Fakeaway Friday: Taco Fries

Hi all.  Today I want to share with you the recipe for Taco Fries adapted to the Slimming World plan.

It's a real comfort food and really filling.

INGREDIENTS: (4 persons Free on Extra Easy if using Cheese as your HEA)

500 gr extra lean mince meat
1 large onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 beef stock cube
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
4 large potatoes
120 gr of grated cheddar or mozzarella cheese

Spices:

1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp sweetener
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chilli pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp dried oregano

For the Taco sauce

6 tbsp fat free fromage frais or natural yoghurt
1 tbsp tomato puree
1/2 tsp chilli pepper
1 tsp garlic
3-4 tbsp water


METHOD:

Spray a pan with low calories spray and fry the onions and peppers.
Add the mince and fry till browned.
Add all the spices, Worcestershire sauce and stock cube. Mix well.
Add the chopped tomatoes and simmer till it dries out.

Prepare the Taco sauce by mixing all ingredients very well in a bowl.

Cook the fries and when ready layer on a plate in the following order:
Chips
Mince sauce
Taco sauce
Cheese

Serve piping hot and enjoy it.

Soo filling! xoxo

Fakeaway Friday: Sweet and Sour Chicken with Boiled Rice

The recipe I will share with you today is sweet and sour chicken with boiled rice.  Quite easy to make and very tasty.
I served it with boiled rice but I tried it with noodles before and it's just as nice :-)

INGREDIENTS: serves 4 about 1 syn per serving on Extra Easy

• 4 chicken breasts diced
• 1 large onion chopped
• 2 garlic cloves crushed
• 1 large red pepper chopped
• 3 carrots finely sliced
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 1/4 tsp Chinese 5 spice
• 4 tbsp tomato puree 
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar 
• 4 tbsp light soy sauce 
• 150ml chicken stock
• 400g fresh pineapple flesh, cut into bite-size pieces
• 2 spring onions to decorate

METHOD:

• Spray a pan or a wok with Frylight (cooking spray). Place the diced chicken breast and fry till brown. Remove and put on a plate.
• Spray some more cooking spray to the pan and add the garlic, onion, pepper, and carrots.  Fry for about 5 minutes.
• Add the chicken to the vegetables and fry for a couple of minutes.
• In a separate bowl mix 2 tbsp of water with cornflour, wine vinegar, soy sauce, tomato puree and stock.  Add it to the pan and cook it for a few minutes till the sauce thickens.
• Remove from the heat and add the pineapple.
• Serve with boiled rice or noodles and decorate with finely slices spring onion.
• Enjoy your meal.

My family loved this recipe.  I added some hot chilly pepper to mine as I loooove spicy food!!

Please, do send me pictures if you make this recipe.  I will definitely be making this again, next time with noodles :-)

xoxo

Fakeaway Friday: Chilli Con Carne with Boiled Rice

My 10-year old always asks for this recipe and I am also glad he is starting to develop a taste for spicy foods (provided it's not too spicy or he gulps down litres of water :-/)

Today I will share the recipe for the Chilli con Carne with Boiled Rice: a beautiful Mexican recipe made from scratch the healthy way :-)

INGREDIENTS: serves 4 syn free on Extra Easy

• 500 gr extra lean mince meat
• 1 large red onion chopped
• 2 large red peppers chopped
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• pinch of chilli pepper
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 300 ml beef stock
• 400 gr tin kidney beans

METHOD:

• Spray a pan with Frylight (cooking spray). Add the garlic, red onion, and peppers and fry for a few minutes.
• Add the mince and cook till brown.
• Add the cumin, paprika and coriander and mix well to season the meat and vegetables.
• Mix the stock, chopped tomatoes and kidney beans and simmer till thickened. Add some chilli pepper to taste if you like it spicy.
• Serve with fried rice or if you are in the mood of real comfort food, serve with Slimming World chips. 
• Follow with a naughty glass of wine :-)

Yummy comfort food without the guilt ;-)

xoxo

Autumn is here...Hot Breakfast

Autumn is in the air. The cold and frosty mornings are just around the corner.  

