Foodie Friday - Mushy Pea Quorn Curry

I know we're not even into December yet, but already I'm sick of the dark, the cold and the damp and I can't wait for summer. When it's dark and the weathers rubbish you want something warm and dare I say it spicy to eat. This recipe is one of the odd sounding Slimming World ones that I came across when I was looking for recipe inspiration. It sounds weird but for some reason it just works. There are lots of different versions out there but this is my interpretation. It's not the most authentic curry recipe out there and I can't vouch for the Slimming World values but it's really easy to make and I think it tastes pretty good.

Mushy Pea Quorn Curry

10 Sprays Fry Light 

4 Cloves Garlic -  Roughly Chopped

2 Large Onions 

200g Quorn Pieces - Defrosted If Frozen

250g Mushrooms - Sliced

250g Courgettes - Halved And Sliced

1 Pepper - Any Colour - Roughly Chopped

100g Cherry Tomatoes - Halved 

1 Tin Baked Beans

2 x Tins Mushy Peas

1 Tin Chopped Tomatoes

Curry Powder - To Taste 

Chilli Flakes - Optional

Water 

Salt And Pepper - To Taste

1. Spray about 10 sprays of Fry Light into a large pan. I'm using my pressure cooker pan here and garlic Fry Light but you can use whatever you like. Then add your chopped garlic and a few teaspoons of curry powder. I usually start off by adding a small amount of you can always add more later depending on how hot it your powder is and how hot you like it. You can also add some chilli flakes or fresh chilli at this point.

2. Cook it for a moment or two then add your chopped onion. Add a tiny bit of water and cook for about 5 minutes or so.

3. When your onions are starting to soften add your Quorn pieces, your courgettes and your pepper, and a little bit more water and cook for about 10 minutes.

4. Then add your mushrooms 

and your cherry tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes or so.

5. Now the recipe gets a little bit weird - add 2 tins of mushy peas to the pan and give it a good stir

6. Next add your baked beans and mix in 

7. Then add your tinned tomatoes and give it a stir

8. Finally you want to add a bit more water. I usually swill my empty tins out, so you get all the dregs out of the can. You want to make sure that the Quorn and the vegetables are just covered. Then cook it over a medium heat for about an hour, stirring occasionally.

9. By this time you sauce should have reduced and thickened. If it hasn't just leave it for a bit longer - you can leave it for as long as you need, just giving it a stir every so often. Check the seasoning and add a bit more curry powder, and salt and pepper to taste and cook for another 10 minutes or so, and then your done.

This recipe easily makes 6 portions. It keeps in the fridge for a day or so, and it also freezes really well. You can serve it with bread, rice or pasta and it makes a really nice, warming, filling meal.

This is a good fridge and cupboard clear out recipe, and you can really add whatever vegetables you like. I just used what I had at the time but in the past I've used aubergine, parsnip and carrots, just use what you like and what you have. I know the mushy peas and baked beans make it sound a bit strange but trust me it does work, and for veggies like me it's a great source of protein. If you like chip shop curry sauce then you might just like this too x I'd love to know if you try this recipe, so don't forget to leave me a comment and let me know what you think if you do x 

Foodie Friday - Diet Coke Quorn

Happy Halloween hope your having a spooktastic evening, I've had a busy afternoon carving my pumpkin, and making my traditional Pumpkin And Toasted Sweetcorn Soup, and my Spicy Mexican Cornbread - Yummy! I thought about making something spooky themed but instead for today's Foodie Friday post I'm going to give you a recipe that's been requested quite a few times.

Way back in January when I started my weight loss journey, I went on the hunt for new low fat, and low calorie recipes to add to my repertoire. Although I don't follow either Slimming World or Weight Watchers I've really enjoyed cooking and trying out some of the recipes that people on the pans use. Obviously their own websites are worth a look but I also found a few gems via instagram and google.

One of the strangest recipes that I found was for Diet Coke Chicken! The idea isn't really that new though, Nigella has been doing here ham in Coca Cola for years and speaking to several people that have tried it, it's amazing. Odd sounding I know but Cola is quite a sweet, spicy drink, full of clove, nutmeg and cinnamon, which adds real flavour and depth to anything that it's cooked with. Obviously being vegetarian I couldn't use chicken but I saw a few people make it with Quorn pieces and fillets so I thought I'd give it a go. 

I wasn't really sure about putting this recipe up because it's not really mine. You just have to look around on the internet to find a zillion different versions of this recipe. Every time I've posted a picture on here or on my instagram though I've been asked for the recipe so here you go. This is my interpretation, it's still quite healthy though but I'll tell you later how you can make it less or alter it to suit your own tastes.

