Skinny fruit crumble

A really simple summer dessert without the bold calories and points adding up!

Sometimes I crave a nice comforting dessert even in summer when it's hot, this is the perfect solution.

Just use whatever summer fruit you can get your hands on, I like to use peaches pineapple & strawberries.

Chop them all up to even sizes or leave the likes of blueberries and raspberries while if using these. 

Cover with a layer of sugar or sweetner and oats and bake at 180 for around 40 minutes.

Serve with weight watchers cream or low fat custard. Yum!

(Calories and weight watchers points will vary depending on which fruit and toppings you choose)

Cheese Steak Rolls

I was craving a Philly cheese steak, I don't think I've ever had one in Ireland but anytime I'm in America I eat them and clam chowder in ridiculous amounts.

I decided to try recreate. My main issue is finding the right steak to fry, I got a couple of thin sirloins but maybe deli beef would be better? I need something thinner. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. 

Serves 2 people (2 rolls, 1 steak each) 

Ingredients:

- 2 Thin Sirloin steaks

- 1/2 large white onion

- 1 green pepper

- 1 portobello mushroom 

- Low fat white cheddar (eg. Dubliner light slices)

- 4 Slim rolls (eg. Slimsters, sandwich Skinnys, slimbos etc.)

Method:

Preheat oven to 180

Place steaks between pieces of cling film and bash them with a rolling pin to get as flat as possible.

Chop onion, pepper and mushroom.

Spray pan with low calorie oil and veg until soft.

In a separate pan or the same one emptied and cleaned spray low calorie cooking oil and on a low heat fry steaks until slightly coloured. 

In a baking tray lay out the bottom parts of your rolls. Distribute the onion, pepper and mushroom mix evenly on each. Then divide the steak on top. Add a slice of low fat white cheddar. 

Place in the oven and leave for approx 5 mins or until cheese has melted just right.

Per person 

Calories: 450 

Weight watchers points: 12

Enjoy with a pepper sauce on the side.

(Add extra points and calories for this)

Buffalo cauliflower bites

I love buffalo chicken but its so not skinny food so when I saw a recipe online for buffalo cauliflower bites I thought I'd give it a go. I don't particularly like cauliflower, unless its swimming in a creamy cheese sauce! 

I once tried a recipe I saw online for cauliflower mash, it was described as a great alternative to mashed potato. It really wasn't for me, it just tasted like cauliflower.

If you like cauliflower it might work for you. 

(http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/

george-stella/mock-garlic-mashed-

potatoes-recipe/index.html)

So I was very sceptical about these buffalo wing style bites but there was no need, they were really tasty! 

Buffalo Cauliflower Bites

Ingredients:

- 1 cup of water

- 1 cup of  flour

- 1 tbs of garlic powder/granules 
- 1 head of cauliflower
- 1 cup buffalo or hot sauce 

   (I use Franks buffalo sauce)

Method:

Combine the water, flour and garlic powder/granules until you have a smooth batter.

Chop the cauliflower into bite size pieces and coat in the batter.

Spray a baking tray in oil and bake the cauliflower in the oven for 20-25 mins until golden and crispy.

Remove from the oven, toss and pour on buffalo hot sauce, toss again.

Bake for a further 5 mins.

You may want to add an extra few drops of buffalo sauce.

So good served with blue cheese dressing. 

Serves: approx 6 people

Calories: approx 650, average 100-120 per person 

Pro Points: approx 3 per person 

I just need to figure out a good low calorie low point blue cheese dressing! Please let me know if anyone has a recipe or a tip on where to buy one in Ireland.

No fasting for now & new slim bread

We've been having amazing weather in Ireland. Yes really! Strange but true. I've been out and active so much that the fasting thing isn't practical right now so 5:2 diet is on the back burner for now.

I'm back to keeping an eye on calories and weight watchers points instead. 

It's great how many salads I've been eating, I just need to curb the amount of BBQ burgers and hotdogs I've been eating too! I think it's time to start cooking a little healthier on the BBQ, steak or fish for a change, maybe make up a few skewers. 

A new range of bread I found is the Irish Pride Slimsters rolls & sliced pan. The bread is nice, kind of like a white and brown mix and the rolls are nice and big compared to some of the other low cal rolls on the market at the moment. 

The bread is 60 calories a slice and 2 weight watchers pro points

The rolls are 100 calories and 3 weight watchers pro points 

5:2 Diet - fast day 2

I'm giving the 5:2 diet a go and it was time for fast day 2. 

