Recipe - Syn Free One Pot Chilli Beef Bake

This recipe was a revelation to me. Who doesn't love a one pot recipe, yummy comforting food with only one pan to wash up after? Call me lazy but why use two pots when one will do? And I am seriously crappy at cooking rice, so bunging it all in the pot to cook together is a perfect option for me. If you don't have a pan that will go from hob to oven, get one. It's worth it, think of all the fairy liquid you'll save only washing one pot! This is the one I have, and it's big enough for stews and casseroles, boiling a chicken carcass to make stock and batch cooking huge vats of soup and bolognese for freezing.

To make Syn Free One Pot Chilli Beef Bake for 4 people you will need:

• 400g lean beef mince
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 100g mushrooms, sliced
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 200ml beef stock
• 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup long grain rice
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp hot chilli powder (or to taste)
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 80g reduced fat cheddar (1/2 HEA per portion)
• frylight

Frylight your pan and brown the mince and onion. Add all of the other ingredients apart from the cheese and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 20-30 minutes until the rice is tender. Don't be tempted to stir too much as the rice will go stodgy but do check the liquid - it should all absorb but if it goes before the rice is cooked add a splash more water from a recently boiled kettle. Sprinkle the cheese on top and pop into the oven at 200/gas mark 6 until the cheese is melted and bubbly. 

Warning, this was volcanically hot so you might wish to let it cool for a few before serving. It made a huge pot and was really comforting. I mixed some yogurt in to cool it down for the kids, but it really wasn't overly spicy either. It was a bit of an experiment, but sometimes the chuck it all in and see what happens method pays off. Who says being lazy is bad for you?

Hx

Recipe - Syn Free Chicken Supreme

Quark is a funny old thing, really. It's cheese, but not really cheesy. It's spreadable, but you wouldn't really want to spread it on your ryvita like you would with philly. It's not very tasty, to be honest, unless you tart it up wit a bit of garlic or some chilli like I have here. If you don't like it, or can't find it in the shops (most supermarkets now do their own version, even Aldi and Lidl have jumped on the Quark bandwagon) then when it's used to make a sauce like I have here it's perfectly interchangable with fromage frais or natural yogurt, just add it at the end so it doesn't split. If you want to stuff a chicken breast, or mix in some chocolate powder and pretend it's a mousse, only Quark will do. And you can eat it to your hearts content on an SP day, if that's the way you swing. Technically the mustard in this recipe is 1 syn, but since it's split between 4 it's negligible. If you want to be holier-than-thou, use mustard powder instead, which is free.

To make Syn Free Chicken Supreme for 4 people you will need:

• 2 large or 4 small chicken breasts, cubed
• 1 onion, sliced
• tsp garlic powder
• 4 lean bacon medallions, chopped
• 300g mushrooms, halved
• 100g Quark
• 100ml chicken stock (I used half a cube)
• 1 tsp wholegrain mustard
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• salt and pepper
• frylight

In a large frylighted pan, soften your sliced onion with the garlic powder for about 5 minutes, before adding the chicken and bacon. Once the chicken is sealed, add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes more. In a bowl, mix the quark, stock, mustard, parsley and salt and pepper and whisk with a fork to combine (if using fromage frais or yogurt, leave this out and mix in at the end). Add the sauce mixture and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Serve with rice (or cauli rice for sadists SP followers) and speed veg of your choice.

I'm not a great lover of creamy sauces, I prefer tomato but, you guessed it, Mr MGAMT disagrees. But the mustard in this adds just enough of an edge for me. And of course, quark is a lot lighter than cream. If you use yogurt or fromage frais and it splits, don't worry, it will look like vomit but it's perfectly edible if you shut your eyes. If you want to make this veggie, I see no reason why quorn wouldn't work, just skip the sealing part and throw the sauce in with the quorn and leave out the bacon. Quark and quorn. Quackers.

Hx

Recipe - King Prawn Carbonara

You know the saying, if it swims it slims (just don't tell Mr MGAMT or he'll get ideas) so I like to have fish a couple of times a week. Prawns are a great source of protein, very low fat and so handy to have in the freezer, and I was planning to have these with a ratatouille type sauce and pasta, until I dropped the passata and the carton exploded all over me, the kitchen and the baby. That was fun to clean up. So I had to think quick and came up with this instead, creamy yummy spaghetti and prawns all for 1 syn per serving.

 To make King Prawn Carbonara for 2 people you will need:

• 200g raw king prawns, defrosted if frozen
• 1 big clove garlic, crushed
• 200g spaghetti
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp grated parmesan (2 syns)
• 2 tbsp fat free fromage frais or quark
• black pepper

Cook the spaghetti for 10 minutes in boiling salted water. When the pasta's about halfway done, fry the prawns with the garlic until they're pink. Mix together the eggs, fromage frais or quark and parmesan until smooth and season with plenty of pepper. Drain the spaghetti, reserving a little of the cooking water and return to the pan but make sure the heat is off. Add the prawns to the spaghetti and then the egg mixture, stirring until cooked. The heat of the pasta will cook the egg and you'll be left with a smooth silky sauce - don't be tempted to turn the heat back on or you'll get scrambled egg. If you like the sauce a little looser add a splash of the pasta water. Serve with extra parmesan to sprinkle on top - 1 syn per 1/2 tablespoon.

