RECIPE - Chicken Breast in a Creamy Cajun Sauce

This is my favourite sauce discovery of recent times, and the best thing is it's only 1 syn on Red or EE but tastes really rich and delicious (or could be made using part of your HEXA allowance). I used it on chicken, but I also think the sauce would be lovely with some pasta or other meats.

Ingredients
(Serves 2)
2 Chicken breasts
4 tbsp fat free fromage frais
2 laughing cow light triangles
Cajun spices (amount depending on your taste)
Red onion, finely diced
200ml chicken stock
1 garlic clove, crushed

Method

1. Chop the chicken breasts into bite sized chunks and brown in fry light.
2. Add the onion and garlic to the pan, along with the chicken stock and cajun spices
3. Cook over a medium heat until the chicken is cooked through and the stock has reduced by half.
4. Add the laughing cow lights and keep stirring until they have dissolved
5. Remove from the heat and stir through the fromage frais.
6. Serve with Slimming World chips and extra veggies

Taking a Break

Sorry for the lack of blog updates recently. I've ended up having a couple of weeks break from Slimming World. After being really shaken up by an incident 2 weeks ago I turned to comfort eating, and no matter what I did I couldn't seem to get myself back on track. The day would start well, but by lunchtime would have descended into giving into the food cravings.

Then, just as I was starting to feel better again my hen weekend was upon me. I had an amazing weekend away with my brilliant friends, but I'm pretty sure that the cocktails, crisps, chocolates and general bad food choices have added a few pounds back on. But I don't regret it - I had been really looking forward to this weekend away, and I really didn't want to deny myself anything.

Slimming World is something that I do believe fits into your life most of the time, which is why I love it as a diet. I can easily see that continuing eating 'on plan' would be something that works throughout my life. However, there are always going to be times when I really don't want an apple - I want a big bag of crisps and a cosmo, and my hen was definitely one of those occasions. I love my food, and wouldn't want that to change.

I'm back home today, and back at work tomorrow, so I'm going to get back on plan tomorrow too. I'm avoiding the scales as I know it will only be bad news, and going to have a few success express days to give me a kick start again. Funnily enough, I'm actually craving something healthy now, so pass me that apple this time...

Week 24 weigh in

It was a good one this week - the stomach bug may have made me feel awful last week, but it did give me a bit of compensation, in the form of a 3.5lb loss this morning, taking my total weight loss to 23lbs. I was thrilled. It feels like I've really kick started myself. I'm being good, 100% on plan, and eating lots of vegetables. All I need to do now is keep this going.

It's nice to be in the 20s when it comes to weight lost as well - its now starting to feel like I've lost a good amount, and that I'm really achieving something. Hopefully I'll get another few good losses in between now and the wedding to take me into the 30s! (Though preferably without anymore stomach bugs.)

Refusing Temptation

Yesterday I was out for a family meal. Unbeknown to me, the restaurant we went to only did high teas, which meant that as well as choosing our main course, when we got shown to our table it was filled with a plate full of delicious looking cakes and another plate full of scones with butter and jam. They also brought out toast for us. Obviously it was a dieters nightmare! To make things worse, I was sitting directly in front of the cakes!

However, I was really proud of myself. I ordered a healthy main course - venison with new potatoes and vegetables (resisting the lure of the steak pie and chips!) and I announced early on I wasn't going to have any of the cakes at all. I had a half slice of unbuttered wholemeal toast with my main course, and afterwards picked out the smallest scone to have with only jam. I ended up having a tiny bite of my nephew's cake, just so that I could try something (it was delicious), but overall I was so pleased that I resisted such huge temptation. I just kept saying to myself that I'd rather look good in my wedding dress than eat the cake!

Stepping It Up

My wedding is now only 9 weeks away, and following the wedding is the honeymoon in paradise with the dreaded bikini moment. To say the pressure to be 100% on plan is high is an understatement. I want to feel slim and amazing on my wedding day. I want to be able to look back at my wedding pictures and feel really positive about myself. I don’t want to look back, as I do to when I was bridesmaid at my sister’s wedding, thinking that I could have done more to lose weight and tone up. Moving on to the honeymoon, I want to feel confident in my bikinis, not spending the entire time sucking my stomach in and comparing myself to other, slimmer women (though thankfully as we’re going to a tiny island in the Maldives there at least won’t be crowded beaches full of slim women!).

