Classic BLT sandwich

A tasty classic that’s great for lunchboxes! Tuck into this hearty Slimming World style sarnie...

ingredients

• 6 tbsp fat-free natural fromage frais
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 2 tsp granulated artificial sweetener
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• 1 tsp water
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 slices wholemeal bread from a small 400g loaf
• Iceberg lettuce, shredded
• Tomatoes, sliced
• 2 rashers of grilled lean bacon with all visible fat removed

method

1. To make the mayonnaise, mix together the fromage frais, white wine vinegar and artificial sweetener. Blend the mustard powder with the water and stir into the dressing. Season with the salt and pepper.



2. Lay out the bread and assemble the sandwich by firstly spreading on the mayonnaise. Add as much as you want – any leftover mayonnaise can be stored in the fridge in a sealed container for up to five days.
3. Layer the lettuce, tomato and bacon onto one slice of the bread then top with the other slice. Serve on its own as a lunchbox filler or alongside a huge crispy salad.

Tip: If you fancy it, add cooked chicken and sliced red onion to make it into a mega sandwich.

Credit : http://www.slimmingworld.co.uk/

Quick, Easy & Cheap, Slimming World Egg & Bacon Sandwich Filling -

Preparing food well in advance not only saves me tons of time but also stop me thinking things such as “what can I eat” “what should I have for lunch/dinner” etc etc. Without these questions not does it stop me opting for the quick and easy junk food options, but it also saves me from failing, failing my over all goal which is to eat healthy.


Today I’m going to show you how I bulk prep egg & bacon sandwich filling, part of my guide to slimming world sandwiches. Not only is it quick, easy, unbelievably cheap, it’s also very low in syns.

Here we go!

Ingredients

• 10 Eggs
• 2 Packs of Cheap Bacon (smoked/unsmoked)
• 7 Heaped Tbsp Light Mayo
• Salt & Pepper to Season

Place all the eggs into a pan of water and bring to the boil, approximately 10 – 15 minutes.
While the eggs are on the boil trim all visible fat off the bacon, this part that takes the longest, but once it’s done we’re home dry!

Once you’ve removed all the fat, fry the bacon in a pan with a few squirts of frylight to prevent it sticking.

Did you see how much fat I cut off the bacon…393 grams!
Drain off any excess fat that comes out of the bacon, we don’t want this!

Put the bacon to one side and allow to cool. While your waiting for the bacon, remove the eggs from the heat, drain and run under cold water. When the bacon’s cooled, shred it to any size that you desire. Now your eggs are cold, shell and grate them using a cheese grater.

Mix the eggs and bacon together in a large bowl with 7 heaped tablespoons of light mayonnaise (less if preferred) and mix throughly, season to taste.

That’s it! All done

Tweaking the recipe, something different every day

Once I had the base for my weeks sandwiches it was just a case of tweaking each one day any way I felt. The mixture is fine in the fridge for the week and saves me so much time; I don’t have to cook anything, there’s no real preparation need once it’s made; it’s simply the case of adding the filling and some salad to bread, and that’s it. The best part of all, no more boring sandwiches like the flat wafer thin ham sandwiches I used to live on; could it get any worse?
Here are the variations I had for the week using this one filling.
Monday – Filling on its own
Tuesday – Filling with finely diced red onion & sweetcorn
Wednesday – Filling with lettuce & Red onion
Thursday – Filling with watercress & Red onion
Friday – Filling with lettuce, cucumber, tomato and red onion

As you can see I had something different every day of the week while using the same filling. I’ve got to say these big bulky fillings beat the dull and boring ham sandwiches I used to have; not only do they taste 10x better but they are also 10x more filling.
You’ve probably noticed that I’m not the biggest lover of tomato/cucumber and my salad selection is limited. This is only me, you can pack your sandwich with whatever you want, your imagination is the limit.
Credit : http://www.fatboysdiet.com

Amazingly Cheap, Slimming World Chicken & Bacon Sandwich Filling

I’m loving these prepared sandwich fillings, especially the latest one I’ve just finished; roast chicken & bacon.
This filling is super simple to make, tastes amazing, and stupidly cheap, so let’s jump right in shall we!
Ingredients

• 1 large chicken
• 3 pack cheap bacon
• 9 heaped tbsp light mayo
• Salt & pepper to taste

Method

First things first, you need to pop the chicken in the oven and get that cooking, you should remove all the skin before cooking to avoid adding fat meat, and the temptation of eating it. I personally leave it on and discard it at the end; I think it keeps the chicken nice and moist, and I can’t be arsed removing it raw!

