Macaroni Chicken and Cheese Bake

Yet another recipe you probably thought you couldn't eat on a diet!

Unlike a typical macaroni cheese, there is hardly any fat in the sauce so as it heats up it separates, so don't think you've done anything wrong if it doesn't look right when cooked.

This dish is actually better the next day when it's cold, the sauce sets and becomes creamy and the flavours develops.

Just cut it into portions and have with a salad or as a snack.

Syn free if the cheese is your daily healthy A

Serves 6

Preheat oven 200c, 400f, gas mark 5

Ingredients

300g dried macaroni

2 skinless boneless chicken breasts chopped

6 spring onions chopped

2 garlic cloves finely chopped

8 oz mushrooms sliced

200g cherry tomatoes

400ml vegetable stock

4 tbsp tomato puree

200g quark

1 tsp English mustard

2 eggs beaten

180g full fat cheese or 240g reduced fat cheese

salt and pepper

Method

Cook the macaroni as per packet instructions.

Brown the chicken in a pan with frylight, then add the spring onions, mushrooms and garlic, salt and pepper fry for 4 minutes.

Mix the cooked macaroni into the chicken mixture.
Add the cherry tomatoes.

Mix together the stock, tomato puree, quark, mustard, and eggs, pour into the pasta, add half the cheese and mix together.

Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the top and bake for 30 minutes, till golden and cooked through.

Let cool, then refrigerate over night and slice into 6 portions.

You can eat it when its hot, but i personally prefer it cold.

Jalapeno Cheese Burger

Cheese burgers on Slimming World!! Can't be true?
Oh but it is and what's even better they are SYN FREE!!

Syn free if the cheese and bread are used as your healthy A and B.

Makes 4 burgers

Ingredients

500g extra lean mince beef (5% or less)

2 tsp Worcester sauce

½ tsp garlic salt

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

4 small wholemeal rolls

lettuce

onion slices

tomato slices

4 slices of low low toastie cheese

4 tsp extra light mayonnaise (optional)

sliced jalapenos

Method

Mix together the beef, worcester sauce, garlic salt and pepper, make into 4 patties and chill for 30 minutes.

Heat a frying pan with frylight and brown the rolls on the insides.

Fry the patties for 4 minutes, don't move or fiddle with the patties until they are to be turned over. Once you have turned them, cover them with a bowl to steam for 2 minutes then top the patties with the jalapenos and a slice of cheese, cover again till the cheese has melted.

Spread 1 tsp of mayonnaise on each roll (optional), top with the lettuce, onion and tomato, then place a patty on top and the top of the bun.

Serve with syn free chips and a salad.

Syn Free Chips

How to make perfect syn free chips!

The type of potato is very important, and i always use Maris Pipers, they are always fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside.

Preheat oven to 200c, 400f, gas mark 5

Ingredients

1 lb Maris Piper potato
sunflower frylight
salt
paprika

Method

Peel and cut the chips.
Parboil the chips till slightly tender, drain them and shake them up slightly to make them rough on the outside. let the dry out.

Spray a baking tray with the frylight, spread out the chips in a single layer and spray with frylight, then sprinkle with the salt and paprika. bake in the oven for 15 minutes then remove from the oven turn the chips and spray again with fry light, bake for another 15 minutes till golden and crispy.

Spicy Squid and Shrimp Salad

I had some squid in the fridge and wanted to make a nice salad to take on a picnic, instead of having the usual sandwiches. So decided to make a light and refreshing dressing for the squid, then remembered i had some shrimp in the freezer, so decided to add them too.

The salad turned out lovely the squid and shrimp were so tender and the dressing had a kick and a zing!

Syn free on extra easy.

Ingredients

8 oz baby squid cleaned and cut into rings
20 raw shrimp
1 yellow pepper finely diced
½ cucumber seeds removed and finely diced
1 red chilli deseeded
1 garlic clove
juice of 1 lemon
½ tsp sweetener
salt and pepper to taste
A handful mint leaves finely chopped

Method

In a blender, blitz the chilli, garlic, lemon juice, sweetener and salt and pepper. Mix in the mint, cucumber and yellow pepper.

