Old favourite - butternut squash, leek and bacon risotto

Haven't made this in ages - don't know why, it's so delicious.  It's butternut squash, leek and bacon risotto which I had with green beans.

It's so quick and easy to make - first of all you stir fry one chopped leek and 200g chopped bacon in a large frying pan (I used garlic fry light), for 2-3 minutes

 Next, add the diced butternut squash (400g), 3 or 4 crushed garlic cloves and 250g  risotto rice, and stir fry for a further 2-3 minutes

Add a ladleful of the 850ml boiling hot chicken stock, and stir and cook until fully absorbed. Continue to add the rest of the stock in the same way until all the stock has been added, and the rice is creamy and al dente and the squash is tender. This should take around 20-25 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in 4 tbsp of chopped chives (which I forgot to do here!) and serve with veg of choice - I had green beans.

It's syn free, and this serves 4 people - absolutely delicious.

Chickpea Dahl loaf

Well, it's been a while since I blogged!  I'd got in a bit of a rut, playing safe and cooking the same old recipes. However, I recently joined a new SW group, and my new leader is full of tips, ideas and new recipes, and I feel quite enthusiastic again :)

I'm only half a lb away from my target weight and have lost almost 2 stone and gone down two dress sizes. Very happy to be back to the size I was 30 years ago!

The recipe I tried out today is called Chickpea Dahl loaf and it is syn free.  It's basically made by mixing 3 beaten eggs with a can of Chickpea Dahl and a packet of savoury rice made up as directed.  It's cooked on 180 for around half an hour, and can be eaten in a variety of ways and as a substitute for the usual potatoes, pasta, couscous or plain rice - all of which get a bit boring after a while.

Here is is, straight out of the oven...

...and I had 3 slices with Linda McCartney Italian vegetarian sausage (0.5 syns each), plus french beans and carrots. The loaf is very moist and tasty, and the sausage is my all time favourite

It was very filling and I felt no need to snack at all this evening. Next time I might have some sort of sauce with it, but it was very nice without.

Half syn cake

This is amazingly acceptable cake a la Slimming World! 

Half a syn for the whole mixture - you can either bake a cake or split the mixture into muffin cases - I got 10.  I did add a teeny smidge of jam in the middles, but there were only 1.5 syns in all the jam I used. More suggestions at the end of the recipe.

As there is no fat or flour in the mix they won't keep well, so best to freeze them.

Ingredients

4 eggs, separated

4 tablespoons sweetener

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method:

Whisk egg whites until stand in soft peaks, like meringue.

Add sweetener, baking powder and vanilla essence to egg yolks.  Whisk until well blended.  Add 1/3 egg whites and whisk again.

Fold remaining egg whites into egg yolk mixture with a metal spoon.

Line a baking tray with greasproof paper, sprayed with fry light.

Place mixture onto prepared tray.  Bake in oven (Gas 4) for 20 minutes.

Once cool, add filling (see below) and roll up like a swissroll, or cut into 3 strips and layer with filling.


Suggested fillings:

Fat free fromage frais, sweetened to taste with strawberries, grapes or berries. - no extra syns.
Muller light greek style yoghurt and fruit - 0.5 syns per greek style yoghurt used.
Plain quark mixed with sweetener and white chocolate options sachet and fruit - 2 syns extra.
Syns are for the whole cake - so if not adding syns in filling, whole cake is only half a syn!  

Rich beef casserole

Tonight's tea - with plenty left to freeze into at least 5 portions.  Another 5 nights where tea is quick and easy :)

It's basically braising steak (800g), onions, garlic, carrots plus stock (I love the Knorr stock pots, and used two). I chucked in some extra veg - tomatoes, mushrooms and broad beans - plus a couple of teaspoons of mixed herbs. My slimming world consultant is forever talking about 'rainbow plates' and I think it is now ingrained into my brain!

For a change, I had couscous instead of potatoes, and added broccoli which is probably my favourite veg at the moment.

Completely syn free, and delicious!   And I have 5 or so syns left today - and a Cadbury's fudge bar has got my name on it :)

Beef pasta bake

I absolutely love this - always make a big batch so I can freeze off a few portions.  You can add what veg you like - I added mushrooms, chopped onions, red pepper, garlic, and a few broad beans for extra colour. I forgot to add some mixed herbs, but didn't spoil the taste :)

  

The recipe:-

 300g extra lean minced beef

1/2 clove garlic

Onions, peppers,mushrooms (as much as you like!)

400g tinned tomatoes

2 tbsp tomato purée

450g pasta (any shape)

Mixed herbs (to your own taste)


Method

Brown off the mince. Add onions, peppers, mushrooms, tomato purée and tinned tomatoes. Cook on hob for 2-3 mins then put aside.

Cook pasta until al dente and drain then mix together with meat mixture.

Place in oven proof dish and cook for 20-30 mins on has mark 4/180 deg C (although I leave it in for an hour, so the peppers and onions are really softened)

Also you could add your HEA cheese on top for a nice topping

Result!

1.5lbs off today - that's a good loss for me, as I usually lose 0.5 - 1 lb a week.  2lbs away from my target, although I may increase that slightly so I get a 2 stone award (and fit comfortably into the next size)

This is week 25 and I've lost 1stone 10.5lbs, so it averages about 1 lb a week. Feeling very proud of myself (and my family and friends are too).

Lemon curd dip recipe

I've had quite a few requests for the recipe - so here it is.

It's delicious with any fresh fruit, meringues, or as a sponge cake filling. Re-posting the photo of some of mine in filo pastry cases :-

Beat 2 eggs

Add the juice and zest of a lemon and beat well

Add 3 tbsp sweetener. 

Place bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir till it thickens - about 5-8 mins. (Be warned once it starts to thicken it's instant so if you can take immediately from the heat and keep stirring or you will end up with scrambled eggs!! )

Remove from heat, then whisk in 2 tbsp quark.

Syn Free on all 3 plans :-)

NOTE - Don't freeze - when it defrosts it tastes quite bitty as if it has curdled :(