Slimming World lighter lunches - Syn free tabbouleh

My healthy 2015 is going well, I'm losing weight slowly but steadily and am as active as my hips and back will allow. One of the bonuses of baby led weaning is that Harry and I seem to eat very healthily - lots of vegetables and next to no processed food. Despite a wet, cold and rainy morning the baby and I are eating an apple (he is very keen on eating what you eat) and I have a herbal tea.

Lunches however are my downfall - only of the things that happens if we're busy is that I skip lunch and end up trying to eat the entire kitchen before supper. I seem to be someone who needs to know that what I've got to eat is tasty and satisfying, the mugshots etc which can be so popular at Slimming World just don't tend to hit the mark for me, so I typically make a batch of something up for lunch that I can either eat from the fridge or as a pack up. This gets around the difficulty of finding things I can grab and go that are dairy and soya free as well.

This is more of a tabbouleh-esque recipe as it doesn't use bulghur wheat and is more of a guideline. I tend to have it with a piece of fish, or leftover chicken, or ham. The protein is important as I'm discovering that it's that that keeps the munchies away and stabilises my blood sugar (previous attempts at weightloss that have involved *ahem* skipping meals tend to fail when my blood sugar spirals into my ballet flats at about 3pm - see comment above about eating the entire kitchen).

Syn free tabbouleh

1 cup couscous
2 tsp vegetable bouillon powder
1 cup boiling water
1 cucumber
4 big vine tomatoes
Big bunch flat leaf parsley
Big bunch mint
1 lemon
1/2 clove garlic
salt & pepper

Put the couscous in a bowl with the 2 tsp of vegetable boillon and the grated garlic (you could use a stock cube, but I found 1 cube made it too salty) and the boiling water. Leave to absorb for about 15 minutes
Dice the cucumber and tomatoes
Finely chop the parsley, and the mint leaves - I don't worry about the parsley stalks, but pick the mint leaves first. 
Zest the lemon, then juice
Add all the extra ingredients to the couscous, taste then season.
Serve with salmon, ham, chicken - anything really.

 If you aren't being healthy, then add some extra virgin olive oil when you season this - 2 tablespoons should do nicely.

Of course you can use this as a base and add any and all veggies you like, chilli would be a nice addition too. 

Leftover brisket pasties

Whereas I'm a complete pro at One chicken many ways - leftover roast beef poses more problems for me - once I've made cottage pie of course. The last time I made my super slow cooked brisket I didn't have quite enough leftovers to make a cottage pie, and had lots of the veggies leftover too. That's when my brisket pasties were invented (I say that somewhat tongue in cheek).

I simply shredded the leftover meat with two forks, and put it to one side - the veggies were already cooked, and covered in the thick gravy/ sauce that the casserole makes. I found some puff pastry in the freezer and quickly assembled what were to be the basis of that week's packed lunches and suppers.

One egg wash and 20 minutes later we had some gloriously golden pastry filled to the brim (slightly overfilled in some cases - don't look too closely) with tender veggies and the shredded beef. M had them cold in his packed lunch, I had them warm for mine and both were a definite hit.

Pasties aren't something I normally think of when I'm thinking about leftovers, but they were an incredibly successful way of eeking out a tiny peice of beef into another 6 portions. Without hesitation I'd do these again. There's no recipe as such, as this is more of an assembly process. Hopefully the picture above gives you an idea of how they were made - and my inexpert crimping. I'm sure you can tell pastry is not my most comfortable place.

Meal Planning Monday: the Moving too fast edition

With thanks to Jason Robert Brown for the inspiration for this week's title. So it's that time of the week again in which I studiously ignore the lack of last week's post and focus on looking forwards. Moving forwards if you will. Did I mention we have a flat? A flat for us! It has a spare bedroom, which will have an actual bed in it - Hi Lauren! And we went to visit it on Saturday in case it had missed us between then and Tuesday, because - you know, it might?


I love it. If I were thirteen I would heart it muchly <3 See, I'm down with the kids. Innit.


Where was I, oh yes, new flats. Sadly there's no reason to buy beautiful curtains as it has blinds. Blinds! I hate cleaning them, and I had my heart set on some pretty curtains. Or material with which to make curtains. Cause I'm crafty and stuff. Also it has carpet, which is odd as I will have no use for my assortment of laminate floor cleaning doodads (that's a technical term I'll have you know) However, prettiness! Cath Kidston! Ditsy florals! And other such exclamations. We're not moving for at least three weeks, so I apologise in advance for increasing levels of both stress and excitement. You would think it couldn't get much worse than this proliferation of exclamation marks, but oh yes it can. And will. I think that's a foregone conclusion.