My goal for the next nine weeks is to lose a stone, which averages about 1.5lbs per week. This won’t take me to target, but I would be close to target, and I think that is a reasonable goal to aim for. I wouldn’t complain if a few more pounds decided to disappear too though! In terms of following the plan, I need to be 100% on it, and I want to make as much use of the Success Express and Red Day plans as I can, as I find these are the best at speeding up my weight loss, though I do intend to allow a few Extra Easy or Green days to mix things up, and to allow for meals out.

I also really need to start increasing my exercise again. I’d been doing really well with my walks before I started my new job, but I’ve been finding it harder to fit walks in around work, wedding plan and flat selling. I’ve only been managing about 1 a week, and that really needs to increase. So, I’m considering a few options – firstly I’m contemplating walking to work in the morning (when it’s dry!). It would get the exercise out of the way first thing, the only problem being me forcing myself out of bed a bit earlier, as it would mean leaving 45 minutes earlier, and I am very much not a morning person!

I’m also considering taking up running again. A few years ago I joined a beginners running group and built up to 25 minutes of solid running, however after the course finished I let the running slide and it’s now been over a year since I last did any sort of running (unless you count my odd runs for the bus!). I do feel its an exercise that does tone me up, and once I manage to force myself to break through the pain barrier at the start, I do enjoy it. I also think I’m fitter now than the last time I ran, so hopefully I’ll be able to build up quickly again. I’ve downloaded the Couch to 5K programme to give me a plan to get started again, and I’m thinking about going out for my first attempt. Wish me luck!

Weeks 22 & 23 Weigh Ins

Work has meant I’ve not had an opportunity to update this blog as often as I’d like – including the results of my last 2 weigh ins.

Unfortunately they weren’t good. Week 22 saw a loss of half a pound, and week 23 saw a gain of 2lbs. Neither was particularly unexpected. I’d been very good during week 22, having Success Express days for the beginning of the week, and then the weekend arrived, and I ate a bit of rubbish, and drank a bit more! So all in all, I had to be satisfied that I’d had any sort of loss.

Last week went even worse. It all went wrong from last Wednesday, when I went out for a curry before my monthly book group. Every day after that involved far too much naughty foods – I dread to think what the syns added up to for the week! (Well aside from a 2lb gain!)

Looking forward to my next weigh in I’m a lot more hopeful of getting rid of that 2lb gain and a little bit more. I’ve had a stomach bug since Tuesday this week, which has meant that I’ve been eating very little for the last few days, and what I have eaten has been mostly soup or mashed potato. Whilst I’m starting to get back to normal and introduce more foods, I’m not in any danger of a binge! I’ve felt terrible all week, so I’m really hoping that the silver lining of this bug will be a good weigh loss on Tuesday morning.

Week 21 Non Weigh In

Confession time today - I didn't weigh in this morning. I knew it would be bad, and I didn't want to make myself feel miserable by seeing a gain. Last week was mostly spent eating. On Tuesday I had a work's team building event in the afternoon, which involved a sausage supper from the chip van. Thursday night, I was so exhausted that I broke my no takeaway rule and ordered an Indian.

The weekend then went from bad to worse. On Friday, I was out for a friend's birthday and we were at an Italian. Whilst I made good choices for the starter and main course, I couldn't resist the pudding menu and had two scoops of delicious ice cream, and then a bag of chips on the way home! Saturday began with a fry up (although it was at least done on the George Foreman without oil!), and the event I was at again ended up with an order being put in to the chippie, and another sausage supper for Laura! Later on in the evening, I also had some buffet food - sausage rolls, cheese straws, crisps etc. All in all it was bad! And because I was in the way of eating badly, Sunday and yesterday weren't brilliant either (although were at least a bit better!).

With all that there is no way I've avoided a gain this week. However, I'm feeling really motivated to get right back on track today, and I'm going to try a few Success Express days to try and quickly get whatever I gained off. I deliberately avoided the scales as I know that putting a figure to the gain is only going to demotivate me. I'll be back on them next week, hopefully with a loss.

Confidence & Compliments

Last Tuesday I was at a team building event with my new work. I was chatting to some of my new team members, and one of them described me as small. Being 5ft 1" I initially took this to mean that I was short, however he then clarified his remark by saying that yes, whilst I was short, he also meant that I was slim. I was thrilled! Because I've just started this job, my colleagues haven't seen me bigger, so to actually be called slim felt amazing.

