I love noodles, in all shapes and sizes. From big steaming bowls of ramen to refined slimline glass noodles but sometimes you just can't go wrong with good old Supernoodles!

I was first introduced to them as a student by my best friend. Her mother was Malaysian and packet noodles are very much part of the norm there. Interestingly she did things a little differently than we would normally. She added twice as much water as suggested and added the flavour sachet and a chopped tomato and boiled them till the noodle's were cooked. She then turned the heat of and cracked an egg into the noodles and mixed it round. Absolutely delicious and I was hooked! We also found our fab Indian and continental shop which sold lots of different and excitingly flavoured noodles. We added different veg such as mushrooms, grated carrot, peas etc and with the added egg it was actually a pretty nutritious meal. Well nutritious for a student!!

I must have eaten noodles like that 3 times a week and I still love it. Thankfully the low fat Supernoodles are fabulously free so I can still enjoy my comforting noodle dishes and loose weight.

This dish however is slightly different take on Supernoodles and I have my fabulous consultant to thank for the idea behind this recipe.

The other Saturday I had a hankering for something savoury and snacky and naughty feeling tea. I thought of the Supernoodle snack that my consultant told us about and thought I'd expand it to a full meal.

Saturday Super Snacky Noodles

Serves 1

Free EE (can be adapted to free in green if you leave out the ham!)

1 packet low fat Supernoodles (chilli chicken is my favourite)

1 red onion sliced/spring onion

1 tomato roughly chopped

1/2 pepper sliced

2 sliced of ham chopped to bitesize

1 hex portion of any cheese you fancy. (Optional but does make it that bit more 'naughty' ooh melted cheese, drool)

1. Cook the Supernoodles according to the instructions on the packet.

2. Whilst they are cooking heat the grill to medium high and spray a baking tray with fry light.

3. Scatter the veg and ham on the baking tray, spray with more frylight and place under the grill. Grill until the veg are done to your taste.

4. Add the cooked noodles to the tray and toss through the veg. Sprinkle the cheese on top and place back under the grill till the cheese has melted and some of the noodles round the edge are toasted and crunchy.

5. Serve with fresh tomato and sit and pick to bits whilst watching Strictly!

Another miserable day, another tasty soup! This is one of my favourite store cupboard staples, its really healthy and delicious. The packs of cooked beetroot keep for ages in the fridge and are really cheap. I used to hate beetroot (a result of eating too much raw beetroot on that crazy 'heart foundation diet' remember that one?) until I tried Borsct at a fabulous vegetarian restaurant and I was hooked so this is my slimming world friendly version. I love dill too as I adds a really buttery taste to dishes without the butter!

Just had to share these fab new slimming world friendly finds I've made this week.

First off everyone at group has been raving about the tesco simply hear pulled pork. I finally located it in te freezer section and thought if give it a go. Well it's lovely easy and unbelievably free!! Ticks all my boxes. Also it's only £3.50 so doesn't break the bank. It says it feeds 3 but more like 2 people who like food or in my case me and 2 toddlers with a little left over for snacking on later! It does take 1hr 1/2 but all you do is bang it in the oven and forget about it. I did mine with sw chips and a zesty fresh coleslaw (see my previous recipe) and it was DELICIOUS!!!

Also I love a good coffee (should that be live off coffee as I have 2 toddlers who like an early start!!) and although I've always avoided the calorie-tastic coffees like lattes and cappuccinos I do enjoy te odd syrup or even better Irish coffee :). Someone at group mentioned about instant flavoured coffee and I got the dowe egberts chocolate and hazelnut flavours. Both are nice and do hit the spot for my all important 4 o'clock pick me up coffee. So when I saw this on the shelf next to them I couldn't resist, I LOVE amaretto! It is really nice good flavour but not too strong or artificial. You don't need sugar or sweetener either. I will definitely be stocking up on these for Xmas!

And so my Asian odyssey continues with a delicious beef curry. I had a real hankering for a warming curry with lots of lovely rice. I love casserole, slow cook dishes. I can knock it together whilst my youngest is having his nap and then when we get back in after the school run the house smells great and I have only the sides to do. I served it here with a simple grated cucumber salad dressed in white wine vineger and also  added plenty of super free veg to the curry to make sure I got my 1/3 super free. I used a packet of spice that I got from a local indian and continental shop (I love this shop I can literally spend hours perusing the isles looking at all the exotic ingredients, mmmm!). There are loads of different flavours and they are very authentic. I used the generally titled 'meat masala', see below. I warn you though the recipe suggested 2 tbls but I added just 1 as I was doing it for all off us but it was still too hot for the boys, oops! oh well all the  more for me...
 