So, meal planning. Erm well... yes. Let's get on with the matter at hand shall we? Ignoring the fact that I've not done a food shop since? Before holiday I think. Well, it makes sense to clear down the cupboards and freezer (although to be honest I feel like I've been doing that permanently since we decided to move and I have decided that the stuff in there? It's breeding. Just to spite me you understand).


Breakfasts: I'm on a bit of a yoghurt kick at the moment, the Tesco variation on Muller lights to be exact, and although not quite as yummy as my beloved Total Greek, I'm enjoying them nonetheless. I add a sprinkle of grape nuts on top, and stir those through for some added crunch. A banana is thrown into the mix along with my usual tea.


Lunches: You may be pleased to hear that I'm back on the lunch wagon (as it were) Proper lunches; tuna pasta salad, ham salad, cold nasi goreng. The list goes on. I have this, some mini Babybel lights, and fruit along with buckets of water throughout the day and am feeling much better. I have more energy and my get up and gone seems to have returned. It's all very basic, sensible stuff, but making time for lunch and eating it has made a huge difference.


And now for the main event - dinners. This week is one of my away weeks - I'm in Newbury on Monday and Tuesday, so will be sampling the local delights. Recommendations of places to go on foot, within a £15 meal allowance gratefully received.


Wednesday: M has picked to have takeaway and with much muttering (did you hear it? No, me either!) from me, I've capitulated. It's a hard life. I'm hoping he picks Chinese.


Thursday: M's working nights - the reason we're moving in together is so that we do actually see each other when we're awake. We've taken to taking phone pictures of the other one asleep in the mornings to remind us what we look like. And you think I'm joking.  So, devastated as I am that he won't be there (no, really I never sleep well when he's not here) I'm going to indulge myself in something he doesn't like, have a favourite meal of mine, and the first in my Fish and Family series. I'm just going to fillet and cook mackerel with garlic and bay and serve it with a beetroot heavy salad and a let down dressing of horseradish (weather permitting of course). Remind me and I'll take pictures of the filleting - actually if I'm home alone I don't think that's possible, I won't have enough hands. I'll think about it, see what wonders of modern technology I can use. No I'm not videoing it. No-one deserves to have me teach them how to fillet mackerel. Really.


Friday: We actually don't have any plans next weekend. This is unheard of in our house, and will provide (amidst the packing of course) some much needed respite from work, and house moving stresses. So the plan for Friday is a relatively straightforward supper - if we have the weather for it, I may fire up one of the disposable BBQs and do some bratwurst with salady bits for me, and baked potatoes for M.


Saturday: Well, when I say no plans, I mean no plans except... Proms tickets! Squee! I'm thinking I might take M to the Brindisa in South Ken that we went to on one of our first dates. Our first date was actually to a Prom.


Sunday: As it'll be another busy week (when isn't it?) with moving and whatnot, something tells me a lie in, followed by bacon sandwiches and builders' tea will be required. And then roast chicken, with necessary trimmings in order to provide us with an easy week of leftovers.


So there you have it: Meal Planning Monday - Pantry style


In terms of shopping I actually do need to bite the bullet and go - if we're back in time from M's parents on Sunday hopefully we'll hit up Sainsburys. Oh the exciting life we do lead. Sense the tone.


Be sure to pop on over to At Home with Mrs M to see what everyone else is up to this week. You just know they're all going to have neatly typed, budgeted plans with no rambling whatsoever. Oh well, it's service as usual in the Pantry. Rambling, gin, preserves, house moves, musical theatre and now fish. Who says life is dull!

Meal planning Monday: The moving edition

Well it's finally come around, M and I are moving in together; first to my house and then, together to a place of our own. We've been unofficially living together since November 2010, either at my place or his, and these days it's rare to spend more than the odd night for work apart. I think the fact that I've happily given up my oft protected, and much loved personal space is an idictment of how strongly I feel about him and about us. That all sounds lovely but as yet, we've not found a place to live together which is starting to rack up the anxiety for us both.

And so, this week holds many, many boxes, a few days working a way for me, and obviously meals that are quick and easy.

Breakfasts: I've been eating yoghurt with a sprinklying of grape nuts, a banana and the ubiquitous mug of tea. M has and will continue to have cereal and toast.

Lunches: Despite the weather, my lunches have been salad with either ham, chicken or salmon, and fruit. I've been snacking during the day on more fruit and some mini babybels. Not the sort of cheese I usually eat, but incredibly convenient for packed lunches. M has sandwiches, crisps, a cereal bar, mini babybel, and sausage rolls. I've also hugely upped my water intake which has had the most amazing effect on my energy levels. So it's all good.

Dinners:

I'm away Monday and Tuesday nights - and as our training venue has moved will be partaking of dinners at the B&B I'm booked into. I'll be sure to report back.

