As you all no doubt know, we are blessed on Weight Watchers with the 0sp delight that is Butternut Squash. I’m a massive fan of it as a replacement for potatoes and even sweet potatoes so I’m always trying to find new ways to use it. Tonight, fancying something filling but low in points, I created this lovely delight which went down a storm. It tastes amazing and really is so filling and satisfying.
This is a really simple soup that I make time after time as its so simple to make but tastes amazing! I often make it on a Sunday night and because it makes 4 portions it does my packed lunch for work alllll the way til Thursday!
I get lots of folk who are doing Weight Watchers often saying that they struggle to find low pro point, filling but tasty lunches. As you all probably know, I’m a huge salad fan and this is one of the regulars in my repertoire. As it’s so filling, it usually stops me fancying an afternoon snack later on in the day! I use Aldi’s cous cous as it’s the tastiest one I have had and is only 39p per pack (each pack does two lunches too!). I vary the flavours between the spicy and the lemon and coriander but both work nicely with the recipe below. I usually make two portions in one go so I don’t have to be organised two days in a row.
Desserts….not something I’m ever too fussed about having straight after my tea but, on the odd occasion (usually when other people are having them) I start to think ‘well why can’t I!?!’. In general I never think to reach for cake or sweet treats after savoury but, after a big family Sunday lunch at my parents, the cakes, scones, pavlova and tarts all come out of their devlish boxes and make their way onto the table. Having seen the lovely multi coloured treats the cravings kick in and this is where I whip out my favourite dessert weapon…..MERINGUE!!
Lots of people that I speak to often say they love to eat mussels when they go out but are a bit nervous to make them themselves. I would have said the same until I gave it a go for the first time and now they are a regular in our house.
Mussels really are one of my favourite, quick go to meals when I am looking for something both cheap and easy and low in points. You get a huge portion for only 2sp so you can add to it as you please. I’ve cooked some spaghetti and stirred it through the sauce at the last minute and then served the mussels on top or I’ve just served it with a warm WW petite pan. If you add either of these, be sure to add the extra points.
A few years back a friend and I went inter railing around Europe and as a result spent a lot of time throwing together lovely little picnics. This was one of our favourites lunches while we were away, and with the lovely weather at the moment I have been craving this summery treat. The only problem was that on our travels, when my waist line didn’t bother me (even though it should have!!), we had it with fresh baguettes, lots of cream cheese and fresh Italian pesto and a huge packet of crisps. This certainly would not be pro point friendly and so today, still craving away, I decided to see if I could come up with a lower pro point alternative that was still as filling and tasty and I have to say it was gorgeous! It tasted so fresh and juicy I could eat it every day for a week!
A few weeks ago I went out to a little café for lunch and I had a lovely curried chicken breast burger. It tasted so good I decided to make my own version of it, adding a few little Indian accompaniments.
Come a Sunday afternoon I often roast a nice big whole chicken that I can pull apart and use throughout the week for lunches and evening meals. It’s a great way to make sure you have fresh ingredients at hand and keep the cost down at the same time. As a result, I’m always looking for new ways to use up said chicken (as you will see by my last Lebanese Salad recipe).
Being a huge fun of pulled pork, I decided that I would give the whole pulled chicken a whirl but by speeding up the process a little. As a result I made a lovely and tasty chipotle BBQ sauce, poured it over the cooked chicken and voila!! The BBQ chicken in this form could be used in so many different ways (in a burger, a thin, with rice, with sweet potato or BNS fries…..) but I decided to try something new.
I have salad most days for my lunch at work and often try and whip up a salad to go with my main meal in an evening. As a result, I don’t want to get bored with the same old salad ingredients so this week I decided to mix things up a little and combine my two new discoveries: microwaveable lentils and Lebanese spice mix. I got my both from Tesco and whilst not overly cheap, the lentils serve 4 and the spice mix is a huge tin that will last for ages. I made this for me and my other half to have two days in a row for lunch. So good!
I don’t count roasted chicken breast on the new Flex plan so this recipe is 3sp per serving. If you do, it will be 4sp per serving.
Since the weather is still FREEZING I decided to try out a new soup this week which included my love for both spinach and coriander. It’s got quite a few ingredients but it makes a huge batch of soup and it feels like a lovely treat come lunch time. It’s great for using left over veg such as spinach and celery (which we always seem to having knocking around in the fridge) and the ginger, chilli and lemon really give it a lift.