Short and sweet... X 2

Hello everyone!

I don't have time this evening to post a full blog but I cooked/baked two different things today that I wanted to share with you at least in part.

The first was a chicken mince shepherd's pie (no photo, was too hungry - sorry!!). I cooked the mince in my usual way - dry frying it, then simmering in passata with herbs. But at the last minute I had a brainwave and added a splash of teriyaki sauce to the pan. It really gave the chicken a more 'meaty' edge - I know it worked because I was scraping my spoon round the edge of the pan after dinner, trying to get the last bits out, and I haven't had the urge to do that since I stopped cooking with beef mince :-)!! I made the mash for the pie out of swede with a drop of low fat spread and about 20g of egg white. The whole dish came to 4pp (for 150g chicken mince) and was a beautifully warming, filling meal.

The second thing I made today was inspired by a recipe I saw in one of the Jewish magazines last weekend - either Binah, Family First or Ami Living, but I can't remember which one, sorry. It was for chanukah gelt (money) cookies - I thought it was such a novel idea that I made them myself; I used the recipe posted on here a while back for chocolate chip cookies, only I left out the chocolate chips and the dried cranberries. As soon as the cookies came out of the oven I pressed a parev chocolate coin (small size) onto the surface and then left them to cool and harden. The recipe made 20 cookies of 2pp each (that includes the chocolate). Lovely chanukah treat!

A very happy WW chanukah!

We've been talking so much at Weight Watchers about the Pro Points values of festive foods over the past few weeks, that I've become super-aware of just how pointy those Chanukah delicacies really are... I think last year, because I still had so much weight to lose, I could get away with underestimating the odd doughnut or latke, but not anymore. I mean, 7 pro points for a small Grodz doughnut is outrageous! 3 bites and it's gone!

Fortunately though, over the last 18 months I've also been honing my 'enlitening' cooking skills and I think the version of baked doughnuts I've come up with here is really as close as you're going to get to the real deal without so much as a hint of oil. They are 4pp each, and really very tasty!

JUDY'S BAKED DOUGHNUTS
(this method works with the dough cycle of a breadmaker, and ingredients should be added in the given order. I'm sure it would work by hand too - but I haven't tried it so can't say for sure)



5.5 fld oz hand-hot water
1 tblspn melted low fat spread            
1 egg
6 dessert spoons sugar
0.5 tsp salt
2.5 cups strong white bread flour flour
1 packet instant dry yeast

Once the dough has come through the dough cycle, punch it down, roll it out and cut into rounds with a biscuit cutter (I actually used a plastic drinking cup). I made 13 doughnuts. Leave to rise in a warm place on a tray oiled with frylite, until nicely puffed up. Bake for 15 minutes in an oven pre-heated to 180'c. I then injected each doughnut with 2.5ml of sugar-free strawberry jam (using an old medicine syringe). Just before serving I sprayed each doughnut with frylite and rolled in granulated sugar.

Say it with a snicker (or a smirk...)

OK this is not one for the squeamish and may not appeal to all! And as a disclaimer it looked fairly gross so I didn't bother with a picture...

BUT! If you're in the mood for something sweet, warm and filling with a little hint of savoury, and you're a fan of chocolate-peanut butter confectionery, this is one for you. I got the original idea on the WW online forums, but there was no way I was wasting all the propoints necessary to make it the proper way with peanut butter and nutella... So thanks to the boards for inspiring me to lighten it up a bit... And a big thank you to my friend Yael for leaving me the peanut butter powder on her last trip to London!

INGREDIENTS

30g porridge oats
1 banana
180ml boiling water
1 x 15g sachet instant diet-friendly hot chocolate (I used Ko-sure - available in Kosher Kingdom and elsewhere in the UK; for those who do not need Chalav Yisrael, Options or Highlights will do too)
12g powdered peanut butter - I used PB2

Put the porridge oats, hot choc powder and peanut butter powder in a large bowl. Mash a banana and mix in. Add 180ml boiling water (straight from the kettle) and microwave on high for 2.5 minutes. Stir well and leave to sit for 1 minute. Enjoy!! 5pp in total and you will feel incredibly full afterwards.

Burgerfest!

I have admittedly been neglecting my blog a bit of late but I promise I haven't been neglecting my cooking! I have quite a few new recipes I want to blog, it's just a question of finding the time.

This is a quick one - last night's dinner, inspired by an idea from my colleague Lizanne.


INGREDIENTS

Juicy Chicken Burgers

500g chicken mince
1 tblspn soy sauce
40g breadcrumbs
Pepper, garlic powder and paprika to taste.
Onion, sliced into rings

Mix together all the ingredients except the onions and shape into 7 burgers. Grill in a "George Forman" for 10 minutes. Meanwhile fry the onions with spray oil to serve alongside them.

