For Chinese New Year, I did a big Chinese fakeaway. I wanted to make a few different dishes and serve it in takeaway tins for maximum fakeaway effect! All together we had Chinese chicken curry (using the Mayflower curry powder), Chinese style stir fry chicken and veggies, plain boiled noodles, egg fried rice (recipe coming soon) and stir fried mushrooms (recipe coming soon)!
This is the recipe I put together for a Chinese style stir fry chicken and veggies. It was really good (if I do say so myself!) and I’d thoroughly recommend it as a fakeaway meal. It’s also super quick to put together. This is a great one for when you are having friends round as nobody will feel hard done by or like they’re on the diet food and all it takes is a few minutes in the kitchen until you can feed everyone!
Serves: 2 with rice or noodles
Syns: Syn Free!
Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
Few pinches ginger
1/2 tsp sweetener
1 chicken stock cube
Approximately 200 g stir fry veg (the pre-prepped kind you get in a bag or tub at the supermarket are really good for this - no chopping, no fuss!)
Method:
Chop the chicken breasts into bite size cubes / strips and add to a resealable bag. As always I’m going to marinade in a resealable bag as it’s easier but you can of course use a bowl and cover it tightly with cling film / foil.
Add the balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, paprika, sweetener and ginger to the bag. Seal the bag and toss the chicken in it until everything is mixed and all the chicken is coated. Leave for at least 20 minutes (or up to a day).
In a high heat frying pan, add the chicken and then crumble over the stock cube (no need for any butter or oil!). You can also add any stir fry veggies which take longer to cook (like sugar snap peas).
Cook for a few minutes until the chicken has started to take colour on both sides, then add your veggies. Continue to cook everything together until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender.
I served this with a nice big serving of egg fried rice (recipe coming soon!) and some plain boiled noodles - it was yummy! My partner had some prawn crackers with his for an authentic Chinese fakeaway feel (you can have a small number for relatively few syns).
I hope you enjoyed this recipe and will consider this for your next fakeaway Friday! Please share, like, comment and send me your photos!
I love from scratch soup! It always tastes fresher than canned soups and you can make a big batch to freeze or refrigerate for a speedy lunch at home or work. Just double or triple up the recipe if you want to make a bigger batch. My top tip for freezing soups: open up a resealable food bag and pop it in a bowl to support it, pour in your soup and seal closed then freeze upright. Once it is frozen through you can throw it about in the freezer without ever spilling it! Then just defrost any time you like.
I would wholeheartedly recommend making the stock from scratch as it really makes a huge difference to the flavour. Just follow the instructions on a package of a gammon to cook on the hob and the water you cooked the ham in will become your ham stock (when you boil the gammon, use just enough water to cover or you will get a very weak stock). You can then also use your freshly cooked ham in the soup.
Word of warning - if you’re tempted to add salt to any part of this recipe, don’t do it! I’ve made this mistake and it’s disgusting! Ham / ham stock in themselves are salty enough that you don’t ever need to add any extra to it.
Serves: 3
Syns: Syn Free!
Ingredients:
Frylight
1/2 onion (red or white)
1 medium potato
250g frozen peas
½ litre ham stock (if possible, home made as above)
¼ ltre water
200g cooked ham
Small handful parsley
Optional:
3 tsps fat free yoghurt / fromage frais
Method:
Finely chop the onion and cook in frylight in a medium to high heat pan (you don’t need to cook it all the way through or brown it too much, just for about 5 minutes to start it off, stirring regularly).
Chop your potato in to small cubes and add to your pan along with the stock and peas. Boil for 15 to 20 minutes, until the potato is cooked through.
Whilst the soup is cooking, chop your ham into bitesize pieces and roughly chop the parsley.
When the potato is cooked through, puree the soup. Then add ¼ litre water and bring back to the boil.
Reduce to a medium heat and add the parsley and ham (keep a small handful of pieces of ham to one side) and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the ham is warmed through.
Serve in a large bowl with a teaspoon of yoghurt / fromage frais swirled in the top of each portion (if using) and the remaining ham as a garnish.
