Bonjourno!
I do realise that I start every single post on this blog with 'I know I haven't written in a while' but seriously, I know I haven't and I am trying to work on it!
As most of you know, things haven't really been going my way in terms of Slimming World as of late (and by as of late, I mean since like, Christmas) so I've had to re-evaluate everything in my life and seriously give myself a kick up the arse.
At the start of April, we booked to go to New York at the end of November. Which in itself is SUPER exciting and oh my god, I literally cannot wait to go. But as soon as we left the travel agent, the panic started. "What if I don't fit in the seat? What if the seatbelt won't go over me? What if I get asked to get off the plane?" You know, the usual things. (You all might remember the 'too fat for Alton Towers' panic I had in July last year..) At the time, I wasn't really doing Slimming World to the letter, I was having pretty low syn meals but the snacking and the going out for meals was just horrendous.
So in the space of just over 4 months I've managed to gain back just over a stone. Ughhhh.
The kick up the arse I so desperately needed was when I tried on the dress that I had bought for my niece's christening and it didn't fit. Like not even slightly. I mean we managed to get it on and everything but in the end I had to take it off because I literally could not breathe in it. I feel like that was the massive kick that I needed, because the last time a dress didn't fit me I did drastic (and very unhealthy) things to make it fit, something which I vowed never to do again.
So I've been on youtube religiously, trying to find something that I felt as though I would be able to stick to and something that I would enjoy. I've decided to just eat a little healthier... I know this sounds ridiculous but so far it's actually working. I've bought a Wii.. and lots of Just Dance games and I plan to rejoin the gym when it opens.
I've also discovered avocados... and holy hell they're tasty.
I hope you're all doing great on whatever plan you're following, and any advice you can give me, I'd be really appreciative!
Ciao!
x
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Sunday, 15 May 2016
Friday, 8 January 2016
Junk Food Confessions
Bonjourno!
As the new year has just befallen us, I feel like now is the time to get back into shape and start with Slimming World anew and try hard to make sure that I can reach my target.
However..
When I decide to go off plan, I go off plan like a kid in a sweet shop (sometimes quite literally). I ate the most ridiculous amount of food over Christmas and New Year, so I decided - taking some advice from one of my favourite YouTubers, Jenna Marbles - to write down everything that my 'inner fat kid' made me eat so that I would see how bad it actually was in order to help me change my ways. So let's do this together in the hopes that it will urge us to put the bag of crisps down and go for an apple instead,
So, the week before Christmas:
- I went off plan way early and started really small, by not measuring the amount of cheese that I put on my spag bol. Not so bad, right?
- Ah fuck it, how did these Quality Street get here? Oh no, 10 seemed to have fallen in my mouth...
Christmas Eve:
- "Mum's bought us a massive box of shortbread for Christmas!" Ahhh, fuck.
- We decided to have a massive "party tea" on Christmas Eve with sausage rolls, a chicken platter, battered prawns, doritos, dip, breadsticks, mini pizzas and a friggen cheese board. There was literally nothing but syns on the table.
- Oh no! 10 more Quality Street fell into my mouth!
Christmas Day
- Merry Christmas! Start the day with a massive sausage sandwich with hash browns on a massive white bun!
- "Here, have some Christmas cake with your cuppa." Dammit!
- Ooops, another Quality Street
- Lunchtime! Turkey with roast potatoes, roast stuffing, mini sausages wrapped in bacon, yorkshire puddings and a mountain of gravy... not a veggie in sight.
- Pudding? Who says no to pudding? Treacle sponge with whipped cream... I can feel the cake on my hips.
- Ahh crap, how did those Quality Street find me?
Boxing Day
- Leftover central! More white bread, more turkey, beef and stuffing. Don't forget the crisps!
- FUCK YOU QUALITY STREET.
Between Christmas and New Year was literally a haven of shortbread, the box was huge and I loved every second of it.
Not only did I eat loads, but I drank loads as well. I'm not a huge drinker but NYE was the time for me to show off my amazing drink-fuelled dance moves.
- Cocktails and more cocktails.. orange juice and malibu, taboo, vodka, you name it, it was in it.
- Vodka redbulls, because why the fuck not?
- Disaronno and orange juice.. apparently I just drink anything when I'm already drunk.
So... there we have it, my junk food confessions. Now I see it I hope that I can feel repulsed enough to start doing Slimming World properly.
Let me know your junk food confessions!
Ciao!
x
As the new year has just befallen us, I feel like now is the time to get back into shape and start with Slimming World anew and try hard to make sure that I can reach my target.
However..
When I decide to go off plan, I go off plan like a kid in a sweet shop (sometimes quite literally). I ate the most ridiculous amount of food over Christmas and New Year, so I decided - taking some advice from one of my favourite YouTubers, Jenna Marbles - to write down everything that my 'inner fat kid' made me eat so that I would see how bad it actually was in order to help me change my ways. So let's do this together in the hopes that it will urge us to put the bag of crisps down and go for an apple instead,
So, the week before Christmas:
- I went off plan way early and started really small, by not measuring the amount of cheese that I put on my spag bol. Not so bad, right?
- Ah fuck it, how did these Quality Street get here? Oh no, 10 seemed to have fallen in my mouth...
Christmas Eve:
- "Mum's bought us a massive box of shortbread for Christmas!" Ahhh, fuck.
- We decided to have a massive "party tea" on Christmas Eve with sausage rolls, a chicken platter, battered prawns, doritos, dip, breadsticks, mini pizzas and a friggen cheese board. There was literally nothing but syns on the table.
- Oh no! 10 more Quality Street fell into my mouth!
Christmas Day
- Merry Christmas! Start the day with a massive sausage sandwich with hash browns on a massive white bun!
- "Here, have some Christmas cake with your cuppa." Dammit!
- Ooops, another Quality Street
- Lunchtime! Turkey with roast potatoes, roast stuffing, mini sausages wrapped in bacon, yorkshire puddings and a mountain of gravy... not a veggie in sight.
- Pudding? Who says no to pudding? Treacle sponge with whipped cream... I can feel the cake on my hips.
- Ahh crap, how did those Quality Street find me?
Boxing Day
- Leftover central! More white bread, more turkey, beef and stuffing. Don't forget the crisps!
- FUCK YOU QUALITY STREET.
Between Christmas and New Year was literally a haven of shortbread, the box was huge and I loved every second of it.
Not only did I eat loads, but I drank loads as well. I'm not a huge drinker but NYE was the time for me to show off my amazing drink-fuelled dance moves.
- Cocktails and more cocktails.. orange juice and malibu, taboo, vodka, you name it, it was in it.
- Vodka redbulls, because why the fuck not?
- Disaronno and orange juice.. apparently I just drink anything when I'm already drunk.
So... there we have it, my junk food confessions. Now I see it I hope that I can feel repulsed enough to start doing Slimming World properly.
Let me know your junk food confessions!
Ciao!
x
Sunday, 29 November 2015
Slimming World and Christmas Markets
Bonjourno!
Seems like forever ago I was starting this blog and telling you all of the delights that were at Manchester Christmas Markets last year. How much can a year change everything?! This time last year I was so unhappy with myself, depressed because I couldn't fit into the clothes that I liked, and wondering if I even had the motivation to do anything about it.
Fast forward to 12 months later and here I am, an amazing six stone lighter and a definite spring in my step. Last year I struggled around the markets, having to sit down every few minutes because I just couldn't hack the walking around. This year we walked for 2 hours around the Trafford Centre before coming back and spending another 3 hours in the markets! I have to admit my feet hurt after that, but there would be no way I could have managed that last year!
