Here is a nice easy way to make Easter that bit more special! Make your own Easter Eggs!! There are loads of Easter Egg moulds out there big and small and everything in between! The mould I used from this was from eBay and cost only a few pounds. All I did was melt some chocolate and pour it in the mould! May I suggest the following; put in a thin layer first and allow to harden and then add the rest of your chocolate. This just makes sure that you have a nice outside layer to suport the heavy layer of chocolate which creates the thickness. I am going to use some coloured tin foil (eBay once again!) to wrap them and as you can see I will use the chocolates that I made earlier to fill it! Yum Yum! The mould I used here is 4.5 inches tall and it took 50g of chocolate to fill.
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Ingredients
- 1kg strawberries, hulled
- 1kg jam sugar
- juice of 2 lemons
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Method Wash, drain and hull the fruit and place into a non-metallic bowl. Sprinkle over lemon juice and sugar, gentle mix until fruit is well coated. Cover with a tea-towel and leave overnight. Tip the fruit and sugar into a heavy based pan. Heat gently until the sugar melts completely, don't let the mixture come to the boil before all the sugar has melted. Turn up the heat and boil hard for exactly 4 minutes. Take off the heat and do the saucer test*. If jam is not ready then return to the boil for another 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and swirl in the butter. Skim of any scum that forms. Cool for 10 - 15 minutes. Stir gently and pour into sterilised jars. Seal.
Keeps for approximately 3 months.
*The saucer test: place a suacer into the freezer for about 5 minutes. When ready for the test, remove from the freezer. Drop a spoonful of the jam onto the saucer. Leave for about 5 minutes. Run your finger through the mixture, if it wrinkles then the jam is ready.
My Recipe Features on Foodista!
It's nearly Easter and what is more Easter-esque than Hot Cross Buns! Toast 'em and get the kettle on....
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Ingredients
450g (1lb) flour (I used white bread flour but feel free to use whatever flour you like, even gluten and/or wheat free)
1tsp salt
7g of yeast
50g (2oz) caster sugar
1 1/2tsp mixed spice
150g (5oz) dried mixed fruit
325ml (11fl oz) lukewarm milk
1tsp white wine vinegar
2 medium eggs, lightly beaten
90ml (3 1/2fl oz) sunflower oil
Decoration
3 tbsp flour
3 tbsp milk
Glaze
4 tbsp milk
3 tbsp caster sugar
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Method
- Mix the flour, salt, yest, sugar, mixed spice and fruit in a bowl. Make a well in the middle and pour in the milk, eggs and vinegar. Mix with a wooden spoon until almost combined then work in the oil to make a soft, sticky mixture. Spoon into a bun tray and gently mould each bun with the back of a spoon.
- Cover the tray and leave in a warm place for about an hour for the buns to rise slightly. Make sure the cover doesn't touch the mixture. Towards the end of the rising time preheat the oven to 220oC/Gas 7.
- Make the decoration by combining the flour and milk in a bowl and put into a a piping bag. Pipe a cross loosely over each bun. Cook for 20 minutes until golden, well risen and firm.
- Make the glaze by heating the milk and the sugar. Brush the buns when they come out of the oven and leave to cool.
- Serve, toasted with butter.. yum yum!
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Hey!! Wonder where I had got to? Well, I am back and I have a great and SO easy recipe for you to try!
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Ingredients
3oz cream cheese
2 1/2 cups (10 oz) icing sugar
4-6 drops of food colouring
4-6 drops of flavouring
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Method
Mix the cream cheese and the icing sugar together. Start with four drops of food flavouring and then carefully add flavouring and colour as desired. Mix until the mixture is an even colour. You may wish to add more icing sugar if your mixture seems a bit thin. Melt the milk chocolate and half fill your moulds. (depending on your moulds you may want to experiment with the following method but this worked perfectly for me. Using a icing piping bag put a blob of the mixture into the centre of the chocolate (see picture below). Spoon a small amount of chocolate onto the top to seal and then place in the fridge. Turn out when set. Keep in the fridge until needed.
I used low fat cream cheese, just to try and convince myself that these are healthier! Put full fat os fine also. I had to go to eBay for the flavouring, I was struggling to find sweet flavourings but found an American company LorAnn Oils which do a great range and are very reasonably priced.
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Ingredients
- 3 medium potatoes
- 450g cod fillets
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 1 tbsp oil
- 40g margarine
- 40g flour
- 1/2tsp mustard
- 1 pt milk
- salt and pepper
- 30g low fat cream cheese
- breadcrumbs from 2 slices
- 2 tbsp sweetcorn
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Method
- Slice potatoes into rounds and par-boil.
- Arrange fish a serving dish and cover in the lemon juice. Cook on HIGH in the microwave for approx. 4mins until fish flakes easily.
- Lightly fry the onion until soft, add the sweetcorn and heat through.
- Melt the margarine in a saucepan and add the flour, stir to form a thick smooth paste. Add half the milk and stir until smooth. Add the rest of the milk and combine well.
- Add the cream cheese to the sauce and mix well.
