I’ve included the points for the burgers on each plan below so you can work out your own points depending on how you have made up the burgers to your own taste. Personally I make it my burger up with a sandwich thin (3sp) and double burger (each topped with cranberry and brie) so I get lots of meat but not too many carbs. This would be 10sp on BLUE and PURPLE and 11sp on GREEN. I also serve with 0sp butternut squash chips.

Turkey, Brie and Cranberry Burgers

Makes 8 burger patties = 1sp per patty on BLUE and PURPLE, 2sp per patty on GREEN

Ingredients

450g turkey breast mince, raw

1 white onion, peeled and grated

1 small carrot, peeled and grated

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp garlic powder and dried sage

1 egg, beaten

50g panko breadcrumbs

1 tsp chilli flakes (optional)

To serve (add the relevant number of points – points below are the same on all plans)

Brioche bun (5sp) or sandwich thin (3sp)

25g brie per person (3sp per person)

2 tsp smooth cranberry sauce per person (2sp)

Salad to taste

Method

Pre heat the oven to 180c.

To make the burgers add all the ingredients except the egg to a large bowl and combine well. Season well with salt and black pepper, add the egg and combine. Separate the mixture into 8 evenly sized balls and then use your hands to shape into patties. Pop onto a tin foil lined baking tray. If you have time, rest the burgers in the fridge (covered) for half an hour.

If you are having BNS chips with the burgers, pop them in the oven on 180c (I season mine with salt, pepper, paprika and chilli flakes and spray with 1kal). Once the chips have been in the oven for 25 minutes, add the burgers to the oven and cook for a further 20-25 minutes (until cooked through)(turn the BNS chips too).

Once everything is cooked, remove the burgers from the oven and begin to assemble however you fancy. I have a doubler so I take a bun/thin, add a few salad leaves dressed with balsamic or lemon juice and top with one burger. Spread over 1 tsp of cranberry sauce (you can warm this in the microwave for 20 seconds to make it a little more spreadable if needs be) and add half (12.5g) of the brie. Then add the next burger, another tsp of cranberry sauce and the other 12.5g of brie. Add the burger/thin top and give a bit of a squish.

Serve with BNS if you are having them.

Enjoy!

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My recipe keeps the middle of the eggs a little runny so if you prefer your eggs well done, cook the eggs for a minute or two longer in the boiling water.

Indian Scotch Egg 

Makes 6 – 4sp per scotch egg

Ingredients

For the eggs

7 x free range eggs (I use Clarence Court Burford Browns)

8 x lean turkey sausages, meat removed from skins (I used Sainsbury’s own)

½ tsp each cumin powder, ground coriander, curry powder, garam masala

¼ tsp each garlic granules and onion granules

50g panko breadcrumbs mixed with 1tsp paprika

2 tbsp plain flour seasoned with a pinch of salt and pepper

To serve

Salad leaves

½ red onion, peeled and sliced soaked in 1 tbsp white wine vinegar

½ tsp cumin seeds

Juice of ½ lemon

6 tbsp fat free natural yoghurt mixed with ½ tsp of mint sauce

Method

Preheat the oven to 180c.

Pop the eggs into a saucepan of cold water. Bring the water to the boil and then reduce to a simmer for 4 minutes. Remove the eggs from the pan and place into ice water for 10 minutes (this will keep the eggs nice and runny in the middle). Once the eggs are cool, carefully peel the eggs and discard the shells.

While the eggs are cooling prepare the meat. Pop the sausage meat in a bowl and add the cumin, coriander, curry powder, garam masala, garlic and onion granules. Season with salt and pepper and combine well. Split the sausage meat into six even portions.

Next take three bowls. In one add the seasoned flour, in the next one, one beaten egg, and in the other the paprika breadcrumbs.

Take a baking tray, spray with 1kal. Put a small sheet of cling film on a chopping board.

Repeat the below process with each egg.

