Slow Cooked Italian Pot Roast

I love a great roast on a sunday, but most of the time haven't got the time to do it, so cooking my beef in the slow cooker really helped and the meat was so moist and tender too.
This dish is syn free on extra easy and there is loads of leftovers which could go great with pasta, rice or a jacket potato.

You need to make up a onion mix for the dish, it is very simple and makes the dish taste great. Don't worry about the amount of onion in it as you can't taste it in the end.

Ingredients

1 large onion sliced
8oz cremini mushrooms sliced
2 carrots roughly chopped
2lb braising steak all fat removed
300 ml beef stock
500 ml passata
3 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp italian seasoning

Onion Mix

8 tsp dried onion flakes
1.5 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp turmeric
½ tsp celery salt
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp sweetener
¼ tsp freshly ground pepper

Mix them all together.

Method

In a slow cooker, layer the onion, carrot and mushrooms on the bottom, lay the beef on top, sprinkle over the onion mix and pour over the passata and beef stock, mix in the tomato puree and Italian seasoning. Set to cook on low for 8 hrs. Break up the beef and serve covered with the sauce.

Fiery Asian Slaw

This is a great side dish for fish, chicken, beef, pork anything really!!
It is crunchy, has a kick and is so tasty that it gets your taste buds tingling and your mouth begging for more as so many flavours bounce off your tongue!!

Unfortunately it isn't syn free, but with all these fantastic superfree ingredients and so much flavour it is worth the small amount of syns it is!!

The whole batch is 5 syns on extra easy and i reckon as a side or in a salad it served about 4 people.

Ingredients

1 bag of slaw mix, i got mine from Asda, it had a ranch dressing in it, which my hubby had on his salad.
100ml fresh orange juice  2 syns
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil  2 syns
1 tbsp hot chilli sauce (sriracha) 0.5 syns
1 tsp grated ginger
½ tsp honey  0.5 syns
handful chopped coriander

Method

It couldn't be simpler, whisk all the wet ingredients together, then mix in the rest. let it rest for at least 30 minutes to let the flavours infuse.

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.

Greek Lamb Hotpot

I really felt like making a Moussaka, but didn't want to use lots of syns on the sauce that goes with it, so i made a lamb ragu and layered it with potatoes and sprinkled with feta cheese, you can use aubergine too for the layers.
The feta cheese cuts through the richness of the lamb, without all the fat and syns.
 Its a cross between a Moussaka and Hotpot.

3.5 syns per portion on extra easy as long as you use the Feta as your healthy A, if not add 6 syns.


Serves 6

Preheat oven 200c, 400f, gas mark 5

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves finely chopped
1 large onion chopped
2 carrots finely diced
1 punnet cremini/chestnut mushrooms
1 kg less 16% fat minced lamb
1 tbsp dried mint
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 tin chopped tomatoes
500ml passata
1 tbsp tomato puree
500ml lamb or chicken stock
1 lb potatoes thinly sliced
Butter frylight
45g feta cheese per portion

Method

In a large pan sprayed with sunflower frylight brown the mince lamb then remove and set aside.
Fry the onions until they are soft and golden, add the garlic, carrots and mushrooms, fry for 3 minutes.
Return the lamb to the pan, add all the herbs and spices, stir together then add the tomatoes, passata, puree and stock, season with salt and pepper.
Bring to the boil then simmer for 2 hours stirring occasionally.
When the ragu is cooked, layer the ragu and potatoes in an oven proof dish, with ragu on the bottom and potatoes as the top layer, spray the top layer of potatoes with the butter frylight and bake for 40 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through. If the top starts to get too brown cover with kitchen foil.
Serve up and sprinkle with the feta cheese.

Delicious served with a Greek Salad

Chicken Donburi Yakitori

This is a Japanese dish that was inspired from a trip to a wonderful Japanese restaurant we visit in Bristol called Yume Kitchen.
Even if i say so myself, it's not far off the restaurants dish!!

This dish is 4½ syns for the whole thing, so depending how many it serves, depends on the syns per portion.


Serves 4

Ingredients

3 skinless and boneless chicken breasts sliced
12 large shrimp
4 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 packet of medium egg noodles
2 carrots cut into matchsticks
1 red pepper thinly sliced
6 asparagus spears sliced
1 punnet of oriental mushrooms
a large handful of edamame bean (soy beans)
3 tbsp tariyaki sauce (1½ syns per tbsp)
200ml chicken stock
4 Nori seaweed strips

Method

Cook the noodles as per pack instructions.
Put the sliced chicken in a bowl and stir in the dark soy sauce.
Heat a wok sprayed with sunflower frylight and stir fry the chicken until its nearly cooked through, reserve the soy sauce, add the vegetables and stir fry for 2 minutes.
Pour in the Tariyaki sauce and stock bring to a boil add the noodles and shrimp,and if needed some of the reserved dark soy, stir fry until the shrimp are cooked and serve with thin strips of Nori seaweed snipped on top.

Sticky Lemon and Garlic Pork

This is a gorgeous Asian dish, full of crunchy vegetables and tender pork.

Syn free on extra easy.


Serves 4

Ingredients

1 large pork tenderloin sliced thinly
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 lemon juiced
4 garlic cloves
3 cm fresh ginger
1 red chilli
1 large onion roughly chopped
1 carrot shaved with a peeler or cut into matchsticks
½ bag of bean sprouts
1 tin of bamboo shoots
1 red pepper thinly sliced
1 punnet of oriental mushrooms
small handful coriander leaves
Rice or noodles to serve.

Method

In a blender blitz the garlic, ginger and chilli. Mix with the soy sauces, and lemon juice. Marinade the pork for up to an hour.
In a wok sprayed with frylight, stir fry the pork till browned then add all the vegetables and rest of the marinade, stir fry for 5 to 6 minutes till pork cooked through and vegetables are to your liking. serve garnished with the coriander leaves.

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.