Paprika Chicken & Bacon Warmer

I was challenged recently by Knorr to incorporate their fabulous Knorr Stock Pots into a recipe - the challenge was that it had to be gluten-free, much like their Stock Pots. They sent me a big box of lovely fresh ingredients, and left it up to me to decide what I wanted to make.

I decided to adapt this recipe to be gluten free and Weight Watchers friendly, and it worked a treat. This is a super tasty, super hearty, super warming Autumn dish... and it's low fat. Winner!

Paprika Chicken & Bacon Warmer

(adapted from here)

Serves: 4-6

400g chicken breasts (I used a pack of Sainsbury's mini fillets) - 10PP

200g bacon medallions - 6PP

800g baby potatoes, sliced - 15PP

1 tbsp cornflour - 2PP

Knorr chicken stock pot - 1PP

250ml white wine - 6PP

2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce - 2PP

Salt & Pepper

Smoked Paprika

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 onion, chopped

6 mushrooms, chopped

1 pepper, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

300ml boiling water, for stock

2-3 stalks of fresh thyme

Frylight

42PP / 11PP - 4 servings, 7PP - 6 servings

1. Boil a pan of water and par-boil your potatoes for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
1. Chop up your chicken and bacon (I always use scissors)
2. In a plastic sandwich bag, add 2 teaspons of smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 of pepper. Mix together (I just shook the bag) and throw the chicken into the bag
3. Massage the bag from the outside until the chicken is well coated. To be honest, I think you could also just throw the chicken, paprika, salt and pepper into a bowl and stir it together too.
4. In a nonstick frying pan or wok, add the chicken and bacon, and cook until cooked through. You will probably need to add some Frylight and maybe a few splashes of water, to stop it sticking.
5. Remove the meat from the pan and leave in a bowl for a bit, then add the garlic and the onion into the pan. Stir for about 2 minutes, then add the mushrooms and cook for another 2 minutes. Again, you may need to add another splash of water to stop it sticking.
6. Add the carrots and peppers, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly.
7. Combine the cornflour with a splash of water to make a paste, then slowly stir into 175ml of the wine (I used a jug for this).

8. Add the Knorr Stock Pot to a jug of 300ml of boiling water, and stir until it's dissolved.
9. Add the flour and wine mixture to the pan, and then immediately add the stock. If you wait, it'll stick and your vegetables will burn. I speak from experience...
10. Pop the potatoes and the meat back into the pan with all the vegetables, stir to combine and increase the heat to medium-high until it starts to bubble. Add another sprinkling of paprika, your sweet chilli, a further 175ml of wine and some more salt and pepper.
11. Leave to simmer and cook down for about half an hour. If you can, cover the pan, but we didn't have a lid and it was fine - I just checked it regularly and gave it a stir to make sure it wasn't sticking.
12. Just before stirring, strip the stalks of thyme into the mixture and stir them in. Have a taste, add any extra seasoning you wish and then plate that bad boy up.

This is my last post here on Where Are My Knees sadly, but you can catch me at my personal blog, Essbeevee, which is full of lots of yummy recipes and chatter.

Bacon, feta & rocket frittata recipe

I’m back!

I’ve been very quiet here for the past few months, and the reason is that I completely fell off the wagon. I am cross with myself – it took the best part of last year to lost 2.5 stone, and only 6 months to gain most of it back. If only it worked the other way around! I’m not going to beat myself up though – I gained weight because I was in a new relationship and happier than I’ve been in a long time. And I am back on it now, I've switched to doing Weight Watchers online and my first weigh in is tomorrow! Eeep!

I’m going to start posting lots of recipes again, as last year, that’s what really helped me lose the weight. I discovered a love of cooking that I didn’t know I had, and rather than feeling sad about no more takeaways and convenience food, I’m excited to start cooking from scratch again and experimenting with tasty recipes.

With that all said, I might as well come back with a tasty recipe! And before you ask, YES. It does involve cheese. So, I’m definitely guilty of having the same thing for lunch day in, day out – when I find something that works, I stick with it. Throughout school, I was perfectly happy with my peanut butter sandwich and ready salted crisps every day, and now I’m all about my daily soup.

