Friday 31 January 2014

Orange and Chilli Lamb Kebabs




Beautiful tender lamb with a kick from the chilli, warmth from the cinnamon and allspice and a sweet touch from the orange.
They are beautifully paired with sweet potato chips, a greek salad and mint yogurt sauce.
If you want to use some syns a pitta bread would be good too!
This dish is 2 syns on extra easy for all the kebabs. in our house it served two.




Ingredients

4 large lamb leg steaks cubed with all the fat removed
4 garlic cloves minced
2 bay leaves torn
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp all spice/chinese 5 spice
100ml orange juice 2 syns
3 red chillies sliced in half and deseeded then quartered
salt and pepper


Method

In a large plastic bag mix together all the ingredients apart from the salt, massage the marinade into the lamb and leave to marinade overnight.
Skewer the lamb and chilli sprinkle with salt and spray with frylight, then griddle for 4 minutes on each side, until cooked through.
Serve with side dishes of your choice.





Thursday 30 January 2014

Greek Venison Shank




This meal is great for a Sunday roast and it's totally syn free on extra easy. The meat is so lean, but so tender and juicy. The sauce has so much flavour and warmth.
Served with syn free roast potatoes and lots of vegetables it make a fantastically comforting meal.

If you can't get hold of venison shanks, then lamb shanks will be a great substitute.





Ingredients

1 large venison shank or 2 lamb shanks
1 large onion diced
1 tin tomatoes
4 garlic cloves finely chopped
200ml beef stock
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp fresh rosemary finely chopped
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp greek seasoning
juice of ½ lemon
salt and pepper


Method

In a large pan sprayed with frylight brown the shanks and then put them in the slow cooker.
Fry the onions until soft add the garlic, herbs and spices fry for 1 minute, then stir in the stock, tomatoes and lemon juice. Pour the sauce over the shanks and set the slow cooker to cook for 8 hours on low.

When the shanks are cooked remove from the cooker, and cover to keep warm.
Pour the sauce into a saucepan and bring to a boil then simmer down until it has slightly thickened.

You can now serve the sauce with the meat, but i like to push the sauce through a sieve so it is smooth, then i reheat it and serve it as a synfree gravy.





Wednesday 29 January 2014

Revised Ceasar Salad Dressing



My Ceasar Salad Dressing was quite low in syns on extra easy, but i thought i would try and make it even better! I am really impressed with how it turned out, it is just as good as before, just as tasty, but less synful.

This recipe is only 2.5 syns on extra easy for the whole batch, which in my house made 8 portions and i like a lot of dressing!

I have left the olive oil out this one and i haven't added the parmesan cheese, you can always sprinkle on the salad when you serve it.


Ingredients

1 garlic clove
1 tin of sainsburys anchovy fillets drained
4 tbsp lighter than light mayonnaise  2 syns
2 tsp worcester sauce
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp dijon mustard  0.5 syns
salt and pepper

Method

Put everything into a blender and blitz until it's smooth and creamy, then either chill or serve.

Wednesday 22 January 2014

Greek Lamb Burgers



I love burgers and being able to eat them when doing Slimming World is fantastic, I love the syn free burgers, but sometimes i like to mix it up and have now made a delicious lamb burger, it isn't syn free but its is low in syns compared to burger joints. They are 3.5 syns each on extra easy.
This burger is juicy, very tasty and has a creamy salty bite going through it with the feta which is you healthy A on extra easy. I served them in a wholemeal roll which is your healthy B on extra easy. I made a Mint Yogurt Sauce to serve them with, and sweet potato fries. Also not forget a lovely big salad, which the Mint Yogurt Sauce makes a great dressing for.




Ingredients

400g 16% or less lamb mince
90g feta
1 tsp greek seasoning
salt and pepper
2 wholemeal rolls 60g each


Method

Mix all the ingredients together, make into 4 patties and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
In a pan sprayed with frylight fry the patties on each side until golden, then transfer to a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes until cooked through.





Monday 20 January 2014

Sausage Casserole



An easy dish that you just throw together and let cook, it tastes terrific and is pure comfort food, you can have it by itself or with pasta, potatoes, rice.
The sausages are synful but everything else is free and it is full of super free.
I used Sainsburys Cumberland low fat sausages which are 0.5 syns each.




Ingredients

1 package of sausages
1 onion chopped
8 oz mushrooms chopped
1 red pepper diced
1 tin tomatoes
2 garlic cloves chopped
1 tbsp italian seasoning
2 carrots sliced
1 tin baked beans
200ml beef stock
salt and pepper


Methods

In a pan sprayed with frylight brown the sausages. put into the slow cooker. Fry the mushrooms until they are golden and add to the slow cooker, add the rest of the ingredients stir together and cook on low for 8 hours.





Thursday 16 January 2014

Jalapeno and Coriander Rosti



I love potatoes and how versatile they are, but any potato that is fried is alway at the top of the list.
I love the kick from the spice and as coriander is my favourite herb it adds a delicious flavour.
The rostis go so well with chipotle yogurt and cajun salmon and a big salad!

