Search results

Sorry I've had a bit of a mental week, going to have to postpone (NOT cancel, I'll rearrange!). :( Neil's grandma has been waiting for an operation to remove a cancerous growth, she was rushed in at the last minute to have the op this week so we'll be visiting her in Derby at the weekend...

Hi everyone! I've had a thread running in the Slimming World Off Topic forum, and I just realized this is probably a better place to invite folk. All are welcome to meet up in Birmingham on the 19th for a bowling session within walking distance of New Street Station, the bowling only costs £3 a...

Have you heard about her qualifications being discredited? I can't remember the details but she bought her degree from an online American website instead of actually going to college! The advertising standards agency are always telling her off for calling herself a 'doctor' when she's no such...

I had no idea she was pregnant! Such an awful thing to happen, poor poor woman. :(

That was my exact reaction, but apparently we do! I think they're attracted to the wood pile we have around the side of the house. We're saving it for Neil's dad who has a wood burning fireplace, they like dark places it seems. I worry they were venturing out to have a sniff around our wheelie...

Sure, I'm happy to have a look around! It was the 19th feb, but I just plucked that out as the first day I'm free. I don't mind changing it if people prefer another time.

It's interesting about soup drawing excess fluids from the body, I always assumed it would cause bloating for some reason. Going to give soup a try this week now, thanks! :D

I'm terrible with chocolate multipacks, I can't have just one. Most of the time I don't even know I'm eating it, I just munch and munch and within 10 minutes I've gone through the lot. It's honestly some kind of emotional addiction thing, I have serious issues with sweet foods. Putting it in...

I'm starting a little veggie plot this year for the first time and I did consider setting up a compost heap. Problem is we spotted a couple of cockroaches on our patio and I'm a bit paranoid about encouraging them with all the kitchen scraps. They were a little too close to the back door for...

Do you mean the leisure box? I called the number and the prices for bowling are on the answer phone thingy so I think it's still open. I think we're settled on going there, it's not too far from the station by the looks of it and bowling is fun! We really won't need a couple of lanes though -...

It might be that you're having too many syns. I know the limit is 10-15, but you have to judge what works for you within that range. Having 14 syns a day might work for some but not others. You look pretty tiny on your photo. The closer you get to target the more you're supposed to cut down you...

Quorn sausages are great snack food, lovely cold. I love to take free veg soup, that way I've got loads of syns left for my naughty treats when I get home. Perhaps use a healthy extra for some bread and do a ham and egg salad sandwich? Or a fruit salad with a yoghurt? When I'm in a super rush...

I used to switch between the two but only from week to week. It's the lure of being able to fit more naughty foods in on the ww plan but sw makes you feel fuller. There's only so much quorn sausage and vegetables a girl can take! I was always starving on the ww diet though. Can't imagine...

I did think bowling would be a nice activity but I didn't want to make people spend too much money for the first meet up. I'm quite happy to do an activity though, I just didn't want to put on people with the travel expense etc. If you'd all prefer something to be arranged then speak up! Just...

Ok I'm confused. I was sure I clicked 'send' on the private message to you all but now I have nothing in my 'sentbox'. Have you all got a message regarding date/time? :confused: Vegemite, I can't PM you I'm afraid, you don't have enough posts to allow me to do that. Get chatting and up your...

Oh dear. That sounds really upsetting, my mom's dog was attacked while she was walking him and it really shook her up too. They can be so relentless and impossible to stop! They're also a lot tougher than you think, thank God it was only a paw and not its neck or anywhere vital. I'm sure you'll...

Ok guys, time to get this sorted out. Will PM you all with suggested details, if I've missed anyone out prod me, I'm new to all this messaging malarkey.:p

aren't they high in good fats, meaning they might be syns? Like avocados - they're quite oily so they're not free

A touch of cayenne pepper to add the heat and maybe some paprika for richness? Or tabasco sauce? I'm not sure what your hubby's dietary needs are exactly, but I think you'd need something slightly spicy as a substitute.

Cream is my weakness, I'll defo give this a try!

*drool*

I love the design, very pretty!

Thanks! This recipe sounds yummy, i adore anything breaded. Plus its a sneaky way to get an extra veg portion into my day (I've always been a reluctant veg eater).

My slow cooker is supposed to be a large size but fresh veg are really chunky when raw! I squeeze a load in and then 4 hours later I lift the lid off to find its cooked down to half full! I usually split big batches between two of my biggest saucepans, no fear of it boiling over then!

Smoked haddock or cod would be a nice twist, with a boiled egg chopped up and mixed in. For some reason the two flavours work really well together!

