Low point meals from scratch- any ideas??

[claire_h]

Hi everyone,

Im living in Greece and i cant get alot of the products in the supermarkets here that you can in the UK. I cant get any of the WW branded products, i cant get low fat things (only low fat Greek Yoghurt). Things here are not pre-packaged, so if i want meat i go to the butcher, bread at the baker etc. We do have Lidl and a supermarket called Carfourre, which is where i go to get most things low fat, but its all sooo expensive.

Does anyone have any good recepies that i can cook for my family where i can have a smaller portion so is low in points but i can load it onto DH's plate and also give some to my 1 year old?? I would love to buy Quorn but again cant get that out here (you will never find a greek vegi!) The recepie book i have is great but there are so many things i cant get its so frustrating!!

So if you have any ideas, please please please note them here for me!!

thanks xxx

 

[mumtheshopper]

Butternut squash and red lentil curry

Lynda

 

[claire_h]

cant get red lentils, only green ones (and they taste awful!) but thanks anyway.

Here is a list of things thats hard to come by-
bacon, low fat or otherwise.
quorn- cant get it at all.
lamb
lean mince beef
mince turkey/chicken
any kind of ready meals
woustershire sauce
spices- plenty of herbs but spices (especially curry type ones) are hard to get.
Unusual fruit and veg, like starfruit.
gravy
oven chips
fromage frais (i probably can get it but i have no idea what its called in greek!)
think that gives you some idea! I seem to be living off baked potatoes, salad and fruit at the moment, which is great, but i would really like to try to cook more for the family as a whole rather than three meals for three people!!

 

[vicki_ww]

hey, Sorry to be a pain in the bum but what is easy to buy and cheap to buy and then we could try and find some meals from what you can get.

 

[Hippngrvy]

I tend to make a lot of veggie stir frys, and I either use soy sauce or mostly lime or lemon juice squeezed on to it whilst I'm cooking. Then I serve it with some white rice with lime/lemon juice squeezed on there too - it's yummy!

I also make a nice pasta sauce - soften onions, mushrooms, peppers, courgette, or anything I've really got in the fridge!season it all and add fresh and tinned tomatoes and small amount of water. Add lots of herbs and then tis all done and you can serve it with some pasta that you've pointed. I also use it as a nice jacket potato filling as you can make it quite thick - yum!

also; soup! veggies in to a stock pot (i used onions, celery, cabbage, leek - but you can use any veg really!). sweat it all down in the pot, adding some seasoning as you do, until it's all soft. add some water and leaving to simmer, and then just before you serve add lots of fresh herbs. I occasionally add tinned toms too - depends what flavour I'm wanting.

You can also soften mushrooms and onions in a pan, then add some cherry/small tomatoes chopped, and some beaten egg, as if you were making an ommelette - season and add herbs and then pop under the grill to rise.a fave in our house!

xx

 

[claire_h]

thanks! I do many of those things already, i have a batch of 0 points soup in the fridge all the time! Im struggling with meat. Im cooking meatballs tonight, something the whole family likes, but because the mince is not lean 140g is costing me 7 points, plus a touch of olive oil 2 points and then rice at 3 points (0 points for all the veg and tomato sauce), ive a funny feeling its going to be quite a small portion of meat, and its only the second time ive had meat all week!!

Pork is really easy to get here, i buy some pork stakes from Lidl with no fat on them and they're great. I buy chicken alot, but a whole one, i roast it with a little olive oil and salt and then just eat from the breast meat. My poor DH is tiny, and he has to keep reminding me he needs to put weight ON not OFF!!

Mince and beef is easy and cheap to get, but not lean, if you ask for lean meat they add about 3 euros to the price which puts it up to around 6 euros per 500g :shock:

People here seem to eat alot of offel- not something i will be trying in a hurry! Other than that its all, high fat things! Pork, beef, sausage, chicken is all cooked in enough olive oil to give you a heart attack just with looking at it, along with things like feta (god i miss that, but at 3 points for a tiny portion i have to live without it for a while!)

Ive just found out here they dont have slimming clubs but they have dietitions (sp?) who come to your house and tell you exactly what you can and cant eat, and they include all the 'Greek' cooking into the diet. And now i can understand why! My friend has one and she can eat cheese pies and everything!!

xxx

 

[vicki_ww]

You need to become best friends with fish and chicken then and earn activity points so you can have the meat more regularly. Lidl must do beans and pulses??

 

[WMBB]

olive oil will do exactly the opposite, its prevents heart attakcs as its unsaturated and thus reduces your cholesterol levels.

lidl used to do a low fat feta... they sell it in the lidl in corfu so you might want to look out for it.

