Happy New Year

Hi guys

We've (literally!!) just returned from our Christmas in the Canaries but I just wanted to say to you all....here's hoping you have all the success you all deserve.

More from me in 2017.....see you on the other side.

Lets stay strong guys
x

Another make do dinner.....

We're going away for two weeks over Christmas so I'm digging about in the fridge making sure there is  nothing in there that will be manky by the time we get back and I see some tomatoes that need using up. So I made a roasted tomato sauce with it, spiralised a couple of courgettes that were destined to go in the bin otherwise......then I mixed in a tin of tuna, some capers and a tablespoon of Philadelphia light Salmon and Dill and shaved a bit of Parmesan over .....delicious and used up some stuff that would have been wasted....and all for 3sp........result!!!

So I won't be posting over the next few weeks apologies for that but hope you all have a fabulous Christmas and that 2017 brings you everything you deserve......

Lets stay strong guys
Sue
x

Celeriac Fritters

Well I was playing about in the kitchen this week....with that Slow Cooker Celeriac I did last week. I wanted to make some Celeriac Fritters.....these are something I saw on Janey's blog at Slice of Slim and I love them.....check it out here.......but Janey is obviously more skilled than I am because I can't get mine to flip in the pan without me breaking them up!!! Although I don't know if using the equivalent amount of just egg whites instead of the whole eggs that Janey advises might have something to do with it......



Anyway........ to make the fritters I cooked my celeriac in the slow cooker (doing it this way had no effect on the consistency of the finished mixture to I'll be going back to cooking it in the microwave I think) and mashed it with a potato masher, I added a tin of sweetcorn, 8 tablespoons of Two Chicks Egg White and a scraping of nutmeg. I tried again to do them in my small frying pan......

 
........but turning them was a nightmare so I decided that I would try cooking them in the oven....they turned out fine actually.....I had three with my dinner that night and have put the rest in the freezer to use this week. I sprayed the foil with spray Oil and put tablepoons of the mix on, flattened it out and baked them in the oven on 160deg fan for 20 mins....when I checked them I decided I wanted them a little more browned off around the edges so I turned the oven up to 200 deg for the last 10 minutes.

I served mine with my Turkey mince burger (which was turkey mince mixed with lemon zest and juice, onion and a tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce) and I whizzed up a portion of "Cauliflower cheese".....its in quotes because its not a traditional Cauli cheese recipe!! I browned off a couple of tablespoons of shallot and added a tablespoon of water to stop it sticking, then I added 2 tablespoons of Philadelphia Lightest and let that melt into a sauce, I then added 20g of finely grated My Protein cheese and a tablespoon of wholegrain mustard. I zapped my cauli in the microwave for a couple of minutes and then poured the cheese mix over, and browned off two turkey rashers which I had cut into strips, topped it with a slice of WW malted danish bread whizzed into breadcrumbs and finished the whole lot with 20g of Cheddar. ........15 mins in a hot oven and bobs your uncle....


Lets stay strong guys
Sue
x

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........

Dolmio Spag Bol

So tonight we're having one of my old standby dinners.....I LOVE this.....hubby and I have this quite regularly....I've said before on other posts that we often eat separate meals (it's one of the ways he supports my weight control lifestyle) so when I can do a meal that we can both have (albeit with a bit of modification for my meal) I'm all over it. I don't normally use shop bought sauces, I would much rather make my own because that way I know exactly whats in it and I can often fiddle with the recipe to get it down to 0sp....but I make a compromise here (so we can have the same meal together)....I'm fully intending to have another go at making this from scratch (and not telling hubby!!) so I can get rid of any unnecessary sp.....This works out at 4sp which then gives me the opportunity to have garlic bread too!! What's not to love about that....chuck a big salad with balsamic dressing in the mix and you have heaven on a plate.

So the sp breakdown is......Spag Bol 4sp (I got 6 portions from this recipe, but if you want a bigger portion 4 portions would be 6sp each)...Parmesan cheese (on the spag bol) 2sp...Courgetti 0sp (there are a few notes here about what I do when spiralising if you're intrested)    ....Garlic Bread 2sp...Salad with WW Balsamic dressing 0sp.....and I get another 4 portions for the freezer for those days when life goes mad....!!

Lets stay strong guys......
Sue
x

Ingredients

Spray Oil
500g 5% fat mince
1 large Onion, sliced or chopped whatever you fancy
4-5 mushrooms, halved and sliced
2 tablespoons tomato puree
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 500g jar of Dolmio Reduced Fat Spag Bol sauce
Salt and black pepper to taste

Method

Spray a large, lidded, flame proof casserole dish with the spray oil and bring to a medium temperature. Add the mince in batches (three or four) and brown to seal removing each batch from the pan as you do it and setting it on a plate. When all the meat has been done spray the pan again and add the onions stirring around to allow the to be coated as much as possible by the oil. Cook the onions on the medium heat for a few minutes to allow them to brown a little and soften.
Add the mushrooms and allow them to brown and soften for a few minutes also. Add the meat back to the pan and mix to combine. Add the tomato puree, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper and mix to combine. At this point I put the lid on the dish and bung the lot in the oven for about 40 minutes but you could put the lid on and allow to cook on the stove top until you think its ready, about 30 - 40 minutes. Serve with your chosen pasta (add the appropriate points) or veg noodles (as I do) and enjoy!!

