SW - American style pancakes

These are great, they feel and taste real but they only have half a syn. I've had them with fruit and yogurt and bacon and maple syrup. Both of which were delicious.

American Style pancakes

Makes 4 pancakes (serves one at breakfast)
1 syn on all plans if you count the ready brek as a healthy extra B choice. Otherwise 7 syns.

1 170g tub Total 0% fat Greek yogurt
0.5 tsp vanilla extract
2 meduim eggs
30g ready brek
0.5 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp sweetener 
0.25 tsp salt
Fry Light

1. Mix the yogurt, vanilla extract and eggs together in a bowl.
2. Add the dry ingredients and mix well
3. Put a frying pan over a medium heat and spray well with fry light
4. Put a heaped tbsp of the pancake mixture in the pan and spread it out a little with the back of the spoon 
5. After a couple of minutes when there are bubbles bursting on the top of the pancake turn it over
6. Cook the other side for a further two to three minutes
7. Repeat until there is no mixture left

The pancakes can be served with a range of toppings. American style with bacon and maple syrup (2.5 Syns per tablespoon) works well as does fruit with fat free yogurt or fromage frais (Syn free on all plans).

Slimming World - Beef in Oyster Sauce

Having lost weight while I was pregnant with Ivy I'm back on Slimming World to keep the momentum going. I'd like to get down to 10 stone (2lb lost, two and a half stone to go...). Because of this I'm looking at my existing recipes and tweaking them where necessary to be Slimming World friendly. This is the first of them:

Beef in Oyster Sauce

Makes 2 portions. 2 Syns on Extra Easy or Original

200g Steak, all visible fat removed
3 tbsp Oyster Sauce
2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
0.5 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Dried Chili Flakes
200g Leafy Green Vegetables (I like Pak Choi or Pointed Cabbage) 
Fry Light

 Boiled jasmine rice to serve

1. Hammer the beef flat (I do this by putting it under some cling film and hammering it with my rolling pin) and then cut into ribbons.
2. Put the beef in a bowl with two tablespoons of the oyster sauce, the soy sauce, sugar and chili flakes to marinade. About 20 minutes is enough 
3. Chop the green veg into ribbons.
4. When the beef is marinaded spray a non stick wok with fry light and turn the heat right up. Add the beef and it's marinade and stir fry until it's cooked to your liking.
5. Take the beef from the wok and put to one side for a few minutes
6. Put the green vegetables into the wok with the remaining tablespoon of oyster sauce and stir fry until cooked to your liking. You may need to add another spritz of fry light before adding the green vegetables to stop them sticking.
7. Add the beef to the green vegetables and combine
8. Serve immediately with boiled rice.

This can be made in several variations. So far I've tried it with chicken or duck instead of the beef both of which work well.

Leftovers Pie

For dinner tonight I made a pie with the Christmas leftovers. And very nice it was too.

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Serves 6

1 leek (or a medium onion)
1 large carrot
1 tin sweetcorn
About 300g leftover meat (I used a mixture of goose and ham as that's what I had left over)
1 tub mushrooms
1 tbsp olive oil
1 glass wine (what ever you have open)
1 large mug stock (from a cube if you want)
1 tbsp cornflour
1 sheet pre-rolled puff pastry

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 7
2. Slice the leek and dice the carrots and the mushrooms
3. In a large heavy bottomed pan saute the leeks, carrots and sweetcorn in the olive oil over a low heat
4. Add the meat and the mushrooms and stir regularly until the mushrooms are cooked. If you have any stuffing left you could add this too.
5. Add the wine and the stock. Simmer until the liquid has reduced by half.
6. Put the cornflour in a mug of water and add a couple of tablespoons of water. Stir this well
7. Stir the cornflour mix into the pan. Keep stirring until the sauce thickens
8. Put the pie filling into a large oven proof dish (a lasagna dish is perfect)
9. Cover the pie filling with the puff pastry sheet
10. Put the pie in the oven for 20 mins
11. Serve with mashed potatoes and veg

Johnson Beharry VC

Perhaps once in a generation there comes a man whose story is so extraordinary that people who hear it find it hard to comprehend.

I've just been rereading "Barefoot Soilder" the autobiography of Lance Corporal Johnston Beharry, the first living recipient of the Victoria Cross in over 40 years. He is just such a man.