Although I'm still finding orange splashes of passata in unusual places, I'm calling it a fortuitous accident because discovering this sauce works with prawns has been a revelation. You could also add peppers, courgette, onion or mushrooms when cooking the prawns to get your speed food in. I was too fed up by then thanks to the explosion!

Hx

Recipe - Tandoori Chicken Kebabs with red onion pickle and yogurt mint sauce

I'm going to say this straight up and get it out of the way - this recipe contains a little cheat. I say that, it might not, but I'm not sure of the reasoning behind why pitta bread is not allowed as a Healthy B choice. If it's just because pittas are generally too big to be counted as a HEB, then as long as you syn the extra (as I did), it's fine. If it's because wholemeal pittas don't contain enough fibre, then you probably shouldn't do it, at least not too regularly. So, Slimming World Purists look away now, and please don't call the tweak police on me...

So, I have to say this dinner was bloody lovely. I'm not really one for a fakeaway as such, but I really enjoyed this, and even Mr MGAMT only said one negative thing about it, which makes a change. It uses your Healthy B choice, although technically it doesn't. Let me explain. I used a large wholemeal pitta to stuff my meat into, which isn't counted as a HEB. BUT my Slimming World bible says you can have 60g of any bread as your Healthy Extra B, which equates to 6 syns. So, as my Tesco Large Wholemeal Pitta comes in at 9 syns, I took off 6 and had a Tandoori kebab for 3 syns and a Healthy B. I hope that makes sense. If you want to make it simpler, use a B-Free wrap, Kingsmill sandwich thin or normal bread instead of the pitta, or save your HEB and just have chicken and salad, and maybe some Slimming World chips or summat. It's still just as good.

To make Tandoori Chicken Kebabs for two people you will need:

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken thigh filets
• 4 tbsp fat free greek yogurt
• 1 tbsp tandoori masala powder
• 1 large clove garlic
• zest and juice of one lemon, plus wedges to serve
• 2 wholemeal pittas (check syns and take off 6 to use as your Healthy B)
• iceberg lettuce
• cucumber
• 1/2 red onion
• salt

For the yogurt mint sauce

• 2 tbsp fat free greek yogurt
• 1/2 tbsp syn free mint sauce (I used Colemans Garden Mint Sauce, check syns on others)
• salt

In a bowl mix the yogurt, tandoori masala, garlic, lemon zest and 1 tbsp of lemon juice. Remove all visible fat from the chicken and add to the bowl with the spice mix, and marinade for as long as you can. I left it for the afternoon, but half an hour is good if that's all you've got. Preheat your grill as igh as it will go, and lay the chicken out as flat as it will go. grill on high for 5-7 minutes each side - don't be scared to let the edges catch a little and go all charred and yummy. Meanwhile, slice your onion as thinly as you can (use a mandolin if you have one - carefully!) and put in a bowl with the rest of the lemon juice and a pinch of salt. This will create a sort of pickle and it absolutely delicious! Shred the lettuce and thinly slice the cucumber. Mix the ingredients for the yogurt mint sauce in a bowl and add a pinch of salt. Pop your pittas in the toaster for a minute or two, before slicing open and stuffing with salad, and the chunked up chicken once it's cooked. Serve with the yogurt sauce and lemon wedges. You could even wrap it all in a plastic bag for a few minutes before serving, if you like that sweaty kebab shop authenticity!

Seriously, so so good. I don't actually like the chicken kebabs from my local late night kebab empire, give me a dirty donner any day, but this I could eat over and over again. It will definitely be a regular in my meal plans. In fact, if I don't post anything for a while it's just because I'm eating this over and over again.

Slimming World Purists, you can syn the whole thing if you don't want to "cheat" with your HEB. But surely a little cheat is better than reaching for takeaway menu...

Hx

Recipe - Fajita Chicken Lettuce Wraps, with home made low syn fajita spice mix

Well hi there, it's been a while. I am so sick. Like, almost dead. I even skipped weigh in today so I didn't infect the whole of my group with the lurgy. It's not even the good kind of lurgy where you go off your food, all I want is creamy soup and bread and cheese and chocolate and bad stuff. Urgh. Kids and their germs, why can't they keep it to themselves? The baby had it last week and has been using me as a human hanky so it was inevitable that I would come down with it sooner or later. URGH! Don't have kids. Oh how I wish that had been my mantra 10 years ago...the eldest turned 9 yesterday so now I'm ill and old. How did that happen? How am I old enough to have a 9 year old kid? Not possible. It's going to be even worse when he's 10 next year...

Anyway, did you know that the average tortilla wrap is 9 syns? For ONE measly wrap! There are some gluten free ones you can have as a Healthy B choice, but you only get one (or two on an SP day) and they're not the same. When I made this meal Mr MGAMT had his wraps and I can honestly say I didn't miss them one bit. Using big iceberg lettuce leaves gives you crunch and flavour, and they were no less filling than using a flour tortilla would have been. I was utterly stuffed after three wraps and completely satisfied. Seriously, I am not twisting your melons here, I tell it how it is and these were good. Messy to eat but good. I even made my own fajita mix as a packet of that is usually about 4 syns, but this one contains just 1 for the spoon of sugar. 3 juicy, tasty, crunchy chicken fajitas, packed with LOADS of speed food, for just half a syn? I'll take it.

