Almond trifle with berries

This quick and easy desert is a hit with the whole family and great for when hosting a dinner party.

Serves 6

Syns per serving
4.5 syns

Ingredients:
23g sachet Hartley's Raspberry Sugar Free jelly crystals
23g sachet Hartley's Strawberry Sugar Free jelly crystals
200g fresh or frozen blueberries, plus extra to decorate
100g fresh strawberries sliced in half, for decorating
250g ready made low fat custard
250g fat free fromage frais
6 tbsp sweetener
50g reduced fat mascarpone
500g quark
3-4 drops of almond extract
3-4 amaretti biscuits, crushed for decorating

Method:
Put the jelly crystals in a jug with 500ml freshly boiled water. Stir to dissolve and leave to cool completely.
Put the berries in the base of a medium trifle or a round dish and pour over the cooled jelly. Cover and chill for 2-3 hours or until it sets.
Whisk together the custard, fromage frais, 3 tbsp sweetener until smooth and then spoon over the jelly in an even layer.
Whisk together the mascarpone, quark, remaining sweetener and almond extract until smooth, then spoon over the custard in another even layer. 
Decorate with the strawberries and blueberries (like the picture) and scatter over the amaretti biscuits.

Enjoy!

Lamb Bizelli (Lamb stew with potatoes and peas)

This is traditionally made with lamb chops but as they are more fatty (and less meaty) I made them with lamb steaks (all fat removed)

Serves 4

Syns Per serving
FREE

Ingredients:
700g - 800g Lamb steaks or any other lean part of lamb (all visible fat removed) and cut into bite size
800g potatoes, cut in half or quarters depending how big they are
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1/2 bottle of a 680g bottle of Passata
500g garden peas
1 medium onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2-3 medium carrots, cut in bite sizes
1/2 pint of vegetable stock
salt and pepper

Method:
In a saucepan spray some fry light and lightly fry the onions and garlic until golden brown. Add the lamb and fry for 15 minutes, until sealed and slightly brown.

Then add the tinned tomatoes, passata, stock and seasoning and cook on low heat for around 45 minutes. Add the potatoes and carrots and cook until soft (approximately 30 minutes). Keep an eye on the sauce, it needs to be thick not dry so add water as you feel necessary.

Just before it's done, add the peas and cook for a further 4-5 minutes.

Serve on its own or with a fresh salad.

Enjoy!

PS: you can also cook with chicken. If you cook with chicken then you would add the carrots and potatoes at the same time as the tomatoes, passata and stock, as the chicken doesn't need that long.

Slimming World Weetabix biscuits

One word...... LUSH!

You will not be disappointed!

Serves 6-8

Syns per serving 

Under 0.5 syn per biscuit (add 1 syn per biscuit if not using the Weetabix as your HEB)

Total of 3.5 syns for all biscuits

Ingredients:

2 Weetabix, crushed

1 egg, beaten

90ml skimmed milk

2 tsp cinnamon

4 tbsp sweetener

13g dark chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200c. Mix all the ingredients together and shape into biscuits on a silicone baking mat. The mixture should make between 6-8 biscuits.

Bake in the oven for approximately 15-20 minutes or until they are golden brown.

Enjoy!

Fagi (green lentils with rice and onion)

One of my favourites :-) You can't get a more traditionally Cypriot dish than this. And healthy too. Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do!

Serves 4

Syns per serving
Just under 1.5 syns

Ingredients:
1 cup of green lentils
1/4 cup of short grain rice
4 cups of water
1 large onion, finelly chopped
1tbs of olive oil
salt and pepper

Method:
Rinse the green lentils in water to remove any dirt. Bring to the boil for 10 minutes, strain and add fresh water (the 4 cups) and boil again.

In the meantime fry the onions with the olive oil (I use olive oil as fry light will not caramelise the onions, and this is what makes this dish so delicious) until they are slightly brown.

When the lentils begin to boil, add the rice and salt and pepper, reduce the heat and cook for approximately 15-20, until the lentils and rice are soft or until the water has evaporated. 

Once it's cooked remove from the heat and add the onions (including any olive oil left in the pan). 

Stir really well and serve with a fresh salad and a fried egg (optional).

Enjoy!

Garlic prawn with tomato sauce with linguine or spaghetti

I have fallen in love with this dish! I cannot believe that something so simple can be so delicious.  I hope you love it as much as I do!

Serves 4

Syns per serving
FREE

Ingredients:
525g of raw king prawns
800g of cherry tomatoes
5-8 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 bunch of parsley, finely chopped
1/2tsp dry chillies
400-500g of linguine or spaghetti

Method:
Cut the tomatoes in half, put in a bowl and crush with your hands so some of the juices come out.

In a pan fry the garlic with fry light for 1-2 minutes, add the tomatoes and chillies and turn down the heat so that the tomatoes can cook slowly and the sauce can thicken up. I cooked mine for about 15-20 minutes. Half way through, get a potato masher and gently mash down the tomatoes so that they can soften and more juice can be released.

In the meantime boil some water and cook the pasta.

Once the sauce has thickened up add the prawns and cook for 7-8 minutes or until they have turned pink and they are not transparent anymore.

Once cooked take off the heat, add the parsley and stir.

Serve immediately with the pasta and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

Slimming World Campfire Stew

This is a syn free, deliciously hearty meal (and cheap too). 

Serves 8

Syns per serving 
FREE

Ingredients:
1 small gammon / pork joint (all visible fat removed)
1 chopped onion
3-4 crushed garlic cloves
2 tins of baked beans
2-3 chopped peppers
1tsp chilli powder
1tbsp smoked paprika
6tbsp tomato puree

Method:
Place all the ingredients in a slow cooker and cook for 5 hours on low. Shred the pork and cook for a further hour. (total of 6 hours cooking time)

Serve with any of the below:
Slimming world chips, mash potato, vegetables or salad

Enjoy!

Salmon fish cakes

I thought I would try something different with these fish cakes so rather than use bread to help bind it all together I used organic oats. Oats are a good source of energy and help keep you fuller for longer. They came out pretty good :)

Serves 4

Syns per serving
FREE (when using oats as your HEB, otherwise add just over 1 syn for each fish cake)

Ingredients:
2 tins of salmon (or other fish) in water
20g of oats
1 egg
2 tsp wholegrain mustard 
1 shallot
Small bunch parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper

Method:
Mix all the ingredients together and form into 4 even balls and gently flatten with your palm.

Spray a non stick baking tray with fry light and place the fish cakes on the tray.

Cook in a 200c oven for 15-20 minutes. 

Serve with a bean or vegetable salad.

Enjoy!

PS: If you want to get the top of the fish cake crispy, I would spray that with fry light before putting in the oven.