1. Coat the egg in flour
2. Take a portion of the sausage meat, place on the right hand side of the cling film. Cover with the left hand side of the clingfilm and then use the heel of your hand to flatten the meat so it is thin and wide enough to wrap around the egg.
3. Peel the meat away from the cling film and wrap the egg in the sausage meat (try and make sure there are no gaps)
4. Coat in the beaten egg
5. Coat in the breadcrumbs
6. Place the egg on the baking tray, spray with 1kal and repeat with the other 5 eggs.

Once all eggs are assembled, place in the oven for 25 minutes until the eggs are crisp and golden on the outside.

Serve with salad leaves, red onion (soaked in a little white wine vinegar), a sprinkle of cumin seeds, a dash of lemon juice and some minted yoghurt (mix natural yoghurt with ½ tsp of mint sauce).

Enjoy!

The post Indian Scotch Egg – 4sp first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.

This recipe makes 24 small parcels however if you fancy making them as a starter for Christmas Day you could make them twice the size and only make 12. They would be 4sp instead of 2sp each.

These are best served hot as, once they start to cool down, the filo pastry can go a little soft. Still delicious but the crispyness of the pastry is lovely too. If you are making for a party contribution, make them up at home and take them with you uncooked. Then quickly cook them at the party for maximum oooooo’s.

I made these and took them along to class last week and they went down a storm. They are so simple to make and feel like a real treat for only 2sp. The perfect treat to take along to any festive party to make sure you can eat and stay on track!

Turkey, Brie and Cranberry Bites

Makes 24 = 2sp each (flex)

Ingredients

150g filo pastry (from a 220g pack)

500g 2% fat turkey mince, raw

3 spring onions, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely minced

1 chicken stock cube (to be crumbled so not a stock pot)

Grating of nutmeg

1 small orange

5 tbsp cranberry sauce

100g brie, diced into 25 cubes

Salt and pepper

80g lightest lurpack

Method

Preheat the oven to 180c and line a large baking tray with baking paper.

Take a large bowl and add the turkey mince, spring onion, garlic, crumbled stock cube, a little grating of nutmeg and the zest of the small orange. Pop 4 tbsp of the cranberry sauce into the microwave for 30-40 seconds so it melts and add to the bowl. Season well with salt and black pepper. Mix everything together until well combined and pop to one side.

Lay the filo pastry out on a chopping board (one sheet on top of another) and cut all the sheets into 9 equal sized squares. You will only need 6 of the square piles so save the others for another day. Cover pastry with a tea towel (you want to work quite quickly as the filo can dry out quickly and go crispy making it difficult to work with).

Pop 80g of light butter in a bowl, microwave for 20 seconds to melt and pop on the side with a pastry brush.

Pop the brie cubes in another bowl and get ready to assemble.

Take one square of pastry, brush with a little butter, add another square on top of it to form a ‘star’ shape, brush again and then top with a third. Add a heaped tsp of the turkey filling and push a cube of brie right into it (the meat should surround the cheese to stop it spilling out the pastry when cooking). Fold the corners of the pastry in to the centre to formal a little parcel, sealing with a little more butter.

Place each parcel on the baking tray. Repeat 23 times to make 24 parcels in total. All parcels should have a little butter on top before they go in the oven.

Pop the baking tray in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the pastry goes golden, the turkey mince is cooked through and the brie has started to melt.

Finally, mix 1 tbsp cranberry sauce with the juice of the small orange. Pop in the microwave for 30 seconds to melt the cranberry sauce and stir both together to form a loose dipping sauce.

Serve hot with either the dipping sauce in the centre or drizzled over the top. Finish with a little orange zest over the top (not essential but looks pretty!).

Enjoy!

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Having savvy ways to use up leftovers is not only way the perfect way to keep your portions under control on the big day, but it will also save you a lot of time and money at a manic (and frankly rather expensive) time!! The lovely Asian salad is one of my favourite ways to use up left over Christmas Day turkey. Its packed with flavour and lovely and light and healthy. Best of all, its only 2sp. The perfect Boxing Day lunch!

