Chips?!? on Slimming world?!?

These are pretty quick and taste great :)

Technically, they are SW roast potatoes - but they work just fine !

Put the oven on to preheat - I use 250C (max) .
Peel and cut a few potatoes into  strips.

Wash the cut potatoes thoroughly to remove the surface starch. Then add to a pan of cold water.
Add a tablespoon of vinegar and a dash of salt.
Bring to the boil and boil for just three minutes - like an egg :).

 Drain the potatoes and leave for a minute to dry. Turn them over gently, or shake gently to roughen up the edges.
I usually add a quick shake of salt or a sprinkling of stock cube for extra flavour - some people also suggest mixing in a tsp of marmite or bovril.







I have a couple of 'chip trays' from lidl - they have holes in the bottom and bumps to allow air to circulate. There are also 'mesh' trays that are very good. If you're stuck, a cooling rack or baking sheet would do.
Spray well with frylight.
Tip the dried potatoes  onto the sheets and spread out well - try to avoid one bg pile.
I gave in to my OCD tendancies and arranged them across the bumps - this allows air to get underneath.






 Cook for 20 minutes on highest setting, then give a shake. If your oven has a 'hot spot' or side, move the crispy ones to the other corner and put the less done ones where the crispy ones were.
Check every few minutes and keep turning - a good oven glove and plastic slice are very handy.


After about 30 minutes (in my oven) they are about done.
They may not go completely brown on every side: try a few with some salt and vinegar and see what you think.

Make sure you add 1/3 speed food - tomatoes or mushrooms might  be a good choice - and maybe 1/3 protein such as eggs, lean ham, or trimmed bacon.

Lovely :)

SW Chocolate brownies

SW Chocolate brownies: (based on http://mydietjourney.co.uk/recipes/slimming-world-chocolate-brownies-half-a-syn-each-makes-25-brownies/)

6 eggs (whites separated)
75g cocoa (12.5 syns)
1/2 tsp baking powder
60-70g of granulated sweetener
1/2 tsp almond or vanilla essence
25g icing sugar (5 syns)
(optional - but helps : 1/4 to 1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum (Gluten Free Baking additive)

Whip egg whites with a few drops lemon juice (and xanthan gum) until stiff.

Mix about half the cocoa and sweetener together. 

mix the rest of the cocoa and sweetener, essence, baking powder and egg yolks, and a few tablespoons of boiling water. It should be a bit sloppy - not like a paste

Fold in the dry cocoa and sweetener, and then the egg yolk mix into the whites. **mix slowly and leave small bits unmixed - it'll be fine  you're trying to keep all the air in the egg white. Don't worry about a perfect mix.

Prepare a flat tray or tin - I use a PTFE non-stick 'oven liner' plastic sheet on top of a shallow tray, and then spray with fry light. Alternatively use good greaseproof paper and fry light well.

Pour mix onto the tray and spread to even thickness - about 2 cm.

I bake in a very hot oven (250C - max) for about 10-20 mins until knife comes out clean. It may sink a little while cooling - that's normal. I find if I turn it onto a cooling rack straightaway, and then peel off the baking sheet it doesn't stick too much. 

once cool, mix 25-50g of icing sugar with a tiny bit of water and drizzle artistically onto the top. Cut the very edges off (together they count as 1 slice) and then cut into 8 long strips, then in half for 16 fingers.

I usually mix 50g icing and drizzle half of it - because trying to scrape every last bit out is impossible. However, make sure to place the other half straight in the sink with fairy to avoid .... 'accidents'.

In total, it's about 18.5 sins the whole mix : edges count 1, then 16 parts - just a smidgen over 1 syn per slice. 

Ideal for coffee mornings and taster evenings 

Cinnamon apple fingers

100g self raising flour (18 syns)

6 eggs, separated (f)
1 tsp lemon juicee
1/2 tsp yellow colour (f)
1 tsp vanilla essence (f)
30g sweetener (almost half a big tub)

200g of stewed apple (5 syns) - use sweetener

10g butter (3.5 syns)
10g sweetener (about half a mug of fluffy sweetener)
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg


whisk eggwhites with lemon juice and whip until soft peaks form.

Mix flour and sweeteener and gently fold in. Mix egg yolks, yellow and vanilla and fold in.

Spread out on frylight covered baking sheet (use paper or flexible baking sheet).

cook on 200C for about 20 mins until brown / done.

melt butter and mix with sweetener /cinnamon/nutmeg together to form a crumbly mixture. May need to add more sweetener - it will soak up the butter and become almost like crumble.

Spread apple over cooled base and sprinkle on the cinnamon/sweetner mix with fingers.
Cut into 16 long fingers.

Total : 18 + 5 + 3.5 = 26.5
per slice = 1.65 syns each. call it 1.5 for one, 3 for two, and 5 for three (easily done!)

Taste fantastic warmed with a dollop of cold sweetened fromage frais!