Seems like forever ago I was starting this blog and telling you all of the delights that were at Manchester Christmas Markets last year. How much can a year change everything?! This time last year I was so unhappy with myself, depressed because I couldn't fit into the clothes that I liked, and wondering if I even had the motivation to do anything about it.
Fast forward to 12 months later and here I am, an amazing six stone lighter and a definite spring in my step. Last year I struggled around the markets, having to sit down every few minutes because I just couldn't hack the walking around. This year we walked for 2 hours around the Trafford Centre before coming back and spending another 3 hours in the markets! I have to admit my feet hurt after that, but there would be no way I could have managed that last year!
The picture on the right was taken in January and the one on the left is from a couple of weeks ago! Can't believe how much my face as changed!
Anyway, onto food and the markets. It's surprising how much there is on offer to eat for someone doing Slimming World - it's all about asking for what you want, rather than just accepting the whole lot, syns and all.
Because we stayed in a hotel we were offered a free breakfast, which I was sure would have nothing but very bad (but very tasty) things to eat. So I was really surprised when I saw weetabix (HEXB for 2) and fresh fruit! I also filled up on a big bowl full of beans.
In the Trafford Centre, there are so many lovely places to eat, and very tempting too. I opted for a Spudulike jacket potato with beans and low fat cottage cheese, which came to 1.5 syns for the whole thing. Much better than a burger or pizza!
If you are venturing to the markets, make sure you check the ingredients before asking for something. Always ask if anything has been cooked in oil or butter to make sure you can count syns correctly. Guessing for me always leads to gaining!
Look out for:
- Carvery stands - they offer lean roasted meats in a giant yorkshire or a bun, ask for the meats by themselves and they will give you more, more protein will fill you for longer.
- Hog Roast - the pork is very lean and again they will serve you a massive bowl of lean pork without any sneaky sides!
- European food stands - offer roasted garlic potatoes and mushrooms in a garlic sauce. When I asked, they said the mushrooms are griddled and served with creme fraise, but the amount isn't huge so count a few syns for that. They also serve boiled rice with all of their foods.
- Bratwurst Stands - I would avoid the actual Bratwurst sausage, but most of the stands had a grilled pork or grilled steak to offer, which was just cooked over an open fire on a grill, no oil whatsoever!
You could always use your flexible syns and save up for an amazing food experience - my partner had chocolate strudel, cheese, crepes, pancakes and waffles. Crepes are not very high in syns (4 syns per crepe) but watch out for the toppings they offer!
I hope this helps anyone who is travelling to a Christmas Market between now and Christmas, I would highly recommend it!
Ciao!
x
Sunday, 8 November 2015
Slow Cooked Goodness
Bonjourno!
It's been so crazy round here lately, I've barely had time to breathe let alone create wonderful Slimming World recipes! A little update for you, I've managed to bag myself a brand new job! It's my absolute dream job, and I couldn't believe that they offered me it! So I'm super excited to start, but with me getting the job so close to my birthday, I've had at least 5 days off plan. You only have a birthday once a year, right?
I've had my slow cooker for a long time, but it's only been recently that I've discovered what amazing things you can make in it! It's literally a life saver for me when I have to work late, and I know that there'll be a lovely meal all ready for me at home and I don't have to make something from scratch. Normally I leave out the ingredients for my other half so that he can sort it all out (last time I actually left out a pot of measured spices so that he didn't get too confused) and then when I come home I just whack some veggies on or pasta and boom, tasty meal in minutes.
So I thought I would share a few ideas with you, as to what I have made in the slow cooker and just how delicious they are!
Beef in a Creamy Tomato Sauce (from SlimmingEats)
Throw some beef and whatever veg you like, paprika, garlic, mixed herbs and chilli into the slow cooker, add 120ml of stock, a can of chopped tomatoes and some tomato puree into the slow cooker and cook for around 6 hours. When it's cooked, spoon out the meat and veg and add 60g of quark to the sauce and stir till smooth.
Breakfast Lasagne (from the Slimming World website)
It's been so crazy round here lately, I've barely had time to breathe let alone create wonderful Slimming World recipes! A little update for you, I've managed to bag myself a brand new job! It's my absolute dream job, and I couldn't believe that they offered me it! So I'm super excited to start, but with me getting the job so close to my birthday, I've had at least 5 days off plan. You only have a birthday once a year, right?
I've had my slow cooker for a long time, but it's only been recently that I've discovered what amazing things you can make in it! It's literally a life saver for me when I have to work late, and I know that there'll be a lovely meal all ready for me at home and I don't have to make something from scratch. Normally I leave out the ingredients for my other half so that he can sort it all out (last time I actually left out a pot of measured spices so that he didn't get too confused) and then when I come home I just whack some veggies on or pasta and boom, tasty meal in minutes.
So I thought I would share a few ideas with you, as to what I have made in the slow cooker and just how delicious they are!
Beef in a Creamy Tomato Sauce (from SlimmingEats)
Throw some beef and whatever veg you like, paprika, garlic, mixed herbs and chilli into the slow cooker, add 120ml of stock, a can of chopped tomatoes and some tomato puree into the slow cooker and cook for around 6 hours. When it's cooked, spoon out the meat and veg and add 60g of quark to the sauce and stir till smooth.
- 300g tomatoes, chopped
- 4 medium sized potatoes, peeled and diced
- 6 rashers lean bacon, cooked and chopped
- 200g quark
- 6 medium eggs
- 200g mushrooms
- Herbs
Crispy Potato topped Casserole
Use your meat of choice and cut it up into small chunks. Add as much veg as you choose into the slow cooker then cover with stock until around 3/4 full. Add herbs and a touch of tomato puree to thicken the stock. Cook on high for around 4 hours then low for a further 2. For the topping, slice 2 medium potatoes and place on a fry light sprayed oven tray. Spray the potatoes then cook at 180°c for around 20 minutes or until crisp.
Pulled Pork
This one couldn't be simpler, cut the fat off a joint of pork and place in the slow cooker. Cover with stock and cook for around 8-10 hours on high. Serve with whichever sauce you like - we like to put ours in tacos and hexb wraps!
There you go, have fun using your slow cookers!
Ciao!
x
Monday, 26 October 2015
When The Moon Hits Your Eye...
... Like a big pizza pie, that's... so low syn it should be a crime!
Bonjourno!
Life has been ca-razayy as of late, what with moving house, new jobs and whatnot, but I've decided to share something amazing with you. So, my current weight loss stands at an amazing 5 stone and 4.5lbs! I can't believe how far I've come in such a short amount of time, it just proves how much Slimming World does work, especially when you stay to group and get the support.
I've seen a lot of posts on Instagram recently about changing the bases of pizzas for things such as smash and grated cauliflour (something I'm a little reluctant to try since smash seems to play havoc with my stomach). The one I found does have a syn value, but compared to the syns in actual pizza - I read somewhere that Domino's can get up to 600 syns! - it's really tasty!
For Slimming World Pizza Pies, you will need:
2 Old El Paso Stand 'n' Stuff Tortillas (4.5 syns each)
Tomato Passata or Puree
Any of your chosen pizza toppings
40g cheese (HEXA)
Preheat the oven to 200°c, then fill your tortillas about 3/4 of the way full with your chosen toppings. My favourites are chicken, ham, mushrooms and sweetcorn. Little tip, if you cut everything up small, you can get lots more toppings inside! Fill the remainder of the tortilla with passata (add some garlic and herbs to give it more flavour if you like) and divide the cheese between the two. Cook in the oven until the tortilla is crispy on top and the cheese has melted (around 10-15mins).
