Macaroni Cheese, Slimming World Style

The thing I miss most about being on the Slimming World plan is Cheese, this was probably why I needed to lose weight in the first place.....eating far too much cheese!


So when I made this low fat macaroni cheese dish, it was like a cheese dream come true :-)

I firstly boiled the pasta in a pan of boiling water (I was using up the last of my pasta, obviously Macaroni Pasta would be perfect for this dish but I used Penne Pasta instead).


When the pasta was cooked I drained it and transferred it to a large oven proof dish and mixed in a pot of extra light Philadelphia Cream Cheese (which you can use as your Healthy Extra A) or Syn it, I think its 3 Syns for the 28g tub.  I mixed in a tablespoon of English Mustard to give it a bit more flavour and added some lean ham chopped up.  I then put it in the oven to bake for about 10 minutes.


I served it up with some steamed green beans.


You could add sweetcorn to the dish and you could also try the garlic and herb Philadelphia for added taste.  You could even top the dish with some cherry tomatoes before putting in the oven.


Cheese Tastic!


Rating: 9/10

Smoked Salmon Breakfast - Virtually Syn Free on Extra Easy

So I thought what could I try for my breakfast that was a little different?  We all get fed up of the same old, same old.  Then when I was shopping at my local supermarket the other day, I noticed some smoked salmon....perfect I thought.


I enjoyed the smoked salmon with a slice of weight watchers brown bread (Healthy Extra B), spread with a teaspoon of extra light flora (0.5 Syns - this is the lowest Syn margarine I have found and is in a purple tub).  


I baked a large mushroom and a couple of cherry tomatoes in the oven with some balsamic vinegar drizzled on (Syn free) and did some scrambled egg in the microwave.  Delicious!

Rating:  8/10

Slimming World Snack - Hummus & Carrot sticks

I was feeling a little peckish this afternoon and thought I would try a recipe I had spotted in an old Slimming World Magazine:


400g Chick Peas
1/2 Lemon (the juice)
2 Tablespoons of low fat Yoghurt
1 Teaspoon of Cumin
1/2 Teaspoon of Salt
2 Garlic Cloves crushed

I whizzed all of the ingredients in a blender and added a tablespoon of water.  I served it with Carrot sticks.  I would have preferred Pitta Bread but I wanted something syn free, which this is.  


The Hummus was really nice, quite a strong taste of Garlic, but I really enjoyed it.  Very simple and quick to make for a syn free treat.

Rating: 6/10
Syns: Free on Extra Easy

Slimming World Stir Fry

For my lunch yesterday I needed something quick and tasty.  I opted for a beef stir fry, which was absolutely scrummy.  I used lean beef which came already cut into strips and after frying it off in fry light and a bit of Worcestershire sauce, I added some ginger, Garlic salt and an already prepared bag of stir fry veg which included bean sprouts, carrots, beans, and peppers.  I added some dark soy sauce and Voila! A quick, simple meal.

Rating: 9/10


Syns: Free on Extra Easy

Big Breakfast, Slimming World Style

Yesterday I made myself a lovely big breakfast!  All this is totally syn free (apart from the margarine, which is optional) on Extra Easy, using the bread as your Healthy B item.

Big Breakfast

I used smoked bacon, without the fat, Scrambled eggs with some spring onions, baked beans, a Quorn Sausage and 2 slices of Weight Watchers bread with a little extra light marg which is 1 and a half syns for a level tables spoon.  You could add mushrooms, and tomatoes too as long as they are either baked or fried in fry light.


Rating: 8/10

A Slimming World Disaster

Last night I spent hours in the kitchen lovingly making home made Vegetable Soup & Vegetable Samosas, which were followed by Lemon Meringue Puddings.

It was such a disappointment when my vegetable soup didn't turn out quite right.

I started the soup by chopping up some onions and frying them in fry light.  I kept pouring in a splash of vegetable stock  (1 pint used in total)  until all of the stock had been soaked up into the onions.  I then added some herbs and spices, some Worcestershire sauce and some Marmite to the pan.  Tomato and Basil Passata was then added along with some water and a load of veggies (Carrots, Leeks, Swede etc).  I left all this to boil on the stove for about 30 minutes.

I think the mistake that I made was to add a cinnamon stick to the soup, which I later forgot to take out before putting the soup in the blender....... disaster, the soup had such a strong & unpleasant taste to it that I could only manage to eat a very small bowl of it before deciding enough was enough! Plus I kept finding little bits of wood .....yuk!

