Maria's Tuna & Pasta Bake - Slimming World Recipe

I was working late this evening and on my way home I got stuck in a traffic jam on the motorway.  To be honest, by that point I could not be bothered cooking but I had to think of something for dinner.... yes, something that my daughter Maria can eat too as she is doing Slimming World diet right now.

When I arrived home, our cat Yuki came out from the kitchen, meowing as if to say 'Hello, where have you been?  We are all starving here!"  I could also smell toast. Poor, Maria, she must have made herself beans and toast for dinner as she could not wait any longer.

I walked into the kitchen to say hello to Maria, only to discover that she was in the middle of cooking dinner for us this evening!  YES, can't wait!

She went to Slimming World website and found this recipe - Tuna & Pasta Bake. Main ingredients are can of tuna, spring onion, can of chopped tomatoes, capers and breadcrumbs.  Ah, breadcrumbs - she was toasting bread for this recipe, not for beans and toast!

After half an hour of so, Voila! The dinner is ready.

Well, this is one of Slimming World recipe and only 1 syn point!

I must say it was really yummy. We enjoyed ourselves so much we had second helpings too. I particularly liked capers and chopped spring onions, and contrast of baked pasta against toasted breadcrumbs. Really yummy, and she said it was really simple to cook - for this recipe please go to http://www.slimmingworld.com/recipes/tuna-and-pasta-bake.aspx.

The recipe tells you to use 700g of pasta - it is actually 700g of 'cooked' pasta, not dry pasta otherwise you would end up with lots of extra pasta that you would need to use up for something else later. 

Anyway, this is only 1 syn, so of course I had this with a glass of wine to increase my enjoyment .... clealy I have missed the point of having almost syn free food, ha ha ha.  

And you know what, it is now less than 6 months to go before my daughter Emily's wedding in May next year!  I should actually start thinking about losing a weight a little bit.  I hope Maria would cook more dinner using other recipes from Slimming World as when I cook, I can do without olive oil, wine, etc and it would not be syn free....  Anyway, the only consolation I have is that I am yet to buy myself a MOB (mother of the bride) dress for the big day which means that I just look for a dress that would fit me, not the other way around that I have to squeeze myself into it!

Yeah, let's just chill and live a life, enjoy your food, and I am sure I can find a dress that would fit me...

That's all forks!

Pasta la Vista in Glasgow

I have mentioned the other day that my daughters are on Slimming World (http://www.slimmingworld.com) diet so I have also been preparing meals to support them, using low calorie oil sprays and trying to come up with healthy option for dinners.   But, you do need to enjoy your life and we can't resist temptation to eat out sometime, right!

Well, my husband, my younger daughter Maria and I have recently went to Coia's Cafe in Glasgow (http://www.coiascafe.co.uk) and we really had a fabulous dinner.

The highlight of the evening for me is their Linguine alla Pescatora (seafood linguine), our favourite pasta at this restaurant (see my earlier blogs, 'SEE'food in Glasgow, Cafe Coia for everyone and Great Seafood Soup in Glasgow). It's £15.45 but abundant with lots of seafood - langoustines, big scallops, calamari, mussels, king prawns - there are so much on the plate that I can only finish half of it, in fact it could feed for two. I ask for a doggy bag at the end of the evening and the next day I ate this for lunch, definitely there was more than enough for one left! It' definitely worthwhile to try this pasta!

Cafe Coia's Linguine alla Pescatora - mixed seafood with garlic, chilli and tomato sauce

Use these to tackle langoustine shells ...

Maria and I had not had mozzerella cheese for some time since Slimming World commenced in our household so we decide to have Insalata Caprese (tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil with extra virgin olive oil) for starter. That was nice and refreshing.

For main course, whilst I had seafood linguine, my husband had Tagliatelle Alfredo (creamy sauce with tomato, pesto and Parmiggiano Reggiano).  I confess. Earlier in the week, we had already been to Coia Cafe (so this was our 2nd trip to this restaurant in the week .. so much for Slimming World....) and he had seafood linguine then, he went all vegetarian for a change, well, almost except cheese and cream!

Tagliatelle Alfredo

Maria could not decide whether she would go for chicken dish or pasta, so decided to choose Pollo Milanese (chicken breast coated in breadcrums with spaghetti promodoro) and she could satisfy both of her wishes! You should see the size of the plate ...  I think she was really happy with her choice.