These are so amazing, I have them all the time and feel like I'm eating something really bad for me, when they're so low in syns its amazing! Enjoy!
Ciao!
x
Bonjourno!
Life has been ca-razayy as of late, what with moving house, new jobs and whatnot, but I've decided to share something amazing with you. So, my current weight loss stands at an amazing 5 stone and 4.5lbs! I can't believe how far I've come in such a short amount of time, it just proves how much Slimming World does work, especially when you stay to group and get the support.
I've seen a lot of posts on Instagram recently about changing the bases of pizzas for things such as smash and grated cauliflour (something I'm a little reluctant to try since smash seems to play havoc with my stomach). The one I found does have a syn value, but compared to the syns in actual pizza - I read somewhere that Domino's can get up to 600 syns! - it's really tasty!
For Slimming World Pizza Pies, you will need:
2 Old El Paso Stand 'n' Stuff Tortillas (4.5 syns each)
Tomato Passata or Puree
Any of your chosen pizza toppings
40g cheese (HEXA)
These are so amazing, I have them all the time and feel like I'm eating something really bad for me, when they're so low in syns its amazing! Enjoy!
Ciao!
x
Saturday, 3 October 2015
Weekly Shopping Recipes
Bonjourno!
How is it already October? I feel like I've only just perfected my summer wardrobe and now I have to roll out the jumpers and scarves. It's a great excuse to eat some fabulously heart warming food now that the weather is a little bit colder, I'm finding that salad for lunch just isn't cutting it anymore, I need something that will warm my soul!
This week I've decided to show you all my shopping list, and what kind of Slimming World food I would make with it. I'm a self-confessed bargain hunter, and I won't spend any more than I have to on food that I know I can find cheap. I also like to buy in bulk and make meals that I can freeze if I need to, which is really useful for lunches the next day - especially when they're hot and filling in weather like this!
So here is my current shopping list (I'm actually heading out this evening to get it!)
How is it already October? I feel like I've only just perfected my summer wardrobe and now I have to roll out the jumpers and scarves. It's a great excuse to eat some fabulously heart warming food now that the weather is a little bit colder, I'm finding that salad for lunch just isn't cutting it anymore, I need something that will warm my soul!
This week I've decided to show you all my shopping list, and what kind of Slimming World food I would make with it. I'm a self-confessed bargain hunter, and I won't spend any more than I have to on food that I know I can find cheap. I also like to buy in bulk and make meals that I can freeze if I need to, which is really useful for lunches the next day - especially when they're hot and filling in weather like this!
So here is my current shopping list (I'm actually heading out this evening to get it!)
As you can see, myself and my partner like to plan what we are eating throughout the week, and work out which days we're working so that we can plan who is going to cook. My partner likes to cook on his days off, because he feels bad that I tend to cook 5 days out of 7 (which I am definitely supportive of!). The 'fend 4 self' just means that I won't cook for both of us, we will just forrage from what we have in the fridge. Days like that are great for me to have more speed, because he really doesn't like vegetables, so on those days I tend to have some kind of meat with lots of veggies.
Monday
Salad is a must on a monday for me because I have weigh day on a Tuesday, so I like to get in as much last minute speed as I can. This week I'm making quiche, which I can have with veggies and my partner can have with onion rings or chips. He likes the Slimming World food that I make, but occasionally he likes to have something a little more synful. I'll put chicken and mushrooms in my syn-free quiche, and have it with broccoli, cauliflour and carrots.
Tuesday
Like I said, Tuesdays are weigh day for me, so I try not to eat much throughout the day. Once I've been weighed I have something for a cheat meal, so that I won't crave any junk food throughout the week. This week we'll buy some frozen pizzas and have them with added toppings.
Wednesday
Although it says spaghetti and meatballs, when I went to Iceland they didn't have any of the Slimming World meatballs left :( so we changed the idea and decided to have some chicken with the spaghetti instead. I'll make a tomato sauce with passata, herbs, mushrooms and peppers.
Thursday
It's around this time of the week when I try and be a little bit more creative, and maybe try a recipe that I haven't tried before. I saw this recipe on the BBC programme "Eat Well For Less" and adapted it so that it would be Slimming World friendly. It's basically cous cous with tinned salmon, mushrooms, peppers and sweetcorn with some added flavour from herbs. I can't wait to try it!
Friday
Thankfully my partner is off work today so decided he wanted to cook. He's a dab-hand at cooking meat and loves to sizzle us some steaks on his days off. This week we're going to have lamb steaks with syn free chips, veg for me and onion rings for him.
Saturday
Again, we changed our minds after I'd taken this picture! We're going out for lunch on Saturday, so changed the meal from slow cooked pulled pork to syn free steak bakes, because lunch will be quite big so we didn't want something huge for tea. I love these, and the recipe is on my blog :)
I hope you enjoyed my shopping list, and maybe it's inspired you to have some meals that you haven't tried!
Ciao!
x
Wednesday, 16 September 2015
Half Syn Three Course Meal
Bonjourno!
I've decided that I'm actually going to take the time to write more of these blog posts, since I recently hit 3000 views (which I could not be more grateful for!). I have a lot of blog post ideas for recipes and snacks to help inspire and motivate people just like me, who are losing weight the slimming world way.
It was nice over the summer to actually spend some time with my partner, we work opposite shifts so as I'm coming home from work he tends to be heading off.. it's a bit of an annoyance! So when he managed to squeeze a day off in the summer he decided to treat me to a slap up slimming world three course meal - which he only ended up cooking the main course! It was so tasty, and only ended up being half a syn for the whole thing, which was amazing! So here are the recipes for everything we made, the syn values, and some pictures to get your mouths watering.
Starter - Stuffed Cheesy Garlic Mushrooms
You will need:
2 Portobello Mushrooms
1/2 tub Quark
Garlic Powder
40g Mozzarella
This one is so simple, just mix the garlic powder and the quark until it's a smooth paste, fill the mushrooms with it and add the cheese on top. Put them in a preheated 180° C oven for 10 minutes until the cheese on top has gone a lovely brown colour.
Main Course - Steak and chips
You will need:
2 pieces of rump steak (all fat removed)
2 large potatoes
Any veg/salad to accompany
First, preheat the oven to 200° C. Wash, peel and cut the potatoes into chip shapes, spray an oven tray with fry light, place the potatoes on then spray again with the fry light. These take around 20-30 minutes to cook. In the mean time, heat a griddle pan to a medium/high heat and spray with fry light. Cook the steak however you like it, I personally prefer it medium/rare. Serve the steak with any veggies or salad that you like.
Pudding - Jelly and Cream
This one is definitely the easiest, take the remaining quark and add sweetener until it's at your preference, it tastes so good! Then serve it with a Hartley's 10cal jelly of any flavour, which is only 1/2 syn!
I haven't had such a good meal in a long time, and I only had to make a little part of it. Maybe he should cook for me more often ;)
Ciao!
x
I've decided that I'm actually going to take the time to write more of these blog posts, since I recently hit 3000 views (which I could not be more grateful for!). I have a lot of blog post ideas for recipes and snacks to help inspire and motivate people just like me, who are losing weight the slimming world way.