In a very hot wok or frying pan, sprayed with olive oil frylight, fry the squid and shrimp for 2-3 minutes and the shrimp turn pink. Add to the dressing and let stand until it's room temperature.

A Simple Ham And Cheese Toastie

I was craving a toasted sandwich, so thought i would test out making one with the butter frylight and low fat cheese.

I was surprisingly impressed the outside was crispy and not at all soggy, and the cheese melted well.

The sandwich is syn free on extra easy as long as you use the cheese as your healthy A.


You can use any filling you like.

How about,
ham, egg and mushroom,
smoked salmon, capers and gouda,
roasted red peppers, red onion and goats cheese,

too name but a few!!!

Ingredients

2 slices of wholemeal bread from a 400g loaf
Ham as much as you like,
30g of full fat cheese or 40g reduced fat cheese,
Butter frylight

Method

Spray the outside of each slice of bread, layer the fillings between the bread and toast in a panini press till golden brown and cheese has melted.

Oyster Chicken with Ginger and Mushrooms

This is a very tasty Chinese dish and you can make it as spicy as you like.

Serve it with noodles or rice.

8 syns for the total dish on extra easy, 4 syns per portion.

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts diced

Salt and pepper

1 tbsp potato flour  (3 syns on extra easy)

1 tbsp Shaxoing rice wine (1 syn on extra easy)

1 punnet of oriental mushrooms

1 head of broccoli

2 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tbsp oyster sauce (2 syns on extra easy)

2 tbsp chilli sauce (2 syns on extra easy)

1 inch ginger grated

200 ml cold vegetable stock

Method

Mix the chicken, salt and pepper and potato flour together.

Mix together the soy sauce, oyster sauce, chilli sauce and the grated ginger with the stock.

In a hot wok sprayed with frylight brown the chicken for 3 minutes, then sprinkle with the rice wine.

Add the broccoli with a tbsp of water to create some steam to help it cook, cook for 2 minutes, add the mushrooms and fry for 1 minute then stir in the sauce and simmer till the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened.

Serve with rice or noodles.

Chicken Vindaloo

A Chicken Vindaloo, doesn't have to always be blow your head off hot, you can control how much heat you like, by the amount of chilli you add.

This recipe is syn free on extra easy.

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2 Onions thinly sliced
6 garlic cloves crushed
1 inch piece of ginger finely chopped
½ pint chicken stock
2 tsp turmeric
2 tomatoes skinned and deseeded

Vindaloo Paste

2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp chilli flakes (about madras strength, adjust to taste)
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp cardamom seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp sweetener

Method

To make the paste put all the whole and dry spices into a spice grinder and grind to a powder, mix with the rest of the paste ingredients.

Cut the chicken into chunks and rub the paste into it, marinade for at least an hour.

Spray a large pan with frylight and fry the onions till soft and golden, add the garlic and ginger, fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the stock and boil for 10 minutes, stir in the turmeric and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the chicken, tomatoes and ¼ pint water, bring to a boil then simmer for 45 minutes, until the chicken is cooked and the sauce has thickened.

Serve with boiled rice or on a baked potato, with a lovely bowl of salad.

Syn Free Pancakes

These pancakes are syn free if you use the oats as your healthy B.
The maple syrup is obviously synful at 2 syns per tablespoonful.


Makes 3 pancakes

Ingredients

35 g rolled oats
2 eggs beaten
3 tsp sweetener
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp of a muller light yogurt (more if needed)
1 tsp baking powder (optional) if you use add 0.5 syn.




Method

Blend all the ingredients together till smooth and the consistency of extra thick cream.

Spray a frying pan with frylight and pour in a third of the mixture cook for 3 minutes on each side till air bubbles appear and they are golden.

