Weight Loss Update
Tuesday 10th April
Total weight loss 13lb!
Week one and I have lost 4lbs, I am very pleased :)
Week two and I have lost 9lbs how on Earth? :O
The classic BLT has to be one of my all time favourite sandwiches. It is such a winning combination, the salty smokeyness of the bacon, the juicy sweetness of the tomato and the crunch of the lettuce. This all combines with the bread and creamy mayo to give a total taste and texture sensation.
I have switched from WW bread to the new crustless bread, it works out at 1.5 points for two slices but is much denser and it toasts very well.
Low Fat BLT
Serves 1 - 2.5 pts
2 slices of bread
2 bacon medallions
(I prefer smoked)
lettuce
(I use little gems)
Vine ripened tomato sliced
(you have to be able to TASTE it!)
Hellman's extra light mayo
(this has to be 5g or it's not free)
Cook the bacon, spread the bread with the mayo and make the sandwich.
I always find that if food is presented well it tastes nicer, it can also fool you into thinking that you are eating more than you really are. Take the picture above it is just 2 tomatoes cut thinly and arranged on a plate with some shavings of lowfat cheese, I use a potato peeler to do this. The tomatoes are dressed with balsamic vinegar, sea salt, black pepper and a few flakes of dried chilli. The points value was low at 1 pt per serving but serving it this way meant that it seemed like a lot more. If I had grabbed a tomato and a chunk of cheese as I sometimes do it would not have felt as satisfying.
There is a lot to be said for the psychological effects of eating with a knife and fork. I really did feel that I'd had a meal rather than a snack.
It may seem odd to be posting about soup when the weather is so hot but after a day of salads, and using points up on ice cream ;) I wanted something substantial and savoury after the sun had set and my appetite had returned.
I had 2 leeks, 1 carrot, 2 sticks celery, 1 courgette and a handful of green beans all lurking in the fridge and doing nothing so they were quickly sliced, diced and chucked in a pan with 2 chicken stock cubes and a pinch of saffron (Not essential but I wanted to use some it's been taunting me since I got back from Tunisia.)
15 minutes later and the vegetables were soft and I could go to work with my stick blender. It was thoroughly blitzed until all lumps had gone and I was left with a thick golden/green soup with a creamy texture.
Delicious and really quick to make. I like making soup. It's quick, low in points (in this case free) and the chopping and dicing is a great way to relieve stress.
We arrived back from holiday on Sunday evening but I still had to work on Monday and that meant I had to prepare my packed lunch. After a week away the cupboards were bare. As we had only been away for a week I had some tomatoes and peppers in the fridge that were still OK and of course dried stuff in the larder.
Tuna and Pasta Salad
Serves 1 - 4 pts each
1 small can tuna in spring water
1/2 green pepper finely chopped
6 cherry tomatoes halved
6 silver skinned pickled onions halved
Balsamic vinegar
Black pepper
Sprinkle of paprika
1 tbsp extra light mayo
3pts (9 0unce cooked weight) pasta
The pasta should be cool. I cook mine with a vegetable stock cube and then plunge into ice cold water to speed up the process. In a large bowl mix together the tuna, mayo, seasonings and vinegar. Add the other ingredients and stir well until the tuna mixture has completely coated the pasta. This can be eaten straight away but it actually better if stored in the fridge to allow the pasta to absorb the flavours.
I always use pickled onions as I like the flavour and crunch but finely chopped red onion would do as well. Not bad for something thrown together at the last minute!
I have had a lot of social occasion to attend this weekend with it being a bank holiday. On Saturday evening we were invited out to a barbecue at a friends house and I knew that the wine would be flowing and the food tempting.
I made leek and potato bake, just cooked in chicken stock cubes - see my "Tasty Tatties" post under side dishes, I also added courgette which did not work as well the skin on the courgette was stringy and the texture just was not right. I think I may be tempted to try it with carrot or swede next time as they will soften beautifully. It could also be made with vegetable stock and would taste great.
3 pts worth of potato, free veg and served with 3 smoked bacon medallions at 1.5 points each. It was very filling for 4.5 pts.
This chilled soup could not be easier to make and is a joy to eat on a warm day. Adjust the seasonings to taste as I like it quite hot.
Gazpacho Soup
Serves 4 - 0 pts
1 carton passata
1 red pepper peeled and de-seeded
1 green pepper peeled and de-seeded
1 red onion
A small bunch of fresh coriander
Juice of half a lemon
3 cloves of garlic - bashed
Sea salt
Black pepper
Worcester Sauce
Tabasco
Finely chopped spring onion, cucumber and tomato to garnish
Place all the ingredients apart from salt, pepper, Tabasco and the garnish into a food processor and puree until smooth. Add extra water if required. Season to taste then chill well.