It was nice over the summer to actually spend some time with my partner, we work opposite shifts so as I'm coming home from work he tends to be heading off.. it's a bit of an annoyance! So when he managed to squeeze a day off in the summer he decided to treat me to a slap up slimming world three course meal - which he only ended up cooking the main course! It was so tasty, and only ended up being half a syn for the whole thing, which was amazing! So here are the recipes for everything we made, the syn values, and some pictures to get your mouths watering.
Starter - Stuffed Cheesy Garlic Mushrooms
You will need:
2 Portobello Mushrooms
1/2 tub Quark
Garlic Powder
40g Mozzarella
This one is so simple, just mix the garlic powder and the quark until it's a smooth paste, fill the mushrooms with it and add the cheese on top. Put them in a preheated 180° C oven for 10 minutes until the cheese on top has gone a lovely brown colour.
Main Course - Steak and chips
You will need:
2 pieces of rump steak (all fat removed)
2 large potatoes
Any veg/salad to accompany
First, preheat the oven to 200° C. Wash, peel and cut the potatoes into chip shapes, spray an oven tray with fry light, place the potatoes on then spray again with the fry light. These take around 20-30 minutes to cook. In the mean time, heat a griddle pan to a medium/high heat and spray with fry light. Cook the steak however you like it, I personally prefer it medium/rare. Serve the steak with any veggies or salad that you like.
Pudding - Jelly and Cream
This one is definitely the easiest, take the remaining quark and add sweetener until it's at your preference, it tastes so good! Then serve it with a Hartley's 10cal jelly of any flavour, which is only 1/2 syn!
I haven't had such a good meal in a long time, and I only had to make a little part of it. Maybe he should cook for me more often ;)
Ciao!
x
Friday, 5 June 2015
A Day In The Life...
Bonjourno!
I feel like it's been ages since I've written anything on here, and I'l be honest with you, I just haven't felt in the zone recently. I feel like no matter what I do, how many syns I have, if I have just one bad meal then my weight loss goes way down or I have a gain. For example, last week I went out and had a Nandos (not too bad on syns, around 20 for the whole meal) and stayed relatively low syn for the rest of the week to compensate, and still I only managed a half pound weight loss. I know I should be happier, after all it's better off than on, but I'm a really, really impatient person and feel like half a pound is nothing in the long run.
*sigh*
I will get over this down-in-the-dumps thing that I've got going on, I'm hoping to have a good loss this week and finally get my 3 and a half stone award!
So anyway, I've decided to let you into a little bit of my daily life, and show you what I eat during a normal extra easy day on Slimming World. Enjoy!
Breakfast
I normally can't be bothered to get out of bed early enough to make myself a decent breakfast, so I tend to just grab a cup of tea and start the day with two HiFi Lite bars (the chocolate ones are just amazing!)
Lunch
I try to stay as syn free as I can for lunch so that I can use my syns on snacks later. Lately I've been really getting into having salads, as they're really quick and easy to take to work with me. And you can always pop to Subway and have a fabulous syn free salad with all those lovely cuts of meat! The salad I had today had warm chicken and beetroot.
Snack
I don't know about you, but when I get home from work I literally want to eat everything in the cupboard. I have no idea why but I'm just so hungry! So when I came in I decided to spend some syns and have a bag of crisps, these bag of lovelies are only 3.5 syns!
After tea I usually enjoy a cup of tea or coffe (green tea or fruit tea if I've had my healthy A that day) with some fruit and a muller light yoghurt.
I hope you've enjoyed a little insight to what I eat in a day!
Ciao
x
I feel like it's been ages since I've written anything on here, and I'l be honest with you, I just haven't felt in the zone recently. I feel like no matter what I do, how many syns I have, if I have just one bad meal then my weight loss goes way down or I have a gain. For example, last week I went out and had a Nandos (not too bad on syns, around 20 for the whole meal) and stayed relatively low syn for the rest of the week to compensate, and still I only managed a half pound weight loss. I know I should be happier, after all it's better off than on, but I'm a really, really impatient person and feel like half a pound is nothing in the long run.
*sigh*
I will get over this down-in-the-dumps thing that I've got going on, I'm hoping to have a good loss this week and finally get my 3 and a half stone award!
So anyway, I've decided to let you into a little bit of my daily life, and show you what I eat during a normal extra easy day on Slimming World. Enjoy!
Breakfast
I normally can't be bothered to get out of bed early enough to make myself a decent breakfast, so I tend to just grab a cup of tea and start the day with two HiFi Lite bars (the chocolate ones are just amazing!)
Lunch
I try to stay as syn free as I can for lunch so that I can use my syns on snacks later. Lately I've been really getting into having salads, as they're really quick and easy to take to work with me. And you can always pop to Subway and have a fabulous syn free salad with all those lovely cuts of meat! The salad I had today had warm chicken and beetroot.
Snack
I don't know about you, but when I get home from work I literally want to eat everything in the cupboard. I have no idea why but I'm just so hungry! So when I came in I decided to spend some syns and have a bag of crisps, these bag of lovelies are only 3.5 syns!
Tea
Like lunch, I try to make low syn or syn free meals for tea so that I can snack later on. I love having lean meat with veg or a chicken pasta bake, or my own personal favoourite, spag bol! Tonight my boyfriend was kind enough to do some steaks in fry light on the griddle pan, and I roasted some potatoes in butter fry light, then added some fried mushrooms on the side.
I hope you've enjoyed a little insight to what I eat in a day!
Ciao
x
Friday, 15 May 2015
Kanga-What?!
Bonjourno!
I'm feeling a little down in the dumps this week - I had a teeny tiny (and it really is) gain this week, which sprang out of nowhere and really shocked me at the scales. I can't say I've had any more or less syns this week, or done any more exercise that might make me retain water. All I can think of is that somehow, somewhere along the line I've had something I shouldn't and it's catching up to me now. Anyway, I've drawn a line under it and started anew this week with a food diary in hand to make sure that I definitely have a good loss next week. Although it has been very tempting to attach myself to a lettuce IV for the rest of the week just to make sure!
As you all know by now, Iceland recently released some lovely Slimming World meals, and I have to say they are very tasty (however the sausages gave me food poisoning..) and very reasonably priced for the amount of food you get. I was in Iceland the other day and spotted something very weird that caught my attention. There is a new range in Iceland of Ostrich and Kangaroo meats, all in various forms. Honestly, my first thought was.. wait, what?
After talking with a few people in class - one of which was the district manager - they told me that the ostrich fillets and the ostrich burgers are both completely syn free, which is amazing because they taste amazing! Literally no fat came off the burgers when they were cooked and they were so lean to eat that they were just awesome. The kangaroo fillets are also free - but make sure you don't cook them for more than 5 minutes each side otherwise the meat becomes too tough. The burgers are only 1 syn each, which isn't bad when you compare them to a McDonalds!
I hope you all enjoy some new and interesting meat!
Ciao!
x
I'm feeling a little down in the dumps this week - I had a teeny tiny (and it really is) gain this week, which sprang out of nowhere and really shocked me at the scales. I can't say I've had any more or less syns this week, or done any more exercise that might make me retain water. All I can think of is that somehow, somewhere along the line I've had something I shouldn't and it's catching up to me now. Anyway, I've drawn a line under it and started anew this week with a food diary in hand to make sure that I definitely have a good loss next week. Although it has been very tempting to attach myself to a lettuce IV for the rest of the week just to make sure!
