Butternut Cottage Pie

The other night, instead of making the traditional cottage pie I decided I wanted to use the squash I had sat looking at me. I had planned to make a risotto - it was on the menu plan and everything! - and then at the last minute decided I didn't fancy that. I am fickle! Some brief Googling later and I came across the idea of using butternut squash as the topping for a cottage pie.

So I made my usual recipe cottage pie - extra lean mince, onion, chopped vegetables (frozen - I am also lazy!), stock, herbs - but instead of topping with mashed potato, I steamed cubed butternut squash for 25 minutes until soft enough to mash and used that instead! Finally put it in the oven for 20 minutes to brown the top - and I was really impressed!

A nice spinach side salad and it was lovely, and the butternut squash topping snuck an extra superfree vegetable in there over and above potatoes! 

And it got another thumbs up from the boy. Success!

Fake-Take-Away: Doner Kebabs!

It sounds like a cruel joke but I assure you it is not! And best of all? It's syn free!!

These were incredible. I would prefer them over kebab-shop kebabs. I don't even know how to be begin to describe how satisfying they were - and how filling! By the time I was starting to feel like I'd had enough dinner, my plate looked barely touched.

Homemade syn free kebab meat, wholemeal pitta (HEb), spinach salad, homemade SW chips and coleslaw, with some of that syn free bbq ketchup from the pork dish to add a bit of spice to the kebabs.

I can't adequately explain how proud I was of this. Fake-take-away night is going to become a regular thing each friday evening, and next week we're having Chinese themed delights. I can't wait!

BBQ Slow Cooked Pork

OM NOM NOM.

A few days ago we made BBQ pulled pork (although I got lazy with the 'pulling' so it was quite chunky!) with potato rosti, spinach salad and homemade coleslaw.

Boyfriend says he's never letting me get away.

That pork is to die for. I also made some of the sauce as a syn free 'ketchup' alternative which I then served with the fake-take-away the following night (photos to follow, because it was incredible!) and will keep making as our condiment to go with practically everything.

Shoulder of pork went into the slow cooker and then was covered in the BBQ sauce and cooked on low for about 8 hours. I suspect the recipe originally came from Vicki Kitchen but I can't find it at the moment, sorry! A carton of passata was boiled with 5 tsp worcestershire sauce, 3 tsp of lemon juice, 3 tsp of lemon juice, 1 tsp of mustard powder... and probably some other stuff too. >.< Then into the slow cooker!

Slimming World coleslaw is the easiest thing - simply chop or grate carrots and white cabbage and mix together with a good tablespoon of fat free yoghurt, salt and pepper.

And the potato rostis that survived this feast made a lovely brunch the next morning! I feel like I haven't stopped eating in the past couple of days - I hope it pays off on weigh in!

The most recent issue of SW magazine has yet more lovely recipes, and also mentions a voucher in Bella for free joining fee. I think I'm going to start going to group again. I think I would like that.

Snapshot of Yesterday

 A little snapshot of my day yesterday, before I post later with a full couple of meals and anything else to report.

Carrot cake muffin with yoghurt 'icing' is delicious! I think calling it a cake is a stretch, but it's made of cous-cous so has a solid bite to it which makes you feel like you're eating something more substantial - like real muffins. I made ours with ginger and cinnamon (because my carrot cakes were always well spiced) and that definitely worked better than the plain ones.

Can you guess what the top right image and bottom left are going to be?


I stumbled across the Vicki Kitchen blog and decided to try out potato rosti - as she rightly says, potatoes may be a great staple but they can get a little boring. I pressed them into a cake tin and baked in the oven for about 30 minutes. Next time I think I will shape them in a cake tin but not cook them in it, so that both top and bottom brown evenly.

The beautiful looking pink mush is doner kebab meat! I mashed various spices (chilli, garlic, onion powder, seasoning salt, mixed herbs) into it and made it into a vague square shape, and will cook it in the oven later today before slicing and serving in wholemeal pitta breads (HEb) with homemade coleslaw, SW chips and spinach salad.