Cook the chicken until the juices run clear (no blood). If you’re unsure how to cook a chicken, 
While the chicken’s cooking you can remove all the fat from the bacon, and then roughly cut into smaller pieces, nothing fancy just easier to cook.




Fry the bacon in a pan with a few squirts of fry light, draining any fat that may come out the bacon as it cooks. Cook all the bacon and then put aside in a bowl ready for later.
When the chicken’s cooked, place on a plate or cooling rack and allow to cool (enough to handle).

Remove as much chicken from the bones as possible, discarding any fatty bits, AND the skin. Don’t eat it…I know it’s tempting.



Now you’ve got the chicken, you now need to shred it into smaller pieces. As you can see from mine below I’ve got small bits and large chunks, it’s no big deal how you do it just remember the smaller the bits the further the mixture will go.
If you want to shred your bacon bits any more, now’s the time, if not mix the chicken and bacon bits together in a large bowl.

Add 9 heaped tablespoons of light mayonnaise, and mix thoroughly.
Season with salt a pepper, be careful with the amount of salt you put in as bacon is usually quite salty to start with.

Credit :  http://www.fatboysdiet.com/

Tortilla Restaurants (Slimming world friendly)

  

Credit : http://vicki-kitchen.blogspot.com

I was lucky enough to be invited to the opening of a new Cardiff restaurant the other week, The restaurant is called 'Tortilla' and I have to say it was amazing.

I know Slimming World does not endorse any restaurants but I was lucky enough to have a long chat with the chef Bruno Piers and from what he told me a lot of the ingredients they use would be very 'Slimming World friendly'.

Although they do the usual burritos and tacos which we all know are high in syns they also do this other dish called a 'Naked Burrito' and this is a lot of the yummy fillings that go into burritos but are served in a bowl so you don't get the high syn tortilla wrap. You have a choice you can eat in or have a takeaway and the friendly staff really help to give the place a great atmosphere.

When I spoke to Bruno he explained they use only fresh ingredients and in fact don't even have freezers on the premises. He was very open and honest and said they use a very little oil to stick the spices onto the grilled chicken option and a very little oil in the rice before they cook it.



To assemble your Naked Burrito you stand in front of a counter and choose your fillings so it's very easy to make sure you have lots of the speed foods like the salad and free foods like the beans to fill you up.

Mine was started with rice, then some grilled chicken then lots of lettuce and fresh salsa and a mixture of fresh coriander and onion. I also had a few lime wedges to squeeze on top and have to say it was absolutely delicious. Tasted really fresh but was also filling due to the beans and rice it was spicy but not too hot. They serve hot sauces if you like things spicier!!

To be on the safe side I counted the dish as 6 syns for a tbsp of oil but don't think it was anywhere near that much there was no oily or greasy taste to the food.

I was so thrilled to think there was somewhere I could go for food when on a shopping day out with my family or with the girls and no one had to think I was having 'diet' food or we coudn't eat somewhere as there was nothing I could have which has happened countless times in most chain restaurants.



Tortilla has many branches throughout the UK and I will definitely be back again. Have a look at the website to see what they make everything looks so good :)

http://tortilla.co.uk/

Hoisin prawns (Slimming World friendly)

  

Credit : http://vicki-kitchen.blogspot.com

 

This recipe came about when I had a few leftover peppers and luckily got some reduced raw king prawns in ASDA , Well they say necessity is the mother of invention....