As you all know by now, Iceland recently released some lovely Slimming World meals, and I have to say they are very tasty (however the sausages gave me food poisoning..) and very reasonably priced for the amount of food you get. I was in Iceland the other day and spotted something very weird that caught my attention. There is a new range in Iceland of Ostrich and Kangaroo meats, all in various forms. Honestly, my first thought was.. wait, what?
After talking with a few people in class - one of which was the district manager - they told me that the ostrich fillets and the ostrich burgers are both completely syn free, which is amazing because they taste amazing! Literally no fat came off the burgers when they were cooked and they were so lean to eat that they were just awesome. The kangaroo fillets are also free - but make sure you don't cook them for more than 5 minutes each side otherwise the meat becomes too tough. The burgers are only 1 syn each, which isn't bad when you compare them to a McDonalds!
I hope you all enjoy some new and interesting meat!
Ciao!
x
Thursday, 7 May 2015
Breakfast Healthy B's
Bonjourno!
I don't know about you, but I always seem to be confused when it comes to what fibre products I can have as a healthy B. Healthy A's seem so easy - pretty much anything diary such as cheese and milk can be classed, and it's always measured. But with B's, it seems as though some things need measuring, whereas some things are in slice or bar form. So, I've decided to write a list of things that I know are acceptable Healthy B's, and give some tips on how to stretch that all important daily fibre allowance.
Because cereal is the general use for Healthy B's as well as bread, it's something that I normally have in the morning. So I've listed all of the bread, cereals and cereal bars that you can have for a tasty and quick breakfast, without using any syns.
Remember you can only have one Healthy B a day, so only choose one thing from the list to have each day.
Bread/Pittas/Wraps
In general, the rules for bread are as follows: bread must be either 2 slices from a 400g loaf, or a 60g bun. From a bigger loaf, only 1 slice can be used.
2 slices Wholemeal bread, any brand (small 400g loaf)
1 slice Allinson Wholemeal Batch Bread (800g sliced loaf)
2 slices Hovis Nimble Malted Wholegrain bread
2 slices Hovis Wholemeal bread (small 400g loaf)
1 slice Wholemeal bread, any brand (800g sliced loaf)
2 slices Warburton's Wholemeal bread (400g medium sliced loaf)
1 50g Weight Watchers Petit Pain roll
2 Marks & Spencer Mini Wholemeal Submarine Rolls
1 slice Hovis Wholemeal Bread (800g thick sliced loaf)
1 slice Warburtons Wholemeal Rye Bread (800g thick sliced loaf)
1 slice Hovis Seed Sensations Wholemeal Bread (800g sliced loaf)
1 slice Allinson High Fibre White Bread, 800g sliced loaf
1 Weight Watchers Wholemeal Pitta Bread, 6 Pack
1 slice Waitrose Love Life, Wholemeal Rye & Toasted Grain Bread, 400g sliced loaf
1 BFree Foods Multigrain Wrap Wheat & Gluten Free, 6 pack
Cereal Bars
Lighter bars, such as Alpen Light bars and Hi-Fi Lights are lower in syns so you can have two, but most of the time only one bar is allowed.
1 Weetabix Oaty Bar - Toffee Dazzler, Rainbow Smash'em and The Milk Chocolate
1 Hi-Fi bar, any variety
2 Aldi Harvest Morn Benefit 70 Cal Cereal Bars
2 Hi-Fi light bars, any variety
2 Alpen Light bars, any variety
1 Waitrose Love Life The Nut Bar, 26g bar
1 Waitrose Love Life The Squashed Fruit Bar, 35g bar
1 Kellogg's Special K Chewy Delight Bar, Dark/Milk Chocolate
Cereal
Make sure you weigh all of your cereal, guessing leads to high syns!
40g Weetabix Crunchy Bran
40g Kellogg's All-Bran
35g Kellogg's/any brand Bran Flakes
35g Kellogg's/any brand Fruit n Fibre
35g Kellogg's/any brand Frosted/Raisin Wheats
35g Kellogg's/any brand Sultana Bran
35g Nestle/any brand Bitesize Shredded Wheat
30g Nestle/any brand Honey Nut Shredded Wheat
35g porridge oats, any brand
35g Weetabix Fruit & Nut/Strawberry Crispy Minis
35g Quaker Oat Crisp Cereal
35g Kellogg's Optivita Berry Oat Crisp
35g Nestle Shreddies, Coco or Original
30g Kellogg's All-Bran Golden Crunch
35g Kellogg's Luxury Muesli
2 Weetabix
30g Weetabix Chocolate Spoonsize
40g Co-op High Fibre Bran Cereal
35g Asda Chosen by You Cranberry Wheats
35g Weetabix Bitesize
30g Kellogg's All-Bran Chocolate Crunch
35g Kellogg's All-Bran Yogurty Flakes
35g Morrisons/Sainsbury's Puffed Wheat Cereal
35g Marks & Spencer Fruit & Fibre Muesli
35g Sainsbury's Fruit & Nut/Orchard Fruit Muesli
35g Morrisons Crispy Apple Bran Cereal
35g sachet Weight Watchers Original Breakfast Oats
35g Sainsburys Wholegrain Apricot Wheats
35g Aldi Harvest Morn Fruit & Fibre Cereal
35g Tesco Super Berry Muesli
35g Nestle Shredded Wheat, Orchard Fruits
35g Nestle Shredded Wheat, Summer Fruits
35g Tesco Finest Super Berry Muesli
30g Weetabix Crispy Minis Caramel & Nut
30g Weetabix Crispy Minis Chocolate Chip (350g pack)
30g Kellogg's All-Bran Red Berry Crunch
34g sachet Quaker Oats So Simple Multigrain, Fruit Muesli
32g sachet Quaker Oats So Simple Multigrain, Honey
27g sachet Quaker Oats So Simple Multigrain, Original
30g Kellogg's Special K Granola, with Cranberries, Pumpkin Seeds & Almonds
30g Kellogg's Special K Granola, with Raisins & Red Apples
35g Tesco Raspberry Malt Wheats
30g Kellogg's Chocolate Wheats
I hope this has helped some of you to have more choice in the morning, personally I love to mix up cereal with loads of fruit, or grab a couple of Alpen bars if I'm in a hurry. The cereal bars also add a quick sweet fix if you're craving something sugary,
Ciao!
x
I don't know about you, but I always seem to be confused when it comes to what fibre products I can have as a healthy B. Healthy A's seem so easy - pretty much anything diary such as cheese and milk can be classed, and it's always measured. But with B's, it seems as though some things need measuring, whereas some things are in slice or bar form. So, I've decided to write a list of things that I know are acceptable Healthy B's, and give some tips on how to stretch that all important daily fibre allowance.
Because cereal is the general use for Healthy B's as well as bread, it's something that I normally have in the morning. So I've listed all of the bread, cereals and cereal bars that you can have for a tasty and quick breakfast, without using any syns.
Remember you can only have one Healthy B a day, so only choose one thing from the list to have each day.
Bread/Pittas/Wraps
In general, the rules for bread are as follows: bread must be either 2 slices from a 400g loaf, or a 60g bun. From a bigger loaf, only 1 slice can be used.