- Flake the fish in the serving dish and add the onion and sweetcorn.
- Lay the potatoes on the top and pour over the sauce. Sprinkle on the breadcrumbs and bake in the oven (190oC) for about 20 mins, or until top is browned and it is piping hot.
- Serve
This recipe serves four and works out at 7 1/2 points per serving. As you can see we ate it with a nice fresh salad. Another little tip, I Love croutons with my salad so a healthy aternative, toast some bread, chop into cubes and crisp them up in a frying pan with a couple of sprays of cooking oil, season with salt and pepper! Yummy!!
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Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 55g caster sugar
- 1tbsp finely grated lemon zest
- 85g self-raising flour
- 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Selection of fruits of your choice - I used and apple, a satsuma and a kiwi
- 100g low fat yoghurt
- Icing sugar for dusting
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Method
- Preheat the oven to 220oC. Lightly grease and line the base of a 9 inch cake tin.
- Break the eggs into a bowl with the caster sugar and the lemon rind. Place the bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water and whisk until the bowl leaves a trail when it is dragged lightly across the surface. Remove from the heat and whisk until cool.
- Add the flour and stir very lightly, taking care not to overmix. Add the lemon juice and stir lightly then pour into the prepared cake tin. Tap lightly to remove any air bubbles.
- Bake for 8 - 10 minutes or until the top springs back lightly when pressed. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes before turning out, discard the paper.
- Prepare the fruit.
- Place the cake on a serving place, pour on the yoghurt and spread evenly. Arrange the fruit on top.
- Makes 10 slices.
We had this as a light pudding tonight and really enjoyed it. Definately going to try it again with summer berries. I am going to attempt a hot version soon so watch this space!! By the way for you Weight Watchers out there this worked out at 1 1/2 points per slice, the points may vary if you change the fruits however.
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Hey, another low fat recipe for you, I am serving this one with a Sweet Red Pepper Sauce and wholemeal Pasta! Enjoy!!
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Ingredients
- 1 red pepper
- 2 slices of wholemeal bread
- 500g turkey breast mince
- 1 egg, beaten
- 100g sweetcorn
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 400g can of chopped tomatoes
- 300g wholewheat pasta
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Method
- Preheat the grill to high. Cut the pepper in half and remove the core then griil, cut-side down for 5 - 8 minutes until the skin is blackened and blistered. Transfer to a plate, cover with a tea-towel and set aside to cool.
- Put the bread into a food processor and make fine breadcrumbs (you can, like me, use your hands to do this if you haven't got a food processor). Add the turkey mince, egg, sweetcorn, parsley and season. Whizz it again (or smoosh it up with your hands!!). Shape into 20 balls.
- Heat the oil in a frying papn and cook the onion for 5 minutes until soft. Add the can of tomatoes and then add half a can's worth of water. Bring to a simmer then carefully place in the meatballs.
- Skin the pepper, cut into strips and add to the pan. Part cover with a lid and simmer very gently for 20 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked through.
- Cook the pasta and serve.
This recipe serves four people (5 balls each).
Had this tonight and for once remembered to photo it before eating it!! We really enjoyed this and although it doesn't look much when you first serve it out it is definately filling!!
Happy Cooking Folks!!!
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I just wanted to share this amazing recipe for all you Weight Watchers out there. This recipe comes from the site: Gina's Weight Watch Recipes.
I just had to share with this you.
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Ingredients
1 dry box cake, any flavor
10 oz diet soda, any flavor
2 egg whites
Baking spra |
Method
Preheat oven according to box directions. Spray 9 x 13 pan.
Beat cake mix, diet soda and egg whites. Pour into pan.
Bake as directed on box, or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted.
Let cake cool about 10 minutes before cutting. Cut into 12 pieces. Top with fat free whipped cream if you wish.
You can also make cup cakes which would be only 1.75 points each!
Please check out the other recipes on Gina's Weight Watcher's Recipes!!
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Ingredients - Red pepper, deseede and chopped
- Onion, sliced
- 120g green beans
- 1/2 small cauliflower, broken into florets
- 2 carrots, thinly sliced
- 2 celery sticks, sliced
- 900ml vegetable stock, made from water and two cubes
- 4 tbsp curry paste, choose your own type
- Salt and Pepper
Method - Boil the vegetables in the stock, then simmer, covered for about 10 minutes. The vegetables shouldn't be soft.
- Drain the vegetables and add the curry paste, salt and pepper.
- Serve with rice and Raita
This is SO easy and smells wonderful. For those looking for points, this serves 4 people and each serving is 3 1/2 points (that is served with 60g of basmati rice). I have made this in advance and popped it in the freezer for quick tasty teas when we need them!!!
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Ingredients
- 150 ml low fat natural yoghurt
- 5cm of cucumber, finely chopped
- tbsp chopped fresh mint
Method
- Mix all ingredients together and chill.
- Serve with your curries as a great accompaniment.
Hey! I'd love to know if people are using my recipes!! If you are leave a wee comment on the recipes post! Also, why not head back and let me know how you got on!!?
