Alternative to mayonnaise

This is great on a steak or chicken sandwich or for dipping your healthy wedges in

This makes enough for at least two people

Around 130 calories in 130 grams, 10 calories per teaspoon

2 dessert spoons reduced fat hummus

2 dessert spoons low-fat cream cheese

2 dessert spoons natural yogurt

1 dessert spoon lemon juice

1 tsp English mustard

Salt and pepper to season

Combine all the ingrediants in a bowl and mix till all blended in

If you want to add other flavours and play with this try adding so e chopped jalapeños or chilli powder, roasted garlic or even some chopped fresh herbs

Mexican green rice

Mexican green rice is a great a compliment to any Mexican dish

I use brown basmati rice and I cheat and use Tilda steamed brown basmati microwave rice, not very Mexican but a good use of flavouring up brown rice

The below is for two people add more ingredients per person

Calories per serving 90

1 pouch of Tilda brown basmati microwave rice per person

1 crushed clove of garlic

1 chopped green chilli

Good bunch of chopped coriander

Good bunch chopped parsley

Juice of half a lime

1 teaspoon of olive oil

Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the crushed garlic, chopped chilli and cook for a couple of minutes

Add the chopped coriander and parsley

Cook for a couple of minutes

Warm the pouch of brown rice in microwave as per tildas instructions

Add the rice to the pan, give it a good stir through and cook for a further 2 minutes

Squeeze over lime juice and serve

Tandoori king prawns

This is a traditional tandoori recipe slightly adapted and does not contain the bright red food colourings that our take always use

The recipe has a two stage marinade

Calories around 145 per person, based on 100g of prawns per person

The marinade process should be done over night

around 230 calories per serving

Stage one

King prawns handful per person

¾ tsp turmeric

1 tsp chilli powder

2 tsp black pepper

2 tsp salt

4 tbsp white wine vinegar

Stage 2

150 ml Greek natural low fat yogurt

4 cm ginger

6 cloves garlic

2 green chillies

½ tsp garam masala

½ tsp cumin seeds

Stage one

Put the turmeric, chilli powder, pepper, salt and vinegar in a small bowl, mix well then add the prawns and stir well

leave to marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes

Stage 2

Peel and grate the ginger, finely chop the chillis and garlic

whisk the yogurt in a bowl until smooth then stir in the ginger, garlic, chillies, garam masala

Toast the cumin seeds in a dry hot pan until they change to a more pink/red colour, be careful not to burn them

Grind them in a pestle and mortar or spice blender until a powder and add them to the marinade mix and give it a good stir

Spoon this mixture into bowl of prawns until coated, marinate overnight in the fridge

heat the oven to 200C

Remove prawns from the marinade and place in a baking dish

Roast the prawns for 10-15 mins Labels: low fat, Tandoori king prawns, Tandoori, Yogurt marinade

Potato wedges My alternative to chips

As a desperate attempt to find something that resembled chips but with very low fat content I came up with these

This is also great for making your carbs go further, as the potatoes are cut up it seems like you are getting more potato than you are

I have the basic recipe and then a few ideas further down to spice things up

calories per serving are 75 per 100grams

Pre heat an oven to 220c

2 new potatoes or 1 normal size potato per person

Low fat spray

Salt and pepper to season

Basic recipe

Cut the potatoes into quarters, do this length ways, do not peel

Spray and oven tray with low fat spray

Place the potatoes in the baking tray and season

Mix the potatoes around so that they are covered in the low fat spray

roast in oven for 20-30 mins

Chilli potato wedges

Same as above but when mixing the potatoes add 1-2 teaspoons of chilli powder

Garlic wedges

Add two cloves of garlic in their skin to the mixture, give them a bash before hand to let some of the flavours out but let them roast in their skins

Piri piri wedges

Sprinkle 1-2 teaspoons of ready mixed piri piri spices and mix

Basically add whatever flavour you would like with them, also a good tip is to squeeze some lemon juice over the potatoes when you take them Out of the oven