Pink Lining challenged me to come up with a recipe to liven up a kids’ lunchbox – now even though I don’t have any of my own, I spend a lot of time with my sister’s kids so I felt pretty equipped to come up with something. After a lot of thinking, I went for a frittata. Frittatas are super easy to make - unlike omelettes, they require very little skill (my omelettes always fall apart!). They’re a super easy dinner as they’re basically eggs and whatever else you have – but they’re also really good hot or cold. And they’re light, too! This whole recipe is only 19 points, and for lunch a quarter or half would be plenty.

I didn’t get a chance to try this out on any children but I put together this as my own lunchbox and very tasty it was too! (Plus, this Pink Lining lunchbox is way too adorable to give to a kid, right?) Along with my frittata portion, I bought a little box of green salad, some cherry tomatoes, a bottle of water and a couple of pieces of fruit. Super tasty!

Bacon, Feta & Rocket Frittata

Half a small red onion - 0PP

2 mushrooms

A couple of handfuls of fresh rocket - 0PP

4 large eggs - 8pp

100g crumbled feta cheese - 7pp

50g bacon lardons - 4pp

19PP / 10PP a half

1. Turn on your grill and let it heat up while you prepare everything else.
2. In an oven-proof frying pan,* thinly chop your mushrooms and onion, then dry fry (add a little water if it starts to stick)
3. Throw in your bacon and let everything cook away while you prepare everything else
4. In a jug or bowl, break your eggs and whisk up with a little salt and pepper until combined
5. Chop up your feta and add that to the bowl, then add your rocket.
6. Stir it all together, and then add to the frying pan.
7. Remove your frying pan from the heat and pop it under the grill for 5-10 minutes until it's cooked through - the egg should be solid, not liquid, all the way through.
8. Chop into quarters and serve, or leave to cool and have it for lunch tomorrow!

*If you don't have an oven-proof frying pan, you'll need to decant this into a baking tin, but it may not work as well.

Post in collaboration with Pink Lining.

Say hello to a familiar face... guest post by Lauren.

Hi there – remember me? I can’t believe it’s been 18 months since I was last here!

For those of you who are new to Where Are My Knees, my name is Lauren and I was a member of the team for a few months back in 2012/2013. Unfortunately due to other commitments I wasn’t able to stick around longer, but I had some great experiences while part of the team and I was thrilled when Gemma got in touch to ask me if I wanted to do a guest post for the girls.

My story is one most people will have heard in some form or another – I lost 100lbs on Weight Watchers over the course of two and a half years while I was at university. After graduating and starting full time work the weight started to creep back on slowly…a year after I graduated I fell in love with a wonderful man and suddenly the weight wasn’t creeping on so much as piling on – a result of too many meals out and too many nights on the sofa with ice cream and sweets!

At my heaviest, I weighed 19st 11.5lbs – a number that will be ingrained in my memory for the rest of my life. At my lightest, I weighed 12st 9.5lbs. I was within the healthy weight bracket for my height (5’11) but still around 7-10lbs heavier than I wanted to be. As of this April, when I re-joined Weight Watchers and really re-committed myself to losing the weight again, I weighed 16st 5lbs. At first I was mortified that I had allowed myself to regain so much of the weight that I worked so hard to lose, but I’ve come to accept that this is just one stage in my journey. The truth is I will struggle with my weight for the rest of my life, and that is just something that I’m going to have to accept and learn to live with. What matters is that I re-dedicated myself to losing weight and living healthily, and in the last 14 weeks I’ve lost just over 15lbs. Not a miraculous weight loss by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s been consistent and I’m actually enjoying being back on track.

