Thread: Polenta??

I was about to make a recipe I found on here called Chilli Corn Bread but thought I would just double check the syn values as it claimed to be free on green and 12.5 on red. I have been following extra easy for 5 months now.

Anyway, Polenta.....was this a free food back in the day? its saying its 5 syns per 28g raw on the syns online thing and there are 250g in this recipe so surely that can't be right can it??

I am wondering if I can substitute the polenta for another grain that is free, like maybe couscous? what do you think?

You are right that polenta used to be free and this recipe dates from that time

Now SW say that if you use anything as a flour substitute then you should syn it

That said if you have been taking it as free and it has not affected your losses then they say you can just carry on doing that

I love that recipe and as it is not one you would use that often I feel fine about taking it as a free food

Thanks Circes, I will give it a try but as I am only 1.5 pounds off my next sticker I dont want to risk it before my weigh in hehe - I will make it as a reward on weigh in day if I get it off this week though lol

So....why is polenta not free and cous cous is? Cous cous is not a grain anyway; it's a really wee pasta. Do SW really think I can eat more polenta if it's ground up than if it's in bigger lumps? Seriously...I'm losing faith!

Because people started using it to make muffins and cakes and it was affecting losses. It was one of the first things to come under the food abuse heading. SW now also say you should syn cous cous if using it as a flour substitute

But if I make it as intended....soft like mashed potato or make corn bread with it for a main meal (like in an old slimming world recipe) is that ok? I certainly would struggle to overeat it!

Thems the rules - whether you choose to follow them is up to you. If it's an occasional thing and you're happy with your losses then personally I don't see any problem with it tbh

tbh if youre not eating tons of it it isn't an issue to syn it anyway really. I made a polenta tian the other week, the 100g polenta added up to 350cal between 4, so about 90 calories/4.5 syns each. I didn't bother counting it, but 4.5 syns wouldn't break the bank anyway.