A killer tip is to separate the egg whites from the yolks and beat them until they're stiff and fluffy. Then beat up the egg yolk with your flavouring (I go for chives and black pepper), then tip the yolk into the fluffy white and gently fold. Fry it in a hot pan with a good coating of fry...

:eek: I am SO jealous right now. Not only is it a gorgeous dress but you look beautiful in it!

Are me and my partner really weird, cos once a week is all we can manage most of the time? We're both so exhausted from our jobs that Saturday is the only time for hanky panky, Sundays are spent stressing about going back to work again because we both HATE our workplaces. Seriously, I've often...

It's great you're still getting some exercise, I know from experience its easy to use health problems as an excuse so going 3 times a week is impressive! Just in case you don't have the time to get to the pool perhaps you could do a chair based workout. My mom has a dodgy knee and if its...

Maybe take a flask full of boiling water if access to a kettle is a problem, then use to to make up one of those mug shots, or a cup-a-soup etc? Cous cous is a dream with hot water. I noticed a lot of packets say to microwave or simmer but the chefs on telly just pour some boiling water over it...

I would also say yogurt/fromage frais would work but remember not to boil it or leave it on the heat. Just pop it on the heat for a couple of minutes to warm through or the yogurt separates and goes a bit grainy. An alternative would be to use a Healthy Extra for some Philadelphia cream cheese...

Thanks Emz! I'm relieved that after 4 weeks your cals go up a bit to your personal allowance, I was a bit worried how tough it would be to keep them that low in the long term. At the moment my head isn't really in the right place to start back on any diet after xmas. Once I get back into...

MadameLaMinx, I totally agree. It's very healthy to set down guidelines in situations like this.

I really feel for you, you poor thing :( I've had some difficulties with extended family and the best advice I can give is to be honest. Families are far too complicated, get rid of all the emotional politics and be straight forward. Perhaps send your Dad and your aunts an email, addressed to...

My group leader used to say that high cal foods like eggs and bananas should be eaten in moderation even though they're free, cos its easy to consume too much energy. I know its not the official line though. All i can think is perhaps you need to up your activity levels to give the fat burning...

Good point RegField, will bear that it mind. ;) I live near Stafford so most places are commutable, Birmingham seems a reasonable place I reckon, nice and easy on the train for most. I'll leave the post up for a bit to see if any more people are interested, then we can start PM'ing the...

Hi! SW stands for Slimming World. From what I remember there are 2 main diets - a red diet and a green diet. On both diets you can have unlimited healthy veg with a few exceptions, low fat quorn, eggs and fat free yoghurt. On the red diet, you are also allowed unlimited meat and fish as long...

Squirty cream is always better I think, as its filled with air so weight for weight you end up using less than pouring cream. You can get some reduced fat squirty creams which taste gorgeous, morrisons make one I think.

I'm really curious how you rate the meals when they arrive - I presume these are the ones in pouches? I love the idea but I'm a bit suspicious of ready meal type food so a quality report would be greatly appreciated! Good luck for the new year, keep the positive attitude! :D

A very warm welcome Judith! I'm trying to count calories but struggling with hunger pangs, so hopefully you can inspire me! I live with my other half and I desperately want a dog but alas, we work too much to keep one happy. Your dog should be a great way to keep fit, perhaps increase your...

A little late but a good option is to make jelly sweets with sugar free jelly. Make a sachet up to half a pint, then in another bowl dissolve a pack of gelatine powder, combine the two and set to a very firm almost chewy jelly, chop into squares and take in a little lunchbox. I got this from...

Hi everyone, I was curious about the RC diet so I took the virtual tour of their site and i'm still confused. I couldn't see any examples of daily menus to give a feel for the diet, I understand its based around calorie counting but do you get certain foods free without counting them? Or is...

Poor you! Maybe a nice highlights hot choc would hit the spot with a hi-fi bar to dunk? If you really want to comfort eat, I hate to be the devil on your shoulder but maybe you should allow yourself a treat (in moderation). Sometimes we all need to stray from the diet a bit. As long as we jump...

Hi all, I live in Staffordshire and my social calendar is embarrassingly empty for the next few weeks! Does anyone fancy joining me and my other half for a drink or a coffee somewhere in the area? My new years resolution is to meet new people, a lot of my old friends have moved away so I'm...

I forgot mention a good splash of rum flavouring works a treat in these!

Hi all, These are approx half a syn per truffle. I can't find syn values for jam and cocoa in grams, only in teaspoons which makes it harder to calculate, but a reasonable estimate is about 10-11 syns for the whole recipe and it makes 20 truffles. (Lower syns if using Hex B for the...