So, what changed? Well first of all I’m very lucky to have the support of my wonderful boyfriend. We recently made the decision to move in together, and we’re currently living in his lovely little house in a small town in Lincolnshire. It’s a far cry from the hustle and bustle of the busy commuter town in Essex I grew up in, but I’m loving being surrounded by gorgeous countryside and will soon be starting a brand new job about two miles from our home. Moving in with my boyfriend and out of the family home has had a huge impact on my weight loss because I have been able to take control of what food is in the house. Living with my mum, stepdad and brother was always problematic for me weight loss wise. Not only were the cupboards full of sweets, crisps and chocolate but my mum is an excellent cook and is not a fan of weighing or measuring – so while I knew that my meals were made from lovely fresh ingredients I never had any idea of how much was on my plate. Since moving in with Pete I have almost completely taken over shopping and cooking (even though he’s a better cook than I am!) and having this control has really helped keep me on track.

Probably the most important thing that happened was that I was finally honest with myself about how I felt about my body. Because I’m tall I can get away with carrying more weight, and even at just over 16st I was only wearing a size 16. I spent a long time trying to convince myself that my weight didn’t matter and I was happy with how I looked. I have a boyfriend that loves me no matter what size jeans I’m wearing, and it wasn’t like I’d regained all the weight after all…maybe this was just the size I was meant to be. I was wrong though, and I had to realise that and break the cycle of denial before I could really get re-focussed on losing weight. If I hadn’t, I have no doubt that I would have ended up back where I started in 2010.

As I said previously, mine is a story that most people will be familiar with. Almost everybody knows somebody who lost a significant amount of weight and then re-gained some or all of it. Gemma herself has spoken about her struggles with maintaining her weight loss and there are plenty more people out there in the same boat. If you’ve found yourself in this position, or even if you’re new to the weight loss game, I would advise you to above all else be honest with yourself. I spent two years pre-Weight Watchers telling myself that I didn’t care about being the fat friend, but it was a lie. It sounds shallow, but I was at my happiest in myself when I was at my slimmest. I was brimming with confidence, I smiled more, I laughed freely, I made friends easily. Over the past couple of years as the weight has crept back on I’ve found myself making excuses not to go out, shying away from the colourful and fun fashions I used to love, and generally withdrawing more and more. Being honest with myself about what the weight was doing to my happiness was the best thing I could have done, and I’m now looking forward to shedding even more pounds and re-embracing the slim, happy, confident girl I was a couple of years ago.

If you’d like to keep up with my weight loss journey and see a little more of what I’m up to now I’m living in the Lincs countryside then please stop by my new blog Life In Lincs, or say hello on Twitter or Instagram. I’d love to hear from you :)

Weight Watchers friendly crayfish, mango & avocado salad recipe

Serves 2 - 7 Pro Points per serving


Ingredients

• 1 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 2 teaspoons of honey
• red chilli
• 2 teaspoons of olive oil
• 1/4 red onion or some spring onions
• 125g crayfish (I bought mine pre-prepared in Lidl)
• 1 large mango, peeled, pitted, sliced
• 1 large avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, sliced
• lettuce leaves

Method

Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl and whisk in oil. Season with salt and pepper then mix in onion and leave to marinate for 15 minutes.

Form a bowl with little gem lettuce on a plate and add any other salad leaves you have. Place avocado, mango and crayfish on top and drizzle over the dressing. 

I think this would look lovely served in glasses for a dinner party and it's so colourful even kids might try some.

If you wanted to turn this into the Marks and Spencer version you could add some wild rice that is coloured with a little paprika instead of avocado and a couple of teaspoons of coconut cream but coconut cream is extremely high in points. The M&S one retails for about £4 but you could make 2-3 portions of this at home for the same price. Save money and pro points by making your own, it's so easy!

Day in the life of Weight Watchers - Salmon and spicy bean salsa recipe

I had my second weigh in since starting back on the Weight Watchers plan yesterday and have now lost a total of 5lbs in two weeks. I was a little disappointed to only lose 2lbs in my first week back but I already ate pretty well before heading back to class and still used skimmed milk and ate a high protein and vegetable based diet so the changes were not as extreme for me as some other people joining for the first time. 5lbs is a pretty decent loss and and I've enjoyed getting back on track and eating plenty of tasty food.

This is what I ate on Sunday, I tend to have a more relaxed approach on the weekends and eat more 'treat' type foods and have a late brunch. I also ate some cherries and a peach which aren't photographed.

