Getting Saucy

One of the first things I learned to cook with my Mum was lasagne. Admittedly, she would make the bolognese and the bechamel sauce...my role in the dish was the assembly job.  The preparation time involved made you appreciate the meaty creamy layers when you finally took it out of the oven. Obviously the flour based sauce, full fat cheese and mince certainly helped me build some layers of my own!

Luckily,on Extra Easy we have quark. It's syn free, so beaten with some eggs and a Healthy A portion of grated reduced fat cheddar you can feel a little more relaxed about the creamy topping on your lasagne. There's no need to worry about the sauce going lumpy in the saucepan....you don't even need to cook quark white sauce just pour it over the top before cooking in the oven as usual. With extra lean meat, plenty of mushrooms, peppers and onions, pasta or potato layers..you can tuck in to a large plateful.

The same principle is used in the featured recipe on the Slimming World site - Moussaka. I am trying that tonight after several friends have recommended it. Essentially its very similar to a lasagne. The key differences are the use of aubergines instead of pasta, quorn or lamb instead of beef mince to which cinnamon is added rather than basil or oregano.  Both of these dishes keep well in the fridge or freezer for ready meals so make a large batch.

Note: I follow Extra Easy and for simplicity don't reference Green and Red days a great deal here!

A syn-free pizza the action!

If you are anything like me, one of the big eye-openers when I started Slimming World was the fact that pizza, was not just a little bit high in syns...it could take up your syns for a week or more if you managed a whole one!! I was a big fan of thin crust pepperoni pizzas with a side of garlic bread before I read the syn count during my first week on the plan eight years ago. Even so, to this day, I see the takeaway pizza adverts on TV during football matches or films and really have to reign in the urge to pick up the phone.

Imagine my joy then, when I discovered the syn free pizza (you read it correctly - syn free!). This is a great recipe for those nights when there are just a few bits of salad/veg in the fridge and some cheese (I use a Healthy A allowance of reduced fat grated mozzarella for this). If you make sure you have a stock of instant mash in your store cupboard, you can always use up the leftovers on days when you a low on supplies. If you have some syns left you could add the usual favourites like pepperoni to add extra flavour. For the tomato base I often use a tablespoon or two of salsa (0.5 syns per tablespoon), but you could use tomato ketchup (1 syn for tablespoon) or passata (syn free). I find that smaller pizzas work best. You need to de-seed any tomatoes used as they give off water and make the base soggy. Serve with Syn free chips or a 57g wholemeal bread roll, sprayed with buttery frylight, sprinkled with lazy garlic and toasted under the grill.

Syn free toppings - These are just a few examples:
Peppers
Onion
Mushroom
Tuna
Sweetcorn
Diced chicken
Egg
Jalapenos
Mince
Bacon
Basil
Oregano
Assorted cheeses

Share your experiences of using this recipe..or others to create tasty pizzas. Which are the best lower syn supermarket pizzas? Add your thoughts in the comments. You can find branded takeaway and restaurant pizza values in the Food Directory or in the basic product search in Syns Online.


Note: I follow Extra Easy and for simplicity don't reference Green and Red days a great deal here!

"A couple of slices of toast or a milky drink at bedtime..."

It was fascinating to read about NICE's recommendations around the way many women approach 'healthy eating' during their pregnancies. Like many other women I was looking forward to the opportunity to eat a few more treats once, and if , I'd finally plucked up courage to become a mother who would be 'eating for two'. Essentially, what is being suggested is that pregnant women only need an extra 200 calories per day in the last trimester. Indeed, if you look at the Slimming World website there is a section that talks about pregnancy and it really doesn't advocate anything radically different than the plan that its members already follow prior to conceiving. There is advice for those breastfeeding who may require additional healthy extras.

So my dreams of tucking into endless crisps and biscuits during pregnancy are over. It's not the only syn-packed myth out there. See how many of these you recognise:

"I've done an hour at the Gym today so I've earned a Kit Kat". Click here for the mythbuster
"Eat lots of salad and you'll lose weight". Click here for the mythbuster
"Drinks can't be as calorific as food". Click here for the mythbuster

Take a look at the 'science bit' on the Slimming World website and start to understand how the plan will effect your body and eating habits. A bit of research with reputable organisations can help you to identify advice that helps you side step the fads and myths that we hear about so often.