Fast day 1 went well but I was glad of the break on Tuesday. I decided to keep tracking my calories to see how many I'd consume on a normal or what they call on the diet "feast day". Tuesday clocked in at 1334 calories, not bad. Also not the 1200 calories the app I'm using recommends I have a day to lose 1lb a week. 

Wednesday arrived and I wasn't as motivated to fast as I was on Monday.

     (Breakfast: approx 2 pro points)

     (Lunch: approx 3 pro points)

All looking good so far. I felt really hungry this day. I think mainly because I didn't enjoy my lunch, I thought egg salad made with only egg whites would be nice, it works for omelettes. It does not work for egg salad. Yuck. I ate it anyway but that's where my motivation waned.

By late afternoon I was feeling hungry and grumpy when my husband called and suggested a BBQ and a few drinks. It didn't take much to cave! 

So I abandoned fast day and ate 2 cheeseburgers, 1 turkey kebab and sipped on a few ciders. Mmm I have to say it was worth it! Although the alcohol may have made me extra bold and I ate a lot of chocolate before bed too. 

Terrible calorie day - 1824 calories, way over what I should have normally never mind to lose weight! 

The next morning I decided not to abandon the diet and try fast day 2.

So here's fast day 2, take 2!

Thursday - Day 2 fasting 

    (Breakfast: 0 pro points)

      (Lunch: approx 3/4 pro points)

So far, so good. I felt I needed something filling for dinner so I decided to make my own soup. Recipe to follow.

Research shows that soups can help you lose weight: in one study, published in the journal Physiology & Behavior, people consumed the fewest calories on days when they ate soup rather than the same ingredients in solid form.

This information and some good soup recipes can be found on the eating well site:

http://www.eatingwell.com/blogs/food_blog

/the_ultimate_satisfying_weight_loss_soup

The rest of the day went well and looked like this: 

      (Dinner: approx 2 pro points)

With my tomato soup I had mushrooms stir fried. When cooked I stirred in 1/2 tbs of light cream cheese and piled this on a Ryvita Crackerbread. I had another 2 buttered to dunk in the soup.

     (approx 4 pro points)

Total daily calories = 508

I went over by 8 calories.

You'll see I use a fair portion of my daily calories for snacking. I feel like I really need these to get me through the day. Some 5:2 dieters would disagree with this, think that it's cheating to snack at all and feel weight loss will only occur when 2 meals only are consumed on fasting days. I'll have to wait and see if I lose weight this week. Although with a lot of eating and drinking in my weekend I'm not confident! 

One of the more well known fasters that feels that snacking is cheating is English chef and Hugh Fearnly Whittingstall. (If you don't know him read this article with a ridiculously posh, accent in your head.)

http://m.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2013/jan

/18/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall-fast-diet

Right I'm heading out now to feast!

5:2 Diet - fast day 1

I haven't posted for so long, but I haven't been eating in a very skinny style.

I'm hoping to be back to being good, healthy and motivated! 

I've been reading up on the 5:2 Diet (intermittent fasting). 

Have any of you tried it? 

It sounds very interesting. You fast 2 days a week, surviving on only 500 calories a day for women, 600 for men. Not a lot of calories but the idea is for the rest of the week you don't have to monitor what you eat.

I've never tried a "fad diet" before, I've only ever tried weight watchers really.

However this diet appeals to me as I tend to do very well at eating healthy Monday to Thursday then go a bit crazy at the weekend! 

It's also a bit like the old weight watchers plan where you could save points so I would often have very low point days to save to party at the weekend.

Plus it would be nice to have a break from points and calorie tracking for 5 days a week! 

It boasts other health benefits such as lower cholesterol and even helps fight ageing. Sounds great. 

Here's the official website to read more:

http://thefastdiet.co.uk

I didn't buy the book, I just decided to go ahead and give it a go.

So I've fasted 2 days so far and day 1 I found quite easy. Below is what I ate.

Note: I've added pro points where I can for anyone on weight watchers. Some food amounts are too low to point but I need to include every calorie to have an accurate fasting amount. 

Monday - Day 1 fasting 

Breakfast:

1 Ryvita light Crackerbread  =

19 calories (2 for 1 pro point)

I spread with a tiny bit of my favourite 

Jam from Ikea  = 6 calories & had a

Coffee with almond milk (Alpro unsweetened) = approx 4 calories.

Total breakfast = 29 calories 

(2 pro points)

These crackers do the trick for a low cal low point carb fix.

