Chicken Parmigiana

So this is the second of the chicken dishes from my old WW cook book.....Its something that has been around for a while but ......hey it was in the book so I'll give it a go....!!

Picture from recipe book

I've tinkered with the original WW recipe a little and made 1 serving, it has come out at 7sp.
If you scale up the recipe or add/change any ingredients please remember to recalculate the sp

Lets stay strong guys
Sue
x


Ingredients

 half of a Warburtons thin blitzed into breadcrumbs
 10g Parmesan Cheese, grated
 15g Tesco Natural Fat Free Greek Style Yogurt
 1 medium Chicken breast
 Spray Oil
 100 Passata
 pinch of Dried Mixed Herbs, 
 a few scrapes of lemon zest
 1/4 teaspoon Truvia Calorie Free Sweetener
 1/4 Chicken stock cube
 30g Light Mozzarella
 pinch Salt
 pinch Black pepper
 few basil leaves Basil to garnish

I didn't add the garlic from the original recipe but feel free.........also I mixed the parmesan with the breadcrumbs as described in the recipe but next time I won't do that.....I'll sprinkle it on top and that way (hopefully) the flavour will be more pronounced and the top will get a nice golden finish to it

Method

 

Preheat the oven to 220/ 200 fan/ Gas mark 7 with a baking tray on the top shelf.

Mix the breadcrumbs with two thirds of the parmesan on a plate.

Pour the yogurt onto another plate.

Dip the chicken breast into the yogurt and then into the breadcrumbs to coat.

Spray the preheated tray with the oil and place the chicken breast onto the tray, spray with the oil and place in the preheated oven.

Bake for about 15 minutes until crisp and golden brown, turning the chicken piece halfway through.

Meanwhile simmer the passata with the herbs, (garlic if using), lemon zest, sweetener, chicken stock cube and seasoning in an uncovered pan for about 5 minutes to allow it to reduce a little.

Place the mozzarella on some kitchen paper and allow it to drain to remove some of the moisture.

Pour the sauce into a small ovenproof dish add the chicken breast then top with the mozzarella and the remainder of the parmesan.

Bake in the oven for 10 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is melted and golden brown.

Serve with the basil leaves scattered on top

WW Lemon and Rosemary Chicken Piccata

So .....as I said in my last post.....I'm reviewing recipes and have started with this one......its 3sp for the chicken and then you would have to add extra sp for whatever additional side dishes you serve it with (to be honest I don't eat a lot of carbs so I had roasted vegetables and some butternut squash cubes which I did in our Airfry with a bit of spray oil and some Paprika).....

I scaled down the recipe in the  book.....

.......to just 1 portion (if you scale up or change any of the ingrdients please remember to recalculate the sp)


Ingredients
 
1 medium Chicken breast, skinless, raw
Juice and zest of 1/2 Lemon
1/4 teaspoon Rosemary, Dried
Spray Oil
25ml Dry white wine 
1/4 Chicken stock cube, made up to 30ml with hot water
1/4 teaspoons Truvia Calorie Free Sweetener
1/2 Tablespoons Capers, in Brine
Salt and Black pepper to taste
 

Method

Put your chicken breast on a piece of clingfilm and then put another piece of clingfilm on top.
Bash the chicken breast with a rolling pin (or a small saucepan) until it is about a centimetre thick. This allows the chicken to cook quicker and more evenly.

Mix the lemon zest, rosemary and seasoning together and spread it out on a small plate press the chicken into the mix to coat it on both sides. (The original recipe included a minced clove of garlic mixed in at this stage but I missed it out because hubby wasn't having garlic that night!!)

Spray a large non-stick frying pan with the cooking spray and fry the chicken for 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden brown and cooked through. 

 

Remove to a warmed plate.

Pour the wine into the frying pan and let it bubble for 30 seconds.

Add the lemon juice, stock, sweetener and capers, and simmer the sauce for 2-3 minutes until slightly thickened.

Return the chicken to the pan.

