NuMe Crispbakes

We've been investigating Morrison's 'NuMe' range of foods and found that some of the products are sometimes no lower in fat/carbs/calories than some of their 'normal' own brand range.

However, the other day, we discovered NuMe Crispbakes - round, thick, crumpet sized crisp breads, that only contain 30 calories per crispbake, calculating to 1 ProPoint each.

Spread a little fat free cheese spread (or similar) on a couple of crispbakes and add a few pickled onions and diced beetroot to the plate and you have a really low fat, low calorie light lunch.

Give them a try!

UPDATE

Sainsbury's sell similar crispbakes which also work out as 1 ProPoint each.  They're slightly cheaper too!

Give them a try as well!

Sweet Chilli Turkey Wraps

Lean turkey breast mince served with brown rice and sweet chilli, in Little Gem lettuce leaves.

A fresh, light and well portioned, filling main meal. Cheap too!

Serves 4 | 7 ProPoints/400 Calories per portion (approx)

Ingredients
160g brown rice
1 medium onion (red or white)
2 carrots (medium size)
2 celery sticks
500g lean turkey breast mince
1 tspn chilli powder
1 tspn chilli flakes
Salt and pepper
Water
2 dstspn artificial sweetener
6-8 Little Gem lettuces (depending on size)

Method
1) To a saucepan of boiling water, add a pinch of salt and the brown rice.  Simmer for 20-30 minutes until soft.  Wash the outer 3-5 leaves of the Little Gem lettuces and allow to air dry (inner leaves can be saved for use in salads, sandwiches, etc).

2) Finely chop the onion, carrot and celery and gently fry in a large pan or wok with a couple of squirts of 1Cal spray oil, until soft.  Add a dash of water if the vegetables start to stick to the bottom of the pan.

3) Once the vegetables are soft, add the turkey mince and continuing frying gently.  The mince will tend to 'clump' together, so keep 'chopping' with a fish slice (or similar) to break the mince into smaller pieces.

4) Add the chilli powder, chilli flake and salt and pepper (to taste) and stir thoroughly through the mixture, cooking for a minute or two until the powder disappears.

5) Drain the rice and allow to cool for a minute or two.  Add the rice to the vegetable/mince mixture and combine.  Once thoroughly mixed, pour in enough water so the vegetable/mince/rice mixture is 'wet', but there is no excess water in the bottom of the pan.  Add and stir through the artificial sweetener. Taste.  Add more chilli flake and/or artificial sweetener to taste if desired, along with another pinch of salt and pepper if required.

6) To serve, arrange the Little Gem lettuce leaves on a plate and spoon the mince/rice mixture into each leaf, portioning between four people.

Notes/Ideas
Leave out the rice and eat as a light lunch instead, reducing the calories/ProPoints as necessary.

Instead of Little Gem lettuce leaves, use a calorie controlled tortilla wrap instead, adjusting the calories/ProPoints as necessary.

Why not make a small bowl of homemade chips to place at the centre of table, to accompany the wraps?

Bisto Sauces

There is an old saying that says, 'A little goes a long way.'

This is very true of Bisto instant sauces.  For less than 50 calories, or 1 ProPoint, you can have 50ml of a variety of sauces, including white sauce, parsley sauce and chip shop curry sauce.  Now, 50ml may not sound very much, but when used as part of a recipe, they can make world of difference to the taste of a meal.

For example, we make roasted swede/butternut squash chips to accompany some of our meals and a 50ml serving of chip shop curry sauce over the chips makes a nice treat!  We make our own fish pie and 200ml (enough for four people) of white or parsley sauce can help 'loosen' the swede/butternut squash mash.

No, we are not 'recommending' that you use these sauces all the time, or indeed endorsing the Bisto range or brand.  We are simply pointing out that for the occasional (very) low calorie treat or variation to a meal, these instant sauces fit the bill quite nicely thank you very much.

