Piri-Piri Chicken

Based loosely on SW mag Jan/Feb 2011



Free on Extra Easy
Serves 4

Ingredients

3 garlic cloves
2 Tbsp. of Schwartz Perfect Shake Piri-Piri
4 skinless Chicken Fillets (ff)
8 small tomatoes cut into half (s)(sff)
4 red onions cut into quarters (s)(sff)
8oz/225g wholegrain brown rice (ff)
1 red Pepper cut into quarters and deseeded (s)(sff)
1 green Pepper cut into quarters and deseeded (s)(sff)
1 large Carrot, cut into strips, cut 30mm long (s)(sff)
1 Stick of Celery, cut into stripes, cut 30mm long (s)(sff)
1 Tsp mixed Herbs
*(1 potato, cut into small squares)(ff)

Method

Preheat the oven to 180c; rub the chicken with garlic and cover in the Piri-Piri mix, place in a non-stick baking tray with the onions, tomatoes, peppers, carrot and celery.

Spray with Fry Light and roast for 25-30 mins or until cooked.

Cook the rice as per instructions on the packaging.

Serve on a bed of rice, with* (oven-baked potato squares) and salad. 


*optional extra

Mung Bean Wraps

Ingredients

200g/Cup of Mung/Moong Beans (s)(ff)
Makes about 8 wraps
Salt



Method

Soak the beans in cold water for between 12 -24 hrs. Depending whether they are split beans or whole, changing the water at regular intervals, removing any hardened beans.
When ready grind them using a food processer and a small amount of water, adding salt, until you have a mixture similar to a pancake mix but slightly thicker.
Heat a frying pan sprayed with Fry Light until its hot then ladle the mix and smooth out using the base of the ladle to form a thin coating, cook for 3-4 mins and flip over and cook until the other side is done. Use for wraps while still slightly warm to ensure easy folding.

Chicken Stir-Fry

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 chicken breast per person, cut into strips (ff)
1stir-fry veg pack (s)(sff)
1x 150g pack Amoy “straight to wok” fine noodles 1.5syn (ff)
150g button mushrooms, sliced (s)(sff)

Stir-fry sauce

1Tbsp. sweetener
1Tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp blue dragon oyster oil 1syn
1 tsp toasted sesame oil 2syn
1 spring onion, finely chopped (s)(sff)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped (sff)
1 cube of ginger, finely chopped
3 Tbsp. water






Method

Spray a wok with Fry Light and cook the chicken strips until cooked and browned, remove from the pan, add more Fry Light and cook the veg for 5 mins, return the chicken to the pan, add the noodles and the home made stir-fry sauce, cook for another 5 mins until the noodles are cooked. 

Making the Stir-fry Sauce

In a small frying pan, add the ingredients and over a low heat, cook, stirring from time to time to blend, season with salt & pepper. Cook until it thickens then add to the stir-fry after the noodles.

SW Taggiatelli

Serves 2

Ingredients

Small tin of tuna in spring water, drained
175g taggiatelli pasta
2 eggs medium or large size
200g Kraft Extra Light Philadelphia (2 Heb on Green)
1tsp garlic powder
1tsp dried oregano
1tsp dried basil







Method

Boil a pan of salted water, when boiling add the taggiatelli and cook for 8-10 until “al dente”, when cooked, tip into a sieve and drain, put to one side.

Break 2 eggs into a bowl and beat them together with the tuna, add the Philadelphia, spiced & season, mix to a smooth constituency.

Return the spaghetti to the saucepan, add the contents from the bowl and stir gently over a low heat until the eggs have set.

SW Macaroni Cheese

Serves 4 people

Ingredients

Coleman’s Four Cheese Sauce Mix (9.5 Syn /4 people =< 2.5 Syns each)
300mL low Fat Milk (from daily allowance)
90g Low Fat Cheddar (2 Hea/4=0.5 Hea) or 100g/4=3.5syns each
1 Tsp. Colman’s Mustard Powder
1 Large tomato, sliced thinly
Sainsbury’s 100% Bulgar Wheat Macaroni 
(200g starter meal)(300g main meal)







Method

Place macaroni in a saucepan of boiling water, add salt and boil for 8 mins for “Al Dente” or 10-12 mins fully cooked.
Remove and place in a sieve to remove water, empty water from the saucepan.