If you don't like the low fat spray just use 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil instead, this will add about 30 calories to the meal

Chicken for home made kebabs

The best way to get a good flavour on chicken is to marinade, this will make your chicken much tastier. The longer you marinade for the better the flavour

Calories per serving is 240 per pitta

I discovered this as an alternative to a take away chicken kebab

1 Wholemeal pitta bread per person

1 chicken breast per person diced

Juice of 1 lime

1 crushed clove of garlic

1 teaspoon of chilli powder

1 teaspoon of paprika

Salt and pepper

1 chopped chilli

Combine the lime juice, garlic, chilli, paprika, chilli powder and salt and pepper in a bowl then mix together

Add the chicken and leave to marinade, preferably over night

Spray a baking tray with light oil spray

Place the chicken in the tray and season with salt and pepper

Put into an oven at 200c and cook for 20 to 30 mins

Warm a pitta bread per person and split and fill with the chicken

Serve with some salad and the chilli sauce and as an alternative to chips my healthy wedges

Chilli sauce for kebabs etc

Home made chilli sauce to go with home made chicken kebabs or any other uses, we have had it in sandwiches and on steaks

1 tin chopped tomatoes

4 cloves of garlic

1 green chilli, I favour Birdseye chillis

Salt and pepper

1/2 a chopped onion

1/2 teaspoon of sugar

Put the garlic and chilli into a food processor and blitz

Add the onion and blitz again

Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper and sugar

Blitz the lot until you have a smooth sauce

Taste and season if required

If you want it hotter add more chillis

Pork tenderloin fillet with a mustard and herb crust

This should serve four and will be around 270 calories per portion

One pork tenderloin fillet around 0.5kg in weight

2 tsp of mustard, I prefer Tewksbury mustard

2 cloves of garlic

1 green chilli

I Wholemeal pitta bread - left out overnight to go dry and stale

1 tablespoon of olive oil

handful of basil

Juice of one lemon

Salt and pepper

Split the pork fillet so it open like a book, keep as one piece of meat but so you can stuff the inside

Seal the pork fillet in a pan, seasoning with salt and pepper and place onto a baking tray with split facing upwards

In a bowl add a third of the basil, some salt and pepper, one crushed clove of garlic and a tablespoon of mustard

Stir mixture up then poor into the split pork

Hold the pork together and flip over so that the split side and contents are face down on the baking tray

Add the clove of garlic and chilli into a food processor with the pitta bread broken up and blend

Add the remaining basil and another tablespoon of mustard and blend again

add half a tablespoon of olive oil and the juice of half a lemon and blend again until it is like a paste

spread this mixture over the top of the pork until it is covered in the crust

Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the top of the pork

Put into a pre heated oven at 190c for 30 mins, remove and rest for ten

Whole Tandoori Chicken

This is a traditional tandoori recipe slightly adapted and does not contain the bright red food colourings that our take always use

The recipe has a two stage marinade and is for a whole chicken

I have tried this on chicken breasts and it worked just as well

The marinade process should be done over night but I have cooked it after a 5 hour soak and it was fine.

This should feed four and will be around 230 calories per serving

Stage one

1 whole chicken

¾ tsp turmeric

1 tsp chilli powder

2 tsp black pepper

2 tsp salt

4 tbsp white wine vinegar

Stage 2

150 ml Greek natural low fat yogurt

4 cm ginger

6 cloves garlic

2 green chillies

½ tsp garam masala

½ tsp cumin seeds

Stage one

Skin the whole chicken, not the most pleasant thing to do!

put the chicken in a roasting pan and score the flesh with a knife

Put the turmeric, chilli powder, pepper, salt and vinegar in a small bowl, mix well then use to coat the chicken on all sides

leave to marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes

Stage 2

Peel and grate the ginger, finely chop the chillis and garlic

whisk the yogurt in a bowl until smooth then stir in the ginger, garlic, chillies, garam masala

