Food trends: Fruit pops

So the most popular food trend at the moment seems to be either those crazy milkshakes that have everything but the kitchen sink in, or these lushious fruit pops. Normally they are made with coconut water but thats not syn free so i usually use diet lemonade and sometimes even add mint and a splash of balsamic vinegar like a pimms ice lolly.


All you have to do is choose your favourite fruits and put them into an ice lolly mold or even cheap plastic cups.
put in your stick and pour over your chosen liquid then freeze for at least 4 hours..
i can't really even call this one a recipe!
its healthy, quick, easy and even the kiddies love them!

Ice cream

Yes, i said it.. ice cream!! i bought a cheap ice cream maker on amazon a few years ago for 20 and it is still going strong, i know they have a lot of offers at the moment so don't miss it! okay so this ice cream is made with yoghurt.. and depending what you put in, it isn't always going to be syn free BUT it will save you the syns of a lifetime compared to eating normal ice cream!!

The basic mix is 1 pot of the total 0% fat greek yoghurt. You then add sweetener to taste and a few drops of vanilla EXTRACT. i cannot stress that you use EXTRACT not essence.. essence is vile and chemical tasting!

From that mix you then add a muller light yoghurt. if you want vanilla, add a vanilla yoghurt..

You could use the latte muller light to make a coffee ice cream.

You could do a mango passion fruit ice cream and add in chunks of mango or sieved passionfruit.

Add an after dinner mint with peppermint extract instead of vanilla and add some chocolate ontop (or choc shot of course)

Peanut and caramel frozen with chunks of banana in (for a chunky monkey ice cream)

Add 2 of the pineapple crush (1/2 syn each) and if you wanted a shot of coconut rum for a pina colada style ice cream with chunks of pineapple swirled through.

As long as you have imagination the possibilities are endless.

To freeze if you aren't using an ice cream machine you should pour into a freezable container and whisk up every hour for 4 hours. just take the container out of the freezer 15 minutes before serving so it is scoopable!

Using an ice cream machine follow the instructions as every machine is different then  when donw, put into a container or seperate containers and freeze!

Nando's chicken and spicy rice!

..Nandos is my guilty pleasure and if i can make it for lower syn i will!! I use the nandos lemon and herb marinate it is 1/2 a syn per tbsp and if you leave it over night on your chocken or pork it really permeates the meat!!

6 chicken thighs
6tbsp lemon and herb (or your choice) of nandos marinade sauce (just double check the syns! - will be half a syn per chicken thigh)

for the rice:
2 cups basmati rice,
4 cups of water,
1 chicken stock cube,
small white onion finely diced
1 small red pepper finely diced
1 small green pepper finely diced
1tsp cumin and paprika and 1/2 tsp garlic granules
as many jalapeños you can manage! (i usually use the ones in brine and chop them till they are a puree and can only manage 4 or 5! slices!)

Stab the chicken thighs all over with a sharp knife and put into a sandwich bag with the marinate, do up the bag, massage and put i the fridge overnight.

Get your grill going and put the chicken thighs on, remember not to waste any of the marinade!

meanwhile in a large pot, fry off the onion, peppers, herbs and spices (including the jalapenos ) until theystart to soften.

add the stock, water and rice, add a generous pinch of salt and pepper and cook until the water is almost absorbed, turn off the hob and cover the rice, leave for 10 minutes, fluff the rice up with a fork, cover again and leave for 10 minutes and fluff the rice with a fork again before leaving with the lid on for another 10 minutes.

Big mac in a bowl

The real thing will set you back 25 syns!! this will only set you back 5.5 syns.. and that is if you dont use the cheese as your HEA! If you used the cheese slices as part of you HEA it would only be 1 syn!

This serves one person :)

200g extra lean beef mince
1 medium white onion (finely diced as possible)
as many gherkins as you wish
as many tomatoes as you wish
a pile of iceberg lettuce (or if you dont like iceberg romaine)
2 slices dairylea light cheese slices (use as HEA or 2.5 syns for one or 4.5 for 2, you can omit completely though)

Fry off the mince in a pan until it starts to turn crispy.

reserving 1 tsp of the chopped onion, add the rest to the pan and cook until softened, season with a pinch of salt and black pepper.

Put the meat warm on the bed of lettuce, lay over your cheese, sauce, remaining onions, gherkins and tomatoes.

how simple is that?!

you could even have a couple of pieces of cloud bread with it!

Cloud bread

The new phenomenon, i wish i had thought of this as this is the basic way i make a slimming world syn free cake, just adding sweetener and vanilla! you can toast this 'bread' lightly if you want to make it a little more durable but is good for burgers or even sandwiches and the best thing? ITS SP FRIENDLY!!

3 large eggs seperated
2 tbsp quark
pinch of salt
(any flavourings you wish to add e.g garlic or italian herbs)

Preheat your oven to 180oC

Add the salt to the egg whites and whisk until stiff peak.