2 slices Wholemeal bread, any brand (small 400g loaf)
1 slice Allinson Wholemeal Batch Bread (800g sliced loaf)
2 slices Hovis Nimble Malted Wholegrain bread
2 slices Hovis Wholemeal bread (small 400g loaf)
1 slice Wholemeal bread, any brand (800g sliced loaf)
2 slices Warburton's Wholemeal bread (400g medium sliced loaf)
1 50g Weight Watchers Petit Pain roll
2 Marks & Spencer Mini Wholemeal Submarine Rolls
1 slice Hovis Wholemeal Bread (800g thick sliced loaf)
1 slice Warburtons Wholemeal Rye Bread (800g thick sliced loaf)
1 slice Hovis Seed Sensations Wholemeal Bread (800g sliced loaf)
1 slice Allinson High Fibre White Bread, 800g sliced loaf
1 Weight Watchers Wholemeal Pitta Bread, 6 Pack
1 slice Waitrose Love Life, Wholemeal Rye & Toasted Grain Bread, 400g sliced loaf
1 BFree Foods Multigrain Wrap Wheat & Gluten Free, 6 pack
Cereal Bars
Lighter bars, such as Alpen Light bars and Hi-Fi Lights are lower in syns so you can have two, but most of the time only one bar is allowed.
1 Weetabix Oaty Bar - Toffee Dazzler, Rainbow Smash'em and The Milk Chocolate
1 Hi-Fi bar, any variety
2 Aldi Harvest Morn Benefit 70 Cal Cereal Bars
2 Hi-Fi light bars, any variety
2 Alpen Light bars, any variety
1 Waitrose Love Life The Nut Bar, 26g bar
1 Waitrose Love Life The Squashed Fruit Bar, 35g bar
1 Kellogg's Special K Chewy Delight Bar, Dark/Milk Chocolate
Cereal
Make sure you weigh all of your cereal, guessing leads to high syns!
40g Weetabix Crunchy Bran
40g Kellogg's All-Bran
35g Kellogg's/any brand Bran Flakes
35g Kellogg's/any brand Fruit n Fibre
35g Kellogg's/any brand Frosted/Raisin Wheats
35g Kellogg's/any brand Sultana Bran
35g Nestle/any brand Bitesize Shredded Wheat
30g Nestle/any brand Honey Nut Shredded Wheat
35g porridge oats, any brand
35g Weetabix Fruit & Nut/Strawberry Crispy Minis
35g Quaker Oat Crisp Cereal
35g Kellogg's Optivita Berry Oat Crisp
35g Nestle Shreddies, Coco or Original
30g Kellogg's All-Bran Golden Crunch
35g Kellogg's Luxury Muesli
2 Weetabix
30g Weetabix Chocolate Spoonsize
40g Co-op High Fibre Bran Cereal
35g Asda Chosen by You Cranberry Wheats
35g Weetabix Bitesize
30g Kellogg's All-Bran Chocolate Crunch
35g Kellogg's All-Bran Yogurty Flakes
35g Morrisons/Sainsbury's Puffed Wheat Cereal
35g Marks & Spencer Fruit & Fibre Muesli
35g Sainsbury's Fruit & Nut/Orchard Fruit Muesli
35g Morrisons Crispy Apple Bran Cereal
35g sachet Weight Watchers Original Breakfast Oats
35g Sainsburys Wholegrain Apricot Wheats
35g Aldi Harvest Morn Fruit & Fibre Cereal
35g Tesco Super Berry Muesli
35g Nestle Shredded Wheat, Orchard Fruits
35g Nestle Shredded Wheat, Summer Fruits
35g Tesco Finest Super Berry Muesli
30g Weetabix Crispy Minis Caramel & Nut
30g Weetabix Crispy Minis Chocolate Chip (350g pack)
30g Kellogg's All-Bran Red Berry Crunch
34g sachet Quaker Oats So Simple Multigrain, Fruit Muesli
32g sachet Quaker Oats So Simple Multigrain, Honey
27g sachet Quaker Oats So Simple Multigrain, Original
30g Kellogg's Special K Granola, with Cranberries, Pumpkin Seeds & Almonds
30g Kellogg's Special K Granola, with Raisins & Red Apples
35g Tesco Raspberry Malt Wheats
30g Kellogg's Chocolate Wheats
I hope this has helped some of you to have more choice in the morning, personally I love to mix up cereal with loads of fruit, or grab a couple of Alpen bars if I'm in a hurry. The cereal bars also add a quick sweet fix if you're craving something sugary,
Ciao!
x
Wednesday, 29 April 2015
Let's Taco Bout It
Bonjourno!
I know my posts have been sparse over the past few weeks, but it's really because I've been so busy with work and vaious other things. I work with children so my immune system is so rubbish, and I pick up every disease going. I've been wanting some really bad food to make myself feel better, but I have an amazing partner who makes sure that I stay on track (normally by hiding any chocolate I've bought!).
I've been really wanting tacos since I started Slimming World, but I could never find something that was syn free so I could cook it. I prefer to make all of my meals syn free so that I can use my syns on snacks, because I love a good bag of crisps or biscuit in the evening with a cup of tea! I know that tacos are not that bad in syns, so I looked for a mince recipe that was free to fill them with, along with swapping other things with syn free things:
Sour Cream - Fromage Frais
Spice Mix - Ground Spices
Fatty Mince - Fat Free Mince
Measured Cheese and Lettuce for some extra taste!
With all of these things togther, I decided to make a syn free chilli to put in my tacos, and the whole meal only comes to 9 syns, which are from the tacos themselves, which are 3 syns each,
You Will Need:
500g Less than 5% fat Mince
Tin Chopped Tomatos
Tin Baked Beans
2 Tsps Cumin
1 Tsp Corriander
1 Tsp Paprika
Garlic Powder
Mixed Herbs
Mushrooms
Peppers
Fry Light
1. Brown the mince in the fry light and add the mushrooms and peppers until everything is cooked.
2. Add the garlic, spices and herbs and mix together for around 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the tins of chopped tomatoes and baked beans and bring to the boil, then simmer for around 15 minutes until the mixture is reduced a little.
4. Season to taste.
As you can see, I added baked beans because I really, really hate kidney beans! Plus the added sauce makes the chilli really saucy and tasty rather than adding extra stock to make up for it.
Serve it with tacos, mixed salad, fromage frais and cheese for a really tasty mexican meal!
Ciao!
x
I know my posts have been sparse over the past few weeks, but it's really because I've been so busy with work and vaious other things. I work with children so my immune system is so rubbish, and I pick up every disease going. I've been wanting some really bad food to make myself feel better, but I have an amazing partner who makes sure that I stay on track (normally by hiding any chocolate I've bought!).
I've been really wanting tacos since I started Slimming World, but I could never find something that was syn free so I could cook it. I prefer to make all of my meals syn free so that I can use my syns on snacks, because I love a good bag of crisps or biscuit in the evening with a cup of tea! I know that tacos are not that bad in syns, so I looked for a mince recipe that was free to fill them with, along with swapping other things with syn free things:
Sour Cream - Fromage Frais
Spice Mix - Ground Spices
Fatty Mince - Fat Free Mince
Measured Cheese and Lettuce for some extra taste!
With all of these things togther, I decided to make a syn free chilli to put in my tacos, and the whole meal only comes to 9 syns, which are from the tacos themselves, which are 3 syns each,
You Will Need:
500g Less than 5% fat Mince
Tin Chopped Tomatos
Tin Baked Beans
2 Tsps Cumin
1 Tsp Corriander
1 Tsp Paprika
Garlic Powder
Mixed Herbs
Mushrooms
Peppers
Fry Light
1. Brown the mince in the fry light and add the mushrooms and peppers until everything is cooked.
2. Add the garlic, spices and herbs and mix together for around 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the tins of chopped tomatoes and baked beans and bring to the boil, then simmer for around 15 minutes until the mixture is reduced a little.