Put the Four Cheese packet contents, and the mustard into a medium sized saucepan, mix a small amount of the milk, stir to a paste, and add the rest of the milk while heating the mix until it boils, stirring continuously, simmer for 2 mins or until it thickens.

Tip the Macaroni into the sauce, mix together then pour into an oven-proof dish, cover with sliced tomatoes then add the grated Cheddar and place in a hot oven (180c) until the cheese melts.
Enjoy with a salad.

SW Paella

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 Onion, finely chopped (s)(sff)
250g Pre-cooked chicken chunks (ff)
16 slices Sainsbury’s spicy & succulent chorizo slices (38 pack) (1/2 syn each) chopped finely (ff)
4 garlic, chopped (sff)
1 red pepper half, sliced, the rest chopped small (s)(sff)
1 green pepper half, sliced, the rest chopped small (s)(sff)
400g chopped tomatoes (s)(sff)
300g/1.5 cups of paella rice (ff)
8 mushrooms, sliced (s)(sff)
500mL chicken stock
2tsp turmeric


1 cup frozen peas (ss)(ff)
1 lemon (ss)(sff)
* Add sea food if required

Method

Cook the onions, garlic, chorizo sausage, & peppers in a large flat pan sprayed with Fry Light for 5 mins.
Add the pre-cooked chicken, * seafood, mushrooms, tomatoes, turmeric, peas & stock, bring to the boil, add the rice and the zest of the lemon, cut the lemon and add the juice, stir to mix then DO NOT STIR AGAIN 
Lay the sliced peppers to decorate and simmer until the rice is cooked and the stock has reduced to below the surface of the cooked ingredients, remove from the heat add cover for 5-10 mins. Serve with a side salad.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Serves 2

Free on Extra Easy

Ingredients

175g dried spaghetti (ff)


2 rashers of smoked bacon, chopped into small pieces (ff)
2 eggs (ff)
100g Philadelphia extra light cheese spread (1Heb on green)
Handful of fresh chives

Method

Cook spaghetti as per packet instructions 8 mins =”Al Dente”
Cook the Bacon in a dry frying pan until done then remove and put to one side.

Break 2 eggs into a bowl and beat them together along with seasoning, chopped chives and the Philadelphia cheese.

Remove and drain the spaghetti then return to the saucepan, add the contents from the bowl and stir gently over a low heat until the eggs have set.

Tuna & Mozzarella Bake

 
Serves 4

Ingredients

300g Macaroni pasta (ff)
130g (drained weight) tin of tuna (s)(ff)
120g/or cup of frozen peas (ss)(ff)
400ml chopped tomatoes (s)(sff)


180g Mozzarella cheese (4 Hea/4=1 Hea) or low fat 100g/4=2.5 syns
90g reduced fat cheddar cheese (2 Hea)
2 spring onion, finely chopped (s)(sff)
1 tsp English mustard
1 Knorr herb stock pot

Method

Boil a saucepan of salted water & add the macaroni & cook for 8 mins until “Al Dente” drain in a sieve. Return to the saucepan.
Flake the tuna, add macaroni, onion, peas, mustard, tomatoes, stock pot & broken up mozzarella cheese, mix together to coat all the pasta, Place ingredients into an oven-proof shallow dish, grate the cheddar over the top and cook for 25-30 mins until cooked and the cheese has melted.

