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!

What Makes Me Proud

So the #swphotochallengejanuary for today was 'makes me proud'... This might just be a picture of a food diary (from Fox And Moon by the way!) and a SW book to some, but to me, still doing Sliiming World is what makes me proud. It's taken me a good while to get where I am and I'm still a way from where I want to be but the fact that I haven't thrown the towel in when it hasn't gone my way is what makes me proud.

I genuinely love Slimming World, it's changed my life. I love cooking again, I've tried fruit and veg I'd never have dreamed of putting on my plate. I've made friends that I'd never have met otherwise, I'm in a happy place, and I try and help and support anyone else wanting to do the same. The love and support that Slimming Worlders have for each other is amazing and I'm so proud to be a part of that. If I had the time and the money I would train to be a consultant without a doubt. Maybe one day! ❤️

KFC Chicken And Gravy

So there has been this massive hyper over the new Southern Style Gravy that Mayflower have released... and I finally managed to pick some up yesterday!

 

 

I even picked up some for the girls at group as it's the only place i've been able to find it as yet! I currently have 15 boxes all allocated to different members and I need about 6 more. I feel like some kind of drug dealer!
ANYWAY! armed with this new gravy I thought it was only right that I tried it out with the good old KFC Inspired Chicken...

 

Ingredients for KFC Chicken
Chicken Breasts
1tsp of dried oregano
1tsp of garlic salt
3tsp of paprika
Black pepper
Pinch of salt
Pinch of ground ginger
An egg
Smash

Method
Combine the spices with the smash
Cut up the chicken
Beat the egg in a bowl and then dip the chicken in the egg followed by the spice & smash mix
Cook in the oven for approx 20 mins on 180 degrees
Turn and cook for approx 15 or until golden brown.

To make the gravy...
According to the box 50g of powder makes 270ml, and according to the app 100ml is 3.5 syns.
I made it up as directed on the box and this filled 3 ramekins (see picture), I would reduce the water ratio going forward to make it thicker but obviously that won't affect the syns. I had one ramekin so would still syn this at 3.5 syns for the portion I had.

Chicken & Doner Kebab Fakeaway

So since Thursday night all I've thought about is tonight's tea. 

I used the BFree Pitta as my B choice and it was 3.5 syns for the Garlic Mayo but everything else was prepped using syn free methods!

 

Ingredients for Doner Meat:
1tsp dried oregano
1tsp dried herbs
1tsp garlic powder
1tsp onion powder
1/2tsp cayenne pepper
1tsp salt
1tsp black pepper
500g extra lean beef mince 

Method:
Combine all ingredients
Shape into a loaf and place on baking tray
cook in oven (180c) for 1 hour, turning over half way through
Remove from oven and wrap in foil, leave for 10 minutes to rest

To make the Tandoori Chicken:

Combine Natural Yoghurt with the juice of half a lime add some tandoori powder then marinate chicken and leave in the fridge for a few hours to marinate. 

Then place under grill until cooked - turning half way!

The carrot chips were just placed in the oven with a sprinkle of paprika whilst the doner meat was cooking I usually cook them for approx 40 mins. 

Absolutely stuffed and feeling great that I've only used 3.5 syns for all of that. It really felt like I was having a takeaway! 

Salted Caramel Loaf Cake

I have previously posted this recipe but thought it worth re posting as I tried it again but this time doubled up the flour to make it more cake like.

Ingredients:

100g self raising flour
4 eggs
Salted caramel flavouring
1 tbsp Sweetener

 

Method
Separate eggs
Combine the egg yolks, sweetener, salted caramel and flour
Whisk the egg whites into firm peaks
Fold in the egg whites
Cook for approx 25 mins or until golden brown
Enjoy

The whole cake is 16 syns so if you slice it into 8 each slice would be two syns etc. Please adjust syn amount to suit your slices.

Obviously it will never be as amazing as a full fat million syns a slice cake but I think it's a good substitute!

 

Chocolate Orange Baked Oats

So in my attempt to try new things... here's my Chocolate Orange Baked Oats.

