Creamy Chicken Pasta

Creamy pasta with a hint of garlic and topped with pine nuts for a little crunch. 

Loaded Mashed Potato

Creamy, cheesy mashed potato with bacon bits, spring onion and topped again with cheese.

Creamy Chicken & Leek

Sauteed leek with mushrooms and tender chicken, in a creamy lightly spiced sauce, served on a bed of rice.

Veronica's Crisps and Dinner

I was given a really gorgeous treat this week.  I was in contact with Veronica's Snacks.

Weightwatchers Meatloaf

Craving Comfort Food? 

Minced beef, spice burger, grated carrot, herbs and spices.  A moist flavorsome meatloaf that's easy to make.  Perfect for a quick weeknight meal. 

Weightwatchers Chicken Burgers

Got that Friday Feeling.

In my house that has always meant 1 thing.

Oh those National Chipper days can be a killer.  Well even as a child, Fridays were, no meat and a 1 and 1 day.  That meant fish and chips from the chipper.  That developed into burger and chips and so on.

Fridays are still a hectic day and the handiness of chipper is sometimes overwhelming.  I do love a good burger but since starting my Weightwatchers journey, i find that the buns that i can have as a low propoint bread just don't cut it.  Their too small and well they don't fill me.

Until now.  I came across a little beauty in Lidl the other day.  

These are huge.  Maybe 4 times the size of other mini buns but they have a Weightwatchers Propoint value of 4.  Seriously, these are worth it.  4 PP? i was astounded.  Needless to say i snapped them up. 

Using these i decided that it was definitely time for some serious burgers. 

Weightwatchers Propoints per Burger 7
Weightwatchers Propoints per Recipe 15
Serves 2

Ingredients

1 Chicken breast
1 tsp of Cajun spice
1 tsp of smoked paprika
1 tsp of minced ginger
1 tsp of minced garlic
1/2 a tsp of rosemary
Spray oil

2 slices of Dubliner Lite Vintage Cheese
Half a tomato sliced
4 slices of gurken from a jar
2 Lidl Premium Rolls
2 tsp of French Mustard
2 tsp of Weightwatchers Salad Cream
2 tsp of Ketchup

Directions

Mix all of the spices together.  Take the chicken breast and half it down the side.  Mist with a little spray oil.  take 1 Tbl of mixed spice and rub on each half on both sides.  You will have some left over.  Keep and use again at a later stage.  Place the chicken on the grill on high for 4 minutes and then turn and repeat. 

Remove from the grill.  Half each bun and place under the grill for 2 minutes until they start to turn brown.  Place 1 tsp of French mustard on one half and then on the other, on the other half of the bun mix the salad cream with the ketchup and spoon onto the bun. 

Place the chicken halves onto 2 halves of buns and 1 slice of cheese on each chicken part and return to the grill until cheese has melted.  Remove and add the gurken and using the other halves, place the tomatoes and return all to the grill until they start to char. 

Remove and plate up.  So imagine a bun halved.  One side has chicken, cheese and gurken and the other with french mustard and charred tomatoes. 

I served mine with 4 Weightwatchers Propoints worth of chips made in my actfry and a salad. 

Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have too!

Weightwatchers Italian Gnocchi

Bellissimo 

Oh do i love Italian Food.  Pasta, pizza, cheese (making Homer Simpson noises right now) garlic, breads, olive oil, desserts and seafood.  Yea pretty much anything Italian sits well with me.  However, im incredibly fussy.  If in an Italian restaurant and I see Spaghetti Bolognese on the menu, generally i wont eat their.  

There is so much more to Italian food that i think, if this is the best a restaurant can offer, save your penny's.  Now if your looking for a really beautiful Italian meal that will assault all of your senses and transport you on to a mountain top in Tuscany, smelling food and wine.  Try Manifestos  in Rathmines and I do believe that their is a new one open in Rathgar.  You will not be disappointed.  Until you stand on the scales and then im sure you'll think about regretting it.

This dish reminds me of my honeymoon where the food was so tasty.  We actually went to a beautiful restaurant by the sea and i had gnocchi.  I was wearing a gorgeous navy dress with my tan and i thought i was the bees knees.  Well after dinner (& dessert ssh) the dress didn't fit me and i couldn't breath because my stomach was so bloated.  