 

Turn the chicken to glaze it in the sauce, then serve immediatley on a warm plate with chosen side dishes (adding the appropriate sp)

Recipe Review

I used to own a LOT of recipe books, these are just what was left after the cull.....most of them only survived because they fit with my WW lifestyle (the others are classics!!) !!!

I have a serious addiction to cookery programmes.....I watch them all.....then I take the recipes and slim them down to suit my weight loss regime......but today I thought "What about all the recipes sitting there in those books?"......so I have a new project for the next few months....I intend to review all the recipes in these books and pick out which ones I can slim down.

I'm starting with all my old WW books which need changing to SP. I have some chicken fillets in the fridge so am starting with this.....

 

....and this is the first recipe to be converted

.....I'll be doing this tomorrow so stay tuned for the result.....!!

Banana Pancakes

Well.....delighted with these this morning.

I've never had any luck with banana pancakes....they either didn't rise very much or tasted too much like banana, these were lovely and fluffy and tasted yummy. Now I like banana but when I'm having a pancake I don't want it to taste like banana....I'm the same with the banana 'ice cream'.....after this I might be tempted to have another go at that now!!

Played around a bit this morning and got these, I used more vanilla than the original recipe.....just had them as a mid morning snack......it was delicious....and I'm freezing the rest for another day.....I got 8 pancakes out of this mix and when I put the recipe through the WW recipe builder 1 serving came out at 1sp. I served mine with Natural yogurt (0sp) and 1 teaspoon Agave Nectar (1sp).....I had some raspberries left in the fridge so used them up too. The recipe says that to reheat the frozen pancakes you should blast them in the microwave for shots of 30 seconds until they are hot enough (it also says they won't be as fluffy as when fresh).

Lets stay stong guys
Sue

x

Ingredients

2 medium bananas (over ripe is fine)
2 eggs
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 Vanilla Extract
Spray Oil

Method

Put the bananas in a bowl and mash with a fork.

Put the eggs in a separate bowl and briefly whisk to combine the yolk and the white.

Mix in everything else.

Mix in the egg.

Preheat the grill to high.

Spray a small frying pan with oil and bring to a medium heat.

Spoon in 2 tablespoons of the batter mix and allow to cook for two minutes. I use a timer because I ALWAYS underestimate...!! I'm too impatitent)

Take the pan off the heat and put it under the grill for one minute (doing this firms up the top and makes it easier to flip the pancakes over. Leave for 1 minute.

Take out from under the grill and use a fish slice to turn it over, I do this by putting the bottom of the fish slice on top of the pancake and flipping both the pan and the fish slice at the same time, the pancake should end up on top of the under side of the fish slice, gently slide the pancake back into the pan.

Put back on the hob for 2 minutes more.

Slide the finished pancake onto a piece of baking parchment and continue with the rest of the batter.

Serve with your chosen accompaniment (adding the appropriate sp)

If freezing, turn the finished pancakes onto a sheet of baking parchment and allow to cool. Then put the pancakes into a container seperated by a fresh piece of baking parchment.

To reheat blast the pancakes in a microwave for 30 second shots until hot enough.

Heck Paprika Chicken Meatballs

These little bundles of yumminess are sitting in my freezer ready for that day when I haven't got anything in and I want something nice for my dinner.

I recently made some lamb burgers from a Nigel Slater recipe substituting cottage cheese for the ricotta that is in them (recipe here). They were really tasty but would insist on shrinking and becoming more dense in texture no matter what cooking method I used. So I googled (as you do) and found that by adding some grated courgette (among other suggestions) the texture could be changed and the burger would retain its shape and some moisture. So I tried it with the last burger in my freezer and it worked a treat. So I decided to replicate it with these little meatballs. A full pack of Heck Paprika Chicken Sausages is 6sp so the sp for each portion depends on how many you eat. I put it into the WW recipe builder and 4 meatballs is 2sp, 6 meatballs is 3sp.

I haven't cooked any yet but as soon as I do I will update the blog.

