Ziplist.com - It's fantastic!

I have recently started using this site, Ziplist.com - It's fantastic!

http://get.ziplist.com/

So you register & start browsing for recipies. I started saving ones by Laa Loosh & Skinny Taste etc. Then you can go into the 'Discover' tab and it brings up hundreds of suggested recipes based on the genre you've been saving to your recipe list. So I have now found a load more sites that are WW and low fat friendly that I hadn't come across before! Plus there's an option to 'add to your shopping list'. So if you choose a few meals that you'd like to try this week, just select add to shoping list & bring with you when doing your weekly shop so you'll have all the ingredients at your fingertips.

Bellissimo!!

Pancake Tuesday

Throwing caution to the wind for pancake Tuesday! Apple, cinnamon & golden syrup pancakes and Banana & Nutella pancakes. I did not point, please do not follow my bad example! But very yummy pancakes ;-)
After quite the debacle with my OH as to whether we have dinner and pancakes or just pancakes on pancake Tuesday, we (or more so I, to make lighter the amount of work in the kitchen!) decided to fore go dinner & go for the pancakes!

Basic Pancake Recipe

100g Plain Flour
300ml Skimmed Milk
Pinch of Salt
1 Lg Egg

Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients. Mix well so there are no lumps. Leave standing for 30 mins. Pour enough for a thin pancake, flip when you see a number of air bubbles.

For the Apple filling chop apples & put in a pot with some cinnamon and golden syrup. Heat through & serve with your pancakes with some cream or ice cream.

Yummo! :-)

Oat Cookies - 2pp Each

Hey all! I made some delish-iohso oat cookies the other day for 2pp per cookie! Can't beat that with a stick for pp value :-)
The recipe is from the March issue of Easy Food.

Oatmeal Cookies - 36 Cookies at 2pp per Cookie

(This recipe also had added raisins, which I have omitted.)

200g Brown Sugar
180g unsweetened apple sauce*
1 lg Egg White, lightly beaten
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp Vanilla extract
120g Rolled Oats
140g Plain Flour, sifted
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

Pre-heat your oven to 180C conventional oven or 160C fan assisted ovens.

Whisk together sugar, apple sauce, egg white, oil and vanilla until smooth.

* I did not have any apple sauce, so made my own no less! 1st time! Just chop up 1 cup of apples, add half a cup of water and simmer for approx 15 mins, until apples are soft. Then blend. Ya Daa! :-)

Then in another bowl, yes a separate one to the wet ingredients, add the oats, plain flour, wholewheat flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Mix well.

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix with a wooden spoon until just blended. Then I placed walnut size balls of the mixture onto a baking tray approx 1-1 1/2 inches apart and baked for 15 minutes! :-)

Let cool (if you can wait!) on a wire rack & enjoy!

Veggie Stir Fry & Noodles

Hi all! For dinner this evening I made a vegetable stir fry. It's been years, literally since I made a stir fry so wasn't so sure how it would turn out, especially as I didn't have a recipe and was winging it :-) Well it was divine! Even the OH said so, and that is saying something believe me haha :-)

4 Portions at 5 Propoints per Portion

2 Carrots
1 Red Onion
Some Sugar Snap Peas
Some Baby Corn
A Medium Sweet Potato 4pp
(All chopped)
3 Cloves Garlic grated into the veggies in the pot (as I love it!)

For the sauce -

2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
2 tbsp Toasted Sesame Oil 4pp
1/4 tsp Chili Flakes
Juice 1 Lime

2 Packs Straight to Wok Noodles 12pp

So veg into a large pot or wok with some spray oil. Keep turning so they cook evenly for approx 8 mins. Grate in the garlic & add your sauce. Stir for a minute. Add the noodles and stir every now and then for another 5/6 mins or when everything is tender and hot. Very tasty, so easy & great value for propoints! A definite staple in my weekly meals going forward :-)

The Nicest Thing I Ever Ate!

