Baked Bean and Cottage Cheese Cakes

Suitable for vegetarians

Serves: 4

Prep. time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 20 - 25 minutes

Total time: 30-60 Minutes

Syns - Extra Easy 1

Ingredients 

340g potatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces

1 x 200g can baked beans in tomato sauce

2 level tbsp fat-free natural cottage cheese

2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley

2 egg yolks

2 spring onions (or 1 Spanish onion), finely chopped

Salt and freshly ground white pepper

1 level tbsp plain flour

Low calorie cooking spray

Method

Boil the potatoes in a large pan of lightly salted water for about 15 minutes until tender. Drain well and mash them while they are still warm.

Add the baked beans, cottage cheese, parsley and egg yolks. Mix well together and then add the spring onions (or Spanish onion) and seasoning to taste. The mixture shouldn’t be too wet.

Using your hands, mould the potato mixture into 8 patties, which are approximately 7.5 cm diameter, and dust very lightly with flour.

Lightly spray a frying pan with a little low calorie cooking spray. Heat and then cook the patties for 3–4 minutes each side. Serve them immediately with some fresh green vegetables or a crisp salad.

BBQ Pulled Pork

Serves: 4

Total time: Over 60 Minutes

Syns per serving: Extra Easy FREE

Ingredients

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

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.

Meanwhile, trim and remove all visible fat from the pork and sear all sides in a hot frying pan. Transfer to a slow cooker and cook for 8-12 hours on MEDIUM.

Remove the pork from the slow cooker and place on a cutting board. Allow the meat to cool for approximately 15 minutes, then shred into bite-sized pieces using two forks.

Tip: Chef's tip: Serve with homemade coleslaw, Slimming World-style sweet potato chips in 60g wholemeal rolls. Delicious and so easy to just pop it all in the slow cooker!

A Food Optimising Guide to Subway

You’ll find Subway sandwich shops on most high streets and with a little know-how, you can still enjoy the unique Subway flavours making the most of Free Foods like chicken, ham, turkey, steak, beef and piles of fresh salad. At Slimming World you really can have your sub – and eat it!

Our superb Subway guide will glide you through a Free Food frenzy and give you the pointers you need to make the very healthiest Food Optimising choices, along with hints and tips to avoid those sneaky hidden Syns here and at other sandwich shops – it’s easy when you have the know how!

Getting started…

One of the great things about Food Optimising is that bread isn’t ‘banned’ (as it is with some diets). Wholemeal bread sadly isn’t on the Subway menu, however if you want to enjoy a sub sandwich please check Syns Online to see how many Syns are in your favourite roll.

If you’d prefer to save your Syns and enjoy a fab Free lunch – opt for a ‘bread-free sub’…a huge salad bowl selection.

Combo time…

Subway has a selection of signature subs, or you can simply make up your own and knowing how this works with Food Optimising makes choosing a filling, delicious sub or salad easy peasy!

Great choices include: beef, chicken breast, steak, ham and turkey breast – all fab Free fillings and you can choose as many as you want!

The tuna is mixed with light mayonnaise, so estimate a handful of Syns if you’re tempted.

Watch out for:

Meatballs, pepperoni and salami – because they’re processed they tend to contain hidden extras, so they can be unexpectedly high in Syns.

Chicken breast fillet in breadcrumbs and chicken tikka both contain extra Syns because of their coatings.

Bacon will bump up the Syn value because Subway uses streaky/fatty bacon and this contains Syns.

The veggie pattie, although contains Free Foods like carrots, sweetcorn and red peppers has hidden extras, so can be unexpectedly high is Syns.

At Subway there’s always the option to have cheese with your combo – count two slices as an extra 4-6 Syns – or choose to have yours without.

Select your salad…

Wow – with all this salad to choose from, it’s a Food Optimiser’s dream!

Lettuce, cucumber, red onion, green peppers, pickles, jalapeños and tomatoes – ask the sandwich artist to pile it high, it’s all Free!

Count ½ Syn if you enjoy a sprinkle of olives on your sub or salad

Let’s get saucy…

Sauces in general are where a Free Food salad can quickly become packed with Syns. In Subway, you’re in charge so you can have as much or as little dressing as you like.

Count one or two Syns for sweet onion, honey mustard, hot chilli and BBQ sauce on your salad or sub.

And keep track of three to five Syns for creamy sauces such as light mayonnaise, Chipotle Southwest sauce and ranch dressing.

Watch out for…breakfast subs

At Subway the breakfast subs on offer could blow your Syns for the day before you’ve even made it past the mid-morning rush! All breakfast subs are served in a 6-inch sub sandwich (9-12 Syns), the bacon isn’t lean (6 Syns) and the sausage isn’t Syn-free! (another 6 Syns – at least!)

To save yourself a stack load of Syns and still enjoy the delicious delights of a Subway, enjoy a Free hot breakfast at home that includes lean bacon, eggs, baked beans, tomatoes and mushrooms and enjoy a bread-free sub (or salad!) bursting with Free Foods for lunch or dinner!

Free Food Staples - Shopping List

Here are loads of ideas for a Food Optimising friendly shopping trip. When your fridge, freezer and cupboards are loaded with these Free Food essentials, you’ll be able to rustle up a delicious Food Optimising meal in minutes.