To make Fajita Chicken Lettuce Wraps for two people you will need:

• 2 chicken breasts, cut into strips
• 1 red onion, sliced
• half each of a red, yellow/orange and green pepper, sliced
• 6 iceberg lettuce leaves (or use little gem and eat them more like the tortilla boats you can get)
• 1/2 tub quark
• 1 tsp lemon or lime juice
• frylight

For the fajita mix:

• 2 tsps chilli powder (I used hot, which was a little too hot for me, so adjust to taste. I will either use mild or use less next time!)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp sugar (1 syn)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin

Frylight a wok and stir fry your chicken until browned and then add the veg. Cook for a minute or two before combining all the seasoning ingredients and adding to the pan. Continue to stir fry until the chicken is cooked. In a bowl mix the quark and lemon juice to make a sour cream. Serve with the lettuce leaves and quark and plenty of napkins because it's a juicy one!

When I told Mr MGAMT that I was making my own Slimming World fajita mix he pulled a face, like he does whenever I do a Slimming World "version" of something, but he said if anything it was better than the usual packet I use. You could even make more and save it for next time, if you're that way inclined. I really think the sugar makes a difference here, and sweetener wouldn't do in this instance. Feel free to try it and let me know though, but really it's only half a syn per portion and that's what your syns are there for! Well, there's wine of course, but you don't get much of that for half a syn...

Let me know if you try this, I promise it was delicious!

Hx

Recipe- Syn Free Beef Kheema and Bombay Veg

This recipe is adapted from a Slimming World recipe book. I'm a sucker for a recipe book, I have to admit, although this time around I've managed to avoid temptation. The problem with Slimming World recipes I find is that if you made each thing to the letter you'll end up spending a fortune. Everything seems to need the most expensive cut of meat and lots of it. When using mince you need to choose one that has 5% fat or less for it to be syn free, which of course is so much more expensive than normal mince. You'd think that since they were taking something out it would cost less, surely? Ok, I know that's not how it works, but it's a nice thought. Maybe we wouldn't be such a nation of fatties if it were true. Anyway, I like to try and keep costs down by bulking it out with veg and adding flavour with spice. I would have never thought of using mince in a curry before, but this has become a family favourite.

To make Syn Free Beef Kheema and Bombay Veg for four you will need:

• 500g lean mince (5% fat or less)
• 1 large onion
• 2 tbsp mild curry powder
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 300ml hot beef or veg stock
• 300g frozen peas or finely chopped carrots
• half a white cabbage
• 1 head broccoli
• 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp mild chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• frylight

Spray a large pan with frylight and cook your mince until browned. Add the sliced onion and cook for a few more minutes before adding the curry powder, tomatoes, garlic and stock. Stir in the peas or carrots and simmer for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the shredded cabbage and broccoli florets in boiling water for about 5 minutes and then drain well. Spray another pan and add the mustard seeds, chilli powder and turmeric, and toast for a minute. Add the drained veg and stir to coat in the spices. Cook for a few more minutes and serve with the kheema mince.

I adapted this to fit with SP, but you could serve with rice or even add boiled potato to the cabbage and broccoli if you're not an SP fan. Adjust the spices to your taste too (this is not hot at all), just don't add too much turmeric or it will taste like a commuters armpit after an hour's journey on the Northern Line in August. I once did this to couscous and was not impressed. Mix up the veg too, cauliflower, spinach or mushrooms would all work well.

Will this make it onto your next curry night menu?

Hx

Recipe- Slow Cooker Sausage Casserole

Who doesn't love a sausage? Well, I have to admit, the sausages I used for this recipe left something to be desired, unless you happen to like sausages that taste like cat litter. They sat languishing in my freezer and so I decided to use them up by putting them in a casserole to try and make them a little bit less cardboard-esque and then vow never to buy them again. You can use whatever sausages you like for this, just check the syns. The Slimming World sausages from Iceland aren't too awful, and would work well in this, and they're syn-free. The ones I used were Asda reduced fat sausages, at half a syn for 2, and trust me, they're not worth it. Add plenty of flavour in a stew, just don't put them in your fry up.

To make Slow Cooker Sausage Casserole for four you will need:

• 8 sausages (remember to check the syns)
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 200g mushrooms
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tin baked beans
• Worcestershire sauce
• 1 beef stock cube
• 1 tbsp mixed herbs
• salt and pepper

Brown your sausages under the grill. If you don't do this they end up looking like flaccid willies and are very unappealing. Chop your onion and mushrooms while they're browning. Once they're brown all over throw everything into your slow cooker, crumbling the stock cube, with a shake of Worcester sauce and salt and pepper, and cook on low for around 6 hours (or do it in the oven in a casserole dish at around gas 4/180 for an hour and a half). Serve with some green veg like broccoli, cabbage or kale.

Flavourless sausages, saved. My search for a decent banger continues...

Hx

Recipe- Syn Free Cheesy Bolognese and Potato Bake

I quite often have leftover bolognese, which usually gets whacked in the freezer until it's so freezer burned that it's unidentifiable, and then chucked away when I need the space. Well this week, my friends, I took control of that bolognese and created this cheesy masterpiece! It uses your HEA of cheese, and the rest is syn free on an ordinary EE day. If you're punishing yourself on SP you could swap your potatoes for cauliflower, butternut squash or any other firm speed veg that you can roast.