You can serve as is or with your healthy extra B of wholemeal bread to accompany. Whilst this is a classic soup and many people would say don’t mess with this flavour, I say why not? You could change up the recipe by using different vegetables to combine with the ham (carrot, butternut squash, swede etc.) or swapping the onion for some leek. You could also switch the ham out for some bacon (yum!)
I hope you enjoy this recipe and that you give it a try! Please share with your family and friends - I’d love to see photos and hear any thoughts or feedback.
I made up this recipe as a way to use up pork loin that was pushing it’s sell by date in the fridge and that I couldn’t be bothered to roast! I was also planning on going for dinner with friends so I needed something I could prepare cook then leave for my partner to heat through when he got home. It’s a nice soothing winter dish and the paprika gives it a bit of a kick.
You can prepare it up to a day in advance and bake when you are ready to eat it. This is also a good bulk cook, that you can freeze in portions for a quick dinner any day of the week! If you want to change things up you could also make this with chicken, sausages or even meat substitutes like quorn chicken style chunks.
Serves: 3 to 4
Syns: Syn Free!
Ingredients:
Approximately 700g potatoes
4 tbsp quark (substitute 1 egg if you don’t have quark in)
Frylight
500g pork (any kind will work. I used a pork loin which I chopped into cubes)
4 to 5 medium sized carrots
4 cloves garlic
1 onion (red or white)
2 tsp sweet paprika (if you don’t have sweet paprika, start with half the amount of normal paprika then add more if you think it needs it)
400ml passata (measure in a jug)
½ beef stock cube
½ chicken stock cube
1 tsp red wine vinegar
A nice handful of parsley (stalks and all!)
½ tsp salt
Method:
Preheat your oven to 200°C / 390°F / Gas Mark 6.
Peel and chop your potatoes and slice the carrots. Finely chop the onion, garlic and parsley.
Pop the potatoes in a large pan, cover with water and boil. Get a frying pan going on high heat.
Once the potatoes are boiling set a timer for 20 minutes.
When the frying pan is hot, spray with frylight then add the pork and 1 tsp paprika. Stir to ensure the paprika covers all of the chunks of pork.
Once the pork is cooked through and nicely browned, remove from the pan and put to one side. In the same pan fry the onions, garlic and carrot until the onion is cooked through.
Turn the frying pan to medium and return the pork to the pan along with the passata, stock cubes, red wine vinegar, salt, parsley and rest of paprika. Simmer for 5 minutes.
When the timer for the potatoes goes off, make sure a fork goes through them easily (if not, cook for a further 5 minutes) then mash with the quark.
I made this in individual oven proof dishes but you could easily do in one large dish. Pour the sauce into the bottom of the dish / dishes and top with the mashed potato. I like to rough up the mash with a fork as you get nice crispy bits on the top then.
Bake for 30 minutes in the oven until gently browned on top.
I served this straight from the oven in it’s little dish with a nice portion of peas on the side for extra veggie goodness! You could also try changing the carrots for other veggies if you fancy - peppers, peas, any kind of beans, sweetcorn.
Hopefully you enjoyed this recipe and this is a nice dish you can share with family and friends. Please let me know what you think and what kind of twists you are putting on this dish. As always, if you have a photo, please share!
This is just a quick recipe but hopefully something those of you with a sweet tooth will appreciate. When I first starting Slimming World I was mourning desserts and this is my version / twist on a lot of different mousse recipes which are flying around. It’s about time I got a dessert on my blog!
I like to make this in a glass (martini glass, wine glass) as it looks really nice and when it looks good, it always tastes better!
Serves: 2
Syns: 3.5 syns per portion
Ingredients:
250g quark
Hot chocolate sachet (the type which are 2 syns, you can pick any flavour you fancy!)
2 tsp Sweet Freedom choc shot
12g bag Milky Way Magic Stars
Method:
In a medium sized mixing bowl, mix the quark, hot chocolate sachet and 1 teaspoon of the choc shot.
Divide in to 2 bowls or glasses.
Drizzle the remaining teaspoon of choc shot over the top of the desserts and share the magic stars between the 2 bowls / glasses.
I hope that you enjoy this recipe! You can change it up by adding different toppings. You can crumble over a biscuit or some meringue, add mini marshmallows, pop in a little wafer or top with some toffee or berry yoghurt.