Now this is always talked about at a Weightwatchers meeting and let me tell you when they talk about the Christmas Day feeling of roll you on the couch to watch the soaps.  This evening springs straight to mind.  I did not look gorgeous at the end of the night nor did i feel it.  

Since then i have learned a most valuable lesson.  Portion Control.  Who knew? Now i can actually eat my gnocchi and not look or feel like an Umpa Lumpa afterwards.  

I made this with a basic tomato sauce, chopped tomatoes, onions, garlic and basil and some stock water but if you have a favorite one, you could always use that.

Weightwatchers Propoints per Serving 9
Weightwatchers Propoints per Recipe 35
Serves 4

Ingredients

Spray Oil
1 red onion thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic, chopped and crushed
1 pack of Aldi ham cubes 
1 Aubergine thinly sliced into rounds
2 precooked chicken breasts shredded
Tomato Sauce (ingredients above)
A handful of Garden Peas 
1 pack of prepacked Gnocchi ( i bought mine in Dunnes Stores)
3 tsp of Italian Seasoning
Salt & pepper to taste
2 Tbl of grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions

In a large non stick pan, mist with a little spray oil.  Once hot add the garlic and the onion, saute until soft.  Add in the ham cubes and cook for about 3 minutes, giving it a little stir.  Add the shredded chicken and aubergine.  Season with a salt and pepper.

Cook for about 3 minutes and then pour in the tomato sauce and the garden peas and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes.

In the mean time, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and then add in the gnocchi.  Cook as per pack instructions.  

Once cooked drain the water from the gnocchi and add to the other pot.  Season with the Italian seasoning and stir. 

Serve and sprinkle the Parmesan cheese untop and a little basil if you like. 

 Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have too!

Weightwatchers Style Stuffed Chicken Wrapped in Streaky Bacon

Ummmmm.

I needed comfort food with this cold weather, so today i was going to have an array of vegetables such as turnips, sprouts and carrots.  So what to have with it?  Well this type of meal was a favourite of mine pre Weightwatchers, laden with everything. 

However its been a while since i had anything like this because i wasn't sure that id like it because of the Extra Light Philidelphia. 
I was just unsure whether it would taste curdy?

It wasn't, it wasn't creamy, it was moist, garlicy with sweat cherry tomatoes and topped with streaky bacon and roasted in the oven.  Heavenly!

Weightwatchers Propoints per Serving 6
Weightwatchers Propoints per Recipe 11
Serves 2

Ingredients

1 Small tub of Extra Light Philidelphia (you could also use, Philies grilled peppers)
2 Cloves of garlic, crushed and minced
3 small mushrooms finely chopped
4 cherry tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp chili pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 chicken breasts, halved but still connected
4 Denny Style streaky rachers
Spray Oil


Directions

In a bowl, add the mushrooms, garlic, tomatoes, and phily together and mix untill combined.  Add the herbs and spices and stir.

With the chicken breasts open and divide the mixture into 2 and spoon 1 part unto 1 side of the chicken breast.  Repeat with remaining chicken.

Pre heat the oven to gas mark 4.

Fold the chicken over and wrap 2 slices of bacon around the chicken, Season with salt and pepper and place on a baking tray covered with foil.  Mist with a little spray oil and cover with foil. 

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven and remove the foil, place back in the oven for another 5 -8 minutes.

Remove from oven and serve.

Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have too!

Sunday Roast Chicken

Eat me, because im easy like Sunday Morning

The smell of roast chicken wafting through the house screams lazy Sunday to me.  In my opinion, Sundays were created for laziness and the replenish your body from what the weekdays take from you.  As we all know, Sundays are just as busy sometimes.


When it comes to Sunday Dinners, you can't be a nice juicy roast.  When i first started Weightwatchers, i physically ate my body weight in boiled or stir fried chicken so much that now, neither appeal to me and i would rarely if ever cook them at all.  


I was in Canada a couple of years ago staying with some friends and this was how they roasted their (turkey) as we were there for Thanks Giving.  I was so surprised that it came out so delicious and no extra fat.  I mean, i grew up in a house were chickens or turkeys were roasted in Goose Fat.  Heart attack dinners but boy are they gorgeous.  I actually feel that this is an actual match for it. 