To make Syn Free Cheesy Bolognese and Potato Bake for two people you will need:

• two portions of leftover bolognese - use your favourite recipe or try my turkey bolognese
• 40g reduced fat cheddar (1xHEA)
• 50g mozzarella (1xHEA)
• 2 baking potatoes
• Frylight
• Salt and pepper

Dice your potatoes nice and small, stick them on a frylighted baking tray, season, spray with more frylight and bake in a hot oven for 20 minutes or so, turning once. When the potatoes are nearly done re-heat the bolognese either on the hob or in the microwave until it's nice and hot. Tip the potatoes into a roasting dish and top with the bolognese and cheese, and bake for 10 minutes until melted and bubbly. Dish it up and get stuck in!

You may notice there's no speed food on my plate here, and that's because I got my salad out of the fridge to find it had turned to mush. There were plenty of veg in the bolognese, and I had snacked on fruit all day, so I wont beat myself up over it. Slimming World do say to make up a third of your plate with speed food where possible, and this time it just wasn't possible. Slap my wrist and move on!

What are your favourite ways to use up leftovers? Or do you leave it languishing in the fridge like me?

Hx

Recipe- Syn Free Slow Cooker Chicken Chasseur

It's those skinless, boneless (fnar) chicken thighs again. This week I made them into a chicken chasseur in my slow cooker for 2 reasons: 1 - it was literally pissing it down, I got soaked on the school run twice and I wanted comfort food and 2 - Mr MGAMT isn't keen on anything that comes out of the slow cooker and he was being mean to me so I wanted to piss him off. Never annoy the person who cooks your food. Anyway, my mum used to make this a lot (with a packet mix, for shame) but I wanted to create a syn-free version and I think I got quite close. I served with a little rice and a lot of broccoli - speed food a-plenty.

To make Syn Free Slow Cooker Chicken Chasseur for 4 people you will need:

• 500g pack skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 carrots
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 300ml chicken stock
• 1 tbsp dried mixed herbs
• 200g mushrooms
• salt and pepper

Chop your onion, mince your garlic, slice your carrots and quarter your mushrooms. Throw everything into a slow cooker (or oven dish if you don't have one) and season to taste. Cook on low for 8 hours (or in a low oven for 2 hours). That's it, done! 

This recipe would be good to make one of those "dump bags" with if you're an annoyingly organised person - just throw everything into a freezer bag, freeze, and then just defrost and "dump" into the slow cooker when you want it. A word on slow cookers - if you don't have one, you need one! They are so handy for soups, stews, chilli, ratatouille, curry, and great for using up what's in the bottom of the fridge. I have a Morphy Richards Sear and Stew with a metal pot which means you can brown your meat in the pot then stick the whole lot straight into the slow cooker - less washing up! Genius, and it's lighter than a ceramic pot so it doesn't make my bingo wings flap. The chicken is so tender cooking it this way, it will just fall apart - so even if you don't use the boneless thighs the meat falls off the bone anyway. 

Although it's been positively roasting here this week (34 degrees in mid-September!) it's time to face up to the fact that Autumn is coming, and so it'll be less salad, more stodge as the hunter-gatherer instinct make us want to lay down our winter fat stores, you can look forward to more SW stews and casseroles you lucky lucky buggers!

Ohh and if you're of the Pinterest persuasion, you can now pin me to your heart's content! 

Hx

Recipe- Baked Rice with Chicken and Chorizo

I often buy skinless and boneless chicken thighs in my weekly shop, and then usually turn them into a curry or some kind of traybake, but when it came to the end of the week and thicken thighs were staring mournfully at me because I'd left them till last I felt like something different. A bit of a google about and I came across a Jamie Oliver recipe that I'd normally just skim past because he is notorious for using gallons of olive oil, mountains of cheese, being a bit poncy and is far too cheerful about it all. Also, chorizo is by no means syn free and I generally keep my meals as low syn as possible. But on closer inspection I thought I could give it a Slimming World twist - the recipe only called for 50g of chorizo which isn't too bad and the only olive oil in the recipe could easily be replaced by your favourite spray oil. So here it is, my slimmed-down version of Baked Rice with Chicken and Chorizo at 1 1/2 syns per serving. Jamie, eat your heart out!

To make Baked Rice with Chicken and Chorizo for four you will need:

• 250g wholemeal rice
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 red or yellow pepper, chopped
• 50g chorizo (6 syns - so 1.5 syns per portion)
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 500g pack skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• 500ml passata
• 300ml chicken stock
• 1 lemon
• frylight, or spray oil of choice

Spray a heatproof casserole dish with frylight and add the onion, garlic, pepper, chorizo and paprika, stirring until they start to soften. Add the rice and stir to coat in all the chorizo oil. Add the passata and stock, and zest and juice of the lemon. Put the chicken thighs in, and make sure they're submerged in the sauce before bringing to the boil. Pop the lid on your casserole dish and stick in the oven at 180/gas 4 for around 45 minutes to an hour - you want the rice to be "tender" according to Jamie, and the chicken cooked. If the sauce thickens too much, add a splash of boiling water. Serve with salad or steamed veg of your choice to get your 1/3 speed food in and enjoy.