This is a nice little one to break out when you have the girls round and fancy something sweet - yum! Please let me know your comments and show me your photos.
This is my partner’s recipe. I helped him to make it Slimming World friendly and transcribed the recipe as he was making it. It’s hard to describe how unusual (chaotic?) his cooking style is and therefore how “interesting” it is to try and monitor / measure what he is doing! There was also a lengthy discussion on whether you do or do not add herbs to a meatloaf (we plumped for a little oregano for flavour).
A meatloaf is very easy to throw together. It’s a nice Saturday evening family dinner and if you’re lucky enough to have any leftover, it makes a great sandwich or you can chop it up and add it to a tomato-y pasta sauce - yum!
Serves: 2 (probably 3 if you’re less hungry than we were!)
Syns: We used Tesco Healthy Living Sausages which are 1 syn each and my syn free ketchup which I make so this worked out at 2 syns per person. Depending what you use, you may need to adjust the syn values.
Ingredients:
4 sausages
250g minced beef
1 medium sized onion (red or white)
1 clove of garlic
1 egg yolk
½ tsp oregano
4 bacon medallions (any visible fat removed)
5 tbsp ketchup (my recipe here)
¼ tsp mild chili powder
¼ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp sweet paprika (you can use regular paprika but it will be a bit spicier)
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200°C / 390°F / Gas Mark 6.
Finely chop the onion and garlic. The finer the better really as it improves the texture of the finished meatloaf.
In a large bowl, squeeze the sausage meat out of the sausage and throw out the skins. Add the minced beef, onion, garlic, egg yolk and oregano to the bowl.
Here comes the messy bit (if you have a child handy, you can set them to work on this!) Get your hands in the bowl and smush (technical term!) everything together until it forms a cohesive mass. Lift your mixture in to a casserole dish or on to a baking tray and form it into a loaf shape.
Mix the ketchup, chili powder, garlic powder and paprika together in a small bowl to make a BBQ sauce. Lay the bacon on top of the loaf, then cover with the BBQ sauce (make sure to get it over the sides too).
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes in the middle of the oven, then slice into inch thick slices to serve.
We had this with mashed potato and peas but you could also choose to serve it with chips / fries, with some nice bread or a big side of boiled or roasted veggies.
I hope that you enjoy this recipe and that this is something you can make and share with your family! Please do let me know your comments and feedback and as always, I would love to see a photo if you make it!
1.1lbs / 0.5kg this week. A smaller loss for me but I'm getting there. Just a pound from the 3 stone mark and now fit in my size 12 jeggings! 😊 Slimming World works! 😊😊
This is a simple recipe for a syn free BBQ chicken which uses my tomato sauce / ketchup recipe. If you don’t want to make that or don’t have the ingredients, you can use normal ketchup and count the syns. This is a super quick one to make so really good for a weeknight dinner! It does involve a marinade but 30 minutes of marinating is plenty.
Again this is a great family dish - it’s not too spicy so the kids will still enjoy it and it doesn’t feel at all like diet food! It got the seal of approval from my partner, who loves dishes with a plenty of flavour. You could apply the same marinade to any cut of chicken - drumsticks in particular would work well!
Serves: 2
Syns: Syn Free!
Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
5 tbsp syn free ketchup (my recipe here)
¼ tsp mild chili powder
¼ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp sweet paprika (you can use regular paprika but it will be a bit spicier)
Method:
I like to marinade the chicken in a resealable bag as it saves the hassle and mess but you can also do this in a bowl. Cut the chicken into finger sized strips and pop in the bag along with all the other ingredients.
Seal the bag and toss the ingredients around until everything is mixed (and looking the same colour) and all of the chicken pieces are coated. Leave to marinade for at least 30 minutes or up to one day (meaning you could do this overnight!)
When you are ready to cook, pop a frying pan on a high heat and leave it to get super hot.
Once the pan is hot, carefully lay in each strip of chicken - no need to use any kind of fat! Once they are in the pan, do not touch them for 5 minutes! The contact with the pan will give them the crisp BBQ outside.
After 5 minutes flip your chicken and lower the head to medium. Continue to cook until the chicken is cooked through. Don’t panic about the colour of the chicken - it should look a little black (see the photo!)