I've also started feeling far more confident since losing this weight. I can actually look at myself in the mirror, and feel relatively happy with how I look and my size. Yesterday I was at an event which had karaoke at night, something I always want to do, but always end up chickening out because I'm worried about people looking at me as I'm singing and judging - not for my voice (I know that's rubbish!), but what I look like. Last night I did a few songs up there, and had a great time. I'm finally starting to feel happy with myself again, and losing weight has given me the confidence and freedom that I need to stop hiding in the background.

I've still got further to go on my weight loss journey - I'd like to lose at least another stone, but I know I'm getting there and the hard work so far is paying off.

Week 20 Weigh In

I'm a bit late blogging this week, as it's almost Tuesday morning and this is the first chance I've had to sit down in front of the computer! I wasn't sure how last week's weigh in was going to go - I'd been very good all week, until the weekend arrived. It was my nephew's birthday party last Saturday and we all went to the bowling alley. Part of our deal involved some food - from a very limited, and very unhealthy menu. I had a cheeseburger and chips! Afterwards, we stayed at my sister's house and had curry, so all in all Saturday was a bad day!

Being off plan one day lead to being off plan for two days - on Sunday I enjoyed a bacon roll, another roll for lunch with thick chunks of cheese and proper butter, plus a bag of crisps to go with it! Then in the evening, I gave into my sausage and mash craving, and had proper sausages and buttery mash. It was all delicious but I was worried about Tuesday so did manage to get back on track on Monday, even turning down a meal out in favour of a superspeed food bonanza at home!

It worked - I managed to lose half a pound, which meant that I'd finally got to the stone and a half mark!

RECIPE - Balsamic Roasted Vegetable Pasta

I came up with this recipe on Friday evening as I was on a green day, and also had quite a lot of veggies in the fridge that needed using up. Normally when I make pasta, it tends to me my favourite Penne Arrabiatta but I wanted to try something different. This was a major success - the sauce was incredibly tasty, and will definitely be repeated. It's syn free on Extra Easy or Green, and not spicy, so would be suitable for the whole family. I've listed the ingredients I used below, but I'm sure it would work well with other veg, depending on what you have in the fridge.

Ingredients
2 red onions, peeled and quartered
2 peppers (colours of your choice), roughly chopped
6 shallots, peeled and left whole
4 cloves garlic, left whole and in their skins
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp sweetener
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 chicken stock cube
150g pasta of your choice
Salt & Pepper
Frylight

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200 and spray a baking tray with frylight. Add the onion, pepper, shallots and garlic cloves, spray again with frylight and drizzle over the balsamic vinegar.
2. Roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes.
3. Carefully remove the garlic cloves from the roasted veg. Squeeze out the garlic, which will now be sweet and sticky. Finely chop this.
4. Add the tomatoes, garlic, stock and roasted veg to a saucepan. Season with salt & pepper, and add the paprika and sweetener. Cook for 15 minutes, over a low heat, stirring occasionally.
5. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the instructions. Drain, and reserve a small cup of the cooking water.
6. Add a splash of the pasta cooking water to the sauce, along with the drained pasta. Stir through, and continue to cook over a low heat for a further minute.
7. Serve and enjoy!

Week 19 Weigh In

Last week involved quite a few meals out. My team at my new work organised a team lunch to welcome me to the office, my fiance also took me out for dinner one night to congratulate me on getting the new job, and after my new office flooded last Thursday, I ended up having a surprise day off on Friday which turned into a three course lunch with my mum. Friday's lunch also involved a slip up on my no-alcohol challenge, as we ordered a bottle of wine with lunch. However, I did stop at my 2 glasses, and didn't have any more for the rest of the day - something which I probably wouldn't have done had I not been doing the challenge. On Monday I had also come down with a migraine, which meant that the last thing I wanted to do was cook - so dinner ended up being a full fat Tesco Lasagne.

On the positive side, I'd still managed to stay away from the dreaded takeaway, and those 2 glasses of wine were the only alcohol to pass my lips. Even with all the meals out, I had made sensible Slimming World choices, and felt I had been within my syns (Monday excepted!). But then on the negative side, exercise had fallen by the wayside. Starting a new job, and having to learn a lot of new things, had left me shattered, and after starting well with walking the 4.2 miles home on Monday and Tuesday, sleep and rest became my priority for the rest of the week.

All in all I wasn't sure how Tuesday morning's weigh in would go, but I had managed to lose 1lb, taking my total to 20.5lbs - just a pesky half pound short of the stone and a half mark! It was disappointing that I didn't get the extra half pound, but I was still pleased with the loss, and hopefully I'll break through that barrier next Tuesday morning.