Monday: M has leftover cheesy pasta with courgettes and broad beans. It was supposed to be a take on courgetti spaghetti with the addition of broad beans, but despite popping to Sainsburys I managed to forget both the chilli and the pine nuts, so adapted it hurriedly.

Tuesday: Is it bad to say I have no idea? There's plenty in the freezer, that M can help himself to and my brain won't extend to Tuesday at the moment.

Wednesday: I'll be just back from Poole, so am going to try the Sharwood's tikka wrap kit with chicken, and lots of veggies. If it's spicy I'll do some raita with it, using my beloved Total 0% fat Greek yoghurt

Thursday: I'm out at a neighbours and Mark is at Welsh so it's a night off for both of us.

Friday: We're finishing off as much of the packing as possible so that we can blitz the cleaning on Saturday. I think we'll admit defeat and get a chinese takeaway.

Saturday: We have M's parents with us to help with the last of the move, so I think I'll do something simple like sausages, baked potatoes and veg

Sunday: If I'm still feeding the family, then it'll be roast chicken with all the trimmings as that gives us (as always) leftovers.

This will actually mean that I don't really need to do a shop this week, which is a huge blessing as I just don't know where I'd find the time!

Be sure to hop over to At home with Mrs M to see what everyone's up to.

Montage Part two: Secondary characters (or Oaty bars, which is more literal)

I don't know if I've really talked about M's job much - but he's very active, and is often hungry. The quest to make sure he stays warm and has energy is one that I've struggled with, we've tried dried fruit, chocolate bars, bananas, but nothing quite hits the mark and I hate the thought of him being cold and hungry (it's clearly love).

Cereal bars that you can buy often seem to be a miss for us, they taste processed, oily even and I just don't enjoy them. So a couple of weeks back when I caught an old River Cottage I was intrigued by the idea of Hugh's oaty bars. Akin to a thick flapjack, using honey and peanut butter as the base they were chockablock with good things; dried fruit, seeds, nuts. The recipe is one of those that you can take as more of a guideline, and over the last couple of weeks I've run with it, taking the rough quantities and interpreting them loosely, depending on what we have in, and M's tastes.

Oaty bars - the Pantry version

125g butter
150g light, soft brown sugar (darker sugar would make your bars more treacley and would work really well with chopped, fudgy dates)
125g crunchy peanut butter - a no sugar one if you can find it, I'm using a Whole Earth
75g of honey (or golden syrup) and 2 teaspoons to drizzle over at the end
Zest of any two citrus fruit you have
200g porridge oats
150g of dried fruit - again go with what you like - we had chopped dates and sultanas last week, plain sultanas this week. Don't forget to soak your sultanas in tea to make them more succulent
150g of mixed seeds - last week we used sesame and pumpkin, this week we used the end of those, pumpkin and linseeds

As long as you don't alter the ratios too much, this is a completely versatile recipe - change it up to suit your tastes. Once you've made it once it would also work perfectly well doing it by eye. I can't say I weighed much this week when I made them *cough*lazycook*cough*

Method

Melt the butter, sugar, peanut butter, citrus zest and honey in a heavy based saucepan over a low heat
Stir in the oats, dried fruit and seeds
Press into either a greased and lined brownie pan (about 20cm square) or if you prefer flatter bars a roasting tin
Cook at 160 degrees for 35-40 minutes
Take out of the oven and leave in the tin to cool completely
Using a sharp knife cut into squares or bars and store in an airtight tin for up to a week.

This is such an easy recipe I wouldn't hesitate to do it with the Guides - in fact we are next week as part of their On Your Marks badge. (Just check for allergies) I'll type this post out as an activity plan.

PS: This post is without pictures because the light is APPALLING this week, and the oaty bars look like mush in every photo I take. What is my life? *overreacts*

Nasi Goreng: add your own showtune here...

It's that time of year again when our thoughts turn to new shoes, a new pencil case, and of course - what to put in our packed lunch box. For me when I was at school it was always sandwiches - peanut butter and banana were my favourite - and one of my best friends Liz, taught me well that you add the banana at lunchtime so it's not brown! These days I really struggle with sandwiches - Mark has them every day, and when I try I just find them dull. As an alternative I tend to go for salads in the summer (this week, pea shoots, feta, prawn, tomato and sprouted seeds - also known as everything that was reduced in Sainsburys).

In the colder months, I have a lot of homemade soups, sometimes with homemade bread (when I'm watching what I eat, without), also leftovers. Now these aren't practical for a child's lunchbox unless you have a thermos - Lakeland do some pricy, but wide necked ones that I think would be amazing for my lunches, actually I look at them and think about ordering every time. There has to be a cheaper alternative for kids out there and I'll keep my eyes peeled.

