Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

This recipe makes a great healthier replacement for crisps/chips and other food you might like to munch on at parties.



Ingredients

pumpkin
seasoning (in this example: garlic powder, salt, pepper & mustard powder)
Fry Light (or other low calorie cooking oil spray)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200C.

2. Separate pumpkin seeds from the pumpkin. Rinse well and spread evenly on a baking tray.

3. Sprinkle lightly with salt, pepper, mustard powder & garlic powder. (Choice of seasoning can be varied.)

4. Bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes until the seeds are slightly crispy and a few on the edges are beginning to turn brown.



Use the leftover pumpkin for making Pumpkin Puree which is great to use in other pumpkin recipes. For example of what you can do with the left over pumpkin, see the other pumpkin recipes here at Skinny Dreaming Recipes, such as Pumpkin Soup and Pumpkin Pie.






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Easy Lasagna

I made this lasagna for dinner today and the whole family loved it! I used Quorn mince (vegetarian meat substitute for ground beef), but you can just as easily use turkey mince or extra lean beef mince.

(This is where writing up these recipes gets confusing for me. In the US, it's spelled "lasagna," but in the UK, it's spelled "lasagne." "Beef mince" in the UK is called "ground beef" in the US. And I don't know what the US version of Quorn mince is called.)

Serves 4 (generous servings).

Ingredients

12 Lasagna egg pasta sheets
1 package (300g) of Quorn mince
2 large onions, finely chopped
2 X 400g cans chopped tomatoes in tomato juice
1 pot (300g) fat-free or very low fat Cottage Cheese
84g low-fat grated cheese
2 tomatoes, sliced thinly
3 tbsp bolognese seasoning
Fry Light
salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Spray a glass rectangle pan with Fry Light.

2. Add Quorn mince, chopped onions, cans of chopped tomotoes, bolognese seasoning, salt & pepper into a frying pan and cook on a medium heat for 12 mminutes, stirring frequently.

3. Lay four lasagna sheets evenly across the bottom of the glass pan.

4. Layer 2/3 of the Quorn mince over the lasgana sheets in the pan.

5. Lay four more lasagna sheets across the pan on top of the Quorn mince mixture.

6. Pour cottage cheese over the top of this and spread it so it covers everything.

7. Lay last four lasagna sheets over the top, spread apart but touching.

8. Spread the last of the Quorn mice mixture across the top and then layer the slices of tomato across the top of it.

9. Sprinkle cheese over the top of the layers.

10. Bake at 180 degrees for 45 minutes/35 minutes in a fan assisted oven.

11. Serve and enjoy!

If using the grated cheese as a healthy extra, this dish is syn-free on green or extra easy. Add 6 syns if not using the cheese as a healthy extra.







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Chocolate Drizzle Angel Cake

This one is so simple to make!

Ingredients

1 box of Betty Crocker Angel Food Cake mix
1 box of Fat-free Sugar-free Jello Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix
skim (fat-free) milk

Directions:
1. Make cake in a rectangle pan as directed.
2. Cut angel food cake into tiny squares.
3. Put three tiny squares of angel food cake into individual glass bowls.
4. Make chocolate pudding as directed on the box.
5. Pour chocolate pussing over the chunks of cake in the bowls.
6. Refirdgerate for 5 minutes.
7. Serve.

Serves 16.

3 syns each.

Pepper Potato Quiche

Serves 4.

Ingredients

600g baking potatoes
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
2 large onions
8 medium eggs
1 pot Very Low Fat Sweet Chilli & Red Pepper Cottage Cheese
42g Low Fat Grated Cheese
Fry Light
Seasoning (to taste: I used hot chilli powder, salt & pepper)

Method

1.Preheat oven to 220. Lightly spray a large glass baking dish with Fry Light (or other low calorie oil spray).

2. Peel the potatoes and slice them into thin wedges. Boil for 15 minutes. Drain. Spread over the bottom of the glass baking tray.

3. Whisk the eggs up in a large bowl until thoroughly mixed together. Add the pot of cottage cheese and mix well. Mix in the seasoning.

4. Chop the peppers and onions into small chunks and add to the egg mixture.

5. Pour the egg mixture over the potatoes in the glass baking tray.

6. Bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle the low-fat cheese lightly over the top. Then continue to bake for another 15 minutes or until the cheese on top starts to turn golden brown.

