Top 3 Meals - 19/06/16

It literally feels like 2 minutes since I did last weeks post, where does time go lately? This week has been great, the only day I was off plan was Friday and that was so I could have a celebratory lunch after weigh in! 

I'm a bit nervous about this week, I've got a few social events on but I'm going to try my hardest to stay as on plan as possible. As well as this I'm going to try flexi-synning to see if that will help me. Although knowing me I'll probably forget until I've had all my daily syns!

Anyway, back to this post. I have some damn tasty meals this week and I'm actually struggling to pick my top three, so here goes.

Tandoori and Lime Chicken

This meal came from me rummaging around in the cupboards trying to work out how I could make a chicken breast more interesting. When I was contemplating this idea I wasn't really expecting it to turn out well at all, but boy was it good.

You can find my recipe here which also includes the mint and cucumber dip I made too.

Chicken and Potato Curry

I bought a massive bag of spinach which I was trying to find different uses for. I'm always a fan of spinach in curries so I searched to see if I could find a Slimming World recipe for one and I found the simplest looking recipe ever. It was great because I already had all the ingredients in the house which is definitely a bonus for me as I hate recipes that have obscure ingredients that you barely use.

My brother who is the fussiest eater ever made me save him some of this curry, which I think says a lot about how nice it is. Visit the Goodtoknow website for this recipe.

Chicken Supreme

I have literally only just eaten this meal but it was that tasty that it couldn't not make the list this week. My dad even said it was one of the best things I've cooked recently as it had such a lovely flavour without it being overpowering. For me, anything that feels creamy and luxurious whilst being syn free is definitely a winner.

Serving this with chips and spring greens made it such a simple but healthy meal. I even have some leftovers saved to have for my lunch tomorrow with my cauliflower rice. You can find the recipe here on the Slimming World website. It says it serves two but I've just about managed to get three portions on it if you fill the plate up with speed first. 

Have you tried any of these meals? Which is your favourite?

Tandoori and Lime Chicken - Syn Free

I'm always looking for new ways to serve chicken to keep meal times exciting. This meal is so simple but packed full of different flavours to make the taste buds go crazy. I'm not the sort of person to weigh out ingredients when I'm experimenting with food as I feel sometimes you can just judge how much of a certain ingredient the recipe needs.

Tandoori and Lime Chicken 

Large Chicken Breast

Lime Juice

Tandoori Spices

Frylight

For the dip:

Quark

Dried Mint

Cucumber

Garlic Powder

Seasoning

Lime Juice

1. Mix together the tandoori spices and the lime juice to make a paste. Butterfly the chicken breast and rub in the paste before leaving to marinade for 30 minutes.

2. Spray a frying pan with frylight and put on a medium heat. Once it has heated add the chicken breast and fry until golden. To keep the chicken moist I put the lid on the pan as this helps steam the chicken which locks in the moisture.

3. Whilst the chicken is cooking you can make the dip. Mix together some quark and cucumber before adding the dried mint, garlic powder, lime juice and seasoning to taste. 

4. Once the chicken has started to blacken it should be ready to serve. I served mine with baby roasted potatoes and a speedy salad. 

Top 3 Meals - 12/06/16

This blog is a way for me to feel a lot more motivated whilst following the Slimming World plan and share my highs and lows. One thing I struggle with is remembering what meals I have really enjoyed so I can make them again in future. Hence why I'm going to try and do a weekly roundup of my favourite meals from that week along with a link to the recipe if it's available. This post is for you as much as it is myself as I always find it interesting to see what other people have made and what they think about certain recipes.

Grapenuts, Quark and Fruit

When I first started following the Slimming World plan I really struggled with breakfasts and I was having eggs most days which became slightly boring. Once the weather started picking up I decided I want some more fruity breakfasts to reflect the lovely weather.

This one is a simple one - Grapenuts (35g is hexb), Arla Protein Strawberry (1 syn) and Tesco breakfast topper.