More Sugar & Spice

Regular readers of my blog will know that I'm a fan of the Spice Kits created by Diane Prince. Since I blogged about the first kit I tried (Andhra Chilli Chicken), I've had the opportunity to try quite a few more of the kits, so wanted to give some of those tried a mention! I've not listed everyone that I've tried, but in general, they have all been brilliant. The instructions on the pack are always clear and easy to follow (although I do confess that sometimes I tweak them a little to suit my tastes and what's in the fridge - plus I rarely ever follow a recipe in its entirety!). The results are always delicious.

Cochifrito - I'd never heard of this before seeing Diane's list of kits, but it was described as a Spanish smoked lamb casserole, so I thought I would try it. This is now one of my absolute favourite dinners. It's a delicious stew, that tastes really rich and smokey. I've served it with both mash and pasta, and found it works brilliantly with either.

Jamaican Casserole - This is a newly available kit, which I tried on Friday evening using beef. Again, this was delicious. I'm a big fan of beef stews, but tend to keep them quite British tasting normally, and use herbs such as rosemary and bay. This stew had completely different flavours, but was equally delicious, and only half a syn per serving!

Beef Madras - I'll start by saying I did this with chicken, as on the day I used it I had some chicken needing used up! However, this is one of the beauties of Diane's kits - whilst the kits may be for one type of meat, you can change this is you wish. Madras is one of my favourite curries, but something I'd never been able to get quite right before, but this kit did what it needed.

Kheema Curry - Despite being a huge curry fan, I only discovered this curry earlier this year when out at an Indian Tapas. It was very different to the curries I was used to but I really enjoyed the curried mince and wanted to try it at home. This kit gave me the opportunity to do so, and again was fantastic. It felt like there was a real depth of flavours with this one.

Chicken Biryani - This one deserves a mention simply because it is delicious both hot and cold! It's an easy one pot dish that contains chicken, veg and rice, all cooked together, which means that all the flavours combine perfectly. When I had this, I had leftovers for the next day, to which I added more salad-style items such as red onions and tomatoes, and it was amazing as a filling lunchtime cold salad.

Southern Fried Chicken - This is a must! With this kit, you get a bag full of the spice mixture but only need 1 tsp per use, so the bag will last a while. It is designed to just be sprinkled on chicken and then roasted, grilled or stir-fried. I will admit to being sceptical about this one at first - as it doesn't seem like you're adding a lot - but the flavour contained within that tiny amount is incredible. The first time I used it, I just sprinkled it over the chicken and cooked it in the oven. This was easy and very nice. The second time I used it I decided to experiment a bit more, and stir-fried it with chicken, pepper strips, chili, garlic and onions. I then added a small amount of passata to make it a southern fried sauce. This was incredible. It got some extra superfree vegetables involved, and my fiance wouldn't stop going on about how amazing the sauce was.


Given the number of kits I have now tried, I can honestly say that they have become a staple in my cupboard. They are great value and easy to use. It is also obvious the Diane has put a lot of time and effort into getting the blend of herbs and spices perfected for each kit, so that it really does feel like you're having a delicious takeaway without all the unnecessary calories and fat. If you haven't tried any of Diane's kits yet, I would urge you to give them a go! The full list of kits available can be found on the Sugar & Spice facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Sugar-and-Spice/186323524735312?sk=info

Week 18 Weigh In

Tuesday morning was my first weigh in after leaving class, and I was thrilled that I lost 2.5lbs. This takes my total to 19.5lbs, and I'm just 1.5lbs away from the stone and a half mark. Whilst I'm not getting stickers anymore, I still intend to celebrate each half stone as an achievement, so hopefully I will get there next week.

I had been good last week - I think doing 3 different challenges meant that there was very little I could spend my syns on, so I found it easy to stick to the diet all week. It obviously pays off, so I need to try and focus on that so that I get another few good losses this month.

Walking

A couple of months ago (I think) I was at an appointment around rush hour at another part of town that required two buses to get home. I hate public transport when it's busy - it's always full, there's always people playing music far too loud, and if you're really unlucky you get a smelly person sitting next to you or a weirdo who plucks his chin with 2 20pence pieces (I'm not lying - that did happen to me once on a bus!). It also takes forever, what with everyone getting on and off and all the other traffic, roadworks, etc. On this day I really wasn't looking forward to the bus journey, and then when I got home I knew I would have to force myself to do some exercise. All in all I knew this would take me about an hour and a half. That's when it struck me that it would probably take me about the same amount of time to walk home, and that way I wouldn't need to face the bus and would be getting even more exercise than planned. I think that was a 4.5 mile walk, and the first proper walking I'd done in a while. It was hard, but I did it.