Warm Apple Crisp, need I say more?! Oh the warm cinnamony deliciousness of an apple crisp with low fat cream or ice cream. Just sooooo fulfilling for those of us now watching our sweet intake. Believe me, a little goes a long way to satisfaction with this baby! Quite simply one of the nicest things I ever ate. (Like the show on Food Network haha! Okay, too corny, I know :-) And so easy to make! Literally chop apple and top with mixture! You will not regret making this I tell you! The only problem may be stopping at one portion :-)

Okay so here's the recipe! Oh and enjoy..... :-)

Apple Crisp
10 portions - 6pp per Portion

4 medium cooking Apples
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Oats
1/2 cup Plain Flour
1/3 cup Low Fat Spread
3/4 tsp Cinnamon
3/4 tsp Nutmeg

Preheat your oven to 180C.
Peel and core your apples, cut into roughly one inch cubes.
Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl and then work in the butter with your fingers until you have a crumble texture.
Grease your baking tin with low fat spray, put your apples in and spread evenly, top with your mixture and also spread that evenly.
Now into the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
Add low fat cream/low fat ice cream/Greek yoghurt or anything else you fancy for a completely delicious and totally satisfying dessert!

You would never think it's WW - Lasagne!

This evening I made the lasagne recipe from the WW book, the Complete Kitchen.
Well, you would not believe how good this is! I actually feel like I'm after having seconds I'm so full, and have to remind myself that I'm within my points! And it is so full flavoured, really delicious. I even made extra to freeze & for lunch in work tomorrow. So here it is, and I won't have to tell you twice to.... Enjoy! :) (Now I added some oven chips, so they are not included in the points mentioned below, much to your dismay I'm sure!) :)

WW Lasagne - 4 Portions - 11pp per Portion

I added mushrooms and a tsp of Oregano to this recipe, which spread over the recipe is 0 points per portion.

For the bolognese -
Chop 2 onions, 2 carrots, 2 garlic cloves and (I added) punnet of mushrooms and sauté for 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and put in a bowl until later.
Cook 250g of lean mince until browned in your pan. When browned add back in your cooked veg.
Add a tsp of mixed herbs and (I added) a tsp of Oregano, 200mls of beef stock and a tin of chopped tomatoes.
Leave that to simmer on a low heat, stirring every now and then for 10 minutes.
To make the béchamel sauce -
Add to a pot on med-low heat 450mls skimmed milk, 40g plain flour, a bay leaf and 40g of low fat spread. Stirring constantly until it thickens and forms a sauce, approx 8-10 minutes. Remove the bay leaf.
To assemble the lasagne -
Put some sauce on the bottom of your lasagne dish for the pasta sheets to stick to. Place your pasta sheets on top. Place some of your bolognese on top of that. Scatter some low fat mozzarella on top of the bolognese. Then start again with the pasta sheets, the sauce, the bolognese, the mozzarella, more pasta sheets, more sauce and then sprinkle some Parmesan on the top of the lasagne.
Put into a preheated oven at 190C for approx 40 minutes!

Seriously tasty! You have to try it!

Silver Seven in Sight!

Hi there!
So went through my usual routine yesterday of disappearing into the kitchen on a Sunday in preparation for the working week ahead! I am actually so motivated to not go overboard this week. With my weigh in in sight for Thursday evening, where if I am lucky and loose 2lbs, I will get my 1st silver 7! Excitement! Now thank God for the weekly allowance of points we get in addition to the daily points, because I just use them on any given day when I find I need a little something extra to get me through. I haven't had any major nights out since the start of the new year, so don't need to save them for a night on the booze or a meal out. I am currently doing a course in horse care and stable management so all my funds are going into that, much to my waistlines delight I'm sure! :) So in work I am sticking to my 0 point veg soup for lunch and a 0 point fruit salad in the afternoons to ensure I stick within my points to hopefully get my target weight loss for this week!

Fingers Crossed!!

This week I made the following.

Fruit Salad - 0 ProPoints

Chopped mango, kiwi, pineapple, peaches and grapes. With a squeeze of lime juice over it all to prevent from browning.

Broccoli Soup - 6 Portions at 0 ProPoints per Portion

A chopped Onion, Carrot, Celery, 2 cloves of garlic - all sauteed in 1 tbsp olive oil (1pp) for 5 minutes until soft.
Then add a tbsp of mixed herbs (1pp), a litre of water and 2 chopped heads of broccoli.
Simmer for 15-20 mins and then blend.