I usually struggle when I'm nearing the time to do another food shop with getting speed into my diet so this frozen fruit is perfect for these days. This one contains Strawberry, Peach, Pineapple and Mango which gives a lovely tropical flavour to breakfast. You can find it here.

Nacho Style Feast

This is hands down my favourite Slimming World meal so far, I've had it on two separate occasions this week. It's perfect for when you're wanting some naughty without using any syns (if you're using the cheese as your healthy extra) as it feels very decadent.

The recipe can be found here on the Slimming World website.

Sweet Chilli Beef

My favourite dish from the Chinese is Crispy Chilli Beef so when I came across this SW friendly version on Pinterest I knew I had to try it. Boy was it delicious, the beef didn't go as crispy as I would have liked but I think I got a bit too over excited and rushed cooking it as I didn't want to have to wait to eat it.

I served this with some jasmine rice and tenderstem broccoli and it was so damn good! You can find the recipe at this link.

I'm already planning some tasty meals for this week. I have a lot of random frozen bits of meat and fish so my plan is to use as many of these as possible to try and clear the freezer out. Wish me luck!

Chicken and Basil Pasta - Syn Free

When you're getting to the point where you need to do a food shop it can be quite hard to stay on plan, lately I've been throwing all sorts of food together trying to create something edible. Most of the time this ends in disaster apart from this meal which I absolutely loved - I even had the leftovers the next day.

Before I begin I'm going to say that for most of this I don't have any measurements as I'm more of a just throw it in sort of person.

Chicken and Basil Pasta - Free

Frylight coconut oil

1 large chicken breast, diced

1 red onion, chopped

Mushrooms, sliced

2 cloves garlic, crushed (or heaped teaspoon of lazy garlic)

400g chopped tomatoes

Handful of basil, torn

Knorr chicken stock pot

Splash of Worcester sauce

Salt and pepper to season.

Sweet red pepper

Pasta of your choice

1. Start off by spraying the pepper with Frylight and put it on a baking tray in a preheated oven to roast until charred.

2. Spray a large frying pan with Frylight and put on a medium heat. Add the onions and once they have softened add the chicken and garlic. When the chicken has cooked through add the sliced mushrooms to the pan.

3. Leave to brown for a few minutes before adding the chopped tomatoes, stock cube and Worcester sauce. Stir this in and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

4. Whilst this is simmering cook your pasta following the packet instructions and drain. Remove the stalk and seeds from the pepper and slice the flesh up.

5. Season your chicken and tomato mixture to taste and serve on top of the pasta. Sprinkle with the roasted pepper slices and garnish with basil leaves.

The Journey Begins

For as long as I remember I have been overweight. 

During my first year of sixth form I could fit into Topshop Size 16, by the end of my third year I was wearing size 24-26 and feeling so down about myself. Moving away to university allowed me to sort out my eating habits - living with others made me self conscious of my eating plus lack of money stopped me buying lots of food. I had soon dropped back down to a size 18 however during my final year some personal problems caused me some issues and I put the healthy eating to the side to focus on sorting myself out mentally.

I'm now at the point where my mind is in the right place for me to now focus on getting my body to a good place too. I'm currently a size 22 and I have been dabbling with Slimming World since January but never fully committed until now. After seeing so many inspirational Slimming Worlders on Instagram I fully believe that if I give this 100% I can definitely achieve great things.

The one hurdle I'm going to have to face is socialising. I often meet up with the girls from university to have boozy weekends so this is going to have to change. I need to work out how to do this without over consuming on calories. 

This blog is a place for me to share my feelings, recipes and my general Slimming World journey. I hope one day that I can be inspiration to others.

As of today I have been back on plan for a couple of weeks and below are my current stats. My weigh in day is on a Friday and I will try and do weekly posts to link in with my weigh ins.

SW: 17st 8

CW: 17st 1.8

GW: 11st 8