Serve ice cold with the garnish in the centre
Isn't it nice when you discover something that you thought would be high in points is not as high as expected. This happened to me when out of interest I pointed halloumi cheese. Halloumi is a delicous cheese with a fabulous texture when cooked, it goes golden brown on the outside, and melts in the middle. It works particularly well in a salad with Mediterranean flavours. It has a very high melting point so is ideal for a barbecue and can be served on it's own with salad and a pitta.
It also takes on other flavours very well try it with chilli and lime sprinkled on before grilling. Or some fresh herbs.
We had in barbecued and served with salad and a sauce made from reduced tinned tomatoes, chilli, balsamic vinegar and dried oregano.
I bought light halloumi at 3.5 pts for 100g
The real stuff works out at 9 pts for 100g so well worth getting the light version
What to do when you are hungry but need your points for wine?
Mushroom Chop Suey
0 points
Mushrooms
Onion
Bean Sprouts
Garlic
Soy sauce
Five spice powder
Cook the onion, garlic and mushrooms until soft add the soy, five spice and the beansprouts and cook until the beansprouts start to wilt. Add any other free veg to bulk it out if required.
This is basically vegetables and rice stir fried together. I must admit to using the microwaveable pouches of rice as they are very quick and easy to point. The secret to a good fried rice is to get some colour on the vegetables and to makes sure that they are cut in such a way that they cook in the same time. I add garlic, five spice, chilli flakes, soy sauce and oyster sauce to mine and it tastes fantastic.
This was made using leek, red onion, courgette and mushrooms as that was what I had available. Carrot strips and beansprouts would also work well as do peppers and baby sweetcorn. I like to experiment with different vegetables.
Serve on it’s own as a snack or light lunch or with fish, chicken in fact there is not much it will not go with.
Made with 1 pack of Uncle Ben’s Basmati rice in microwavable pouches this will serve 2 and is 2.5 pts per portion.
No point soups are a Weightwatchers lifesaver but they do all tend to be tomato based. This is a lovely almost creamy soup with no tomatoes involved.
Leek and Mushroom Soup
Serves 4 - 0pts
2 large or 3 small leeks finely sliced
6 oz mushroom chopped
2 chicken stock cubes.
Salt and Pepper to taste
Boil it together until the leeks are cooked and then liquidise. You want to taste the leeks but have the mushrooms there for texture. This gives the soup a lovely savoury taste and a velvety texture that almost feels creamy. You can add a little milk to compliment this too, I sometimes use a drop from my allowance.
If you do not like mushrooms then a potato can be added but remember the points.
We saw some low fat pizza's in Tesco that were reduced in price and decided to get the for dinner tonight. The best thing about Tesco is that their Healthy Living range have weightwatchers points on them and these were 6 points each. They were OK, not bad but they did need a little extra. I added red onion, mushrooms and a points worth of WW cheese. Served with salad it made a nice low point meal.
One of my favourite treats is a steak sandwich. I often use venison steaks as they are so lean a decent sized one is only 2 points. They also have a more intense flavour than beef and when cooked to medium rare are delightfully juicy.
Make sure your pan is smoking hot, season the steaks and then spray with oil from the mister, do not spray the pan or you will have a kitchen full of black smoke. Sear for a couple of minutes on each side then set to rest. I like ciabatta bread as the dry texture makes a wonderful contast to the juicyness of the steak and really absorbs the flavour.
Cut the bread in half and toast in the griddle pan - it literally takes seconds and both warms and crisps the bread. Add the steak to the bread and pour over and escaped juices.
I am planning a dinner party, well some friends coming over to dinner so nothing too formal. They are not dieting but I don't want to break my diet so I am on the lookout for lowfat options that I can serve without any loss of flavour.
This is the idea I came up with for a starter
Chicken Tikka Starter
Serves 6 - 1 pt each
2 packs low fat chicken tikka mini fillets
Assorted salad
1 Lemon
1 tsp mint sauce
6 tsp very low fat WW Mayo
Put the chicken in the oven to warm through - it's already cooked. Arrange the salad onto plates (I used lettuce, tomato, cucumber and red onion). Mix the mayo and mint sauce together with a dash of lemon juice. When the chicken is warm slice and arrange on top of the salad and spoon a little of the dressing into the middle. Cut the lemon into wedges and serve on the side.
