A Long Way Down

So, after forever of trying to muddle through and do it myself at home, I joined a Slimming World group this evening.

I’ve been to so many of these things before and always felt pretty matter-of-fact about it. I’ve certainly never been emotional at the scales, which is what happened tonight. The consultant asked me what I wanted to weigh, and I burst into tears. Then he showed me the kind of range that I might think about and I cried again. Not because I’m so overweight now, but because of seemingly impossible challenge of having so much I need to lose.

Slimming World’s great in that it’s all about choosing personal goals and weights we’re comfortable with.

But whatever I chose, achieving anything reasonable just seemed a very, very long way down.

I’m hoping that the high emotion is a sign that this time it might just work.

Eggy Bread – Slimming World Style

I’m a great fan of Eggy Bread (we used to call it Gypsy Toast).  Like many old favourites, a couple of tweaks makes it a great fit with Slimming World.

I love this on weekend mornings with a few grilled mushrooms and a couple of plum tomatoes.

Serves 1
Syns Syn free if using the bread as a HexB
Time 20 minutes

Ingredients
60g wholemeal bread (HexB)
2 eggs
Salt and pepper
Fry Light

 

 

 

Method

1 – Beat the eggs lightly with salt and pepper to taste.

2- Dip the bread into the egg mix, allowing time for the bread to absorb lots of egg.

3- Spray a frying pan with fry light and heat till hot.

4 – Add the bread slices.

5 – Fry for a few minutes until lightly browned.

6 – Turn and cook the other side.

7 – Serve immediately.

Simples!

Slimming World Curried Rice Loaf

Slimming World Curried Rice Loaf is a great lunchtime recipe.  Ideal eaten cold, so it’s perfect for weekday lunchboxes.

Serves 2-3
Syns Free on Extra Easy
Time 30 minutes prep, 35 minutes cooking, 1 hour cooling

Ingredients
1 packet free instant curry rice (check your syns calculator for this)
200g ham
4 eggs

Method

1- Pre-heat oven at 180 degrees C

2- Make up the savoury rice with water according to the packet instructions.

3- Cool the rice as much as you can (I sit my rice-cooking jug on a separate bowl of ice cubes, and give it a stir every few minutes).

4 – Chop the ham into small-ish cubes.

5 – Beat the eggs.

6 – Combine all ingredients and stir well.

7 – Line a small loaf tin with greaseproof paper.

8 – Carefully pour the mixture into the loaf tin.

9 – Cook in a baking tray in the oven for around 30 minutes.  When cooked, the loaf should be firm to touch and nicely browned (use a knife to check if the insides are cooked through).

10 – Cool for an hour and it slices beautifully. A little longer to cool if using for lunchboxes.

Don’t forget to add your Superfrees; goes very nicely with salad (can you tell I’m a bit of a beetroot fiend?!).

Yes, I know it looks decidedly weird…

Prawn and Pineapple Noodles – Syn Free

Having Prawn and Pineapple Noodles for a weekday lunch is one of my favourite bits about Slimming World. I love the mixture of sweet and savoury, and it’s a really filling syn free lunch.

Syns Free on EE
Serves 2
Time 30 minutes, with about an hour mid-way for the noodles to cool.

 

IngredientsPrawn and Pineapple Noodles
200g (dry weight) noodles (I use Sharwood’s medium egg noodles)
Half a red pepper
Half a fresh pineapple
A handful of prawns
2 tbsp soy sauce

 

Method

1 – Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions

2 – Cool the noodles as much as possible – I run them through with cold water

3 – Drain the noodles and share them between two dishes / lunchboxes

4 – Chop the pepper finely and share between the two dishes

5 – Chop the pineapple into chunks and share equally

6 – Share the prawns between the two dishes

7 – Measure a tablespoon of soy sauce into each dish

8 – Stir the ingredients together

A Couple of Notes

I normally make this for lunch over two days. I find it much easier to share it out as I go – otherwise, the mix of different things always seems a bit unequal.

I tend to make it the day before I need it – I think it benefits from being left in the fridge overnight.

Remember that the pineapple is being eaten raw so doesn’t need synning.

Slimming World Breakfast

We all know that breakfast really is the most important meal of the day.  But preparing and eating it can be a real problem.

I’m quite lucky in that I work pretty flexible hours most of the time, but I’ve been starting earlier than normal this past week.

This past week, I’ve had loads of great things each morning:

2 hard boiled eggs
2 babybels (HexA)
Muesli with yogurt*
2 portions of fruit (I vary this each day)

*Muesli with Yogurt is…
28g high fibre muesli (HexB)
1 muller light

Mix the two together the night before, and the yogurt soaks up the muesli.

This works with any of the fruit flavours, and the toffee yogurt works great with a banana sliced in just before eating.

Muesli with Yogurt

Weekend Breakfasts

You can’t beat a good old-fashioned ‘fry’ up – beans, eggs, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes. Without the frying, obviously.