Really Tasty Syn Free Turkey Bolognese

So here’s my first recipe on my slimming blog.  This delicious turkey Bolognese is a weekly staple in our household.  We absolutely love it.  It’s completely free on EE and suitable for both SP and Red/Original days if served with a low carb alternative – I like it served over cooked broccoli, yum!  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Really Tasty Turkey Bolognese
Serves 2
0 Syns

Ingredients
340g Lean Turkey Mince
Half an onion, finely chopped
Half a carrot, finely chopped
One and a half celery sticks, finely chopped
Half a pack of chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Tsp of sweetener
Half a tbsp of tomato puree
Tsp of dried mixed herbs
Carton of passata
Chicken stock cube
Low cal spray
Black pepper

Method
Spray a pan with low cal spray.  When warm, add onions, carrots & celery.  When the onion is translucent, add the turkey mince and garlic and cook until the meat has browned.  Add mushrooms and cook for a few minutes, then add sweetener and tomato puree and cook for a minute more.  Add the passata, mixed herbs and crumble in the stock cube, stir well.  Season with black pepper to taste and allow to simmer for 20 minutes before serving.

And it really is that simple!  It may be free food but it certainly doesn’t taste like it!  Enjoy!

Chilli with Swede Chips – syn free on Slimming World’s EE and EE SP plans

I have been making my chilli following this recipe for as long as I can remember.  It’s so simple to make and so tasty that it’s been a weekly favourite of ours for years.  You need very few ingredients for the basic recipe and you can choose to add as much or little veg to it as you’d like.  As today is the first day of my EE SP week (find out more here), this version is packed with lots of delicious vegetables and I am teaming it with my beloved swede chips which I often have on EE days now if I’ve had pasta, bread or potatoes for lunch.

Syn Free Chilli with Swede ChipsServes 2
Syn free on EE and EE s

Ingredients
– Half a swede, peeled and cut into chips (not too chunky)
– Half an onion, finely chopped
– A stick of celery, finely chopped
– Half a carrot, finely chopped
– 250g of extra lean mince (less than 5% fat)
– 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
– Quarter of a red, green and yellow pepper, finely chopped
– Half a courgette, finely chopped
– Carton of passata
– Tin of kidney beans, drained
– 1 tsp of dried oregano
– 1 tsp of cumin
– 1/4 tsp of hot chilli powder

Method
Put swede chips on a non stick baking tray, spray with low cal spray and season well.  Bake in a very hot oven on the top shelf (GM9, 475F, 240C) for 15 minutes, then turn, spray again and bake for another 15 minutes until crisp and slightly charred.

Meanwhile spray a ceramic pan (or a frying pan) with low cal spray, add the onion, carrot and celery to the pan over a medium heat.  Cook until the onion is translucent, then add the mince and garlic and cook until the mince is browned.  Add the peppers and courgette and cook for a few minutes more until they have softened.  Stir in the passata, kidney beans, oregano, cumin, chilli powder and season well with black pepper.  Allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes before dividing the chilli between two plates and serving alongside the swede chips.

Syn Free Lightly Spiced Slow Cooked Gammon

This is one of my go to slow cooker recipes which I came up with earlier this year.  It’s delicious and very simple to throw together early in the morning.  You can add potatoes to it on an EE day or serve it with rice or pasta but this evening, on my second day of EE SP I’m going to have it with Savoy cabbage – very nice indeed!

Lightly Spiced Slow Cooked Gammon
Free on EE and EE SP
Serves 2

Ingredients
– 1 Gammon joint
– soaked in cold water overnight to draw out some salt
– 1 Onion, roughly chopped
– 2 Leeks, cut into thick round
– Red, yellow and green peppers, cut into 1cm pieces
– 1 Carrot, roughly chopped
– 1 stick of celery, roughly chopped
– 2 Garlic Cloves
– 2 heaped teaspoons of garam masala
– Quarter teaspoon of chilli powder
– Half a teaspoon of chilli flakes
– 1 Chicken stock cube
– 1 Vegetable stock cube
– Half a carton of passata
– A tablespoon of tomato puree
– 1 and a half pints of boiling water
– Black pepper
– Tin of cannellini beans

Method
Place gammon in the centre of your slow cooker and then surround with all of the other ingredients but not the cannellini beans just yet.  Season well with black pepper.  Cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-6 hours, stirring occasionally.  Four hours before you are going to serve up the gammon, add the cannellini beans (2 hours before if cooking on high).  When your ready to serve up, pull the gammon apart with a couple of forks and then serve with your chosen accompaniment (please see above).