What myths have you been caught out by in the past? Add them to the comments!

Note: I follow Extra Easy and for simplicity don't reference Green and Red days a great deal here!

A filling lunch for work

You'll find that much of the planning I do around food relates to the food I take to work. It's important to get this organised. There are so many potential pitfalls around you..whether you work in an office, factory, school or outdoors. Vending machines, canteens, the bacon rolls ordered on cold mornings, pizzas for overtime, the chip shop just over the road. It can even be events such as birthdays where cakes are brought in to share, or simply watching someone else eat their lunch of white bread sandwiches with crisps and a chocolate biscuit. All very distracting. The challenge of keeping your lunch interesting is the key to making the plan work. Many of us work 9-5 often having breakfast (a vital meal to start the day) and lunch away from home.

The Slimming World website has some great articles under its 'Searchable Features' section about lunches. Simply add the word 'lunches' to the search box. You can find syn values for grab and go lunches from stores as well as recipes for your lunchbox. Here are some of the recipes and combinations I regularly use in sandwiches and on crispbreads:

Cheese and onion sandwich filling (syn free and 1 healthy A):
Mix half a pack of quark with your daily allowance of cheese (grated), seasoning and chopped onions. Leave it overnight in the fridge.

Egg Mayo sandwich filling: (1/2 syn)
Mix half a pack of quark and a tablespoon of extra light Hellman's Mayonnaise. Stir in hard boiled eggs and seasoning. Leave overnight in the fridge.

Create your favourite filling:
You can use the same principle as above to make other fillings such as:
Tuna and Sweetcorn, salmon mayo, prawn mayo - you can be very creative with these.

Store cupboard at work:
You can create an stock at work in your draw of helpful items to make a quick meal on days when you haven't managed to prepare anything. See the Empty Fridge post for ideas on this.

Leftovers:
Had a nice evening meal? Save some for heating up at work. Cook extra so that you can enjoy it again the next day or freeze it for use in the future.

Add your lunch ideas in the comments!

Note: I follow Extra Easy and for simplicity don't reference Green and Red days a great deal here!

Getting in a pickle.

I have a friend who cooks mostly Indian recipes for her family and has recently lost half a stone on Slimming World (it's such great news!). She has been able to adapt the her favourite spicy recipes and is working on persuading her family to appreciate food cooked in less oil. That's a longer range goal! I did pass on my tip about a fantastic Lime Pickle that features in the Curry Feast book from Slimming World that is entirely syn free. It is tangier and fresher than shop bought pickles and is worth the wait. 

The pickle takes a month to 'cook' in the jar (this is achieved by leaving it out in the sun or a sunny windowsill for as much as possible over a month keeping it sealed. If you don't have the Curry Feast book, there is a good Lime Pickle mentioned on the Indian Food Rocks page which you could make substituting Splenda for the sugar. It is a long time to wait but I have tested this for you to make sure you'll be pleased you were patient! You could even serve these with the contraversial Lasagne sheet crisps instead of poppadoms for a very low syn starter - or even as a snack for watching movies and TV!

And yes, I will be chasing my friend up to provide some of her family curry recipes to share here on the blog if she is happy to reveal them!

Note: I follow Extra Easy and for simplicity don't reference Green and Red days a great deal here!

Food for the flicks!

A friend brought some popcorn to a recent BBQ at our house for nibbles and since then we've got a bit of a taste for it. Obviously many brands come already coated in oil so can cost 8.5 syns per 28g. As we have a regular movie night together, my hubby-to-be thought it would be good to make some to munch on whilst we watch. Everyone has there preferences on this. Some like the sweet Butterkist popcorn, others like it salted. Our friend had brought us butter (non-sweet) popcorn and it certainly converted me from plain salt. The trouble with developing this new taste was the likely impact to my waistline.