Sunday Lunch

Sunday lunch, Sunday roast, Sunday dinner, cooked dinner, roast dinner... whatever you call it, with huge portions and the wrong choices you can end up with a meal high in calories and fat.

Our meal is low in fat and calories, using roasted swede in place of potatoes, but is still delicious and makes a nice family meal on a Sunday or, of course, any day of the week!

Serves 4 | 5 ProPoints/300 Calories per portion (approx)

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts (medium size, fresh, skinless)
Garlic (to taste)
Sage (fresh or dried)
1 large swede
1 red onion
Rosemary (fresh or dried)
Onion powder (optional)
Garlic powder (optional)
Worcestershire Sauce (splash) (optional) 
Vegetables (fresh, seasonal selection)
200ml gravy (made per package instructions) 
Salt and pepper
 

Method

Note: Below, we describe the the best cooking processes we have found for individual items instead of providing a full recipe. You will need to time each item according to your cooking equipment.

Chicken:
Place the chicken on foil (or into a roasting bag) and top with chopped sage, crushed garlic and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Wrap the foil around the chicken into a parcel (or seal the roasting bag) and bake in a 180 Celsius oven for around 35 minutes.

Swede Roasties:
Peel and cut the swede into 2-3cm (1 inch) chunks.  Place onto a baking sheet (on a baking tray) and squirt with a few sprays of 1Cal spray oil.  Finely chop a red onion and place amongst the swede for flavour, along with some rosemary.  Sprinkle some onion and garlic powder on the swede - optional, but adds flavour and helps the outside of the swede crisp. Cook for about 25-30 minutes, or until crisp on the outside but soft inside.  Add a splash of Worcestershire Sauce 5 minutes before the end of cooking to add some colour (optional)

Vegetables:
Avoid parsnips and peas/pulses as these contain lots of starch/sugar/carbohydrates that turn into sugar, thus more calories.  Carrots, cabbage, sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli and sliced green beans are our favourites.  We tend to steam our cauliflower and broccoli to retain flavour. Generally, the other vegetables should be brought to the boil and simmered for 10-15 minutes so as not to lose their colour, flavour and goodness.  We sometimes roast our carrots as per the swede above.

Gravy:
Most gravy mix is actually quite low in fat and calories, used in moderation.  We use strained water from the cooked cabbage/sprouts and make approximately 200ml as per the package instructions.

Serving:
If the meal is cooked as per the list of ingredients for 4 people, each serving will consist of:
1 chicken breast
4 or 5 swede roasties
Selection of vegetables
50ml of gravy

Notes/Ideas

One small, frozen supermarket Yorkshire Pudding can be served, adding around 50 calories (depending on brand) to the meal; add 1 extra ProPoint.

Substitute the roasted swede with roasted butternut squash, cooked the same way.  Or why not have a mixture of both!

Instead of chicken, use some sliced beef in gravy.

 

Full Breakfast

A full breakfast, with all the favourites, yet lower in fat and calories; a good plate of food that can used as a main midweek meal, not just as a weekend treat!

Serves 4 | 6 ProPoints/400 Calories per portion (approx)

Note: ProPoints/Calorie value may vary depending on brand.

 

Ingredients

8 sausages (Weight Watchers, any flavours)
8 bacon medallions
8 egg whites (medium size eggs)
Milk (skimmed, splash)
Mushrooms (any variety, halved if necessary)
Tomatoes (fresh or can)
4 pieces bread (calorie controlled, any brand) 
Salt and pepper
Worcestershire Sauce (splash)
30g spread (low or fat free)

Method

Note: Below, we describe the the best cooking processes we have found for individual items instead of providing a full recipe. You will need to time each item according to your cooking equipment.

Sausages:
The Weight Watchers sausages we use are best cooked under the grill on full power, for a couple of minutes per 'rotation'.  Be careful, because they will start to burn if left too long.  We generally start cooking the breakfast by grilling the sausages first and keeping them warm at the bottom of the grill after switching off.