Lunch:

Egg white frittata

3 egg whites = 48 calories

2 cherry tomatoes = 6 calories 

20g Weight watchers reduced fat grated cheese = 43 calories or 1 pro point

1 tbsp of skimmed milk = 11 calories

Lunch time snack:

Tea &

2 mini weight watchers orange cookies from a pack of 8. (8 = 2 pro points)

= 11 calories each

Total lunch = 130 calories (approx 3 pro points)

Dinner: (recipe to follow)

50g King prawns = 35 calories (1 pro point)

1 pack of oodles of noodles = 89 calories (2 pro points)

2 tbs soy sauce = 20 calories

1 tbs rice wine vinegar = 5 calories

1/2 tbs shiracha sauce = 5 calories

50g Little gems lettuce = 8 calories

15 ml kraft fat free French dressing = 6 calories 

Total dinner = 167 calories ( approx 4 points)

Snacks:

1 Cadbury snack bar (purple wrapper) = 120 calories (3 pro points)

1 mini meringue shell = 19 calories

1 coolpop = 20 calories

Frozen grapes = 15 calories 

Total daily calories = 500

I didn't find day 1 difficult, I think mainly because I'd prepared so much over the weekend and was actually looking forward to it. Day 2 didn't go as well, i'll add this to my blog soon! 

In the meantime here are some articles to read more about the 5:2 diet or intermittent fasting:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/melaniehaiken

/2013/05/17/hot-new-fasting-diet-from-

europe-hits-the-u-s/

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.

cfm?id=how-intermittent-fasting-might-help

-you-live-longer-healthier-life

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/13/

new-diet-craze-offers-five-days-feasting-for-

two-days-famine/

Pancake recipe

Happy Pancake Tuesday. I love pancakes, I love this day!
I will be having mostly pancakes today and not much else.

Serves Makes approx. 12 pancakes - 15 pro points

Ingredients:

100g plain flour - 10 pro points
Pinch of salt
1 egg - 2 pro points
300 ml skimmed milk - 3 pro points

Extra points for oil or butter used for frying, check your pack.
To avoid extra points use 0 cal cooking spray.

Method:
1. Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl and make a well in the centre.
2. Crack the egg into the well and add half the milk.
3. Slowly bring the flour into the liquid stirring with a wooden spoon until all the flour has been mixed in and then beat well to make a smooth batter.
4. Stir in the remaining milk.

Even handier you could beat all the ingredients together for 1 minute in a blender or food processor.

Leave to stand for about 30 minutes, stir again before using.

To cook the pancakes:
1. Heat a small frying until very hot and then turn the heat down to medium.
2. Lightly grease with oil/butter and then ladle in enough batter to coat the base of the pan thinly.
3. Tilt the pan so the mixture spreads evenly.
4. Cook over a moderate heat for 1-2 minutes or until the batter looks dry on the top and begins to brown at the edges.
5. Flip the pancake over and cook the second side.

Toppings:

Fruit - 0 pro points
Lemon juice - 0 pro points
Sugar (5g) - 1 pro point
Sweetener - 0 pro points
Jam (18g) - 1 pro point
Apple sauce (1tbs) - 1 pro point
Nutella (15g) - 3 pro points
Choccy Philly (30g tub) - 2 pro points

You could of course do a savoury filled pancake but that's not for me.

Ill be trying all of the above!

Oodles of noodles - 2 pro points

I read about these noodles on http://theniptuckfoodblog.blogspot.ie
I love noodles and miss the likes of koka and super noodles because the points for them are just way too high to bother with them when trying to weight watch.

So I went to my local Eurospar and found they were only €1.69 for a pack of 6! Such great value. They come in two flavours, curry & chicken.

The portions are quite small and they aren't very strong in flavour but they really hit the spot for that kind of noodle at such low points.
I used less water than instructed on the pack & added some Swartz spicy season all and I really enjoyed them.

For 2 points and at such a low price they're a really great snack!

I think they'd be nice added to soup too. Especially good with this freezing cold weather lately!

Mini sponge slices - 2 pro points

I love baking but I find trying to keep the points low and bake is so difficult!

There are very few decent weight watchers baking recipes online. A lot of them involve cake mixes which doesn't give me that therapeutic feeling I get from baking from scratch.

These are nice and light and only 2 pro points each. They're about 4cm x 3cm so quite small but a nice little treat with a cuppa and enjoyable to make.