 

Ingredients

40g Oats

Chocolate Orange muller light

1 Egg

Sprinkle of sweetener

Tsp of orange essence

Choc Shot orange spice 

Method

Combine all ingredients apart from the Choc Shot 

Pour into mould

Cook for 15 mins on approx 180

Take out and then syringe choc Shot into centre (or make a hole in the middle and pour in)

Cook in the oven for approx 45 mins on 150 approx

I find cooking it for longer at a lower temp makes it more cake like and doesn't go soggy.
Enjoy hot or cold

 

This recipe is 1 syn if you use the Oats as your b choice (the syn is for the choc Shot) or 7 syns if not using Oats as b choice

Lunch Ideas

I find the best things to take to work for lunch tend to be soups, I don't do salad and I get bored of pasta n sauces as well as mug shots and what not. Batch cooking and bringing last nights leftovers is also a good option but I rarely have leftovers :)

As you'll have seen from a recent post I tried the Pea & Ham soup and had that for lunch again yesterday but I've frozen the rest before I get sick of it like I do if I eat the same thing all week...

I whipped up a spicy tomato soup last night so I could have a 'speedy lunch' today. I love that I've picked up the basics of Slimming World and have the confidence to adapt them and make my own recipes up now.

For this I simply used:
Chopped tomatoes
Several pickled onions
Mini tin of baked beans
(like the speedy tomato soup uses)
Chicken stock cubes (as I didn't have any veg ones left)
Jalapeños
Tsp of Lazy Garlic
Tsp of Lazy Chilli

Just brought it all to the boil and let simmer for about 20 mins then used my hand blender to blend it all.
So Simple and it gave the usual tomatoey soup a lovely kick. All of it is syn free and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I've got enough for a second portion too which is always handy!

I find potato and leek and those sort of soups really bland and boring but if anyone has any recipes that have a kick to them I'd love to know about them!?

Slimming World Nacho Feast

So i've been doing Slimming World since March 2015 and I have only just got round to trying this recipe...I did make a few changes such as carrot chips instead of wedges and I had to substitute some spices as I thought I had them all then got home and realised I didn't... BUT! Here is the original recipe for anyone wanting to try it... I would highly recommend!

Ingredients

2 baking potatoes, cut into wedges
Low-calorie cooking spray
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
250g lean beef mince (5% fat or less)
1 onion, sliced
1 red pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
230g can chopped tomatoes
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp fajita seasoning
1 tsp paprika
2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
150g tube Primula Light Cheese
Fresh green Jalapeno chillies, finely chopped (optional)

Method

Preheat your oven to 200°C/180°C Fan/Gas 6.
Put the wedges on a non-stick baking tray, spray with low-calorie cooking spray and season.
Bake for 25 minutes, then turn, spray again and bake for a further 25 minutes until golden.
Meanwhile, spray a frying pan with low-calorie cooking spray and place over a medium-high heat.
Add the mince and stir-fry for 10 minutes, then add the onion and cook for 5-6 minutes, or until softened.
Add the pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes, then stir in the canned tomatoes.
Sprinkle in the cumin, fajita seasoning, paprika and a few twists of black pepper.
Cook for 10-15 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated.
Stir in the fresh tomatoes.
Remove from the heat.
Preheat your grill to high.
Tip the wedges into an ovenproof dish, spoon over the mince and squeeze over the Primula Light Cheese.
Sprinkle with the chillies, if using, and grill for 8-10 minutes, or until the cheese starts to brown.
Divide between 2 plates and serve.

This recipe would be syn free if you are using your A CHOICE for the primula light otherwise you would need to syn this so please amend accordingly :)

Porky Lights & Comfort Food

So I finally got hold of these Porky Light sausages that everyone is raving about. I even bought 5 packs because of how many people have raved about them... so I was hoping they would be good!
I decided to make Sausage and Mash for tea on Friday night. The total for this entire meal was 1.5 syns (for the sausages at 0.5 syns each) and I'd have thought I was eating full fat, meaty sausages. They were fab! I added some milk from my A choice to my mash and I cooked off some mushrooms and onions with stock and hot water which in turn acted like a gravy. I was thoroughly impressed with the quality of them and will definitely be stocking up my freezer!

I then had some more on Saturday morning just to make sure I was sure I liked them obviously... I can't fault them at all I just wish they were a little cheaper. But i'm more than happy to pay £2.25 per 6 sausages if they taste like that!

I may have also then had two on Sunday morning with my cooked breakfast... Definitely a winner in this house!

Pea & Ham Soup

So today I finally attempted Pea & Ham Soup, I've never once fancied it and I honestly never thought I would enjoy some green soup as much as I have.

Ingredients
1 bag of Frozen Garden Peas
Chicken Stock Cubes (I used 3)
Dried Mint
Salt & Pepper
1 Ham or Gammon Joint (I used a smoked Gammon Joint)

Method
Add peas to pan and cover with boiling water.
Add stock cubes and dried mint (do it to taste I added 1 tsp to start)
Add Salt & Pepper to taste
Bring to boil and then simmer for approx 20/25 mins
Leave to cool slightly and then blend
Add seasoning if needed

For the Gammon Joint I simply put the joint in the slow cooker and cooked on high for approx 3.5 hours and then shredded and stored in a separate container. This is so I can add as much or as little as I like.