This fabulous recipe was featured in the December issue of Weight Watchers magazine so if you have a copy, you can find it in there too!

If you fancy making this lovely salad even more filling, you could also fry up some egg noodles and spilt between the bowls for an extra 5sp per person.

Asian Turkey Salad

Serves 4= 2sp each (Flex)

For the salad

200g leftover turkey, white meat, shredded

1 tsp Chinese five spice

½ tbsp honey

Zest of ½ lime

1 carrot, shredded

3 spring onions, shredded

½ cucumber, peeled and cut into matchsticks

150g cherry tomatoes, halved

Small bag of mixed salad leaves

Handful of beansprouts

Handful of fresh coriander and mint, roughly chopped

20g peanuts, roughly crushed

Dressing

Juice of 1 lime

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tsp fish sauce

½ tsp light brown sugar

1 tsp each of fresh ginger and garlic, grated

Small splash of water

Method

Spray a frying pan with low calorie cooking spray, heat and add the turkey. Sprinkle over the 5 spice, fry for a few minutes until the meat is heated right through and then add the honey and lime zest. Toss into the turkey, fry for 2 minutes more and then remove from the heat.

Blanch the beansprouts in boiling water for 1 minute, drain and refresh under cold water. Pop into a large bowl.

Add the rest of the salad ingredients, expect the peanuts, to the large bowl and toss together.

In a small bowl, combine the dressing ingredients. Mix until the sugar is dissolved (a minute or so). Then pour the dressing over the salad mix.

Share the salad between four bowls, top with the hot turkey and finish with a sprinkle of crushed peanuts.

Enjoy!

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The recipe for the ‘stuffing’ below makes twice as much as you need to stuff the courgettes. I simply saved half the mixture until the next day and then stuffed some of the lovely long sweet mirabella peppers instead. If you do want to try the peppers instead of the courgette simply slice the pepper in half longways, deseed and pop onto a baking tray. Roast at 180c for 15 minutes then stuff and pop back into the oven for 10 minutes to melt the cheese.

If you are veggie, feel free to omit the turkey and replace with an additional puy lentils (remember to add the extra points)

Turkey Stuffed Courgette Boats 

Makes 8 ‘boats’ – Serves 4 (2 ‘boats’) each  = 2sp per person (Flex)

Ingredients

4 x large courgettes, halved

Make the stuffing with the below (save half the mixture for another day)

500g turkey breast mince, raw

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

Pack of mushrooms, diced

1 tsp oregano, paprika and crushed chillies

1 x 400g carton passata

1 tbsp red wine vinegar (or balsamic vinegar)

1 x 250g pack of ready to eat Merchant Gourmet Puy Lentils

3 tsp green pesto (basil if you can get it)

To finish

60g half fat mozzarella, grated

10g parmesan, grated finely

Salt and pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 180c.

Take each courgette and slice in half length ways. Using a small teaspoon, scoop out the centre of the courgette leaving a small 1/2cm border around the edge. Pop the courgette onto a baking tray or in a baking dish and pop to one side.

Heat a large frying pan to a medium heat, spray with 1kal and then fry the onions, peppers and garlic for 3-4 minutes until the onions start to soften. Add the turkey mince and break into small pieces with the back of the wooden spoon. Add the oregano, paprika and crushed chilliies, season and combine and cook for 5-6 minutes until the turkey is cooked through.

Pop the lentils in the microwave for 1 minute and then add to the mince with the passata, red wine vinegar and green pesto. Stir and leave to simmer until the sauce is simmering and nicely combined. Taste a little and add more crushed chillies if you like it spicy.

Remove from the heat and then add the lentil mixture to the ‘boat’ you made in the courgette, pressing down so it fills the corners nicely. Top with the mozzarella and Parmesan. Cover with tin foil and then pop in the oven for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes remove the tin foil, pop back in the oven for a few minutes to let the cheese go a little crispy.

