Recipe: Albodingas, mash and griddled asparagus

I am always on the hunt for a good recipe, that can fit in with the Slimming World plan and is tasty, nutritious and that my husband and I can enjoy on a week night! I found this recipe in an old copy of Slimming World magazine, so it fits the bill nicely.

Albondigas are Spanish meatballs, in a tomato-based sauce. You could play with flavours here and mix in some chillis, chorizo, anything you can think of! I kept this attempt plain and simple.

Ingredients:
For the meatballs:
794 g lean minced pork (though I am using beef)
3 garlic cloves
1 egg yolk
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
salt and pepper
For the sauce:
fry light
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove
2 x 400g chopped tomatoes
1/4 tsp artificial sweetener
1 tsp smoked paprika
salt and pepper

Handful fresh flat leaf parsley

Method:

1. Put the mince, garlic, egg yolk and spices in a bowl and, using your fingers, mix well until combined. Season. Cover and chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours.

Getting the mince mixture ready

2. To make the sauce, heat a large frying pan sprayed with fry light and add the onion and garlic.
Cook over a medium heat for 5-6 minutes. Add the tomatoes, sweetener and paprika and bring to the boil.

3. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer gently for 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. For the meatballs, make small balls from the mince mixture (allow 5-6 per serving). Add the meatballs to the sauce in a single layer and stir gently.

5. Continue to cook over a gentle heat for 12-15 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked through and the sauce has thickened. Remove from the heat and season to taste.

Bubbling away

6. Serve in warm bowls, scattered with chopped parsley.

While all the above is going on, I made the mash and griddled the asparagus in a dry griddle pan so it charred nicely. (This takes about 4 minutes each side).

The easiest and tastiest asparagus ever

Let me know if you make this - I would love to see pictures. If you are on the SW plan, this is free (aside from any margarine you might put in the mash). Enjoy! :)

Finished product

Recipe: Rosemary and new potato foccacia

I had planned a special Italian date night with D a few weeks back, and I was determined I was going to try to make my own focaccia bread to go with it. I love baking, like really love baking. Our kitchen is quite small, and I don't really do it often. I have a bread maker, and a few years ago I went through a phase of making all our own bread. But then I got a job two hours away and it put paid to that!

I have never, though, made my own bread by hand. So I thought this would be a good chance to give this a go. And what's better than an Italian bread? I don't want to know.

I found the recipe on BBC Good Food and you can access the recipe here. I really liked this recipe, and it makes a large loaf. (Do you call a focaccia a loaf?) Anyway, point is this makes loads for just two people! You can freeze it, I'm sure though. We kept it wrapped up in our bread bin, and D ate it over the next few days, though it's definitely at it's best fresh.

Ingredients:

250g new potatoes (I used a tin of new potatoes, already peeled for this)
7g sachet fast-action dried yeast
8 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing
500g strong white bread flour, plus extra for kneading and dusting
small pack rosemary

Method:

1. Pour 175ml boiling water and 100ml cold water into a large bowl. Sprinkle over the yeast, 1 tsp salt and 2 tbsp olive oil. Mix well, then stir in the flour, adding a splash more water if the mixture feels too dry.

2. Turn out the dough onto a clean work surface and knead for 15 mins until smooth and elastic (dust the surface with a little flour if the dough is sticky), then shape into a ball. Grease the inside of a large bowl with olive oil, then add the dough to the bowl and turn a few times to coat in the oil. Cover with cling film and leave in a warm place for 1 hr or until doubled in size.

Ready to prove

Rising dough

3. Grease a large roasting tin (about 26cm x 35cm) with olive oil and dust with a little flour. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Carefully stretch out the dough to fit the tin, pressing it into the corners. Cut the cooked potatoes into wedges and tuck them into the dough at regular intervals, along with sprigs of rosemary, and scatter a few sprigs over the top. Cover the tin with cling film and leave to prove for another 45 mins. Remove the cling film, pour over 3 tbsp olive oil and sprinkle over a little salt. Bake in the oven for 30-35 mins or until the bread is golden and the potatoes are browning lightly.

Spreading on tray ready for second prove

Adding ingredients and more oil

4. When the bread is cooked, remove it from the oven and quickly drizzle over another 3 tbsp olive oil while it’s still hot. Leave to cool for 10 mins, then turn out onto a board, slice and serve.

Finished product :)

I served this bread as a side to this which was the perfect accompaniment. It was oozy and saucy and perfectly luxe. Also, serve with a nice bottle of red, and a tiramisu to finish. 

Recipe post - BBQ pulled pork

Halloween is the epitome of autumn. It's often chilly, dark and there's a magic electricity in the air. Ghosts and ghouls lie around every corner waiting to pounce. So.. don't go out. Stay inside, by a cosy fire, put Strictly on and enjoy this absolute treat of a meal - which isn't too sore on the purse either. This recipe is free on the Extra Easy Slimming World plan, and the wholemeal roll to serve is HEB.

