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!

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!

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.

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!

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!

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!