Salt And Pepper Chicken

So I know i've posted this recipe before but I thought it needed posting again as it's been so popular and I've had a lot of people asking for it...

 
To make this BEAUTIFUL dish...

Ingredients
Chicken breasts, cut into chunks I use 2 as theres only 2 of us so adjust if needed
Plain flour (25g is 4 syns)
Salt & Pepper
Garlic granules
One egg, whisked
Fry Light
A pepper
An onion
Soy sauce
White wine vinegar
Sweetener

Method

Preheat oven to approx 180 degrees.
Combine 25g of flour in a bowl (25g is 4 syns you can use more but please adjust syn value accordingly), with a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of pepper, along with a teaspoon of garlic granules.
In another bowl, whisk your egg and add a splash of soy sauce to season.
Pop your chicken chunks in the egg and then in the flour mix.
Once this is all done, arrange on a nonstick baking tray, sprayed with some Fry Light first.
Then spray the chicken with Fry Light - this will help it to brown.
Cook the chicken for 15 minutes, and turn over, and then give it another spray of Fry Light and then give it another 10 minutes, or until golden.
When the chicken is on the second round of cooking, in a non-stick pan, gently soften your peppers and onion.
I'd add a splash of soy sauce for extra flavour.
Once everything is soft add your cooked chicken from the oven.
Mix together two teaspoons of sweetener with two tablespoons of white wine vinegar and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Add this to the pan and stir on a gentle heat.
This will be quite dry, as Salt & Pepper chicken is, but that vinegar/sugar mixture really makes the dish.
Taste and add some further salt and pepper if it needs it.

The only syns are for the flour - I used 25g so 4 syns and 2 of us had it so was only 2 syns each!

Fake Jelly Sweets

So to ween myself off chocolate and sweets I've made up these fake ones. 1.5 syns for the lot. Basically make up a heartless jelly sachet as directed and also add in some powdered gelatine. I put one sachet in these but I think i'd put another one in next time so they set a little firmer! Still, can't complain for 1.5 syns!

Syn Free Hash Browns

INGREDIENTS
800g of raw potato
1 tsp of fine sea salt
½ tsp of onion powder 
Fry light

METHOD
Preheat oven to 230c
Peel potatoes
Place in a saucepan, cover with water
Parboil Potatoes for 5 mins, bring to boil, then turn off heat and leave for 5 mins.
Remove and Run under cold water
Grate the potatoes in a bowl
Place in a clean kitchen towel and pat to remove any excess moisture.
Place back in the bowl, add salt and onion powder and mix to combine
Now I use the silicone moulds used for mini quiches etc but you could just use a baking tray if preferred
Shape the hash browns, flattening down as you do.
I made 12 out of this 
Spray over the top with spray oil.
Place in the oven and bake At 180 for approx 25 mins, remove carefully flip over, spray again and place back in the oven for another 25 mins or until golden and crispy.

Orange Mousse - 0.5 Syns Each

Apologies for the gap in posting but I've had rough few weeks with unexpected gains and not really made anything new as such. But i'm back! and I have a few new things to post...

Starting with these little Orange Mousses! These work out at 0.5 syns per pot and the flavour can easily be changed. (the recipe I used was for strawberry but silly me didn't realise I had no strawberry jelly crystals!)

Ingredients
1 sugar free Hartleys jelly crystals sachet (1.5 syns)
250g fat free Natural Yoghurt
1 Muller Light

Method
Make up the crystals with 60ml of hot water and stir.
Once mixed add the Natural Yoghurt and the Muller Light and stir thoroughly.
Pour into your pots and pop in the fridge to set

It's that easy!

Obviously I used an Orange Muller because I used orange jelly, but these could easily be changed to suit what you have in!

Spice N Tice Rubs

So after speaking to a few slimming worlders I decided to finally take the plunge and order some of the Spice N Tice rubs to see what all the fuss was about! Most of them are 0.5 syns per tsp and some are even free! Here's my first experience using them... I used the two rubs that are SYN FREE, coated some of the chicken in one and then the rest of the chicken in the other flavour. So simple to do yet so so nice! I'm thoroughly impressed with the intensity of the flavour considering I only let them sit for approx 30 mins before cooking! I would highly recommend these to anyone, they sometimes do discounts and giveaways over on their instragram so make sure you check them out :)

Slimming World Katsu Curry

SYN FREE IF USING YOUR BREADCRUMBS AS YOUR HEALTHY EXTRA

This recipe serves 4 so please adjust accordingly :)