This year I'm actually looking forward to winter; in fact I always look forward to the changing of the seasons.  Time to pack up all those summer dresses to make space for cozy jumpers and heavy coats :-)

I went for an hour walk this morning after the school run and when I got home I was really looking forward to something hot. What a better way than starting your week with a bowl of hot porridge topped with beautiful fresh berries and a nice cup of tea? Right what I needed to get this brand new week to a great start!! :-) Happy Monday everybody! 

What do usually have for breakfast?  Let me know, I'm always on the lookout for new ideas...

 xoxo

Key Lime Pie

Hi everyone and happy Monday!

Today I am going to share a dessert recipe with you: Key Lime Pie.

I wish I had tried this recipe over the summer as it would have been lovely after a BBQ.  It's really fresh and creamy and great if you want to impress your friends and family without spending hours in the kitchen. 

It will have to set in the fridge for a few hours and even better overnight, so there's no last minute preparation! What more can you ask for?!


There it is:


INGREDIENTS: Serves 10 people. 5 syns per slice

• 8 digestive biscuits
• 50 gr low fat spread
• 1 sachet sugar free lemon and lime jelly
• 250 gr quark
• 2 x 175 gr muller light vanilla yoghurt
• a few drops of green food colouring
• zest of 2 limes plus the juice of 4 limes
• 2 tsp powdered gelatine
• 3 tbsp sweetener

METHOD

• Make up the jelly with 150 ml of boiled water and let cool.  Add the powdered gelatine.
• Crumble the digestive biscuits and mix with the melted low fat spread. 
• Press this mixture very tight with the back of a spoon at the bottom of a 20cm springform baking tray.
• In a blender mix the quark cheese, 2 muller light, the juice of 4 limes, the zest of 2 limes, and the food colouring.
• Mix in the jelly when is completely cold and pour the whole mixture over the base.
• Let it set overnight in the fridge and enjoy.

Send me some pics if you make it. I would love to see them!! :-)

xoxo

Pizza Topped Chicken

Whenever I feel like having something really tasty and don't have too much time to spend in the kitchen, the pizza topped chicken is one of my options.  

I love the sweetness of the sauce, and what to say about the cheese: I adore cheese!

I usually use the low fat cheese and count it as my HEA so that the whole recipe is syn free.

This is how I make it:

INGREDIENTS: (syn free if using cheese as HEA)

serves 4

• 4 chicken breasts
• 1 red pepper (finely chopped)
• 1 small onion (finely chopped)
• 2 cloves of garlic (crushed)
• half a tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 and 1/2 tsp oregano
• 50 ml of stock
• 160 gr low fat cheese

METHOD:

• Spray a saucepan with frylight and sautee the pepper, onion and garlic for a few minutes.
• Add the chopped tomatoes, the tomato puree, oregano, stock and simmer for a few minutes.
• Spray a pan with Frylight, butterfly the chicken breast and fry till it gets a bit of colour on both sides.
• Place the chicken breast in an oven proof tray, top it with the sauce and put cheese on top.
• Cook in hot oven at 180 degrees for about 25 mins or till fully cooked and enjoy it with Slimming World chips and a side salad

Have you ever tried it?

Send me pics if you make it.  I would love to hear if you enjoyed it xoxo

Bowtie pasta with mushrooms and sundried tomatoes

Today's recipe is a very easy and quick one.  It's a dish that you get ready in matter of minutes: bowtie pasta with mushrooms and sundried tomatoes. 
As some of you may already know, pasta is always a big hit with my family and I absolutely love it when I think of a recipe that is so simple to make :-)


INGREDIENTS
Serves 4 (1 syn per serving if using the cheese as part of your HEA)

• 350 gr bowtie pasta
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 medium onion
• 50 gr porcini mushrooms
• 250 gr chestnut mushrooms
• 100 gr sundried tomatoes (4 syns)
• 70 gr light philadelphia cheese
• parsley

METHOD:

• Soak the sundried tomatoes in warm water for about half an hour.
• Soak the porcini mushrooms in warm water for a few minutes, drain, chop and keep the water for later.
• Mince the garlic, dice the onion and slice the chestnut mushrooms.
• Spray a pan with frylight and add the garlic, onion, mushrooms and sundried tomatoes.
• In the meantime, boil the pasta in salted hot water and drain.
• Add the pasta to the pan and stir in the philadelphia cheese, the porcini mushrooms water and make sure it's nice and moist and that the water doesn't dry out completely.
• Serve immediately and add some parsley on top.

