RECIPE - Steak Pie

The only syns in this on (extra easy) are for the puff pastry and for the red wine. I only have about 25g of pastry (raw weight), which is 6 syns, so its a tiny amount but enough so that you are having steak pie. The red wine means the meat is 2 syns per portion. The meat mixture is also delicious on its own, as a stew, for just 2 syns per portion.

Ingredients
(Serves 4)
600g lean stewing steak
2 onions
4 carrots
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 oxo cubes (or other beef stock)
Fresh (sprig) or dried (tsp) rosemary
2 Bay leaves
250ml red wine
Salt and Pepper
Handful red lentils

Method

1. Roughly chop the steak, onions, carrots, garlic and rosemary if using fresh.
2. Put all the ingredients in a slow cooker, along with just enough water to cover
3. Cook on low for around 6 hours.
4. At this point, use a slotted spoon to remove the meat and bay leaves temporarily to a bowl. Put the remaining liquidy mix into a blender, this gives a lovely thick 'gravy'.
5. Put the gravy and meat back into the slow cooker, and continue cooking on low for a further 2 hours.
6. 20 minutes before serving, roll out the puff pastry and brush the top with egg. Cook in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes.
7. Serve with plenty of vegetables!

My Come Dine With Me Night

As I've mentioned over the last few weeks, my friend's and I have been doing our own series of 'Come Dine With Me' dinners. Last Friday saw my turn, and therefore the opportunity for me to both show off some Slimming World food and keep things on track!

My menu was as follows:

Starter
Thai Chicken Cakes and Chilli Chickpea Cakes on a bed of rocket and parmesan with sweet chilli sauce
(Both of the cake recipes are in the 'Extra Easy Meals in Minutes' book)

Main Course
Steak Pie served with a potato and celeriac gratin, minted peas and extra gravy.
(recipes to follow)

Desert
Apple Crumble and Ice Cream

Obviously from the look of the menu it doesn't look the healthiest, but because I was cooking I was able to easily adjust my portions - for example I only had a very small bit of pastry, and didn't add butter to my peas; and I only had a tiny bite of the crumble, and kept it mostly apple, with less crumble and icecream! Instead of using cream in the gratin, I used milk; and the steak pie didn't have any oil or flour in it.

I think the recipes all went down well, particularly the starters - 3 out of my 4 guests had extras, and one of the guests has emailed me this morning for the recipes! 2 out of the 4 guests also had extra steak pie so I think that went down well too, and there were clean plates generally all round! A good night was had by all, and we managed to sneak in some exercise doing Just Dance on the wii!

A New Consultant

As I mentioned a couple of weeks after I'd started Slimming World, I wasn't really enjoying the classes. I felt uncomfortable, and felt the group were a bit unfriendly. The meetings were interesting and useful in part, but I still felt I wanted, and expected, more from staying to class. There was very obviously a huge amount of respect for our consultant amongst the class, however when she announced she was leaving after my 4th class, I wasn't particularly concerned or disappointed.

Our new consultant started 2 weeks ago, and already I've felt a massive difference in the classes. The classes are far more interactive, with people sharing recipes and tips, and helping each other out with ways to overcome difficulties stopping us losing weight. Our new consultant has also lost 11 stone herself, so is the perfect example of how much Slimming World can work. Unfortunately it seems that not everyone feels the same - as one member commented to me last week how she was leaving now because the new consultant wasn't the same as "our dear Susan". However, as for me, I'm loving the new classes and the new consultant is one of the things that is keeping me going back!

Week 6 Weigh In and Personal Milestone

Last Thursday I had laser eye surgery, which means a two week exercise ban whilst my eyes heal. In the run up to the surgery I'd also been really busy (not to mention stressed), so I hadn't had time to exercise for the few days before either. This meant that Monday was my first weigh in where I'd done no exercise whatsoever.

In addition to the lack of exercise, I'd also had the next of our Come Dine With Me meals on the Sunday evening - which amongst other things consisted of delicious but cheesy brushetta and tiramisu, which I absolutely adore, and after a few mouthfuls (OK half of it) I had to literally force myself to put the spoon down and hide it out of reach so that I didn't scoff the lot. Plus lots of wine. Not exactly the best thing to eat the evening before a weigh in!

Given these two things, I wasn't feeling hugely positive as I stepped onto the scales and watched the numbers flickering, however when things finally settled I was 1.5lbs down and happy! This takes my total loss to 11lbs, and getting that 1.5lbs marks an important milestone for me. Last August, I started suffering badly from panic attacks and depression, and whilst I wasn't happy with my weight before then, and wanted to lose a bit of weight, I didn't feel too bad about myself. However with the panic attacks and depression came the comfort eating, and for a while I gave up on worrying about the rising numbers on the scale because everytime I tried to do something about it, I ended up straight back in the biscuit tin, or the crisp cupboard, or the ice cream tub (you get the picture!) and in a worse place than before.

When I started the Slimming World classes, I also felt that my illness was coming better under control, and having lost the 1.5lbs this week takes me below the weight I was when my depression started. Whilst I still have a long way to go to reach my target, I still feel that this is a significant milestone for me as in some ways it proves to me that I am getting better, and that I have taken control of my feelings once more. I am running my life again, and not allowing an illness to drive me into overeating.

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