syn free lemon mousse

Ingredients;

• Grated rind and juice of 2 lemons
• 8 level tbsp canderel
• 3 eggs separated
• 2 tbsp hot water
• 1 sachet gelatine
• 6oz very low fat fromage frais
• 1 egg white
• pinch of salt OR cream of tartar

Method;
1. Put grated lemon rind and juice in a bowl with canderel and egg yolks.
Stand over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk until lemon in colour
(10- 15 minutes)
2. Pour hot water into a basin and sprinkle over gelatine - stand in a
saucepan of simmmering water until gelatine has dissolved.
3. Stir dissolved gelatine into lemon custard mix and leave until beginning to
set. Fold the fromage frais into the setting lemon mixture .
4. Whisk the 4 egg whites with the salt or cream of tartar until peaking and
fold the setting lemon mixture in with a metal spoon.
5. Pour into a mousse dish and refridgerate for 2 - 3 hours.
There you go - free lemon mousse - perfect for dinner parties or scoffing on
your own!

coconut macaroons

Ingredients

• 4 egg whites
• 35g swetener
• 71g desiccated coconut

Method

1. Beat the egg whites until frothy (Make sure no yolk whatsoever has contaminated the egg whites, otherwise you could be whisking for ever!)
2. Add the sweetener and beat until stiff. 
3. Fold in the coconut, put mixture into a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe 30 macaroons onto a parchment covered baking sheet.
4. Bake for 30 minutes in a preheated oven (170ºC/150ºC Fan/Gas Mark 3).
5. Remove from oven, and allow to cool for a few minutes before removing them from the baking sheet.

Spanish meatballs

Ingredients

• 500g extra-lean beef mince
• Small handful of finely chopped fresh coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Low calorie cooking spray
• Small handful of finely chopped fresh parsley

Method

1. Put the mince, coriander, spices and garlic in a bowl. Season and mix with your fingers until well combined. Cover and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
2. Divide the mince mixture into 20 portions and shape each one into a bite-sized ball.
3. Spray a non-stick frying pan with low calorie cooking spray and place over a medium heat. Stir-fry the meatballs for 6-8 minutes until browned and cooked through (you may need to do this in two batches), then drain on kitchen paper. Put the meatballs in a large serving dish and scatter with the parsley.
4. These meatballs are great eaten straight away or you can cool them and keep them in the fridge for up to 2 days. They’re delicious cold or thoroughly reheated.

Tomato and lentil soup

This is really easy to make.

Ingrediants:

tin of tomatoes
lentils
onion
stock
pepper
fresh tomatoes
garlic
basil

I roasted about five tomatoes, with the pepper, onion and garlic. once cooked I put through a sieve then added the stock, tin of tomatoes and lentils.

I boiled to lentils were cooked and then added the basil.

Profiteroles

I ended up with 12 profiteroles and they worked out at 7 syns for one.

Ingredients 

• 55 g (2 oz) butter
• 75 g (2 1/2 oz) plain flour, sifted
• 2 eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt
• One tub of double cream
• Chocolate

Method
Prep:15min  ›  Ready in:15min 

1. Put the butter and 150 ml (5 fl oz) water in a saucepan. Heat gently until the butter has melted, then bring to the boil.
2. As soon as the water boils, remove the pan from the heat and quickly tip in the flour all at once. Beat with a wooden spoon until the ingredients bind together into a dough.
3. Return the pan to a low heat and continue to beat until the dough is a smooth, dry ball in the centre of the pan.
4. Allow to cool for 2–3 minutes, then gradually beat in the eggs to make a smooth, shiny paste. Beat vigourously. Use straightaway, as directed in the recipe.
5. Place the baking sheet into the oven. Before closing the oven door, pour half a cup of water into the roasting tin at the bottom of the oven, then quickly shut the door. This helps to create more steam in the oven and make the pastry rise better. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden-brown - if the profiteroles are too pale they will become soggy when cool.
6. Remove from the oven and turn the oven off. Prick the base of each profiterole with a skewer. Place back onto the baking sheet with the hole in the base facing upwards and return to the oven for five minutes. The warm air from the oven helps to dry out the middle of the profiteroles.
7. For the filling, lightly whip the cream with the orange zest until soft peaks form. When the profiteroles are cold, use a piping bag to pipe the cream into the profiteroles.