Brunch  - Baked beans, mushrooms, bacon medallions and egg. All Filling and healthy, no counting.

Lunch - crumpets, Nutella (1 of 2 daily treats) fruit, water.

Tea with skimmed milk, WW bar (2 of 2 daily treats)

My evening meal was so tasty but simple to cook so I thought I would share the recipe:

Serves 2 - 420 calories - 2 of your 5 a day

Ingredients:

- 200g 2 x Salmon fillets
- 400g Canned mixed beans, drained
- 227g Canned chopped tomatoes
- 20g Fresh coriander, finely chopped
- 1 Red chilli, finely chopped

Method:

1. In a bowl combine the black beans and tomatoes.
2. Stir in coriander, chilli and salt.
3. Pan fry Salmon for 3 or 4 minutes on each side to thoroughly cooked.
4. Serve salmon with salsa and a green salad.

I started counting points again this week after two weeks on the simple start plan. I'm going to mix it up so some days I will count points and other follow the Filling & Healthy plan. Hoping for another solid loss of around 2lbs this week.

harissa falafel

I've been trying to rustle up tasty treats to keep my diet interesting since starting back at Weight Watchers over a week ago. There's a lot of food on the Healthy and Filling/Simple Start list at Weight Watchers that you can eat without weighing or counting and everything in this falafel recipe is on the Simple Start shopping list making it perfect for those just starting the plan like me or anyone looking for a healthy veggie dinner.

Serves: 2-3
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 6 minutes

Ingredients
1 x 400g can cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
Handful of parsley, finely chopped
1 small red onion, finely diced
1 tsp harissa paste
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
Salt to season

To serve:
Tomatoes, green salad and pitta bread/wraps

Method
1. Add all the ingredients to a food processor and then blend until you have a paste like consistency.

2. Remove from the processor bowl and shape into six to eight patties and transfer to a plate.

3. Warm a non-stick pan to a medium – high heat. Add the patties and cook for three minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked all the way through.

4. Serve in toasted pitta bread with tomato and green salad.

This was my Friday night meal so I served it with Weight Watchers wraps, paprika wedges and chicken to make it more satisfying. These would be great for a packed lunch too and keep well in a tub. I have to admit that even though the falafel was tasty I was very jealous of my boyfriends burgers but no pain no gain, ey?

Day in the life of Weight Watchers Simple Start

As I mentioned in my last post I've gone back to Weight Watchers but things have changed a little since I attended a meeting about a year and a half ago. When you join Weight Watchers now you follow the Simple Start plan for two weeks before they introduce the idea of counting points. So what is Weight Watchers Simple Start?

It’s an introduction to the Weight Watchers plan that helps you get to grips with eating the healthy and satisfying foods without the distraction of counting or weighing anything at the start. You follow Simple Start for up to two weeks and can add a couple of treats per day like almonds, avocado, cheese and chocolate    

You chose foods from the Filling & Healthy food list. This includes things like baked beans, tinned tomatoes, potatoes, eggs and ham alongside calorie-controlled brown bread, wholemeal pasta, lean cuts of meat and plenty of fruit and vegetables. I love the fact that I'm never hungry and I can boost flavour with things like dried herbs, curry powder, lemon juice, soy sauce which means all my food is tatsy and my partner will eat it too so I don't need to cook two meals.
 
I've only been on the plan for a couple of days but I am enjoying it and get to eat very varied foods. My big bowls of tasty fruit are something I look forward to everyday. This is what I eat on a typical day:

Poached egg on wholemeal danish bread and bacon medallions. 

Tea with skimmed milk.

I also has a small bowl of shreddies, this was a Sunday and I woke up late so this was more of a brunch. 

Crumpets with berries and cherries jam (1 of my 2 daily treats)

Fruit salad with 0% fat Greek yogurt.

Fish pie with leek and mustard mash & vegetables

If you want to make the fish pie you can add as much or little of the following ingredients as you like, it's so flexible on the Simply Start plan. I was really hungry so I had lots of mash and added loads of mustard for extra flavour.