Maria's Pollo Milanese

No matter how full we are, we always have room for dessert ... Maria had Chocolate Chip Cheesecake - a baked New York style cheesecake with chocolate chips, decorated with chocolate chip pings on a sponge base! It came with vanilla ice-cream and whipped cream. I had tried a little and it was really yummy!

I had tried Gelato Affogato - vanilla ice cream topped with crushed Amaretti biscotti and served with a shot of hot espresso for pouring. Affogato means 'drowned' in Italian, so ice cream is drowned in espresso! This was really good.  Just thinking about this makes me want another one right now!  The combination of cold ice cream with hot espresso with crunchiness of amaretti is really addictive...

Well, we had fantastic meal at Coia's Cafe! Seafood linguine is excellent! It was definitely Pasta la vista, and I WILL BE BACK!!

That's all forks!

Slimming World inspired Minestrone

Well, I have been keeping up with cooking healthy for the family since I am inspired by Slimming World which my daughters are doing for diet! In fact in the matter of one week my husband already lost almost 1.5kg (apps. 3 pounds) and since we are not eating ready meals, our weekly food shopping bill has gone down too! What a bonus.

Anyway, I have just made minestrone soup for the first time in my life and I think I have done a very good job of it - it's really tasty and I did not realise how easy it is to make this.  So, I got to share this recipe with you.

Slimming World inspired home made Minestrone Soup

I have used:
2 x small onions, finely chopped
2 x cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1.2 x carrots, diced
3 x celery sticks, diced
1 x 400g can of chopped tomato
1 x Knorr vegetable stock pod (dissolved in 800 ml hot water)
1 x can of cannelloni beans, drained
50g x small pasta (any shape)
1 x bay leaf
1 tsp x dried oregano
Handful of flat parsley, chopped
4 - 5 basil leaves
salt and pepper
low calorie cooking spray

1. Spray the bottom of a large saucepan with low calorie cooking spray and put the pan on a hob with a medium heat.
2. Once the spray oil turns translucent, fry garlic and onions for a few minutes but be careful not to burn them.
3. Add chopped carrots and celery into the pan to fry further few minutes.
4. Add tomato, vegetable stock, bay leaf and dried oregano, bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Check and skim the surface of the soup every now and again with ladle during simmering.
5. Add cannelloni beans and pasta and cook further 10 minutes.
6. Chop flat parsley and basil leaves and add to the soup with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Up to this process it is Syn-free.  (Syn is, according to Slimming World, food that would jeopardise weight loss if not controlled.).

I then had the soup with a wholemeal bread and little bit of grated parmesan cheese. It was really yummy!  I am going to take some to work for lunch tomorrow too!

Happy dieting and that's all forks!

Tamie's 5 minutes meal

If you are looking for Jamie Oliver's Jamie's 15 Minutes Meal, you are mistaken. This is Tamie's 5 Minutes Meal, ha ha ha. This really means minimum effort required and no measuring cups and spoons, perfect for a lazy cook like me!

My daughters Emily and Maria are on Slimming World (http://www.slimmingworld.com) diet. Personally I don't think they need to be on diet at all but that's what they want to do so I shall support them by cooking healthier at home.  I am not strictly following the rules but I am kind of intrieged and interested so I have been using low calorie frying oil spray to cook and trying to make sauces from scratch instead of emptying jars of sauces.  Never know I may also lose some weight ???

Anyway this recipe is quick, easy and very healthy salmon recipe and also our family favourite!

Salmon and vegetables cooked in a bag

You need:
1 x a fillet of salmon
1 x potato
1/2 x courgette
Some broccoli
some cherry tomatoes
chilli
slice of lemon
parchment paper

1. Cut parchment paper big enough to be able to hold salmon and vegetables and place on a microwavable dinner dish.
2. Wash all vegetables.
3. Slice potato very thinly and place slices on the paper, spreading out as if you are making beds of sliced potatoes. Repeat the same with courgette.
4. Put salmon fillet on top of the bed of potato and courgette slices.
5. Put the broccoli and cherry tomatoes around the salmon fillet.
6. Sprinkle some chopped chilli
7. Place a slice of lemon on top of the salmon
8. Fold the parchment paper to create a bag
9. Put the dish into microwave and cook for 3 - 4 minutes, depending on wattage. (Our microwave is 900W so it cooks in 3 to 3.5 minutes.)  Stand for 1 minute and Voila! 
10. You can squeeze lemon juice over the salmon or soy sauce to taste if you like.

Hope you try this and find out how easy it is. Let's get healthy and slimming!

That's all forks!