Brocolli, Leek and Stilton Soup (W.W)

So ... we're on weight watchers in our household - hence the lack of blogs - i have been trying to avoid thinking about food so as not to eat it ALL !!

Here's a little weight watchers soup for you with cheese !! my favourite ingredient that makes me feel like i've been cheating when i haven't.

So simple ...

Heres what you need:

1.5 tbs Olive Oil
3 Large Leeks
1 Courgette
1 Broccoli
10 new potatoes (I used 7 pro points worth of potatoes in total)
2 vegetable stock cubes
1.5 litres of boiling water
120g Stilton

Use a large saucepan, and heat your olive oil, and add your 3 leeks chopped up.
Whilst they are cooking down, cut up your courgettes, and throw them in, keep them on a medium heat, but keep stirring until they are well softened and going golden.
Cut your potatoes into smaller chunks and add them
then make your stock and add that
bring it to the boil and then simmer for 20 mins
take it off the heat and crumble your stilton over the soup
after about 10 minutes blend our soup, i use a hand blender, and whizz it for ages to make sure theres no lumps ...
it makes a really really thick soup so you can always add extra water but i love a nice thick soup.
feels like i'm being really naughty ... creamy and rich ... and it's got cheese ...

if you split it between 6 it works out at 4 pro points each !!! Get it !!

Ratatouille a la Holly

anyone else a huge fan of this ridiculously healthy tasty side ?? No?? ... oh well - i'm going to blog about it anyway!
I made it last night to go with gammon and it caused uproar in our house.
Gammon can only be eaten with egg and chips in my husbands eyes (or curly fries as he had last night) and i suggested having ratatouille as a healthy option, he could not get his brain around that one.
We had a friend over as we so often do and he adored it - so score !!
The combo worked exceptionally well ...

Blogging on this recipe is literally a guessing game. I throw a bit of this in and a bit of that it but hey ... give it a try.

Literally use what ever quantity you fancy as this freezes really really well and is like about 1 W.W pro point a serving so you can have quite a lot. As you can see from my plate last night.

so this is what i do ...

I dice 3 small red onions and start cooking them down with a knob of butter or two(literally the butter is the only thing you have to count in the recipe so you don't have to worry too much). Meanwhile dice up some carrot (I used two large), into really small chunks so that they are nice and soft, throw them in the pan and keep stirring every few minutes.At this point i add my herbs, two dried bay leaves, garlic (i used dried and threw about a teaspoon in, then crumble a veggie stock cube in, stir through. I DO NOT put salt in. I was eating it with gammon and stock cubes are full of salt and it thought it was perfectly seasoned, but if you want to add salt i would wait until the end and taste it first. I then cut up my courgette, i only had a half of one left so i used that, but i would probably go for one big one if i had had it in. Throw that in, then the peppers, i used one red and one green, i tend to chop into fairly large chunks as it is a nicer texture. Then i whack the lid on, you do have to stir it often though else it sticks. I probably gave it about 10-15 mins with the lid on. Then i take the lid off and add a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes, then i let it simmer down. I left it on the hob for about 25 mins stiring regualrly. Et voila ... Ratatouille a la Holly !!

Don't forget to take the bay leaves out before you serve! this serves about 3 or 4 people. If your being strict weight watchers, way out your butter knob and divide the points between the servings to be massively accurate. It shouldn't be more than two points though. If so you've put way more than you needed in the first place.

But pretty much ratatouille goes with any meat and potato dish ! Enjoy an enormous tasty heap of 1 whole weight watchers point. Mmmm mmm!

Sorry for the lack of photos - we have moved house and i cannot find my cable to get photos off my camera so i had to take this on on my phone.

who likes a low fat dessert thats tasty ???

I DO !! this one was goooooooood !!

This is a FROZEN STRAWBERRY MERINGUE CAKE

Ingredients:                                                              For the Coulis:
low fat cooking spray                                              200g Strawberries (chopped finely)
150g amaretti biscuits (crushed)                             1 tbs Icing Sugar
50g low fat spread, melted
2 egg whites
60g caster sugar
250g ripe strawberries (chopped finely)
1 tbs lemon juice 
1 tsp vanilla extract

You need a springform 9 inch tin for this one lined with baking paper

Spray the lined tray with cooking spray
mix together the biscuits with the low fat spread in a bowl and push into the bottom of the tray
Stick in the fridge until needed
put your egg whites and whisk until stiff peaks form (you need a very very clean bowl)
add the sugar a little at a time and whisk to mix it in
fold in the strawbs, lemon juice and vanilla
spoon mixture on top and  spread out evenly with a spatula or palette knife
freeze for 3 hours 
make the coulis by blitzing the strawberries and sugar in a blender (you can sieve it if you want it pip free but i left them in)
remove from freezer 20 minutes before serving
slice and serve with drizzled coulis
if you slice this pud into 8 pieces each slice is only 4 weight watchers pro points
and an 8th is a fairly big slice  - yummy "healthy" pud !! :)

homemade chicken jalfrezi

This is great ! Low fat !! and super delicious !!
I think this is the nicest dinner i've had since being on weight watchers ... it felt naughty ... eating a huge plate of curry ... but it was only three points. yes thats right ... three points !!
You just have to add your rice//naan.

INGREDIENTS

    * 1 large onion , halved, sliced
    * 2-3 green chillies , sliced
    * 3 garlic cloves , crushed
    * 1 large chicken breast, cut into chunks
    * 5 tomatoes , roughly chopped // ½ can chopped tomatoes
    * a few handfuls of spinach
    * a small pot low fat natural yogurt (optional)
    * naan bread or steamed rice to serve

SPICE MIX

    * 2 tsp curry powder
    * ½ tsp ground cumin
    * 1 tsp chilli powder
    * 1 cinnamon stick
    * 5 cloves , ground


Put the onion and a good pinch of salt into a large pan, then fry for about 6-8 minutes until golden.

 Add the chillies and garlic. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the spice mix and cook for another couple of minutes until fragrant.

 Add the chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes then add the tomatoes and a splash of water and stir well.

Cover the pan and cook for about 30 minutes until the chicken is tender and the sauce thickened (uncover the pan if you need to for the last 10 minutes).

Stir in the yogurt off the heat (if using) for a creamier sauce.

Serve with naans or steamed rice.

sugary strawbs and eggy bread !

I've started weight watchers (hence the lack of food blogs recently) and this was my delicious low points breakie that i thought i'd share with you !! For all you weight watchers fans it was only 4.5 points !!

all you need is two bits of bread
a teaspoon of icing sugar
150 g of strawbs
and an egg

- break your egg into a bowl and beat lightly
- dip your bread into the egg and coat each side with the egg
- drop into a hot frying pan and flip when it turns golden brown
- plate up by pouring your strawbs (chopped into bitesize pieces) and your icing sugar on the top

and enjoy !!!

A healthy breakie that feels and tastes naughty !!!