Super Easy & Low ProPoint Fake Carbonara

It suddenly occurred to me to make this recipe the other day, and I was pleasantly surprised when I worked out the points. This has always been my go-to comfort food recipe, which my sister taught me. It's not really carbonara of course - real carbonara has cream and eggs and stuff in it but this is really yummy and creamy and comforting and tasty. I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

What it is, is crazy easy and I'm sure we're not the first people to use mushroom soup as a sauce! Anyway, I don't really think of this as a diet recipe because it's so easy and so hearty - and, truthfully, the way I cooked until recently isn't particularly healthy! But by making it with your diet in mind, you don't lose any flavour but save a whole heap of calories.

This makes 4 servings, but if you upped the pasta it would probably stretch to 5. I like it saucy, though. :)

Super Easy Fake Carbonara

1 Can Bachelors or Campbells Low Fat Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup - 4PP

5 Bacon Medallions (Smoked or Unsmoked) - 3PP

8 tbsp semi skimmed milk (roughly) - 2PP

210g Pasta (uncooked weight) - 20PP

75g Low Fat Cheese, Grated - 6PP

8 mushrooms - 0PP

1 onion - 0PP
2 leeks - 0PP

=35PP (9PP per serving)

To reduce points: Reduce or leave out the cheese, use skimmed milk, use smaller pasta portions, stretch the sauce over more portions of pasta, use less bacon

1 - Prepare the pasta as per the packet instructions.
2 - Chop up your bacon and fry in a non-stick frying pan or wok.
3 - Whilst that's cooking, chop up your onion and mushrooms (and any other vegetables you fancy - this time I added leek which was SO good) and then throw in with the bacon. I usually add a clove of garlic at this point too.
4 - Let the bacon and vegetables cook for 10 minutes or so or until the onions are soft.
5 - Throw in the can of soup and add your milk, stirring until well combined with the meat and veg. Add any seasoning you fancy - a pinch of rosemary and of thyme is pretty tasty.
6 - Add the cheese to your pan and stir into the sauce.
7 - When your pasta is cooked, add that to the pan and stir in. And that's it! Eat it up. It also freezes really well, so make it in bulk and pop a few portions in the freezer.

This is only 9PP a portion, unbelievably! It's super tasty without it but you can add extra cheese on top if you have points to use up. I've also upped the pasta portions from the standard 40g per person to 52g a person (which I now realise is a weird number but I was trying to up it by 1 point per person) which to be honest with you was the perfect amount - not too much or not too little. Or, keep the points low and then have pudding. :)

Sunday Summary

We have a sad little update to share with you this week...

Lauren - Unfortunately due to work/life commitments, this will be my last Sunday Summary as part of Team Where Are My Knees?. I'm extremely sad to be going and I've loved my time as a part of the team, but unfortunately I can't commit to it fully at the moment (as I'm sure you've noticed from my absence over the last few weeks) and it's not fair on you guys or the rest of the team. Even though I seem to be on an extended weight loss hiatus at the moment, I haven't given up and I will continue to document my progress over on A Little Less Of Lauren, as and when I actually have any progress or any time to update about it, that is. I would like to say a massive thank you to all of Team WAMK for being so wonderful, and particularly to Sarah and Gemma for bringing me on board. The guys have already agreed to have me guest post from time to time, so you haven't seen the last of me yet! All my love and good luck to you all with your weight loss and fitness endeavors!

Sarah V - So sad to lose Lauren as part of the team. :( On personal news I have had a really good week, I've lost 2.5lbs which brings me just 0.5lbs away from a stone! I had a sneak peek at the scales last night and I THINK I've done it but I'll know for sure at my weigh-in tomorrow. My WW buddy and I have been trying to spend our time kickstarting our weightloss - we went on a 6 mile walk yesterday (I clocked over 20,000 steps on my pedometer!) and then made WW pork burgers for tea. I also had a booze-free weekend which I'm hoping will help. I do love a glass (or three) of red wine but alcohol is so calorific, and it makes me so snackish!

Rosie -Boohoo, bye Lauren - sad face! This week my boyfriend was away all week so I filled the house with healthy foods and pre-prepared oatmeal pancakes for breakfast and made lunches the night before.  I was chuffed when I'd lost a lb on Friday however I have probably put it all back on this weekend as we had take-away pizza on Friday and then I went out for lunch at a blogging event on Saturday.  Lately I seem to be really good at eating well and eating clean through the week and then I treat myself over the whole weekend and undo all my hard work.  I need to get better at isolating treats to one meal a week or a couple of nice things on one day rather than over two or three days.