For those of you who don't know the Victoria Cross is the highest military award in Britain and it is only awarded for extreme valour. Only 13 have been awarded since the end of the Second World War, the majority of the posthumously

What makes Beharry's story so extraordinary is the simple down to earth way in which it is told. He speaks of his actions in the theatre of war as if he did only what he had to do, only what anyone would have done. And yet there is nothing simple or ordinary about his actions. I find it hard to believe that there are many 'anyone's out there who would have acted as he did.

It is a truly amazing story. I highly recommend it.

'Barefoot Soldier' on Amazon

Beef in Oyster Sauce

This is another in the series of quick and easy recipes I've been writing down for my husband to cook when I'm away with work. The quantity below feeds the two of us and our little girl.

8oz steak
4 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cabbage
1 tsp chilli flakes (or to taste)
Oil for frying

Hammer the steak flat (I find the best way to do this is to put it in a plastic bag and batter it with a rolling pin) and then cut it into bite-size strips.

Put the strips into a bowl with 3 tablespoons of the oyster sauce, the soy sauce and the sugar. Give everything a good stir so that the steak is evenly coated and leave it to marinade while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Shred the cabbage and give it a good wash. I find that a white cabbage is best for this dish but any cabbage will do. The recipe which was the inspiration for this one used Bok Choi but most of the time that's too expensive for me to use when cabbage works so well.

Add the oil to a wok and turn the heat up as high as it will go. Because you are going to be using such high heat you need an oil with a high burning point. Groundnut oil or sunflower oil work best. Avoid olive oil or butter as they will burn.

When the oil is smoking hot add the beef. Keep it moving in the pan until it is cooked through. Remove the beef to a plate for a minute and put the wok back on the heat. Add the shredded cabbage and the chilli flakes. Toss these until the cakage starts to wilt at the edges the add the remaining oyster sauce. When the sauce is well mixed in return the beef to the pan for a couple of tosses. Make sure everything is piping hot.

Serve immediately with some rice. We like Vee Tee Jasmine rice. One pot serves us all and it only takes 2 minutes in the microwave making this a very fast meal. I can get it to the table in less than 15 minutes which is great at the end of a busy day.

Lotte's new scarf

Every year my Mum and I go to the knitting and stitching fair at Alexandra Palace. This year's was last weekend. At every show I buy myself some wool and some needles and knit myself a 'show scarf'. This year instead of knitting a scarf for myself I knit one for my little girl (She's 20 months old). I used the remnants to knit a matching scarf for her favourite teddy.

The finished articles look like this:

They were knitted using two balls of Sirdar Funky Fur Magic wool on five millimeter needles.

For the child's scarf cast on 30 stitches and knit in garter stitch until it's the length required. In this case I knitted 15 stripes with a couple of additional rows on either end.

For Lotte's scarf I cast on 10 stitches and also knit in garter stitch. Basically I just kept on going until it was long enough to tie around her neck.

The only took a couple of evenings to knit and I found the wool easy to knit with. I'm not sure that I'd like to work a more complicated pattern with it though as it was hard to count how many stitches you had on the needles due to the fur sticking out everywhere.

Easy Tandoori Style Chicken

Alan has asked me to write down some easy recipes that he can make while I'm away during the week. So here's the first.

2 skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 medium onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 inch of ginger (optional)
2 tablespoons yogurt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon paprika

This is a double marinaded chicken dish. The first marinade is the lemon juice and salt. Sprinkle the salt liberally on both sides of the chicken breast. Then place it in an oven proof dish and sprinkle the lemon juice over it. Then put this to one side while you work on the second marinade.


The base of the second marinade is grated onion. Since I can't face the idea of grating onion I put it, the garlic and the ginger in a chopper (or a blender) and let it do all the work. Then add it and the rest of the ingredients to a bowl and give it a good stir. Once they are well combined spread the marinade on both sides of the chicken breasts and return them to their oven proof dish. This should be covered in cling film and put in the fridge for at least an hour, over night works better.

When you are ready to cook the chicken preheat the oven to 200C (Gas Mark 8). Place the chicken at the top of the oven and leave for 20 minutes. At the end of this time take the chicken out and check that it's cooked right through. If not pop it back in the oven for another 5 minutes just to be sure.

I like to serve it with rice and a salad.


This method of marinating will work equally well with other cuts of chicken or with lamb chops or steaks. It's important that there is no skin between the marinade and the meat so make sure that you pick skinless chicken. If you use lamb chops then you could also cook them under the grill.