Lets stay strong guys
Sue

X

Ingredients

1 pack of Heck Paprika Sausages
1 onion, finely diced
1/2 courgette, grated
zest of 1 lemon
salt
black pepper

Method

Remove thte sausages from their skins and place in a large bowl.

Add all the other ingredients (add the courgette in handfuls so that you can stop if the mixture gets a bit wet).

Roll into 24 little balls (I weigh the mixture and then divide by 24 to get the correct weight for each meatball.....I know....sad isn't it!!).

Place on a baking tray and pop them into the freezer to freeze as little individual morsels that you can portion up to suit your needs. Label them and keep for emergencies. I portioned mine into 6meatballs per portion because 3sp is nothing and I'll feel like I've had a big meal (especially if I serve them with butternut squash noodles!!)

Red Lentil and Aubergine Moussaka

I recently posted about including more red lentils in my diet and posted a recipe for Red Lentil Falafels, Whilst I was doing the research for the item I came across a couple more recipes.....this is the latest. It includes Aubergine which I have only recently become friends with thanks to my friend Ally Pally. Its not a recipe that my husband will enjoy and although some recipes I scale down to 1 portion, for this one I have taken the bold step of making 6 individual portions which I have frozen so I have a quick grab meal should I need it (I hope I like it) although I have left the instructions for making 1 large family meal..... 

I have modified the original recipe to reduce the sp but each portion of this recipe is 4sp.......

I have tried to document the process all the way through with photographs but I was doing this when the Westminster tragedy happened and so became a little distracted....apologies if this makes things a bit awkward in following .......thoughts and sympathies to all those affected by the tragedy

Lets stay strong guys
Sue

X

Ingredients

100g Split Red Lentils, dry 
400g Aubergine, sliced into rounds
Spray Oil
Salt and Black Pepper to taste
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 medium Red pepper, finely chopped
1 clove Garlic, finely chopped
1 can, large Tinned Tomatoes, chopped
50g Tomato Puree
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
3 teaspoons Parsley, dried
125g Quark
125g Tesco Fat Free Greek Style Yogurt
3 Eggs, whole, mediumFresh Ground Nutmeg,
60g Parmesan Cheese, grated

 Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and cook the lentils according to packet instructions.
 

For the filling, spray the aubergine slices with the Spray oil, then lay on a couple of baking sheets and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes until softened and browned a little.

Meanwhile add the onion, pepper and garlic to the pan and fry for 2-3 minutes, or until softened.

Add the tomato purée, stir to coat the vegetables in it, then continue to fry for a further 4-5 minutes.

Add the canned chopped tomatoes and cinnamon and simmer for 4-5 minutes.

Add the lentils and return the fried aubergines to the mixture. Simmer for a further 2-3 minutes, or until warmed through.

Transfer the mixture to an ovenproof dish and sprinkle over the dried parsley.

For the topping, in a bowl, beat together the Quark, Greek-style yoghurt, eggs and grated nutmeg until well combined. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Pour the topping mixture into the ovenproof dish on top of the filling. Sprinkle over the grated parmesan.

Transfer the veggie moussaka to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the topping is golden-brown and has set and the filling is bubbling. Serve immediately

   

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

I've done this before and decided to have another go this week. As usual I have slimmed down the recipe a little to suit my taste. I have deliberately kept it low so that I can change up the toppings at a later date.....going to try it with some salami on next week. The original recipes are here and here.

This served 1 and was 6sp.

Ingredients

For the base
1 large portion of cauliflower rice (it needs more than you think)
2 Tablespoons Two Chicks Egg White (or more depending on how much cauli rice you use)
1 teaspoon Oregano
1 teaspoon Basil
salt and pepper to taste

For the Tomato Sauce
Spray Oil
1 shallot, finely diced
1 tin tomatoes, chopped
2 teaspoons tomato puree
1 teaspoon Oregano
1 teaspoon Basil
salt and pepper to taste

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 deg/ 180 fan/ gas 6

Make the Pizza Base

Place the cauliflower in an microwaveable dish and add a splash of water. Cover with cling film and stab a couple of holes in to allow the steam to escape. Microwave on full for 2 or 3 minutes. Allow to cool before tackling the next step......

