SW Works Without You Knowing It ..

 

I am on it this week, went to the gym yesterday evening to get my body magic in, tread mill, bike, cross trainer and weights. really felt it last night as well, I always feel better when I feel it. I think that I've actually made a difference then.

My son was off school for teacher training day so I got my body magic in today as well. From racing home from the shops with him to dancing to Gangnam Style around the house, now that dance is a workout!

 

To quench my appetite after dancing I made spaghetti cabonara, the easiest one I have ever made. I'm not lying it literally took 15 mins, and tasted amazing, not to mention so filling and syn free.

 

 

Ingredients:

400g dried spaghetti

Fry Light

400g back bacon, all visible fat removed, cut into short strips

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

120g Parmesan, finely grated

seasoning

A small hand full of fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped, to garnish

 

1. Cook the spaghetti according to packet instructions. Drain and keep warm.

2. Meanwhile place a large deep frying pan sprayed with Fry Light over a medium-high heat. Stir-fry the bacon for 2-3 mins, or until lightly golden. Add the garlic and stir-fry for 30 seconds, then remove from heat.

3. Add the spaghetti, beaten eggs and half the Parmesan, season and toss well (the heat from the spaghetti will partially cook the egg, but still leave it moist and creamy).

4. Divide the carbonara out, sprinkle with parsley and the remaining Parmesan and serve.

 

This recipe serves 4 and is syn free if using the cheese as your healthy extra. I also put about 200g of thinly sliced mushrooms to mine to bump it up a bit, and it was just as gorgeous.

 

 

Also an inspirational story today, my mother has been dieting as long as I have, but she sticks to the diet of calorie counting since it has been successful for her. She's just recently got to a nice weight she is okay with and decided to take a break a couple of weeks ago, in this time I have been cooking more meals for the household so my mum has hardly had any of her own meals.

She informed this morning that without even trying she has lost 5 pounds, there is nothing different about her lifestyle except for the one fact that shes been dining on Slimming World low syn or syn free meals. If there is any need for proof that Slimming World works, this is definitely it!

If my mother can lose 5 pounds with out even trying or knowing, I can definitely lose the 2 pounds I have put down for next week! Congrats to my mum!



Weigh In (Insert Sad Face) ..

Weigh in was last night, and it did not go well for me at all. I gained 1 1/2 pounds. Obviously I'm not happy about it. Nothing much has changed over this week food wise. The only thing I can think of is the extra gym training I did Sunday afternoon. I've been feeling aching and my muscle are really hard from the circuit training I did. So I am hoping its that and I've got some water retention, which would mean that it all comes off next week! 

 

Since Gemma had me doing circuit training, I am blaming her. Ha ha. The question is now though do I keep doing some sort of circuit training every week and make my body get used to it, or just scrap it all together. Gemma just put up a great little home exercise as well for toning, be sure to go check that out here. Looks like a great little work out that you don't even need to leave the house for!

 

So today is the start of a new week, I have my meal plan that I will stick to. Tonight on the menu is Tuna Pasta Salad, quick, easy and completely syn free, might even have a Weight Watchers petit pan for my Healthy B as a side. My head is completely in it this week. Nothing is going to stop me and I will get my Christmas target of 3.5 stone weight loss!

Back To The Gym ..

 

 

It was back to the gym tonight with Gareth, I've missed a whole week of exercise so it was slow going tonight, plus the stitch didn't help. Tonight I only did 2 and a half mins of running, 30 mins on treadmill, 10 mins on cross trainer. Then I went onto the bikes and rowing machine. Lastly we finished up with some weight and ten mins of hilarity of Gareth trying to sit ups with the weight ball. He succeeded in the end but the trying was amusing. I feel better now I've been to the gym, feel like I have actually done something to help with my weight loss and can't wait to get back there on Friday evening.

 

Before I went out I had cooked home made lasagne. Just 1 and a half syns per serving. I put mine with chips and peas.

