Salted Caramel Bites – ½ a syn each!

I absolutely love these little bites, they’re the most ‘cake’ like treats I’ve had on Slimming World so far and at only ½ a syn each definitely worth making.

Salted caramel brownie bites with white chocolate and pomegranate topping

For a change I decided to snazz them up, usually that means melting curly wurly crumbles on the top but not today, this time I made a white chocolate quark topping and quickly piped it onto the cooled buns sprinkling some pomegranate seeds on the finished buns for added colour and texture.  They’re slightly tart too which compliments the cakes perfectly.

This time my mixture made 24 buns which are 12 syns for all, just add 2 syns to the whole lots for your white chocolate topping and there you go – bite sized chocolate salted caramel brownies that won’t ruin your healthy eating!  If you want to give them a try the recipe is here

Enjoy
Kathy xx

Syn free Breakfast on the Go

I love baked oats and have them pretty much every day with a huge bowl of fruit…it’s been my go to breakfast for the past two years and it’s been a staple as I’ve lost my seven stone and kept it off for more than a year.   

 

You’d think I was the most boring breakfast person every but that’s not quite the case, I mix up the flavours every other day and love the fact it feels like I’m starting my day with cakes (excellent start!!)….there’s the added bonus that when I’m out and about I just take them with me and I’m still on track, routine helps me stick with the plan so whether I’m in the office, working from home or travelling about the country I have my trusty Tupperware with cake and fruit to keep me going. 

Some days I have the syn free version and others I’ll have a Nutella treat version, depends where I am in target if I’m honest!

Syn free baked oats

Anyway, the other day I decided that instead of muffins I’d make baked oat fingers or soldiers to dip in a fat free yogurt for a change.  I’d found a great stackable box (£1.79 at Aldi of all places- couldn’t not buy it really!)...so here’s my breakfast – almond baked oat fingers (there’s a cherry Muller light in the fridge so it’s a Bakewell breakfast) with fruit salad and a strawberry carved into a rose.  Yes it’s an effort but I never, ever hate starting my day when I have this to look forward to.

I know it’s a pain, I make baked oats every two days whether I want to or not.  I find time even if I have to stay up late as, to me, it starts my day off on plan which means I’m more likely to stay on track…plus I like to eat a LOT!  

I get out of my weight loss what I put in so routine and planning sometimes keep me going when I don’t have the time or energy to think about what I’m doing. If you want to give the baked oat muffins a try the recipe and some flavor combos are here

Enjoy

Kathy xx

Syn Free Cottage Pie

I love cottage pie for two main reasons (1) it gets sneaky veggies into me that I normally pretend don’t exist and (2) it has cheese on the top!  I used the cheese as part of my HEA so the meal was syn free.

Syn free cottage pie

Now I’ve been on Slimming World a couple of years I’m mixing up what I eat so I don’t get stuck in a rut and decided to go for an old favourite as it’s been pouring down and a little comfort food goes a long way!  

Cooks note: I had a potato left over and baked it as a jacket while the cottage pie was cooking, scooped and mashed the insides and mixed with a little extra of the cottage pie meat and restuffed the jacket, popped a little cheese on the top and it went back in the oven to melt.  These double stuffed potatoes freeze really well and are always super popular (you can also mix with bacon and onion for a really tasty option).

While the weather’s a bit miserable give it a try, the recipe is here

Enjoy!
Kathy xx

Birthday Treats Without the Syns

Anyone that knows me knows I have one of my best friends round every Friday for dinner, she is the (sometimes unfortunate) recipient of my new recipe ideas and invariable she goes home smelling of garlic and full which makes me very, very happy.

Birthday low syn treats!

Last week was her birthday and I decided to do a cake plate for her as a celebration pudding.  Between us we’ve lost over 11 stone so it’s an homage to our Slimming World journey as all the treats are low syn (discounting the Prosecco!).

We had all her favourites, fake Ferraro Rochers which are 1 ½ syns each and taste exactly like the real thing, baked oat cookies and baked oat muffins.  I made the cookies Christmas style with added mincemeat and walnuts and the muffins were heart shaped and had a few chocolate chips….well, it was her birthday!

I love that just adjusting recipes and making small changes can help us on the weight loss journey, it’s got to be a change to your way of life, otherwise the weight comes back on very quickly – well it does for me – and seeing treats like this and still maintaining my 7 stone loss proves it can be done with everyday tweaks.

Wherever you are on your journey I hope you take te time to have treats and enjoy it too, check out the sweets and treats page for some ideas, it’s here

Enjoy!
Kathy xx

Syn Free Salt & Pepper Chilli Chicken

This syn free fakeaway is perfect for those nights when only really tasty Chinese food will do.  I like a lot of spice so the garlic and chilli is perfect for me but you can cut it down (or out altogether) if you prefer a non-spicy version.  I was going to serve with egg fried rice but in the end I had a big bowl of the chicken and veggies and that was enough, it’s really filling.

Syn free salt & pepper chilli chicken

I know there are people that will count the use of Smash as a coating base as a tweak, I do not.  Each to their own, I’ve lost almost 7 stone without counting this tweak so for me it’s ok.  If that doesn’t work for you please feel free to syn away.

However you count it, this is a really filling meal that is syn free and quicker to cook than it would take most takeaways to arrive!!  If you’d like to give it a go the recipe is here

Enjoy!

Kathy xx

1 Syn McDonalds Breakfast - Slimming World Style!

I always have the same breakfast (weetabix or baked oat muffins with fruit) but today decided to mix it up and made a sw friendly version of a McDonalds breakfast. The whole thing is 1 syn plus my HE's.

Ok. I couldn't finish it (1 patty and 1 egg would've been better 🐷🐷🐷) and I was stuffed to move but it was really, really good - the quorn sausage patties are delicious. 

I put some step by step instructions here

1 syn McDonalds breakfast - SLimming World Style!!

Enjoy (I did!!)
Kathy xx

Dinner in a Hurry

We can’t always make dinner from scratch and sometimes the best plans of defrosting a bulk cook for dinner just don’t really appeal - for me that’s when it gets a little tricky.   I’ve been following Slimming World for two years now and cook all the time but yesterday just couldn’t really be bothered and didn’t have much time.  A trip to M&S for their skinny sausages had proven they are still somewhat elusive but I got the skinny meatballs instead with no idea what to do with them.   

A  poke through the fridge and I decided to bake the meatballs as I grilled some halloumi, pepper and red onion.  The meatballs are syn free and the halloumi is either your HEA or 5.5 syns depending how much you have (that’s for 35g). 

Syn free meatball kebab

As everything was cooking away I put a green salad on the plate and just arranged like a (stickless) kebab.

It was good, tasty and quick but still really convenient with the added bonus that it didn’t blow my food optimizing out of the water.  Definitely doing that again.

The whole M&S Skinny range is syn free and quite often on offer, I’d absolutely recommend giving it a try.

Enjoy!
Kathy xx