Bang Bang Chicken Noodle Salad

This is a lovely light and refreshing meal, full of Asian flavours.

9 syns for the whole dish on extra easy

Serves 8/10

Ingredients

1 small packet rice noodles

3 skinless chicken breasts roasted and shredded

½ cucumber shredded

2 carrots shredded

8 spring onions halved and finely sliced lengthways

8 radishes finely sliced

Half bag of bean sprouts

Handful each of coriander and mint leaves roughly chopped

2 cm ginger grated

1 garlic clove grated

200ml chicken stock

1 cinnamon stick

1 tsp sweetener

2 tbsp reduced fat peanut butter

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 lime juiced

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

Method

Put the ginger, garlic, chilli flakes, cinnamon stick and stock in a saucepan and bring to the boil, remove from the heat and let sit for 15 minutes.

Blend the peanut butter, sweetener, soy sauce, sesame oil and lime juice together till smooth, add the stock mixture, removing the cinnamon stick and blend again.

Mix together all the other ingredients then pour over the dressing mix together and let it stand for 20 minutes for the dressing to be absorbed and the flavours to mature, then serve.

Tuna Pasta Bake

What can i say!! 

This is one of my all time favourite comfort food meals, to be honest it didn't take much alteration to make it syn free on extra easy.
Only free if the cheese is your healthy A.


Serves 4/6 depending how hungry you are!

Preheat oven 200c, 400f, gas mark 5

Ingredients

300g dried pasta cooked until it's slightly underdone.
2 tins of tuna in spring water or brine
8 oz mushrooms chopped
2 red peppers diced, jar or fresh
2 red chillies deseeded and chopped
2 tbsp capers
1 large onion chopped
1 tin of tomatoes
1 tub passata
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp celery salt
Fresh ground pepper
120g grated full fat cheddar or 160g grated reduced fat cheddar

Method

Spray a large pan with frylight and fry the onions till soft, add the mushrooms and fry for 2/3 minutes, then add the peppers, chillies, capers, oregano, celery salt and pepper, stir together and cook for 1/2 minutes, add the tuna, tomatoes and passata simmer for 5 minutes stir occasionally. Stir in the cooked pasta pour into a large oven proof dish, and sprinkle over the cheese, bake in the oven for 25 minutes.

Chocolate Banana Ice cream

This is so simple and so delicious!

There is some debate about the syns on this delicious delicacy. As the banana has been blended it is 4 syns, plus one syn for the cocoa powder on extra easy. a lot of people refuse to syn this as they were having a banana anyway, so the choice is yours.

To syn or not to syn??? that is the question!!!


Ingredients

1 peeled banana
1 tbsp cocoa powder

Method

Freeze the peeled banana.
When frozen blend with the cocoa powder till smooth and serve straight away.

Feeling Peckish!!

Fruit

Edamame Beans

Pickles

Here is some ideas for syn free  snacks if you're feeling peckish!

Super free snacks are even better for you, but snacking on free foods is still better than synful foods.

If you want to snack on foods to help you speed up your weight loss look for speed or super speed  foods, heres a list of some to name but a few!

Super Speed

Grapefruit, melon, strawberries, blackberries, peas.

Speed 

gherkins, pickled onions, pickled chillies, apples, cherries, kiwis, oranges, pears, pineapple, and lots more!!!

Crab Sticks

Fat Free Yogurts

Skinless and fatless Chicken

Eggs

Super Speed Soup

This soup is perfect if you want to speed up your weight lose, or top up your super free food.
This batch makes about 8 large portions.


Ingredients

1 tin mixed bean salad
1 tin green lentils
2 tins tomatoes
1 tin baked beans
A handful split lentils
1 inch of fresh ginger
3 cloves of garlic
2 large leeks
1 large onion
4 carrots
2 parsnips
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 orange pepper
2 vegetable stock cubes
Pepper
Mixed herbs
1 tsp celery salt
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp soy sauce

Method

Chop up all the vegetables, put everything into a large pan, give it a stir, fill with water till everything is covered. Bring to a boil then simmer for about 20 minutes till everything is tender.
You can eat it chunky or blend it till its smooth.