Ingredients
Frozen fish mix, you can get these in most supermarkets and they have a variety of fish in them.
1 Bay leaf   
Black pepper
Skimmed Milk
Quark + low fat garlic and herb soft cheese (50g=one of my extra treats)
2 tsp parsley, chopped

For the mash
Leek
Potato
Wholegrain mustard   

Instructions

• Preheat the oven160ºC(fan). Place the fish in a small roasting tin, add the bay leaf, pepper and pour the milk over. Cover tightly with a piece of foil and cook for about 10 minutes. Strain the milk into a jug and bin the bay leaf)
• Meanwhile, whisk together the  reserved milk with the soft cheese. Add the parsley and season to taste, then pour the sauce over the fish.
• Cook the leek in a pan of boiling water for 5 minutes or until soft. Drain well. In another pan, cook the potatoes in boiling water until tender. Drain, then mash with the mustard and the remaining strained milk. Stir in the leeks and season to taste.
• Top the pie with the leek mash, spreading the mixture out with a fork. Cook for 25 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling. 

My weight loss journey - We’re All The Boss

I'm really proud of the weight loss I achieved due to the support of readers of this blog. I managed to loose over 75lbs/nearly 6 stone back in 2011-2012 through following the Weight Watchers. When I think about my weight loss journey I'm glad I took control and changed my life. My confidence soared and my health improved greatly and most importantly I felt in control of my own body. I was the boss and could control the way I ate.

Sadly, I haven't managed to keep all the weight off but after a break from my diet I've decided to start again which was a pretty tough decision. Here are some photos sharing my weight loss ups and downs of the past few years:

I've been 'off plan' since around June 2012 but I made an effort to keep the weight off last year by following the plan loosely at home, going to the gym and cooking healthy and filling meals. Since meeting my partner over a year ago a lot has changed and sadly I've put on over a stone back on.
My clothes don't fit anymore, my face is getting rounder and I'm getting more out of breath than I used to be when doing simple things like walking to the train station in the morning. I'm determined not to let the whole 75+ pounds go back on so I'm heading back to Weight Watchers.

I don't want to make excuses for myself and want to just get back on the band wagon and get back to the weight where I was happy. I know it's going to be harder this time because I don't work on evenings and weekends any more which are key times when I like to snack and pick at high calorie foods and I no longer just cook for myself. Meeting my boyfriend and moving in with him means I've adopted his bad habits and initially I was cooking extravagant food because I was trying to impress him. All sense of controlling what I ate went out the window and I treated him to all his favourite food which tends to be American food which is fried and with loads of cheese.

I'm really looking forward to going back to basics, eating simple, filling and healthy meals and regaining the confidence I lost through putting weight back on. I've spent a lot of time dwelling on my failure to keep the weight off and I really felt worse after putting a stone back on than I did when I was 6 stone heavier.

I'm feeling more than ready to head back to Weight Watchers on Saturday and stepping on the scales. Going back to class will mean I will be blogging here a lot more as I found it the biggest source of support when I lost weight last time. That means loads more recipe posts and more 'Day in the life of' posts. If you write about the Weight Watchers plan please leave your links below so I can read your posts and get some inspiration.

I hope my story can inspire you to change that one thing that really gets you down. It could be going on a solo traveling expedition, setting up your own company or even dying your hair that crazy colour you've always fancied.

Buffalo Chicken Mac 'n' Cheese

When I saw this recipe on The Greedy Girls recently I couldn't stop thinking about it. I was having a batch cooking day recently and decided to give it a shot, but first I modified the recipe so it was a little more Weight Watchers friendly. The key to making a rich sauce lower fat is to spread it across more portions - you still get all the flavour, but you're just making it go a little further. I then just substituted some of the full fat elements for lighter options, and presto... it was awesome.

This is a really, really tasty dish. It's quite time consuming to make, but it's so worth it when you get there. It's also super rich - I haven't been super good lately so my appetite has grown a bit, but every time I eat this I'm surprised at how full I am, considering it's only 40g of pasta per portion. I think I ate the last portion today, and I'm going to have to make it again crazy soon. New favourite recipe, right here.