Bacon Medallions:
The bacon medallions could be 'dry fried' in a pan, but we have found they burn a little too easily.  We tend to cook ours on a baking tray in a 180 Celsius oven, turning after a few minutes.

Mushrooms:
Using whole, halved or sliced mushrooms (depending on type and size), we gently fry in a frying pan with a couple of squirts of 1Cal spray oil.  After adding a pinch of salt and pepper, add a dash of Worcestershire Sauce to stop them burning, help the mushrooms brown and add a bit of 'zing'!  Use water, if you don't have or don't want to use Worcestershire Sauce.

Scrambled Egg:
Add 8 egg whites and milk to a microwavable jug/dish, add a pinch of salt and pepper and whisk vigorously until light and frothy.  Keep microwaving for 30 seconds at a time, whisking the egg to break up any large chunks that have formed after each 30 seconds.  Keep repeating until there is no liquid left in the jug/dish.  Do not cook longer than necessary or leave the eggs to cook in the microwave for a longer length of time, because the egg white will overcook, shrink and become tough.

Tomatoes:
If using a can of tomatoes, add to a microwavable jug/dish with a pinch of salt and pepper and a small dash of Worcestershire Sauce (optional) and heat in the microwave for 2 minutes, while you are serving the other items. Stir before serving the tomatoes.  If using fresh tomatoes, halve and grill and keep warm with the sausages.

Toast:
Toast the calorie controlled bread in a toaster on a low setting, to reduce the chance of drying it out too much and/or burning it.  Use 30g of fat free/low fat spread, spread thinly.

Serving:
If the breakfast is cooked as per the list of ingredients for 4 people, each serving will consist of:
2 sausages
2 bacon medallions
quarter of the total scrambled eggs
quarter of the total mushrooms
quarter of the can tomatoes
1 piece of toast, cut into triangles

Notes/Ideas

It is possible to cook the egg whites as 1 plain omelette and portion appropriately, if you fancy more 'solid' fried type eggs instead of scrambled.  See our omelette recipe, but leave out the toppings!

We recommend the Weight Watchers Cumberland Sausages because they have more flavour than the plain pork sausages.  Also, we use the WW sausages because they are, generally, lower in fat than other 'low fat' sausages.  Beware if you are counting points: although the WW sausage pack says 1ProPoint per sausage on the front, if you have 2 sausages the calculation works out as 3 ProProints.  Our total calculation at the top of the page takes this into account per portion.

Instead of tomatoes, why not serve some of our homemade barbeque beans, leaving out the vinegar and smoked paprika if you want plain beans in tomato sauce.  They are low in fat and high in fibre!

Why not have some fruit juice with your breakfast?

Stir Fry

A prawn stir fry with mushrooms and vegetables.  Can be served with or without noodles.  Not quite 'authentic' stir fry, but very tasty!

Serves 1 | 3 ProPoints/180 Calories per portion (approx)

Served with noodles, 5 ProPoints/250 Calories per portion (approx)

Ingredients

Garlic (fresh, 2 cloves)
Ginger (fresh, small piece)
Chilli (fresh, 1 medium size)
Chinese 5 Spice Powder (pinch)
150g prawns (cooked large, frozen but defrosted)
Fish sauce (splash)(optional)
Mushrooms (sliced) (optional)
Soy sauce (light, 1tbsp)
Bean sprouts (good handful!)
60g Udon Noodles (simmered for 4-5 mins)(optional)
Oyster Sauce (1 tbsp)(optional, add 1 ProPoint if used)
Green leaves (fresh pak choi or spinach, etc)
Spring onions (1 finely sliced) (optional)

Method

1) Finely chop the garlic, ginger and chilli and gently fry in a wok or large frying pan with a couple of squirts of 1Cal spray oil.  Add a splash of water to stop any burn.

