Tri-colour chicken loaf bake

I made this on the spur of the moment when I had been planning on a simple shepherd's pie - it was really yummy and a bit different. I'm glad I gave it a go!

INGREDIENTS

2lb mince chicken
1 egg white
30g breadcrumbs
Pepper
1 tspn teriyaki sauce
2 tablespoons reduced salt and sugar ketchup

Mix together and press into the bottom of a greased pan. I put my own portion - 180g of the mix - in a separate loaf tin and the rest in a 9x9 square tin. Bake in an oven preheated to 160/180'c for 25-35 minutes depending on tin size.

Middle layer:

Boil up some frozen spinach with 2 garlic cloves, crushed. Drain well when cooked and spread a thin layer over the chicken loaf when it emerges from the oven.

Topping:
I made my topping out of butternut squash mash - the rest of the family had half and half BNS and mashed potato. Their portion also made use of margarine to get a creamier consistency. Therefore the quantities given are for the layer that went over my loaf tin.

250g buttnernut squash, cubed.

Boil till soft then mash and add in a little Smart Squeeze of Frylite 'butter' spray.
Spread on the spinach layer and sprinkle with paprika.

Bake for a further 30 minutes, uncovered.

My loaf tin portion was 5pp and delicious!!

Slice of delight

Following on from the hot chocolate pudding challenge, today I decided to try my hand at creating caramel slices. I'm not going to promise that what I came up with is as indulgent as the real thing.But the real thing is approximately 8pp a piece. And this is 3pp. And it tastes GREAT! Making the caramel sauce is a bit of a palaver, but worth it in the end!

INGREDIENTS

Shortbread base:
140g plain flour
80g rolled oats
120g melted low fat spread
8g splenda

Mix the dry ingredients together, add the melted spread and form into a soft dough. Press into the base of a greased 9x9 inch tin and bake in an oven preheated to 180 (160' fan-assisted) for 25 minutes.

Caramel sauce:
24fld oz vanilla rice milk (alpro)
60g honey or golden syrup
1 tablespoon splenda
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons cornflour

Mix the rice milk and the honey and bring to the boil in a saucepan. Reduce flame to a simmer and leave until the liquid has reduced by about 2/3 - approximately 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the egg yolk and 2 teaspoons of cornflour (mix to a paste first with some of the liquid. to avoid lumps). Add the splenda. Bring back to the boil and remove from the heat to cool

Remove the shortbread from the oven and pour the sauce over the surface - you will probably only need to use half the quantity, the remainder can be frozen. Return to the oven for 10 minutes.

Chocolate topping

60g dark chocolate chips, melted in a double boiler or the microwave. When the shortbread and caramel base has cooled, spread it with the melted chocolate and put in the fridge to set.

Finally, cut into 16 squares of 3pp each.

A serial challenge

A few days ago I decided to challenge myself to create a cereal bar recipe from scratch, that would be both healthy and slightly luxurious, and of course - low in propoints. It's taken me a while to blog my results, because I wasn't 100% sure I was happy with my creation. It didn't set as well as I would have liked, but as I have a feeling that would require either more chocolate or more fat or both, it wasn't an option either.

Fortunately the freezer came to the rescue, as I discovered that not only do these develop just the right consistency when frozen, but they are really delicious like that as well. So here comes the recipe...

INGREDIENTS

50g jumbo oats
50g branflakes
30g cornflakes
40g low fat spread, melted
40g chocolate chips
1 tblspn peanut butter, reduced fat
50g honey

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and crush slightly with the end of a rolling pin. Stir in the melted spread, honey and peanut butter until well coated and finally stir in the chocolate chips. Chill for 20 minutes in the fridge and then divide into 12 equal balls. Wrap each ball loosely in clingfilm and using your hands, shape them inside the wrap into a cereal bar shape. Then tighten the clingfilm so they are properly enclosed. Freeze until hard, and enjoy. 2pp per bar, or 5pp for two. Nice for a snack, a dessert or even a breakfast on the go!