And the even more beautiful looking thing in the bottom right image is my pesky boy, who decided to sit in the recipe folder when I put it across my lap to browse for more ideas. He's not on the menu!

Carbonara and Imam Bayildi

Savoury things are something I can easily neglect - my problem has always been the cakes, doughnuts, pastries, sweets of the world.

These are two of our most successful slimming world dinners of recent times - not perhaps beating the 'KFC' (of which there is a batch for 'nibbles' in my fridge 99% of the time!) but nonetheless, things we loved and were relatively easy.

Firstly, a friend recommended that carbonara made with Quark fat free soft cheese was indistinguishable from the full fat version, so we had to put this to the test. And since then we've had it several times - it's so quick to knock together after a full day at work and, more importantly, delicious! I'm sure there are recipes out there on the internet, but for ours I boiled pasta/spaghetti for however long stated on the packet, and whilst that was cooking fried off some extra trimmed bacon with an onion or two. I also mixed together in a jug a good heaped tablespoon of quark with two eggs, salt and pepper. When the pasta was done, I stirred the bacon into it with the creamy sauce mix, gave it a minute to warm through and served over some fresh spinach leaves. So good. Last time we had a more generic lettuce salad, and the sauce soaked into the leaves like a beautiful dressing. Perfect for that quick supper that doesn't leave you just making beans on toast!



Our second recent success is an Imam Bayildi. I have made this dish for years, ever since I had to present a dinner party at which several guests were vegetarian. I only remember that the cook book I used in the first place was full of garish photos - ever since then I've worked from memory (or experimentation, depending on who you've asked). This recipe is perhaps the most similar, though not Slimming World converted. For this dish, I also added a sausage for each of us, cut into pieces and served on top for 8.5syns each - which is a lot, but they're really delicious pork and leek ones from a local butcher! Worth it!
Aubergine are halved and then the soft inside flesh removed, leaving a shell about 1cm thick. Some prefer to cook the shells first - drop them into boiling water for about 5 minutes, and turn upside down to cool to help them retain their shape. The other way is to bake them with an amount of liquid in the bottom of the dish, which does mean baking them for longer but is generally a nicer result. In my opinion. Anyway. Make the stuffing sauce with fried onion, chopped tomatoes, plenty of herbs, any other vegetables you particularly enjoy (grated courgette can be nice, as can grated carrot), and add the chopped aubergine flesh, cooking down to make a thick rich sauce. Put it back into the shells and put them in a medium warm oven for about half an hour if you've pre-cooked the shells, an hour if you're putting some liquid in the basin with them in the oven. About half way through you will need to cover them to stop the tops burning, but remember to leave a little hole in the foil for the steam to escape.

Profiteroles

A long overdue post! With going up north for a family event, and other Life Stresses getting in the way, there's been a bit of radio silence over here - that needs stopping!

So two posts today, to make up for lost time!

Firstly, profiteroles. Adapted from this recipe for 1 Syn Cupcakes, which came out of the oven looking rather impressive. They rose like 'normal' cakes - I was rather dubious they might not get to that point.

As mentioned before, squirty cream is to me like a very legal drug. Low syn, makes everything feel like a proper treat. So it wasn't a long stretch to slice these babies open and squirt a little filling in, making them 1.5 syns each! Two on a plate with a couple of strawberries, yummy. And so easy!

Holiday

It's the first day of our holiday to my boyfriend's family for a christening - and in true holiday fashion, today has been a diet disaster.

I have had 40 syns today. :/ !

Over the last few days we've made some lovely Slimming World things - potato moussaka, cottage pie, quark carbonara, imam bayildi, profiteroles - and I'll share some photos as soon as we're home. The profiteroles were amazing. Such an incredible success. Very proud! They're definitely worth a post of their own!

But being on holiday isn't an excuse to really let things go as badly as this, so tomorrow is a new day and we will get back on plan and keep up the good work  ready for Monday weigh in!

Danone 'Danio'

The adverts for the Danone Danio yoghurts are adorable. Seriously adorable. And every time I see them I think "I would love to try that." So today I did. 