With my lunch I have fruit - a lot of fruit, this week it's black grapes, plums, a banana and an apple and normally a Nakd bar. This allows me to graze throughout the day at work, which works for me if I don't have time for a proper lunch break. Mark has crisps, a sausage roll, peice of cheese, cereal bar, a banana and some dried fruit. We're quite different, but it's what suits us best.

 This week, I'm having a Pantry take on Nasi goreng - an Indonesian rice salad. Unusually for me,  I'm straying into the realms of cooking with tofu for the first time. Now, I had most of the base ingredients in my fridge and pantry, but had to buy the tofu, and edamame beans. However the amount of lunches this has made is extraordinary. There's definitely enough for the rest of the week, and I'll portion out the rest in the freezer for next week too. You could serve this hot - in a thermos or if your office has a microwave, or eat it cold as a rice salad.

 Penelope's Pantry does Nasi Goreng

Light olive oil
2 cups of brown basmati rice - cooked and cooled
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp lazy chilli
2 thumb size peices of ginger grated
4 spring onions finely chopped (all the way up - use the green parts too)
1 cup of chopped red pepper
1 cup of edamame beans (I used frozen)
1 cup of sweetcorn (again I used frozen)
200g tofu (I used smoked) finely chopped
2 eggs beaten
3 tablespoons of soy sauce

Cook the rice in double the volume of boiling water (I use Delia's infallible absorbtion method) and leave to cool down.
Heat up some olive oil in a big wok or large pan, and when it's hot, add the spring onions, garlic, chilli and ginger. Cook through until this mix becomes aromatic - stirring all the while
Add the rice, and stir through so that the base ingredients aren't stuck on the bottom of the pan, but are mixed through (this way your garlic won't burn and go bitter)
Add the pepper, edamame beans, sweetcorn and tofu and cook through, stirring for about 5 minutes
Make a well in the middle of your pan and add your beaten eggs. Stir them so that they scramble and then mix through the rest of the rice
Cook through for another couple of minutes and then add the soy sauce.

Now I've tasted this and feel it's missing something - thinking back to my Lifechanging soup (TM) I think it's the sourness that it needs an edge - a friend has recommended adding a tablespoon of the pickling vinegar from a jar of pickled veg. I don't have any in, so will go without but would add that as a change for next time.

I think it's worth mentioning that traditionally Nasi Goreng would have chicken and prawns added, but costs at the moment mean I'm reducing my meat intake again. The tofu worked out far cheaper for the quantity that this made. Whilst the eggs make this unsuitable for vegans, those could easily be left out, and if you're a hardened carnivore or pescatarian again, amend it to suit you.
So that's my packed lunches sorted for the forseeable. A tasty, veggie alternative to sandwiches.

The distance you have come: Harissa lentil salad

My second lentil based post in a week. Clearly they're like buses.

I really love the music of Scott Alan, his music allows one to be contemplative and is often what I listen to when I'm feeling low. Late last year when I was verging on homeless and things weren't great, friends Louise and Karen suggested listening to The distance you have come and it really seemed to sum up what I was thinking.

Anyway, this week I've left my job of nearly five years working for a local authority, for an opportunity to develop my skills and take some new chances working in the Learning Disability sector. It's a big jump, scary and exciting all at once and I hope it's going to afford me the opportunities for happiness at work, which in turn will mean for more settled, less emotional blogging. Fingers crossed and all that.

So this was my last week of work - as always Sunday night found me up later than planned, multitasking in my pyjamas: breaking in new shoes I wanted to wear on Monday, making lentil salad, talking to Mark on the phone - all of which I did with aplomb and finnesse, surrounded by a lot of wet washing (what IS up with the weather lately?). The lentil salad was another I'd offered to test for Helen at Fuss Free Flavours and I'm pleased to say it was without the drama of the spicy tomato lentils.

It was surprisingly low faff, and easy I popped half a cup of lentils into the stock in my big pan and let that reduce down for just under half an hour, then added chopped cucumber, finely shredded greens, red and green peppers, and some mushrooms (I like my lunches to be as good for me as possible - it justifies afternoon cake). I stirred this in until the greens had wilted, and added the amazingly scented harissa powder, lemon zest and juice and a tablespoon of olive oil. Suddenly what had seemed fairly plain and ordinary was lifted into something extraordinary, fragrant and lightly spiced, with the zing of the lemon behind the harissa. I'm really looking forward to trying it for lunch tomorrow, but I have to say, tasted from the pan in my pyjamas and heels I give it a thumbs up.

The recipe is here, and I think really flexible - as you can see I upped the veggies considerably, and you could easily change them for ones you like -I just used what was lurking in the fridge.