Ingredients for the chicken
4 skinless chicken breasts
240g fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs
1 egg, beaten
Salt and black pepper

For the curry sauce
1 large onion, chopped
1 courgette, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tsp fresh ginger
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp coriander
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tbsp sweetener
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 litre chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp fat free fromage frais
Low calorie cooking spray

Method
Add the onion, garlic and ginger to saucepan on medium heat and cook for 3 minutes or until the onion is softened.
Add the carrots and courgette and fry for 4-5 minutes.
Add the turmeric, cumin, coriander, chilli powder and sweetener and stir.
Add the stock, soy sauce and bay leaf and bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 mins.

While the sauce is cooking, preheat your oven to 180°C
Season the breadcrumbs with salt and pepper.
Place each chicken breast in some clingfilm and flatten with a rolling pin or meat tenderiser.
Remove the clingfilm and dip the chicken in the egg, then coat with breadcrumbs and place on a baking tray sprayed with low-calorie cooking spray.
Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

For the sauce remove the bay leaf and pour the contents of the saucepan into a blender.
Blitz until it becomes a thick, smooth sauce and stir in the fromage frais.
To serve, slice the chicken breast into pieces, spoon over the curry sauce and serve with rice.

This was absolutely beautiful, I'd highly recommend it to anyone. It's completely syn free if using the breadcrumbs as your B choice which is what I did.

Easy Chicken Curry

So amazing and such an easy recipe that you can play with to suit your taste buds!

Ingredients

Low calorie cooking spray
3 garlic cloves
2 large onions
½ green pepper and ½ red pepper, deseeded and chopped in chunks
4 skinless chicken breasts
400g tin chopped tomatoes
225ml chicken stock
2 heaped tsp of curry spice (mild, medium or hot - your choice)
Fat free natural yogurt

Method

Place the chicken on a plate, season well and set aside.
Spray a frying pan with low calorie cooking spray and place over a medium heat.
Add the onion, mushrooms and peppers and stir-fry for 5-6 minutes or until starting to lightly brown.
Stir in the garlic, curry powder and stir-fry over a high heat for 1-2 minutes.
Add the chicken and cook for 2-3 minutes until sealed, then add the tomatoes and stock.
Bring to the boil, cover tightly, reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer gently for 40-45 minutes, stirring occasionally until the chicken is cooked through.
Remove the frying pan from the heat, adjust the seasoning to taste and swirl in some fat free natural yogurt.

Slow Cooker Spag Bolognese

The beauty of having a slow cooker... I managed to make this last night and I just need to reheat it later in time for tea, as I knew today was a busy day so wouldn't really have time to cook. The joys of being prepared...

Salted Caramel Loaf

8 syns for all of it so 1 syn a slice when cut into 8 :) 

Ingredients:

50g self raising flour

10g sweetener

4 eggs

2 caps of salted caramel flavouring

Method:

Separate eggs. 

Add the flour, sweetener and salted caramel flavouring to the egg yolk. 

Whisk the egg white until stiff and fold into the mixture. 

Add to mould and bake on 160 for 25 mins. 

Leave to cool then slice. 

All I ask is if you use my recipes on a social media platform please can you credit back to my blog, I try my best to credit others when I use theirs if I can find someone to credit, so would appreciate others doing the same. Many thanks!

Weetabix Cake

I've seen a few different variations going round of a Weetabix Cake so finally decided to give one of them a go as I'm getting bored of using my B choice on the same things.
This recipe is for 2 B choices so half of the cake is your B choice for the day or if your doing SP you could have it all. There is also 7 syns worth of dried fruit (50g) so 3.5 syns per half.

Ingredients
4 weetabix
1 muller light
50g dried fruit
2 eggs
1 tbsp of sweetener (optional)

Method
crush Weetabix into fine powder
add muller light of your choice (I used banana and custard)
add eggs and sweetener and combine then add dried fruit and stir through
put into loaf tin and cook for 20 minutes
I then turned it over and cooked a further 20 minutes as it looked soggy
leave to cool then slice and serve.

Half of the cake is your B choice + 3.5 syns

Slow Cooker Lasagne

So I finally took the plunge and tried this Slow Cooker recipe for Lasagne that can be found here on the Two Chubby Cubs website

I tried a little bit last night and it tastes amazing, I'm excited for tea later. I made it for 4 large portions and it is your A choice (for the Mozzarella) and 1 syn for the extra cheese I sprinkled on top, but if you miss this off then it is just your A choice.
I definitely need to try some more of their recipes because each one I have tried so far I've absolutely loved!