They are COMPLETELY worth the hype.

The television told me they were "extra thick" - I was not expecting them to be so thick that the spoon stands up on its own! The fruit at the bottom was lush - I had passionfruit, and the gold syrup and crunchy seeds was delicious.

For the syns they are worth, they are the perfect indulgence - they feel more like a cheesecake than a yoghurt. So so thick. Something that I wouldn't choose every day but when I had a cheesecake craving, this is what I'll buy.

The 0% passionfruit is 1.5 syns. 0% strawberry is just 1 syn.

The blueberry and the peach are 3 syns each but I imagine totally totally worth it. That's not even many. You get so much flavour and 'treat' out of it. I'm am a convert. They are even on special offer at the Co-op at the moment!

Week One Weigh In and Fifty Shades of Fruit Salad

This morning was the proper day for the weekly weigh in (not yesterday: it's just that I forget what day of the week it is because I'm a tool.)

I've lost four pounds! Boyfriend lost five pounds!

I was a bit disheartened yesterday to have thought I'd not done so very well. This has definitely perked me back up! And that's even with a cheeky takeaway last night (although we did choose the lower syn options) because I was feeling terrible and too apathetic to cook. We're on holiday over the bank holiday weekend, which might be a challenge, but hopefully we can continue this momentum. I do hope so!

We had a celebratory 'exotic fruit' salad to treat ourselves (plus a syn's worth each of squirty cream.. it was a celebration after all!) Add that to the fruit salad and natural yoghurt I had for breakfast this morning and I'm pretty sure we've had a good portion of our 5-a-day today!






















We had papaya, sharon fruit and strawberries. The other day we tried dragon fruit and I was really not a fan, but both of these were delicious. I hope we get them again!

Layered Treat Pot (and Tea Solves Everything)

I've realised I really like preparing food for my other half. My long term ambitions are all things which fit around being a home-maker, I see now, but I've never looked at it that way before nor have I ever really indulged in this kind of taking care of somebody. But I love going to his work place at midday to deliver some kind of tasty nutritious lunch, seeing him for 30 seconds, and then later having him come home to the smell of a hot oven and a dinner ready when he is. I know how much some of my old friends would laugh to hear that's what I dream of, though! We've just got to get him a good enough job that he can support his 1950s housewife whilst she cooks delights for him and raises the children!

Hey, a girl can dream of whatever she wants. The 1950s woman I imagine I could be also gets to wear very snazzy aprons, so it's a win-win really!

Today I took him a ham salad (with ham from a shank we slow cooked for cold meat), some syn free rice pudding (which he's been pestering me to make again for a few days now, ever since I tried it and shared it on here) and then a layered pudding, a treat pot if you will, made from a slice of the flourless chocolate cake (2.5 syns), a pot of his favourite low fat gooseberry yoghurt (2 syns), sliced bananas and a handful of strawberries. It looked pretty from the outside of the container, and was a nice little surprise for a Sunday afternoon at the office, bless him.

Unfortunately, I'm still not feeling terribly chipper myself. I'm hungry today like I haven't really been all week, craving cupcakes piled high with buttercream frosting, cookies, meringues and fudgey brownies. I have the most appropriate mug for the situation (a gift a long long time ago) and a lovely selection of teas, and am hoping that some sort of magic will infuse into my drink, warm me up and inspire me to finish (/start) my last essay. I wish I had some other sort of pick me up but there's really nothing here that I want to eat, and I'm too dispirited to want to cook. The internet recommended I knock up some scrambled eggs and beans, or make some SW chips quickly, to sate a hunger before I go on a binge. I don't see that I'm likely to make anything more taxing than a bowl of jelly, at this rate! (Hartley's Sugar Free sachets come in at 1 syn, for the record.)

I hope I cheer up tomorrow, but with the actual weigh-day (!), going to the doctor's, going to therapy and trying to sort out whether we're moving or not, it seems unlikely!

Or maybe all I need is this cup of tea, a few deep breaths and a moment of calm. We'll see.