By chance, after the demise of one batch of butter popcorn after being left in the microwave too long, my hubby-to-be made a plain non-oil popcorn batch (5.5 syns per 28g - a saving of 3 syns) but sprayed it with Buttery Frylight after cooking and a little salt. It made all the difference and tastes lovely. Buttery Frylight can be an acquired taste..sometimes tasting a little artificial but in this context it works well in my opinion. For Sweet popcorn you could try spraying with plain Frylight then sprinkling with Splenda. I would be interested to know of any tricks you have found to tackle that.

I'm not sure how much of the need to nibble during films is a natural impulse and how much has just become habit for a lot of people these days. My choices at the local multiplex would be the nachos with salsa or cheese dip. As it turned out these are totally impractical and have resulted in me finding myself covered in dollops of dip once the house lights have come up. A healthier yet controversial option for replacing these is the so called 'Syn-free lasagne sheet tortilla chip' recipe. The debate continues on their syn value - read this debate on minimins and decide for yourself. You can serve this with a genuinely syn-free dip such as salsa,  or a Total Zero yoghurt based dip - raitha, tzatziki, herbs and spices (experiment a bit) - there are many combinations that work well with yoghurt. Its best to make them and leave them in the fridge for as long as you can to let the flavours develop.

What do you munch on in front of the TV? What have you changed about your snack habits since joining Slimming World? Let me know in the comments!




Note: I follow Extra Easy and for simplicity don't reference Green and Red days a great deal here!

It's not pay day yet..and the fridge is empty!

The sight of half a bottle of milk, a few scraps of salad stuff and little stains on the fridge shelves where your groceries had been last week is a slimmer's nightmare. Couple it with the slowest week of every month (the one before pay day) and you have yourself a serious emergency! This is time when you'll see the ignored box of biscuits for cheese and the box of chocs you have hidden since christmas. They call you, they genuinely do at times like these. Worse still, if you live very close to a chip shop as I do, the smell of that batter and fat drifting along the street gets your tummy rumbling.

Eating healthily needn't be expensive and with the following tips you'll also find that these little emergencies could become a thing of the past. If you have a freezer, a fridge, paper and a pen you can take action right now to make next month a breeze.

Empty fridge emergency kit - yes, I mean a box in your cupboard that you can grab at those times of temptation and find rations to fuel you up until you go for your weekly big shop!

• Ryvita minis
• Hi-fi bars
• Dark chocolate bar (place in the freezer and eat chunk by chunk - it lasts longer in your mouth and tastes great)
• Low syn ready meals or tubs full of leftovers (again one for the freezer) to grab in a hurry.
• 220g tins of spaghetti or beans (quick to heat up and snack on!)
• Jar of Bovril (for a quick hot drink)
• Options hot chocolate sachets (2 syns but excellent for chocolate cravings)
• Batchelors savoury rice
• Batchelors Pasta and Sauce
• Tinned mixed veg.
• Smash

It does sound a little as though you're preparing for battle on the Western Front or some kind of natural disaster but this genuinely works even if it makes you chuckle a bit to yourself!

Making your well earned cash go further.
I love a bargain, and finding it's doing me good health-wise is a real bonus. So here are some ways for you to try or investigate for yourself.

• Bargain bin bonanza times - See this list from Moneysaving Expert that tells you when the best reductions are. This is an especially good way to get organic meats and fish.
• Beat waste, buy the perfectly good food that usually ends up in the bin. Bacon offcuts from your butcher (trim off the fat and they are a chunkier, more satisfying syn free treat). Salmon trimmings - available from most supermarkets - great on scrambled egg.
• Gammons instead of Ham - cook it yourself, slice it to your preferred thickness, save money.
• Grow your own veg in pots outside your house.
• Make everything go further by adding extra vegetables to lasagne's, chillies, curries, packet pasta/rice, soups.
• Make a list of the meals you'd like to have over the week (you don't have to pick which day at this stage) and then list out what you need. It's good old common sense isn't it!

Pass on your money saving or fridge emergency tips in the comments below. Good luck with next month's shopping!




Note: I follow Extra Easy and for simplicity don't reference Green and Red days a great deal here!