Put the cauliflower rice in a clean tea towel and then scrunch it up and squeeze out as much moisture as you can. Tip the rice into a clean bowl and add all the other ingredients. Add the egg white gradually as you mix to ensure that the mixture doesn't get too wet, you may need a little extra egg white if you have used a large portion of cauliflower rice. The amount of cauliflower is a bit arbitrary.....what I found was that when I "riced" the cauliflower it looked like a huge amount, however when I got to the stage of squeezing the water out it shrank quite substantially so don't be shy about the use of your cauli. Next time I make it I'm going to rice a whole cauliflower and then see how many pizza bases I can make and then freeze what I don't use.

Before                                   After

Spray a piece of baking parchment with spray oil and tip the cauli rice into the middle. Shape into a circle about 1/2 inch thick. Place in the oven and bake until golden brown about 35 - 40 minutes (this will depend on the size and thickness of your base). I turned mine 15 minutes before the end to ansure that boh sides of the base got browned.

Remove from  the oven.


Make the tomato sauce

Spray a frying pan with spray oil and add the shallot, fry over a medium heat until the soft (add a bit of water if needed to stop sticking).

Add the rest of the ingredients ensuring that the tomatoes are in small bits. Reduce the heat to low and cook until most of the liquid is driven off (mine took about 50minutes).

Before                                   After

Spread the pizza base with some of the tomato sauce and top with your chosen toppings (adding the appropriate sp) I used 40g Mozzerella (4sp) and a tablespoon of Parmesan (2sp)

Return back to the oven until cooked (depends on your chosen toppings (mine took 10 minutes to melt the cheese)

Zesty Lemon Chicken

I was gutted to hear that WW had stopped producing their Zesty Chicken Marinade.....it was lovely.....so I decided to google and see if I could find another recipe. I found this one   


I did 2 portions and it came out of the WW recipe builder at 1sp per portion....and that includes the chicken!!

I've altered the recipe a bit (left out the olive oil and used a roasting bag)

Lets stay strong guys
Sue

x


Ingredients

2 chicken breasts, cut into large chunks
1 lemon, zest and juice
1 medium onion, cut into large chunks
1 teaspoon of garlic puree

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon thyme
Salt and black pepper to taste

Method 

Place the chicken chunks in a roasting bag, all the other ingredients and tip and tumble the chicken pieces in the mix until they are all covered with the mix. 

Marinade overnight (or a minimum of 12 hours)

Take the chicken from the fridge about half an hour before you are ready to cook to allow the chicken to come to room temperature before cooking (this ensures that the chicken cooks evenly)

When ready to cook preheat the oven to 180/ 160 fan/ gas 5.

Place the roasting bag on a baking sheet in the bottom of the oven making sure that the roasting bag has room to expand without touching the sides or any other shelves in the oven.

Roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes (thought the chicken was a bit dry but hubby liked it....I'm going to reduce the time next tme ....he won't notice!!)

Serve with your desired side dish adding appropriate points.

Weight Watchers Aubergine Parmegiana

So this recipe appeared in our WW magazine and we all went crazy for it.....LOADS of people posted their dishes.....an obvious winner.....so with my new found love of Aubergine (Thank you Ally Pally) I had to make it......It was one serving (because my hubby won't eat Aubergine!!) and came out at 3sp......I served salad with it but you could add anything you like (don't forget to add the sp though)

Can't give any links to the original recipe like I normally do because it was in the magazine but credit goes to Weight Watchers for it

Lets stay strong guys
Sue

x

Ingredients

1 medium Aubergine, sliced into 1 cm rounds 

Stir-Fry Spray Oil

¹⁄₄ large Onion, diced

¹⁄₂ can Tinned Tomatoes

¹⁄₂ large Tomato, chopped

¹⁄₄ tablespoon, Tomato Purèe

¹⁄₂ teaspoon, Oregano, Dried

1 Bay leaf, dry

¹⁄₄ teaspoon Balsamic vinegar 

30g Light Mozzarella

A few Basil leaves

10g Parmesan

 Salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

Method

Preheat the oven to 220deg/ 200deg fan/ gas 7

Put the aubergine rounds on a large baking sheet, season and mist with cooking spray. Roast for 15-20 mins until slightly browned and softened

Meanwhile mist a medium pan with the cooking spray and add the onion, Cook for 5 mins until slightly softened then add the tinned tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, the tomato puree, oregano, bay leaf and balsamic vinegar. Season and simmer for 20 minutes until thickened.

