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.

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!

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!>

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!

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!

 

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 :)

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!

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

A Full Day On Plan...

Attempting to post a full day to make me scrutinise what I'm eating, I want a good loss this week! And so far i've forgotten to photograph everything so here goes...
Overnight Oats for today made with 40g Oats, a sliced up orange, raspberries, fruitopolis yoghurt (0.5 syns) and then some protein syrup from The Protein Works (0.5 syns worth) tastes amazing and a nice change from my usual concoctions. It's 1 syn for it all if you use your oats as your B choice. I had this from about 10am until 1pm, as I was busy working swell so I didn't feel like having lunch as it was super filling.

Once I got home, I'd decided to have the Heinz inspired tomato soup so I decided i'd have an SP day (I know you're not supposed to have yoghurt on an SP day but it was a synned one and it was my decision to make). But as I didn't fancy the soup right away I made these little Pizza Thins using my second B choice for the thins & my cheese as my A choice. The picture pretty much explains what to do, you can add any veg you like but as I didn't have any I just stuck to cheese and tomato!

Finally, the soup as promised!

This is all I ate all day, I wasn't hungry and I sipped plenty of Winter Spice throughout the day too. Im shocked as I could normally eat 5 times this so I'm not sure whether I was just that busy I forgot to eat or if I just genuinely wasn't hungry.

Rhubarb Crumble Baked Oats

So I have to say, getting to this time of year is great because it really puts me in the mood for wintery snacks and baked oats are one of my favourites. Theres a million and one different recipes to make baked oats but here is how I do mine:
40g Porridge Oats (see previous post for news on increase from 35g)
1 Rhubarb Crumble Muller Light
1 egg
1 tsp sweetener
Cinnamon and Mixed Spice

I simply combined all of these ingredients and spooned into my silicone moulds, cooked at approx 180 degrees for half an hour (and sprinkled some sweetener over them half way through). They feel lovely and wintery and my kitchen smelled like Christmas, I'm surprised they lasted till morning! Obviously you can switch the muller to any of your choosing, I have an Apple Crumble one I will be trying next I think. You also don't need to add sweetener if you find the muller lights too sweet, but i'm a sucker for really sweet things. As I only used minimal sweetener I am not worried about synning it as suggested in previous post, so this would be syn free using my Porridge Oats allowance (b choice) for the day.

Salt and Pepper Chicken

So I use this recipe the most I think out of all the takeaway ones I've tried. I always feel I need to take new photos so I don't look like i'm just re blogging old stuff so here goes...

I would recommend this to anyone who is missing a good salt and pepper chicken dish in their SW lives! it's low syn and worth it!
Ingredients

Chicken breast, cut into chunks
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 Four tablespoons of flour in a bowl (25g is 4 syns), with half a teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of pepper, along with half a teaspoon of garlic granules. (I now double this so please amend to suit your own preference).
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.
If you're using the oven, leave 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!