My Slimming World Shopping List

Chilled food

Eggs

Virtually fat-free natural cottage cheese

Quark

Fat-free fromage frais and yogurts – check Syns Online for Free and Synned varieties

Superfree veg

Superfree fruit

Cooked and fresh meat – only Free when all the fat and skin is removed and no oil is added

Frozen food

Frozen veg

Quorn products

Fish and seafood

Packets

Pasta

Rice

Couscous

Noodles

Canned food

Baked beans

Mushy peas

Canned chopped tomatoes

Canned fish

Mixed beans

Sundries

Frylight – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Sunflower Oil, Garlic Oil and Butter Flavour – all Free

Sweetener

Spice rack and herbs

Tomato puree

Dressings – fat-free vinaigrette, French or Italian

Drinks – no added sugar cordial, diet cola

Lunchbox Ideas

As a Food Optimiser you're following a wonderfully nutritious, generous and healthy diet which sets a fantastic example to your family. Mealtimes the Food Optimising way means piles of delicious favourites that are naturally low in fat, sugar and salt.

We all need a certain amount of protein, carbohydrates and fats from a healthy source (eg full-fat milk, cheese and yogurt).

Little changes

* Merely changing the bread type can make a sandwich more interesting and fibre-filled. Mini wholemeal pitta bread is excellent for stuffing with Free fillings and they' re only 3½ Syns each! SW are also quite fond of tortilla wraps (5 Syns for 30g) as they make perfect little parcels for fillings. 

* These mini pizzas looks just like the real thing - cut a circle out of the middle of wholemeal toast, spread with a little tomato puree, pile high with your favourite toppings (SW love chicken, sweetcorn, cherry tomatoes and cheese) and grill until the cheese is melted. 

 

Novelty factor foods such as stringy cheeses and stackable crackers are popular. Unfortunately these can be very high in salt. A healthier choice is to buy a selection of packet cheese from the Pick & Mix cheese section in the supermarket. Most portions in these packets are between 25-30g and can be enjoyed as a Healthy Extra. Even easier simply slice a portion of cheese from your whole block for them to nibble on.

Sandwich suggestions

These sandwich fillers are fab for packing into pitta or topping a wholemeal roll!

* Tuna crunch – mix 1 tablespoon extra light mayonnaise (1 Syn) with tuna in brine. Add very finely chopped crunchy vegetables such as cucumber, peppers and spring onions. Replacing the mayo with fat-free fromage frais makes it a completely Free filling. 

* Cheesy wonder – mix together grated cheddar (30g is a Healthy Extra 'a' choice), carrot and a little red onion with fat-free fromage frais for a tangy cheesy-coleslaw style filling.

* Cheeky chicken – flavoured chicken fillets such as tikka or tomato are available in most supermarkets and are Free. Alternatively, to make your own, Schwartz Perfect Shake seasonings such as Cajun or Classic Barbecue are Free and liven up ordinary chicken pieces. 

* Pink cheese – layer thick cheese spread, (5 The Laughing Cow Light triangles are a Healthy Extra 'a' choice), with chopped beetroot or red cabbage for a colourful addition to a pack-up.

* Grated egg – boiled egg, grated lengthways results in a superbly stringy sandwich filler. Mix with fat-free fromage frais and cress to make it spread further.

* Cottage cheese – scrumptious varieties such as pineapple or prawn make a tasty sandwich and the low fat/virtually fat-free variety is fabulously Free!

Load up your lunchbox

There are lots of fab and filling sandwich accompaniments without loading your lunchbox with high sugar and high salt snacks:

Dips – we love the novelty factor of dips and they're also a great way of getting vegetables into your lunch. 

* Fat free fromage frais mixed with chives or garlic, or cool salsa make yummy dips for pepper strips, carrot batons or breadsticks (1 Syn each).

* Boiled egg or two

* Rolled up slices of ham

* Chicken drumsticks

* Cherry tomatoes

Appetising afters

A piece of fruit can often languish uneaten at the bottom of your lunchbox. There are ways of getting their daily portion into them, all it takes is a little imagination.

* Jelly – sugar-free jelly with chopped up fruit pieces, e.g. satsuma segments and raspberries (142ml made up is ½ Syn)

* Chopped banana in a fat-free vanilla yogurt

* Fruit kebabs - thread fruit onto Mikado sticks - only ½ Syn per stick! 

* Chopped strawberries, apple, grapes and melon mixed with a little orange juice (2 level tbsp is ½ Syn)

* Small packet of raisins such as Sun-Maid Raisins 14g box (2 Syns)

Delicious drinks

Whilst we're often aware of how sugary canned soft drinks are, it may come as a surprise to learn that so called juice drinks often contain just as much sugar and little actual juice! Some great drinks to pack into a lunchbox include:

* Cartons of sugar-free fruit squash

* Home-made milkshake using a cordial such as Crusha Milkshake Syrup (1 - 2 Syns per 25ml depending on flavour)

* Smoothies made using natural yogurt and blended fruit. Roughly chop a large banana, place in a food processor or blender with 150ml orange juice and 200g fat free natural yogurt and process until smooth (6½ Syns).

* Flavoured water, e.g. Strathmore Mineral Water Co still/sparkling, sugar free, all varieties (Free).