I told you it was simple! The key is not touching the chicken when you first put it in the pan to allow it to develop its coating and flavour. I served this with sweet potato fries, salad and a mini corn on the cob covered in my Healthy Extra A for the day - cheddar cheese. You could change for rice, regular fries, mashed potato or cut the carbs completely and have with a beautiful fresh salad!
If you wanted to take this a step further, you could use the basic recipe to create Hunter’s Chicken - wrap the chicken in bacon (all visible fat removed) and then top with your healthy extra A cheese (cheddar is a good option!)
I hope you enjoy this recipe and will share with your family and friends! Please let me know your comments, feedback and show me your photos.
This is lovely recipe for good old fashioned Cottage Pie. It’s a lovely comforting winter dish and the whole family will enjoy it. To me this is a nice dinner you can whip up fairly quickly - great for a Saturday afternoon after you’ve been running around all day (when did Saturdays get so busy?)
If you want to avoid carbs or are looking for a change you could top this with a root vegetable mash instead (swede and carrot is a popular combination!) You could also squeeze in more veg by adding to the sauce. I’ve often added peas to the sauce but celery could be used too or sliced peppers for an interesting twist! I also love to add my HEA to the top for a cheesey crust (an idea I stole from my sister!)
Serves: 4
Syns: Syn Free!
Ingredients:
1.2 kg potatoes
2 eggs
Pinch of salt
1 onion (red or white)
2 medium carrots
2 cloves garlic
Frylight
500g lean minced beef
400ml passata
400ml water
2 beef stock cube
2 tsps oregano
Optional:
HEA Cheese
Method:
Preheat your oven to 200°C / 390°F / Gas Mark 6, pop a large frying pan on a medium high heat and large saucepan of water on to boil.
While the pans warm, chop your onion and garlic finely. Chop the carrot into small cubes (or grate if you prefer). Peel and chop the potatoes.
When the water is boiling, add the potatoes and cook for about 15 minutes (until a fork easily goes through the potato).
While the potatoes are boiling, spray your frying pan with frylight and cook your onion, carrot and garlic until the onions are soft. Pop on a plate and set to one side whilst you cook the minced beef.
Once the beef has cooked, add back your onions, garlic and carrot. Then add the passata, water, stock cubes and oregano. Simmer gently on a medium heat (turn down if it starts to boil).
When your potatoes are cooked, drain and add back to the pan with a pinch of salt. Mash until smooth then add the eggs one at a time, mashing to combine. Add 1 tbsp of your mash to your sauce (this helps it thicken!)
I like to cook this in individual dishes but you could just as easily cook in a large dish. Add the sauce to the dish(es) then spoon the mash over the top. Use a fork to create the classic pattern. If you are using cheese, sprinkle over the top.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
I served this with some extra veg on the side and a nice big spoon! This is also a great make ahead recipe, you can prepare in advance then simply bake when you are ready for dinner. It also bulk cooks and freezes well for a super quick weeknight dinner!
Hopefully you enjoyed this recipe and will share with your family and friends for dinner some time soon! Please do show me your photos if you do. As always, I would love to hear your comments and feedback!
This is a great quick recipe to have for a weeknight meal. It does require you to remember to marinade the beef but that’s super quick. You really only need to leave it to marinade for about an hour but you could also get it going in the morning ready for evening dinner so it’s really flexible.
As you cook this beef most of the liquid evaporates and it becomes quite sticky - nearly fakeaway worthy! If you’re a fan of spicy foods you could add a little fresh chili to the marinade too!
Serves: 2
Syns: Syn Free!
Ingredients:
300 to 350g beef strips
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
Few pinches ginger
1 tsp sweetener
½ onion (red or white)
½ pepper (pick your favourite colour! I used orange)
1 beef stock cube
Couple of sprigs of fresh parsley
Method:
Put the beef in a re-sealable bag then add the balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, paprika, ginger and sweetener. Seal the bag and move everything around in the bag to combine the ingredients and cover the beef. Leave in the fridge to marinade. You can do this in a bowl and cover, I just find the bag so much easier!
Leave the beef for at least an hour (you can also leave it overnight if you like or make it in the morning for the evening).
