Basil Pesto

A recipe I found on the SW site that I've tweaked slightly. It's a non-oily pesto recipe that's a perfect accompaniment to pasta. It's 1.5 syns per portion or free if counting the parmesan towards your HEXa.

Serves 4

Extra Easy - 1.5 syns per portion or HEXa

Ingredients
50g (ish) fresh Basil leaves
100g fat free Fromage Frais
50ml Vegetable stock
2 Garlic cloves, roughly chopped
4 tbsps grated Parmesan cheese (6 syns or HEXa)
Mixed Herbs
Salt & Black Pepper

Method
1. Put all of the ingredients into a food processor and blast until it resembles a thin paste.
2. It's a simple as that!

N.B. If you like a bit of spice, add half a small roughly chopped red chilli to the food processor with the rest of the ingredients.

Magic Porridge

This is a very popular recipe on MiniMins and works great as a filling breakfast. You can use any type/flavour of yoghurt you like, but after a bit of experimentation I found that Mullerlight Vanilla works best for me. Have fun trying out different flavours and fruit combinations!

Serves 1

Extra Easy - 0 syns, HEXb

Ingredients
35g Porridge Oats, unflavoured (HEXb)
Mullerlight Vanilla
1 Banana, sliced
Blueberries

Method
1. Put the porridge and yoghurt into a cereal bowl and stir thoroughly until the oats are completely coated.
2. Cover the bowl in clingfilm and put in the fridge overnight.
3. In the morning, add the banana and blueberries (or any fruit you like) and serve.

Hunters Chicken

Since the OH has been doing SW with me I've been making an effort to make "boy-friendly" meals. This one went down a treat and it will now be a firm favourite in our house!

Serves 2

Extra Easy - 1 syn per portion, HEXa

Ingredients
2 Chicken Breasts
2 tbsps BBQ Sauce (2 syns)
40g reduced fat Cheddar (HEXa), grated
2 Bacon medallions
Mixed Herbs
Salt & Black Pepper

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200C and line a oven proof dish with tin foil.
2. Place the chicken breasts in the dish and sprinkle with mixed herbs and seasoning.
3. Top each breast with 1 tbsp BBQ sauce then sprinkle on 15g of reduced fat cheddar onto each breast. Place a bacon medallion on top of the cheese and put in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the chicken has completely cooked through.
4. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and place back in the oven until the cheese has melted. Serve with SW chips or wedges and vegetables.

Bacon & Cheese Burger

This homemade lovely is much better than a takeaway, and it's completely free if using your HEXa & HEXb.

Serves 2

Extra Easy - 0 syns, HEXa, HEXb

Ingredients
250g extra lean mince beef
Half a red onion, finely chopped
2 slices of bacon, fat removed
60g reduced fat Cheddar, sliced (HEXa)
2 x 60g wholemeal rolls (HEXb)
Salt & Black Pepper
Mixed Herbs
Frylight

Method
1. Fry the onion in frylight until softened.
2. In a bowl add the cooked onion, beef, herbs and seasoning and combine.
3. Seperate the meat into two patties and shape with your hands. Wrap each individually in clingfilm and leave in the fridge until ready to use.
4. Grill the burgers and bacon slices until cooked through. Halve the buns and add to the grill pan and toast. Top each bun with 30g reduced fat cheddar and melt.
5. Build your burger adding any salad and sauces of your choice.

Sausage Meat Pasta

One of my friends at Uni used to make this for us as it's a cheap and easy recipe. The ingredients may not sound like much but they make for a very delicious pasta dish and the sauce is packed full of Superfree!

Serves 2

Extra Easy - 1 syn per portion

Ingredients
4 Weight Watchers Pork Sausages (0.5 syns each)
2 carrots, peeled and grated
1 onion, sliced
1 can of Chopped Tomatoes
150g dried Fusilli
Frylight
Salt & Black Pepper
Mixed Dried Herbs

Method
1. Remove the sausage meat from it's casing and set aside.
2. Fry the onion in a deep frying pan until soft and add the carrot and fry for a few minutes until the carrot has softened.
3. Add the sausage meat and fry until it has started to brown.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes, seasoning and mixed herbs.
5. Leave to simmer, stirring occassionaly, for 30 minutes or until the chopped tomatoes have reduced and the mixture has thickened.
6. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Distribute the pasta between two bowls and spoon the sausage meat on top. Serve with 20g grated reduced fat cheddar as part of your HEXa.

Chicken Dhansak with Cinnamon Rice

These dishes are inspired by the recipes in the Takeaway Faves recipe book that came with the latest Slimming World magazine. I messed around with the recipes to suit what I had in my cupboards and added some extra spices to make it my own and suit my tastes.

Serves 2 

Extra Easy - 0 syns

Ingredients (Chicken Dhansak)
2 Chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1 Onion, sliced
1 Red Pepper, sliced
1 Garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tsp Very Lazy Ginger, finely chopped
2 tbsp Curry Powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground tumeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 can of green Lentils, drained
1 Chicken Stock cube
Frylight
Salt & Black Pepper

Method
1. Cook the onion and pepper in a frying pan until softened.
2. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for a further minute.
3. Transfer to a saucepan and stir in the raw chicken, tomatoes, lentils, stock cube and spices. Season and bring to the boil.
4. Leave to simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has reduced and thickened.

Ingredients (Cinnamon Rice)
150ml dried Rice measured in a measuring jug
300ml boiling water
1/2 Onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground Tumeric
1/2 tsp ground Cinnamon
Frylight

Method
1. Fry the onion until soft and add the tumeric and cinnamon.
2. Add the dried rice to the onion and add the 300ml boiling water and bring to the boil.
3. Cover and simmer until the rice is cooked and the water has been absorbed. Stir and serve.

N.B. Serve with 1 tbsp of Mango Chutney and add 2 syns

Mustard Sauce

This low syn sauce goes great with Pork loins and mashed potato. This particular recipe I got from Slimming Eats but I went without the apple to make it lower in syns.

Serves 2

Extra Easy - 0.5 syns per portion

Ingredients
200ml chicken stock
1 red onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tsps Dijon mustard (1 syn)
2 tbsps fat free Fromage Frais
Frylight
Salt & Black Pepper

Method
1. Fry the onion in a deep frying pan until soft.
2. Add the garlic and fry for 1 minute.
3. Stir the mustard into the chicken stock, then add 150ml to the frying pan and simmer for 10 mins.
4. Meanwhile, stir the fromage frais into the remaining 50ml of chicken stock. Add this to the frying pan at the end and warm through. Season and serve.