I took out some of the poncy bits (sorry Jamie) but this really is a one-pot wonder. The kids ate it (although I did have to say the chorizo was pepperami), Mr MGAMT ate it and there was only one pot to wash after. Chicken thighs, done.

Hx

Slimming World Classic - Curry Loaf

Curry loaf. Curry loaf? What in the world is curry loaf?! Slimming World members come up with some very unusual combinations of free food just so they can stuff their faces. Sometimes, just sometimes, they're actually ingenious and worth trying. I have no idea how curry loaf came about, but I'm glad it did because it's a great lunchtime option, portable for picnics and packed lunches and good to have in the fridge when you need to shove something in your face before you fall head first into the crisp cupboard (I can't be the only one who has those days - can !?) Serve it with salad and potato wedges for a really filling meal. Just be prepared for the, um, shall we say breeze afterwards. You can also cook in little muffin trays (reduce the cooking time slightly) and take them along to a taster night. Taster night isn't the same without curry loaf!

To make Slimming World Classic Curry Loaf you will need:

• 1 400g tin of low syn chickpea or lentil dhal (see below for some different options), or 400g home made lentil/chickpea curry - I used leftovers from my Veggie Dhal
• 1 packet Batchelors curry flavour rice - you can use any savoury rice but the Batchelors curry one is the only one currently syn free
• 3 eggs

Cook the rice according to packet instructions (I usually do 325ml of water and 10 mins in the microwave). Once the rice is cooked add the dahl and eggs and mix it all up. At this point you can add more veg if you have it or curry powder if you like it hotter. Pour it all into a generously frylight-ed 2lb loaf tin (or use this silicone one and watch your loaf slide out like wet soap) and pop it in the oven at 200/gas 6 for around 40 minutes until set. Serve, and delight in it's curryness and loafyness.

The syns in this really depend on the dahl you use. I always used to use a tin of Asda chickpea dhal but they reformulated it and it's gone from being free to 2 syns a can. Some options are-

• Aldi Bilash Chickpea Dhal, 1.5 syns per 400g can
• Asda Chosen by you Chickpea Dhal, 2 syns per 400g can
• Tesco Chickpea Dhal, 1.5 syns per 400g can
• Mazadar Chickpea Dhal, 400g Can, Free (available from Morrisons and Home Bargains)
• Heinz Dhal Curry Lentils or Chickpea Tagine, both Free

Just make sure you check syns as things don't always stay free! Or you could be absolutely sure and protect your losses by making your own. It's easy! Another option is to use baked beans and add veg and curry powder, but I found it far too sweet when I did this.


Have you tried curry loaf? What other Slimming World classics do you recommend?

Hx

Recipe- End of the week Veggie Dhal

Picture the scene - it's the end of the week, the fridge is looking bare, and you don't have the energy to drag the kids around the supermarket, the only things in the cupboard are a few tins of pulses that you've had in there since the millennium bug threatened the end of the world and the wrinkly carrots in the veg rack are begging to be put out of their misery. Plus, payday is still 2 days away and you're already watering down the gin to make it last. Throw together a veggie curry, use up those last bits and relish in how tasty and healthy it is. I used to be a vegetarian (but I'm alright now) as a student and curries were a staple - the chick peas and lentils are a cheap source of protein and you can make a huge batch for around £3. Can't say fairer than that.

To make a massive cauldron of End of the week Veggie Dhal you will need:

• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 tablespoons of curry powder of your choice (I use medium and adjust for the kids with yogurt)
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 veggie stock cube
• 1 can of chick peas
• 1 can of green lentils
• plus whatever veg you have lurking in the fridge or freezer - I used half a sad butternut squash, a wrinkly leek, two forgotten carrots, and about 4 lumps of frozen spinach. I would have used half a cauliflower as well, but it was just too far gone. RIP little choux-fleur.
• frylight, or your favourite oil-spray

Sweat off your onions in a generous spray of frylight for a few minutes before adding the garlic for a minute more. Add the spices and toast for about 30 seconds before adding a splash of cold water - this cools the pan and stops the spices from burning. Add the rest of your veg chunked up any old way you like and stir to coat in all the spices. Add the tomatoes, then fill the can with water from a recently boiled kettle and add that too, with the stock cube. Drain and rinse the lentils and chick peas, and throw them in then cover and bring to the boil. Once it's boiling turn it down to a gentle simmer and leave it alone for at least half an hour, but the longer the better. You could chuck it all in a slow cooker and come home to your kitchen smelling like a delicious armpit if that's your thing. I jest, it doesn't smell much like an armpit, but I promise it's tasty and makes enough easily to serve 6 adults depending on how much of a veg hoarder you are (I hold my hands up). Some other good veg to use up would be courgette, squash, peppers, sweet potato, mushrooms (but add these at the end), baby corn, green beans, fresh tomatoes - anything you need to use up really. And it's perfect for SP as long as you don't add potato, parsnip or sweetcorn, yogurt at the end, or serve it with rice. Freezable too, so fill your boots!