Since that day I've been walking a lot. Most days when it's been dry outside I've been fitting in at least a 3 mile walk. If I don't have anywhere to go, I have a few routes that lead from my flat around my local area and back again, and if I do have somewhere to go, I work out whether I can walk. I live about 4.5 miles from the town centre, and this has become a regular walk whenever I need to go into town. Today has been my best achievement to date. I had an appointment 4.6 miles away this morning, so not only did I walk all the way there, but I also walked all the way home afterwards, half an hour later, giving me a total of 9.2 miles for today. The last mile or so was tough, but I'm thrilled that I achieved it.

I definitely feel all this walking is really starting to do me a huge amount of good. The most obvious thing has been my fitness levels - the more I've walked, the faster I've been able to walk and the easier I'm finding the hills. My fiance has noticed a big difference, as he now feels I'm fitter than him (and he's a three times a week gym addict!). I've also started to get a few comments that my legs have started to slim down and tone up and I've definitely noticed my skinny jeans getting looser around the thighs!

In addition to the obvious physical benefits, I'm also really enjoying the walking. I tend to walk with my iPod playing a range of tunes with upbeat and happy lyrics, that make me smile as I pound the pavements. I'm discovering lots of new little things around my local areas, such as shops or parks that I didn't know existed. I'm also getting to spend plenty of time in the fresh air, and over the last couple of days, the sunshine which always makes me feel happier. Walking is also giving me a chance to destress and clear my head by allowing me to escape from the rest of the world for the hour or so that I'm doing it.

I've recently just bought myself a pair of Reebox Easytones for walking, which are meant to increase the muscle usage of the leg and bum muscles, so I'm hoping these will help tone my legs up faster as I use them. I've only been out once in them so far, as they're not always suitable footwear if I need to look a bit smarter, but I definitely felt my legs were worked harder and were sorer the next day, so I have confidence they will make a difference.

I start my new job on Monday, which is 4.2 miles from my flat. My aim is to start walking home from work on dry days, so that I'm still maintaining this new exercise which I'm loving.

Week 17 Weigh In

Well my last Monday evening weigh in wasn't a good one as it was a gain of 1lb! However, it was completely expected. It was star week, and I'd had 2 very bad days during the week full of too much food & drink! In actual fact, I was relieved just to gain 1lb! I also know that it will be off again next week, hopefully along with another couple of its friends! During the next week because of the various challenges I'm doing chocolate, alcohol and takeaways are all banned, so I think it will be difficult to go over my syns!

I think I'm going to try going it alone just now, after speaking to a few people who've shared their experiences of not going to class with me. As I said in my Class or No Class post, I have a wonderful support network online in the form of all my lovely twitter friends, and I have a massive amount of support in the real world from my fiance. I weighed in again this morning on my own scales, so that I know where I'm starting from in terms of a morning weight and a weight on my scales, and from now on will be weighing in on Tuesday mornings before work, and basing the rest of my losses from this new weight.

RECIPE - Mango & Grapefruit Salad

I tried this salad in a restaurant, and it was absolutely delicious, so I've recreated it at home. It's syn free on all plans, and contains lots of superfree food.

Ingredients
1 mango, peeled and sliced
1 grapefruit, cut into chunks
2 carrots, cut into matchsticks
1 red chili, deseeded and finely chopped
Large handful green beans
1/2 red onion, cut into strips
4 spring onions, finely chopped
Salt & Pepper
Balsamic Vinegar

Method

1. Wash, trim and boil the green beans for 3 - 4 minutes, then run under cold water immediately to cool.
2. Mix all the fruit and salad items together in a large serving bowl. Season to taste and drizzle with some balsamic vinegar.

Challenges - Chocolate, Alcohol & Takeaways

As I mentioned at the end of June, I signed up to give up chocolate for the month of July. 24 days in and still not a drop of chocolate has passed my lips, and in actual fact it's made me realise that I don't need chocolate as much as I thought I did. I've enjoyed the challenge, and hope that it's encouraged me to generally cut back on my chocolate consumption (thought I do confess to be really looking forward to a dairy milk on the 1st August!).