Toast the cumin seeds in a dry hot pan until they change to a more pink/red colour, be careful not to burn them

Grind them in a pestle and mortar or spice blender until a powder and add them to the marinade mix and give it a good stir

Spoon this mixture over the chicken until coated, leaving a little spare for the cooking. marinate overnight in the fridge

heat the oven to 200C

Roast the chicken in a preheated oven for about 1 hour 20 minutes. With the excess marinade spoon it over the chicken every 20 mins to keep it moist

Stuffed peppers

I created this recipe to give new life to bland rice and remove my hatred of brown rice compared to white

This recipe serves 4 Giving each person half a pepper

Calories per pepper are 150 calories

1 pepper per two persons, I prefer green but any colour will do

1 packet of Tilda brown basmati microwave rice

1 tomato finely chopped

1/2 green chilli finely chopped

1 clove of garlic crushed

Juice of half a lemon

Some chopped basil and flat leaf parsley, about a small handful

Salt and pepper to taste

Feta cheese - to taste, I use a dice sized piece for each person

Cut the pepper length ways through the stalk so that each pepper has some stalk at the top

Place on a greased roasting pan, I use low fat spray on mine

Microwave the rice and place in a bowl

Add the garlic, chilli, herbs, lemon juice, chopped tomato and stir

Crumble 2/3 of the feta in and stir again

Stuff the mixture into the peppers and crumble the remaining feta on the tops

Bake at 200c for twenty minutes until golden brown on top

You can play around with the herbs and spices, oregano is nice in them and I have used a pre mixed Greek spice mix and fajita spice mix as well

Guacamole

Also great with the chicken tacos recipe

2 very ripe hass advocados

Half a red onion finely chopped

Salt and pepper

Green chilli

Juice of 1 lime

Small handful of coriander

Put the chilli and half the red onion in a food processor or pestle and mortar and crush/blend until it forms a paste

Transfer into a bowl and add the advocados flesh, mash until semi smooth

Squeeze in the lime juice and season with salt and pepper

Add the rest of the onion and coriander

Stir and leave in fridge for 30 mins before serving

Roasted salsa

This is a great accompaniment to the chicken tacos

Around 50 calories in whole serving

6 very ripe tomatoes, you can use whatever you like, I prefer plum

Clove of garlic

Green chilli

Salt and pepper

Half an onion

Handful of coriander

Juice of half a lime

Get a heavy bottomed pan and put it on a high heat

Put ur whole chilli, tomatoes and garlic with its skin on in the pan and allow the pan to blacken the skin, turning when necessary

Once blackened cut the stalk off the chilli and remove the skin from the garlic and put in a pestle and Mortar or food processor

Crush or blend until you have a paste

Keep the skin on the tomatoes but cut in half and de seed them

Add to chilli and garlic paste and blend or crush

Put into bowl

Add the onion finely chopped

Add the juice of the lime and season with salt and pepper

Sprinkle in the chopped coriander and stir

Put in fridge for half an hour before serving

Wholemeal fruit scones

As a desperate attempt to find something that resembled chips but with very low fat content I came up with these

This is also great for making your carbs go further, as the potatoes are cut up it seems like you are getting more potato than you are

I have the basic recipe and then a few ideas further down to spice things up

calories per serving are 75 per 100grams

Pre heat an oven to 220c

2 new potatoes or 1 normal size potato per person

Low fat spray

Salt and pepper to season

Basic recipe

Cut the potatoes into quarters, do this length ways, do not peel

Spray and oven tray with low fat spray

Place the potatoes in the baking tray and season

Mix the potatoes around so that they are covered in the low fat spray

roast in oven for 20-30 mins

Chilli potato wedges

Same as above but when mixing the potatoes add 1-2 teaspoons of chilli powder

Garlic wedges

Add two cloves of garlic in their skin to the mixture, give them a bash before hand to let some of the flavours out but let them roast in their skins