2) Add the defrosted prawns and a pinch of Chinese 5 spice powder.  Cook only until the prawns are warmed through.  Add a splash of fish sauce, if desired.

2) Add the sliced mushrooms and cook for a minute until soft.  Add a tablespoon of light soy sauce.

3) Add a nice big handful of bean sprouts and stir through for a minute.  If desired, add previously cooked Udon Noodles.  Add a tbsp of Oyster Sauce (optional, but adds some nice flavour and saltiness - don't forget to calculate any extra calories/ProPoints).

4) Stir through the green leaves and cook only until wilted slightly.

5) Serve the stir fry and top with finely sliced spring onions.

Notes/Ideas

The extra 'liquid' in the photo is because we added a dash of water to make it slightly 'runnier'.

Substitute the prawns with chicken.  A medium breast will increase the calorie count and ProPoints accordingly; generally, we cook the breast whole in the oven, wrapped in foil and dice into cubes, adding at the same stage as the prawns above.

Crisps

"Enjoy as part of a healthy balanced diet" are, generally, the words found on the back of snacks and treats and it's correct!

Even with our ongoing weight loss/healthy regime, we have been able to snack on crisps every day, if we want!  The trick is to carefully select the crisps you eat.  The list below (and we will update this list as we find more) are crisps that are less than 100 calories per pack and calculate to 2 ProPoints.

It is important to note that these crisps are bought as part of multi-packs, so the overall individual 'grams' pack content is lower, but every little helps...

The Crisps

Skips (KP)
Velvet Crunch (King)
Special K Cracker Crisps (Kellog)
French Fries (Walkers)
Quavers (Walkers)
Stars (Walkers)
Hoops and Crosses (Walkers)
Wotsits (Walkers)
Squares (Walkers)
Pops (Walkers) NEW
NUME (Morrisons Range)
MINIs (Ryvita)

Spaghetti Bolognese

A 'light' tasting, Spaghetti Bolognese made using low fat turkey breast mince and Udon Noodles as 'spaghetti'.

Serves 4 | 7 ProPoints/250 Calories per portion (approx)

Ingredients

1 medium onion
2 carrots
2 celery sticks
Garlic (fresh, to taste)(optional)
Mushrooms (sliced or halved)(optional)
340g lean turkey breast mince
1 tbsp tomato purée (optional but nice!)
2 cans tomatoes (good quality)
Worcestershire Sauce (splash)
Salt & pepper
375g Udon Noodles
Fresh basil (optional)

Method

1) Finely chop the onion, carrot, celery and chopped garlic and gently fry in a large pan or wok with a couple of squirts of 1Cal spray oil, until soft.  Add a dash of water if the vegetables start to stick to the bottom of the pan.

2) Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook until soft.

3) Add the turkey mince to the pan and cook until browned.  Stir through the tomato purée and cook for a few minutes.  Add the cans of tomatoes, stir again and simmer for 10-15 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Add a splash of Worcestershire Sauce if desired.

4) About 5 minutes before the sauce finishes simmering, bring a pan of water to the boil for the Udon Noodles.  Simmer the noodles for 4-5 minutes.

5) When ready to serve, use tongs to portion out the noodles and then ladle over the bolognese sauce over the noodles immediately, to stop the noodles going to sticky).  Top with fresh basil if desired.

Notes/Ideas

When adding the cans of tomatoes to the pan, add a pinch of smoked paprika to add some delicious smokiness and depth of flavour to the final dish.

For a touch of luxury, top each serving with 10-20g of low fat grated cheese, for an extra 1-2 ProPoints, depending on brand used.

You can, of course, use lean beef mince instead of turkey, but this will increase the calorie count and ProPoints.

French Fries

Fancy a treat on a Friday or Saturday night?  How about some chips!?  Well french fries actually, but at least they're 'chippy'...

