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.

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 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!

Hunters Chicken

I found a recipe for Hunters Chicken and decided to give it a go...

Original Post is here: http://www.shecookssheeats.co.uk/best-ever-hunters-chicken/

For the sauce
1 red onion or 3 shallots
Half a teaspoon of chilli powder (or more, if you like it hot)
400ml of passata
4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
A good shake of Lea and Perrins
4 tablespoons of artificial sweetener

For the chicken
4 chicken breasts
8 slices of back bacon
120g mature reduced-fat cheddar
Veg and chips, to serve

To make the sauce
1.Peel and finely chop the onion/shallots. Put in a frying pan, sprinkle over the chilli powder and fry until soft
2.Add the rest of the ingredients and stir. Keep the sauce on a medium and stir it occasionally whilst you prepare the chicken

To make the chicken
1.Pre-heat the oven to about 210C. Take four ovenproof dishes that are just large enough to serve your chicken in. Spray with Fry Light
2.Slit the chicken breasts down the middle, taking care not to go through the bottom or sides. You want to end up with a pocket. Place the chicken breasts in the ovenproof dishes
3.Pour the sauce over the chicken breasts, making sure it goes into the middle of the breast. Lay the bacon over the top of the chicken
4.Bake the chicken for 20 minutes. Sprinkle over the cheese, then bake for 10 minutes more 

As there was only me having it I modified the recipe so it was suitable for 1 person rather than 4, and this is what it looked like! 

(Please note: the cheese was my healthy A choice, so I used 40g of low fat cheddar and I made the chips with fry light so the recipe was actually syn free, but if you weren't using your healthy A for the cheese it would be 6 syns per person)

Slimming World Meals

Had a good stock up of meals to keep me on plan. The chicken sausages are £1 per bag at the moment so had to get a few! 

Finally got round to trying the chicken and chorizo paella meal, even though I've never had paella. I was really surprised at how much flavour it had.
It was so nice, made even better by the fact it was syn free! Will definately be using the recipe on the back to make my own at some point! 

I seem to be really picky with the soups, the only on I actually like is the tomato and basil one, has anyone else found this? 

What's your favourite?

X

200th post & a little about me.

So for my 200th post I thought I would do a little about me.

I've gained a lot of new followers on my Instagram (doylie_sw) and the views on my blog have rocketed recently and I can't thank you enough. 

I'm Alison and I'm 26 years old. I live with my other half and our two rabbits. I did Graphic Design at Uni and I love baking. I have a massive sweet tooth!

I've been following Slimming World a little over a year and I am so amazed with the results. 

I've lost 2.5 stone but more importantly I've not gone without.
I've enjoyed birthdays, Easter, Halloween and even Christmas (I somehow lost weight over Christmas).

I've had gains along the way believe me, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Taking progress pictures has really helped to keep me focused and has allowed me to see a change in myself that you don't really see day to day. 

I've gone from a size 14/16 to a size 10/12 and am oh so close to my target weight now. 

I'm part of the social team at my group too, which I find really rewarding. I've made so many friends via Slimming World that I probably wouldn't have met without.

I know I could have lost the weight a lot quicker if I had been more strict with my splurges but doing it slowly has given me the belief that I can keep it off. I lost 3 stone prior to Slimming World through basically not eating, so as soon as I went back to normal I piled 2 stone back on!

Here's some comparison photos to show what a difference 2.5 stone can make!

And here's some of my favourites things I've made, click the link to go through to the blog posts.

Salt & Pepper Chicken! - serves 2 (2syns each)
http://eatingyourselfslim.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/salt-chilli-chicken.html?view=classic
 

Lemon Loaf - 8 syns (1 syn per slice)

http://eatingyourselfslim.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/lemon-drizzle-cake-pops.html

Chocolate Weetabix Muffins
http://eatingyourselfslim.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/weetabix-brownies.html

Low Syn Chocolate Cake - 8 syns in total (1 syn per slice)
http://eatingyourselfslim.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/low-syn-chocolate-cake.html?view=classic

Cinnamon Swirls - 1 syn each
http://eatingyourselfslim.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/cinnamon-swirls-1-syn-treats.html

I would whole heartedly recommend Slimming World to anyone, if you have any questions feel free to leave a comment here or on my instagram and I'll get back to you!

x

Mayflower Curry

4 syns for 28g of mayflower powder.

Mixed with cold water then added chicken and onions. 

Well worth the syns. 

Syn free boiled rice. 

Meatball Pasta Bake

Simple to throw together yet super tasty and filling. 

I made it up as I went along and it was really easy to do. 

I used approx 250g passata, paprika, oregano, basil, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to make the sauce

Cut up 2 red onions and cooked off the meatballs then halved. 

Cooked off the pasta, strained and added to the mix. 

Mixed it all together and chucked it in a large oven dish then cooked for approx 20 mins

Grated half my hex a cheese on top. 

All done! 

Slow Cooker Chilli

Slimming world, slow cooker chilli for tea last night. So easy and so yummy and full of speed veg and completely Syn free. Woo!

So easy to do, I just added 5% mince, onions, peppers, passata, chopped tomatoes, garlic, cumin, chilli powder, paprika, 1 beef stock cube, 1 tin of baked beans

Will most likely get a minimum of 4 BIG portions out of this, or 6 smaller ones for using with a jacket etc

Burgers

I fancied burgers last night but I'd already had my Hex B choice so got some big mushrooms and used them as the 'bread', used the Mozzarella as my Hex A choice, and added some fried onions too. Absolutely lovely!

Syn free chicken tikka Massala

Perfect after a double Zumba session. All completely Syn free and super filling! 

Tomato Soup

I seem to change the Heinz Tomato Soup SW Recipe everytime I make it, I've added extra passata and tomatoes this time to make it even more tomato-ey, and it's still completely syn free and lovely for when the weathers crappy like today!

Spaghetti Carbonara

This is a recipe I have never tried, I saw it near the start of my journey but the lack of cheesy sauce and what not worried me. I don't even know why because I was pleasantly suprised with how nice this dish was!
It can be found on the website or in the new book the new members will recieve / the book we were given if we attended over Christmas!

the only syns are for the Parmesan and I can live with 1/2 syn per portion!! This recipe serves 4 so even if you had the whole lot it would only be 2 syns!

Would love to know your favourite recipes?

X

First Week's Results!

2.5lb loss in 4 days

I'm happy with that, it shows it does work. Here's to a full week on plan with no meals pre paid anywhere!