At the same time as making the soup I also made some little Samosa bites.  These were made with mashed potato, peas and Indian spices.  I then cut some filo pastry into squares and tried to fill them with the spicy mash and peas.  The triangles were a bit of a mess and very fiddly so I decided instead to roll them a little like a spring roll.  They were then brushed with egg wash and baked in the oven until they started to brown (about 15 minutes).  Meanwhile I made a mint yoghurt dip with (no fat) plain yoghurt, a little mint sauce and some Canderel.

The result was pretty good, obviously not as authentic as the real thing but a good low fat alternative at 1 syn each on Extra Easy or Green.  I will definitely try these again.

Vegetable Samosas

Vegetable Samosas with a  Mint Yoghurt Dip

On to my puddings.  Well after so much effort to get to the end result and when they came out of the oven they looked so so good....(for low fat meringues anyway), I thought fantastic....but alas they were awful, really bitter with an un-meringue like texture.  I wont bother putting up the recipe that I followed as I wouldn't wish that dessert on my worst enemy. 

Lemon Meringue Puddings

I am very glad to say that tonight's dinner has been much more of a success, very basic, tasty and filling (Photo below).  I followed the meal off with sugar free jelly, a Muller light yoghurt and some fresh fruit.

Peppered Steak, Corn on the Cob & Home Made Potato Salad

The potato salad was made with extra light mayonnaise (1 table spoon - which I believe is about 1 syn), spring onions and salt and pepper.  I usually make this with half a spoon of mayonnaise and half salad cream, but I didn't have any salad cream in the house.  No butter on the Corn....but hey we are on a diet here folks! :-)

Slimming World Cannelloni with a difference!!

Sorry to all you Vegetarians, but this recipe isn't suitable for you, although it could be adapted with Quorn.


So I was deciding on what to have for lunch this afternoon and thought I would use up some Cannelloni pasta tubes that I had in the cupboard and the left over mince from this morning.  I found a recipe for Slimming World Cannelloni but alas I didn't have any Spinach, so I improvised!


The following is free on Extra Easy:


Ingredients:


Firstly I fried off the Lean mince with fry light, adding some Worcestershire Sauce, Garlic Salt, Onion Granules, Herbs and Smoked Paprika.


Once the mince was cooked through, I added a pot of Low Fat Cottage Cheese.

I then packed the mixture into the tubes as below, and layered into a oven proof dish.

I then made a sauce in a small bowl, mixing Passata (I use Passata and Basil as it has more flavour) with some Canderel (to taste) and a teaspoon of cinnamon to give it a sweet taste.  The sauce was then poured over the Cannelloni tubes and baked in the oven on 180 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.

Once the dish is baked I plated it up and served it with steamed vegetables.

Results:  A nice rich flavoured pasta dish, something different from the everyday pasta dish.

Score:  8/10

Today's Breakfast

This morning I made some little beef patties with bacon and a poached egg.  This recipe is free on Red/Original or Extra Easy.  I tend to only stick to the extra easy days as you can have more variety.


Ingredients:
Lean Minced Beef, just a couple of handfuls for two people or one handful for one person.  I put the rest back in the fridge to use for another meal.

Lean Minced Beef

Spring Onions

Mushrooms Diced

Herbs
Dried Sage, Dried Oregano, Garlic Salt, Dried Rosemary, Salt & Pepper


You can add pretty much anything you want or have in the cupboards, e.g. chilli, paprika, Garlic Cloves etc. fresh or dried but I just used the items above as this was my first go at making this.

I put them all into a bowl and mixed together

I then made little burger shapes and fried off on the griddle pan with fry light.  Frying them on both sides for a couple of minutes before putting them in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of the patties.

While they cooked in the oven, I poached an egg and fried off a piece of smoked bacon.  I took the fat off the bacon as this is cheaper than buying lean bacon.  I prefer smoked bacon as it has much more flavour.

I then plated these up on the plate and......voila!

Result:

Mmmm this was very meaty, juicy and tasty.  I will definitely try this again. 

Score: 7/10

Welcome

Welcome to my new Slimming World Blog!

I will be blogging the recipes and ideas that I use and have each day.  Hopefully this will help others out there who are on the Slimming World diet.  As is the way with most diet plans, boredom of repetitive food is a major issue and often the reason for failure.

I only have a stone or two to lose but aside from that the Slimming World diet is really great for eating healthy, freshly prepared produce rather than those awful microwave boxed meals.