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1 1/4 tsp yeast
550g (1 lb 4oz) white flour
2 tsp sugar
25g butter
1 1/2 tsp salt
360ml water
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This was another cheat in the bread maker for me - for those with a machine I am not sure how the usage varies but this required the XL Loaf setting, with basic bake!!
Method
- Preheat the oven to 210C/410F/Gas 6.
- Place the yeast and milk into a large bowl and whisk together.
- Add the flour and salt and mix with your hands to bring together as a soft, sticky dough.
- Melt the butter and pour over. Mix this into the dough with your hands, then cover the bowl and leave to stand for ten minutes.
- Grease your hands and a flat clean surface with olive oil. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead for ten seconds, then form the dough into a smooth round ball. Wipe the bowl clean and grease with olive oil, then return the dough ball to the bowl and leave for a further ten minutes.
- Repeat this ten-second kneading and resting process every ten minutes twice, then leave the dough to rest for 30 minutes.
- Grease a deep 12x19cm/5x8in loaf tin and dust with flour. Divide the dough into two equal pieces, shape into two balls and place side-by-side into the loaf tin. Cover with a cloth and leave to rise for one and a half hours, or until almost doubled in height.
- Brush the top of the loaf with a little milk and place into the preheated oven to bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and bake for a further 25-30 minutes, or until the top of the loaf is a shiny dark brown and the loaf has come away from the sides of the tin.
- Remove from the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.
- Incidentally use this recipe to make rolls by splitting the dough into balls and placing them on a greased baking tray before cooking!!!
Another FABULOUS loaf, this one was SO soft!!! Keep your laves in a bread bin if you have one or if, like us, you don't have a bread bin then wrap in some tin foil - keeps for ages!!
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Ingredients
1 mango
4 kiwi
4 mint leaves
350ml pineapple juice
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Method- Peel the mango and remove the stone. Slice the flesh into small cubes.
- Peel the kiwi and slice.
- Put the fruit, mint leaves and pineapple juice into a blender and blend until smooth.
This is really resfreshing. It makes two servings and in terms of weight watchers points it is 2 1/2 points per serving.Hey! I'd love to know if people are using my recipes!! If you are leave a wee comment on the recipes post! Also, why not head back and let me know how you got on!!?
While I am munching away on my lunch I shall share with you all a tasty recipe I created for my tea last night, sorry there is no photo but it smelled so good I was tucking in before I realised that I hadn't photoed it!!! For all the Weight Watchers out there, this works out at 4 1/2 points using a 1 point serving of cheese and a 2 point serving of bread (I cut mine kinda thick!) You can use as many mushrooms and garlic as you like, but you may have to up the cheese to fully coat them.) Ingredients Mushrooms (I used four), sliced 30g of low fat soft cheese 1 rasher of bacon, fat removed and diced 1 clove of garlic, crushed and chopped 1 slice of crusty bread (I will be putting up a recipe for this next!)
Method Use a couple of sprays of low fat oil. Fry mushrooms and garlic until soft. Add the bacon and continue to fry until cooked (cook it until it is how you like it, I prefer it just off crispy. Toast your piece of bread. Add the soft cheese to the mushrooms and keep on a low heat until the cheese is fully melted and the mushrooms are coated. Put the mushrooms on the toast. Munch!!
Tastes: AWESOME!!!!!
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Ingredients
- medium courgette, sliced
- 125g sweetcorn
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 red, green or yellow peppers, deseeded and sliced
- 350g passata
- 8 cherry tomatoes
- tsp Oregano
- 6 lasagne sheets
- 200g low fat soft cheese
- 100ml semi skimmed milk
- ground black pepper
Method
- Preheat oven to 190oC/GM 5/Fan Oven 170oC.
- Simmer courgette, corn, peppers, onions and garlic in a little boiling water for 5 minutes.
- Drain well and stir in the passata, cherry tomatoes and oregano.
- Spoon half the vegetables into a lasagne dish and cover with three lasagne sheets.
- Repeat.
- Beat together the soft cheese and the milk. Season and spread over the top sheets.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden and bubbling.
Really loved this, very tasty and only 3 points for all you weight watchers out there, so very healthy!!!! This recipe makes enough for 4 people, serve it with a nice green salad.
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Ingredients
- 120g Pasta
- 1 onion, chopped
- 200ml skimmed milk, boiling
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 70g peas
- 2 small tins of tuna
- 2 tbsp grated half fat cheddar
- 2 tbsp breadcrumbs
- Cherry Tomatoes, halved
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Method
- Cook pasta with the onion then drain and set aside.
- Make white sauce by boiling the milk and adding the cornflour, keep stirring until thick and smooth.
- Add the peas and tuna.
- Mix in the cheese and the pasta and onion.
- Transfer to an ovenproof dish and sprinkle with breadcrumbs, and parmesan (optional).
- Top with cherry tomatoes and grill until golden and crispy.
This recipe tasted great!! The above is for 2 people (WW Points of 8 per serving) but we found that we didn't eat it all, so there is some left!! Excellent!!!!
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Easy Strawberry Jam