Add the quark to the egg yolks and whisk until creamy and well incorporated.

Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites and continue until you have a light mixture.

Spoon mixtures onto a baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes until lightly browned, just keep an eye on them.

I will suggest not to make a huge batch of them as they go stale quite quickly! If adding seasoning, add them to the egg yolk and quark before adding the egg white.

BBQ sides

So, people get stuck with what to have along with their grilled meat or fish, at least thats what i hear when i go to my slimming world group, so here is a few ideas.

Grilled corn on the cob

Mixed veggie skewers then push them off a skewer into a bowl or oven bake some Mediterranean style veggies.

My BBQ style baked beans (on my blog)

Boiled or baked potatoes or even slimming world chips.

Rice salad (or plain rice)

Pasta salad (or buy a passatta that has garlic and herbs in, add some salt and pepper and you have a syn free sauce)

Slimming world coleslaw recipe (also on my blog)

fruit skewers (obviously not for the BBQ but for dessert)

Salsa (roughly chop 3 large tomatoes, 1 small red onion finely chopped, pinch of salt and pepper, juice of half a lime, some roughly chopped coriander)

Boiled eggs

mexican salsa; 1 large can drained corn, 1 cn drained and washed black beans, 2 large spring onions finely chopped, 1/4 cucumber deseeded and finely chopped, handful of coriander OR parsely, finely chopped, juice of half a lime, generous pinch of cumin, salt and pepper.

Asparagus; 1 packet of aspargus trimmed coated in 1 tsp olive oil (2 syns) pinch of salt and pepper. You can either cook them in a foil packet or grill them straight on the BBQ.

Gherkins

A big bowl of fresh green lettuce or even the bagged stuff washed if you are short for time with slices of cucumber and a punnet of cherry tomatoes.

And of course, cloud bread! if you haven't heard of this phenomenon you can have it on an SP day it is literally eggs, a pinch of salt and quark! you seperate the eggs, whisk up the whites and well i am going to do another blog on that later!

I hope you liked this short blog on a few ideas to go alongside a BBQ or even just as side dishes!

Grilled steak kebabs

There is something primative about grilled meat. so what could be better than a grilled steak, potato and mushroom kebab that you can lay on a bed of crisp salad and drizzle over your favourite salad vinaigrette.

500g very lean steak ( all visible fat removed and cut into bite size pieces)
500g salad/baby potaotes (preboiled until only just fork tender)
200g baby mushrooms
salt, pepper
1tbsp freshly chopped thyme and rosemary or about tsp dry thyme.
1 tsp olive oil (2syns)

Put the steak into a sandwich bag with salt, pepper, herbs and olive oil, do the bag up and massage the seasoning into the meat and leave for at least 20 minutes. (this would be a good time to be boiling your potatoes then cooling them, this would also be a good time to soak your wooden skewers to stop them from burning)

Alternate the steak, mushrooms and potatoes on the skewers until the ingredients are used up.

Grill on the BBQ or griddle pan for about 2 minutes a side or cooked until the meat is to your liking.

Serve over salad or with coleslaw, grilled tomatoes and mushy peas like a mixed grill style dinner. yum!

BBQ SP Beans

Comforting and good for an SP day, if i'm doing extra easy day i usually do some of the SW iceland sausages like a sausage and bean bake and god is it good and makes a lot.

1 large white onion
2 large carrots
2 sticks of celery
1 red and green pepper.
4 smoked bacon medallions
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 tins cannelini beans
2 tins haricot beans
1 tin of red kidney beans
2 tins of tomatoes
1 jar of passata
2 cloves of garlic
generous pinch of salt and pepper.

roughly chop the veggies then process until finely chopped.

Dice the bacon into small pieces and fry off in fry light in a big pot until turning crisp.

Add the garlic and the vegetables and cook down until most of the liquid is absorbed.

Add the remaining ingredients (fill the jar of passatta halfway with water and rinse it out adding it to the pot).

Let cook for about an hour or until thick and umptuous.

Luscious leek and potato soup

Something so simple can be so so comforting when you are under the weather or the weather is getting you down. Shut the curtains, curl up on the sofa with this addictive soup, and the best thing is it is free and easy!

2 large baking potatoes (i find they break up easier, washed and roughly chopped)
1 large white onion (roughly chopped)
3 large leeks (washed and sliced roughly)
1 large clove of garlic
generous pinch of salt and pepper
(parsely or chives to top is completely optional)
2.5 litres of vegetable stock

In a large soup pot, in fry light, fry off the onion, garlic and leeks until they start to soften and colour a little.

Add a generous pinch of salt and pepper.

Add the potatoes and stock and cook until the potatoes start falling apart.

Turn off the heat and use your immersion blender to blend the soup to the texture of your liking.

Taste and season to your liking.