4. Season to taste.
As you can see, I added baked beans because I really, really hate kidney beans! Plus the added sauce makes the chilli really saucy and tasty rather than adding extra stock to make up for it.
Serve it with tacos, mixed salad, fromage frais and cheese for a really tasty mexican meal!
Ciao!
x
Thursday, 2 April 2015
Synful Pub Grub
Bonjourno!
I've had a very weird week this week, at the very last moment my partner and I decided to have a trip up north to Newcastle to see my family, so at the weekend I have to say I was very much off plan. It's helpful that my mum is also doing Slimming World up there, so in the evenings we were eating pretty syn free meals. However, it didn't help that it was my step-dad's birthday so he wanted to have a meal out. I tried my hardest to have something relatively syn free, but the menu was just so amazing to not have something bad! I ended up having a massive (and I mean MASSIVE) mixed grill, complete wit steak, chicken breast, gammon, sausage, chips, mushroom, tomato and a fried egg. It was so huge that I couldn't finish it, but I can imagine that the meat was fairly healthy so I left the chips and the egg.
This inspired me to write a post about some of the more healthy food from pubs, JD Wetherspoon being the prime example. I haven't been to a city where there hasn't been at least one Wetherpsoons available, and I can imagine that most people have eaten there. The menu is pretty diverse, from chicken to steak, to burritos and burgers. All of which sound amazing on the menu but are really hefty in the syns department!
So here's a low down on the basic syns from Wetherspoons, you might be surprised!
Low Syn Options:
Peri Peri Chicken and Pepper Skewers
These are my go-to food as the SW website confirmed that they are free. Have them with a salad, and the sauce comes in a little pot, so you can choose how much to have. The sauce is 1 1/2 syns per tbsp.
Skinny Steak
Add 1 or 2 syns for the oil, a totally free salad and a syn free jacket potato for a really delicious and filling meal.
Freedom Salad
As the name suggests, this salad is full of speed foods and a free balsamic dressing. Adding chicken or salmon adds 1 or 2 syns, but makes it really tasty!
Jacket Potato with Beans and Cheese
We all know jackets and beans are free, and the butter for the potato comes on the side so you can choose to have it. Save your healthy A for the cheese and you're all set!
Sweet Chilli Noodles
At just 1 syn for the whole dish, you can't go wrong! It's a little spicy for my taste, and adding chicken makes the dish quite high syn, but overall a good eat.
Mini Corn on the Cob
An awesome free food choice, as it doesn't come with butter!
Side Salad
With no dressing, completely syn free!
Five Bean Chilli
On a jacket potato or with rice, it's only 1 1/2 syns per serving. Beware that the chilli con carne is 7 1/2 syns, so make sure you order the beans!
I've had a very weird week this week, at the very last moment my partner and I decided to have a trip up north to Newcastle to see my family, so at the weekend I have to say I was very much off plan. It's helpful that my mum is also doing Slimming World up there, so in the evenings we were eating pretty syn free meals. However, it didn't help that it was my step-dad's birthday so he wanted to have a meal out. I tried my hardest to have something relatively syn free, but the menu was just so amazing to not have something bad! I ended up having a massive (and I mean MASSIVE) mixed grill, complete wit steak, chicken breast, gammon, sausage, chips, mushroom, tomato and a fried egg. It was so huge that I couldn't finish it, but I can imagine that the meat was fairly healthy so I left the chips and the egg.
This inspired me to write a post about some of the more healthy food from pubs, JD Wetherspoon being the prime example. I haven't been to a city where there hasn't been at least one Wetherpsoons available, and I can imagine that most people have eaten there. The menu is pretty diverse, from chicken to steak, to burritos and burgers. All of which sound amazing on the menu but are really hefty in the syns department!
So here's a low down on the basic syns from Wetherspoons, you might be surprised!
Low Syn Options:
Peri Peri Chicken and Pepper Skewers
These are my go-to food as the SW website confirmed that they are free. Have them with a salad, and the sauce comes in a little pot, so you can choose how much to have. The sauce is 1 1/2 syns per tbsp.
Skinny Steak
Add 1 or 2 syns for the oil, a totally free salad and a syn free jacket potato for a really delicious and filling meal.
Freedom Salad
As the name suggests, this salad is full of speed foods and a free balsamic dressing. Adding chicken or salmon adds 1 or 2 syns, but makes it really tasty!
Jacket Potato with Beans and Cheese
We all know jackets and beans are free, and the butter for the potato comes on the side so you can choose to have it. Save your healthy A for the cheese and you're all set!
Sweet Chilli Noodles
At just 1 syn for the whole dish, you can't go wrong! It's a little spicy for my taste, and adding chicken makes the dish quite high syn, but overall a good eat.
Mini Corn on the Cob
An awesome free food choice, as it doesn't come with butter!
Side Salad
With no dressing, completely syn free!
Five Bean Chilli
On a jacket potato or with rice, it's only 1 1/2 syns per serving. Beware that the chilli con carne is 7 1/2 syns, so make sure you order the beans!
*
Beware of the really high syn foods that you may mistake for being healthy, burgers and sandwiches can vary from 20 syns to a shocking 42 syns! That's not even with chips or sides!
I hope this helps :)
Ciao!
x
Monday, 23 March 2015
Holy Macaroni!
Bonjourno!
After having a bad week last week and having a gain, I decided that this week all my main meals would be syn free so I could use my syns for snacks. I don't know what it is but lately I've just been in the mood to eat everything in sight - which doesn't help when there is Easter Eggs all around the shops! I haven't given in to temptation yet, but when Easter does roll around, I'll be sure to save all my syns and enjoy a delicious Easter Egg.
As most of you know, I'm a big fan of cooking syn free meals, it's easy to plan meals ahead of time and use ingredients that are completely syn free. Check out my previous recipes, all of the meals that I have posted are free.
Anyway, I don't know about you, but I always feel like mac and cheese is the ultimate comfort food. There's just something about it that just makes you feel all warm and comfy inside, probably the high fat content! I've been looking and looking for something that tastes just as good with a low syn value, and I've found it. So I've decided to share it with all of you.
You will need:
After having a bad week last week and having a gain, I decided that this week all my main meals would be syn free so I could use my syns for snacks. I don't know what it is but lately I've just been in the mood to eat everything in sight - which doesn't help when there is Easter Eggs all around the shops! I haven't given in to temptation yet, but when Easter does roll around, I'll be sure to save all my syns and enjoy a delicious Easter Egg.
As most of you know, I'm a big fan of cooking syn free meals, it's easy to plan meals ahead of time and use ingredients that are completely syn free. Check out my previous recipes, all of the meals that I have posted are free.
Anyway, I don't know about you, but I always feel like mac and cheese is the ultimate comfort food. There's just something about it that just makes you feel all warm and comfy inside, probably the high fat content! I've been looking and looking for something that tastes just as good with a low syn value, and I've found it. So I've decided to share it with all of you.
You will need:
Dried macaroni
2 skinless boneless chicken breasts chopped
Garlic Powder
Mushrooms
400ml vegetable stock
4 tbsp tomato puree
200g quark
2 eggs beaten
100g Mozzarella
Cook the macaroni as per packet instructions.
Brown the chicken in a pan with frylight, then add the mushrooms and garlic. Fry until it's done.
Mix the cooked macaroni into the chicken mixture.
Mix together the stock, tomato puree, quark, and eggs, pour into the pasta, add half the cheese and mix together.
Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the top and bake for 20-30 minutes, till golden and cooked through.
The whole thing is 12 syns if you don't use the cheese as a healthy A. The whole thing can be split into as many portions as you like, I had half!
Hope you all enjoy.
Ciao!
x
Friday, 20 March 2015
A Saucy Affair
Bonjourno!
I'm so sorry that I haven't been posting that often, but I'm so happy that my blog has reached over 1000 views! It really makes me happy to know that people are keeping up with my progress, and hopefully trying out some of the recipes that I post on here.
Now I'll admit that I haven't had the greatest of weeks - I managed to get food poisoing last week, which meant that although I had a brilliant weight loss (6lbs!) that week, I ate literally ANYTHING I could get my hands on the week after and suffered a gain. It was only small, but since it's the first gain I've had on Slimming World so far, and I know exactly why it's happened, it's still a little disheartening. I know that I can be really good this week and have it off by next week, I guess I was hoping that since I was ill that eating bad food wouldn't count!
Anyway, since I've had literally no time to cook this week, the other half thought it would be nice to treat me with some syn free burgers to celebrate the end of a long-ass week. I'd already used my syns for the week by this point, and didn't want to waste syns on sauces like ketchup and mayonnaise. I know that really light mayo (the purple one from Asda) has about 1 syn per tablespoon, but still I wanted to make something that I didn't have to measure. So, I took some fat free natural yoghurt and mixed it with some garlic granules, and honestly what came out was amazing! It tastes like the garlic mayo you get from takeaways, and it's completely syn free. Made my burger taste AMAZING!
As for ketchup, I find that simply adding a little bit of sweetener to some tomato passata tastes exactly like a good ketchup!
I'm so sorry that I haven't been posting that often, but I'm so happy that my blog has reached over 1000 views! It really makes me happy to know that people are keeping up with my progress, and hopefully trying out some of the recipes that I post on here.
Now I'll admit that I haven't had the greatest of weeks - I managed to get food poisoing last week, which meant that although I had a brilliant weight loss (6lbs!) that week, I ate literally ANYTHING I could get my hands on the week after and suffered a gain. It was only small, but since it's the first gain I've had on Slimming World so far, and I know exactly why it's happened, it's still a little disheartening. I know that I can be really good this week and have it off by next week, I guess I was hoping that since I was ill that eating bad food wouldn't count!
Anyway, since I've had literally no time to cook this week, the other half thought it would be nice to treat me with some syn free burgers to celebrate the end of a long-ass week. I'd already used my syns for the week by this point, and didn't want to waste syns on sauces like ketchup and mayonnaise. I know that really light mayo (the purple one from Asda) has about 1 syn per tablespoon, but still I wanted to make something that I didn't have to measure. So, I took some fat free natural yoghurt and mixed it with some garlic granules, and honestly what came out was amazing! It tastes like the garlic mayo you get from takeaways, and it's completely syn free. Made my burger taste AMAZING!
As for ketchup, I find that simply adding a little bit of sweetener to some tomato passata tastes exactly like a good ketchup!
Finally, a bit of natural yoghurt, mint, lemon juice and cucumber makes the most delicious tzatziki, and it's also completely syn free. Perfect for dipping chopped up veg in, as well as with a toasted pitta bread. My favourite is dipping some ryvita in it!
Hope you all enjoy some syn free sauce this week. :)
Ciao!
x
Saturday, 7 March 2015
Low Syn Cookies and Questionable Sausages
Bonjourno!
I'm sorry that I haven't been updating this blog as much as I'd like to, unfortunately life takes over sometimes! However, I'm very pleased to share with you all that in just 8 weigh ins, I've managed to lose an amazing 1 stone and 12lb! My original goal was to lose 2 stone before Easter, which with 4 weeks left and only 2lb to lose seems like a very attainable target.
So this week hasn't been the greatest one for me, as you all know Slimming World very recently brought out some frozen ready meals that you can buy in Iceland - a very amazing idea. However, after trying the sausages, I don't think I'll be having them again. There must be something in them that just disagrees with me, I managed to get food poisoning from them :(
Don't let this put you off trying them! A lot of people have tried them and been absolutely fine, I don't know whether I just didn't cook them enough or there was something in them that I just didn't like, but either way, I won't be having them again just in case! I think I'll stick to Linda McCartney red onion and sage sausages.
On a slightly lighter note, it was taster week once more in the Lancaster class, so I scoured long and hard over recipes that I wanted to take with me, something that I thought everyone would enjoy. I finally decided on Salted Caramel and Vanilla Cookies.
I know what you're thinking... Surely these cookies are high syn, high sugar, high badness??
I kid you not, they are only 1.5 syns each - compared to the Nutella Cookie that Starbucks sell, a staggering 19 syns per portion!
Here is the recipe for these tasty treats.
I'm sorry that I haven't been updating this blog as much as I'd like to, unfortunately life takes over sometimes! However, I'm very pleased to share with you all that in just 8 weigh ins, I've managed to lose an amazing 1 stone and 12lb! My original goal was to lose 2 stone before Easter, which with 4 weeks left and only 2lb to lose seems like a very attainable target.
So this week hasn't been the greatest one for me, as you all know Slimming World very recently brought out some frozen ready meals that you can buy in Iceland - a very amazing idea. However, after trying the sausages, I don't think I'll be having them again. There must be something in them that just disagrees with me, I managed to get food poisoning from them :(
Don't let this put you off trying them! A lot of people have tried them and been absolutely fine, I don't know whether I just didn't cook them enough or there was something in them that I just didn't like, but either way, I won't be having them again just in case! I think I'll stick to Linda McCartney red onion and sage sausages.
On a slightly lighter note, it was taster week once more in the Lancaster class, so I scoured long and hard over recipes that I wanted to take with me, something that I thought everyone would enjoy. I finally decided on Salted Caramel and Vanilla Cookies.
I know what you're thinking... Surely these cookies are high syn, high sugar, high badness??
I kid you not, they are only 1.5 syns each - compared to the Nutella Cookie that Starbucks sell, a staggering 19 syns per portion!
Here is the recipe for these tasty treats.
Makes 6(ish) cookies
1.5 Syns and 1 HEXB
or 2 syns each.
Ingredients:
50g Porridge Oats
4 tbsp Sweetener
1 Sachet Salted Caramel Chocolate Options
Vanilla Muller Light (with Sprinkled Chocolate if you like!)
Butter Flavour Fry Light
1 Egg
1. Preheat the oven at 220° / Gas Mark 7 and prepare a large baking tray lined with foil or non-stick baking paper – Spray with Fry Light.
2. Add the porridge oats, sweetener and 1 tsp of yoghurt to a large mixing bowl and crack the egg into the centre of the bowl and immediately whisk.
3. Add a little more of the yogurt as you’re whisking until the mixture is firm and thick. Literally add a drop at a time, it's easier to add more yoghurt to a thick mix than more oats to a runny one!
4. Empty the Chocolate Options sachet into a mug and add 1 tbsp of water, stirring well into a thick and creamy chocolate sauce.
5. Add the chocolate into the oats.
6. Stir well until the chocolate has blended into the the oats
7. Using a spoon, arrange 6 cookies onto the tray.
8. Transfer the tray to the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown, turning them over if you need to.
Definitely worth the syns, I'm not much of a sweet tooth but these definitely did the trick! You can change the flavour of the chocolate options to make any flavour cookie you like. I'll be trying the white chocolate one next! I hope you all enjoy :)
Ciao!
x
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