SW Quiche

So I tried making little quiches at the start of my journey and I hated them. I couldn't stand the eggyness or the texture so they all went in the bin... almost 2 years down the line and I know my tastes have changed so I thought i'd make them again using the flavoured cottage cheeses you can now get.

Ingredients
1 small tub of fat free cottage cheese (with sweet chilli & grilled pepper)
6 eggs
Ham (sliced up)
Onions (sliced)
Mushrooms (sliced)
Chopped tomatoes

Method
Fry off mushrooms and onions and place in moulds
Combine eggs with cottage cheese and season
Add ham to moulds
Pour over egg/cheese mix
Add tomatoes to top if wanted
Cook on 180 for 40 mins
As easy as that!>

Cous Cous for Breakfast!

So i've seen a few recipes floating round that use COUS COUS for breakfast instead of Porridge Oats etc, saving your B choice to use for something else! I was a little skeptical about it but figured i'd give it a go and I was pleasantly surprised!

I simply added 100ml of boiling water to 100g of cous cous, added some salted caramel essence as I didn't have any vanilla and left for 5 mins to soak it up. It's as simple as that. You could obviously use different flavourings etc to suit you and I'll definitely be trying others.
I then simply added my muller light and my raspberries.

I made this at 7.45 am using frozen raspberries and ate it at 9.30am so even if you forget to do it the night before it can be thrown together in the morning, I imagine it soaks up a lot more overnight but it was still enjoyable!

Low Syn Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:
4 eggs
1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tbsp of Sweetener
3 Options Choc Orange Sachets (6 syns)
Method:
Preheat over to 185°C (fan)
Spray a little Frylight in a loaf tin and line with greaseproof paper
Separate the eggs and in one bowl, mix the egg whites until they form soft peaks.
In another bowl, mix the other ingredients together – the eggs yolks, sweetener, vanilla and cocoa. You may find the mixture a little stiff so it’s OK to add a little splash of water at this stage.
Fold in the egg whites, a little at a time.
Pour mixture into your tin.
Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Campfire Stew

So i've been doing Slimming World for nearly 2 years now and I still hadn't made the famous Campfire Stew... well now I can tick it off my list! It's a really great, easy slow cooker meal and I would highly recommend it!

Ingredients
1 small gammon or pork joint
1 chopped onion
2 chopped peppers (or I just used some frozen ones)
3 crushed garlic cloves
1 tbsp paprika
2 tins of baked beans
6 tbsp tomato puree
1 chopped red chilli (or tsp or chilli powder)

Method
Place all ingredients in slow cooker and cook on low for 6 hours, separate the gammon with forks before serving

All syn free and really filling! Could easily be served on its own or with chips/rice/jacket etc

FREE FOOD FEBRUARY - TASTER

So as it was taster last night and we'd been set the task of creating something SYN FREE... You ARE allowed to use your healthy extras but anything else is a no go. For those of you that have seen my previous tasters... I tend to make sweet things that are usually 1 syn or so, which meant I had to find something new to make...

I've made some Loaded Slow Cooker Potatoes that are SYN FREE if using your cheese allowance! The original recipe I found can be seen here

I've made a few tweaks to make sure it works out as syn free so I will post my recipe below...

Ingredients
Frylight
1kg of baby potatoes, halved and quartered if large
120g of Cheddar Cheese (this recipe serves 4 so if split into 4 would be your A choice (you could use the lighter cheddar if you wanted more)
2 tsp of garlic granules
8 bacon medallions, cooked and thinly sliced
2 bunches of spring onions, chopped
2 tbsp. paprika
Salt flakes
Black pepper

Method
Line a slow cooker with foil and spray with frylight.
Add half the potatoes, half of the cheese, half the garlic, half of the cooked bacon, half the spring onions, and half the paprika
Season with salt and pepper
Repeat
Cover and cook on high until potatoes are tender, 5 to 6 hours. (The bigger your potatoes, the longer they'll need.)
About 20 to 30 minutes before serving, top with remaining cheese and bacon

Joe Wicks Beef & Mushroom Pie

So I got the latest Joe Wicks book for Christmas off my boyfriends brother and I finally got round to trying a recipe this week! I decided to make the Beef and Mushroom Pie based on the meat that I had in the freezer. I tweaked it slightly to make it more Slimming World Friendly and this came in at 3 syns per portion and that was for the pastry!