Diet Coke Quorn

10 Spray Of Fry Light (I'm Using Garlic)

4 x Cloves Garlic- Roughly Chopped

1 x Onion - Roughly Chopped

2 Sticks Celery - Finely Chopped

2 x Carrots

1 x Courgette

1 x Pepper - Red, Yellow, Or Orange

300g Quorn Pieces - Defrosted If Frozen

1 x Tin Chopped Tomatoes

200g Mushrooms - Roughly Chopped

330ml Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi, Or Any Other Diet Cola

1 Tsp Chinese 5 Spice Powder

1 Tbsp Soy Sauce

1 Tbsp Tomato Puree

1. Spray your Fry Light into a large pan, I'm using a large saute pan here but a casserole dish or pan would probably be better. Add your garlic, onion and celery to the pan and cook over a medium until the onions are soft and translucent

2. Roughly chop your courgette and carrots, You want everything to be roughly the same size so cut them both length ways, then slice. Add those to the pan and cook for a few minutes x

3. Then roughly chop your peppers, I have a combination of red orange and yellow here because I was using mini ones. Add those to the pan and cook your vegetables for about 5 minutes.

4. Then add your mushrooms, and cook for about 10 minutes, your pan will be quite full but don't panic the mushrooms and the vegetables will continue to cook down and soften.

5. Finally your Quorn Pieces, you could add them at the first stage but to be honest you don't really want to crisp the, you want them to absorb all the flavours, so adding them now works fine. Pop a lid on for about 10 minutes.

6. Add your tinned tomatoes

Then your Chinese 5 Spice powder. This is a fab herb and spice blend containing cinnamon, cloves, fennel seeds, star anise, ginger and black pepper. It's quite strong and quite aniseedy, so if your not sure add less that I do,you can always add a bit more later.

Then add your tomato puree, and your soy sauce.

7. Stir it all together and then add your Diet Coke. I'm using a bottle of Pepsi Max here which I've measured out but any diet coke type drink works. In fact I think the cheaper ones work better because they usually have a bit more of a cinnamon or clove flavour. 

You might not be able o fit it all in at once but just let it reduce a bit and then add so more.

8. The cook over a low / medium heat for at least an hour. The sauce, will have reduced, thickened and darkened. Have a taste and then you can add more 5 Spice or soy to taste.

Done - serve with either rice, pasta, or even fried rice. This recipe makes 4 very generous portions, and it will keep for a day or so in the fridge if you have left overs. Simply reheat in a pan or in the the microwave adding a little bit of diet coke or a bit or water.

Simple as it's very easy to adapt to suit your own needs and tastes. You can use whatever vegetables you like, this just happens to be what I usually have in the veg basket. You can also vary the flavouring although I do think that 5 Spice gives it a great flavour. You can also add a bit of chilli or some Worcester sauce to give it a bit more of a kick. The original recipe used tomato passata instead of tinned tomatoes but that gives a much more sauce based dish, but it's up to you. ou could also use Quorn Fillets or chopped up Quorn Roast and it goes without saying you could use chicken or gammon.I'm trying to be health conscious here but if you want to throw calories or caution to the wind you could use oil instead of Fry Light and of course you could use full fat and full sugar coke.

I was really sceptical about this dish when I first made it but it's become a really favourite and Me and Mummy Lou now have this at least once a month. If you haven't tried it yet I'd definitely recommend you give it a go, sometimes it pays to experiment x Happy Eating xx

Foodie Friday - What I Ate In June

Last month was the month when I started to take my weight loss seriously again. I'd had about a month off but June was the month when I tried to get back on track. I still had the odd treat - my life isn't about denial after all, but by and large I think I ate pretty healthily. Probably down to the weather my salad intake increased, my fruit consumption went up, I snacked better and I cooked a lot of the recipes, that helped me at the start of my journey.

Although I'm not doing Slimming World, I have found myself cooking a lot of recipes that feature on the plan. One recipe which I fell in love with is curry or chickpea dahl loaf. The original ingredients are curried rice, and chickpea dahl. I had neither and didn't fancy a trip to Tesco, so I made a variation. First of all I made a sort of baked bean dahl, I fried some garlic, and chopped onion in Fry Light, and then I added some jalapenos, some cumin, coriander and curry powder, and a can of baked beans. I then cooked it down till it was quite thick. I didn't have any curry rice, so instead I made do with a packed of golden vegetable rice, to which I added some more jalapenos and some curry powder. It was really nice and just as good as the original and dare I say it slightly cheaper to make.

I served it with some mixed vegetables and potato salad which I made with low fat salad cream, and I also served a portion with baked sweet potato, Slimming World type chips and homemade coleslaw. There really is nothing like homemade coleslaw, it's fresh and you know exactly whats gone in it. You really need a food processor or a slicer to make it but it's well worth it.