When you are ready to cook, get a frying pan / wok on a high heat and leave it to get warm. Chop the pepper and onion into slices / strips. Finely chop the parsley.
Once frying pan is really hot, empty your marinaded beef into the pan along with the onions and peppers. Crumble over the beef stock cube.
When the beef, onions and peppers are nearly cooked, add half of your parsley and stir to combine.
Serve over rice, noodles or extra veggies with the remaining parsley sprinkled over the top.
I had this over brown noodles and it was a really good quick meal. You could also start to add things like slices of broccoli, thin strips of carrot, bean sprouts, sesame seeds or for a veggie version, use tofu or quorn chicken style pieces.
Hopefully you enjoyed this recipe and this is something you will have a go at making at home! I look forward to seeing your photos and hearing your comments / feedback.
I had a lot of mushrooms in the house which needed using up when I invented this but it has since become my partner’s favourite way to have an omelette. The filling is super easy to put together, get’s some speed food sneaked inside an omelette and it’s super tasty!
I will explain as clearly as I can how to make an omelette for those who haven’t made one before or aren’t sure of the technique. If you know how to make an omelette you can of course use your own recipe and use my recipe just for a new filling! Once you’re happy with the filling and technique, you can start to add different ingredients and flavours to make something different.
Serves: 1
Syns: Syn Free using your Healthy Extra A
Ingredients:
90 to 110g mushrooms
1 small clove garlic
¼ tsp sweet paprika
A few pinches of chili powder (more if you like it hot!)
3 small sprigs of fresh parsley (if you don’t have this, skip it!)
Sprinkle of salt and pepper
3 to 4 eggs (depending on the size of your eggs)
Frylight
Healthy extra A cheese (split this into 2 types of cheese, depending on what you have - about ⅓ HEA of a soft, creamy cheese like light soft cheese or ricotta and ⅔ HEA stronger flavoured hard cheese like cheddar. I used 25g Tesco Light Soft Cheese and 25g Tesco Lighter Mature Cheese. Remember to check how your cheeses measure up so you don’t go over your HEA!)
Optional:
Ham or any other sandwich meat / leftover meat
Method:
Pop a small saucepan on a medium heat and leave to warm.
Cut the mushrooms into fairly thick slices. Finely chop the garlic.
Spray your saucepan with frylight and add the mushrooms and garlic. Cook the mushrooms until they have browned gently and are mostly cooked through. Whilst the mushrooms are cooking, roughly chop the parsley.
Sometimes mushrooms can be fairly watery and release water during cooking. If so, use a spoon to remove most of this (don’t strain it or you will lose the garlic!) Brushing dirt off of mushrooms rather than washing will help avoid the water leakage problem.
Add the paprika, chili powder, salt, pepper and your creamy type of cheese (light soft cheese in my case) to the pan and return to the heat for about a minute until the flavours are combined and the cheese is melted. Set to one side, off of the heat.
Put a frying pan on the heat (medium to high heat).
In a small bowl or jug, crack the eggs and whisk together. You can add a little pepper if you like.
Once the pan has come to temperature, spray with frylight and add the whisked egg.
Leave to cook until the egg is set. You will see the edges of the omelette pull away from the side of the pan and the top start to set. You should be able to lift the edge of the omelette using a spatula and see that it is a gentle brown underneath. If the bottom of the omelette gets to this stage without the top having set, you can pop it under your grill to cook the top some more.
Once the omelette is cooked through as described above, spread your filling on one side, then top with the hard cheese (cheddar for me), keeping to the one side. If you’re using meat, this should be added at this point. Flip the over side of the omelette over and cook for a couple of minutes to warm the filling through and melt the hard cheese.
Try to serve this immediately if you can as it doesn’t keep warm very well and somehow the flavour isn’t as good if you keep it warm in the oven. This is really good with some ketchup (see here for my syn free ketchup recipe) and a nice side salad for lunch. You could also serve with slimming world friendly chips or potato wedges (my recipe here) or some delicious roasted peppers for a more filling dinner.
I hope you enjoy this recipe and will try it out yourself! Please do let me know your feedback, comments and I’d love to see some photos!
