Review: Weight Watchers Garlic and Herb Chicken Bag 'n' Bake

I eat a lot of chicken. Not every day, but at least 3 times a week, so I'm always looking for new ways to cook it without adding too many ponits/calories. I spotted these new bag 'n' bakes at my meeting this week and for 85p I thought I'd give it a go. I'e cooked with these baking bags before, the idea is that you put your ingredients, meat, veg etc in the bag, add the seasoning and bake, and you end up with moist juicy meat, no added fat and great flavour, and they do work! Chicken breasts come out much less dry than they would simply baked with a bit of foil over the top, and have a nice herby/barbeque/cajun or whatever seasoning.

The one I bought comes in a little box, which contains a favouring sachet, the baking bag and little tag to seal it with. It serves 2 and has a ProPoints value of 0!

The instructions (printed inside the box, took me a while to find them!) say to add 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts and 250g veg to the bag, along with the seasoning sachet. I used more veg than this because I wanted some leftover roast veg for the next day (courgette/zuccini, red onion, red and yellow bell pepper). I also added some new potatoes, so I wouldn't have to cook them separately.

This is what it looked like with everything in - probably too full!

 Seal it up with the tie provided, pierce a couple of holes in the top and put it on the bottom shelf of the oven (the bag mustn't touch any part of the oven) for 45 minutes at 180/360/gas 4. I stuck it in, went for a run leaving Mr FGS strict instructions to leave it alone unless it exploded and it was ready when I got back!

It was very tasty, and I'll definitely try it again, but there are a few changes I'd make. because I used so much veg, and cooked the potatoes in the same bag, the flavour wasn't as intense as I'd have liked. So next time I'd either add a clove of garlic to the bag, or cook the potatoes separately. I'd also change the veg up a bit - on the box it shows baby sweetcorn and cauliflower, which would be tasty! I get bored of the same veg sometimes, and I think roasted baby sweetcorn would be nice.

A medium (165g) chicken breast is 4ProPoints, and we had 200g new potatoes which is also 4PP. All in all 8 points for the whole meal is reasonable, and really I didn't need all of the potatoes. I will definitely buy this again!

What do you think? Have you ever tried a baking bag? What do you do to pep up chicken?

Hx

Recipre of the week - Pork and mushroom "burgers" with spinach salad and crispy potatoes

Hi loves :)

I wanted to share with you what I had for dinner last night. It's a recipe I kind of "made up" out of necessity - what we had in the fridge! But it was delicious, and I'll definitely make it again. You can throw in what you like really! I used regular pork mince, but if you used lean mince the ProPoint/calorie value would be lower. However it might be a little dry.

Pork and mushroom "burgers" with spinach salad and crispy potatoes
Serves 2, ProPoints per serving - 7

Ingredients:
For the burgers (5PP per person)
2 large flat mushrooms
250g pork mince
1/2 a large onion
1 clove garlic
1 tsp sage
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp olive oil (1PP, but nothing split between 2)

For the potatoes and salad
200g potatoes (2 PP per person)
Calorie controlled cooking spray (I use fry light)
2 large handfuls spinach
2 spring onions
Balsamic vinegar, to taste

Finely mince the onion and garlic and add to the pork mince. I used a food processor for this, but you can do it by hand if you don't have one. Add the say, soy and oil. Peel the skin from the mushrooms and remove the stalk in the centre (you could add the finely chopped stalk to the mince if you like). Place them on a baking tray and press half of the mixture into each mushroom, forming the mince into a patty.

Dice the potatoes to about 1cm cubes (you can leave the skin on!) Spray a baking tray with cooking spray, add the potatoes, season and spray again. Bake the potatoes and "burgers" for about 20-25 mins at 200o c/400o f, gas mark 6, turning the potatoes a few times.

Serve with a large salad of raw spinach and spring onion, dressed with balsamic vinegar.

Yum!