I also served these with my homemade wholemeal bread rolls, and the usual additions of lettuce, pickles, ketchup and mayo of course! The burgers are 3pp each. Apologies for the rubbish picture too! My daughter did not appreciate me turning her meal into a photo opportunity and whisked away her plate :-)

Blueberry breakfast

It seems that I often come on here and say that I've created a new recipe out of boredom with what I normally eat for a given meal on a given day - and maybe that's no bad thing. In our house, Sundays usually mean toast for breakfast and eggs for lunch - but when planning my menus for this week, I decided I wanted to make cheese toasties for Sunday lunch, which meant toast for brekkie was just too samey.

And this is what I settled on - blueberry drop scones, AKA scotch pancakes. They're pretty low in pp - I made 43, which work out at a paltry 3pp for 4 scones. Quick and easy to make too, and no need to restrict them to breakfasts - I've made them in advance tonight so I can serve them easily tomorrow morning, which means that's tonight's meal sorted too ;-)

INGREDIENTS

250g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons splenda
2 medium eggs
10fld oz skimmed milk
150g blueberries

Mix together the flour, baking powder and splenda in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Crack in the eggs and then stir, working in the milk to create a smooth batter. Stir in the blueberries. Spray a pan with frylite and heat over a medium to low flame. Drop in the batter by dessert spoons - turn the pancakes as the edges start to firm up and the batter develops bubbles - about 1 minute - and then fry on the other side for about 45 seconds more. Can be reheated in the microwave to serve at a later time.

The ultimate winter warmer!

The first time I made a version of this yummy stew, I posted it on the daily menu thread on the Weight Watchers message boards. One of my lovely 'virtual' WW friends (you know who you are Louise) contacted me with great concern, worried that I didn't realise chorizo sausage is actually made of (shhh, whisper it quietly) pork... Of course, what I'd actually used was a kosher beef 'chorizo' - there are 2 on the market, one made by Gilberts and one by another brand whose name now escapes me. So now whenever I post this as my dinner on the menu thread, I make sure to refer to it as 'kosher chorizo'!

INGREDIENTS (this is the quantity I use for five people, but I make mine in a separate container, sans potatoes, so I can be totally sure of how much chicken and chorizo I'm eating... I've given my quantities in brackets where relevant - my portion comes to 6pp).

600g chicken breast cut into cubes (140g)
1 packet of kosher chorizo sausage - roughly chop each piece (25g)
1 tin chick peas, drained (35g)
2 tins chopped tomatos
1 carton passata
3 cloves garlic
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
2 large white onions
2 red onions
2 small courgettes
2 large potatoes
500g cubed swede
2 tablespoons chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
Sprinkling of chili flakes

Chop the vegetables roughly and add to an oven proof dish with all the remaining ingredients. Mix well and bake, covered, for 1 hour 45 minutes.

Not a piggy in sight :-)

Not hairy, just yummy

The other day I decided I was bored of my usual workday lunch fare of scrambled eggs on toast or wrap melts in the sandwich toaster. I decided I would do something new and different, and I also decided that the something would involve quorn mince.

Lately, everyone on the WW forums has been raving about the recipes of a duo who call themselves the 'Hairy dieters'. Not having a TV I have never seen them in action, but I've read enough to know that one of their most popular recipes is their lasagne, which uses leek instead of pasta between the layers. That was my starting point - this was the result (apologies for the picture, it isn't overly attractive - you'll have to take my word for it that the end result was utterly delicious.)

INGREDIENTS

1packet quorn mince
1 large tomato, diced
Some sliced mushroom
1 onion chopped
1 small courgette chopped
1 stick of celery chopped
1 carton passata
Mixed dried herbs, salt and pepper to taste
2 large leeks
20g low fat spread
20g flour
8fld oz skimmed milk
15g light grated cheese

To make the sauce, fry the quorn with the vegetables until it has defrosted and the veggies begin to soften. Then pour over the passata, herbs and spices and mix well. Bring to the boil and simmer till fully cooked. Meanwhile peel away the large outer leaves of the leek and boil till completely cooked in salted water. Drain and cool.Take a 9x9" pan and layer as a lasagne, using the leek slices instead of pasta. Now pour the milk into a small pan and add the spread and the flour. Stir continuously until well mixed and then continue to stir until it comes to the boil and thickens. Remove from the heat and pour over the lasagne , sprinkling the grated cheese on too. Bake covered in an oven preheated to 180'c for 40 minutes. Serves 4, 4pp per serving.