Mushroom couscous

1 cup couscous (f)
1 tsp chopped dried mushrooms (f)
1 chicken stock cube (f)
1/2 tsp Lidl 'stirfry' seasoning (f) (or any flavouring you like)
1/2 tsp umami powder (f) (or worcester sauce)


7 large mushrooms (sf)
3 slices lean ham (f)
2 eggs (f)




Mix dry ingredients.
Add boiling water and mix. Wait 5 mins.

Chop mushrooms and fry/boil in a few tbsp water. Chop and add ham. Add to coucous.

Scramble eggs and add.

Yum. Dead quick (about 10 mins start to finish) and lovely.

Serves 2 normal people or one very hungry one.

Future me

Future me is the worst person at sticking to a diet. I can leave group all fired up, really enthusiastic - but a few days later, after work, tired, hungry, annoyed (after having one of 'those' days at work), motivation seems a forgotten dream and it's all too easy to say "F*ck it. Order a pizza."

How do I stop future me sabotaging weight loss?

Well, future me is lazy. Let's make it easier to stay on the plan than it is to wander off the path.

I keep a couple of tins of Sainsbury's beef ravioli (f), and a few free mugshots in a draw at work. We have a microwave, but it can be eaten straight out of the tin cold in an emergency. This is my emergency rations - this means that it's easier to eat the tin than 'have' to go out and get a sandwich as I've 'forgotten' my lunch.
This means that it becomes a choice between eating the tin (on plan) OR going to waitrose, buying a pack of ham or cooked chicken, and a bag of mixed salad (on plan) - and it still comes to about the same cost as a sandwich.

Actually going off plan would mean going to the shops - buying a sandwich - coming back - and eating it. This is more effort than the tin, so I can't use the excuse I'm tired. And, if I can go to the shops, chicken and salad is the same effort and cost as a sandwich, so no excuse there. Future me cannot think of any reason to justify my behaviour, so it becomes easier to stay on plan.

Beware future me... my own worst enemy.... :)

Macaroni cheese

At their request, I made the NonDieters some Macaroni Cheese. This used to be a meal I liked...

Until I had my SW Macaroni Cheese version!

Macaroni or Penne (wholewheat) (f)

35g fat reduced strong cheese (+7 syns OR HexA)
2 slices lean ham (f)

10 large mushrooms (f) chopped and cooked in 1/2 inch of water and a stock cube

Sauce:
1 cup cottage cheese (f)
1/4 tsp guar gum
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
large pinch salt
large pinch pepper
1 egg (f)

***This will look awful during the cooking process.
Add the cottage cheese to a saucepan and heat (med). The cottage cheese will separate into an awful watery substance and lumps of white - do not panic! Blitz with stick blender. This will form more watery, lumpy mess with smaller lumps.
Do not worry - we are going to add an emulsifier (Xanthan gum) that will fix the texture.
Remove from heat and add the Xanthan gum and guar gum. Blitz again with blender, until smooth.
Heat till boiling, applying the blender if needed.  This will allow the mixture to turn back into a sauce. You may find that it becomes far too thick - if so, add some boiling water and blitz. When boiling, remove from heat and allow to cool for a couple of minutes, then add one egg then blitz more until smooth. The egg will cook in the residual heat and thicken slightly.
Add salt and pepper generously (this will help reduce any overly acidic notes of the cottage cheese).

Drain the pasta and add a few large spoonfuls of sauce, mixing to cover the pasta.

Add about half a portion to a serving plate, then sprinkle on about half the cheese. Add the other half a portion on top. Roll the two ham slices (free!) and place on top, then sprinkle with remaining cheese and place under the grill.
Add 1/3 superfree mushrooms and serve! Mushrooms work really well, as they fit nicely with the ham to make a carbonara flavour. Other vegetables are also available :).

SW Yellow (saffron) Spaghetti

Based on a Yellow Spaghetti recipe by Nigella Lawson

Wholewheat spaghetti (f)
Saffron (1/2 tsp) - expensive! (f)
3 eggs (f)
1/2 stock cube (f)

Side veg:
Mushrooms (f)
leeks (sf)

(optional)
15 g or 30g of Grana padano cheese (3.5 or 7 syns)

Put pasta on to boil.
In a small pan, add half a cup of water and the saffron and stock cube.  gently boil.

when pasta is done, add a cup of the starchy pasta water to the sauce. * remove from heat / turn off*.  Crack eggs  and whisk into the yellow sauce. Drain the pasta and place back in the saucepan, and then pour in the sauce and mix thouroughly.

Although the eggs are raw, they will cook and thicken in the heat of the pasta. (if you're worried, warm a little on the stove - whisking hard).

Serve with an extra portion of veg (e.g. mushrooms and onions) and optionally mix in 15g or 30g strong cheese - either as syns or as a healthy extra A.

Basic sauce and pasta are free : made enough for 3 :)