Let me know if you are going to make this recipe and send pics in if you do :-)

xoxo

Fakeaway Friday: Fish and Chips

Since I joined Slimming World I learned how to prepare all those takeaway dishes from scratch by using a wide variety of spices.

Fish and chips is one of them, prepared the healthy way of course :-)

I always loved fish and chips but the one you get from the takeaways is so high in calories and fats and if you are trying to lose some weight and eat healthy it's just not worth it :-(

It doesn't take so long to make this healthy version and it can be prepared in the morning and stored in the fridge till you are ready to cook it.  It's also virtually syn free if you use the wholemeal bread as your HEB.

There you go:

INGREDIENTS:  

serves 4 - syn free if using wholemeal bread as HEB

• 4 cod fillets cut into strips
• 1 beaten egg
• 120 gr wholemeal breadcrumbs
• 1 oxo cube
• 1 tbsp dried garlic
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp paprika

METHOD:

• Mix the breadcrumbs, oxo cube, garlic, parsley and paprika in a bowl.
• Dip the fish strip into the beaten egg and then straight into the dry mixture.
• Make sure the fish is all coated.
• Spray a pan with Frylight and fry the fish to brown the coating.
• Transfer into an ovenproof dish and bake in the oven at 180 degrees for approx 20 mins or till fully cooked.
• Serve with Slimming World chips and a side salad.

It was soooo yummy!

Let me know if you try it and send me some pics.

Have a great weekend everybody!

xoxo

Orange Cake with Berries

Today I want to share with you a beautiful cake recipe: Orange Cake with berries.

Perfect ending to a Sunday dinner or whenever you feel like having a special treat, this cake is quite low in syns (3 1/2 per slice) but bursts with flavour.

There it is: :-)

INGREDIENTS: 

Serves 12 - 3 1/2 syns per serving

• 4 eggs
• 50 gr caster sugar
• 150 gr self raising flour
• 5 tbsp sweetener
• 1 tsp baking powder
• juice of 2 oranges
• 2 tbsp of grated orange zest
• berries to serve

FOR THE SYRUP

• juice of 2 oranges
• 1 tbsp arrowroot
• zest of 2 oranges 
• 4 tbsp sweetener
• 90 ml water

METHOD:

• Preheat the oven at 190 C and line a 20cm baking tray with parchment paper.
• Separate the eggs.
• In a bowl mix until thick the egg yolks, flour, sweetener, sugar, baking powder, juice of 2 oranges, and orange zest.
• In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until they are softly peaked.
• Fold them into the rest of the mixture.
• Spoon the whole mixture into the baking tray and bake in the oven for approx 25/30 mins or till firm to touch.
• In the meantime prepare the syrup by placing all the ingredients in a saucepan.
• Bring to boil and continue whisking till thickened.
• When the cake is fully cooked leave it to cool down in a wire rack for a few minutes.
• Drizzle the syrup over, cut into slices and serve with berries

It's a gorgeous gooey cake that explodes with orange flavours.  It would be lovely to serve it with raspberries but I didn't have any at home... one more excuse to make it again :-)

Let me know if you make it and what you think,

Till next time

xoxo

Cinnamon Apple Chips

Hi all.  Hope you had a great weekend! Mine was fab. The weather here in Ireland is still fairly mild and I enjoyed a lovely walk with my teenage daughter on Sunday morning.  It's so nice to be able to spend quality time with her.  Love all those girly talks about everything and anything... 
We were trying to come up with an afternoon snack idea and decided to make something quite simple with ingredients we had in the fridge; so we settled for cinnamon apple chips.
I made them very often last winter and love the smell of cinnamon lingering in the house! It reminds me of Christmas: my favourite time of the year.