Full credit for this goes to Amy from The Greedy Girls - I just tweaked it a bit!

Buffalo Chicken Mac 'n' Cheese
500g chicken breasts = 12PP
320g macaroni or pasta = 31PP
1tsp brown sugar = 1PP
4 tsp Lurpak Lighter = 3PP
1 tbsp plain flour = 2PP
240ml semi skimmed milk = 3PP
170g cheddar cheese = 14PP
125g light mozzarella = 6PP
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 red onion, sliced
2 peppers, diced
2 cartons of passata
Two teaspoons of cumin
Chilli flakes
Two tablespoons of paprika

72PP / 9PP (serves 8)
1. Place the chicken breasts (whole) and the pasta in a large saucepan. Cover with boiling water, then add a few inches more water. Add a generous pinch of salt, and cook for around 20 minutes. Drain and set the macaroni aside.
2. Pull out the chicken breasts, shred with a couple of forks and set the meat aside. Keep the saucepan ready for later, too.
3. Meanwhile, fry the garlic and onion on a low heat for five minutes. Add the peppers and fry for five minutes more. Tip in the passata, the cumin, a shake of chilli flakes (depending on how hot you like you food), the paprika and the sugar. Add anything else you think it needs for flavour - I added a splash of balsamic vinegar and a spoonful of artificial sweetener.
4. Stir the sauce through the shredded chicken (FYI - if you struggle with the shredding, chopped is fine. I bought diced breasts so shredding them wasn't the easiest feat!). Season with salt and pepper and leave to bubble on a low heat.
5. That's the buffalo chicken part done - now onto the mac 'n' cheese! In a small saucepan melt the butter.
6. Add the flour to the butter and stir to combine. Then add the milk, a splash at a time, mixing well between each addition. You’ll end up with a thick, gloopy sauce. If it's too thin, add more flour.
7. Add around half the cheddar and stir to melt into the sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
8. Preheat the oven to 200C.
9. Put the pasta back in the big saucepan and tip the cheese sauce over the top. Stir to coat the pasta.
10. In an large, ovenproof dish, layer half of the buffalo chicken on the bottom of the dish. Then add half of the macaroni and cheese on top of that. Top with the remaining half of the buffalo chicken mix and finally the rest of the mac ‘n’ cheese. Don't worry if your layers aren't neat, it's best all mixed up.
11. Tear the mozzarella up and distribute over the top of the dish. Then sprinkle over the remaining cheddar.
12. Bake for around 20 minutes, until the cheese is golden brown. This freezes really well - I might even have added another 2PP worth of cheese onto it when I reheated. SO GOOD.

Cheeseburger Casserole

Someone linked to this recipe on Twitter recently from the American blog SkinnyTaste (originally from a Bobby Deen cookbook) and I was intrigued by it. Cheeseburgers? In a casserole? With pasta? And not full of fat? DOES NOT COMPUTE.

Obviously I had to try it though, and try it I did. I am usually pretty faithful when it comes to following recipes, but I looked at all the weird American measurements and totally improvised this one. So not like me. I kind of based it on the quantities from other recipes I’ve done like a Spag Bol and a cheesy bake, and it was super yummy! It’s not QUITE as good as a cheeseburger (come on, NOTHING is) but it’s really hearty and filling and there’s cheese involved, and you know that I’m all about involving the cheese. I’ve modified it a bit, adding some extra flavouring and stuff, and a few more veggies.

Cheeseburger Casserole (originally from here)

500g extra lean mince 16pp

300g pasta 29pp

150g light cheddar cheese 12pp

3 tbsp Dijon Mustard 2pp

1 onion, finely chopped 0pp

1 red pepper, chopped 0pp

1 tsp salt 0pp

1 tsp black pepper 0pp

2 tbsp tomato puree 1pp

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp smoked paprika

2 garlic cloves, chopped or crushed 0pp

1 carton/can chopped tomatoes 0pp

1 jar pickled gherkins 0pp*

60PP / 10PP

Serves 6.

To reduce points: drop the amount of cheese, make into 8 portions instead of 6, drop the amount of pasta (40g per person instead of 50g per person would be enough).