Cover the bottom of an ovenproof dish with one third of the mixture, layer over with half of the aubergines, then top with a third of the mozzarella and a third of the basil leaves. Repeat to create a second layer.

Top with the rest of the sauce and sprinkle over the remaining mozzarella and all of the parmesan. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is melted.

Baked Seabass

This meal was inspired by Chubbycubs Baked Cod with Samphire but I fancied Seabass instead. This was one portion and came in at 6sp for everything. If you upscale it for more portions or change your accompanying side dishes please make sure you recalculate your sp for accuracy.

I served mine with a small jacket potato with a half tablespoon of Philadelphia lightest on each half.

I had never had samphire before and am always on the lookout for new things to change up my meals.....samphire has been on my list for a while. It has a very salty flavour and is lovely and crunchy.....it can also be eaten raw in a salad which I intend to use it for sometime. When I googled how to serve samphire the advice was to smother it in butter.....now I've got nothing against butter.....however it doesn't feature very much in my WW life.....but I found a substitute..... Butterbuds......

.......little sachets of dried fat free butter extract. Now if you are looking for a substitute to slather on your crumpet....I wouldn't necessarily recommend this....but for certain things they are a great substitute.....I dissolved 2 sachets in 2 teaspoons of hot water (0 sp) and then coated the samphire with it.....check them out here I often put them in egg white omelettes to substitute the creaminess of the missing egg yolk.

Lets stay strong guys
Sue

x

Ingredients

50g Cherry Tomatoes, halved
¹⁄₂ tablespoon Capers, in Brine
¹⁄₂ teaspoon Thyme, Dried
¹⁄₂ teaspoon, Dill, Dried
¹⁄₂ teaspoon, Oregano, Dried
1 fillet, medium Seabass
1 teaspoon Olive Oil
2 teaspoons Balsamic vinegar
Pinch Salt
Pinch Black pepper
1 serving Samphire

Method

Preheat the oven to 200/ fan 180

Place the tomatoes, capers, and fish in an ovenproof dish.

Mix the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and herbs and drizzle over the top. Add salt and pepper.

Put into the oven for about 15 minute. Seabass is very delicat and doeesn't really need any longer than this. If you use anothr fish check its cooked through enough.

Put the samphire in a microwaveable dish with a little water (about a tablespoon) and cook on full power for three minutes. Drain it and serve, add the fish, capers and tomatoes. Drizzle over some of the liquid that was released when the ingredients cooked. Serve with any other additional side adding appropriate points. I'm not going to insult anyone with instructions on how to serve up a jacket potato!!!

Quick Pickled Vegetables

So you all know I like looking for and trying out different things to enhance my meals etc.....I recently saw these whilst I was watching Masterchef so I googled and found this ....

It can work with any vegetable (just about)....so I used what I had in....cucumber, carrot and red cabbage (I had the red cabbage in because I made Slice of Slim Sweet and Savoury Red Cabbage)......I'll post that soon

The notes say that you can use any number of combinations of vinegars, spices and herbs. I decided to start very simply....I used Cider Vinegar, mustard seeds and Black peppercorns......I'll experiment as I go along....




So its really easy to do although the smell of the pickling liquid hangs about for a little while afterwards!!!

I used it here

The recipe and notes  are here

Lets stay strong guys
Sue

X

Red lentil falafels

I've been thinking about red lentils for quite some time.....I've heard people in my WW meeting saying how they had eaten such and such delicious meal made with them for very low sp ....I've tried REALLY hard to get into them....I've had them in my hand in the shop several times in the last couple of years ready to go in my trolley....but they were never able to make it to the check out, let alone my pantry.