Add mango chutney and mini naan breads for those not dieting or add the points
Ham and eggs
Serves 1 - 5.5 pts
2 slices of toast
1 slice of ham warmed through and rolled
2 poached eggs
A few sliced dry fried mushrooms
This makes a nice change and the addition of the ham adds a new dimension. Serve with tea or coffee for a lovely brunch.
My husband has a sore throat so I made him a batch of soup. It is points free and very tasty with a beautifully aromatic broth. The garlic and chilli make it a good decongestant too.
Chinese Style Mushroom Soup
Serves 2 - 0 pts per serving
1/2 lb mushrooms sliced
1 chicken stock cube
3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes
1/4 teaspoon five spice powder
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp light soy sauce
Stick it all in a pan and cook until the mushrooms are soft. You could liquidise but I prefer the chunkyness.
Frankly it's been a hell of a day and the last thing I wanted to do when I got home from work was to cook. Jacket potato seemed like the perfect answer hot, delicious, comforting and no hassle to prepare. I had mine with low fat coleslaw and pre-cooked chicken tikka fillets. My other half had beans. We also had low fat cheese triangles which we mixed into the potato for lovely rich creamyness.
One of the difficulties in dieting is having to grab a quick sandwich. If you buy a ready made one they are usually stuffed with mayo and butter and have lots of hidden points. Even the local sandwich shop can be a no-no as their rolls etc tend to be large and you have no way to weigh. That sandwich that you guesstimated at 5 pts could easily be double that. Then there is the other temptations crisps, sausage rolls and buns all designed to make you buy on impulse and regret at leisure.
The solution is to plan in advance, go to Subway or another shop where can check the points before you visit. If you know that you are going for a reduced fat tuna roll and stick to it you will not go wrong it's when you look around for something to tempt you that the trouble starts.
I tend to take a packed lunch to eliminate the risk of impulse lunches. I have no access to cooking facilities or microwave etc just a kettle and a fridge so I have a cold lunch. I think it's important to vary what you have as plain old sandwiches soon become booooooooooring.
Here are a few of my favourite packed lunches
Ham and mustard on malted WW danish bread
Tuna and coleslaw wrap
1/2 WW pizza with salad (see picture)
Tuna or Prawn and pasta salad
Coronation chicken wraps
Cold chicken with rice and peppers
Ham and mushroom tortilla (like a cold omelette)with salad
Humous with pitta bread
Greek salad with pitta
Low fat chicken Caesar salad
Spicy sausage (I use the Bowyers 95%fat free Mediterranean ones) with couscous
This is a traditional Mexican snack that can easily be adapted for weightwatcher. My husband makes tuna quesadillas as a quick lunch or snack
Tuna Quesadilla
3.5 pts each
2 flour tortillas (1 pt each)
1 small can tuna in spring water
1/2 pt grated low fat cheese
1 tsp tomato puree
1/2 tsp dried mixed herbs
Dried chilli flakes to taste
Spread one of the tortillas with tomato puree and sprinkle with herbs and chilli. Flake the tuna onto this and top with cheese. Sandwich together with the other tortilla.
Heat a frying pan without oil and place the quasadilla in. Toast on one side and then turn over, the cheese should be just melting and the tortillas a golden brown colour. Cut into quarters and serve.
Don't you hate it when you have one point left and you are starving? I must admit this usually happens when I've used my points for wine and then I get the munchies. I always have rice cakes in the house. They work out at 3 for a point and although they do not taste of anything much they do add bulk.
Mushrooms and Rice Cakes
Serves 1 - 1 Point
Mushrooms
Chilli
Garlic
Soy Sauce
3 Rice Cakes
Stir fry the mushrooms with the garlic, chilli and soy and serve on the rice cakes! Simple, quick and delicious.
This is so many points when you get it from a takeaway so I thought I'd have a go at my own version and this is such a cheats version. It literally takes less than 10 minutes from start to finish and really packs a punch in the flavour department.
Chicken Fried Rice
Serves 2 - 3 pts each
1/2 pack healthy living cooked chicken breast fillets
Handful of mushrooms sliced
2 tbsp oyster sauce
Garlic and chilli from the grinder
Soy sauce to taste
Pack microwavable basmati rice
Spray a wok with oil from a mister and add the mushrooms. Chop the chicken and add that plus a couple of turns from the garlic and chilli grinder. Add a splash of soy sauce and some water to stop the whole thing sticking. Put the rice in the microwave and add the oyster sauce to the chicken and mushrooms. When the rice is warmed through add to the wok and stir well. Divide between two dishes and devour. Add more soy if required
For a main meal why not eat it all to yourself?