1. Preheat the oven to 150c.
2. Cook the pasta according to package instructions and drain.
3. In a large frying pan or wok, add the onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add oil if you need to (but remember to account for it if you’re counting) or FryLight, but a smidge of water will also work to stop it sticking.
4. Stir in the garlic and the mince, and cook until browned.
5. Add the pepper, and any other vegetables you fancy.
6. Stir in the tomato puree, then add the salt, pepper, oregano, paprika, chopped tomatoes and the mustard. Let the mixture bubble slightly until it’s slightly thickened – a few minutes. Stir frequently to make sure it doesn’t stick.
7. Give it a taste and add any extra seasoning you think it needs, but if you’re happy, chuck the pasta in with the sauce and stir it together
8. Spread the meat and pasta mixture into the prepared dish, and top with your grated 150g of cheese.
9. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is melted and brown.
10. Sprinkle the chopped pickles over the top and serve – but if you’ve batch cooked this and are planning to freeze it, hold back on the pickles and only add them when the mixture is heated up and ready to eat.

*I’ve put 0pp on the pickles but it depends on what you buy. I bought a jar of pickled sweet gherkins and if I’d eaten the whole jar, it would have been a few points because of the sugar that was used to preserve them. However, allowing for a sixth of the jar was 0pp. So just make sure you check this – it’s not going to add a lot to the dish though. Also, if you’re not a fan of them, just leave them out!

SkinnyTaste also suggested adding sautéed mushrooms to the top which I did – I sautéed a whole punnet of chopped mushrooms in about 30g of Lurpak Lighter (5pp), a bit of salt and a couple of chopped garlic cloves which added an extra point per portion. I then put them on top of the bake when it was out of the oven so they retained their flavour. They were yummy, but I felt like the taste of the bake kind of drowned their buttery garlicky awesomeness. Next time, I’d just have them as a side.

Mexican Lasagne

I’ve spoken before about my love for Food Network, but if you have a similar addiction, you’ll know that most recipes on there don’t really fit on a website with a diet/fitness focus. So prepare to be even more shocked when I bring up Nigella – oh yes, I have a Nigella recipe for you today, and it’s really not naughty. AND I barely tinkered with it at all. I know, I know – I was surprised too. I kind of expected more of Nigella.

This Mexican Lasagne is vegetarian and super filling. I actually messed up my layers slightly as I forgot how to count, so I’m going to talk you through how I SHOULD have done it. It’s a really easy recipe though and very hearty. I must confess – even if it’s a touch TMI – I felt like it made me a little bloated, but it is quite carb heavy with the wraps and the beans. If I made it again, I’d cut down on the tortillas used (due to messing up the layers, I ended up using 12 in the whole dish which was overkill), decrease the beans and up the sweetcorn (and maybe the cheese). It’s a good, stodgy meal though – great for winter – and it freezes really well, so yay for that!

The main changes I made was cutting out the oil (honestly, you hardly ever need to cook with oil), upping the vegetables in the salsa (the salsa is almost entirely point-free, so next time I’d even be tempted to up the tomato!) and swapping the cheese. I think it would work with just low fat cheddar, though. I also changed the beans – the original recipe calls for black beans, but I couldn’t find them!

You can see Nigella’s original recipe here.

Mexican Lasagne
9 Weight Watchers wraps - 25PP
1 tbsp Tomato Ketchup - 1PP
3 cans Pinto Beans - 17PP
2 165g cans Sweetcorn - 6PP
200g feta - 15PP
225g mozzarella - 10PP
50g low fat cheddar - 4PP
2 onions
1 punnet mushrooms
2 peppers (any colour)
2 green or red chillies, chopped and deseeded (or not, depending on how spicy you like it)
3 cloves fresh garlic
Fresh coriander
800g chopped tomatoes (2 cans)
400ml water (swilled in empty cans)