This is how I make them:

INGREDIENTS: (syn free)
1 serving

1 apple
ground cinnamon
frylight


METHOD:

1. Slice the apple using a potato peeler and place the thin slices in a microwavable plate previously sprayed with Frylight. Make sure that the slices are spaced out.
2. Sprinkle some ground cinnamon on them.
3. Put in the microwave for about 8 mins.
4. Place them in a wire rack to cool. 
5. When cooled, serve them and enjoy! :-)

XOXO

Fakeaway Friday: Mushy pea curry

Hi all. Thank crunchy it's Friday! 

It has been a long week!! We survived our first week back to school but finding really hard to settle back into the routine. I really don't know where the time goes sometimes...my 13-year-old daughter has started 2nd year in Secondary school and my 10 year old son is now in 5th class!

Before I started Slimming World we used to get take away meals on Friday nights and eat it in front of the TV watching a nice movie. I used to look forward to a night off cooking after a full week of doing cleaning, washing, school runs and helping with homework.

Since I joined Slimming World in September 2013 however, I have been very conscious of what we eat and try to prepare healthy meals all the time (although I admit I do cheat once in a while...oops!) The main thing is I get back on track straight away; whenever I am tempted to have a bad meal I say to myself: "NO FOOD TASTES AS GOOD AS SKINNY FEELS"...

I love cooking and trying new recipes.  I sometimes get inspired by a recipe I have seen on a magazine or website, and sometimes I like to make my own recipe Slimming World friendly.

Tonight we were so tempted to order a Chinese dinner as a Friday night/back to school treat. It would have been so easy. Instead I decided to get into the kitchen and make a curry! Well done me!! (Round of applause).

Soon after I joined Slimming World last year, I heard talking about mushy pea curry. Well... I must admit it took me about 8 months before I found the courage to try it! Don't get me wrong, I love curries, but I can't stand mushy peas. I don't like their taste, texture and I am also put off by the smell. Yuck!

Surprisingly enough, not only I loved the mushy peas curry but even the kids seem to really enjoy it! It tastes as good as any takeaway and syn free on Extra Easy.

How things change in a year...we still have family nights and we all watch a movie together but we also enjoy a beautiful healthy meal!

Here is the recipe:

MUSHY PEAS CURRY

INGREDIENTS: (syn-free on Extra Easy)
Serves 4

For the sauce:

2 tins of mushy peas
1 tin of baked beans
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp curry powder (I like using the hot curry powder, but you can use the mild one if you prefer)

Add:

4 medium sized chicken breasts
2 medium sized green peppers
1 onion
2 garlic cloves


METHOD:

1. Blend the mushy peas, baked beans, chopped tomatoes and curry powder and set aside.
2. Dice up the chicken and vegetables, spray a pan with Frylight and cook till softened.
3. Add the sauce and simmer till chicken is fully cooked.
4. Serve with boiled rice or Slimming World chips.  

We can never agree whether to have it with chips or rice so I usually make a bit of both and everybody is happy!

After this lovely dinner it's time to put my feet up and enjoy a lovely glass of red wine.(175ml 6 syns)

HAPPY WEEKEND EVERYONE!!

TALK SOON,

 XOXO

Bolognese Pasta sauce

What can I say ... I am Italian, and as a true Italian I love my pasta! I have to have it at least once a week and it's always a bit hit with my family.  
There are so many sauces you can serve your pasta with, but one of our favourites has to be with Bolognese sauce.  Here is how I make it Slimming World friendly:

INGREDIENTS: (syn free on Extra Easy)
Serves 4



350 gr extra lean mince
1 large onion
3 medium carrots
3 celery stalks
2 garlic cloves
1 tin of tomato purée
700 ml beef stock (made up with 2 stock cubes)


METHOD:

Dice the onion, carrots, celery and garlic.  Spray a large saucepan with Frylight and cook the vegetable till softened.

Stir in the extra lean mince meat and cook it for a few minutes till browned.