Note: The prep work needs to be done a day in advance.  There is a lot of salt in this however, how often do you eat a roast chicken and also if you buy a prepacked roast chicken or even a frozen chicken check the salt information its astronomical.  So for a treat try this but also the majority of it is discarded.


Weightwatchers Propoints Per Recipe: As per normal skinless chicken in your Weightwatchers Book.  As in 4 for a medium chicken breast and so on.  Remove the skin before eating.  


Ingredients


1 Medium Chicken 
2 Stock cubes in 1 Ltr of boiling water
4 Ltr of cold water
1 Onion sliced
1 Celery stick chopped
130g of salt or 16 measured Tbl 
2 Tbl of ground black pepper
3 Tbl of ground garlic
2 Tbl of dried or fresh chopped sage
2 Tbl of Thyme 
2 Tbl of ginger
Spray oil

Directions


Step 1 Chicken Brining


Dissolve the stock cubes in 1 Ltr of boiling water.  In the mean time, wash the chicken and place it into a very large pot, but a pot that will fit into your refrigerator.  When the boiling water has really cooled pour over the chicken.


Add in all the onion, herbs and spices.  Stir so that the chicken gets coated.  Pour in the remaining 4 Ltr of cold water and stir again.  

Cover with the lid and place in the fridge overnight. 


Step 2 Roasting


Preheat the oven at gas mark 5.


2 hours before you serve dinner remove the chicken from the pot and wash very well.  Keep 4 Ladles of the top of the water, skim it with your ladle and set aside. 


2 of these ladles could be used for pouring over your crumbed low fat bread with some chopped onions a little melted flora and some extra herbs for seasoning. 


After washing the chicken thoroughly, pat dry.  Place the chicken breast side down  on a baking tray.  Chop up veg if you want and place around the chicken. Mist with a little stray oil.  Pour Ladle spoons of brine water over the chicken.  Cover with tin foil and place in the oven for 1 hour. 

After the hour, remove the chicken from the oven and turn it so its breast side up.  If your making roast potatoes, place your par boiled potatoes into the roasting dish now.  Sprinkle with Marks and Spencers Roast Potatoe seasoning.

Cover with tin foil and roast for 25-30 minutes.  Remove the tin foil and place back in the oven for 10 minutes if you feel its needed.  I didn't as i felt it was crispy enough. 

All the chicken to cool for about 10 minutes before slicing. 

Enjoy the Niptuck way so you don't have too!

Chili, Chili, Chili

That refers to this dish and our "summer" except the food is hot chili and the weather's just plain nasty

Any one who lives here knows exactly how cold it is today between gale force winds and rain.  Im aware that this country known as 40 shades of green but that only if you get to see beyond the grey haze.  In case your wondering the haze is rain.


So to heat us up on this chili day im making chili with tacos, loaded with cheese and  mango, chili and lime salsa. 


Weightwatchers Propoints per Recipe 30
Weightwatchers Propoints per 8
Serves 4




Ingredients


For the Chili


Spray oil
1 pack of less than 95% fat mince beef
1 red onion sliced
1 red pepper diced
2 chili's finely sliced
1 tsp of chili
1 Tbl of Tomato paste
Half a tsp of cumin
1 tsp of paprika
Salt and Pepper
2 Garlic diced or 1 Tbl of ground garlic
1 Tbl of sugar (i used brown)
1 tsp of Cajun spice
500gm of Passata 
250 of beef stock made with boiling water
1 tin of red kidney beans ( i mash mine a little because i don't like the texture but i love the flavour
1 tsp of dried coriander


8 Taco shells
120gm of grated reduced fat cheese
Shredded iceberg lettuce
4 Tbl of Weightwatchers Salad Cream


Directions


Mist a sauce pan with spray oil, over a medium heat add in the onions and chili's and saute for about 4 minutes or until they soften,  Add the mince and the red pepper.  Cook until browned. 


Mix in the tomato paste and stir.  mix in the spices except for the coriander. Stir so that the mince gets coated with the spices and herbs. 


Pour in the passata and the beef stock, stir and turn up the heat so that it boils and then reduce down to a simmer and allow it to simmer until the sauce reduces down.