Little pots of heaven

Last week I asked my Weight Watchers facebook group for suggestions of what recipe I should try and skinnify next. One lady suggested hot choc puddings with choc sauce but I wasn't hopeful it was possible, because I had already calculated my old recipe to around 10pp a portion..

Well my friends, this Friday night I will literally be eating my words because I have done it. These puddings are really lovely, chocolatey and indulgent, and only 4pp each. I've made them quite 'saucy' because they will be reheated on my hot plate for shabbos - if you're eating them immediately on taking them out of the oven, you might want to reduce the hot water from 4 tablespoons per pot, to 3.

INGREDIENTS

34g cocoa powder
100g flour
1 tsp baking powder
25g low fat spread
8g splenda
30g granulated sugar
80-100ml cold water
Approx 300ml boiling water

Mix 16g cocoa powder with the flour, splenda and baking powder. Add in the low fat spread, melted, and the cold water and mix to loose batter. I'd suggest starting with 80ml cold water and adding more until you achieve the correct consistancy.

Grease 5 mini pudding basins with frylite and spoon about 1.5 tablspoons of the cake batter into each one. Mix the remaining cocoa powder and sugar in a bowl. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons on to the surface of the batter in each basin. Then pour 4 tablespoons of boiling water into each one.

Bake in an oven preheat to 180' (160' fan assisted) for approximately 18 minutes, until the cake part of each pot passes the skewer test - I'd suggest testing after 15 minutes.

Serves 5, 4pp per portion.

Just popping in

This week in Weight Watchers meetings we've been talking about TV time snacking, which is what inspired me to make this recipe. After a bit of googling, I discovered that there is no need to either a)purchase pricey bags of microwave popocorn or b) risk burning your saucepans making it on the stovetop (been there, done that, got the blistered scorch marks on my counter to prove it..). And once I'd got as far as making the popcorn, it was only a short step to coming up with a way of making it caramel flavoured - AND propoints friendly. All you need for this recipe, apart from the ingredients, is a brown paper bag and a microwave.

INGREDIENTS

60g popping corn kernels
Frylite
40g low fat spread
22g marshmallows
20g honey

Place the popcorn kernels in the brown paper bag and spray with frylite. Place in the paper bag and firmly fold down the edge three or four times, to make a good seal. Stand it in the microwave and set the timer for 3 minutes on high. Once there are more than 2 or 3 seconds between pops, remove the bag.

Now melt the low fat spread over a low flame and stir in the marshmallows and honey. Stir constantly until the marshmallows are totally melted and absorbed - be careful not to let it burn. Then mix in the popcorn and stir until thoroughly coated. Makes 8 small cups of popcorn, each one is 2pp each.

Bring on movie night!

DISCLAIMER: I wanted to keep the propoints low so these are not madly caramelised - just a light coating. Obviously you can increase the spread, marshmallow and honey quantities if you want it stickier - and work out the propoints accordingly. I wouldn't advise cooking more than 60g popcorn at a time though, as you will end up with less popped kernels and more burnt popcorn!!

Skinny on the diagonal

I decided to go one step further in my mission to prove you can take nearly any recipe and make it pro points friendly this evening. The original for this biscuit recipe is in the Spice and Spirit cookbook and it was always my husband's favourite. I haven't made it for a very long time because each little cookie would be at least 3pp and it just didn't seem worth it for a mouthful. But 1pp, now that's a different story. And as of tonight - 1pp each is exactly what they are (or 3pp for 2...)

LEMON DRIZZLE JAM DIAGONALS

80g plain flour

3g splenda
50g low fat spread
0.5tsp vanilla essence
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons reduced sugar jam (any flavour)

Glaze:
8g splenda
5g cornflour
2 tsp lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 160' (fan assisted). Cream the low fat spread with the splenda, add the vanilla essence and salt and then work in the flour until you have a soft, smooth dough. Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Divide the dough into 2 balls, form into a rope shape and place on a baking sheet. Flatten each rope slightly and create a hollow in the centre with your finger. Fill the hollow with jam.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile make the glaze. Using a hand blender, blitz the splenda and cornflour to a fine powder, similar to icing sugar in consistency. Work in the lemon juice until the icing drops from a teaspoon, but don't let it get too runny.