I love Chinese food and I think hoisin sauce goes really well with seafood, I buy my Chinese sauces either online or at Chinese supermarkets but most supermarkets sell it now but don't buy ones labelled as 'stir fry' sauces they are highish in syns you want to get ones just labelled 'hoisin sauce',

Hoisin is quite strong so I add some light soy to make it a lighter sauce. I think you could make this with cooked chicken maybe or some already cooked prawns but if you use them add them right near the end so they don't overcook.

I served this with some egg noodles which are syn free but remember to use dried not fresh as the fresh ones some have syns.




Hoisin prawns


150g raw king prawns
2 red or yellow peppers (sliced)
1 large onion (sliced)
100g mushrooms (sliced)
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
3 tbsp light soy sauce
spray oil




Spray a large wok or large frying pan with the spray oil and over a medium heat stir fry the onions, mushrooms and peppers until just starting to soften.

Add the raw prawns and stir fry them until they turn pink, Add the hoisin sauce and soy sauce and mix well. Cook for another 2-3 minutes until everything is hot (Add a splash or so of water if the sauce seems too thick).

Serves two at 2 syns each.

Nigellas spicy Korean beef bowl (Slimming World friendly)

 

 

 Credit : http://vicki-kitchen.blogspot.com/

I know I'm a bit obsessed with Nigella Lawson new book 'Simply Nigella' and I'm making loads of the recipes but Slimming World friendly so look out in future weeks, This recipe was not only really easy to make but it was really tasty too my family really enjoyed it.


The chili sauce used is Sriracha and I found it in the ethnic foods aisle in ASDA but saw they had it yesterday in Marks & Spencer and its fabulous because its so tasty with chili and garlic you don't need to add any other spices or seasonings apart from the soy sauce which means you don't need to add any salt. The original recipe asks for short grain brown rice to be used but couldn't find any so used long grain brown rice and it was fine.



The measurements are in cups and I picked up measuring cups really cheaply in the supermarket but you can use a mug as a measure if you prefer.



Nigellas spicy Korean beef bowl


500g minced beef (less than 5% fat)
1 can chopped tomatoes
1  1/4 cups brown rice
1/4 cup (4 tbsps) sriracha sauce
1/4 cup (4 tbsps) soy sauce
1 bag beansprouts


Place the beef, rice, sriracha sauce, soy sauce and tomatoes in a slow cooker and rinse out the can with cold water and add that too. Mix everything together really well and then cook on low for 4 hours.

Put the beansprouts in a large bowl and pour a kettle of boiling water over them and leave for 1 minute then drain and add to the slow cooker and mix everything together very well, Put the lid back on and leave for 5 minutes then serve.


Serve 4 at 1/2 syn per portion


NOTE:  I made it in the slow cooker but Nigella says you can make it in a oven in a heavy based cast iron dish with a lid on and cook on Gas 4/180/350 for 2 - 2/12 hours and add the beansprouts the same way at the end.

Slimming World Christmas biscuits

The perfect festive treat to bake with the kids, these biscuits will look great on the tree - if you can resist eating them!

Ingredients

• 7oz/198g plain flour
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 ½ oz/100g low-fat spread suitable for baking such as Flora Light
• 1 ½ oz/42g Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
• 1 medium egg, beaten
• 2 tbsp icing sugar, sifted
• 1 tsp of pink sprinkles

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4. In a bowl, mix together the flour, spices, low-fat spread and Splenda until well combined and then stir in the beaten egg.
2. Bring the dough together, wrap in cling film, and refrigerate for half an hour. Remove, divide the dough into two (working in batches is easier), and roll each piece out to 5mm thick. 
3. Cut out using a 2in/5cm star cutter and place onto a non-stickbaking tray lined with parchment. Create a hole in each biscuit big enough to thread a ribbon through later. Bake for 12 minutes and leave to cool on the tray. 
4. To decorate, mix the icing sugar with just enough water to make athin icing and drizzle on each biscuit. Decorate with the sprinkles and leave to set. 
5. Thread coloured ribbon through each biscuit and hang on the tree on Christmas Eve. (They’ll start to soften after a couple of days so don’t forget to tuck in!)     

Syn count: 1 syn per biscuit on Extra Easy, Original (red) and Green plans.