Hx

A Tale of Two Suppers

I was in a pinch for what to make for dinner last night. It's still freezing cold here, and my youngest has an ear infection so I didn't want to take him out in the cold to go shopping, so I had to use something from the freezer. I dug deep and found two frozen breaded haddock fillets - something I wouldn't eat usually any more. I worked out the ProPoints and it came to a rather high 9. I usually try not to go over 10 for my whole meal. But I had salad in the fridge, so I made a big salad with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, and red pepper and dressed it with balsamic vinegar and a teaspoon of parmesan (1PP). I really enjoyed it - it felt like the fish was a little bit of a treat, but combining it with the 'free' salad meant I could enjoy it without any guilt.

My 10PP dinner

Mr FGS, however, can only be described as a salad dodger. He would have eaten a tiny bit of the lettuce, cucumber and onion, but coated in mayonaisse. Instead he had his with oven chips and baked beans, totalling a whopping 22 ProPoints (at least) - and that's without the bread and butter, and mayo on the side.

Was I jealous of his high-carb, high-fat dinner? Not one bit! I know mine was more nutritionally balanced, as well as lower cal and generally healthier. And while his dinner still had all the elements of a healthy meal (protein, carb and veg - baked beans count towards your 5 a day!) you can tell just by the difference in colour between the two plates that mine would contain a wider variety of nutrients. I know it wasn't a perfect meal, but I managed to fit it into my diet plan without ruining it.

How do you fit "treats" and "bad" food's into your diet without going overboard?

Hx

Recipe of the Week - Healthy Breaded Prawns

It's been a wee while since I posted a recipe, and I wanted to share what I had for dinner last night because it was YUMMEH! It's a little involved but totally worth it, and felt like a huge dinner for only 8 ProPoints. It's a recipe I found on Pinterest but I modified it for British weights and measures, and ingredients, but it's easy enough to figure out!

Healthy Breaded Prawns and homemade wedges

Serves 2, 8 ProPoints per serving (5 for the prawns, 3 for the wedges)

Ingredients
For the prawns:
250g raw king prawns
1 slice white bread
1 egg white
1 tablespoon (15g) grated parmesan

For the wedges:
300g (approx 2 medium) baking potatoes
Fry light/calorie controlled cooking spray
1 tsp Smoked paprika/chilli powder
Salt

Method:
Cut the potatoes into wedges. Spray a baking tray with cooking spray and add the wedges. Sprinkle over the paprika or chilli and season with a sprinkle of salt. Give the tray a shake to coat the wedges before spraying again. Oven bake for about 40-45 minutes in a 200 degree oven.

Tear the bread into chunks and process to fine breadcrumbs. In a dry frying pan, brown the crumbs until they're crispy and dry, then place on a plate to cool. Once cool add the parmesan and mix to combine them equally. Put the egg white in a shallow dish. Rinse the prawns and drain well. Dip the prawns in the egg and then the crumbs, before placing on a tray sprayed with cooking spray. Repeat with all the prawns and then bake with the wedges for the last 10 minutes, turning halfway through.

I forgot to take a picture when I was done (probably because I was hungry...) but I served them with the wedges and a huge 0PP salad of lettuce, pepper, onion, tomato, cucumber, and balsamic vinegar. Sooo yummy.

It makes such a difference to try a new recipe and love it, and I'll definitely try this again. The crust would be good with chicken too....ooh now I'm thinking goujons!

Hx

Recipe of the week - Bacon and Butterbean hotpot

Morning!

I wanted to share with you what I had for dinner last night as it was so good! Filling, packed with veg and low ProPoint/calorie/carb - can't go wrong! It was adapted from a Weight Watchers recipe that uses sausages instead, and different veg.

Serves 3, 6 ProPoints per serving.