All of this is syn free and perfect for an SP Day which is why I ended up making it to be honest! Will definitely be making it again at some point.

Hartleys Jelly

One of my biggest downfalls is my sweet tooth so i'm constantly trying to find low syn things I can keep in my cupboard to turn to instead of chocolate! Hartleys kindly offered to send me some of their jellies to try and I couldn't resist! They are all 0.5 syns on SW and they're only 50p each in ASDA at the moment so they're perfect! You can have them on their own or even add spray cream and sprinkles etc and make mini trifles, so excited to give them all a try!

I went to stock up on some in ASDA and found they only had the below flavours left and the shelves were almost empty so it appears i'm not the only one loving these right now!

Thanks Hartleys!

Low Syn Treats

Another one of the Photo Challenge pictures for this month is titled 'Low Syn Treats' so I thought i'd pick my top 9.
I've picked ones you can make rather than buy and I will post a link to each recipe.

1. Chocolate Orange Squares - Each piece is 2.5 syns. I haven't made these for ages but I think I need to, just been looking through my camera roll and completely forgot about these little gems!

2. Coconut Macaroons - Admittedly these look more like Meringues but they are still yummy and I love making these, I make them a lot for tasters as they're a huge hit at only 1 syn each!

3. Cinnamon Swirls - Easily one of my favourites. 1 syn each and worth every bit of it!


4. Lemon Cake Pops - These are simply the Lemon Loaf Cake recipe make into cake pops, I find it a lot easier to snack on and you feel like you're eating more!

5. Half A Syn Cake - Admittedly if you're a newbie I think you'll be disappointed with this if you're expecting an incredible Victoria-esque sponge, but if you've been doing the plan a while and struggling with your sweet tooth I think it's definitely a good substitute!

6. Low Syn Chocolate Cake - Similar to the above, they certainly don't put Mary Berry to shame but they're a means to an end and at 10 syns for the WHOLE cake, you can hardly complain!

7. Ombré Jelly Slice - 3 syns for this entire thing. I love it, especially in summer. You can add 1.5 syns for another layer if you like, it's easy enough to experiment with and the flavours can easily be changed!

8. Salted Caramel Loaf Cake - I amended the Lemon Loaf cake recipe and made it into a Salted Caramel one so really I could have posted them together but oh well here goes!

9. Last but not least, the Fake Jelly Sweets - These are 1.5 syns for the whole lot! I ended up portioning them up into 3 so I could sit watching TV and know I was only using half a syn munching on these!

I definitely want to try some new ones, there's probably a heap more that I could have included but I thought i'd just share some old and some new ones that I've found really useful in keeping me on plan!

My Journey So Far

I thought it was important to write this. I think a lot of people just expect a diet to help them lose weight and they never think of gaining/maintaining, I know I thought that. I thought i'd be at my goal in a year and be loving it. I probably could have done that if I didn't have a life, or if I'd have been 100% on plan 24/7 for 365 days but who can say that they can physically do that? I know I can't. Here's my graph from SW Online, it shows my losses but it also shows my gains and maintains, you can see how close I came to my target (the purple line) and also the massive gain the week after as I just couldn't physically maintain that weight, I don't think I was in the right mind set.

2016 was a busy and eventful year as you can see, and I finished the year 1.5lbs heavier than what I ended 2015 but in that year I learned a lot.

I learnt to accept that there is no harm in a gain and I also allowed myself to enjoy everything and just get back to plan when I can.

I plan on reaching target this year and I feel a lot more focused now than ever.
I know that it is possible and I feel I'll be able to maintain it this time which I think is down to proving to myself I can maintain a weight which is what I did last year. I'll never be back to where I started - which truth be told is another 18lbs on top of where this started, and I've now accepted that.

I'm confident in achieving my goals this year and I just wanted to write this for the newbies out there or the ones that have lost their way. I lost my way the entire year last year, I'm only human. It just takes something to click and all of a sudden you're back and you're raring to go. So to anyone starting out don't be afraid to fall off the wagon just get back to it as soon as you can, and to those currently off the wagon I hope you find you're way back soon!

A lot of people see weight loss stories and just assume it was all plain sailing and it dropped off just like that, and for some people it does. But for some of us it doesn't and that's okay too!

