Raw Healthy B Energy Balls AKA "Rod Balls" recipe by Emma

So everyone, and I mean everyone, seems to be on the raw food train at the moment. I have been happily munching away on most of the raw food/paleo/energy balls/bars etc etc for a while now and I am always a bit grumpy that I am "wasting" my syns on things that in my head should be healthy b. To me, a nakd bar is filled with things that are on the healthy b list and they are loads more nutritious than the hifi bars that are sold at group (don't get me wrong I loooove me a HiFi Light bar, the jam one is totes amaze as is the double choc) My other issue with this craze is price. I can't be doing with spending £1 on a bar of mushed up dates. I am a tight bugger at times. Anyway, I set about making my own balls (teehee... and yes, I will chuckle to myself every time I write balls)  

Right... the recipes (yeah, plural... you are welcome)  

Warning... the ingredients for this will be quite expensive but you can make loads!! And when I say whizz I mean with something quite powerful. I am using the mini chopper attachment to my kenwood mixer. If in doubt only put a few ingredients in a time, I don't want you to burn out any motors xx

HazelPecan Rod Balls*

*Rod Balls after the leg'd that is Rod Stewart and my ironic love of him

23 Hazelnuts (1 Healthy B)
11 Pecan Halves (1 Healthy B)
60g dried Apricots (1 Healthy B)
40g Dates (1 Healthy B)
1tbsp Sesame Seeds (1/2 Healthy B)
15g Chia Seeds (1/2 Healthy B)

I whizzed up the hazelnuts, the pecan halves. Then whizz up the dried apricots and the dates. Mix the nuts and the fruit together and then roll into Then rolled the mix into 15 balls and rolled them in either the sesame seeds or the chia seeds. 3 balls per healthy b. Voilà

ChocoCoco Rod Balls

23 Hazelnuts (1 Healthy B)
11 Pecan Halves (1 Healthy B)
120g dried Apricots (2 Healthy B)
1tsp Cocoa Powder (1syn)
2tsp Desiccated Coconut (3syns) 

Whizz up the nuts and then whizz up the apricots. Then mix the 2 things together with the cocoa powder and roll into 8 balls. Then roll the balls in the coconut. 2 balls for a healthy b +1 syn



Incrediballs Coffee Rod Balls

23 Hazelnuts (1 Healthy B)
48 Almonds (3 Healthy B)
80g Dates (2 Healthy B)
1/2tsp instant Coffee
1tbsp Ground Coffee

Whizz up the nuts. Whizz up the dates with the coffee and about a tbsp of boiling water. Mix the 2 mixes together and roll into 12 balls. Roll the balls in the ground coffee *these ones are absolutely incrediballs*

Pizza Style Quinoa by Emma

The big un before cooking

Evening all. Another recipes, ok then. Here's another adapted one. I have heard of a lot of pizza style things made on Slimming World and often thought "why not just have pizza" but then I thought having yummy quinoa in with the sauce sounded right up my street. I'd go as far as saying that not only is it up my street, it's parked in my drive. (I might have let that metaphor go a little bit far)

Anyway the recipe... This one is a little bit loosey goosey so feel free to embelish it with whatever you fancy...

Indiviual size before cooking

Pizza Style Quinoa

Serves as many as you like

1 HEA/6 syns per person

Per person

40g dried quinoa

80ml chicken stock

70g light mozzarella

1/2 tin of chopped tomatoes

2tbsp tomato puree

1tsp dried basil

1tsp dried oregano

1 clove crush garlic

Pizza toppings of your choice (I went with green peppers, sweetcorn, mushrooms, cooked bacon, onion, 1 syn of green olives and fresh tomatoes)

Rinse the quinoa in some cold water (this is important as it removes bitterness) and then cook in the stock for about 10-15mins on the hob (follow packet instructions or simmer the stock, bung in the quinoa and simmer until the liquid is absorbed)

Set the cooked quinoa to one side and use the same pan to make your "pizza" sauce. Simmer the chopped tomatoes, puree, basil, oregano and garlic and simmer for about 10mins. Take off the heat and stir through the quinoa. Then pour this mixture into a large ramekin or lasagne dish depending on how many you are cooking for.

Now layer on your toppings like you would on a pizza, top with the mozzarella and slices of fresh tomatoes. Then pop it into an oven preheated to about 200C and bake until the cheese bubbles and goes brown in places.

Serve with a salad or some chips or whatever you fancy really. Enjoy!

Cheese Burger Pasta Recipe

Hello. Long time no blog. 

I need some normal so I am going to blog a little bit when I can be bothered....

Right, I have been a little bit SW AWOL of late but I am back on in in a rather futile bid to take control of an area of my life and because gaining weight isn't going to help anyone. I have been fully on plan for the past week and I am feeling pretty motivated and positive.

I was unable to sleep in the wee small hours of Thursday morning and as a bid to ignore the ridiculously catching songs on Schools Radio on BBC Radio 4 (yes, I could have turned it over or off but that would have involved getting out of bed and I was cold) so I was trawling through the internet. I stumbled across a recipe for cheeseburger pasta and my saliva glands went into overdrive. I wanted it in my life. Cheese burgers I love. Pasta I also love. Put those 2 together, it just sounds proper fit. I had a good old brainstorm the following day about how to make it SW friendly as the kiddies were napping (yeah, yeah, it would have been a good idea for me to nap but food is sometimes more important than sleep) and here is what I came up with. I had it for dinner tonight and it was totally lush. Please try it. Trust me, you need it in your life.

Cheese Burger Pasta

Makes 3 portions (large portions, it could be split into more)

Per person it is 1HEA +1.5syns

or 7.5syns if not using the cheese as your HEA

2 onions, diced

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

250ml chicken stock

250g less than 5% fat beef mince

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

10 light cheese singles (3 HEA's +2 syns)

4 tbsp Tomato Ketchup (2syns)

2-6tsp English Mustard Powder

3 portions of cooked pasta

6 gherkins, chopped

Cook the onions and garlic in frylight with the stock until soft. Add the beef mince and stir until cooked. Throw in the tin of toms and bring to the simmer. Chuck in the cheese singles, ketchup, mustard and half the gherkins and cook until the cheese is melted. Stir through the cook pasta and the rest of the gherkins. Serve. Enjoy. Thank me later.

(next time I will be adding grated carrot and some mushrooms too)

Incrediballs Curried Butternut Squash and Beetroot Soup by Emma

I love butternut squash but sometimes I find it a bit blah, like it is missing something. It is a brilliant ingredient and it is really good for you too, bonus! It is really high in vitamin A and a great source of fiber.

Right the recipe...

Roast a whole butternut squash. First off, don't waste your time and potentially, your fingers by peeling the thing. Don't bother, there is no point. Just chop it into 4 chunks, scoop the seeds out and roast for about 30 - 45 mins. Now you can either let the butternut squash cool down and then peel off the skin or just leave the skin on, totally up to you! Personally, I leave it on. Pop the butternut squash into a blender with 2 tbsp of curry powder, 2 cooked beetroots (not pickled ones) cover with vegetable stock and whizz until smooth. Cook and enjoy. This recipe is synfree!  I served mine with some cheese, sliced ham, roasted vegetables and scan bran.

Thanks for reading xx