Dark January nights can often leave us craving the comfort of warming, hearty food whilst trying to stick to our New Year diet. This recipe is perfect for just that kind of event, when you fancy something packed with flavour and nice and filling but light enough to stick within your points.
Whenever I go shopping I always buy butternut squash in one form or another. Whether it be pre spiralised, in a lasagne sheet, or in its natural giant form I just like the idea of having a 0sp carb in the house, just in case. For that reason, I always seem to have a whole butternut squash in the cupboard! This week, with the weather getting ever more wintery and cold, I just fancied a nice warming soup for lunch and so I thought it was about time I used up some of my squash stash.
Meatballs are one of my favourite go to quick and easy dinners as they take hardly any preparation and can be ready in under 15 minutes. These meatballs in particular are delicious with my other favourite at the moment, 0sp Butternut Squash Noodles, or Boodles as Sainsbury’s like to call them. They made for a lovely filling dish but allow you to keep the smart points for the whole meal nice and low.
Ever since I posted a picture of this dinner on my Instagram Page (@skinnykitchensecrets) I have been getting requests for the recipe and whilst the picture might look like a lot of cooking is required, this one is less of a recipe and more of a quick and easy assembly of yummy ingredients.
Stir fries are my hubbie and I’s go to quick and easy meal. Usually on the plate in under 15 minutes, stir fries are the perfect way to fill up with veggies whilst enjoying a flavour packed meal. I’m always looking for new ways to jazz up my stir fries so this week I decided to go a little Malaysian. The stir fry sauce here is tasty and so easy to prepare, as simple as popping everything in a bowl and giving a little mix. I’ve used powdered peanut butter instead of the normal stuff as 1 tbsp of the normal stuff is 3sp and the powdered stuff is only 1sp for 2 tbsp! It is a little pricey to buy (mine was £4) but it lasts a lot longer than the regular stuff and is such a great points saving. Best of all, to prepare you simply mix with water and you end up with the same textured peanut butter as you would from a normal jar! Most supermarkets sell it now next to the normal stuff.
Christmas is one of my favourite times of the year but for us Weight Watchers, the joy of the festive season often comes alongside a side helping of guilt at the food we may consume which we usually wouldn’t allow ourselves.
Having savvy ways to use up leftovers is not only way the perfect way to keep your portions under control on the big day, but it will also save you a lot of time and money at a manic (and frankly rather expensive) time!! The lovely Asian salad is one of my favourite ways to use up left over Christmas Day turkey. Its packed with flavour and lovely and light and healthy. Best of all, its only 2sp. The perfect Boxing Day lunch!
This fabulous recipe was featured in the December issue of Weight Watchers magazine so if you have a copy, you can find it in there too!
If you fancy making this lovely salad even more filling, you could also fry up some egg noodles and spilt between the bowls for an extra 5sp per person.
This recipe was made at the special request of a lovely lady called Ruth who requested a recipe for a pea and ham soup a few weeks ago. Well ask and you shall receive, here it is Ruth!!
This recipe calls for 200g cooked gammon/ham. You can either buy this pre cooked or you can cook a joint yourself. I bought a huge joint for around £4, boiled it and then once shredded, froze the rest in portions to use in other meals. Cooking it myself also meant that I had the boiling water (aka homemade stock) which was lovely. A ham stock cube would be just as good though.
As you can probably tell by a lot of my recent recipes, vegetable noodles are a firm favourite in our house at the moment. Most supermarkets now sell the pre spiralised version and not only do they make a lovely quick and easy option for tea, but they are mostly 0 smart points.
This recipe came about after defrosting a pack of turkey mince and deciding to use up some of the contents of my cupboards. After scratching my head for a few minutes I got a few bits and pieces out and thought, lets see how this goes. Boy was I impressed with the result. Not only is it a quick and easy dish to put together, but the flavours are delicious. Best of all one portion is only 2sp!!
Given the popularity of the classic low carb cauliflower base pizza alongside my love for all things courgette, I decided to try and covert my regular cauliflower pizza recipe into a courgette based pizza. The challenge was easier said than done but, after a few tries, I am happy to report I have finally perfected it. The texture is a little less firm that the cauliflower version however the taste is even better. I served this with a large side salad to keep it nice and fresh.