Piri piri wedges

Sprinkle 1-2 teaspoons of ready mixed piri piri spices and mix

Basically add whatever flavour you would like with them, also a good tip is to squeeze some lemon juice over the potatoes when you take them Out of the oven

If you don't like the low fat spray just use 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil instead, this will add about 30 calories to the meal

Butter bean mash

I love this stuff swap this for mash potato when having sausages etc

Two tins of butter beans drained and rinsed

1 cup chicken stock (oxo cube)

Garlic clove crushed

Chilli chopped

Coriander chopped

Salt n pepper

1 teaspoon olive oil

Put teaspoon of olive oil in a pan and heat up

Throw in the beans and stir

Season with salt n pepper

Then add the garlic, small handful of chopped corriander and chilli and cook for a couple of minutes

Then add 3/4 of cup of stock save rest for the end

Cook on a simmer for 15 to 20 mins

Then mash

When mashing dribble in the rest of the stock till u have mash potato like consistency

Serves two to three depending on portion size

182 calories in whole thing

Why blog?

In a desperate attempt to loose weight and improve my over all health I took the drastic step to start dieting.

Many times in my life I have stepped on and off the diet wheel, experiencing the shame of being put on the scales at weight watchers, having the joy of counting food points or having a red or green day and failing miserably.

This time I decided to create my own diet and exercise regime whilst being very aware of calories in and calories out and refusing bland tasteless chemical ridden microwave meals or the joy of counting points and paying for the pleasure.

So this blog is going to contain some recipes, my diet journey and the exercise regime that I am being tortured with.

All calorie counts on the recipes are calculated using amounts given on packaging and a little mathematics.

Spicy Mexican chicken a great tacos or tortilla filler (355 kcal per serving)

This spicy chicken makes a great filler for tacos and tortillas.

check the calorie counts on boxes of pre made tacos as they can vary but are normally less than 70 kcal per tacos.

. Tortillas come in higher in calories and fat than tacos and again vary according to manufacturer.

The chicken mix is great served with a salsa or guacamole - recipes for both are to follow

1 tablespoon of olive oil

I large onion sliced

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Good pinch of ground spice

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Good pinch of ground cinnamon

2 bay leaves

2 cloves of garlic crushed or chopped

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

2 chillies chopped

2 chicken breasts - pre cooked and then shredded.

One lime juiced

Pre-cooking the chicken

Take two chicken breasts place in a foil parcel, this allows the chicken to steam, squeeze over some lime juice and season with salt and pepper. Seal parcel.

Place in oven (200c) for 20-30 minutes until cooked and leave to cool.

Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the onion, salt, pepper, sugar, spices and bay leaves.

Cook on a slow heat for 15 mins until the onions are soft and caramelised.

Then add the garlic and chillis and cook for 5 minutes

Add the tomatoes and cook for another 15 minutes.

Shred your chicken and add to the sauce mix, cook for a further 5 minutes.

You could also use left over chicken from a roast etc for this dish.

Cheese and chilli Wholemeal scone (160 kcal per scone)

This recipe should make around 6 scones

Preheat oven to 220c, fan oven to 200c, 425f or gas mark 7

200g/8oz Wholemeal flour. 3tsp baking powder.

1/4 tsp salt.

50g/2oz light butter/spread (I use lurpak light). 150mls/5fl 1% milk.

Handful of grated low fat cheese (or to taste).

1 Birdseye chilli finely chopped(or more if you like it hot!.

Add flour, baking powder, cheese, chilli and salt into a mixing bowl and give it a stir.

Add the butter and rub mixture in until butter is mixed in and the mixture is fine in consistency.

Add half the milk and mould into a ball adding more slowly until you have a well formed ball of dough Leave to rest for 15 mins.

Take handfuls of dough and mould them into scone shapes, they will grow a third in size.

Scatter some flour over a baking tray and place the scones on making sure they don't stick to the tray.

Wash the tops with a little 1% milk.

Pop in oven for about 10 minutes, tops will be hard and if poked with a knife the knife should come out clean.