Ordering Chinese in for Friday night?

Don't panic. It doesn't mean going off plan! I often get the craving for a chinese takeaway whether its eating out or ordering in. I've edited our copy of the local chinese menu with Syn Values from my Food Directory book to help me make choices quickly. You can buy a Food Directory in class. There is also an excellent article on Chinese takeaway syn values on the SW website.

Your new Slimming World Take-out/ Eat-out Chinese feasts menu for 15 syns or less (based on average takeaway portions):

Low Syn Set Meal A!
BBQ Spare Ribs (8.5 syns)
Chicken Chop Suey (5.5 syns)
Boiled Rice (Free)
Total  14 syns

Low Syn Set Meal B!
Hot and Sour Soup (5 syns)
King Prawns with Ginger and Spring Onion (5 syns)
Egg Fried Rice (4 syns)
Total 14 syns


Super Low Syn Set Meal C!
Hot and Sour Soup (5 syns)
Beef with mushrooms (4.5 syns)
Boiled Rice (Free)
Total 9.5 syns


Or go Syn free!!!!

Stay in and follow recipes from the Slimming World website or other websites. Here are a few good recipes I have tracked down:

Syn Free Chicken and Sweetcorn soup on Minimins
Syn Free Sweet and Sour Chicken again on Minimins
Syn Free Egg Fried Rice on Blogger

So go on...order a 13, a 66 and a 115. You don't have to miss out to be on plan!!

Add your ideas for tasty chinese treats or reveal your favourite low syn choices for takeaways in the comments.

Note: I follow Extra Easy and for simplicity don't reference Green and Red days a great deal here!

Breakfast like a king...

I don't mean Elvis style..no burgers for breakfast please! I was just enjoying my breakfast and thought it would be worth passing on my favourite wake-up food!

Think you're in too much of a hurry for breakfast? Try putting an egg in a mug (optionally whisking it with a fork) and microwaving for 40 -60 seconds. Instant poached or scrambled egg. Serve it on a slice of brown toast from a 400g loaf and add salmon trimmings from the fridge. Pretty posh nosh!

Hard boil some eggs whilst cooking your evening meal, put them in the fridge and slice them into egg sarnies in the morning with ketchup or tomatoes (1 syn for a level tablespoon).

Not an egg fan? Take your Healthy B Ryvitas, slap on some Healthy A Extra Light Laughing Cow Triangles and slices of banana. Sprinkle with cinnamon and enjoy!

If you have a bit more time try the Syn free breakfast tortilla!

Let me know your favourite breakfasts in the comments.

Note: I follow Extra Easy and for simplicity don't reference Green and Red days a great deal here!

I'm hungry

Many people think being on a diet means being hungry. Slimming World is about being full and satisfied without being over stuffed. There are tons of ways to approach hunger pangs. Make sure you are eating enough often enough and don't ignore hunger. It doesn't help sustainable weight losses.

If your meals aren't satisfying, try adding more free foods making sure you balance them with fruit or veg (third of your plate on extra easy). Meats can be much more filling than carbohydrates so try having a little more. Once you have checked your meals are satisfying and frequent enough, it might be worth looking at your snacks. I keep syn free goodies in the fridge that are also great to take in a lunch box.

Fridge goodies:

• Hard boiled eggs (they last 4 days)
• Cooked syn free sausages:

Syn Free Sausage suppliers:

Chapman's Butchers Martham

Joe's Butcher's Southport - Free delivery available on 16+ packs

Hazel's Butchers, Norwich

More..

• Leftover meats/ham
• Mullerlights
• Cottage Cheese
• Using your healthy extras - cheese triangles or your daily allowance diced into cubes
• Cherry toms or sticks of veg
• Cook a syn free quiche and have pieces in a box in the fridge
• Jars of pickles

On the move - keep Hi-Fi bars, Ryvita minis or other cereal bars allowed on your healthy B choice in the car or in your bag.

Be sure to post your fridge favourites and snack ideas in the comments! Also add your favourite Syn Free sausage suppliers too.

Note: I follow Extra Easy and for simplicity don't reference Green and Red days a great deal here!