Preheat the oven to gas mark 5 


Stir in the kidney beans and the coriander. Allow them to warm up for about 6 minutes. 


Place the taco shells in the oven open side down for about 5 minutes. 


Remove from the oven, plate up 2 taco shells per serving, line the bottom of the shells with shredded lettuce,  a quarter of the chili mince.  Add 30g of cheese (roughly 2 measured Tbl) to the chili.  Serve with 1 Tbl of Salad Cream.  Its not sour cream but it goes really well with it.  


Delicious

Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have too!

Weightwatchers style Beef and Mushroom Pie

Hearty Beef and Mushroom Pie

 that includes that beautiful puff pastry that just makes a pie a pie!

With the weather so dreary here lately i needed a real warm hearty dinner and i wanted real comfort food.  I was browsing and found this on www.weightwatchers.co.uk and though i need to try this and i have to say it was exactly what i needed and really hit the spot. 


I had forgotten how nice puff pastry is in a savory dish but now that i have been reminded i will not forget again. 


If your looking for comfort food this is definitely one to try.  I changed mine a little to suit for 4 people rather than 6 and i also added turnip just because i has some left over and a little butternut squash so i didn't need potatoes with it.  I also used light Puff Pastry from Tesco. 

ProPoints® Value:    8

Servings:  6

Preparation Time:  20 min

Cooking Time:  120 min

Level of Difficulty:  Moderate

Ingredients

• Cooking Spray, Calorie Controlled  
• 700 g Beef, Stewing Steak, Raw, Lean, cubed  
• 1 large ( ) Onion, All Types, chopped  
• 1 cube Stock Cube, Vegetable, beef in 450ml boiling water  
• 225 g Mushrooms, sliced  
• 1 small Turnip diced
• 1 medium Carrots, Old, Raw, sliced  
• 2 tablespoons Parsley, fresh, chopped  
• 1 pinch Salt  
• 1/4 teaspoons (ground) Pepper, Black (Whole, Cracked or Ground)   
• 2 tablespoons (level) Cornflour, blended with 3-4 tablespoons cold water  
• 225 g ( ) Pastry, Puff, Ready Rolled Sheets, thawed  
• 1 tablespoons Milk, Skimmed  

Instructions

· Heat the low fat cooking spray in a large saucepan and over a high heat add the cubes of stewing steak a handful at a time, so that they seal and brown. Add the onion and cook for another 3-4 minutes, until softened.

· Add the stock, mushrooms, carrot, turnips and parsley to the saucepan. Bring up to the boil, and then reduce the heat. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, until the meat is very tender. Check the level of liquid from time to time, topping up with a little extra water if necessary.

· Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 7/220°C/425°F.

· Season the cooked meat with salt and pepper. Stir in the blended cornflour and cook until thickened, about 1 minute.

· Tip the mixture into an oblong baking dish.

· lay the puff pastry sheet on top of the baking dish, trimming the edges with a sharp knife. Use the trimmings to make leaves for decoration. Position them on top, and brush the entire surface with milk. Bake for 25 30 minutes, until puffed up and golden brown.

· Serve with green vegetables and potatoes.

Enjoy the Niptuck way so you don't have too!

Weightwatchers Spicy Rotisserie Style Chicken

Weightwatchers Communion Recipe 

Firstly i must apologise for the quality of the pictures, im afraid my camera has gone A.W.O.L so im left using my phone as a camera and this does not do any form of justice for this recipe. 


So Communion season is nearly upon us and i know a lot of people this year are celebrating at home and having family get together's.  Days like these can prove difficult for us Weightwatchers folk and trying to cater for most peoples taste can be difficult. 


If i go to any of these type of parties i love meaty dishes with rice or pasta not necessarily sauces but juicy meats.   So when i saw this posted from Mary of www.deepsouthdish.com i thought this is one that i have to try. 


This was so Juicy, meaty and just enough spice to suit most peoples taste that i thought i should post this one. Its actually really simple and quick and you let the meat do all the work which if you are the person catering for having family over this is perfect because you can tend to all your other chores or cooking in the meantime plus the majority of the "work" is done the night before. 


Im actually going to leave this ready for a friend of mine whose daughter is making her Communion in May and i would not do that if i thought it was just mediocre. 