 

[Purple_Star]

Buy beef and remove the fat yourself, then either eat it as is or mince it yourself in a blender to make cottage pie/lasagne/meatballs etc.

If you can get whole chickens easily, then theres no reason not to eat it a lot. You can make a nice pie by making a white sauce (flour - any type will work, skimmed milk or any milk diluted well with water if its full fat. Just add a little water to a tablespoon of flour to make a paste then heat and gradually whisk in the milk, it will thicken eventually. Add any veg you like and the chicken, and then top with mashed potato. Bake in oven for half an hour or so.

You can make soup with any veg - just experiment. Then add a tin of chickpeas or any other pulses you can get your hands on - hopefully lidl has something!

 

[claire_h]

Ohh, great idea with the beef, id never thought of that one! And in will definatly try the chicken pie idea.

And i never knew that about olive oil! Why is it so high in points if its so good for you? The stuff we get here is amazing- especially just drizzled on a piece of bread even the cheap stuff in the supermarkets is better than the expensive stuff back home!

And unlucky for me i cant stand fish! So it looks like chicken is going to be a staple in our house for at least the next few months!

Thanks so much for the advice.
xxx

 

[Purple_Star]

Olive oil is still pure fat, so is the same points as all other fats. However its a fat that the body can process - unlike some other fats which the body has no option but to store as fat as it can't process them properly.

 

[Trendytracz]

when you are using mince brown it and then run it under water to drain out excess fat

 

[littlepiecesofcheese]

Just made 'one point cajun chicken and rice' which is nice and might be something you can use.
Heat oven to GM 6/200C/180C fan.
Mist a pan with oil add 600g cubed chicken breast and cook for 5 mins.
Add 1 sliced onion, 1 sliced red pepper, 1 sliced yellow pepper, 4 sliced cloves of garlic and cook for another 5 mins.
Add 1tbsp chopped fresh thyme and 2-3tsp cajun seasoning, cook for 2 more mins.
Add 200g white rice (uncooked) and 150g halved green beans.
Combine 1tbsp tomato puree and 600ml chicken stock and add to the pan.
Place the whole lot in an oven proof dish and bake in the oven for 1hr, stirring occasionally.

Obviously you can vary this as you see fit, i like this dish as a way to use up leftover roast chicken.

Hope this helps!

 

[claire_h]

Thanks! that sounds perfect, im gonna look in the supermarket for cajun seasoning, think that might be a bit of a problem, but could you tell me what herbs are in the seasoning packet, maybe i can buy them seperatly.

How many servings does it make?

xxx

 

[littlepiecesofcheese]

it makes 4 serving, each serving is 5 points. I'll have a look at the jar of seasoning and get back to you.

 

[claire_h]

ohh, yumm! i managed to get cajun pepper from the supermarket, im guessing its the same thing??
xxx

 

[littlepiecesofcheese]

Yeah i'm sure that'll do the trick, enjoy!

 

[littlepiecesofcheese]

Saw this and thought of you, lol......

Yogurt-spiced Chicken with Rice

main meals


POINTS® Value: 5
Servings: 4
Preparation Time: 15 min
Cooking Time: 15 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy

Easy and tasty – that’s why we like this chicken dish so much!








Ingredients

150 g very low-fat plain yogurt
1 1/2 tablespoon curry powder

1 tablespoon fresh coriander

4 medium chicken breast, uncooked, skinless,

Rice salad:
150 g Tilda Basmati Rice, (or similar)
1 portion stock cube

1 medium carrot(s), grated

1 medium Pepper, red, deseeded and chopped

1 portion fresh red chilli(s), deseeded and thinly sliced

1 tablespoon fresh mint

1 tablespoon fresh coriander

1 portion(s) Mixed salad leaves, to serve Instructions

• Mix the yogurt and curry powder together in a glass or plastic bowl and add the chopped coriander.
• Place the chicken breasts between sheets of cling film, then use a meat mallet or rolling pin to beat them out until slightly flattened. Add them to the yogurt mixture, stirring to coat. Cover, chill and leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes, or overnight.
• Cook the rice in lightly salted boiling water with the stock powder or cube for about 12 minutes, until tender. Drain and rinse with cold water to cool quickly. Add the carrot, red pepper, chilli, mint and coriander.
• Barbecue or grill the chicken breasts for about 6 minutes on each side, until thoroughly cooked (to check, pierce the thickest part with a sharp knife – the juices should run clear)
• Serve the chicken with the rice salad, with green salad on the side.

 

[claire_h]

oooohhhh! yummmy! that sounds great thanks! xxx