Adapted from an Odlums Sponge recipe

Ingredients:
75g / 3oz Self Raising Flour
3 Eggs (separated and at room temperature)
75g/3oz Caster Sugar
Pinch of Salt
Few drops of Vanilla Essence (optional)
2 tablespoons of Jam
Teaspoon of Icing sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6. Grease and lines rectangular tray with greaseproof paper.
2. Place the three egg whites and the pinch of salt in a large, clean, dry mixing bowl. Stiffly beat until mixture is "dry looking" in appearance.
3. Next, add the sugar and beat for a few seconds; then add the egg yolks and beat until mixture thickens and the trail of the beaters is visible.
4. Finally, sieve in the flour and "fold" it into the thick mixture using a metal spoon. To fold, just cut through the mixture, over and over with the metal spoon until all the flour is blended. Don't beat, as that will beat out all the air.
5. Fold in the vanilla essence (if used), then transfer to the prepared tins and bake for about 15 minutes.
6. As soon as sponge is baked, transfer to a wire tray to cool.
7. Cut in half across one way then the next and continue this until you have 16 little rectangles.
8. Take a rectangle and spread a small amount of the jam flavour of your choice (I prefer raspberry) on, then slice in half and sandwich together. Repeat & sieve a small amount of icing sugar on top.

Wonton wrappers or pastries

If you seek out weight watchers low point recipes like I do you'll see a lot of wonton recipes online.

My hubbie got them at an Asian market in Dublin city and I'm delighted with all the recipes I can now try out!

I've found it hard to get the exact points on them. According to hungry girl (http://www.hungry-girl.com/biteout/show/2032) they're 4 points for 8. So I'm guessing that's 2 for 1 point? She has some tasty recipes for the wontons and I'm definitely going to try the lasagne cupcakes.

I think the cupcake idea is very handy, they can be filled with all sorts of different options.
Last night I tried two types. Buffalo chicken wontons and sausage and mushroom wontons. I did both in the "cupcake style".

To make the wonton cupcakes -

1. preheat your oven to 180 degrees C (350 F)
2. Get a cupcake tray and spray with low cal cooking spray
3. Place a wonton pastry/wrapper in each cup
4. Spray them with the low cal spray
5. Bake for approx 8 minutes or less for fan assisted ovens, keep an eye on them.

You now have perfect little parcels to fill as you please.

Here are two fillings I tried.

Buffalo chicken -
4 pro points for the mix, fills approx 6 wonton cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 pack (150g) of pre cooked torn chicken
15g Salad cream, light 70%
Franks buffalo hot sauce (to taste)

Directions:
1.Simply mix all the ingredients together
2. Heat on a low heat in a pot on the hob or in the microwave for approx 1 minute 30 seconds, stopping to stir once or twice.
3.Place the mix in wonton cupcake cases that are hot from the oven.


Sausage & mushroom -
5 pro points for the mix, fills approx 6-10 wonton cupcakes depending on how much mushrooms/veg you add.

Ingredients:
2 Mallon's low fat sausages
1 can Erin/Campbell's condensed low fat mushroom soup
Drop of skimmed milk
Swartz spicy season all (or cayenne)
Mushrooms
Veg (optional to bulk it out) eg. Spinach, onion, tomato, peppers
Black pepper

Directions:
1. Fry 2 low fat sausages until almost done then chop into small pieces and continue to fry until cooked.
2. Add mushrooms (& other veg)
4. Add 1 tin of low fat condensed mushroom soup.
5. Sprinkle in Swartz spicy season all or cayenne pepper to taste
6. Add a drop of skimmed milk to thin sauce if necessary.
7. Spoon into wonton cupcakes hot from the oven

I can't wait to try them out with some sweet fillings.

Weight watchers cocoa squares

I tried to make brownies but I spread the mixture really thinly in a tin that was too large and well the result was not brownies!

But the result was a thin but still tasty and low pro points dessert so I'll share the recipe anyway.

I got a dollop of weight watchers cream and sandwiched two slices together.
They'd also work well with some vanilla ice cream, like an Iceberger.

Maybe I'll figure out a good low weight watchers pro point brownie someday! I'll keep you posted.

A large tray makes 15 squares.

2 squares = 3 pro points

30g weight watchers cream = 1 pro point

Vanilla ice cream = approx 2 pro points per 100ml, check your brand pack

Ingredients:

30g good quality chocolate (I used green & blacks plain)
100g low fat butter
40g cocoa powder
100g sweetener
1 whole egg
2 egg whites

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 150 degrees C. Grease a rectangular shallow tin (I used 0 cal spray) and dust with cocoa powder.

2. In the microwave or in a bowl over a pot of boiled water melt the chocolate and butter.

3. Remove from heat and add the cocoa powder, sweetener & eggs. Whisk lightly to remove any lumps.

4. Pour into tin and spread gently to the edges then bake for approx 30 minutes.

Slice 5 times down the widest part then turn the tin and slice 3 times the other way.

Sandwich with cream or ice cream in the middle. Enjoy!

