RECIPE - Pilau Rice

I've just posted my Chicken Jalfrezi recipe, and cannot serve it without my syn free pilau rice. It tastes just like the real thing, and is very easy to make. This can also be frozen.

Ingredients
500g basmati rice
1 small onion, diced as small as possible
4 cardamom pods
4 cloves
4 black peppercorns
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp turmeric
pinch saffron
2 bay leaves
700ml vegetable stock

Method

1. Rinse and soak the basmati rice as per the pack instructions
2. Fry the onion, cardamom pods, cloves and peppercorns over a medium heat until the onion has softened
3. Add the rice to the frying pan, along with the cinnamon, turmeric and saffron. Mix thoroughly to ensure the rice is coated with the spices. You should see the rice turning a lovely yellow colour.
4. Add the stock and bay leaves, bring to the boil.
5. Cover your frying pan with a lid, or if you don't have one some tinfoil.
6. Reduce the heat to low, and leave for 15 minutes. Don't lift the lid.
7. Switch the heat off, and allow to rest for another 5 - 10 minutes. This will partially steam the rice, and ensure all the stock and flavours have been absorbed.
8. Fluff with a fork and then serve with the curry of your choice!

RECIPE - Chicken Jalfrezi

Curry is my absolute favourite food. I could live on it given the chance - in fact the place I'm going on honeymoon is in the Indian Ocean and even serves curry for breakfast, which I am excited about! It's definitely not something I could cut out on a diet, so although I still allow myself the occasional takeaway treat, I've spent years trying to perfect a healthy version of my absolute favourite curry - the jalfrezi.

There are a lot of ingredients in this, so the initial outlay isn't cheap, but once you have everything it is cheap to make (and definitely much cheaper than a takeaway).

Ingredients
(Serves 4)
4 cloves
4 cardamom pods
2 large onions, chunkily chopped
2 green peppers, chunkily chopped
2 red chillies, finely chopped
4 chicken breasts
2 tins chopped tomatoes
6 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garam massala
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin
Handful fresh coriander
1 lemon
50g red lentils

Method

1. Spray a pan with frylight, add a splash of water and the cloves and cardamom pods. Fry over a medium heat for 1 minute
2. Add the chopped onion and crushed garlic, and fry for a further 5 minutes, adding water if necessary to keep things from drying out
3. Chop the chicken breast into chunks and add to the frying pan
4. Add the turmeric and chili powder, then stir to coat the chicken and onions. Cook until the chicken has been browned
5. Add one of the tins of chopped tomatoes and stir through.
6. At this point I transfer everything to a large saucepan, but keep going in the frying pan if you have a lid and it is big enough.
7. Add the rest of the chopped tomatoes, garam massala, cumin, ground coriander, peppers and chillies, stir well.
8. Remove the end leaves from the coriander and reserve for later. Finely chop the stalks and add to the curry
9. Simmer over a low heat for at least 30 minutes, but 60 minutes if you have the time, as this really helps the flavours mix.
10. Serve garnished with a slice of lemon, and a sprinkling of the reserved coriander leaves. If you find it quite spicy, a dollop of fat free natural yogurt will cool it slightly.

RECIPE - The Smash Pizza

I'd heard a few of the lovely Slimming World ladies on Twitter talking about this, so this isn't my recipe but I felt it could still be useful to put it on here for anyone who doesn't know it, and also to note my mistakes from my first attempt!

I was very sceptical about this, given that I absolutely hate Smash. I think it tastes horrible, and smells just as bad. However, I also love pizza, and really miss having it on the diet. I decided to give it a go, and I was very surprised at how good it was. As crazy as it sounds, you don't get the same Smash taste, and although its not the same as a pizza, it's close enough to satsify a craving. If you count the cheese as a healthy extra, its also syn free.

I've now made it twice, and the first time was a bit of a disaster. I'd used a normal baking tray, sprayed with fry light and the base stuck - I had to scrape it off in bits with a knife. Some lovely people on Twitter suggested that I try using a pizza tray, and also make the dough with less water - I did both of these things today and had no problems at all. It came off the tray easily, and felt more like a proper pizza base.

Ingredients
(For 1 pizza, which I had all to myself!)
Base
50g smash
sprinkling mixed herbs
small clove garlic, crushed
Topping
Tomato Pasata
Oregano
42g mozarella (HEXA), I chopped this into pizza express style chunks, but could also grate
Free toppings of your choice (e.g. sweetcorn, onions, chicken, ham, peppers, etc)

Method

1. Spray a pizza tray with fry light
2. Mix the smash, herbs and garlic with boiling water. Add the water a few drops at a time, and mix until you have a dough. Be really careful not to make it too watery - this makes it sticky, which was my first problem
3. Use your hands to flatten the smash mixture onto the pizza tray - try and get it as thin as possible without it falling apart
4. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes, until crispy on one side. Turn over then bake on the other side for 5 minutes
5. Add the pasata, mozarella, oregano and toppings
6. Pop back in the oven until the cheese has melted

RECIPE - Cajun Chicken Burgers

These are another syn free burger, which I made specially for the BBQ, but are just as nice fried then oven cooked. You will need a food blender for this recipe though.