Aubergine rolls with spinach & cottage cheese

Do you know what.....I LOVE this dish.
I recently posted my Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce recipe and my lovely friend Alison posted me a message saying that she loved my enthusiasm for squash....and could I do anything with an Aubergine.....I told her no....I hate them....then I got to thinking about it.....I actually don't know if I like them or not....I haven't had one for YEARS ( I remember having a moussaka YEARS ago) and my husband making retching noises whenever aubergine is mentioned doesn't help!!! One of the things I made a conscious decision about was trying different foods as part of my WW journey....you know...to freshen up the menu....it was one of the discussion topics at meeting that stayed with me. So whenever I see a fruit or veg I haven't had before I try it...well....except for Kale....had it ...ugh!!.....if you can recommend anything to do with Kale (except put it on the compost heap) I'd be very grateful!!......so anyway...I googled Aubergine recipes and ...to my surprise found a few that I was prepared to try.....so tonight I did this one. It was REALLY nice....I loved it...so THANKS Ally Pally....hope you do this and enjoy it....love you... fairy friend....x x

This is a single serving (couldn't get hubby to eat this if I had NOTHING else in the house....he'd eat his owns arms first!!) and is 4sp......lovely


Lets stay strong guys......
Sue
x

 Ingredients

1/2 medium Aubergine, cut into slices (about 5mm thickness) lengthways
10 sprays Frylight Stir-Fry Spray Oil
100g Spinach
A generous grating of Ground Nutmeg

60g Reduced Fat Natural Cottage Cheese

100g Tomato Sauce (I'll post my recipe soon)....add appropriate points
1 slice Weight Watchers Sliced Malted Danish Bread, blitzed into breadcrumbs
15g Parmesan Cheese

 Method

Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. 

Spray both sides of the aubergine slices with oil, then lay them on a large baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 mins until tender, turning once (watch this a bit carefully as if your oven is particularly hot they will burn very quickly).

Meanwhile, put the spinach in a large colander and pour over a kettle of boiling water to wilt. Cool, then squeeze out the excess water, I blotted it with kitchen paper and then chopped it finely.....then I blotted it some more.....you want it as dry as possible. 

Mix with the cottage cheese, nutmeg and plenty of seasoning. At this point I remembered that I had a little bit of caramelised onion from the Pizza recipe I did recently (I'll post that recipe soon), so I chopped that up finely and added that as well. 

When the aubergine slices are ready, dollop a spoonful of the cheesy spinach mix in the centre of each aubergine slice, fold over to make a parcel and lay, sealed-side down, in an ovenproof dish. 

Pour over tomato sauce (I added a tablespoon of tomato puree and a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce).....

.......sprinkle with breadcrumbs and cheese, and bake for 20-25 mins until golden and piping hot

I served mine with a simple salad dressed with WW balsamic Salad Dressing....yummy!!!

Sue
x

Quick Dinner

Another quick dinner tonight....childcare duties...!!

This is a portion of the Sausage and Ale Casserole I did for British Sausage Week.....it made six portions and hubby doesn't like sausage casserole so instead of scaling it down for me I made the full recipe and froze some portions for emergency days.....like today...!!

Had some thin asparagus spears that needed using so roasted them with some WW Balsamic Glaze (its 0sp but if you use 2 sachets, as I did, it is 1sp) and 'riced' a bit of cauli that was rolling around in the bottom of the fridge.....but to add a bit of variety I decided to soak a few stems of Saffron in some warm water and add that as I microwaved it.....you can't see in the photo but it did go a lovely pale lemony colour

So....all in all, a freezer friendly, quick fix meal for 6sp (5 for the casserole and 1 for the balsamic glaze)

Smoked Mackerel Broccolisotto

Hi all.....Tuesdays are always a bit hectic in our house so dinner has to be a quick fix deal....Often we have his and hers versions of fish and chips (check mine out here ) but tonight I needed to use up some mackerel I had left from some I bought for last nights dinner (here)

So......here it is .....I haven't done a recipe as such because its a take on this Broccolisotto  recipe.   I made the broccolisotto with riced broccoli stalk, vegetable stock, Philadelphia cheese, capers and stirred in a couple of strips of Smoked mackerel that I flaked with a couple of forks. Have to say it really was delicious....I topped it with a scraping of Parmesan and some croutons done in our airfry....scroll down to the bottom of This Page to check it out.

Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce

This popped up on my newsfeed in fb the other day....its from those lovely chaps at TwoChubbyCubs who follow the Slimming World plan and post delicious recipes (pop over and have a look at their site, the link is below) and I've been dying to give it a go.

I'm not really big on pasta these days (used to LOVE the stuff pre WW but I get bloated on it now) so I served mine with Courgetti and topped it with a couple of Mackerel strips, therefore I left out the bacon pieces so when I put it into the recipe builder it came out at 1sp per portion (the recipe serves 4). Its a lovely smooth, creamy sauce that tastes amazing. I counted 4sp for the mackerel and 1sp for the parmesan I added as well.

I have to say that although it was creamy and tasty I felt it was lacking a little something because I left the garlic out....next time I have a portion I'm going to put a squirt of chilli paste in it too.

The original recipe is here

Ingredients

600g of butternut squash, cut into 2cm cubes
1 red onion, chopped (I used white because I was leaving the garlic out)
1 garlic clove, minced (I left this out)
250ml chicken stock ( I used my Vegetable Stock )
1½ tsp dried sage
1½ tsp dried thyme
200ml Almond Milk (if you use skimmed milk or semi skimmed milk please remember to recalculate points)

 

 

Method

Spray a large saucepan with the spray oil and bring to a medium heat
Add the onion and cook for about 1-2 minutes
Add the garlic and stir for about thirty seconds, then add the butternut squash, stock, sage and thyme

Stir well and cover, and leave to cook for about 15 minutes
When the squash is softened (you should be able to poke a fork into it with a little resistance), pour the lot into a food processor, add the milk and 50ml of water and add a bit of salt or pepper and pulse until smooth

Serve with your chosen pasta adding the appropriate points. Here's my sauce all portioned up....!!

I used one of these for my dinner tonight and I felt there was slightly too much sauce for my veg noodles.....so I'm going to split the remaining three portions into four. With that in mind I looked again at the WW recipe builder and recalculated.....6 portions would work out at 0sp each

Sue
x

Carbonara a Bit Lighter

I love this dish....I've said before that I love creamy sauces and this fits the bill for me....of course I don't put pasta with mine, I have spiralized veg (whatever I have in or whatever I am in the mood for) but its light enough so that you can put pasta with it if you want. This recipe serves 1 and is 6sp (please remember to recalculate if you increase the portion size)

Ingredients

frylight

2 Turkey rashers, chopped

1/2 Banana Shallot, diced (or 1/2 of a medium red onion)

2 tbsp Tesco Fat Free Greek Style Yogurt

1 tbsp Philadelphia Light with Smoked ham

10g Parmesan, divided in half

salt and pepper to taste

I find the easiest and most accurate way to measure my grated Parmesan is to weigh the slab first and then grate some off and weigh again to see how much there is left.....

Method

If you are using pasta put your pasta on to boil well before you make this sauce as it makes very quickly

Spray a frying pan with the frylight and bring to a medium heat, fry the turkey pieces for a few minutes until cooked through. Remove from the pan. Spray the pan again and fry the shallot for a few minutes until softened, While the shallot is cooking, mix the yogurt, Philadelphia and half of the Parmesan in a small bowl. When the shallot is cooked through add the turkey back to the pan and stir to combine. Add the creamy mix from the small bowl and lower the heat to allow the sauce to warm through slowly. Season to taste.

 
At this point you could microwave your veg noodles (I was having courgetti with mine and there is a tip here about how I do mine that you may or may not find useful)
 

When everything is ready, tip your chosen noodles into the pan and turn over several times to combine.

Serve on a warmed plate and sprinkle over the rest of the parmesan, season again with a little more black pepper

Sue
x

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

"Creamed" Leeks

I LOVE creamy sauces........since I started my WW journey one of the things I have tried to do is re-create creamy sauces without the sp....not an easy task but I think I've cracked it. I've discovered these.......

....Philadelphia Light Cream Cheese.....these little beauties live in my fridge permanently....I use them for all sorts of things, I put them in sauces, risottos, toppings on bakes....they are so versatile and the flavours are fab.
I had some leeks that needed to be used up so I decided that I would try to recreate creamed leeks.....minus the oil, cream and cheese.....hmmm.....you might wonder how it can be creamed leeks then.....I'll tell you how..... read on.....this single portion works out at 2sp (don't forget, if you increase the recipe for more portions please recalculate the points accordingly)

Ingredients (for 1 portion)

Spray Oil
1 medium sized leek sliced
100 ml Vegetable Stock
2 tablespoons Philadelphia Light with Chives
salt and pepper to taste

Method

Spray a frying pan with spray oil and bring to a medium heat. Tip in your sliced leeks and turn them around in the pan to coat them with the oil. Pour in the veg stock and allow it to come up to heat. Allow it to simmer for a few minutes to cook and soften the leeks and reduce the liquid in the pan, add the Philadelphia cheese and season to your taste, allow it to melt down and meld with the small amount of liquid you still have in the pan. Serve and enjoy.

Sue
x