Another fantastic easy recipe for a filling Winter Soup and one that will keep you fuller for longer. Its now 2024 and im in the process of trying to update all my older recipes so i decided to change this recipe slightly by cooking it in the slow cooker and adding chicken to add more protein which is always a good thing in any recipe.
There isn’t anything complicated about this soup it batch cooks well and freezes well and is really worth making.
There is only one way to describe this meal and that is WOW for such a simple recipe it really does pack a punch and makes a perfect Meat Free Monday Meal.
You will see I used Tigg’s Mustard and Pepper Sauce this can be found in Tesco in the salad chiller isle BUT dont think thats all you can use it for as you will see i used it to create the stroganoff sauce and it works a treat as the sauce has a sweetness to it that lifts the dish perfectly. After using the Tigg’s sauce last night it has given me so many more ideas of ways to use it so watch this space – i would definitely recommend picking a bottle up.
The start of a new feature for my website “Storecupboard Recipes” this is something i know im going to love as it will be utilising all those tins and packets stored away that we never use (well i know i dont lol)
Christmas is nearly here and we are all super busy and all trying to stay on the diet plan of choice so im hoping these short cut cooking hacks will help get a fab family meal onto the table in record time. For the pastry you can use any shape or size which if following a diet plan will reduce calories, syns or points.
I have created this pie using beef brisket in Gravy which can be found in the chilled Isle in Tesco and I have also used a tin of Tesco lean stewed steak in Gravy.
This pie is 3 portions I used a tin of Tesco Lean Stewed Steak Pastry weight for this pie dish is approx 100g I used Tesco Light Puff Pastry.
This is just a really fab way of adding a little bit of something different to a meal and it doesn’t take much effort to do it either. The sausages i used are Heck Chicken Italia you can use any you like but it works best with sausages that come in links.
This is a really easy recipe and makes a perfect quick meal when you are busy or you can build it into a weekend #fakeaway.
The key to getting the sauce sticky is to have patience once the chicken is fully cooked turn up the heat and start reducing the sauce, keep taking the pan off the heat and allowing the sauce to cool slightly as this will let the honey solidify. If the sauce is still too runny put it back on the heat and keep repeating this process until you get the consistency you want.
It takes very few ingredients to make the sauce which will work perfect with chicken, pork, or prawns.
These are some of the Korean BBQ Sauces i have used if you cannot get hold of the Heinze sauce you can use any of the below these are both in Tesco but I’m sure you will find them in other supermarkets. The one I’m currently using is Crucials Korean BBQ sauce which i picked up from Home Bargains
Hi everyone i don’t even know where to begin im absolutely devastated that my Facebook page Jules the Lazy Cook has been hacked and i have no idea how to get it back.
I have been trying since 4.30am this morning to contact Facebook without joy they really dont seem interested in talking to anyone never mind me and right now i sat not knowing which way to turn
If you want to contact me you can do so via messages on instagram or on my Youtube (Jules The Lazy Cook)
Please bear with me im doing everything i can to try and get control over my page again.
I love soup but during the winter months but it doesn’t always fill me up so i decided to create a range of “Fuller For Longer” recipes which will have all the elements to give a lovely filling soup.
When you are trying to lose weight you need to feel full and satisfied after eating and the added ingredients in this soup will help you with that regardless of which diet you are following.
Although i have given a recipe for this soup it really is about using up anything you have in the fridge that is heading for the bin making it perfect for dealing with food waste.
This soup makes 4 portions it will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days and it freezes well too.
All my recipes fit in with the Slimming World Diet and Calorie Counting.
This is a brilliant recipe for using up all that leftover ham or gammon from Sunday dinner. It’s also great for using all those vegetables lurking in the fridge that aren’t looking their best.
The pie i made was 3 portions and used approx 100g of pastry to top it, however you could make individual pies and use a smaller amounts of pastry to reduce calories, syns or points.
I used Primula cheese but you can use any cream cheese you like or whichever one suits your diet best.
I have to say i am absolutely loving Meat Free Monday as its really challenging me to come up with new ideas and this one worked a treat perfect for the weekend when you fancy something naughty.
You will see in the video i have given an alternative to the Tesco meat free chicken i used as i think it was really high in syns but it did taste amazing and had a good texture to it, but use whichever chicken product you like.