Ingredients
4 chicken breasts
1 tsp cajun spices (more if you want it really hot)
4 spring onions, finely chopped
1 egg
1 green chilli, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
handful finely chopped corriander
salt and pepper

Method

1. Add all the ingredients to a food blender, and blitz until the chicken is smooth.
2. Form patties with the chicken mixture
3. Fry for 2 minutes on each side to brown the chicken, then transfer to the oven and cook for a further 15 minutes.

These can also be frozen, but ensure they are fully defrosted before use.

RECIPE - Beefburgers

When I’m on a diet I always crave naughty things, and these burgers really help satisfy the cravings, especially when I serve them topped with a homemade salsa and Slimming World chips. It’s also fun when family members start questioning how you can eat such ‘bad food’ when you’re on a diet, as you sit scoffing the whole lot!

Ingredients

500g extra lean minced beef

1 egg

1 small onion, diced as small as possible

1 clove garlic, crushed

Mixed herbs

Beef stock cube, made up with around 25ml of water (trust me!)

Salt and Pepper

(Fresh chilli, finely chopped if you want to add some spice)

Method

1. Put all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty - get stuck in and really squash and mix everything together.
2. Divide into balls and squash down to form a burger shape - thick or thin depending on your preference. (This mixture normally makes me about 5 - 6 burgers, but again, it depends how big or small you like them)
3. The burgers can be cooked straight away, by frying in fry light until cooked through, or oven cooking. Alternatively they can be freezed individually for when you have a burger craving

The Ultimate Compliment

I just had to share this with you all. I have a 4 year old nephew who says exactly what he thinks. In the past he has told me that I was fat, that I should go on a diet and stop eating chocolate (he had a fair point!) Whilst on holiday last week, he said, completely out of the blue after we had been swimming, that my waist looked smaller and I was going to look good for my wedding! I was thrilled – recognition that I’ve lost weight is always welcome, but to have it come from a 4 year old who says what he means was such a confidence booster! Hopefully I’ll keep continuing to shrink my waist, and he’ll keep noticing!!

Holidays and Week 5 Weigh In

I missed my week 4 weigh in as I was on holiday, which was probably just as well. The day before I’d been to my future brother and sister-in-law’s house for an Easter Sunday meal, which consisted of a ridiculous amount of alcohol, 3 courses, cakes, Easter eggs and a massive cheese board!

The holiday then began the following day. It was a big family holiday, which we tend to do around once a year at a lodge in Dunkeld, Perthshire. It gives everyone a chance to catch up and enjoy ourselves in a beautiful part of the country. This year I had volunteered in advance to take over the cooking of dinner. I love cooking anyway, and none of the rest of my family are as keen as me, so they were happy for me to do it. This meant that for the 3 out of 4 nights which we ate in the lodge dinner was healthy. (Although my dad did question if I actually was on a diet!)

We had planned a BBQ for the first night, so I had made some beef burgers and Cajun chicken burgers in advance, which my mum actually preferred to the regular burgers she’d bought! Those and a baked potato meant I was nice and full without picking at the naughty sausages. The next night was a big cottage pie and lots of veg. This went down brilliantly with everyone, including my 4 year old nephew who doesn’t like potato but ate just about all of it! Finally we did a curry night, and I made chicken jalfrezi and syn free pilau rice.

So dinners were fine, as were breakfasts – most mornings I sat down to a good portion of Mexican scrambled eggs and some bacon, whilst everyone else had a fry up, though I have to confess to sneaking in the odd hash brown on a few occasions. Lunches weren’t too bad, as when we were out we tended to take picnics with us, so I could make up a sandwich using a healthy extra portion of bread, however I did tend to have crisps with my lunch! One day I also had a baguette from my favourite deli, which was very naughty but very enjoyable!

However, the worst problem was alcohol. When my family get together there tends to be a lot of alcohol drunk, and when I drink I eat badly too, so the evenings were full of nibblings on crisps and biscuits!

I did get some exercise in whilst on holiday too – being in the countryside gave me plenty of opportunity for walks, and I took the chance to play with my niece and nephew a lot, which I’m sure burned a few calories.

Overall I was pleased with how I’d done on holiday – I wanted to still enjoy myself and not feel like I was missing out, and I think that’s what I did. My aim for the 2 weeks was to stay the same weight, and when I weighed in on Monday I had actually lost half a pound, so I was thrilled.