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!

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

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! ❤️

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! 

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.

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!

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!

2016 In A Nutshell

Right so here's my #throwbackthursday. The left photo is one of the many horrors from my uni days when I constantly had a drink in my hand (usually a pint of lager) and didn't care what I drank/ate. The second photo was sometime after uni, I'd lost about half a stone but still hadn't even thought about joining SW. I was in a relationship with someone who loved me for me (and still does) and I was happy. The 3rd photo is from about 3 weeks ago, I tried on that jumpsuit and genuinely had to ask if I looked silly, because I'd never worn something like that and it was fitted. I ended up buying it and wore it on xmas eve. 

I've had an amazing year and I'm actually gutted to say I'm finishing the year 1.5lbs heavier than last year although smaller clothes wise. The only positive is that I've pretty much maintained my weight. Yeah I've had some hefty gains but I've also had some incredible losses. I've tried new things and genuinely had an incredible year. I'm in the right mindset to hit target and I can't wait to get started. I think you genuinely have to believe that you want something to get there. 

You can fall off the wagon and restart a million times but then one day you'll just feel differently, you'll know you can do it and nothing will stop you. You are your own motivation and that's what this year has taught me. Massive thanks for all the love and support I've received since I started posting my journey on here, I can't wait to continue watching your journeys too! ❤️

The Days Between Xmas & New Year

Too many chocolates and too much booze has passed my lips. I'm living off of Celebrations and Cheese but somehow I lose 1.5lbs! I'm half on plan today, syn free steak and 0.5 syns of couscous being eaten in the hope I can slowly get myself back on plan in time for my return to work!

Also had a sit down with the new book and a brew and had a good read through. Determined to be organised... or going to try to be!

Christmas Party & Weigh Day

So Monday was our annual Christmas Party in London and safe to say I was completely off plan. I haven't been on plan all week and weighed in today with a 6lb gain. I was devastated in all honesty but going off everything i've consumed this week it should have been a lot worse. I'm now 12.5lbs from my target which I know I won't get before xmas now but I'm still going to try my best to get as much as possible off again! I'm so close now and i'm determined not to sabotage it! This photo is from my Christmas Party (left) and the right hand one is one time hop kindly decided to show me from several years ago. I never remember actually being that big to be honest, I think I was in denial. I know a xmas party or a few days off with most likely end in a gain but I also know I will never be back at the weight I was on the right. This has been more about finding a love for myself rather than losing weight. I am finally getting happy with how I look and it definitely isn't about the number on the scales anymore it's more about how I feel in myself and when I can look in the mirror and know that i'm happy that's when I will know to call target; for the sake of SW I have set a target but this could change depending on the above.

Christmas Cake

I have always been a firm believer that I wasn't a fan of Christmas Cake, but the cake in the new Festive Feasts book from group looked really good... so I gave it a go! And it was amazing! I have had cake for breakfast everyday this week... So I'm not holding out hope for a loss tomorrow! I would recommend this AND I think its worth the 5.5 syns per slice! I've had half a dozen taste testers so far and every single one of them has approved! (I have brutally honest friends so I know they're being honest) I need to make another one already and I only made it on Monday Night!!! Taking the rest of this for group to sample tomorrow and then need to look at making another this weekend, there will definitely be a few of these consumed over the festive season!