Serve with a fresh green salad dressed with a squeeze of lemon.

Enjoy!

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When trying to think of a new recipe to use this lovely mince in, I thought what could be better than pairing it with my ultimate food obsession at the moment, AVOCADO!

The result made for a delicious, moist and filling treat at only 1sp/94kcals per burger pattie. I doubled mine up and added a few accompaniments (see below) so the total for this huge burger was only 6sp (around 350kcals)

You could also serve this with a large salad and without a bun if you fancy. This would reduce the points even further.

Turkey Avocado Burger

Ingredients

For the burgers

Makes 10 burgers = 1sp/94kcal per burger (Flex)

500g lean turkey breast mince (2% fat)

1 medium avocado, mashed (about 100g avocado flesh)

30g fresh parmesan, grated

Handful fresh coriander, finely chopped

1 tsp onion powder and garlic salt

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Zest of 1 lemon

30g panko breadcrumbs

Salt and pepper to taste

For the lemon mayonnaise

Serves 2 = 1sp /31kcal per person

2 tbsp lighted mayonnaise

2 tbsp lightest crème fraiche

Zest of 1 lemon and juice of ½ lemon

To accompany

½ red onion, cut into round slices

Handful of cherry tomatos, quartered and mixed with 1 chilli, handful of chopped coriander and juice of half a lemon (0sp)

Lettuce leaves

Sriracha hot sauce

2 x Warburton’s thins (3sp/99kcal each)

Method

Pre heat the oven to 180c.

Pop all the ingredients for the burgers into a large bowl, get your hands in there and combine well. Shape the mixture into 10 burger patties and pop onto a baking tray lined with tin foil. Spray with low calorie cooking spray and pop in the oven for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile make/prepare the accompaniments. For the mayo, mix everything together in a small bowl. Then lay out the rest of the burger assembly ingredients ready so that it is quick and easy to assemble when the burgers are cooked.

You can assemble these burgers however you fancy but I started with half a Warbie thin on the bottom, topped this with a little Sriracha sauce, then a large lettuce leaf, then the first burger, a small dollop of the lemon mayo, the second burger, more lemon may then the onion and cherry tomato mix. I then topped it with the other half of the Warbie thin.

The first time I made this I served it with a large side salad and 3sp worth of the Uncle Ben’s Quinoa and Wholegrain rice topped with some more Sriracha sauce. The second time I served it with some cumin seasoned butternut squash chips for 0sp. Each was lovely but the BNS wedges are probably better if you have less points left for the day.

Either way, build your burger and enjoy while its hot!

The post Turkey and Avocado Burgers – 1sp first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.

This is a great recipe if you are a bit short on time and even a bit low on points. You get a tasty meal, packed with flavour and lovely and filling. If you don’t have time to stuff the peppers you could just add more pepper to the mince mixture and have yourself a rice bowl. I’ve tried both stuffed into peppers and just in a bowl with some salad. Both are delicious.

I served both versions with a big green salad with fresh coriander and a tsp of half fat sour cream, guacamole and spicy salsa.

There are loads of cheats to this recipe. You can replace the spices with a fajita packet mix (I like discovery medium). You could also use lean beef mince instead of turkey mince but this would make it 8sp per person. You could even use microwaveable rice to make this even easier!

Mexican Stuffed Peppers

Serves 4 = 5sp per serving (Flex) 

Ingredients

8 x large peppers, whole, tops sliced off and deseeded (diced the tops up and pop to one side)

160g rice, dried

1 chicken stock cube

450g lean turkey breast mince, raw

1 onion, finely chopped

2 tsp cumin, ground coriander, paprika

1 tsp smoked paprika

½ tsp garlic granules, cayenne pepper and sugar

1 courgette, chopped into little chunks

Box of mushrooms, chopped into little chunks

Half a tin of chopped tomatoes (or 2 tbsp tomato puree and a splash of water)

Half a bunch of fresh coriander, roughly chopped

80g half fat mature cheddar, grated

Method

Pre heat the oven to 180c.

