Slimming World-style Apple Creme Brulee

This dessert was inspired by one from the Slimming World Love Desserts recipe book but adapted to fit the ingredients I had in the house. I made it for a food tasting at my Slimming World group and was meant to use sliced mango for the base. I thought I had a tin of mango in the cupboard but the night before found it was mango puree, and I didn't have time to go shopping again, so I decided to use apples instead! It worked fine and while it isn't my favourite dessert I have ever made, it is pretty healthy and is a nice light alternative. The recipe I used was for individual desserts but I made this in one large dish as it is easier to share at food tasting.

Serves 4

3 apples, peeled and sliced

300g fat free Greek-style yogurt

4 tbsp sweetener

a few drops of vanilla flavouring

4 tbsp caster sugar

Each serving is 3 syns on all choices

Slice the apples and layer in the bottom of a dessert serving bowl.

Mix the yogurt, sweetener and vanilla and spoon over the apple.

Sprinkle the caster sugar over the top, and caramelise using a cook's blowtorch or a hot grill.

And that's all you need to do! The caramelised sugar on top gives a lovely snap when you dig in with a spoon and it's nice to have a slightly naughty topping on what is otherwise a very virtuous dessert.

I'm sending this to Dead Easy Desserts, hosted this month by Utterly Scrummy and created by Maison Cupcake, as this dessert is very easy and probably takes no more than about ten minutes to make.

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Restaurant Review - the Grapes, Sutton

Restaurant name: The Grapes

Location: High Street, Sutton

Description: Wetherspoons pub with a modern, brightly lit bar but the seating areas with the patterned carpets and heavy curtains looks a bit dark and old fashioned.

Reason for visit: Lunch with my parents while we were shopping in Sutton

I ate: Jacket potato with BBQ pulled pork which came with a small side salad

My companions ate: My mum had the cheese and tomato toastie as she only wanted a snack, whereas my dad had a hot dog will pulled pork, chips and onion rings

The food was: My jacket potato was quite disappointing as it was small and a bit dry, though the pulled pork filling was nice. My parents enjoyed their food; the hot dog looked particularly good though it was very calorific. That's one thing I like actually - Wetherspoons now puts calorie counts next to every item on the menu and there is also a section of the menu for meals of under 500 calories.

The atmosphere/service was: I felt like the pub had a bit of a dingy atmosphere which might be a bit unfair as I can't quite put my finger on why. The bar staff were perfectly polite and helpful.

Price range/value for money: Excellent - Wetherspoons is extremely good value, with lighter bites priced very cheaply and other deals like two meals for £6.99; my dad's hotdog was only about £7 if I recall and it was an absolutely huge meal with the chips and onion rings as well.

Would I recommend it? I am always happy to go to a Wetherspoons as I know there will be a huge choice on the menu with plenty of options for lower calorie meals and it's hard to find such good value for meals of this size. Having said that, I wouldn't especially recommend this particular pub as it just didn't strike me as particularly nice - it needs to be lighter and brighter somehow.

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Meal Planning Monday 2014 week 15

Back to a more normal week but as we will be moving house at some point (just waiting for the completion date) I need to start using up the food in the freezer. I'm actually a bit in the dark about how far in advance you have to switch the freezer off before you move, and how long you wait before you turn it back in again. It doesn't help that I have a combined fridge freezer so could be without a fridge for several days as well! I've gone through the freezer and made a list of everything in there (and, ahem, threw away a couple of things I couldn't identify) so meals for the next few weeks will be built around using things up.



I haven't done very well at losing weight over the last month or so (i.e. I haven't) so this week I am trying to follow a Slimming World 7-day meal plan as much as I can bearing in mind I usually don't like half their suggestions and that I am trying to use up food in the freezer.


Monday

Breakfast mango puree, plain yogurt, museli

Lunch ryvita with soft cheese or leftovers from boyfriend's birthday buffet yesterday


Dinner fish pie for me, sausage and mash for him



Tuesday

Breakfast mango puree, plain yogurt, museli

Lunch baked potato with tuna


Dinner going to a work event in the evening and I think the plan is for the team to go for a curry afterwards



Wednesday

Breakfast yogurt


Lunch sandwich/bagel


Dinner burger and chips for him, vege burger (as fewer calories) for me




Thursday

Breakfast yogurt


Lunch sandwich/bagel


Dinner salmon and dill tray bake with new potatoes magazine p.67




Friday

Breakfast yogurt


Lunch sandwich


Dinner SW herby crumbed fish with homemade chips - new magazine p.28




Saturday

Breakfast yogurt


Lunch tuna melt bagel


Dinner SW steak bearnaise with potato bake, magazine p.56



Sunday

Breakfast yogurt


Lunch beans on toast


Dinner SW coq au vin with herby mash, magazine p.54

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Psychedelic Swirls Birthday Card

This birthday card was made for a male friend who is very stylish and a snazzy dresser; I thought he would like the pattern and the colours. I simply used stickers from a pack I bought in Paperchase, which had circles of different sizes and different colours and a few swirls, and arranged them on the card in what I thought was a nice design. I then added a 'happy birthday' silver outline sticker at the bottom.