Serves 2/3
Free Red/Green/EE

2 Red Onions sliced
5 cloves of Garlic crushed
2" piece of Ginger grated
300g Stewing Steak
1 tbsl Shan's meat masala mix (less for a milder curry)
1 Red Pepper chunkily cut
6 Tomatoes quartered
Fat Free Yogurt
Large handful of Corriander

1. Fry onions gently in Frylight for at least 5 minutes then add the garlic and ginger.
2. Add the meat and brown then add curry powder mix, fry off taking care not to burn the spices. If it looks to be getting a little too dry or hot you can add a bit of water.
3. Add the pepper and tomatoes and stir.
4. Add 2 cups of water stir and transfer to casserole dish.
5. Cook in oven gas mark 3 for 4 hours, check after 3, if it seems a bit thin, leave the lid off and cook until the sauce has thickened and the meat is meltingly tender.
6. When ready stir through the yogurt and corriander to serve.

I just don't seem to be able to get away from Asian flavours at the moment, or soup for that matter, it must be an escape from this dreadful weather. Close my eyes and I'm in a distant exotic land all sunkist and happy.

I came up with this soup the last time I did slimming world and I still love it. Broccoli is so good for us and Im not that keen on it as a boiled soggy side but I love broccoli and stilton soup. I was trying to think of something else other than cheese that I could add so I thought where else to you get broccoli and thought of all the broccoli in Asian stir frys and Japanese cooking. This recipe uses soy sauce, wasabi, and zesty lime to bring the broccoli to life.

I served it today with a homemade nori roll inspired by the SW Asian cook book. An Asian take on the classic soup and a sandwich! I'll post the recipe for the roll soon. 

Serves 2 
1/2 syn per serving

Ingredients 

1 onion roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic chopped
1" piece of ginger finely chopped
1 good head of broccoli inc stalk roughly chopped
handful of peppercorns
2 bay leaves
Vegetable stock
1 teaspoon wasabi (more to taste but it is 1 syn per teaspoon)
Juice of 1 lime

1. Soften the onions in frylight and then add the garlic and then ginger.
2. Add broccoli and fry for a moment.
3. Add the stock to just cover the vegetables, add the peppercorns and bayleaves.
4. Bring to the boil and then simmer until the vegetables are tender.
5. Remove the bayleaves and blend to your preferred texture
6. Add the wasabi and return to a simmer for a couple of minutes.
7. Take off the heat, stir through the lime juice and serve.

This is one of my absolute favourite dishes of all time. I have a great love of Thai food and love the flavour combinations. I learnt this recipe when on a cookery course in Thailand about 10 years ago and I practically lived on this when I first lived on my own. Its fresh, healthy, nutricious, tastes amazing and best of all its totally free!! The recipe is really easy and pretty flexible, you can pretty much throw in what ever you want, prawns are great, but this is my standard dish.

Serves 2

Ingredients 
Water
2 stalks of Lemon Grass sliced into 1 inch size pieces
5 slices of Ginger
1 Onion cut into large pieces
1 Diced Chicken breast
Fresh Chillies to taste
Fish Sauce
4 Tomatoes 
6 Mushrooms 
Spinach
Lime
Corriander
Your favourite noodles I use udon or flat thai sticks cooked

• Fill a large pan with water and bring to the boil. Add the ginger and lemon grass and boil for 5 minutes.
• Add the chicken and bring back to the boil. Cook for 5 minutes and skim off any foam that comes to the top.
• Add the onion, tomatoes, mushrooms, chillies, and a good dash of fish sauce and simmer for a couple of minutes.
• Add the spinach and cook until wilted.
• Take off the heat, stir through the juice of the lime and the corriander.
• Divide the noodles between bowls, pour soup on over and top with more corriander.

ENJOY!!

HELLO!!
WELL MY GOODNESS IT HAS BEEN A WHILE. SUMMER HAS KIND OF GOT IN THE WAY OF THE BLOGGING AND A LITTLE IN THE WAY OF MY WEIGHT LOST QUEST. PLEASED TO SAY I ONLY GAINED ONCE AND LOST IT AGAIN THE NEXT WEEK SO THE JOURNEY HAS CARRIED ON DOWNWARDS JUST VERY SLOWLY.

SO SUMMER IS OVER, ROUTINE HAS NOW RETURNED AND IM FOCUSED AND READY TO MOVE FORWARDS AND REACH MY GOAL.

I ALSO HAVE A PHONE FULL OF PICS OF SOME OF MY FAVOURITE RECIPES THAT IM EXCITED TO SHARE. I KNOW HOW MUCH INSPIRATION I GET FROM THE WORLD OF THE INTERNET SO HOPEFULLY SOMEONE ELSE WILL GET SOME ENJOYMENT FROM THEM.

SO HERES TO SOME TASTY TEAS AND TREATS!
XX