Hx

Recipe- Chicken Tikka-ish

Being a Mum you sometime (aka always) have to be sneaky creative when getting your kids to eat decent food. My eldest boy will eat pretty much everything, so I know if he tells me he doesn't like something he really means it. However the middle child is a fusspot. I have to bribe, coerce, force feed and use one of those funnel things they fatten up geese for foie gras with to get him to eat. He eats fruit and veg fine, he's one of those kids who skips to the dinner table singing "I can smell broccoli" in delight, but dish up a lovely spag bol, pasta bake or hearty stew and the funnel has to come out. And for God's sake don't give him a baked bean. After Bean-gate 2014 (I made him try one and he immediately vomited all over his plate) even the sight of a baked bean has him heaving. But, one thing he will eat is curry thanks to a trip to Costco last year. We were hungry and broke, and so headed to Costco in the hopes we could go round a few times and get enough samples to class as lunch. They had lentil curry being dished out in tiny cups by a woman whose make-up was as orange as the turmeric in the curry, so we took a cup each. It was actually pretty good, and surprisingly Master J agreed. I recreated the curry a few weeks later and again, eaten with gusto and "mental curry" was ranked as a favourite. Now, everytime I make a curry we tell him it's mental curry and most of the time he eats it. It's tikka-ish I'm not sure the sauce is a tikka sauce, but I like it saucy *winkwinknodnod*. This recipe can be adjusted to suit your tastes and how spicy you like it, I usually fling a bit more yogurt and a squirt of ketchup in at the end for the kids, and another SW friendly meal the whole family will eat. Hashtag winning.

To make Chicken Tikka-ish for 4 people you will need:

• 500g skinless and boneless chicken thighs - or use breast if you prefer
• 4 big tablespoons of fat free natural yogurt
• squirt of lemon or lime juice (I use a bottle of lime juice and just shake in a dash or two, probably half a fruit's worth)
• 4 tablespoons tikka spice mix
• 1 onion
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon mild curry powder (or whatever curry powder you like, just have tp in the fridge if necessary)
• small pack baby corn
• extra yogurt to serve
• don't forget the frylight!

Chop your chook into cubes and fling in a bowl with the yogurt, tikka powder and lime juice and stir it all around. Leave in the fridge for as long as you can but if you're pressed for time half an hour will do. When you're ready to cook, spray a deep frying pan or wok with oil spray and get it nice and hot, before putting the chicken and yogurt in and cooking it through. Set aside, and in the same pan soften the onion and garlic. Now, I blend the sauce the get it nice and smooth so just roughly chopped the onion and garlic and threw it in, but if you don't have a blender or cba to wash it up after chop as fine as you can. Once softened add the curry powder and cook a few minutes more before throwing the tinned tomatoes in and bringing it all to the boil. If you're going to blend transfer it to the blender or use one of those stick things and blend blend blend until it's nice and smooth, before returning it to the pan. I microwaved the baby corn for a minute or two to soften them up but you don't have to, you can just throw them in the pan at this point along with the yogurty chicken and cook for a few minutes more. Serve with a boob of rice, a drizzle more yogurt and extra speed veg if you wish. Chicken Tikka-ish. Done.

Hx

Recipe- 5-a-day Turkey Bolognese

Now while this recipe alone wont give you your five a day in one meal, it contains 6 different veg so it'll get you on your way. It's healthy, tasty, something the whole family can eat, and it's cheap. I quite often think that Slimming World think we're made of money - if you were to follow one of their weekly eating plans from the mag or website you'd either need to remortgage or sell a kidney. And I'm quite fond of my kidneys. It makes a big old pan of hearty bolognese for around a fiver, can't say fairer than that. Ok, so it doesn't contain the 3 tins of caviar, 17 lobsters and half a lamb that you may be accustomed to if you like a SW recipe, but I guarantee it's a lot more tasty. And I couldn't get my kids to eat lobster anyway...

To make Recipe- 5-a-day Turkey Bolognese for 6-8 people (depending on how much you eat yourself while it's cooking...) you will need (count the veggies with me! Can you tell I'm a mum?!):

• 500g turkey mince (less than 5% fat)
• 1 large onion (1)
• 2 gloves garlic
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 courgette (2)
• a big pepper, or couple of handfulls of frozen peppers (3)
• 1 big carrot or a couple of small ones (4)
• around 8 mushrooms (5)
• 500g carton of passata (6)
• 1 beef stock cube
• dash of worcestershire sauce
• dash of balsamic vinegar
• dried Italian herbs - I used basil and oregano
• salt and pepper

Throw your mince into a large pan and break up with a wooden spoon. While the mince is browning chop your onion, garlic, peppers and mushrooms. Add the onion and garlic to the pan and soften, before adding the tomato puree and cooking a few minutes more. Grate your courgette and carrot straight into the pan and combine it all together. At this point chuck everything else in - and fill the passata carton half full with water, swill it around to get every last bit, and add that too. Season with plenty of pepper, but check the salt - you might not need it as the stock cube and worcestershire sauce are quite salty. Let it all simmer for around half an hour and serve with your choice of pasta or, if you must, courgetti *shudders*

This makes a huge pan - plenty to feed my brood plus enough for 2 adult lunches the next day. It's a good job too because I came downstairs after settling the baby for the twelfth time this evening to find the cat helping herself to my plate. I'm not fussy usually, but she licks her arse and I've seen what comes out of it. Anyway, you can use the bolognese for lasagne too - use fat free cottage cheese for the white sauce and your healthy a of what ever cheese you like on top. Yum!

