Melting Middle Pork & Apple burgers

Sorry, my WW recipes have slipped over the past couple of weeks. I had a huge backlog when I started posting them so scheduled loads and it took me by surprise when they ran out! I'm back now, promise. With loads more!

Anyway, I've been really fancying two things since starting Weight Watchers - chips, and burgers. Not necessarily together, but definitely both. The thing is that when I'm eating out, I know that neither option is going to be WW-friendly and it's rare for me to have either at home. In the end though, that was how I gave in - I found out a few weeks ago that the fresh chips from M&S are just 4PP per 1/2 pack. They were SO tasty and completely satisfied my craving for PROPER chips! But this post isn't about the chips, it's about the burger.

It's a Saturday night tradition now for my best friend Sha and I to experiment with a Weight Watchers recipe (whilst gossiping in front of the telly, of course). We found this pork burger recipe on the Weight Watchers website here, but ended up changing it into something entirely different - including adding a melting cheese centre for only 1 extra propoint!

This recipe makes 4 servings - we actually only made 3 burgers with the ingredients as there were only 3 of us there. But they were HUGE, as you can see. We didn't even need a side course!

Melting Middle Pork & Apple burgers

500g Extra Lean Pork Mince (5% fat), raw - 19PP

1 tbsp Sweet Chilli Sauce - 1PP

1 egg - 2PP

4 Ciabatta Rolls - 24PP

4 Babybel Light - 4PP

120g Low Fat Cheese - 8PP

4 tbsp Caramelised Onion Chutney - 4PP

4 tsp Mayonnaise - 4PP

1 tsp Mixed Herbs - 0PP

1 tsp Cumin - 0PP

1/2 Onion - 0PP

1 Cooking Apple - 0PP

Salt & Pepper to season - 0PP

Salad, to serve

= 42PP (11PP per Serving - 14PP if you make 3)

To reduce points: Use lower PP bread or miss out the bread, leave out the mayo or onion chutney, don't have cheese on top.

1 - Finely chop or grate the onion and cooking apple into a large bowl
2 - Add the minced pork, egg, cumin, herbs, sweet chilli and salt & pepper, and mix together (using your hands is the most effective way, messy!). Use plenty of seasoning - you can't test these obviously until they are cooked, but as they are quite thick they risk being under salt so be relatively liberal.
3 - Split the mince mixture equally into 4.
4 - Unwrap the Babybels and shape each portion of the mince mixture into a burger around each Babybel
5 - Oven cook the burgers on a baking tray at 190c for about 30 minutes or until you're satisfied they're done. Warning - they're quite oozy, so you might not want to use a flat baking tray!
6 - Add 30g of low fat cheese to the top of each burger and pop back in the oven until melted.
7 - Serve in your Ciabatta rolls with the mayo, caramelised onion and salad. SO TASTY.

Babybel in the middle of burgers was genius! It holds together really well, but still melts in the middle. We really enjoyed these, but we feel like we could fine tune them and improve them in the future. I've also found a recipe for 0PP caramelised onion chutney so am definitely going to cook up a batch of that soon! I also think these would be amazing with apple sauce. Watch this space for more burger attempts!

Weight Loss Update: Sarah V

I wanted to share these two photos with you as to be honest I am really pleased with myself! I hit my second major target at Weight Watchers this week and got my 10% keyring, which means I have lost 10% of my starting bodyweight, yay! I've lost over a stone and a half now since January, and while I would love it to be faster, it's been steadily coming off which suits me.

I tend to wear dresses most of the time and a lot of the stretchier ones have stayed fitting me throughout my weight gain and loss so it's sometimes hard to actually SEE the weight loss. All I've really noticed in myself is that my watch is looser, but there are still some clothes that don't fit me yet. I went back through my personal blog on the hunt for a 'Before' picture. I thought this pic was okay at the time but I can really see the difference now, especially in my face.

It's not just a numbers game though - I am eating a lot better, far less processed food plus I have more energy and just generally feel better in myself. As much as it's easy to focus on the scales going down I have been trying to make better choices and think about this as a lifestyle change, not as a diet.

I'd like to lose at least another stone but I'm taking each day as it comes. Focusing on making yummy, healthy food and trying to be active where I can is helping me slip into good habits, and for the first time in a long time, I feel like I can keep them up.

Review - Nakd Bars

When I started doing 'clean eating' last year, one of the major things I immediately missed was my treat of a sweet snack in the afternoon.  No more Fudge bars, no more bags of Haribo and no more biscuits from the tin in the staff room.  On the plus side, I wasn't falling asleep at my desk at 4pm.  On the down side, my stomach would growl mid-afternoon and my cup of tea started feeling a little bit lonely.