Salted Caramel Baked Oats

An oldie but a goodie, baked oats made last night and then reheated at work this morning! Baked Oats are made by combining 40g of porridge oats with 1 egg, 1 vanilla muller and some salted caramel flavouring.
Baked in the oven for 25 minutes and then flipped and baked for another 10 mins as I don't like them soggy!

Slimming World Top Tips

So following on from the Photo Challenge I thought it might be worth expanding on some of my top tips for following Slimming World...

1. Take Photos: if anyone ever looked at my camera roll I'd probably look extremely vain and obsessed with food! But it helps massively. I regret deleting old photos because I don't have many to choose from now but I am constantly taking photos so I can compare them along the way as I don't think you can always see a difference when you're looking in the mirror on a daily basis.

2. Identify Your Weaknesses: by that I mean if you've got a sweet tooth, make sure you look for low syn treats etc so you aren't going without, if you're a brew addict make sure you're measuring your milk and synning excess. If you love pizza, find a way to make it work for you. Everyone is different and everyone will use their syns for different things which leads me into my next point...

3. Plan Ahead: if you know you get a sweet tooth at night, make a syn box or have low syn treats in so when it strikes you aren't drawn to the highest synned chocolate in the house. Also, if you know you're off out for a meal it always helps to try and see a menu online or search the SW website for syn values to see what will work best for you.

4. Batch Cook: I'm not saying batch cook a months worth of meals and start from there (feel free if that's your thing but it's definately not mine) but if I use a recipe that's for 4 and there's only us two, I can portion up the others for lunches or freeze them so I've got them for a busy day. I also like to batch cook soups etc so I've got them handy for work and I don't have to go in search of food on my lunch.

5. Variety: I think this is the biggest thing, if you make the same thing day in day out you get bored, anyone does. Try and vary the meals you make. This works well with the batch cooking as you can build up a nice variety in the freezer to pick from. I try and do a new recipe a fortnight even if it's a new dessert recipe or try a new snack. I know some people are busier than others so some have the ability to make a new one a week or every day but that's certainly not me!

Chinese Fakeaway

Saturday Night and I really wanted a takeaway... say hello to the Chinese Fakeaway!
In a bid to use up things in the cupboard before a mammoth food shop I decided to use the Mayflower Curry Powder again (you can buy from heron/b&m etc and it is 99p for a tub).
Decided to actually take photos of me making it this time so you can see how easy it is. The sauce was 4 syns for 28g worth of powder (which made a lot) and everything else in the recipe is free.

The egg fried rice was also completely free and is so easy to do. It works a lot better if your rice is cold as I find it goes sticky if you try and use just cooked rice.

A Whole Cake For 0.5 Syns

1 tub of quark
4 eggs, seperate whites and yolks
5 tablespoons of sweetener
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of vanilla exptract
Fruit of your choice to decorate

Method


1. Whisk egg whites till stiff
2. In another bowl mix yolks , vanilla baking powder half of the quark and 4 tablespoons of sweetener
3. Add half of egg white mixture and whisk some more. Fold in the rest of the egg white
4. Pour mixture into a lined tin.Bake in a preheated oven gas mark 4 for 20-25 mins or until cooked (approx 180degrees)
5. Mix the other half of quark with remaining sweetener an use to spread on cake when it is cooled.
6. Top with loads of fresh fruit

What a way to start 2017!

So I went to weigh in expecting a gain, and probably a hefty one at that! I was amazed to find out I'd lost 1lb. I lost 2.5lb over Christmas last year and I lost the same this year, I'm quite impressed. It's shown me I can still enjoy myself and lose weight, I definitely wasn't on plan! I also won Slimmer Of The Week, because hardly anyone had lost both last week and this week! The last time I got a SOTW Certificate was 2015, time to start adding some more I think!

I normally have a takeaway treat on weigh day, but I remembered I had some Egg Fried Rice to use up and after a hefty lunch I wasn't overly keen on a massive tea so I just had the rice and some Mayflower Curry Powder (4 syns for 28g) so easy to do and really nice, it felt like i'd nipped to the Chinese! Even better! Here's to a good week and another loss next week!

Sweet Chilli Chicken

So in an attempt to stay on plan this evening I made the Sweet Chilli Chicken recipe from the booklet we got at group over Christmas. It works out at 1 syn for these two pieces and it was lovely. I didn't feel much like having any 'speed' veg if i'm honest but I still added an onion to some egg fried rice so there was some in there! The egg fried rice I made was free and is my obsession at the moment!

Successful day on plan complete, I just have a really bad headache but I'm putting that down to being completely back on plan and the sugar withdrawal!