Saturday Kitchen

Once upon a time, me in the kitchen on a Saturday afternoon could herald some bloody joys, I tell you. A cheesecake. Sticky Toffee Pudding. Chicken Tikka Masala made with real double cream (none of this quark nonsense), and homemade peshwari naan bread. Bacon and cheese turnovers, with flaky puff pastry...

I digress. None of that calorific stuff here, not this weekend, anyway. Never say never again, but...

I. Want. That. Three. Stone. Certificate. On. Monday.

So, tea tonight, for me anyway, was Pinch of Nom's Kedgeree (recipe here). I love smoked haddock, I could sit and eat a plateful with some wholemeal bread and nothing else, but sadly it's only me. Same with salmon, nobody else in the house likes it. So, when Mr G is having something that he fancies and I don't, this is when I try and slot fresh fish in. He had Tandoori Chicken Salad.

I made plenty, so that I have some to take with me to the rugby in a small lunchbox tomorrow.

Mr G said that this lunchbox was appropriate for me... meaning, what, exactly?

Doesn't that look good? And syn free! Leaves me more syns for a Solero and chocolate, so, win!

I also made some Slimming World Sausage Rolls (recipe here). We first tried these a couple of weeks ago when a member brought some to a taster session at group. I could see the cogs in Mr G's head turning, they were so low syn, being made with filo pastry. He reckoned that he could make large sausage rolls for very few syns. And so he did. The recipe makes 6 large (think Greggs sized) sausage rolls. Using the same recipe as above, which made 24 mini sausage rolls at 1/2 syn each, the whole recipe totals 12 syns, that means each sausage roll is 2 syns each!!

See if any of these make it to Wrexham...

There are a couple of downsides. They're best eaten straight from the oven. As anything filo pastry so often does, they lose their crispiness once they start cooling. Slimming World sausages also - they're not the best, are they? However, they're nice in this recipe, when they're skinned. But they are £3 for six. So, the last couple of times we have made them, we have used Aldi Skinny Pork sausages. Slightly cheaper, half a syn each. This adds half a syn to each sausage roll. When compared to the syn value of a Greggs sausage roll, which range from 16.5 syns to over 20 syns depending where you look on the internet, 2.5 syns isn't too shabby, is it? They're also really filling too, and very tasty, which overrides the slight disappointment of soggy cold filo pastry.

And in preparation for our early start tomorrow morning, our customary Baked Full English. There are so many variations of this dish floating around, it's just a case of using your initiative.

I fry off some chopped bacon and mushrooms in some Frylight. I cook some sausage in the oven (so syns will vary on which sausage you use - one is generally enough, though. I used Aldi Skinny Pork sausage for half a syn) and then slice up when cool. Open a tin of baked beans, and I mix all this up and put into ovenproof dishes. Sometimes I add cherry tomatoes or baby plum tomatoes if I have some that need using up - like I had to do today as I was out of mushrooms. I cover with foil and put into the fridge overnight, and the next morning, I make a well in the middle of the dish, crack an egg into it and bake for about 20 - 30 minutes while I go for a shower. Multitasking at its finest!

It's surprisingly filling, and puts us both on until dinner. Even more filling than a traditional full English, and much less washing up.

Some people put cheese on theirs (what is this mania with putting cheese on everything??). Not my cup of tea, but each to their own.

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. Apparently. See what the scales say on Monday morning...