I'm an ex-slimming world member, so I wanted to use up my scan bran supplies, but this recipe would work just as well using ryvita or all bran etc. 25g scan bran (55 cal) 25g original ryvita crackerbread (79 cal) 20g cocoa powder (66 cal) Splenda to taste - (say about 20 cals worth) 30...

Well they were very tasty but not at all the right texture, the vege-gel gives a soft wobbly set. Bit disappointing as I used double the recommended amount. I think i'll use 4 times the amount next time, I'm sure it'll work eventually! I also tried the same recipe with leaf gelatin (as I heard...

Jelly sweets 1/2 pint of your favourite diluted sugar free squash or pop 1 sachet vege-gel mix vege-gel into cold liquid, heat until boiling point and pour into ice cube trays, leave to set for 1 hour. I've JUST made these, they are cooling as I type so I'm not sure if I've added enough...

I ran out of toffee options after making my last batch but I'll certainly post a picture next week after I do my big shop. I plan to make a whole load more when I get hold of some options!

I got mine from sainsburys with the baking ingredients next to gelatine and bicarb of soda etc. I got the Dr Oetker brand, very cheap as I recall, about 70p. I'm sure other shops do it as well. :-)

You could use a syn free brand of plain pork sausages and spice them up with cayenne pepper, tiny bit of chilli and lots of paprika? I believe the rich red colour in chorizo comes from these spices. You could also blitz all of the above in a blender, and form into meatballs and fry before...

Ingredients: 2 dried egg whites (fresh don't give the same crunchy texture) 1/2 cup splenda 1 tsp vanilla flavouring 1 sachet toffee options (2 syns on all plans) Method: Preheat oven to 150c and line a couple of baking trays with greaseproof paper. Make up the dried egg with water...

Thanks this will really help when I'm camping - I end up miles from any towns with hardly any fresh veg at the local shop. I have to live on tinned food, so its great to get new ideas!

I've tried this before and it is lovely but whenever my mom comes over to eat with us we can't make it. She really hates all types of yoghurt - she finds it a bit tangy. Any ideas what I could use to replace it? She's not sold on quark either - too similar to yoghurt in taste. I did try the...

I sometimes slice them on top of ryvita with a bit of philadelphia cream cheese - its a really nice combo which you can spice up by mixing a bit of cayenne and paprika into the cream cheese if you like a hot kick. :)

Update - I added rose water to my latest batch to make a turkish delight flavour, worked really well! I'd recommend it melted into dark chocolate highlights - just like fry's turkish delight! :-)

Yes Sarah-Jayne, that is the thread. I really want the better recipe to appear soon before people waste their time trying to make something which it turned out didn't work! Thanks Eclipse - I'm new to the forum, still trying to work out how to use it properly. :-)

I'm really confused as to why one of my posts in the recipe forum hasn't showed up. I posted a marshmallow recipe, then replied to it with an alternative version of the recipe which was more successful but it hasn't showed up for hours. I hope I haven't done anything wrong, I don't think I can...

Edit - the new recipe has now appeared above, ignore me! This recipe doesn't really work, but I found one that does. I posted it in this thread about half an hour ago but it still hasn't showed up?! Maybe I did something wrong?

The marshmallow flavouring isn't really necessary - a good vanilla flavouring works just as well really. I've never seen it in the shops, but I imagine it would be a few syns if its oil based so it's probably better to do the recipe without it!

I'm not a quark lover no matter what I put with it - I've tried white options and there is always a sour after taste which reminds me of very sharp natural yoghurt. If that puts you off, try adding some lemon zest and little lemon flavouring and folding into a beaten egg white to make a lemon...

I use philadelphia cream cheese as a healthy extra, melted with a splash of milk from my 'A' choice. The plain one is nice and creamy, but the garlic and herb flavour is absolutely gorgeous as a sauce in fish pie. My boyfriend couldn't tell it was a diet recipe when I gave it to him!! :)

Ok I probably should have tried this BEFORE I posted the recipe - it didn't work at all. I ended up with a layer of gelatin and a layer of fluff! Good news is I have tried and tested a different recipe which really does work. They even melt properly in hot chocolate, all gooey and yummy! This...

I found this on recipezaar.com. All the ingredients are free foods, so I presume the finished product will also be free? Please correct me if I'm wrong - I know there has been some debate over things like chick pea cake etc, some people say that mixing free foods up into puddings means you have...

Hello everyone! This has been puzzling me for some time - does anyone know why sugar free jelly has syns? Gelatine is free according to my book, the only other ingredients are sweeteners and flavourings. I've copied and pasted the ingredients of Hartley's sugar free to help you solve my...