Aldi sell a 1kg bag of 'Champion Grade A French Fries' for a bargain 79p (at time of writing and more than 50p less than equivalent fries from the likes of Asda and Tesco).  The best bit, though, is that an oven baked 100g serving (think 'regular size' portion from McDonald's) is only 180 calories, or 5 ProPoints.

Now that may sound a lot of calories/points, but served with a portion of fish and some vegetables and you have a really good 'take-away' style meal for a Friday night for less than 300 calories, depending on type of fish used.

If that sounds like too many calories/points and you don't mind putting in a little effort, why not make some homemade chips?

Chicken Curry

A tasty, light, fresh and mildly spicy chicken curry.  Serve on a bed of our savoury rice as part of a main
meal.

Serves 4 | 4 ProPoints/300 Calories per portion (approx)

Served with savoury rice 9 ProPoints/500 Calories per portion (approx)

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts (medium size, skinless)
1 tsp olive/rapeseed oil
1 tsp mustard seeds (optional)
5 whole black pepper corns
2 medium onions
1/2 red pepper
Fresh chilli (chopped, quantity to taste)
Garlic cloves (to taste)
Bayleaf or curry leaves (optional)
Mushrooms (whole buttons)(optional)
Chilli Power (hot or mild)
Garam Masala Powder
2-3 cans tomatoes
Salt & pepper
Coriander leaf (chopped) (optional)

Method

1) Place the chicken breasts in a shallow baking tin and sprinkle a pinch of turmeric, chilli powder and garam masala on each breast.  Add a splash of water to the tin, cover with foil and cook for about 20-25 minutes in a medium oven.

2) Finely chop the onion, fresh chilli and garlic and cut the red pepper into thin strips and gently fry in a large oiled pan or wok, along with the bayleaf/curry leaves, mustard seeds and black pepper corns, until the onions are translucent.  Add a dash of water if the vegetables start to stick to the bottom of the pan.

2) Add a 2 teaspoons of chilli powder and garam masala and cook gently for a few minutes.  Add another dash of water if required, to stop burning.

3) If desired, add the mushrooms and cook for a couple of minutes until soft.

4) Open the tomatoes and add to the pan; use 3 cans if you prefer more sauce.  Simmer for 10 minutes to thicken. Add more garam masala and chilli powder if required.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

5) Cut each cooked chicken breast into desired sized chunks and serve on a bed of our savoury rice. Ladle over the curry sauce and sprinkle chopped coriander on top.

Notes/Ideas

This recipe makes plenty of sauce for four; the photo above shows a smaller quantity of sauce because I prefer my curry drier.

Rather than bake the chicken in the oven, you can cut it into small cubes and cook in the simmering sauce once it is made. However, it is harder to ensure each person gets the correct portion of chicken.

Half the amount of rice used and serve each person with a small portion of homemade chips as well.

Pink 'N' Whites

What a great snack!

Did you know that Pink 'N' Whites only come in at 50 calories a wafer and calculate to 1 ProPoint?  This includes both the 'normal' variety and 'Jammies'.  However, the chocolate variety have extra calories and work out at 2PP's.

For a person who loves biscuits/chocolate with their cup of tea/coffee, these make a great replacement.

Great value too!  50p or less for a box of 6 wafers from numerous shops and supermarkets.  Go on! Treat yourself!

Cheese

Cheese. Even the 'low fat' varieties are quite high in fat and calories. It appears that 'fat free' cheeses exist, but the supermarkets and shops don't seem to stock it, outside of in a cottage cheese.

So how can you have cheese on a calorie controlled diet?  Always check the fat and calorie content on the package and remember portion control!

Weight Watchers have there own variety of ready grated cheese which (very approximately) calculates to 1 ProPoint for every 10g.  The only problem is, it doesn't seem to like melting, not even under a very hot grill.  'Own Brands' to the rescue!  Tesco, ASDA and Morrison 'value' ready grated cheese comes in at just over 50 calories per 10g, also calculating to about 1 ProPoint per 10g. And it melts! And it's cheap(ish)! Smashing!