Hx

Recipe- Fish pie-cakes

Everyone loves a fish pie, don't they? Well apart from my kids, they'd only eat it if it came in a red cardboard box with a pair of golden arches emblazoned across it. But, fish pie isn't exactly slimming friendly with its creamy sauce and ton of cheese on top. Of course you could make a slimming version, probably using quark and a toffee mullerlight or something (they always use a toffee mullerlight), but it's never quite the same is it? It's like the infamous slimming world cheeseburger in a bowl - it's just mince and salad at the end of the day. Just have a proper burger! I digress, these fishcakes use a fish pie mix, which makes them full of fish pie flavour, but without the syns. And my kids will eat them. Bonus!

To make 8 big Fish pie-cakes you will need:

• 350g pack of fish pie mix,
• 4 large baking potatoes,
• 1 tsp salt,
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• plenty of pepper
• frylight, or your preferred oil spray
• one small egg (optional, see recipe!)

Peel and dice the potatoes so they're fairly small - the smaller they are the easier they are to mash! And they cook quicker too. Boil them in salted water until tender (ie forget about them until they're falling apart). While the potatoes are boiling, put your fish pie mix onto a plate and season well. Microwave for 4-5 minutes until it's just cooked. You don't want it tough and rubbery, especially as you'll be cooking again. Once the potatoes are boiled to death, drain them really well, add a tsp of salt and mash to within an inch of their lives. Because you're not adding any milk/butter/cream/cheese you want a really smooth mash. Add your cooked fish and the parsley to the mash and stir it through. The fish will break up while your stirring so don't break it up any smaller first. Check the seasoning - you shouldn't need more salt but a bit more pepper probably wont hurt! At this point you should be able to tell if your mash is going to hold together in a patty, or if it's too dry and crumbly. If it's the latter, chuck an egg in to bind. I used a large cookie cutter to shape my fish cakes, just by putting it on a chopping board and filling it up, but you could just shape using your hands. Leave the top a little rugged so you get crispy bits! At this point I chucked them in the freezer (on the chopping board) for half an hour to firm up, but you don't have to. Spray a baking tray with frylight/oil spray, pop on your fishcakes and then spray the top with more frylight. Bake at 200/gas 6 for 20-30 minutes until golden and crispy. Serve with salad or veggies, or whatever speed food tickles your pickle - ooh pickles!

These freeze well, in fact I made up half of the mix in large fishcakes for me and Mr MGAMT, made the rest into smaller ones for the offspring and froze half. Just increase the cooking time by 5 or 10 minutes if cooking from frozen. If you're a real heathen, you could even use *LeGasp* instant mash (check the SW website for a syn free version, if you're that bothered). Syn free on EE, and handy to have in the freezer, too. Tuck in.

Hx 

Recipe- Go-with-anything Roasted Veg

Hello!

Roasted veg may be a bit of a no brainer but it's something I often over look in favour of yet another salad. I know Slimming World say you should have 1/3 of your plate with speed food, but sometimes you just want to chuck something in the oven and forget about it until the smoke alarm goes off (just me?) and not faff about with ricing a cauliflower or spiralising the contents of your veg rack. This is perfect for that. You can use pretty much any veg you like, cook a massive tray of it and save what you don't eat in the fridge, reheat or eat it cold and even use it in other dishes. Easy.

To make Go-with-anything Roasted Veg you will need:

• Vegetables - I would suggest onion and peppers as a minimum but then you can add anything you like. I used a red onion, a big courgette, couple of handfuls of frozen peppers, half a butternut squash, and a few baby leeks because that was what I had sat wilting miserably in the bottom of the fridge but you could add aubergine, cherry tomatoes, sweet potato, carrot, cauliflower, parsnip, asparagus, baby corn, celeriac, fennel, marrow, mushrooms - if it's a vegetable throw it in and see what happens. 
• Fry light or spray oil, or syn some olive oil.
• Balsamic vinegar.
• Dried oregano, basil, rosemary or thyme - or any other hard herb you like.
• Salt and pepper

You can also chuck a few cloves of garlic in, but I find it makes it bitter. Not sure why, but I just can't get garlic right so I leave it out. 

Just chop all your veg so they're roughly all the same size. It's going to be impossible to get a cauliflower floret the same size as an asparagus spear so don't go whittling them down, just get them roughly similar. Chuck it all into an oven dish and add a splash of balsamic, a sprinkle of your herb of choice and salt and pepper. Then spray it all with fry light until your finger hurts. Give it a mix around and bung it in the oven for about half an hour-45 minutes, giving it a wiggle around halfway through.

I chucked a frozen fish filet on top about 10 minutes before the end for a light lunch (perfect for SP if you've not used sweet potato or parsnip), but you can serve it with whatever you like - chicken, pork chops, sausages, or mix it into some cous cous, chuck it in a crustless quiche or add some passata for a quick speed-packed pasta sauce.

