Author: julessmithie

Crispy Duck (pancakes ish)

I have wanted to make this for ages now and i finally got around to it i think the duck has been sitting waiting patiently in our freezer for months ha!

 But here we have it! you will see i have cooked the duck in the slow cooker the reason for this is to render all the fat from the duck but make sure its cooked through and at the same time keep it moist.

  If you dont have a slow cooker dont worry just follow the steps in the video and pop the duck into a casserole dish with a lid sit it on top of the foil as shown with a little water.  You will need to cook it on a relatively low heat until its cooked through.

There is nothing really fancy to the cooking of this one and the only thing you need to add is salt and pepper whilst pan frying the duck off its actually the hoisin sauce that gives all the flavour

So why duck pancakes ish???? i didnt have time to recreate a slimming version of the pancake but i have a cunning plan which i will share with you all at a later date! However a wrap works really well in its place……….enjoy xxx

by julessmithie

Aubergine boats

I love aubergine but i do find it difficult to find new things to make from them so i came up with this little nifty idea to make boats out of them and they really did work well and if following slimming world they are a SP food so a great way of “bumping” your speed foods.

You can fill them with anything you like in this little video i added bolognese but chilli would also work really well

by julessmithie

Beef Burgers

Let me tell you a little secret – i don’t like “shop bought” beef burgers and i have never had a McDonalds beef burger either. Not sure where this dislike of beef burgers has come from but all i know is i dont like them.

Fast forward to my love of cooking and now i will eat them but only if i or Graeme make them from scratch i love making them as you can add so many different flavours and seasonings to them – these have even passed the “kids test” so i know I’m on the right track.

You will see i don’t use an egg to bind the burgers together i use the juice from the blended onion which not only adds loads of flavour but is a great binding agent. As always bind the burgers whichever way you and your family like and enjoy.

I always make a huge batch of these as once BBQ season starts these bad boys don’t last long at all – they freeze well for batch cooking.

The spices i use are Spicentice Gourmet Burger Rub use Code JULES20 for 20% off any order press here https://bit.ly/2VYUZLG

The mini chopper and burger press i use is on my Amazon Shop press the link it will take you to Amazon then look under KITCHEN GADGETS https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/julesthelazycook

by julessmithie

Fishcakes

I have been wanting to make these for ages and finally got around to it…..next time i will make a huge batch for the freezer!  The trick with fish cakes is to get as much moisture out of the fish as possible because if the mix is too wet it will make it difficult for the patties to hold together.

I also found that 50% potato and fish is about the right combination and as with all my recipes add anything you like that makes it yours you will see i used Spicentice Herby Fish rub this is my favourite spice you can find this company on Instagram Facebook and the Web i have used their spices for a long time now and have never been disappointed! But add any herbs or spices you like parsley would well but we cant use parsely in our house as we have someone who doesn’t like it lol

If following slimming world these will be syn free

by julessmithie

Carrot Chips

I always get asked how i cook my carrot chips and mainly because they can burn very easily i think the secret is to par boil them first before putting them in the oven you will see how i par boil in the video makes life easier doing this way and as you know im all about the easy!!!

Once par boiled pop them into the oven and finish off the cooking slowly the oven needs to be about 150 degrees ish but keep an eye on them as all ovens are different and you will need to find where your “happy heat” is for cooking these to perfection – my oven is terrible this is why i use a halogen.

But they are worth the perseverance as once you have cracked the technique them really are brilliant on an SP day

by julessmithie

Quesdadilla AKA pizza wraps

These were a firm favourite when the kids where growing up quick and easy to make and on the table in minutes plus the great thing here is you can use anything you like again all those bits lurking in the fridge will do nicely!

If following slimming world the wrap can be your HEb therefore making them syn free by adding free foods or you can make them SP friendly by adding speed veggies and maybe some chicken the choices are endless

by julessmithie

Breakfast Pots

This is such a fab way of firstly filling up on a morning and secondly using up all the leftover bits from over the weekend – you know all those manky veggies laid in the bottom of the fridge yep those ones! You can add whatever you like to these pots make them vegetarian or add bacon, sausage etc the variations are endless.