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Slimming World spicy vegetable chilli

Perfect to warm you up during the winter, this vegetarian chilli from Slimming World will be good for your mood and your waistline

Ingredients

• Low calorie oil spray
• 200g (7oz) Quorn mince
• 1 red onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
• 2 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped or sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp cumin seeds, crushed
• 1 carrot, peeled and cut into 1cm (1-2in) dice
• 2 sticks celery, cut into 1cm (1-2in) dice
• 1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 2 x 400g cans red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Large handful of coriander leaves, chopped

For the guacamole

• 1 ripe avocado, stoned, peeled and cut into 1cm (1-2in) diced
• 1 red onion, peeled and finely diced
• 2 plum tomatoes, finely diced
• 1 red chilli, finely chopped
• Juice of 2 limes
• Small handful of coriander leaves, finely chopped

To serve

• Very low-fat natural fromage frais

Method

1. Spray a large, non-stick frying pan with oil and place over a medium heat. Add the Quorn, onion, chilies, garlic, ginger, ground coriander, carrot and celery and stir-fry for 4-5 minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes and beans, season well and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and cook gently for 25-30 minutes, stirring often.
3. Meanwhile make the guacamole. Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl, season well and set aside until needed.
4. Remove the Quorn mixture from the heat, stir in the chopped coriander and serve immediately, garnished with a little fromage frais and accompanied by the guacamole.

Syns per serving (When following the Slimming World diet you are allowed 15 syns per day)
Original: 3½
Green: 13½

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Slimming World summer puddings

These Slimming World individual puddings are full of lovely summer fruits. They need preparing the day before you eat them but are well worth the effort.

Ingredients

• 10 medium slices slightly stale, good-quality white bread, crusts removed
• 225g (8oz) blueberries
• 225g (8oz) blackberries
• 225g (8oz) raspberries
• 100ml (3½ floz) water
• 10-12 tbsp artificial sweetener

To serve:

• Very low-fat natural fromage frais (optional)

Method

1. Line 4 individual pudding basins with cling film, then use the bread slices to line the basins, trimming them to fit and reserving some slices for the 'lids'.
2. Place the fruit and water in a saucepan. Sprinkle over the sweetener and bring to a simmer over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 mins. Set aside to cool completely.
3. Using a slotted spoon, fill the prepared bowls with the cooked fruit. Cover each with a lid of the reserved bread and trim neatly around the edges. Cover with cling film, then place the bowls on a tray and put a small plate on top of each pudding. Sit a can of baked beans on each plate as a weight and refrigerate for 24 hrs, or up to 3 days if time permits.
4. To serve, remove the weights and small plates. Place a shallow dish or serving plate over each basin and carefully invert the pudding. Carefully peel off the cling film and serve with fromage frais, if desired.

Syns per serving (when following the Slimming World diet you are allowed 15 syns per day) 
Original: 7½
Green: 7½

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Slimming World's mince pies

Make your Christmas spread a little bit healthier by trying these diet mince pies from Slimming World. Made using ready-made mincemeat, they'll be ready in no time!
 

Ingredients

• low calorie cooking spray
• 227g/ 8oz plain flour
• a pinch of salt
• 113g/ 4oz butter or margarine,
• cut into small cubes
• 16 level tbsp mincemeat
• 1 level tsp icing sugar, to dust

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas Mark 5. Lightly spray some bun tins with low calorie cooking spray.
2. Make the pastry. Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Add the fat and gently rub it in with your fingertips. Add sufficient cold water to mix to a ball that leaves the sides of the bowl clean. Rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
3. Roll out the pastry thinly on a lightly floured surface. Cut out 32 rounds with a 7.5cm/3 inch fluted cutter. Use to line the prepared bun tins.
4. Divide the mincemeat between the pastry cases. Roll out the remaining pastry trimmings and make some little stars with a star cutter. Use to decorate the tops of the tarts.
5. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, until the pastry is crisp and lightly coloured. Cool on a wire rack and dust lightly with the icing sugar.

Slimming World syns:
Extra Easy: 3.5
Green: 3.5
Original: 3.5

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