First pop your rice on to cook in a pan of boiling water, throw the stock cube in and stir so it dissolves. While the rice is cooking you can get on with the rest of the dish.

Pop your peppers (minus the top or ‘lid’ as my other half likes to call it), in the microwave for 4 minutes to soften.

Then, take a large frying, spray with 1kal and fry the onions for around 5 minutes until they start to soften. Then add the mince, fry for another two minutes and then add the spices and sugar and season well with salt and pepper. Fry for another two minutes and then add the courgette, left over diced pepper and mushrooms. Fry for another few minutes until everything has started to soften. Add the chopped tomatoes (or if using tomato puree, make a well in the centre of the pan, add the puree and water, stir and then combine with mince mix). Simmer until the rice is ready.

Drain the rice and then add to the mince mixture. Simmer for a minute or two so the rice combines nicely with the mince and sauce. The mince should be evenly distributed throughout the rice and the mixture not too watery. If any excess water, simmer until gone.

Stand the peppers upright into a baking dish and scoop the mixture into each until full. Top each pepper with 10g cheese and then pop into the oven for 15 minutes until the peppers are a little charred.

Serve with green salad with a sprinkle of fresh coriander. I also served mine with a tsp of half fat sour cream, guacamole and spicy salsa (don’t forget to add the extra points if you have these).

Enjoy!

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If you are on F&H, use the soft brown things instead of a bun and this will make the whole meal 2sp. If you are counting like me, feel free to use a thin if you prefer. I found these brioche burger buns in Aldi (4 for 99p!), did a quick calculation and they are a bargain for 5sp!

Ingredients

Serves 6 = 8sp (previously 8pp) each (This is for the whole burger, salsa and accompaniments suggested)

For the burgers

450g lean turkey mince

6 spring onion, very finely chopped

1 green apple, peeled and greated

Handful of fresh coriander, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and grated

1 tbsp Jerk Seasoning

1 egg

2 tbsp prepared bread crumbs

For the Mango Salsa

1 red onion, very finely chopped

1 red or orange pepper, very finely chopped

1 mango, finely diced

Large handful of fresh coriander, chopped

1 red chilli, finely chopped

Zest and juice of 1 lime

Accompaniments

Brioche buns or Warburton’s Soft Brown thins (1 per person)

Salad leaves

40g half fat mature chedder, finely grated with a sprinkle of jerk seasoning mixed in

100g avocado, thinly sliced

1 x Butternut Squash, peeled and cut into wedges

Method

Begin by par boiling the butternut squash (BNS) in salted water for 6-7 minutes. Drain and pop onto a baking tray sprayed with 1kal. Spread the BNS wedges out evenly, season with salt and pepper and a little jerk seasoning (you can also top with a tsp of breadcrumbs for an extra point). Pop in the oven on 180c for 45 minutes.

To make your burgers pop the spring onions, apple, coriander, garlic, jerk and egg into a large bowl. Get your hands in there and combine well. Season and add the breadcrumbs and mix in. Then shape the mixture into 6 burger patties. Put a slight dent into the middle of the burgers with your thumb to stop the burgers bulging up. Pop onto a baking tray and pop in the oven with the wedges (my wedges had been in 15 minutes at this point so the burgers went in for the last half an hour). At the last minute, pop on a little cheese and pop back in the oven for a minute to let it melt.

While the burgers and wedges are cooking prepare the salsa by literally popping everything into a bowl and giving a good stir.

Once everything is cooked, pop the burger/thin on the plate. Top with salad leaves, the burger, then a slice or two of avocado, then the salsa. Pop the lid on. Serve with the BNS wedges and a large extra dollop of the salsa.

Enjoy!

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