Stir in the tomato purée and the beef stock and let it simmer

About an hour later your sauce should look like this:

If you don't mind using a few syns and want to give your pasta that authentic Italian flavour you can add 175ml of red wine when you add the extra lean mince meat (6 syns. It works out at about 1.5 syns per serving).  

When the sauce is ready, boil your favourite pasta shape in salty water, drain and serve with your bolognese sauce.  If you like it,you can sprinkle some parmesan cheese (HEA)

Buon Appetito!

Balsamic Vinegar Chicken

This is an old favourite family recipe that I decided to make Slimming world friendly.  Still love it and it can be adapted to most meats.  Also a good idea to use it to marinate chicken or steak for a summer BBQ.  So tasty!


INGREDIENTS: (syn free on Extra Easy)
Serves 4

chicken legs or thighs (appox. 700/800 gr) with no skin
5 tbsp balsamic vinegar  
1 tsp dried mint
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried rosemary
salt and pepper to taste



METHOD:

1. Mix the vinegar and herbs in a bowl. Coat the chicken in it and marinate in the fridge for a few hours.  I usually get it ready in the morning and cook it in the evening.
2. After a few hours place it in an oven-proof dish and cook in the oven at 180 degrees for about an hour or until the chicken is fully cooked.
3. Serve with Slimming World chips and a crispy salad. 

Magic Pancakes

This is gotta be the most filling Slimming World breakfast!  I absolutely love it and feel like I am having a real treat. Perfect for a weekend breakfast: what a way to start the day!!

INGREDIENTS: (syn free if using oats as a HEB)
Serves 1

35 gr oats (HEB)
1 muller light yoghurt (I usually use the vanilla flavour)
2 eggs

A few drops of vanilla essence

Sweetener to taste (I prefer them without it but I don't have a sweet tooth)
Fresh fruit 

METHOD:

1. Soak the oats in muller light yoghurt overnight.
2. In the morning add the 2 eggs and blend everything together.
3. Spray a pan with frylight and spoon the batter as you would for regular pancakes.  The only thing is that you have to make sure that one side is done before flipping it or it will break.
4. Serve with a chopped banana and fresh strawberry and enjoy! 

Yummy!

I can guarantee it will fill you up for hours :-) 

xx

Sticky Chicken and Egg Fried Rice

Definitely recommend to try out these recipes! The chicken is so sweet and tender and the egg fried rice is always a big hit with my family and it's also so easy to prepare.

STICKY CHICKEN (2 syns on Extra Easy)

Ingredients:
serves 4

700gr chicken breasts
3 tbsp honey (2 1/2 syns each tbsp)
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp soy sauce

Method:

1. Marinate the chicken in the honey, balsamic vinegar and soy sauce for at least an hour. Make sure that all the chicken is coated. I usually prepare it in the morning and put it in the fridge till it's time to cook it.
2. Heat a frying pan and coat it with Frylight.  Cook the chicken for about 20 mins or until the marinade has been absorbed.
3. Enjoy it!

I served it with Egg Fried Rice and mixed salad

Egg fried rice is also a fairly quick recipe and makes a nice change from chips. I use jasmine rice that I find cooks faster and absorbs much better all the flavours.

EGG FRIED RICE (syn free on Extra Easy)

serves 4 

Ingredients:

250 gr rice

1 large onion

100 gr peas

100 gr sweetcorn

1 splash of Worcestershire sauce

4 tbsp soy sauce

2 eggs

Method:

1. Cook the rice, and cool it down under cold water. Set aside.
2. Dice the onion and fry it in a pan coated with Frylight. Add peas and sweetcorn.
3. When the vegetable are cooked add the rice, the soy sauce, the Worcestershire sauce and the eggs that have been previously beaten.
4. Keep stirring till the eggs are fully cooked and serve. Soo yummy!

Simple breakfast

I have been following the Slimming World plan since September 2013.  I am now a target member and loving it.  This is a very simple and quick breakfast and also one of my favourites! Very handy if you have to rush out the door like me in the morning for the school run.

A chopped banana and strawberries, 1 Alpen light bar (half HeB), a Muller light yoghurt and a cuppa


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