Banana Bread - 12 Portions at 3 ProPoints per Slice

I use the American cup measurments for baking, much easier than measuring everything out :)

Mix -
1 cup mashed Banana
1 large Egg
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp Sugar

In another bowl mix -
1 and a half cups Plain Flour
Half tsp Cinnamon
Quarter tsp Baking Soda
1 and a half tsp Baking Powder
A pinch Salt

Preheat fan over to 190C.
Mix both together. Use spray oil to grease the inside of a loaf tin and turn your mixture into it.

Bake for 15 mins at the 190C it's already at, then turn down to 160C for another 20-25 mins. It's done when you pit a skewer down into it and it comes out clean without any of the mixture on it.

Preparation for the Working Week Ahead!

So I did my weekly shopping this morning & have barely left the kitchen since I got home! All in preparation for my working week ahead.

At the office where I work there is a canteen where I could buy a relatively healthy lunch. But I am one of those people that would have the best intentions of getting a chicken & salad wrap, and then I get to the counter and visions of coleslaw & egg mayonnaise take over! So for my own good, I bring lunch and anything else I may need to get me through the day with me. Honestly without it, I wouldn't manage to stay within my points for the day!

So I have made Butternut Squash & Sweet Potato Soup and a fresh fruit salad to bring to work for the week. I've pointed the soup at 2pp per portion of which I got 5 out of this recipe and the fruit salad is 0pp which can only be a good thing! :)

For the soup -
1 Butternut Squash
1 Sweet Potato
1 Carrot
1 Onion
1 Clove garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1 ltr veg or chicken stock
1 tbsp mixed herbs
Salt & black pepper to taste

Peel & chop all your veg into 1 inch chunks. The best way I have found to tackle a butternut squash is to cut both ends off 1st. Then cut in half. Then you have flat surfaces to work from to peel. Put one of the halves flat side down on the counter and peel with a knife downwards. When that's done, cut in half downwards again. Then scoop out the inside with a spoon, much easier & safer than a knife. Then chop away to your hearts content :)
Heat the oil in a large pot on low- medium heat. Add the onion and grate in the garlic. You can finely chop your garlic either, I just find it easier to grate straight into the pot. Let soften stirring occasionally for approx 5 mins. Add your herbs, salt & pepper and stir. After another minute you can add all your other veg, toss everything around together in the pot so all the flavours rub onto each other. Then add a ltr of veg or chicken stock and stir.
Place a lid on your pot, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 mins. When done, put into a blender and blend until smooth. This will keep well for at least 3 days refrigerated. Simples! :-)

For my fruit salad I simply chopped kiwi, apples and pears. I added in tinned pineapple chunks and peach slices, both in fruit juice not syrup. Stir to mix & then squeeze the juice of a lemon or lime over your fruit and toss to coat everything in the juice. This will prevent from browning. This will also keep well for at least 3 days refrigerated. Enjoy!

Am loving the iWatcher app by the way! Fabulous that once you have pointed something it's saved to your favourites so that you never have to point it again! Anything for an easy life I say! :-)

1st WI tomorrow Evening! Mexican Chili for dinner

So I have joined back to weight watchers! As I'm sure so many others have too given the time of year! New Years Resolutions & all that. So I was in weight watchers before 2 years ago to loose weight for my wedding. I lost 1 & a half stone which was fab, and has also crept its way back on which has resulted in the determination to not only loose that, but hopefully 3 stone this time! Now this is the first I've heard of the new ProPoints system, so am trying to wrap my head around that this week. It will take some getting used to having been used to the regular points system previously. But Rome was never built in a day, and I'm not in a mad panic to loose the weight. Slow and steady wins the race, so I'm aiming for at least 1 pound a week and I'll get there for this time next year. My 1st weigh in (WI) is tomorrow evening and I am hopeful, at least that the 1st pound will have been lost, so watch this space!
In lieu of my WI tomorrow I made a gorgeous Mexican Chili with brown rice. I used 125g of lean mince at 6pp, 60g dry weight of brown rice also at 6pp, a load of veggies and spices! Veggies I used are corn, kidney beans, mushrooms, onions, chili's and garlic. All no points except the corn & kidney beans, both at 2pp for 2 tbsp. Spices are cumin, oregano and coriander, a tbsp of each.

And as I did not eat this all in one sitting obviously! I am having the leftovers in a wrap for lunch in work tomorrow! Happy days!

Fingers crossed for tomorrow evenings WI!