Spaghetti Carbonara with Shrimp

Bet you never thought you could eat this while doing Slimming World!!
To make it even better it is syn free on extra easy if you use the cheese as you healthy A.


Serves 2

Ingredients

200g dried spaghetti cooked as per packet instructions.
4 rashers of bacon bacon all fat removed and chopped up.
3 eggs
3 tbsp quark
60g grated Parmesan
20 shrimp pre cooked
salt and pepper

Method

Beat the eggs with the quark, add half the Parmesan, and salt and pepper. Set aside.

Fry the bacon with some frylight till cooked through then add the spaghetti and the egg mixture to the pan, stirring gently over a low heat till the egg starts to set.
 Add the shrimp warm through then serve, sprinkling with the remaining Parmesan.

A Simple Ham Salad

The title says it all, the only time consuming part is all the chopping and making the dressing.
To be honest you can put whatever you like in the salad but this one was so   tasty i had to add it!


Ingredients

1/2 bottle of cheap balsamic vinegar
Mixed Lettuce leaves
Cherry Tomatoes
Celery the heart and the leaves
Capers
Cucumber
Radishes
Spring onions
Lean ham with all the fat cut off

Method

Tip the balsamic vinegar into a pan and boil down to half, so its thicker and sticky, set aside to cool.

Chop up all your vegetables and mix with the salad leaves, dice the ham and mix through.

Drizzle over the reduced balsamic dressing and serve.

Didn't i say it was easy!! Oh just one tip, don't lean over the pan when its boiling and breath in, the fumes can be quite lethal!!

Thai Crab Cakes

These are Absolutely Delicious!!!

There is hardly any filler so full of crab meat, they are moist on the inside and crispy on the outside, light and zingy to the taste. Delicious served with syn free chips and a mixed salad.
They are also FREE on extra easy, if you use your healthy extra B.


Makes 6 crab cakes

Ingredients

600g crab meat
1 stalk of lemongrass, tough outer leaves removed
1 red chilli, deseeded if you wish
2 spring onions
A handful of coriander roughly chopped
1 lime zested and juiced
100g fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs
1 egg beaten

Method

Blend the lemongrass, chilli and spring onions till its coarsely chopped.

Mix with the crab meat and the chopped coriander, add the lime zest and juice, mix together, then bind with the egg and bread crumbs.

Make into 6 patties and chill for 30 minutes, to make them firmer and easier to handle.

Spray a pan with fry light and fry each side for 6-8 minutes over a medium heat, don't fiddle with them as they will fall apart.

Serve when crisp and golden.

Chicken Hash

This is pure comfort food!!

Who would have thought you could eat food like this on Slimming World!
Well you can and to top it off this meal is syn free on extra easy!
The cheese is your healthy extra A.


Serves 2

Ingredients

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts  roasted with fry light for 20 minutes at 200c, 400f, gas mark 5.
1 lb maris piper potatoes, peeled and cubed, then roast for 30 minutes with fry light, turning and spraying again half way through.
1 onion chopped
8 oz mushrooms chopped
1 red pepper chopped
1 cup jalapenos
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp worcester sauce
2 tsp smoked paprika
Salt and pepper
2 eggs fried in fry light or poached
70g full fat cheddar or 90g half fat cheddar grated

Method

While chicken and potatoes are roasting fry the onion with fry light till soft, add the mushrooms and onions and fry for 2 minutes.
Add the jalapenos, tomato paste, worcester sauce, paprika and salt and pepper, cook out for 5 minutes.
Chop the chicken into cubes and add to the onion mixture, then stir in the potatoes, sprinkle over the cheese and melt in oven for 3 minutes.
Top with an egg and serve.