These little pots are also suitable for SP days by adding speed vegetables

by julessmithie

Crispy Chilli Beef

Wowzers this was amazing and so simple to make and can be on the table in 15mins if that! This will definitely hit that weekend takeaway spot and you really wont feel like you are missing out. This is a fab recipe as everything is cooked in one pan so minimum clearing up.

The key to getting the sauce to how you want it to mix it in a bowl and “taste it” not everyone’s taste buds are the same so you may want to add a dash of lime juice or a dash more of sweet chilli or add sweetener.

Cook the beef to 80% on a low/medium heat this will stop it having that “rubbery” texture, then once you add it back to the sauce finish the cooking have the pan on a high heat to get those crispy edges. My other top tip is, if you can pay a little bit more for the beef you use it will make a difference to the end result.

The pans i use are on my Amazon Shop press the link it will take you there then look under KITCHEN GADGETS https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/julesthelazycook

by julessmithie

Salt & Pepper Chicken

OH MY DAYS!!! wow this was absolutely delish! if  you make just one of my recipes make this one as you wont regret it promise – its relatively easy to make you can either bake or fry the chicken i baked it as it was easier that way but as always the choice is yours.  You can add any veggies into the stir fry you like i just listed the ones i used i served it all on a bed of noodles to bulk it out.

The coating on the chicken can either be breadcrumbs using your bread as HEb or smash this way the whole dish is syn free if following slimming world

by julessmithie

Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken

This has got to be the easiest slow cooker recipe ever it really is just mix the sauce and add it to the slow cooker with the chicken, you can use chicken breast but leave it whole during the cooking or it will dry out.

A brilliant fakeaway for those following Slimming World or those Calorie Counting as its meals like this that keep us on plan.

Once you have mixed the sauce you will see there isn’t lot of sauce to this recipe which means it will cook quickly in the slow cooker as the slow cooker isn’t filled with liquid, i would suggest if this is the first time you are cooking this recipe you are in the house. All slow cookers work slightly differently so its easy for the sauce to cook off or reduce too far.

If you need to thicken the sauce you can either turn the slow cooker up to high and remove the lid and leave it to thicken probably last hour of cooking or use corn flour mixed with cold water to create a slurry.

by julessmithie

Slow Cooker Honey Roast Pork

This was super easy to make but packed full of flavour you could also make this in the oven if you want not a problem at all.

Use any cut of pork it will work i always remove the fat once the pork is cooked but as always the choice is yours – i have also put a little top tip of how to remove the fat from the sauce if you want to use it after the pork is cooked

by julessmithie

Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef

Well this was such an easy dish to make i couldn’t believe something so easy was going to turn out so tasty and boy was it tasty. The only area’s with this one is dont add too much water only add enough to cover the contents and then the other one is how to thicken the sauce you can use corn flour i used red lentils which are a blessing in disguise if you ever add too much liquid to a dish regardless of how your cooking it, because the lentils dissolve into the meal and they leave no taste!
I cooked this on medium for about 6 hours

by julessmithie

Beef Stroganoff

I have wanted to make this for ages but just never got around to it until now and have to say what was i thinking it tasted amazing! Next time i make this im going to cook it in the slow cooker for two reasons 1) its the perfect dish for slow cooking 2) you can use a cheaper cut of beef and cook it for longer which will tenderize it! Once i cook it i will bring together another video because i will need to mess around with the stock measurements and ingredients   …but back to this show stopper! Most recipes call for Dijon mustard im not a big fan so i changed it to wholegrain and it worked perfectly fine so i would suggest you use whatever you like – i also think this is one of those dishes that needs to suit your taste so i would say start off with my ingredient list and qtys then toward then end before you add the yogurt or whatever your using taste and add anything you feel needs increasing say more mustard or paprika its your dish so have it how you like it

by julessmithie

Duck a l’orange

oh la la this was created by my OH Graeme and have to say huge thank you to him as it was gorgeous! as with all this fizzy drink recipes you need patience to reduce the liquid but its really worth it for the end result.