I've now signed up for two additional challenges along with a few others on Twitter, and these two are going to be my big test! The first is to give up alcohol for 5 weeks, starting tomorrow. I enjoy a glass of wine (or three) most weekends, whether I'm out for dinner, out to the pub or just sitting at home of a Saturday evening. Wine is one of the main reasons I go over my syns, both because of the wine itself and the fact that I get hungry and crave bad food. Five weeks without any will definitely be difficult for me, but hopefully will make a massive difference to my weight loss, and knowing that I'll have five hangover-free weeks is quite nice too! I am having one day off during this time, however, and that is next Saturday. It's the day I try on my wedding dress for the first time, and would really like to celebrate afterwards with something nice! Other than that, no alcohol allowed!

The second challenge is to give up takeaways, and this one is a bit longer! Myself, and another dieting bride, have challenged ourselves not to have any takeaways until our hen weekends - eight weeks for her, ten weeks for me. We're still allowed to eat out, but any food which is consumed at home must also be cooked at home. I'm a big takeaway fan, and have got into the habit of having a regular curry. It's me being lazy, because I can cook delicious syn free curries myself, and I always have some of the Sugar and Spice curry kits in the house, so they're easy for me to prepare and a lot cheaper! This challenge will force me out of this lazy habit, I hope! I do syn the curries from the takeaway, but I still think that not having them will do my weight loss more good. So, hopefully August will be a good month weight loss wise with no alcohol or takeaways being allowed!

If anyone else wants to join us on either (or both) of these challenges please do - we can all support each other!

Class or No Class

A week tomorrow I will be starting a new job. The new job means that I'm going to be unable to make my regular Slimming World class, because it starts too early. It's disappointing, because I do really like the class. We have a great consultant, the other members are very supportive and I've learnt a lot from staying to image therapy most weeks. My consultant does a few other classes, but none I can get to.

Initially after working this out, I had a look at the other nearby classes, and made the decision to go to one on a Wednesday evening. The location isn't ideal, but it's the next nearest at a time I can make. However, I'm now starting to rethink this, and contemplating just continuing myself. I don't enjoy weigh in days - I feel they drag. I'm scared about eating too close to weigh in, or drinking too much, and by the time I get home after class I'm ravenous! I could deal with this when I was getting home around 7pm, and had something quick and easy to prepare for dinner. However, the new class would be at 7.30pm, and would mean that if I stayed for Image Therapy it would be after 9pm before I got home and could eat (and there's no way I'm risking having dinner before weigh in!).

I've got a massive bit of motivation for me to stick with the diet (my wedding), and there is some really wonderful support from other slimmers on Twitter, so I think I could probably stick to it myself. By doing it on my own, it means I could weigh in first thing in the morning, so wouldn't need to spend all day worrying about it too. It does disappoint me that I have to leave my class, but there's just no way I could get there on time now.

RECIPE - Bacon & Tomato Scrambled Eggs

I made this yesterday morning for breakfast to use up some food in the fridge, and it was really good!

Ingredients
(1/2 syn)
2 rashers bacon, all fat removed
2 tomatoes, chiopped
1/2 red onion, cut into strips
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp sweetener
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 eggs
1/2 red chilli, finely chopped
Fry Light

Method

1. Spray a pan with fry light. Chop the bacon into chunks and gently fry.
2. Add the tomatoes, red onion and chilli and fry for a few minutes until the tomotoes break down (add a splash of water if the pan starts to dry out)
3. Add the balsamic vinegar, sweetener tomato puree and a further splash of water
4. Stir fry for another 2 minutes to allow all the ingredients to come together
5. Crack the eggs into the pan, and mix them quickly through the sauce. Cook until the eggs are scrambled.
6. Serve either on its own, or with a HEXB portion of toast

RECIPE - Roasted Root Veg Soup

I made this yesterday, and I'd forgotten how delicious it is. It makes a really thick, filling soup, and is syn free on all plans.

Ingredients
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
2 carrots, cut into large chunks
half swede, cut into large chunks
2 leeks, thickly sliced
2 onions, quartered
1 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
Fry light
Salt & Pepper
1.2l chicken stock

Method

1. Spray a large baking tray (or 2 small trays) with fry light, add the chopped vegetables and herbs, and spray again with frylight.
2. Tuck the bay leaves underneath the veg, and sprinkle over the thyme, salt & pepper.
3. Roast the vegetables in the oven until tender, for around 30 minutes.
4. Add the vegetables to a large soup pan, along with the chicken stock. Simmer for around 10-15 minutes.
5. Remove the bay leaves carefully, blend until smooth then serve.