My partner described this sauce as “fresh” which is probably because it contains a relatively small number of ingredients and mostly fresh ingredients. This means you get a nice simple, clean but delicious flavour. The ricotta makes sure that this a super creamy sauce. It definitely won’t feel like you’re eating healthy food!
This is quite a thick sauce, which I really like. It makes it feel richer and creamier. If you prefer a thinner sauce, you can add a little more water than specified until you reach your preferred consistency.
Serves: 2
Syns: Syn Free using your Healthy Extra A for the ricotta!
Ingredients:
3 medium sized cloves of garlic
2 chicken breasts, diced
Frylight
Large handful of basil
180g ricotta
½ chicken stock cube
6 tbsp water
Method:
Pop a large frying pan on a medium high heat and leave to get warm.
Chop the chicken into nice chunks (you don’t want them too small or they become “lost” in the sauce). Chop the garlic as finely as you can.
When the frying pan has come to temperature, spray with frylight and add the chicken and garlic.
Keep stirring the chicken and garlic intermitently. Between stirring, chop the basil finely.
Once the chicken is nearly cooked, crumble the stock cube over. Continue to cook until the stock cube has dissolved and the chicken is cooked through.
Turn the temperature to a fairly low heat and add the ricotta and water. Stir to combine. Keep on a fairly low heat. You want the ricotta / sauce to warm but try not to let it bubble too much. As I said above, you can add a little more water if you prefer a thinner sauce.
Add your basil, stir to combine and keep on the heat for a further 2 to 3 minutes.
I serve this on top of a nice big pile of pasta and veggies. Recently I served this alongside a recipe I am working on for an alternative garlic bread (work in progress - watch this space!) If you don’t add extra water and keep this sauce thick you could use it as a sandwich filling or have it with a lovely fresh salad!
As always, I hope you enjoy this recipe. Please do share your photos, comments and feedback - I’d love to know what you think!
Friday advice! We all fall off plan sometimes - dinner with friends and you just have to have pudding, bad day at work and on the wine! Draw a line under it, tomorrow is a new day 😊☺
There are a lot of recipes out there for Slimming World friendly roast potatoes, the most noteable being oxo roast potatoes. They are good and a great everyday roast potato, but I want to show you what I’m going to call “Special Roast Potatoes”. They’re a bit different to other recipes, more of a classic roast potato with a twist.
These are simple enough you can make them anytime but if you’re having guests for Sunday Lunch, what a way to impress. They really do look the part and besides that, they are delicious!
Serves: 2
Syns: Syn Free!
Ingredients:
500g potatoes
2 fresh stalks of rosemary
2 fresh stalks of thyme
4 fresh sage leaves
2 large cloves of garlic
1 tsp salt
Frylight
NB: A lot of supermarkets do a bag of “roasting herbs” which contain these 3 herbs, which saves you buying bags of each and trying to find a use for them!
Method:
Preheat your oven to 200°C / 390°F / Gas Mark 6 and get large pan of water boiling.
Chop the potatoes into large chunks (you don’t even need to peel then if you don’t want to!) Once the water is boiling, add the potatoes. The potatoes need to cook for about 5 to 10 minutes - they shouldn’t be cooked all the way through but just so you can easily push a knife a little way into the surface. As soon as the potatoes have reached this point, remove from the heat, drain and return to the pan.
Put a lid on the pan and give the potatoes a really good shake. You want to bash up the sides a bit (this helps them get crispy and yum!) Once you have done this, remove the lid and set to one side.
Chop the herbs / garlic finely and add the salt. Spray the potatoes with some frylight then add your herb mix. Stir around the pan to ensure all the potatoes are evenly coated, then transfer to a baking tray / dish.
Bake for around an hour (it seems like a long time but it’ll make sure the outsides go lovely and brown). If you find they are going too brown on top, cover with foil until done.
I served these with a mid-week roast (controversial!) of similarly prepared chicken and my take on cauliflower cheese. You can find my recipe for cheese sauce here and it makes a delicious cauliflower cheese - yum! You could equally serve these potatoes with any meat for a good old fashioned roast dinner style meal.
I hope you enjoyed this recipe. Please share your photos if you make it and let me know your comments and feedback!