*PLEASE NOTE: I substituted some ingredients as listed below and I also halved the rest as I made it for 2 people rather than the 4 suggested servings*

Ingredients
2tbsp coconut oil - I used coconut frylight
1.25kg rump steak, chopped into large chunks - I used diced beef so cooked it longer
1tsp butter - didn't use
1 onion, diced
2 celery sticks, diced
1 carrot, diced
12 mushrooms, roughly chopped
2 sprigs of thyme
1 bay leaf
1½tbsp tomato purée
1½tbsp Worcestershire sauce
500ml beef stock
1tbsp cornflour - didn't need
large handful of parsley, roughly chopped
4 sheets of filo pastry - I used 1 sheet between 2 making it 3 syns each
drizzle of olive oil - didn't use

Method
Preheat oven to 190°C, Gas mark 5.
Melt half of the coconut oil in a large pan or casserole dish over a high heat.
Add half the meat, brown it all over and remove to a plate.
Repeat with the remaining coconut oil and meat.
Dollop the butter in the pan and melt it over a medium to high heat.
When bubbling, fry the vegetables, stirring occasionally, for about 5 mins.
Drop in the herbs and fry for another minute.
Return the cooked meat to the pan and squeeze in the tomato purée.
Stir-fry for 1 min and then pour in the Worcestershire sauce and stock.
Bring to a gentle simmer.
Mix the cornflour with 1tbsp water and stir into the beef mixture until thickened.
Tip the lot into a baking dish and leave to cool for 10 mins.
Crumple the filo pastry sheets into loose balls and cover the top of the stew.
Drizzle the pastry with olive oil and bake for 20 mins, or until it is browned and crisp.

Porky Light Sausage Rolls

So after the success of the sausage rolls I made at Christmas from the Festive Feasts book, I thought I'd play around with the new Porky Lights and make some more low syn SAUSAGE ROLLS!

Ingredients

4 Porky Light Sausages (2 syns)
150g Pork Mince 5%
1 small onion, chopped
100g cooking apple, chopped (1.5 syns)
Sage, Salt & Pepper
1 39g filo pastry sheet (6 syns)
1 egg

Method

Deskin the Porky Lights and put in bowl,
Add all ingredients apart from pastry (save a little egg wash) and then combine thoroughly
Fold out the pastry sheet and then create a sausage along one of the sides (lengthways)
Slowly roll the pastry up and then use the remainder of the egg wash to seal the edge at the other side.
I cut it at this point into three, mainly because the pastry split slightly - I would recommend slicing it up into however many piece you would like at this point to ensure it cooks thoroughly.
Cook in the oven for approx 45 on 160 - I find it cooks better on a lower heat as if it's too high the pastry will just burn.

The total for this recipe is 9.5 syns so please split this into however many you decide to slice your piece into. I got 11 pieces out of mine but chose to count them as 1 syn each purely for ease. The choice is yours.
If you use this recipe could you kindly credit this blog post or just link back to it.
Hope you enjoy! X

Italian Chicken And Tomato Soup

So in honour of FREE FOOD FEBRUARY starting this week in group I decided to make this for my first offering! Completely SYN FREE and amazing flavours!

Ingredients

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and grated
2 lean back bacon rashers, all visible fat removed, finely chopped
2 large skinless and boneless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
600g canned chopped tomatoes
400ml chicken stock
1 tbsp chopped rosemary
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, to garnish

Method

Place the onion, carrots and bacon in a large non-stick saucepan and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.
Add the chicken, tomatoes, stock, rosemary and lemon zest and juice.
Bring to the boil, stir, then cover and simmer on a medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Season to taste and serve sprinkled with chopped parsley if you want to.

Spaghetti Carbonara

So after skimming through Joe Wicks latest book I got for Christmas I really fancied making a Spaghetti Carbonara... so here's my take on it using what I had!

Ingredients
1 chicken breast
2 bacon medallions
Egg noodles (dried - I had no spaghetti)
Light Philadelphia Cheese
Spinach
Garlic granules
Mustard powder
Fry light

Method
Spray a pan with fry light
Slice the chicken and bacon into little chunks
Add to pan and sprinkle with garlic granules and mustard powder along with a little salt and pepper
Boil spinach and egg noodles in a pan
Once cooked drain the noodles and spinach add a little bit of the cheese and mix
Mix the rest of the cheese with the bacon/chicken
Add salt and pepper to taste
Serve
Simple!