Ingredients:

Sauce doing its thang

• 1.5-2kg pork shoulder, all fat removed
• 5 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• 500g passata
• 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 3 tbsp sweetener
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

2  In a small bowl, mix passata, Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, mustard powder, garlic, sweetener and seasoning. Transfer to a small pan and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the sauce thickens.

Fat removed, waiting for sauce

3. Once ready, pour over pork joined in a deep baking dish, well lined with tin foil. Make sure all of the meat is covered.

4. Cover the entire tray with tin foil, leaving space between the foil and the top of the joint. Slow roast for approximately 3 hours (check packaging for exact cooking time required).

5. Once out of the oven, shred with forks, the meat should come apart quite easily. Stir in among the sauce on the tray. Serve with wholemeal rolls (HEXB) and a crisp spinach salad, seasoned and drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

This recipe was originally for a slow cooker from the Slimming World website, however I have adapted it for a shorter cooking time in the oven. I am SO ANNOYED with myself that I forgot to take a picture of the shredding and the finished product. It really looks (and tastes) great. 

Pork steaks with mustard sauce

Autumn means several things in our house. The curtains start to get drawn around 7pm, when I get home from work and when it is dark. I love nothing more than locking the doors and closing the curtains, cosy in our own little nest. Autumn means cosy lighting and usually, at some point in the month, these pork steaks will be bubbling away on the stove waiting to make our bellies very happy.

Ingredients:

4 pork steaks

Fry light

2 tsp mustard powder

400ml chicken stock

Ground black pepper

Mustard powder

Stock ready to go in pan

Method:

Turn occasionally

1. Place a frying pan over a medium heat. Spray the pork with fry light and fry for 4-5 minutes, turning occasionally until golden. 

2. Sprinkle 1 1/2 tsp of mustard powder over the pork, add the stock and season with black pepper. 

3. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the pork is cooked. 

4. Serve with mash and green beans. 

   

This recipe was from Slimming World magazine in the March/April 2012 edition. I put some Flora light in the mash, so the only syns for this dish is any you add in mash to accompany it. It's a really uncomplicated and quick dish for a chilly autumn night. Light some candles, put on some music and dinner will not disappoint. Follow with a steamy cup of tea, a wee biscuit and some Netflix for added amazing. 

Bon Appetit!

Louisiana red rice with prawns

Prepping veg

So for dinner the other evening I made a brand new recipe I had never tried before. Sometimes I am a little scared of cooking shellfish, with the chances of causing serious illness and/or death a much larger threat. But it was Monday and I was feeling adventurous so I gave it a go. And boy, am I glad I did. With only two of us, this recipe made enough for us to enjoy for two nights in a row. It gives a filling, tasty and fairly quick meal. I made it on a Monday, only getting in the door at 7.30pm and we we're eating just after 8pm. So even on days when time is slipping away, it's a nutritious,tasty and quick option. This recipe was in the most recent edition of Slimming World magazine. If you aren't a fan of prawns or seafood, you could easily substitute for chicken or more veg (maybe squash and asparagus would work nicely?) if you wanted to avoid meat altogether and I don't think you would do so at the detriment of any flavour.

Starting to cook

Ingredients:
Low calorie cooking spray
6 bacon rashers (smoked is best)
1 large red onion, chopped
4 celery sticks, chopped
2 orange peppers (I used 1 red and 1 yellow), chopped
1/2 tsp celery seeds or 1tsp creole mix (I used jerk seasoning)
4 bay leaves
400g can chopped tomatoes
325g basmati rice
600ml chicken stock
400g large peeled raw prawns
Lemon wedges to serve
2 spring onions, sliced to garnish

Add rice

Method:

1. Spray a frying pan with spray and place over medium heat. Cook the bacon until crisp, then remove from heat and set aside.

2. Spray the pan with a little more spray, add the onion, celery and peppers and season. Cook for 10 minutes, or until soft and golden, then add the celery seeds or Creole spice mix, bay leaves, cooked bacon, tomatoes, rice and stock. Cover, turn the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in the prawns, re-cover and cook for a further 5 minutes.

3. Garnish the rice with spring onions and serve with the lemon wedges. Enjoy.

As mentioned this is a Slimming World recipe, and is completely free on the plan. I will definitely be making it again! Great for a work night, dress it up for date night with a 4.5 syn glass of wine or go all out for a dinner party. A really simple recipe, but the flavours will really impress your guests and will have them coming back for more....

Louisiana red rice with prawns

Hello and welcome

Thanks for taking the time to stop by. Nice to meet you. I'm C. Approaching 30, very happily married and an avid follower of lifestyle blogs and youtubers. My big loves are my family - my husband and my dog. My other big loves include books, cooking, dreaming of travels, actual travels, current affairs, films, magazines and great TV shows. Here you'll find a little piece of all that.

I am currently preparing for tonight's dinner - which is pesto chicken roast, with new baby roast potatoes and spinach salad. I'll throw together my first real post with this recipe and get it up for you guys later. Then we'll see where the blog takes us...

Looking forward to this new hobby :)

Take care,

C