I have always been hugely jealous of people who love fruit.  My boyfriend Tom would choose a fruit salad over any dessert on the menu and I have friends who will savour every bite of their afternoon apple and find it infinitely more satisfying than a chocolate digestive.  Personally, I am a sugar fiend.  And not eating all of those processed treats that were the foundation of my afternoons (and, my waistline, prior to starting clean eating) was tough.  At that time I was getting guidance from my personal trainer, Charis, who directed me towards Nakd bars.  Luckily they are not a suspicious sounding nightspot but instead they are a snack bar made from all natural ingredients like fruit and nuts, and they're also wheat, dairy and gluten free.  Most excitingly they come in a range of amazing flavours, like Ginger Breat below, also Cocoa Orange, Rhubarb and Custard, Cashew Cookie and Apple Pie amongst others.  They feel like such a treat and are absolutely delicious - they really stave off my sugary snack craving.

pack of 18 nakd bars* - £13.99

Nakd bars are available in supermarkets in packs or individually, or you can buy them in bulk at Natural Balance Foods.  The pack of 18 bars of Ginger Bread above costs £13.99, which is a bit of a bargain if you consider that they're about 75p individually.  Natural Balance Foods is a great website if you're looking to pick up healthy snacks and they also sell a range of Protein Bars as well as the Nakd bars.

I love all of the flavours of Nakd bars but the Ginger Bread is amazing, it really tastes like Gingerbread cake and has a really Christmassy feel, probably due to the ginger, cloves and cinnamon.  Its other ingredients are dates, almonds and pecans and that's it - no added sugar and nothing artificial.

I believe that the Nakd bars vary in terms of their ProPoints if you're on Weight Watchers.  The Banana Bread flavour is 2pp, Cocoa Mint is 3pp and Cocoa Orange is 4pp.  I think that for people on Slimming World they vary between 7-11.5 syns because of the natural fruit sugars.  So they might still be viewed as a treat depending on what diet you're following, but you can take comfort in knowing you're not putting anything artificial or processed into your body.  Have you tried Nakd bars?

Popchips Healthy Snacking Tips and giveaway

Never fried and never baked, popchips are popped just like popcorn. They have all the flavour but half the fat of fried crisps and less than 100 calories per serving. Sounds good right? Where Are My Knees have one case of 24 mixed flavours to give away. 

The Where Are My Knees team have tried them (our favourites are the barbeque and thai sweet chilli) and they make a super tasty and guilt free snack. The Popchips pledge is: 'no fake colours, no fake flavours, no preservatives, no fluorescent orange fingertips, and no wiping your greasy chip hand on your jeans' so swapping your regular bag of crisps for a bag of popchips would be a smart move.

Consultant Nutritionist & Registered Dietitian, Azmina Govindji RD MBDA has the following snacking advice:

1.  Regular meals and healthy snacks help you to stay energised and avoid binge eating. 
2. A cup of hot soup or diet hot choc works wonders  - great, filling comfort food! 
3. When you’re on the go, make sure you have lower fat treats in the car or in your bag. Planning ahead can reduce those unhealthy impulse buys. Pack some popchips, a packet of nuts and raisins or some dried fruit the night before… 
4. A colourful array of fruits and veggies gives you essential nutrients that help your energy levels and immune system.  
5. Sometimes you’re not hungry but just need something to crunch. Keep a snack attack box in your fridge – e.g. carrot sticks, olives, cucumber sticks, cherry tomatoes, radishes, pickled onions.  
   
   Alternatively, try distracting yourself by doing something completely different like making a phone call or going for a walk – taking your mind off food will help to curb your craving.

Snack Swaps 

Instead of	Choose	Why?
Regular crisps	popchips	Neither baked nor fried! Choosing popchips makes sure you’re getting around half the fat.
Regular hot chocolate with cream	Diet hot choc made with skimmed milk, sprinkle on a little cocoa powder	Skimmed milk is 0% fat yet in a hot drink it still adds creaminess, colour and flavour. Using a diet choc powder helps you cut down on sugar too.
Chocolate bar	Jaffa cakes	Jaffa cakes are lighter than regular chocolate.
Sugar-rich breakfast cereal	Bowl of porridge made with semi skimmed milk and dash of honey	Oats can help reduce your blood cholesterol and a little honey is likely to give you far less sugar than many breakfast cereals.

If you want to win the case of Popchips just leave a comment with your contact details below. For an extra entry you can follow @WhereAreMyKnees on twitter and let us know that you have done this in a comment on this post. The giveaway will end on the 18th of April at 9pm.