Spicy Chicken Legs
Serves: 4
Weightwatchers Propoints per chicken leg: 5
This can also be used if your doing a Weightwatchers Healthy and Filling Day
Preparation Time: 20minutes
Marinating Time: Overnight if possible
Cooking Time: 2 Hours

Ingredients

• 4 medium Chicken legs  (drumstick and thigh), skin removed and all visible fat trimmed off
• 2 tsps Spices, paprika
• 1 tsp Black pepper
• 1 tsp, ground White pepper
• 1 tsp Spices, onion powder
• 1 tsp Cajun Spice
• 1 tsp, leaves Spices, thyme, dried
• 2 teaspoons Salt
• 1 tsp Spices, garlic powder
• Half a large onion peeled and chopped

Instructions

1. Remove all visible fat and skin from the chicken legs
2. In a bowl mix all spice together
3. Rub the mix all over the chicken legs
4. Cover and refrigerate overnight
5. Preheat the oven to gas mark 2
6. Place the legs and the onions on a baking tray and cover with aluminium foil.
7. Bake in the oven for 1.5 hours basting at intervals
8. Remove the cover and cook for the remainder uncovered

Serve with rice and garlic mushrooms

Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have too!

Nutrition Info (per serving)

Calories	191
Total Fat	8.1g
Saturated	2.2g
Polyunsaturated	1.9g
Monounsaturated	2.9g
Cholesterol	87mg
Sodium	1569mg
Total Carbs	3.0g
Dietary Fiber	1.0g
Sugar	0.2g
Protein	26g
Vitamin A	46mcg
Vitamin C	1.4mg
Calcium	28mg
Iron	2.1mg

Chicken & Couscous Tagine

Chicken & Couscous Tagine

With the weather being so nice out there i wanted dinner to taste like i was away on holidays and a couple of weeks ago i watched Rachel Allen's Easy Meals Programme and she made this dish sound just perfect and strangely enough i had all the ingredients on hand. 

It tasted and smelled middle eastern which is exactly what i wanted without it being too strong or overpowering. Also each portion works out at only 10 Weightwatchers Propoints which i consider a bargain. 

Saying that my other half said that he would have preferred more flavor so with this dish i recommend tasting it as you go so that you can get the flavor to suit your own taste buds.

Chicken & Couscous Tagine

Serves: 4

Weightwatchers Propoints per serving 10

Preparation Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 medium breast
• 1 chopped Onions, raw
• 4 cloves Garlic, raw and chopped
• 180 grams Couscous, dry
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tbsp Spices, saffron (expensive)
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 2 tablespoons Honey
• 1 Chicken stock cube with 1 Ltr of boiling water
• 1 tbsp Spices, paprika
• A pinch of coriander to garnish
• 2 tablespoons Almonds, roasted
• 200 grams Squash, winter, butternut, raw

Directions

• Toast the almonds in a dry pan, when they have little brown dots in the middle there ready to be removed from the heat and set aside to use later

• Make up the chicken stock and set aside
• Spray a little spray oil in the pan over a medium to high heat and add the chicken with salt and pepper to the pan until the chicken is getting a golden colour
• Add the onions, butternut squash and the garlic to the pan, add salt and pepper  with the cinnamon stick and cook covered for about 5 minutes or until the onion starts to soften
• Once softened add the saffron, the smoked paprika and then add the chicken stock and the honey.

• Cover and simmer for 20 minutes covered
• In the mean time chop the toasted almonds
• after the 20 minutes add in the couscous, stir and allow to cook for roughly 3 minutes 
• Once the couscous has soaked up most of the water,  drain the excess, return to the heat and stir in the chopped almonds leave a small amount for garnish

• Serve with some chopped almonds and a sprinkling of coriander

Enjoy the Niptuck way so you don't have too!

Nutrition Info (per serving)

Calories	374
Total Fat	5.4g
Saturated	0.9g
Polyunsaturated	1.4g
Monounsaturated	2.5g
Cholesterol	41mg
Sodium	958mg
Total Carbs	58g
Dietary Fiber	6.4g
Sugar	12g
Protein	24g
Vitamin A	332mcg
Vitamin C	18mg
Calcium	101mg
Iron	2.5mg