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Baked Egg and Sausage Buns

This recipe was inspired by one in a Weightwatchers cookery book though now that they've changed the way the Points are calculated I couldn't tell you how many it works out as.... but it's not specifically intended as 'diet food'. Instead, this is a quick and filling brunch recipe that is easy to make but just a little bit different.

You need one crusty bread roll per person- you could make your own, but I bought these fresh from the local bakery. Using a knife, cut a circle in the top then use a teaspoon to scoop out a little of the middle. Preheat oven to 180C.

You can spread a little butter or onion chutney in the hole or leave it plain, then fill with ready-to-eat cooked cocktail sausages. You could also cook a couple of sausages and cut them into bite-sized pieces.

Crack an egg carefully into the top and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the white of the egg has cooked.

Serve and enjoy - the yolk of the egg is still runny and the egg softens the inside of the bread roll a little, and the sausages are a treat when you get to the bottom. These made a great brunch!

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Meal Planning Monday 2014 - week 14

A busy week and one that I know is going to be terrible on the diet front! We have a double celebration for my boyfriend's birthday and I'm off to Paris for work for two days (I love my job!). As well as meals out the office is just a few doors down from Laduree, home of the most amazing macarons!



Monday

breakfast yogurt

lunch chicken sandwich

Dinner prawn linguine for me, chicken fajitas for the other half



Tuesday

Breakfast yogurt

Lunch baked potato with prawns

Dinner takeaway for my boyfriend's birthday followed by chocolate cake



Wednesday

Breakfast either toast at home or I will take a cereal bar with me as I'm off to Paris

Lunch probably a sandwich on the Eurostar

Dinner in a Parisian restaurant



Thursday

Breakfast at a breakfast briefing so whatever is provided

Lunch probably a sandwich or in a cafe on the way back to the gare du nord

Dinner back home but later than usual so I will want something quick for dinner and will probably have pasta if my boyfriend has already eaten or something from the freezer with chips if he hasn't eaten by the time I get home (he doesn't really like pasta in its own)


Friday

Breakfast yogurt

Lunch ryvita with cream cheese

Dinner spaghetti bolognese


Saturday

Breakfast yogurt

Lunch soup and fresh bread

Dinner out at the cinema for my boyfriend's birthday and he wants to eat at Nando's



Sunday

Brunch bacon sandwich for him, tuna melt bagel for me

Afternoon having my boyfriend's family over for his birthday so I'm making another chocolate cake and serving some snack food

Dinner will depend what we ate in the afternoon, we could just have something like beans on toast for dinner

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Restaurant review: Wagamama

Restaurant name: Wagamama

Location: Mansion House, London

Description: Casual Japanese-style dining. You sit on long benches - often sharing tables with strangers - and have a paper placemat on which the waiter scribbles the number of your order. Dishes range from huge bowls of soup and noodles to salads and bento boxes; there's also a nice range of fresh juices to drink.

Reason for visit: Lunch with work colleagues when our manager came over from America - he likes this kind of food and it was a chain he had never been to before. It's also quite cheap and quick.

I ate: Chicken katsu curry - chicken goujons in breadcrumbs with a spicy curry sauce and a mound of rice, £9.50. I had a very nice fresh juice with it from the seasonal menu that was printed on my paper placemat.

My companions ate: Kare lomen - ramen noodles with chicken - £10.25 and wagamama pad thai with chicken and prawns, £9.75.



The food was: Very good; Wagamama is a successful and popular chain and with good reason. The portions are large and filling but this never seems like 'heavy' food. My only complaint is that I find it impossible to eat any of the soup-based noodle dishes (which are full of broth) without sloshing it all down myself, which is why I often tend to stick to things like the chicken katsu curry!

The atmosphere/service was: Very low key and casual, and the service is fast. They let you know that they will bring dishes when they are ready - so you have side dishes rather than starters - but it meant that most of our group had finished their main courses before one of our friends received hers. We pointed that out to the waiter who apologised, but there was no reason given for the delay to her meal, which was the same kind of food that everyone else was eating. I also noticed when we left that there was quite a queue outside, but a lot of empty seats inside, which I didn't understand.

Price range/value for money: It seemed a little more expensive than I remember, but I hadn't been to a Wagamama for years and I expect prices are lower outside of central London. Even so, the portions are large and the prices are good value. Green tea is free of charge which makes a nice change from water and can keep the cost of a meal very low.

Would I recommend it? Yes, it's a good place for lunch or a quick dinner, with plenty of healthy options and it's not very expensive.

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