If you can stomach the strong flavour of 'singles' (the cheese used in burgers), you can get one and a half pieces of  'value' shop brand singles for 1 ProPoint!  This seems to go further than ready grated cheese, if you chop or tear it, and it melts.  Again Weight Watchers do sliced cheese for 1 ProPoint per slice, but this, like their grated cheese, seems impervious to heat.

So, if you fancy a bit of grated cheese to fold through a salad, or add a luxurious finish to your spaghetti bolognese or maybe to top a home made pizza, think portion control and own brand... BINGO!  You can have some cheese!

Alpen Light Bars

Hands up those who haven't discovered Alpen Light Bars yet?

At only 70 calories per bar (calculating to 1 Weight Watchers ProPoint) and available in many different flavours (our favourites being Double Chocolate, Lemon and Summer Fruits), these bars are a fantastic replacement for biscuits/chocolate or for those that need a snack.  They make a great 'breakfast on the go' too!

Prices vary from shop to shop, but there is usually someone selling them on offer for around £1.50 for 5 bars.  Not cheap we know, but worth it during a sudden attack of 'need something sweet'.

Savoury Rice

A quick and simple rice dish with vegetables and spices.  Can be served by itself as a light lunch, or as part of a main meal, for example with a curry or chilli.

Serves 4 | 5 ProPoints/200 Calories per portion (approx)

Ingredients

Brown Rice (200g, cooked)
1 medium onion
2 carrots
2 celery sticks
1 chilli
1/2 red pepper (optional)
Mushrooms (sliced)(optional)
Salt & pepper
Turmeric powder
1 tsp mustard seeds (optional)
1/2 cinnamon stick (optional)
Coriander leaf (chopped)(optional)

Method

1) Add the rice to a pan of salted boiling water, along with the turmeric, mustard seed and cinnamon, and cook for between 25 to 35 minutes, until the rice has a slight chew.

2) About 10 minutes before the rice is due to finish cooking, finely chop the onion, carrot, celery, chilli and red pepper and add to the rice and boiling water.  Add the mushrooms also, if desired.

3) Serve and sprinkle chopped coriander on top.

Notes/Ideas

Reduce the rice quantity and enjoy an even lower calorie light lunch.

 

Noodles

Wow!  We recently found these new 'Chosen by You' Udon Noodles in Asda and what a find indeed.

The usual shop bought egg/rice noodles, whether ready cooked or dried, are usually high in carbohydrate and fat which ultimately means many, many calories.

However, these Asda Udon Noodles are really low in carbs and fat.  In fact, the whole 250g pack contains 276 calories.  Half the pack is 138 calories which equates to 4 Weight Watchers ProPoints!  The extra bonus is that the pack can comfortably serve 3 people, so that would slightly less than 100 calories per portion!

Because of the lower carbs and fat, we use these noodles as a spaghetti replacement, in our spaghetti bolognese recipe as well as in our Friday night, take-away style stir fry! There are many other uses we've put these noodles too. Take a look here...

Strawberries and Cream

A mouth-watering dessert, that uses fat free natural yogurt instead of cream.

Serves 1 | 1 ProPoint/70 Calories (approx)

Ingredients

Strawberries (small punnet)
150g fat free yogurt
Pomegranate seeds
1tsp artificial sweetener
Mint (fresh)(optional)

Method

1) Wash the strawberries in cold running water then cut off the tops and halve if large. Arrange in a bowl.

2) Spoon over 150g of fat free natural yogurt.

2) Cut a pomegranate in half and hold one half over the bowl of strawberries and yogurt.  Carefully hit the pomegranate with a wooden spoon to release the seeds over the strawberries.

3) Sprinkle a teaspoon of artificial sweetener over the strawberries, yogurt and pomegranate seeds, top with a sprig of mint and serve.

Notes/Ideas

Instead of strawberries, use raspberries for an equally delicious dessert.