And it really is that simple!

If you have been on Slimming World for a while, no doubt you have heard all about tomato speed soup, the soup that resembles Heinz tomato soup and if you haven’t been on Slimming World for long, no doubt you will see it soon.  If you want to find out about it now, just search the internet for ‘Slimming World Speed Tomato Soup’ and you’ll find lots of links to take a look at!

So not only does this version contains the majority of the speed food ingredients in the original recipe but it also contains chilli and spices like chilli are thought to raise metabolism by up to 50 percent for up to three hours after eating, due to increasing your heart rate!  Can’t be bad!

Metabolism Boosting Chilli Speed Soup
Syn free EE and EE SP
Makes 2 big bowl fulls!

Ingredients
1 carton of pasatta
1 tin of carrots, drained
1 tin of baked beans
1 chicken stock cube
1 pint of water
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt or garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon of chilli powder
1 teaspoon of cumin powder
1 teaspoon of dried oregano

Method
Place all ingredients in a heavy bottomed pan – don’t worry if at this stage it looks pretty disgusting, lol – take a hand blender and blend all the ingredients together until smooth and thick.  Heat as much as is required.

It really is very tasty, even my two year old quite likes it when she’s in the mood, lol!

It was very tasty, the perfect comfort food.  Not hot and not too spicy but juuuuust right!  You can obviously make it hotter and spicier though if you’d prefer it that way.  The cheese on the top is optional, as it would still taste fabby doo without it but it just makes it extra tasty if you have your Healthy Extra A choice or the syns to spare!  I hope you like it!

One Pan Lightly Spiced Mexican Rice – Syn free on EEServes 2

Ingredients
– 500g 5% fat beef mince
– 1/2 onion, diced
– 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
– 1 red pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
– 1 orange pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
– 150g uncooked basmati rice (you can also use brown as well and adjust the cooking time)
– ½ a carton of pasatta
– 250 ml of hot water
– Chicken stock cube
– Half a tin of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
– Handful of frozen peas
– ¼ a teaspoon of chili powder
– ¼ teaspoon of smoked paprika
– 1 teaspoon of cumin
– Black pepper to taste
– 80g reduced fat cheese – OPTIONAL 2 x Healthy Extra A choice or 6 syns per serving

Instructions

1. Place a large non-stick pan over a medium heat and sauté the onions and garlic for a minute. Add chopped peppers and cook for another minute. Add mince to pan and cook until browned, about 4-5 minutes, breaking up the meat as it cooks. Season with black pepper to taste.
2. Stir in rice, kidney beans, peas, pasatta, water, crumbled chicken stock cube, cumin, paprika and chili powder.
3. Bring to a simmer, cover and reduce heat to low.
4. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until rice is tender.  Stir every so often if the rice starts to stick. Season with additional pepper as needed.
5. OPTIONAL: Sprinkle with cheese, cover again and remove from heat allowing the cheese to melt, about 2-3 minutes.

I think I shall be making more one pot rice dishes!  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

From : lollysslimmingblog

Fajita Chicken and Wedges – syn free if using cheese as HEA

Now this is what we had for tea last night. It was my birthday so I wanted to try and make something a little indulgent but still totally free. I saved up my Healthy A choice so that I could pop it on top of whatever I made, because to me something indulgent is usually topped with cheese! So I put together this amazing recipe, and I’m not exaggerating here, it was so good my husband asked me if we could have it again the following day and said that he couldn’t believe it was a syn free meal!

