down .....I didn't bother reducing the amounts to make one portion for me....I've frozen the rest for later!!!

 The original recipe from KKNOPF at KKNOPF at all recipes indicates that there are 8 servings and that it should be used as a side dish....I haven't done that....I did 4 portions and had it as a main...served over courgetti....as such the smart points are 7...and a word of warning ......I made it with 2 teaspoons of Tabasco sauce as the recipe suggested and it was really nice....but if you are a bit nervous of spicy food then maybe 1 teaspoon might be enough

Ingredients

Spray oil

2 large Onions, sliced
30g Truvia Calorie Free Sweetener

200g Tomato ketchup
Small tin of chopped tomatoes
3 tablespoons Cider Vinegar
1 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
2 teaspoons Tabasco
1 1/2 teaspoons whole grain mustard
400g Tesco Healthy Living Cumberland Pork Sausages
Salt and pepper

Method

Spray a large frying pan with the oil and bring to a medium heat.
Saute onions until tender. Stir in Truvia, ketchup, tinned tomatoes, vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, salt and pepper.
Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes.
Place sausage in a slow cooker with the sauce and onions. Cook on low for 4 to 5 hours.

Sue
x

Vegetable Stock

So....as promised I thought I would post a blog on the vegetable stock I make and mention in my posts.....

I have a carton of veg stock in my fridge at all times (and several in my freezer) and I use it in different ways depending on what I am making. I started making my own because I was reluctant to spend 1sp on a stock cube (even though it was being used in a recipe that would serve 4-6 people....don't judge me...!!

There are a million recipes for vegetable stock out there and I won't insult anyone by giving ingredients or amounts......but I will share with you my method for making it because I just think that it can be so simple and such and effective way to be confident that there are no hidden points in your food....also it can be a great way to use up any left over bits of veg....as I found when I googled it!!
So whilst I was in the veg aisle in Tesco debating with myself what veg I should buy I noticed a stew pack with a variety of veg in so I thought...why not ....so I got it and a couple of other things.....

 .....I actually reduced the amount of carrot from this pack and increased the onion....only put in one leek, two sticks of celery and four of the mushrooms. Some recipes say chop finely where others say don't chop at all....however I took the middle ground and rough chopped them all!! Again a lot ofrecipes say bring to the boil and simmer for an hour......me.......I chucked them in my slow cooker.....

....added a few extras like salt, black peppercorns, thyme and bay leaves (from my garden)....you can vary it up in any number of ways to suit your own taste....add some garlic.....chilli.....pretty much anything you like.....

 I filled the slowcooker up to the brim with water and put it on low overnight.....the result was this.....

How good does that stock look...?
These are 250ml tubs....so that gives me 1.75l of lovely fresh 0sp vegetable stock for use in my sauces, caulisottos, broccolisottos, soups and stews....one of these goes straight into the fridge and the rest are labelled and go into the freezer.

When I googled recipes for stock to make sure I was getting the best stock I could I found some people (can't credit them because I forgot which sites I was on) who kept a plastic bag in the freezer and added all the offcuts of veg and then when the bag was full they made stock....sounds like a plan to me....in fact when I made my spiralised butternut squash last night  I chucked in the last bit of butternut squash that wouldn't go through the spiralizer....and in the days before Broccolisotto I used to freeze the stalks of the broccoli and put those in too. I don't know about you but I'm not a big lover of raw celery  and can't eat a lot of it so I also chop the rest of the celery into about 100g portions and freeze that for use in stocks and soups.