I also served some homemade coleslaw with some crustless cottage cheese quiche and some boiled Jersey potatoes.

My mums obsession with burgers also continued in June, so on a few occasions this month I tucked into a lovely veggie burger. This one was crammed full of salad, ketchup and low fat salad cream, with just a sneaky piece of Stilton.

For someone who never used to like blue cheese, I'm now a bit of a fan. My mum always seems to pick up a bit in the reduced section when she goes shopping and I can't resist. Like me my mum is a huge bargain hunter so she regularly scans the reduced sections in the supermarket for cut priced fresh food. As well as the Stilton so also spied a bag full of courgettes for less than 50p! I wasn't sure what to do but after having a little look at this website from one of QVC UK's food demonstrators, Home Economist, Simon Brown, I decided to try and make a courgette and Stilton soup. I just used my basic broccoli and Stilton recipe, and replaced the broccoli with courgette. It was really good, and it's made me wonder what other vegetables I can try, I'm definitely thinking kale or cauliflower but I'm not sure what else would work. If you have any suggestions please leave me a comment x 

It's always worth having a look in reduced sections in supermarkets especially when it comes to fruit and veg. June also saw us pick up a large ripe pineapple for less than £1. I love fresh pineapple but it's such a bind to peel and chop, so I cut the leaves off, and chopped it into large chunks and put it skin and all into my juicer. OMMMGG it was so good and so much nicer than any bought pineapple juice, you could really taste the freshness of the fruit.

I don't know whether it's down to the warmer weather or not but I seem to have put my juicing head back on and this month I've also made several Juicemaster Homemade Sherbet Lemonades. In case you don't remember it, it's just lemons, and green apples. It is so refreshing on the palette and it's really quite filling.

Despite the fact that weather is nice today and it has been for a few days now, for a lot of June , it was rainy, miserable and anything but summery, so I made a few meals to ahem warm the cockles of my heart so to speak, starting off with some more Slimming World inspired meals, including Diet Coke Quorn,

and Mushy Pea Quorn Curry.

I also made an old favourite, my Indonesian Rice With Tofu, which is a meal that I always find super quick, filling, and comforting in equal measure.

In order to get back on track, I've had to improve my snacking a bit. Obviously I've cut down on the picking and so on but when I have snacked I've tried to make better choices.

Fruit is the big one, I'm not the biggest fruit eater out there but juicing helps and so does the availability of good fresh produce and  British strawberries. I had some with a bit of Easi Yo Green Yogurt and some with a cheeky bit of evaporated milk but no sugar because they really were sweet enough.

Instead of reaching for chocolate bars  and the like, I've tried to go for slightly healthier options to help combat cravings and my sweet tooth. Poundland has proved invaluable and I've gotten slightly addicted to these yogurt covered fruit pieces and raisins

and these compressed real fruit sticks and mini raisin packs are great when your on the go or just need something sweet in a hurry. Obviously they still have a bit of sugar in them but it's definitely better than reaching for a bar of chocolate.

I've also been pretty obsessed with rice cakes, and these yogurt covered beauties from Aldi really are the one. For less than 100 calories each you getting something that tastes a lot naughtier. 

Something that I've also loved in June are these Udi's Toaster Pastries. 

Basically they're pop tarts but for those gluten and wheat free minions like me. They come in just the two flavours strawberry, and apple and cinnamon but they are really nice and filling, whether for breakfast or as a snack. They're normally about £3 a box but they are currently just £1 in Tesco.

Life isn't worth living if you cant treat yourself though and in June I did have the odd treat though including my Mum's Gluten Free Lemon Sponge Cake 

and some lovely gluten free flapjacks also made by Mummy Lou x 

The only other area where I've been bad is with my passion for coffee shops. As much as I love my coffees I June and so far in July I've been a bit obsessed with the cooler coffee shop options. I've had a couple of Starbucks Frappuccinos including the new Coconut Mocha which I loved despite not being the biggest fan of coconut, and I've also had a couple of Costa's Creamy Coolers.

Yes I know there are healthier Costa options but at times only the whipped cream will do. That said the Sticky Toffee one doesn't come with whipped cream but my favourite Raspberry and White Chocolate Creamy is back and it's totally divine. In fact I may have had another one today!

I do want to try the new Starbucks Yogurt Frappuccinos, and I also want to try some more of the Costa Ice drinks so I will definitely be making several more trips and earning my loyalty points before the summer is out.