But recently I've managed to get them in the trolley, through the checkout and into my kitchen....yay!!! So...what to do with them......my lovely WW friend Kelly advised Red Lentil Dahl by the Chubbycubs (will be doing that soon)....but also I googled red lentils and found this recipe.....I've also been thinking about falafels for some time too....so it seemed like karma that brought them together....so I did it......this recipe makes 20 falafel at 1sp each and apparently they make great cold leftover lunches.......Original recipe here

Making these would be easy in a food processor (as described in the recipe) but mine died recently so I used my mini chopper to chop everything and then mixed it all together by hand.

Also I wanted to make these on a particular day and didn't have the fresh herbs in so modified it a bit....I left out the fresh herbs and added the second pepper, this made the mix a bit wet and therefore I was unable to form them into balls so they ended up as patties....next time I make them I will definitely use the fresh herbs and just 1 pepper.

Lets stay strong guys
Sue

X

Ingredients

200g Split Red Lentils, cooked, rinsed
Handful of fresh flat leaf Parsley, remove stalks (I left this out)
Handful of fresh Coriander, remove stalks (I left this out too)
1 large Onion
1 or 2 medium Red pepper, use from a jar
1¹⁄₂ tablespoons Tahini paste (Sesame paste)
1¹⁄₂ tablespoons Olive Oil
Pinch Salt
Pinch of Black Pepper
1 teaspoon, level Ground Cumin
1 teaspoon, level Coriander, Dried
¹⁄₂ teaspoon, level Baking powder
1 tablespoon, level Plain White Flour
Few sprays Spray Oil

Method

Soak the lentils in fresh water overnight. When ready to make the falafels, strain and rinse the soaked lentils. Make sure to pick through the batch and discard any stones or debris.

This is what they looked like before and after!!!

In a food processor, pulse the lentils until they are coarsely ground, 3 to 5 times. Add the parsley, coriander, onion, and red pepper to the bowl, and pulse another few times.

Drizzle in the tahini paste, olive oil, spices, salt and pepper, and blend until almost smooth. Make sure not to over blend the mixture; you still want some crumb. Taste the mixture, and adjust the seasoning according to your liking.

Add the baking powder and the flour. Start by adding 1 tablespoon of flour at a time. If the mixture is still too liquidy add another. The mixture should be fairly moist, and if you add too much flour, the falafels will become too dry and hard when baked.

Refrigerate mixture for 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 375° F.

Generously coat the falafels with oil spray and bake until golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Make sure not to over cook these — you don't want them to dry out.


I had them with salad and tzatziki and some of my fridge pickles (recipe coming soon!!)....next day I had them again for lunch on a salad.....

Balsamic Chicken

I'm trying to free up some space in our freezer and I recently came across this lurking in there.....I'd forgotten I had it (I often do that because I do so much browsing for new recipes!!). Anyway I pulled it out because I remembered that I really liked it when I made it.....I've dug around in my WW recipes and found the details for it.....so here they are....hope you like it....it serves 6 and is 2sp per serving

Ingredients

600g Chicken breast, skinless, raw, cubed
a few sprays of Frylight Stir-Fry Spray Oil
200g Mushrooms, sliced
1 clove Garlic,minced
1 cube Chicken stock cube, made up to 125ml with hot water
2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
Small sprig Thyme, Fresh
1 tablespoon Parsley, fresh, chopped
salt and black pepper

Method
 

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Spray a frying pan with the frylight and heat over medium high heat.

Add the chicken and sear on both sides until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes. Remove the chicken and set aside.

Add the garlic and mushrooms to the skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes until mushrooms begin to soften.

Add the chicken stock, balsamic vinegar, and thyme to the skillet. Stir and scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the pan.

Add the chicken and let simmer for 10-15 minutes on low heat or until chicken is fully cooked.