They are syn free on extra easy.




Ingredients

1lb potatoes, i used maris piper
1 onion
1 tsp ground cumin
1 green chilli finely chopped
handful of coriander leaves chopped
1 egg beaten
salt and pepper


Method

Grate the potato and onion onto a clean tea towel, then squeeze out all the moisture, in a large bowl mix all the ingredients together.
In a large frying pan sprayed with frylight, flatten a spoonful of the mixture and fry for 3 minutes on each side until they are golden, transfer to a baking sheet, repeat until you have used up all the mixture. Spray with more frylight and bake for 15 minutes, until they are cooked through.







Tuesday 14 January 2014

Char Siu Pork Roast



This is a slow cooker dish. It isn't syn free, but it is so delicious it is worth the syns. Full of lovely Chinese ingredients and the pork ends up so tender and juicy.
It is very versatile too, you can serve it with rice, pasta, jacket potato, or even in a bun as a pulled pork sandwich.

The whole dish is 16 syns on extra easy, i made 6 portions out of  the whole pot.







Ingredients

2 lbs of boneless pork, loin, shoulder or leg, cut all the fat off
¼ cup of light soy sauce
¼ cup hoisin sauce 10 syns
2 tbsp tomato ketchup 1 syn
1 tbsp honey 3 syns
2 tsps garlic finely chopped
2 tsps ginger finely chopped
2 red chillies finely chopped
1 tsp sesame oil 2 syns
½ tsp five spice 
½ cup chicken stock


Method

Combine all the ingredients apart from the pork in a large plastic bag, add the pork and rub in the marinade, marinade for at least 4 hours, i done mine over night.

Place the pork and marinade into the slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours.

Remove the pork and shred it, return to the marinade and warm back through then serve.











Friday 10 January 2014

Salmon Fishcakes



I make up a menu for evening meals each week, i had my crab cakes on the menu thinking i had some crab in the fridge, but when i came to make them i was mistaken there was no crab, so i decided to create a salmon cake recipe, and i am so glad i did. They were delicious!!!

If you're not using the bread as your healthy extra B then it is 6 syns, the horseradish is 1 syn on extra easy, i made 6 patties.




Ingredients

8 oz salmon fillet, seasoned and roasted, and cooled
1 red onion finely chopped
1 red pepper finely chopped
1 tbsp capers
1 tsp worcester sauce
1 tsp italian seasoning
½ tsp celery salt
1 slice of wholemeal bread from a 800g loaf made into crumbs 6 syns
1 egg beaten
1 tbsp horseradish sauce
salt and pepper to season


Method

In a pan sprayed with frylight fry the onions and peppers until they are soft, then add the capers fry for 1 minute, add the worcester sauce, italian seasoning and celery salt fry for 2 minutes. let it cool.

In a large bowl mix together the breadcrumbs, onion mixture, horseradish, and salmon and season, then mix in the flaked salmon.

Make into patties and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Fry the patties to brown on each side, then transfer to a baking tray and finish off in the oven for 10 minutes.




Tuesday 7 January 2014

Chicken Enchiladas



I was really craving enchiladas, but didn't want to waste all my syns on the tortillas, then i thought how about trying to make them with pasta, but instead of wrapping them i decided to make it in the style of a lasagne.
To say they were delicious is an understatement, they were amazing!!!
I served them with jalapenos, coriander leaves, grated low fat cheese and a chipotle yogurt sauce.

Serves 4, plus one portion of the chicken sauce left over, each serving is 2 syns as long as the cheese is used as your healthy A.



Pre heat oven to 200c, 400f, gas mark 5


Ingredients

4 roasted chicken breasts shredded
150g chorizo sausage chopped  9.75 syns
8oz mushrooms chopped
1 onion chopped
2 red peppers chopped (i used jarred)
2 tins tomatoes
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp dried oregano
2 tsps cajun seasoning
½ tsp celery salt
1 tsp chilli powder
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
1 tbsp chipotle paste  ½ syn
dried lasagne sheets
80g low fat cheddar cheese

80g grated low fat cheese to serve
jalapenos to serve
coriander leaves to serve
½ tsp chipotle paste mixed with fat free natural yogurt to serve


Method

In a large pan brown the chorizo and remove. Fry the onions in the same pan for 2 minutes, then add the mushrooms and peppers and fry until golden. Add the cumin, oregano, cajun seasoning, celery salt, chilli powder, chipotle paste and garlic, cook for 1 minute, add the tomatoes and 200ml of water. Return the chorizo and add the chicken to the pan, simmer for 20 minutes.

Layer the sauce in a baking dish with the lasagne sheets, finishing with the sauce on top, cover with tin foil and bake for 20 minutes, uncover, sprinkle with cheese and bake for 20 more minutes.

Serve with a green salad and the condiments.