 

 

 

Ingredients:

397g/14oz extra lean minced beef

2 onions, peeled and finely chopped

200g mushrooms, roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

400g can chopped tomatoes

397g/14oz passata with herbs and garlic

2 tsp dried mixed herbs

seasoning

511g/1lb 2oz fat free natural yoghurt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

a pinch of nutmeg

Fry Light

12 dried lasagne sheets

4 level tbsp grated Parmesan

 

1. Place a large, non-stick frying pan over a high heat. Add the mince, onion, mushroom, and garlic and stir-fry for 6-8 mins. Add the tomatoes, passata and dried herbs, season well and cook for 12-15 mins, stirring often.

2. Meanwhile mix together the yoghurt, eggs and nutmeg until smooth. Season well.

3. Preheat oven to 200c/Gas 6. Spray a medium-sized lasagne dish with Fry Light. Spoon half the mince mixture into the base and top with half the lasagne sheets. Spread over half of the yoghurt mixture and top with the remaining mince mixture. Top with the remaining lasagne sheets, spread over the remaining yoghurt mix and sprinkle over the Parmesan.

4. Bake in the oven for 25-30 mins or until the top is golden. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

 

You can also build up the superfree by adding courgettes or peppers, or to give it a kick some chili's.

Now the lasagne is beautiful but the yoghurt topping didn't really go with my taste palette, so I have been looking at alternatives. Tesco white lasagne sauce is 11 syns for 200g, this divided by 4 servings is 3 syns, so all in all a serving with jar of white sauce on top will be 4.5 syns. This I am still happy with and I believe it will taste creamier. Also I have to point out that with this recipe I added 500g of mince to bulk up the meat, and I could actually serve 6, so the lasagne was actually 1 syn each serving.

 



Frozen Soup Cups & Bolognese ..

 

I made gorgeous SW syn free mushroom soup today, I had plenty left over so had to freeze some. My friend and Slimming Worlder Gemma informed us of this great idea of pouring the soup into flexible silicone muffin trays, then putting these in the freezer, once frozen pop them out. I put mine into freezer bags, and put back into freezer. 2 cups should be enough for a bowl, so just heat up when you want. Such a great idea.

 

 

 

This soup recipe is really easy and tastes delicious.

 

Ingredients:

2 Onions, peeled and chopped

500g Mushrooms, finely chopped

2.5 pints Vegetable stock ( I used a little less for a thicker consistency)

Seasoning

200g Low fat fromage frais

 

1. Fry onions and mushrooms until softened.

2. Add stock and bring to the boil.

3. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

4. Remove from the heat and blitz with a hand blender or food processor.

5. Add the fromage frais.

6. Blitz again, and serve.

 

 



 

 

Tonight for dinner I tried a new recipe of Bolognese Pasta Bake, and I'm glad I did because it was delicious! Really tasty and filling. This is 2.5 syns on Extra Easy. Unless your using your Healthy A for the cheese. I had mine with a Weight Watchers petit pan (free if using it as your Healthy B) but you could have some greens instead, or it can be a great meal on its own. Here's the recipe.

 

Ingredients:

250g dried pasta shapes

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 celery stick, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced

250g mushrooms, roughly chopped

500g extra lean minced beef

400g can chopped tomatoes

250ml beef stock

1tsp dried oregano

seasoning

110g reduced fat mozzarella cheese, diced.

 

1. Preheat oven to 180c/Gas 4.

2. Cook the pasta until al dente (tender but still retaining a bite). Drain well.

3. Place the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, mushrooms and minced beef in a large non-stick frying pan and stir-fry over a high heat for 6-7 mins.

4. Add the tomatoes, stock and oregano and bring to the boil. Season well, cover and cook over a medium heat for 20 mins, stirring occasionally.

5. Remove from heat.

6. Spoon half of the bolognese mixture into the base of a medium-sized baking dish and top with the cooked pasta. Spoon over the remaining mixture and sprinkle with cheese.

7. Bake in the oven for 25-30 mins or until bubbling. Remove from oven and serve.