Sarah - I have struggled this week, I have been mostly on plan but had two off plan meals out and some of the sticky toffee pudding I baked yesterday (couldn't resist, it smelt SO good!) but boy did I feel rough for it today.  I thankfully stayed the same (I really expected a gain) and have come to the conclusion that I really shouldn't eat wheat.  I will never not bake and will always want to try at least a little of my sweet treats and have made the decision to move to wheat free flour, it's not worth the headaches or bloating for the real thing.   If you bake with Doves flour let know how you alter a standard recipe please!

Gemma - This week has been a struggle and I didn't stick to my no alcohol rule. I didn't manage to weigh on Tuesday but I'm hoping that I maintained. I don't have any plans next week and hope to stick to the WW plan ridgidly all week so I can treat myself on Saturday when I go for afternoon tea. I've done a shop and got lots of healthy soups and salads for lunch so no excuses!

Bye, bye Lauren!  Good luck with your journey, you always know where we are (You can't get rid of us lot that easily!) How has your week been?

How stay on track on special occasions

I've been following the Weight Watchers plan for over two years now and I have come to the conclusion that you should never pass up a night of great food, wine and fun because you are afraid of going over your ProPoints allowance. I'm no stranger to a cocktail on the weekend and going for coffee and cake with friends but I still manage to stay within my budget. You can diet and have a social life, you just need to get the balance right.

Here are some of my top tips for eating out and staying on track:

• Check the ProPoints values of what’s on offer before you eat out and make wise decisions. Plan this into your budget, order first so you aren't swayed by other peoples choices and you will see a good result at the scales. The Weight Watchers site has plenty of information about what foods have low points but you can also use an Eating Out guide (I keep a copy in my handbag) or you can use the app if your meal out is unplanned and want to know the ProPoints in a hurry.
  
• If you think you are be in danger of going over your daily ProPoints budget you could have a light lunch, maybe a zero point vegetable soup or do some exercise to earn activity points.
   
• Don’t eat the bread/olives/popadoms before the main course arrives – they’re just extra calories that you don’t need.
  
  
• Don’t be afraid to tell the waiter or waitress that you would like your vegetables served without butter or your salad without dressing. Restaurant should be able to adapt meals to your requirements.
  
  
  Remember, if you are following the Weight Watchers plan then you have a weekly ProPoints budget of 49 so stop worrying, blow the lot on cocktails and enjoy yourself ;)

Low point Fajitas

It's so hard being good sometimes when you are with friends. We're a social bunch and when we're all together, there's a big emphasis on eating and drinking lots. Aaand lots. This would be why I am on Weight Watchers!

The other week a couple of my girl friends came round and I volunteered to cook. I wanted to do something really tasty, but not all like *jazz hands* 'Hey guys, I'm on a DIET!' So I decided to try out fajitas, but with Weight Watchers in mind. Fajitas are actually great for this kind of thing - the general filling is pretty low fat if you use chicken or fish (I don't eat seafood, so that sounds gross to me) - it's just the sauces and cheese etc that add calories! You can even still offer all those things to your friends, just avoid them yourself.

At 16PP it's not the lowest, but as always, I've listed some ways you can cut out points below. I normally have porridge for breakfast and soup for lunch, so I was able to eat this for dinner without going over my points allowance.



Fajitas Points Values Old El Paso Fajita Kit:
2 x tortillas per person - 8PP
1/3 packet seasoning mix - 1PP (tbh I usually only use 1/2 packet for everyone)
1 chicken breast 4PP
1/3 Tesco mini tex mex dips (70g each) 3PP
Tesco Fresh Salsa 0PP
Lots of salad & vegetables!
=16PP per Person
To reduce points - Just use salsa as a dip, use less of the seasoning mix or create your own, use Weight Watchers tortilla wraps (3PP a wrap and they are about the same size as the 4PP Old El Paso ones), use less chicken and more vegetables

1 - Cook the chicken in the fajita mix and then add the chopped veg (onions, mushrooms, peppers)
2 - When 1 is complete, microwave the tortilla wraps for 30 secs
3 - Pile all the stuff in the wrap and eat, served with lots of salad, whilst getting it all over your face, inevitably.

Another way to bulk this out would be to add butternut squash wedges which are free!


PS - I'm on the hunt for more UK Weight Watchers blogs as I'm always wanting more recipes to try out! Please let me know your recommendations, or if you have one yourself! :)