Gammon, Hash Omelette

I cooked a gammon joint in the slow cooker and it came out amazing, i added nothing to it, just the joint and cooked it on low for 8 hours.
It was used for snacks, sandwiches, salads and this delicious omelette.
It is syn free on extra easy.

Ingredients

3 eggs beaten
salt and pepper
200g cooked gammon chopped
250g mushrooms chopped
½ onion diced
½ cup jalapeños
1 tsp Cajun seasoning

Method

In a frying pan sprayed with butter frylight, fry the onions and mushrooms until golden, season with salt and pepper, add the Cajun seasoning, fry for 1 minute, add the gammon and fry for 1 minute. Pour over the egg cook for 2 minutes, then place under a grill until just cooked through, and serve.

Fruity Rice Pudding

I expect you all know the recipe for the syn free rice pudding, but i thought i would post my version. I must admit i was very sceptical about a rice pudding made with cream soda and no milk or cream, but i have to admit it is very good!

I much prefer it cold with lots of fruit in it.

Although it is syn free on extra easy, please be careful because if you eat too much of it, it may affect your weight loss. If you find you aren't losing while having this delicious dessert it could be down to eating too much!

Ingredients

2 litres low calories or no added sugar cream soda

400g pudding rice

1 vanilla pod or 1 tsp vanilla extract

I used ½ tube of Muller light vanilla yoghurt per serving

Selection of fruit to serve

Method

Pour the cream soda and rice into the slow cooker, split the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds add the seeds and pod to the slow cooker, i set my slow cooker to 4 hours as that was my shortest high setting.

Stir every now and then.

I divided mine into 8 portions and each time i had one i stirred in ½ tube of yoghurt and a selection of fruit.

Best served cold.

Scotch Eggs

Perfect for breakfast, lunch, a picnic or snacks, low syns, but that all depends on the sausages you use.
I used Tesco's cumberland low fat sausages for these, it took 1.5 sausages to wrap the egg, so it worked out at 1.5 syns each.
I like to soft boil the eggs, so they are still soft and creamy when completely cooked.

Preheat oven 200c, 400f, gas mark 5

Ingredients

4 large eggs
6 low fat sausages
salt and pepper
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp italian seasoning

Method

Put the eggs in a pan of cold water, bring to a boil then time 3 minutes, for soft boiled eggs.
Rinse in cold water immediately.
When cold peel and rinse off any shell, dry in paper towel.
Peel the skin off the sausages and mix together with the rest of the ingredients, divide into four equal portions. Lay out some clingfilm and place one of the portions in the middle cover with another piece and flatten the meat until it's big enough to cover the eggs, fold around the egg and roll into a ball using the cling film. It stops the meat from sticking to your hands.

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, lay on a baking tray sprayed with frylight and spray again, bake for 20 minutes, turning halfway through.

Bubble and Squeak

I love a good fry up and i love that you can eat them when doing Slimming World and as long as you cut all the fat off the bacon and syn the sausages. The rest is syn free on extra easy. Tesco, Asda and Sainsburys do low syn sausages, which are actually quite tasty.

Got some left over potatoes and cabbage, then why not knock up some bubble and squeak to go with your fry up, don't worry if you haven't any leftovers as it is just as good cooked from fresh.

Ingredients

1lb potatoes peeled, boiled

half a green cabbage shredded and cooked

1 red onion chopped

1 tsp mixed herbs

½ tsp cayenne pepper

salt and pepper

Method

In a frying pan sprayed with frylight, fry the onion until its soft.

In a large bowl, mash the potato, red onion, and cabbage together, stir in the mixed herbs, cayenne pepper and season.

Roll in balls and flatten out into patties, chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

In a frying pan sprayed with frylight, fry the patties for about 4 minutes each side until they are golden and cooked through.

Serve with a fry up, or fish, chicken, beef, they are so versatile you could serve them with lots of dishes.

Maple Cinnamon Quinoa Bake

I had better warn you from the start there is a bit of debate about the syns on these bakes!!

As any good consultant will tell you these are considered a tweak, which means as the main ingredient is being used for something other than a main meal, (the "supposedly" thing it is meant to be used for) you may eat more than you normally would, which can cause weight gain, so hence a tweak.

So it is totally up to you what you want to syn these at, if you find you do eat a lot and start gaining then it could well be down to these bakes, it is all about the individual.

To be honest, i don't think you could eat many of these at a time as i find them very filling and normal one is enough.

They are great with a dollop of yogurt and fruit, or as a grab and go breakfast bar, but just as nice eaten plain with a nice cup of tea or coffee.

I made 20 out of my batch, so mine worked out at 0.5 syns each, as the whole batch is 10 syns, but that is only if you don't syn the quinoa.

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

Ingredients

2 cups of uncooked quinoa cooked as per packet instructions and cooled

4 eggs beaten

80ml skimmed milk 2 syns

60ml maple syrup 8 syns

1 tsp vanilla extract

1.5 tbsp ground cinnamon

Method

In a large bowl mix together all the ingredients, then pour into a baking tray lined with parchment paper and sprayed with frylight, smooth it out and bake in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes until golden and set.

remove from the baking tray straight away so it doesn't steam. 

Cut the slab into portions and put onto a oven proof wire rack and put back in the oven for 10 minutes so the edges crisp.

You could always add nuts and raisins or cranberries to them, or maybe some chocolate chips, but these thing would have to be syned.

Sweet Quinoa with Fruit and Yogurt

As i have now joined the gym i figured it was about time to start eating breakfast. Yes i know i should always have breakfast but i really can't face food first thing in the morning.

One dish i do like for breakfast is granola, but as it's synful, and i've yet to find a syn free recipe, i thought i'd try something else. I didn't want to use up my healthy A & B allowance on breakfast so i figured i'd try quinoa, i've seen some recipes floating around for breakfast so decide to make up one of my own. Its very simple and surprisingly tasty!!

You can use any yogurt you like and any fruit, but this is what i used.

Syn free on extra easy

Ingredients

1 cup of quinoa

½ cup fat free greek yogurt, or any syn free yogurt you like.

Handful strawberries sliced

1 banana sliced

3 tsp sweetener

1 tbsp maple syrup (optional 2 syns)

Method

Cook the quinoa as per packet instructions using water, you can use milk but that will make it synful or use your healthy A, add the sweetener to the water before cooking. Let the quinoa go cold. This should make enough for 3/4 servings. Store in the fridge.

Then it's as simple as layering it all or just mix it up in a bowl. If you use maple syrup pour over the top and serve.