Thread: Valentines menu

Money is a bit tight and I'd like to make a special valentines meal especially as it's out first married valentines despite 10years together!! Does anyone have ideas for luxurious type recipies that aren't too syn heavy. Will prob have flexi syns but still don't want to go over board! Thanks

Depends on what u fancy? I woud go for Petes peanut chicken, from this site for main and the orange terrain from this months mag. Not sue for starters curried bns? Xx

Petes peanut curry is gorgeous an id definetely recommended! Im making steak! I get all my meat from
aldi and my regular shop from tesco, its half the price an tastes just the same, cuts my costs!

My ideal Valentines menu (on Extra Easy):

Starters: Sticky chicken bites, side of grilled asparagus and shredded spring onion - 1.5 SYNS per person

To make the sticky chicken, cut 1 large chicken breast into cubes. Put in a bowl, and coat with 1 tbsp honey (1 SYN), 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (1 SYN), 1 tbsp dark soy sauce (1 SYN). Leave for 3 hours (or over night). Fry with fry light and serve immediately.

Mains: Steak, roasted baby potatoes with sea salt, grilled courgette, carrot batons and pea's - FREE

Scrub baby pots, and slice thinly, without cutting all the way through. Blanch in hot water for 3-5 mins, drain, dry, and sprinkle over sea salt. Roast for 20-30 mins, until brown and crispy on top. For the courgette, slice thinly using a grater or potato pealer. Season, and cook on a high griddle or grill for 4-6 mins.

Desert: Desert is always a problem in my house. My fiance is lactose intollerant, but all the SW recipes that are health call for fromage fraise, or quark, which he can't have. This means that deserts are always either jelly, fruit, or high syn! To make matters all the more entertaining, he is also quite fussy

So... probably a slice of freshly baked Spanish Orange Cake (3.5 SYNS per portion) with a scoop of low fat icecream for me (2 SYNS) and lactose free icecream for him (4 SYNS) (Spanish orange cake - Recipes - Slimming World)

Drinks: White 'wine' spritzer using Sorelles Alcohol free chardonay - 2.5 SYNS

Total syns per person: 9.5

Some lovely ideas thanks x

I will be making a fake chinese meal with chicken chow mein(syn free) Egg fried rice with peas, beef in oyster sauce it tastes like beef in black been(1 syn) Syn free chips, chinease BBQ sauce made by diet coke sauce with added 5spice. Then if you want an extra treat Sharwoods prawn crackers 1/4 bag-15g(4 syns)

For a cheap restaurant style dinner, you could try this:

adaptation of zizzi's strozapretti pesto rosso
http://www.minimins.com/slimming-wor...ly-delish.html (Strozapretti pesto rosso! (absoloutly delish!))

I am making the beef in red wine saucefrom last months magazine with baby pots then for dessert I'm making selection of mini desserts like in a hotel so making choc mousse from last months magazine, small slice of key lime pie from SW calendar, chopped strawberries & then a little spray cream total 9.5syns for the whole dinner

I am going out for Bella Italia and flexi synning but I had offered him my home cooking (its not even bad dont get why he rejected it :P )
I would have probably done stuffed cheesy garlic mushrooms or loaded potato skins for starters (would be syn free with HEX A)
Then probably a steak with chips and smash onion rings and a Peppercorn sauce using Quark.
Or roast pork (his fave) with roast veg and tatties (syns would be gravy)
Basically for us money is always tight so we never buy much meat apart from chicken so anything like that really.
Deserrt would defs be daim bar cheesecake which is 2 syns and your HEX B

Originally Posted by furrystomper

I will be making a fake chinese meal with chicken chow mein(syn free) Egg fried rice with peas, beef in oyster sauce it tastes like beef in black been(1 syn) Syn free chips, chinease BBQ sauce made by diet coke sauce with added 5spice. Then if you want an extra treat Sharwoods prawn crackers 1/4 bag-15g(4 syns)

I love the sound of all that, can you post the recipies please

Originally Posted by dipsy1512

I love the sound of all that, can you post the recipies please

The egg fried rice is just boiled rice, then you mix 1 x egg in a big pan with the rice, 1-2 tsp soy sauce, and a handfull of peas. Just keep stiring until egg is cooked.
Chow mein is just noodles, been sprouts, cooked chicken pieces. The recipe for the sauce came from the saucy secrets book.
Beef in oyster sauce -

• Serves 2 @ 1 syn each
• 500 g beef or 1/2 bag quorn beef strips
• 1 x small onion choped.
• 4 garlic cloves or use tsp garlic granules
• 10 g red chilli or use 1 tsp lazy chillis
• 1 red peppers or any colour.
• 2 tbsp soy sauce.
• 2 tbs passata.
• 4 tbsp oyster sauce(2 syns)

Recipe Directions for beef in oyster sauce

1. cut beef into thin strips or just pop in the quorn strips
   
2. roughly chop onion.
   
3. finely slice garlic, deseed and chop chilli, deseed and roughly chop red peppers
   
4. stir fry beef 4mins until sealed and brown
5. remove from pan and set aside, add more oil and cook spring onion, garlic, chilli, peppers and broccoli for 4-5 mins.
6. add soy and passata, stir and cook for 3-4 mins
7. return beef to pan with oyster sauce and cook for a further 3-4 mins

The chips are just standard sw ones, and the bbq sauce is made the same but i just add a tsp of chinese 5 spice

Excellent thank you