Serves 8
78PP / 10PP

1. Preheat the oven to 200c.
2. Finely chop all your veggies
3. In a wok or non-stick frying pan fry the onion, pepper, mushrooms, chillies and crushed garlic cloves until soft
4. Add the canned tomatoes, then swill the cans out with water and add this too. Spoon in the ketchup and let the sauce come to a simmer, leaving it to cook with the lid off for about 10 mins. It should thicken considerably, but if it still looks watery turn the heat up and leave it a little longer.
5. Meanwhile, in a large bowl mix the drained beans and sweetcorn. Add the chopped mozzarella and feta, and mix together until well combined.
6. When the sauce is done (make sure to season to taste with salt/pepper and any other spices) you can start assembling. I just used my lasagne dish.
7. Smear a bit of the salsa on the bottom of your dish – enough to just cover it.
8. Add a layer of tortilla. To fit the space I used 2 overlapping wraps, then chopped a third in half and put it on either end (see the photo)
9. Add half the remaining salsa, then add another layer of tortillas over them
10. Add all of your sweetcorn/bean/cheese mix then add another layer of tortillas
11. Add the remaining salsa over the top, then sprinkle your cheddar over that.
12. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes, then let rest for a good 10-15 minutes before slicing.
13. As much as you may not want to, leaving it to rest DOES make a difference. I ate it straight out of the oven and it fell apart – I had to use a spoon to get it out! When I portioned up the rest, it sliced incredibly neatly and I could use a fishslice to lift it out.

To reduce points – you could easily leave out a tortilla layer, and I doubt you’d miss it. You could also cut down on the beans, or switch the type of cheese. Next time, I’m probably going to do all three of these things and I think it’ll taste better for it! I also think the ketchup added nothing to the flavour – I’d use sweet chilli instead.

Weight Watchers Event: Simple Start Launch

Both Gem and I are big Weight Watchers fans, so when the WW team invited me along to a cooking challenge and to find out more about their new plan, I jumped at the chance. WW has worked wonders for me, and even though I slipped off track at the end of last year due to a calorific holiday to the States and Christmas, I really haven’t found it hard to get back into it.

The event was a lovely chance to meet the WW team and their new celebrity ambassador, Shelina (who won Masterchef last year). She showed us how to make a couple of healthy recipes – turkey patties, corn salsa and grilled pineapple skewers. Here are the recipes, if you want to make them! I bought my friend Anne with me, who is also a WW fan (there are more of us than you think) and she was amused by my cooking style – my philosophy has always been not to use utensils if I can use my hands! I did end up a bit messy, but that's how I roll.

What all of the dishes we made had in common were that they are all free under the new Weight Watchers plan, Simple Start. Simple Start is how new members will now be introduced to the plan, and is based on the Filling & Healthy plan that existing members will already be aware of. It’s basically about eating food that is naturally low in fat but filling, and then allowing yourself a small portion of things off the list every day. Then, after the first two weeks, members can choose whether or not to start pointing, or whether to stay on the Simple Start/Filling & Healthy plan.

Simple Start is perfect for people who don’t like their portions being restricted, or who can’t get their heads round pointing. The philosophy is that you can eat as much as you want of the foods on the list, so there’s no counting or portion control.

To be completely honest though, Simple Start is not the plan for me. It has a lot in common with Slimming World, which didn’t work for me because I am GREEDY. If someone tells me I can eat as much pasta as I want, then I totally will. But also, I struggled with the fact that to get the most out of your daily meals, everything really has to be made from scratch. My dinners usually are, but I do rely on shopbought soup and porridge packets, as well as cereal bars, low fat crisps and chocolate bars. The points system really works for me, because it restricts my food while also letting me have a little of what I fancy. If I did Simple Start all the time, I’d probably not eat the things that were off-list, and then I’d start majorly craving them – and so when I fall off the diet wagon, I can’t get back on it. My mum has just started WW with me and after a week on Simple Start, has switched to points and is getting on much better. She has a similar philosophy to me, I think.

I think everyone is different though, and Simple Start has already worked really well for a lot of people. When I get to where I want to on Weight Watchers, I do want to switch to Filling & Healthy rather than pointing forever. But for now, I definitely need that structure to get to where I want to be. It was a fabulous event though – I loved getting my cook on! Thanks for the invite, Weight Watchers!