Fajita Chicken and Wedges
Syn free on EE if using the cheese as your Healthy Extra A choice
(add 6 syns per serving if not using cheese as your A choice)
Serves 2

Ingredients
• 2 large or 3 medium Maris Piper potatoes, cut into wedges
• Low cal cooking spray
• Salt and black pepper
• 2 Chicken breasts, all visible fat removed and cut into strips
• Half a large onion, sliced
• Half of a red, yellow and green pepper, cut into strips
• 3/4 carton of passata
• 1 tsp of cumin
• 2 tsp of fajita seasoning (the Schwartz fajita seasoning is syn free!)
• Half a level tsp of smoked paprika
• 80g of reduced fat mature cheese (2xHEA)
• 125g Butter Beans (drained weight)

Method
Put wedges on a non stick baking tray, spray with low cal spray and season well. Bake in a very hot oven on the top shelf (GM9, 475F, 240C) for 15 minutes, then turn, spray again and bake for another 15 minutes until golden.
Meanwhile spray a ceramic pan (or a frying pan) with low cal spray, add the chicken and onion to the pan over a medium heat. Cook until the onion is translucent, then add the peppers and cook until the chicken is browned. Stir in the passata, butter beans, cumin, fajita seasoning, paprika and a few twists of black pepper. Allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes.
If you have used a ceramic pan that can be transferred into the oven, tip your wedges on top of the chicken, pressing some of them into the sauce. If you have used a frying pan, transfer the chicken and sauce into an oven proof dish, then tip your wedges onto the top, pressing some of them into the sauce. Sprinkle over the cheese and pop back into the oven, turn the oven down a bit (GM6, 400F, 200C) and bake for 10 minutes until the cheese has melted. Divide between two plates and serve.

My favourite cake is very much out of bounds while trying to lose weight, so I thought I'd try a little experiment, by combining the ever-so-succesful oat pancake recipe, the half-syn roulade recipe and a traditional carrot cake recipe.

Serves 4*

1 Syn on Extra Easy**
** Providing you use the oats as your Healthy Extra B

* I made two cakes, and we did eat a whole one each, but half a cake would be enough for one person really, we were just being greedy.

You could, of course, omit the sultanas and make the cake almost syn free, as there is only ¼ syn in the baking powder. I thought the sultanas were worth the syns though.

70g porridge oats

1 tub Müllerlight mandarin yogurt

2 small carrots, finely grated

½ cup sweetener or to taste

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground nutmeg

20g sultanas (total 3 syns)

2 eggs, separated

½ tsp baking powder (total ¼ syns)

Icing (optional)

2 tbsp quark

2 tbsp sweetener

Start the day before you want to eat the cake. Soak the oats in the yogurt with 1 tbsp water, the spices and sweetener overnight. In a separate small bowl, soak the sultanas in just enough water to cover them.

The next day, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the baking powder. I find it is best at this stage to taste the oat mixture and adjust the spices or sweetener if necessary. Mix together the oats, grated carrots and sultanas with the egg yolks and stir thoroughly. Carefully fold in the egg whites and pour into two greased 4-inch cake tins. Bake at 180°C for 10-15 minutes until a skewer comes out clean and the top feels spongy. Mine took a bout 17 minutes in total.

Mix together the quark and sweetener for the icing if using, and spread across the cake.

Enjoy a guilt free cake with your morning coffee! 

Pulled Pork Tortilla Pizza

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy*

* providing you use the cheese as your Healthy Extra A 

and the tortilla as you Healthy Extra B

2 Bfree Wheat and Gluten Free Wholegrain Wraps

topping as required

60g grated Parmesan cheese

Salad or vegetables to serve

Place the wraps on a pizza cooking trays and spread the topping over the surface leaving a couple of centimetres around the edges. Scatter the grated cheese over the top and bake in the oven at 210°C for 10-15 minutes until the cheese is melted and everything is heated through. Keep an eye on them as the edge can burn easily.

Tropical Coleslaw

As I still had some mooli left (those buggers are huge!) I made a tropical coleslaw to go with the pizzas. I tried grating the apricots too, but it just became a soggy mush, so I resorted to chopping them very finely.

finely grated mooli

finely grated carrot

2 apricots, finely chopped

1 tub zero percent plain yogurt

1-2 tsp mint sauce

Sweetener to taste

Mix together all the ingredients for the coleslaw and serve with the pizza. I also served it with a sweet bistro style salad (bought ready packaged from the store.