Hx

Recipe- Sticky Chicken

If you like your chicken sticky, you've come to the right place! This is a family favourite (although not for the baby, as it contains honey and babies under one can't have it) and it's worth a few syns for the honey - sometimes carcinogens aspartame just wont do. It's quick, easy and goes with pretty much anything - rice, chips, couscous, potatoes. You can add veg in to make it more like a stir fry or get your speed on the side. I served it here with green beans, cauliflower and a boob of rice (just put some rice in a wee ramekin and turned it out onto the plate, I'm fancy like that. And it helps with portion control). The recipe serves four and comes in at 2 syns per serving. It's good cold on salad too. Sold it enough? Better give you the recipe then...

To make Sticky Chicken for four you will need:

• 4 chicken breasts (one per person),
• 3 tablespoons of honey (1 tbsp is 2 1/2 syns, so 7 1/2 syns for the whole recipe. I rounded up to 2 syns a portion because I don't want you crying to me when you go over your syns and getting your jeans on turns into 30 minutes of cardio)
• 3 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tsp of garlic powder

Chop your chook into cubes and fling them with joyful abandon into a receptacle. Put everything else in and give them a stir, then leave to marinade in the fridge for at least half an hour. Chuck the chicken and marinade into a hot pan sprayed with frylight and cook until the chicken is done and the marinade has reduced right down and it's sticky - 10ish minutes. Serve with whatever you fancy, you indulgent bugger you.

You can even thread the chicken onto skewers and barbecue them, basting with any remaining marinade as you go, if that's your thing. Winner winner chicken dinner, as my 6 year old would say.

Hx

Salad days

A couple of years ago, I developed an allergy to tomatoes, which, in my world, is devastating. I love and adore tomatoes, in all shapes and sizes and various forms. I was practically weaned on tomatoes and usually grow my own in the summer (although this year's monsoon weather put paid to that). Now, if I eat them, it makes my mouth really sore and my chest tight  which is just a bit scary.

To me, a salad isn't a salad without a tomato. Or it used to be. This recent allergy has made me look at the way I see salads. A salad is a dieter's friend, but it can soon get rather boring if you're eating lettuce, tomato and cucumber at every meal... So I've been coming up with some ways to spice up your salad.

Chose your leaves

Are you an iceberg fan, or do you favour a little gem? The leaf is usually the basis for a good salad, and there are so many available now there's no reason not to vary them. I like to buy bags of pre-washed salad leaves, for convenience mostly, but also because of the variety. Our favourite is a babyleaf salad, but you can try rocket, spinach, beetroot leaves, watercress. Whatever takes your fancy. A good old round lettuce can be a nice change from the more "exotic" too!

Once you've got your leaves, what goes on top. I often find myself piling everything remotely salad-like on top, but you really don't have to. Chose three or four "toppings", such as:

• cucumber
• tomato *sob*
• peppers
• carrot (grated, cubed, thinly sliced with a speed peeler or get the flipping spiraliser out if you must)
• olives (8 for a syn)
• herbs (I like basil or mint)
• beetroot
• mushrooms
• radish
• celery
• onions

Know your onions

A good onion can add a sharp kick to your salad, but again you can vary them. Spring or salad onions are quick and convenient (snip them with scissors) but try red onion, spanish onion or even a couple of pickled onions for variety.

Pickle it

Talking of pickled onions, pickled beetroot, gherkins or cauliflower can also be a great addition to a salad. Add a blob of sweet pickle to turn your salad into a ploughmans (check the syns though).

Fruity twist

Still missing that tomato? I've been experimenting with adding fruit to my salad. Grapes, strawberries (great with balsamic dressing), melon, mango, apple or raisins will make a great addition to a good salad.

Protein power

Now you've got your basics, add the protein you need to make this a meal. Chicken salad will get boring really quick if you have it regularly, but combine it with bacon and a mustard dressing, or with mango and a curried mayonaise and it's a completely different meal. Other great protein sources for salad are:

• lean ham
• prawns
• tuna
• boiled eggs
• cottage cheese
• chorizo (quite fatty but a little goes a long way!)
• lean bacon or turkey bacon
• crab sticks
• omlette
• reduced fat cheese (try feta or mozzarella)
• quiche (crustless quiche recipe coming soon!)

Dress it up

Now here's a stumbling block - the dressing. You don't want to add a load of calories at the last minute, so chose wisely. I like to use balsamic vinegar, but raspberry vinegar is nice too. If you're buying a shop bought dressing, go for one that contains less than 50 calories per 100mls or is marketed as a lighter choice (my current favourite is honey and mustard). If you're a fan of mayonnaise or salad cream, chose on that's "extra light" or "lighter than light" and try mixing it with fat free fromage frais to make it go further. Or water down some fat free natural yoghurt and add some finely chopped mint, for a dressing that feels really creamy and indulgent, without all the fat.

Things to avoid

This may sound obvious, but if you're trying to keep your salad healthy there are some things to avoid:

• croutons
• full fat cheese
• crispy onions
• crispy bacon
• creamy or oily dressings
• chips on the side!

And here's a bit of a contentious one - avocado and nuts. Both of which are insanely healthy (in moderation, I'm not talking about a giant pack of dry roasted) but are very high in syns, so use them wisely. To be honest, I'd avoid slimy green bastard avocado completely. Yuk.

I enjoy salads, and I always have, but it can get boring, very quickly. I hope I've given you some ideas and inspiration to spice up your salad! Let me know your suggestions too.

Hx