Remove the biscuits from the oven and drizzle over the glaze. Immediately cut into 12 pieces on the diagonal (6 per rope) and cool on a wire rack.

Not a wrap in sight...

I've only made one previous attempt at creating a 'skinny' fruit crumble and what a disaster that was;  I think I've mentioned before about my efforts at turning a tortilla wrap into a crumble topping, it's become a long-standing joke in our house! I finally decided the time was ripe to give it another go though, and this time I think there will be requests for more, rather than raucous mockery... They will be served for dessert this Friday night.

MINI WEIGHT WATCHERS FRUIT CRUMBLES
Serves 6

6 x Weight Watchers peach and pear fruit pots (available in meetings)

75g flour (I used half white and half wholemeal)
25g jumbo porridge oats
2 tablespoons splenda
40g low fat spread

Mix the dry ingredients and then cut in the low fat spread. Rub with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Drain the juice from the fruit cups and put the fruit into the bottom of 6 ramekin pots. Place 25g of crumble topping on each one and press down firmly. Sprinkle with cinnamon if desired. Bake for 35 minutes in an oven preheated to 160'c (fan assisted).

Each crumble pot is 2pp.

Elegant salmon 'muffins'

Made these today as a Friday night starter. I like them!

350g pink salmon, canned
1 egg white
1 dessert spoon apple cider vinegar
30g porridge oats
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
0.5tsp salt
4fld oz light coconut milk

Mix together all ingredients and spoon into paper fairy cake or muffin cases. Bake on 180' for 25 minutes. If you want to remove the muffin cases, do it when the salmon muffins are frozen as otherwise you'll take half of them off with the paper!

1pp each - excellent value! Lovely served with a side salad and possibly some sweet and sour dipping sauce.

The Skinny Kosher Kitchen goes Tex Mex!

On the menu:

Chicken burritos with fiery tomato salsa and refried beans
Grilled cinnamon persimmon with caramel 'parfait'

Sound good? Well it was! It was also extremely simple to make and as low in propoints as it was easy!

CHICKEN BURRITOS
Serves 3

400g chicken breast, skinless
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 red chilli pepper
1 heaped teaspoon curry powder
0.5 tsp cumin
0.5 tsp paprika
0.5 tsp oregano
0.5 tsp cayenne pepper

Place the chicken breasts in the chopped tomato and add the finely diced chilli pepper and all the herbs and spices. Place in a slow cooker on low for about 5 hours. After this time, shred the chicken breast in the sauce using two forks and leave in the slow cooker until ready to serve.

Take 3 tortilla wraps and warm in the microwave or in the oven for a short time. Layer with shredded lettuce (optional) and put a generous portion of the chicken mixture in the centre of the wrap. Roll up and serve with the refried beans and the salsa.

FIERY TOMATO SALSA

2 salad tomatoes, diced
1 onion, finely chopped
2 spring onions, sliced
0.5 green chilli pepper, finely chopped
2 cubes frozen cilantro
Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

Mix well and set aside for several hours before serving.

REFRIED BEANS

1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
Salt
1 can red kidney beans

Lightly fry the onion and garlic in frylight until translucent and golden. Drain and rinse the kidney beans well and add to the pan. Stirfry until the skins begin to slip off easily. Add a little water to the pan if it begins to stick. Remove from the heat and roughly blend or mash with a fork. Add salt to season.

GRILLED PERSIMMON

Slice one giant persimmon into about 6 reasonably thick slices. Grill in a George Forman for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with cinnamon and serve with frozen caramel alpro pudding - tastes exactly like ice cream!

PP VALUES - approximately 1/3 of the chicken filling is 4pp. A tortilla wrap is 3pp. The refried beans are 2pp for 1/3 of the mixture. The salsa is 0pp as are the persimmons. Half a pot of caramel alpro is 1pp.

TOTAL PER SERVING: 10pp

Buen Provecho!!