Bombay Bhajis

Ingredients

• Low calorie cooking spray
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 175g potato, cooked & chopped
• 225g canned chickpeas, drained
• 1 egg beaten
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp dried Bombay mixed spice
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
• Salt & ground black pepper

Raita

• ½ cucumber, chopped
• Salt
• 115g fat-free natural yogurt
• 4 spring onions, chopped

Method

1. To make the raita place the cucumber in a colander, sprinkle with salt and leave for 30 minutes. Dry well and transfer into a bowl. Stir in the yogurt and spring onions and chill until ready to serve.
2. To make the bhajis spray a non-stick frying pan with low calorie cooking spray and cook the onion for approximately 5 minutes until tender. Transfer to a bowl, add the potato and chick peas and mash together. Stir in the remaining ingredients and form into small balls. 
3. Arrange the bhajis on a baking tray that has been sprayed with low calorie cooking spray. Bake in a preheated oven at 220°C/200°C Fan/Gas Mark 7 for approximately 15 minutes until golden. Serve immediately with the cucumber rait

I didn't have bombay spice so just used normal curry powder .

marshmallows

                                     

INGREDIENTS

• 9 sheets sheets leaf gelatine
• 450 g sugar
• 1 tbsp liquid glucose
• 200 ml water
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• icing sugar
• cornflour
• strawberries, to serve

METHOD

1. Lightly oil a shallow baking tray, about 30 x 20cm and dust it with sieved icing sugar and cornflour.

2. Soak the gelatine in 140ml cold water. 

3. Put the sugar, glucose and water into a heavy-based pan. Bring to the boil and continue cooking for about 12-15 minutes until the mixture reaches 127C on a sugar thermometer. 

4. When the syrup is up to temperature, carefully slide in the softened gelatine sheets and their soaking water. The syrup will bubble up so take care not to burn yourself. Pour the syrup into a metal jug. 

5. Whisk the egg whites until stiff, preferably with an electric whisk in a mixing bowl. Continue whisking while pouring in the hot syrup from the jug. The mixture will become shiny and start to thicken. Add the vanilla extract and continue whisking for about 5-10 minutes, until the mixture is stiff and thick enough to hold its shape on the whisk. 

6. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth with a wet palette knife if necessary. 

7. Leave for at least 1 hour to set. 

8. Dust the work surface with icing sugar and cornflour. Loosen the marshmallow around the sides of the tray with a palette knife, and then turn it out on to the dusted surface. Cut into squares and roll in the sugar and cornflour. Leave to dry a little on a wire rack. 

9. To serve: carefully place the marshmallows onto skewers, alternating with hulled strawberries. 

10. Store the marshmallows in an airtight container. 

beef and veg curry

Ok so I used;

beef brisket

onion

pepper

butternut squash

turmeric

Garam masala

cumin

coriander

medium curry powder

tin of tomatoes

fresh tomatoes

salt, pepper

garlic

I put everything in to the slow cooker and cooked on low for about 6 hours.

a take on Ferrero Rocher

I love ferrero rochers and this cheat version is great.

I used 200g of milk chocolate and 10 ryvita.

It made 36 and works at of 2 syns each

chocolate orange cake

I have a taster night in group tomorrow so I've made the following case:

Ingredients

• 4 eggs, separated
• 50g caster sugar
• 5 tbsp artificial sweetener
• 150g self raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp finely grated orange zest
• Juice of 2 oranges
• 120g Kraft chocolate Philadelphia
• Tin of mandarin oranges (drained of syrup)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C Fan/Gas 5. Line a cake tin with non-stick baking parchment, approximately 24cm x 17cm.
2. Place the egg yolks, caster sugar, sweetener, self raising flour, baking powder, orange zest and juice in a bowl and whisk until thick and pale.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until softly peaked then fold them into the egg yolk mixture. Spoon this mixture into the prepared cake tin and cook in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the cake has risen and is firm to touch. Leave to cool.
4. Warm the chocolate Philadelphia in the microwave for a few seconds, then turn the cake upside down, remove the baking parchment and spread the chocolate Philadelphia over the top.
5. Cut into 24 pieces and place a mandarin orange segment on the top of each square.

samosa

I love these, tey are easy to make and only one syn.