I haven't had the best of healthy eating weeks this week in fact it's been lousy, partly down to something I will be showing you next Friday, but I've had my fun, and I've proved to myself that it is possible to have treats and eat well and still lose weight so who knows what I'll be showing you next month :)  Thanks for reading and happy cooking, and happy scoffing xx

Foodie Friday - Low Fat Chips And Reusable Chip Mesh

Hey Loves, x I hope you've all had a lovely Good Friday x The sun has been shining today which has been a bit of a rarity over the last few month. It's still chilly but the glowing ball in the sky has made a real difference. This morning I was up bright and early to head into Durham with Mummy Lou to pick up her new car :) very exciting x I hadn't been out of the house for a week because of a hideous throat infection but I'm starting to turn the corner now bar a tickly cough, and a bit of a husky voice.

We nipped into a few shops because shock of horrors we hadn't managed to get any Creme Eggs before heading hope to wrap pizzas and hot cross buns. I know it's traditional to eat fish on Good Friday but I don't eat it and my mum couldn't be bothered to stand in the queue at the fish and chip shop.

Ahhhh chips, how I love thee. Since January though I've only had two portions of real chips, my word did I enjoy them but the calories - you fish supper eaters do not want to know the damage lol! Ever since I was tiny, weeny my mum always tried to temper my dads chip addiction by making a healthier version cooked in the oven. The idea is simple parboil some potatoes, then toss them in a little bit of oil and then bake in the oven. Nice and a fraction of the calories of fried chips but that tablespoon of oil makes a real difference to the overall calorie count

I think I've mentioned this before but when I started trying to lose weight this time round I looked everywhere I could think of for inspiration, including instagram, and something that I saw mentioned quite a lot was Slimming World Chips. Basically what it is, is what my mum used to only instead of tossing the chips in oil, you use low calorie cooking spray aka Fry Light. I tried it a few times and they were nice but they seemed to take forever to go and I could never get them that crispy. I searched for answers, and solutions and found them courtesy of Poundland.

Reusable Chip Mesh - it's basically a sheet of mesh, that you put your chips on directly onto the oven shelf. Dishwasher and freezer safe, and built to withstand temperatures of 260 , this simple product promises perfectly crispy chips.

I was cynical it feels a bit, well feeble, but the theory made sense. By putting the mesh directly onto the oven shelf it allows the air and the heat to fully circulate around the oven hitting every surface on every chip. Did it work? well see for yourself this is how I did it x

Slimming World / Lower Fat Chips Using Reusable Chip Mesh

1. Chop your potatoes into either wedge or chip shapes and parboil in boiling, salted water for about 5 minutes, you don't want them to be cooked you just want to start to see a bit of give. In the meantime heat your oven  to between 180 - 200 C depending on how hot your oven is

2. Drain your in a large colander or sieve

3. You want your chips to be as dry as possible the best way to do it, is to allow them to cool for a few minutes, and then wrap them in a tea towel to try and soak up the excess liquid.

4. This sounds odd but put them back into the empty pan, add a few squirts of Fry Light, pop the lid on and give the pan a good shake. It's really good to do this with roast potatoes too, what it does is give the potatoes a bit of texture, on the surfaces which helps them to crisp up.

5. Then put your chip mesh on top of a baking tray or over a pan, and tip the chips onto the mesh arranging them as even a layer as you can. then spray liberally with Fry Light and sprinkle with salt, or seasoning.

5. Then pop the chips and chip mesh onto the top shelf of the oven, and on the second shelf place the empty baking tray. This is just to catch any residue from the mesh eg. seasoning, bits of excess chips, any drips etc.

How long it takes depends on the size of your chips, and your oven. If you've done wedges they'll take longer. I normally start looking after about 20 minutes. You want them to be soft in the middle and crisp on the outside.

6. Voila - chips :) okay they aren't exactly like fried chips but they are a nice combo of fluffy and crispy and very tasty

You can serve them anyway you would serve normal chips x Here are mine with some Quorn and mushy pea curry.

The mesh to me really does make a difference, they were crispier and they cooked a lot quicker than they did without it. Since then I've experimented a bit more and used different flavours of Fry Light, and different sprinkles, my fave is Garlic Fry Light and a sprinkle of garlic and chilli flakes yum:). I've also experimented with leaving the skin on, cutting the potatoes into different sizes, and by using different varieties of potatoes.

The chip mesh also works really with sweet potatoes, they cook a bit quicker than normal white potatoes, so I probably wouldn't cut them quite as small as I have done here.

If your trying to cut down on fat or lose weight or if you buy oven chips I would definitely recommend that your pick up a reusable chip mesh, they've made a real difference to my "oven" chips and they've really helped keep on the straight and narrow x I hope you enjoy the rest of your long weekend and if you have any questions x please leave me a comment x