7. Remove from oven and serve.

Potato Wedge Nachos

I love nachos, but the Doritos or other corn chips/crisps used to make them are counted as syns on the Slimming World plan that I follow. This is my solution. By using potato wedges instead of Doritos, I save on syns and still get to eat nachos!

Alternatively, you can just use potato skins instead of wedges.



Ingredients

900g / 1 lb. potatoes
1 can fat-free refried beans (regular or spicy)
1 pack Quorn mince (in the US: a ground meat substitute)
1 packet of Taco seasoning
salsa (to taste)
168g / 6oz. reduced fat grated cheese
Fry Light / low calories cooking spray

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 225F/110C.
2.. Wash and dice the potatoes into thick wedges and par-boil them for 10 minutes. Spray a large baking tray with Fry Light or any low-calorie cooking spray. Drain the wedges and spread evenly across the baking tray.

3. Bake for 45 minutes or until wedges start to turn golden.

4. While the wedges are baking, put the Quorn mince into a frying pan sprayed with Fry Light. Add 1/4 cup of water and the packet of Taco seasoning. Mix. Cover and cook for 12 minutes. Remove from heat.

5. Put the contents of the can of refried beans into a microwave safe bowl and heat in the microwave on high for 2 minutes.

6. Separate the wedges, when done baking, onto 4 plates. Top with the refried beans and then top with the taco mince.

7. Put 1/4 of the grated cheese on each plateful, and then top with desired amount of salsa.

Serves 4.

If making the salsa from scratch:
One syn per serving on Green or Extra Easy Days.



You can purchase the recipe card for this recipe here.

Healthy New York-style Meatloaf

This meatloaf was delicious and loved by everyone in the family when we tried it.



New York-style Meatloaf



Serves 4

Ingredients

500g/1lb 2oz extra lean minced beef
250g/9oz extra lean minced pork
1 red pepper, deseeded and very finely diced
8 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
4 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp English mustard
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
110g/4oz fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs
salt and freshly ground black pepper (I used Nature's Seasons.)
400g can cherry tomatoes, drained

To Serve:

chopped basil (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Place all the ingredients, except the cherry tomatoes in a large mixing bowl, seasoning well. Knead the mixture with your hands until well combined.

2. Line a medium-sized loaf tin with non-stick baking parchment and transfer the mixture to the tin. Bake in the oven for 1 ½ hours or until cooked through. The meat should shrink away the sides of the tin when cooked. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes, then turn out on to a baking sheet. Place the cherry tomatoes on top and return to the oven for 12-15 minutes. Garnish with the basil, if using. Carve the loaf into thick slices and serve.

Syns per serving
Extra Easy: 5
Original: 5
Green: 17 1/2

Spanish Orange Cake

Spanish Orange Cake

Serves 12.

Ingredients

For the cake:
4 eggs, separated
50g/2 oz golden caster sugar
5 tbsp artificial sweetener
150g/5 oz self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp finely grated orange zest
juice of 2 oranges

For the syrup:
zest of 2 oranges, finely grated into long strips
juice of 2 oranges
1 tbsp arrowroot
4 tbsp Splenda Brown Sugar Blend

To serve:
fresh raspberries (Robert and I decided, upon tasting the cake, that the raspberries didn't actually add anything to the taste and the cake would be just fine without them, so they are completely optional.)
long strips of grated orange zest

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/Gas 5. Line a 20cm/8in cake tin with non-stick baking parchment.

2. Place the egg yolks, caster sugar, sweetener, self-raising flour, baking powder and orange zest and juice in a bowl and whisk until thick and pale.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until softly peaked, then fold them into the egg yolk mixture. Spoon this mixture into the prepared cake tin and cook in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the cake is risen and firm to the touch. Leave to cool.

4. Meanwhile, place all the syrup ingredients in a small saucepan with 90ml/3 fl oz of water and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. When it starts to thicken, remove it from the heat.

5. Drizzle the syrup over the cake and decorate with the raspberries (optional) and grated orange zest. Cut into wedges to serve.

Syns per serving:
Extra Easy: 4
Original: 4
Green: 4







The first time Robert made this recipe, he added the egg whites instead of the egg yolks to the first part and then added in the yolks, but decided it was too late to salvage the cake. I hate waste, so I whisked two more egg whites together until they created soft peaks and then added them to the faulty mixture and baked it anyway in some glass casserole dishes. The result was a really dense, orange cake that my children LOVED. I cut it into squares and the kids consumed the entire thing, despite it not having a topping, very quickly and asked for more. It was like a thick, sweet, orange bread dessert.