Spot the spelling mistake in the video should say ADD NOT ASS……ooooops! ahhhh well im sure you will get the drift!

Depending on the fresh orange you use you may need to bash it a bit to get it to release its juice ours fell apart in the pan under the heat i then sieved the sauce at the end to remove all the pith and bits.

The duck can be cooked to however you like it as your basically poaching it in the sauce which keeps it lovely and tender – and again take your time to render the fat out of the duck if using breast as you dont want that in the sauce also leave it to rest for 5 to 10 mins once rendered before you add i into the sauce.

Well worth making the tastes are so good

by julessmithie

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

I have wanted to make this for ages but there are just like a million other things that take up your time but not today! Two tubs of high calorie high fat hummus used in 2 weeks tipped me over the edge ha! So i decided today was the day and it took all of 5 minutes why have i not done this before??? it was so simple to makes tastes amazing you can add whatever flavours you want  herbs spices whatever you have lying around bosh in it goes!

This batch was roasted red peppers from a jar but before i added them to the mix i washed the brine off as i didnt want that taste in the hummus.  I also used fage total yogurt 0% as im totally loving this for cooking with it really does make a difference to the taste but as always use what you have but remember to syn anything that carries a value.

Once blitzed place into an airtight container and keep in the fridge for about 4 days this makes approx 2 shop bought tubs for the cost of some chickpeas hmmmmmm wont be making that mistake again!

by julessmithie

Weetabix Waffles

Another variation of baked oats but this is using my new favourite breakfast Weetabix additions coconut i absolutely loved these and for me the other winner is there is no sugar or sweetener needed (well for me anyway)

If following slimming world these are syn free using weetabix as HEb and using a syn free yogurt the one i used was half a syn but it does make 5 waffles so well worth the syn in my eyes ha!

These also freeze well for batch cooking

by julessmithie

Diet Fanta Chicken

Sounds weird but it actually works well it actually works really well i made this recipe many years ago and decided today (16th June 2021) to give it a bit of TLC and update it.

When i originally cooked this recipe i added the vegetables, chicken and sauce to the frying pan and started reducing the sauce what a carry on! it took forever as we all know all vegetables are water so all you are doing is boiling the vegetables and adding more water to the sauce.

In this version i have cooked the chicken in the sauce and cooked the vegetables separately much better and certainly a whole lot easier, but as always you do whatever suits you and your family.

This recipe is claimed to taste like ” sweet and sour” hmmmm ok it kind of does but I’m going to be really honest there are two versions of sweet and sour on my website that knock the socks of this. However as a quick throw it in pan meal it works well and uses very little ingredients and for me those meals are always a winner.

If the sauce gets too thick add a splash of Fanta and Passata.

by julessmithie

Weetabix Muffins

Time for something sweet – these have been around for a while now but im not a huge fan of plain weetabix so really wasn’t that interested in making them that was however until weetabix upped their game to introduce the new additions range coconut and raisin i absolutely love anything coconut so decided now was the time to get my bake on! These make a fab grab and go breakfast or a late afternoon snack

I used weight watchers layered yogurt because the bottom compote layer adds a lovely sweetness to the muffins without the need to add sugar as you will see there is no sugar or sweetener in these muffins i personally dont think they need it but as always the choice is yours

Slimming world syns half a syn for the yogurt using weetabix as HEb you get 4 muffins from the mixture in the video so half a syn for all 4………….not too shabby eh??

by julessmithie

Fragrant Pilau Rice

I love this rice as is so simple to make but really does make a difference to a meal it feels like you have made an effort when ha! in reality you didnt! my kinda meal…. plus you can add any veggies you want or anything that needs using up!

Slimming world syns = zero

by julessmithie

Chicken Wrapped in Bacon

This made a lovely change from all the heavy winter food and when team up with saute spuds and a courgetti etc was really tasty and very easy to make! You can use any filling you like just dont over stuff the chicken or it will go everywhere during the cooking

Slimming world syns = zero when using fat free yogurt and fat removed from bacon

by julessmithie