Note:
After some online research I found another reason these "wannabe brownies" may not have risen, because I used sweetner.
I'm new to this low fat, low calorie, weight watching baking so back to sugar I think and back to experimenting!

Eatin mess 4 weight watchers pro points

I had such a bad day experimenting in the kitchen today!

I tried a pasta dish, not good.

I tried a little chocolate ramekin cake made with bananas, not good.

Both went in the bin.

After eating a decent batch of pasta I was still craving a good dessert and I thought why not have the easiest, tastiest dessert I know?

Eton mess, or as I like to call it Eatin mess.
I love this wether I'm watching my weight or not. Especially when the strawberries are good and I bought a lovely couple of punnets today.

So all you do is throw a meringue nest or two in a bowl, Tesco finest are great and only 1 pro point each. Bash them up (that's the technical term). Then add a load of chopped strawberries, 0 pro points and a lovely dollop or two of cream. I use weight watchers cream, 1 pro point for 30g. I love that cream, I'd used low fat spray cream in the past but this is so much better.
Mix them all together.

It cheers me up to add a tiny little bit of Askeys raspberry syrup, it reminds me of 99's from an ice cream van. You could even add a flake or a bit of one if you've points to spare.

I use 2 meringue nests and one dollop of weight watchers cream which brings it to 4 pro points but you could amend to suit your points allowance.

I don't track the points for the syrup which is probably illegal in weight watchers world but it's only a teeny bit!

Carton of egg whites weight watchers 0 pro points

I was so happy to find this carton of egg whites in Dunnes yesterday. Anything 0 pro points, handy and with lots of uses makes me very happy!

I don't know if they've been around for long and I just didn't notice them among all the milk but I was delighted to find that pretty little carton.

I always felt guilty throwing out egg yolks when I made mostly egg white omelettes or frittatas or when I made meringue. There's only so many egg yolk scrambled eggs I could feed my little boy!

The carton's brand is 2 chicks, they're free range and there's the equivalent of 15 egg whites in a carton. I've photos below of the nutrition & other info on the pack.

Thanks chicks!

Weight watchers Pro point bread alternatives

These Mediterranean wraps from Dunnes are 4 pro points each and are a great alternative to the usual tortilla wraps, they're more filling and more versatile too.

I had them with prawns, salsa and salad, really tasty!

You could also use them as a pizza base for a low pro point pizza.

I also found a rival to the Slimbos bread which recently came on the market - Spiegels Sandwich Skinnys which have a distinct advantage to the Slimbos, they come in at 1 pro point less, only 2 pro points each!

I've been eating them a lot lately. A great bread for very low pro points and only 100 calories.

Weight watchers 1 pro point sausages!

I found these Mallons low fat gluten free sausages in superquinn the other day, they're very tasty!

Better pro points and taste than the Ballyfree turkey sausages which I've been trying to eat lately.

A lovely Sunday morning treat or great with cabbage and mash for dinner.

Weight watchers 1 pro point mocha

Boil water and allow to cool slightly.
Put 3 tsp of Options hot chocolate (1 pro point) and 1tsp coffee in a cup, add water and enjoy! Add a drop of slimline milk and some sweetener if you like too.

For an extra treat and extra points add some mini marshmallows.

So good! Really sweet and comforting and a caffeine kick. All the things you need on a rainy afternoon like today.

Weight watchers 0 pro points Stewed apple from the microwave

0 pro points microwaved apple

Peel cooking apples, pop in a microwaveable dish in the microwave with a lid that allows steam to escape and heat for 5 mins.

Lovely yummy stewed apples for 0 weight watchers pro points! So quick & simple.

Add a tsp of cinnamon or low cal sweetner to stick to 0 pro points.

Or using points add:

1tsp sugar - 1 pro point

75g/half a small tub of low fat Ambrosia custard - 2 pro points.

Ginger nut biscuit for a bit of crunch - 1 pro point.

Personally I love it with sweetner, custard and ginger nuts, I crush one ginger nut over, eat then add another to avoid sogginess.

Yum yum yum!

Handy Weight Watchers Pro point poultry!

Only 3 pro points for 100g (2/3 of the pack) these packs of torn turkey and torn Cajun chicken by Green Farm are really handy.

On offer in tesco at the moment for €2 each, makes up a quick and cheap dinner.

I covered my turkey in franks hot sauce 0 pro points and put it in a baked potato and over a salad. Really tasty and filling.

Great for lunches too.
I plan on mixing the remaining third of the pack in light mayo and some curry powder to put on a sambo with loads of salad.

Looking forward to it already!

What will I do with the Cajun chicken?