Ingredients

• Low calorie cooking spray
• 1 tbsp mild curry powder
• 1 tsp amchoor (dried mango powder)*
• 400g potatoes, peeled, boiled and mashed
• 110g frozen peas
• 4 tbsp finely chopped coriander
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• Salt

Method

1. Place all the chutney ingredients in a food processor with 70ml of water and blend until smooth. Set aside until needed.
2. Spray a large non-stick frying pan with low calorie cooking spray and place over a medium heat. Add the curry powder, amchoor, potatoes and peas and stir-fry for 4-5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the chopped coriander and red chilli, season well with salt and set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C Fan/Gas 5. Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment. Working swiftly, place the three filo sheets on top of each other and cut them in half widthways. Then cut each half into three even strips lengthways to give you a total of six strips of filo per sheet (18 strips in total).
4. Lay the strips on a clean work surface and lightly spray with low calorie cooking spray. Place a teaspoon of the potato filling at the bottom of each strip and fold the pastry diagonally to enclose the filling and form a triangle. Press down on the pastry and fold again until you reach the end of the strip leaving you with a triangular pastry parcel. Repeat with the remaining strips and filling to make 18 parcels.
5. Place the parcels in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet, spray with low calorie cooking spray and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden and crisp. Remove from the oven and serve warm with the hara chutney.

Tip: In Hindi, amchoor translates simply as 'mango powder'. The mango is picked before it ripens, peeled and cut into thin slices and sun dried. This is then ground into a powder. It's used to give a tangy flavour to Indian recipes. You can buy it from large supermarkets and Asian greengrocers.

Homemade burgers

I love burgers and they are so easy to make.

To make the burgers I used 500g of mince, half an onion and a beaten egg.

I mixed the ingredients together and then formed in to patties and leave n the fridge for at least a couple of hours (overnight is best). Then cook.

lentil soup

Right so when i make lentil soup I don't go with measurements I just kind of guess and it's all ways worked out fine.

so I use;

lentils
carrots
onion
stock

put all in to a pan and boil for about 45 min. I then blitz it.

chocolate torte

I made this for desert yesterday and it was yummy.

It's really easy to make. I didn't put the brandy in as I don't like alcohol. 

Ingredients

• 3 level tbsp plain flour
• 50g ground almonds
• 75g plain chocolate
• 50g cocoa
• 6 tbsp granulated artificial sweetener
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 tbsp brandy
• 4 egg whites
• ½ tsp cream of tartar
• ½ tsp icing sugar
• Fat free natural fromage frais and fruit wedges to serve (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C Fan/Gas Mark 5. Lightly grease an 20cm/8in springform cake tin and line the base with greaseproof paper.
2. Sift the flour into a bowl, add the almonds and mix.
3. Finely chop the chocolate, place in another bowl with the cocoa, sweetener and 150ml boiling water and mix well. Then whisk in the egg yolks and brandy.
4. In a third bowl, whisk together the egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff, then fold in the flour mixture. Using a metal spoon fold a quarter of this into the chocolate mixture and then gently fold in the rest. Spoon the torte mixture into the prepared cake tin, level the surface and bake for 35-40 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for about 10 minutes; the torte will sink on cooling. Loosen the edges with a knife, carefully remove the paper and transfer to a serving plate. Lightly dust with icing sugar and serve cut into wedges with very low fat natural fromage frais and fresh fruit wedges.

Tip: Store the torte in an airtight container to retain freshness and it will last for up to one week.

sausage and bean casserole

I'm sick of having things in the cupboard which I just keep pushing to the back so the sausage and bean casserole was made using some of those ingridents.

So I've used:

sausages,
kidney beans,
baked beans,
tomatoes,
pepper,
onion,
courgette,
carrot,
thyme,
basil,
oregano,
tomato purée
 lentils
salt and pepper,
chicken stock.

I put all the ingredients in to a roasting dish, put the lib on and cooked for about an hour and a half.

Using up things.

Well it's now the middle of th month and I'm using thins up to save on money. This is what I came up with.