Ingredients

A few sprays calorie controlled cooking spray such as FryLight
250g bacon medallions, or back bacon with all visible fat removed (9PP)
1 can (420g) butterbeans, drained (9PP)
1 can chopped tomatoes
400ml hot chicken stock (1PP if made with 1 stock cube)
1 onion
1 clove garlic
2 carrots
1 yellow pepper
handful mushrooms
1/2 tsp mustard powder
2 tsp dried parsley

Cut the bacon into approx inch square pieces. Coat a pan with cooking spray and cook for a few minutes. Add the chopped onion, carrots, pepper and crushed garlic and cook for around 5-8 minutes, adding a splash of water if it starts to stick. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to the boil. Turn down heat and simmer for 30 minutes until veg is cooked but still crunchy.

Instead of the bacon you could use 350g chicken breast, 100g chorizo, 4 reduced fat sausages for the same ProPoint value, or leave out the meat altogether, replace the chicken stock with veg stock and the mustard with smoked paprika and you have a tasty veg hot pot for only 3PP.

The veg can be variable too. As long as you have onion and garlic you can replace the carrots, pepper and mushrooms with courgettes, celery, swede, green beans or anything you have!

I'll be having the leftovers tonight, and I'm sure it'll taste even better having sat for a day. Yum!

Hx

Recipe of the Week - Fizzy Orange Chicken!

Yes, you read that right, today I made chicken marinated in orange pop! No, I haven't lost my (admittedly rather loose) marbles, and in fact I make a dish where the chicken is in diet coke too...but I'll save that one for another day! This dish is super easy, really yummy, and only 5 propoints per serving.

Fizzy Ornage Chicken - Serves 2 - 5 ProPoints per serving.

2 medium chicken breasts (4PP each)
1 cup (300ml) DIET fizzy orange (0PP)
100ml dark soy sauce (2PP)
1 onion or 3-4 spring onions (0PP)
chopped peppers (I use a big handful of frozen ones) (0PP)

Place the chicken breasts in a casserole dish and pour over the soy and fizzy orange. Leave to marinade for a few hours, or overnight in the fridge. Add the chopped onion and peppers and bake for an hour in a medium (190 degrees, gas 5) oven for an hour. Simples!

Serve with 0PP veg (maybe stir-fried), rice (30g dried 3PP) or noodles (30g dried egg nooles 3PP), or wedges of sweet potato (150g 4PP) or butternut squash (0PP). I had it this evening with rice, broccoli and baby corn.

Go on, be brave and try it! Make sure you use diet pop. It really doesn't taste very orangey at all, just savoury and yummy! And you definitely wont need any extra salt with all that soy. Use low-sodium soy sauce if high salt intake is a concern.

Hx

Dinner of the day! Toad in the hole

For tonight's dinner I made toad in the hole using a recipe adapted from the "your week" pamphlet I got at group last week. It has a ProPoints value of 8 per serving, and was delicious! I love to cook when I have the time, and toad in the hole is a family favourite so I'm glad I've found a slimming-friendly version! I served it with cabbage and a purple caulifower that I got at a local farmers market - I saw it there and couldn't resist! The recipe includes gravy, not pictured. Pics and recipe below!

6 Weight Watchers Premium Pork Sausages, halved
1 onion, sliced
125g plain white flour
Pinch salt
1 medium egg
250ml skimmed milk
2tsp mustard
1tbsp dried sage
40g gravy granules




Preheat oven to Gas mark 6/200c. Coat a litre oven proof dish with fry light and add halved sausages and onion. Cook for 20 minutes. Sift the flour into a mixing bowl with a pinch of salt. Whisk in the egg and then slowly add the milk to make a thin batter. Add the mustard and sage. Pour the batter into the hot dish and cook for a further 30 mins. Make 1pt gravy with the granules. Serve with 0pp veg.
Serves 4.

It's not as greasy as my usual toad in the hole, but is very tasty! You really don't need any potato or other carb with this, as the batter is enough. Just serve with plenty of 0 point veg. Yum!

Will you be giving this a go?

Hx