This really is a yummy recipe and it doesn’t feel like you are missing out or eating “diet food” at all! As it’s a pasta bake, you can make it up to a day in advance if you need to, then simply bake when required, meaning it fits well around your day! This is a good family recipe (just double up to feed a small family) as both parents and kids can enjoy it.
I’ve used sausages in this but you could actually switch them out for chicken, chunks of beef, bacon, whatever you fancy really! You could also skip meat completely and get some speed veg in there. The brilliance of recipes like this is that you get to choose and you can change it up to keep it new and interesting.
Serves: 2 (double or even triple up as needed!)
Syns: can be syn free if you use syn free sausages and the cheese as your Healthy Extra A. I used the Tesco Healthy Eating sausages which means this recipe was 2 syns + HEA per portion.
Ingredients:
1 onion
4 low syn or syn free sausages (these are the only synned item in the recipe, so check your variety to be sure of the syns!)
300ml pasatta (measure in a jug)
2 good handfuls of pasta
Frylight
Handful of fresh basil (it’s best to use fresh but you can substitute ¼ tsp dried basil)
1 ½ tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
½ beef stock cube
1 chicken stock cube
1 heaped tsp marmite
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 medium sized garlic cloves
Sprinkle of pepper
2x HEA cheese (I used part cheddar and part parmesan, you can pick your favourite!)
Method:
Chop onion the onion and garlic finely. Chop the sausages into chunks - I find raw sausages don’t cut well with a knife so I use scissors to chop them!
Preheat oven 200°C / 390°F / Gas Mark 6. Get a pan of water on the go for the pasta and a deep sided frying pan on high.
When the frying pan is hot, spray with a little frylight and fry the sausages for 5 minutes. Once they are starting to brown a little, add the onion and garlic.
By now your water should have boiled so add pasta your pan and set a timer for it. Keep stirring the sausages, onion and garlic now and then.
When sausages are nice and brown and the onions and garlic are soft, add the balsamic vinegar and stir. This will help you get all the fried on bits (flavour!) off your pan. Turn the pan to a medium heat and add the passata, oregano, cinnamon, stock cubes and marmite. The sauce should be very gently bubbling. Leave to cook in the pan for about 5 minutes. If you are using fresh basil you can finely chop this whilst the sauce cooks.
When your pasta is done, drain thoroughly and add to your sauce. Then add the basil, stir gently to combine and remove from the heat.
I used individual oven proof dishes to bake this, but there’s no reason you can’t use one large dish. Add your pasta and sauce to your dish(es) and sprinkle your cheese over the top.
Bake for around 20 minutes (until the cheese is golden brown).
As I chose not to put any veggies in this, I served with a side of green beans. If you haven’t had your HEB, you could serve with a nice wholemeal roll on the side!
I hope as always that you enjoy your recipe and I look forward to seeing your photos and hearing your comments and feedback!
This is a really quick recipe for a speedy lunch. The sauce doesn’t need to be cooked separately, just added to the pasta and warmed a little. I also added veggies to my meal. It can also be stored in the fridge for about 2 days so good for pre-prepping lunches for work or the next day!
As the flavour of this isn’t super strong, it’s a good, healthy meal for kids. Older children could even help you prepare it!
Serves: This makes enough for 1 meal or 2 side portions of pasta
Syns: Syn Free!
Ingredients:
Small hand full of fresh basil
¼ tsp garlic powder
6 tbsp fat free cottage cheese
Method:
Chop the basil up roughly (it’s going in the blender but I find it’s good to start it by hand).
In a blender or chopper, blend the basil, garlic powder and 3 tbsp of the cottage cheese until puree-ed.
Add in the remaining 3 tbsp cottage cheese and blend to form a smooth sauce.
To use, mix with warm pasta and / or veggies and return briefly to the heat until warmed through.
There’s lots of ways you could add to this recipe, either by choosing an exciting variety of vegetables or by adding meat, chopped egg or tuna. Leftover meat from last nights dinner can easily be recycled into a yummy pasta salad! If you like your pasta cheesey (and I do!) you can also add your HEB cheese - delicious!
I hope you enjoy the recipe and please do share any comments, photos or feedback!
kaledo-art
stormborns
ellievsbear
origamiaround
baratheonpilled
prguitarman
titsay