This feature follows on from the one i did with a whole chicken but this time i used 1kg joint of unsmoked gammon costing £3.19. I buy unsmoked as i think the flavour of the smoked one can be too strong and sometimes too salty – you can always soak a gammon joint overnight in cold water before you use it if you are worried about it tasting salty.
I always cook my gammon in the slow cooker as it comes out so tender, this joint i cooked in diet orange with a couple of black peppercorns as i didn’t want to over flavour the meat as im using the leftovers in other meals therefore i needed to be careful with the flavours. The end result was a subtle flavour perfectly balance and wasn’t overpowering.
Once the gammon was cooked i cut off a chunk and shredded it with 2 forks and used that in our Sunday Dinner so this is meal 1. The other piece i left whole to use cubed or sliced.
MEAL 1 – SUNDAY DINNER – PULLED GAMMON
MEAL 2 – HOMEMADE FLATBREAD PIZZA
This is my flatbread recipe sized up to create a pizza base and if you are a pizza lover but dont like the calories then this is for you!
I used 60g of flour and approx 2.5 heaped tablespoons of fat free Greek yogurt made up the dough cooked it in a scorching hot frying pan – once cooked add the toppings. The ham used on the pizza leftover from Sunday dinner so i still haven’t used the piece of gammon that was left whole. Here is the link to the flatbread method i used https://julesthelazycook.co.uk/2019/07/11/flatbreads/
Top the cooked flatbread base with tomato puree and Italian Herbs. The herbs i use are from https://www.spicentice.com/use discount code JULES20 for 20% off any order (affiliate)Add Shredded ham and anything else you like i added peppers & spring onions – basically anything i could find in the fridge.Top with cheese of your choice then place under grill to melt the cheese and soften the vegetables
Another successful vegetarian meal i have wanted to try Tofu for ages but i will admit was totally scared of how to use it as there are so many varying reports about it being difficult to work with and tasteless.
If you are going to try this recipe here are a couple of top tips – buy Firm or Extra Firm tofu as this has less liquid in it, also you must “press” the tofu this is to get as much liquid out as possible which then firms it up and makes it easier to handle. Pressing it basically means placing it under weights to get the liquid out – i used tins of soup to weight down a dish this works really well.
Also once the tofu is pressed it allows it to take on flavour and in this recipe it really took on the full flavour of the sauce.
This is the first recipe I’ve created for a vegetarian meal and i have to say it was absolutely delicious. Moving forward im hoping to cook a meat free meal every Monday without always using meat substitutes such as quorn i want to be able to use all the other fantastic ingredients that i love such as beans and pulses.
With this recipe you can add your favourite sausages but if they are meat based then you need to add them at the beginning of the cooking, the one thing i noticed with vegetarian sausages if that they dont have the “firmness” of a meat based sausage. However the vegetarian sausages i used in the recipe were really good and i would definitely buy them again.
NOTE Once cooked taste the sauce if its too “tomatoey” sorry bad word but you get what i mean then add a couple of splashes of Worcester Sauce or the Vegetarian equivalent you could even add a dash of brown sauce basically you need to add some sugar / sweetness to calm the acidity of the tomatoes down.
I set this target as part of my Smarter Food Shopping Feature to see if i could spend this small amount on food shopping for the week, did i do it??? its all the in video below.
If i had shopped in Aldi or Lidl then maybe i could have saved even more money but here is the reason i didn’t go there, these are not my normal food shops. I know if i had done my shopping here i would have been tempted to buy foods that i had seen on Facebook and Instagram “to try out” and lets face it this temptation is what im trying to get away from – buying unnecessary foods!
For me this has been an invaluable exercise and one i wont forget in a hurry and its definitely something im going to carry on into the future when meal planning and food shopping.
Ohhhh yes this is the real deal and totally worth every calorie, syn or points whichever diet you are following.
You can easily reduce the amount of pastry you need by using a smaller pie dish or individual casserole dishes or even just pop a pastry heart on top, when i plated up the pie served 3 portions.
I used Tesco light puff pastry from the chilled section it worked just as well as other branded products and a fraction of the cost, leftover pastry was placed in the freezer for another day.
This recipe is designed to use up leftover chicken from Sunday dinner and to use any vegetables in the fridge that are looking a little sad – the recipe below is just a guide the bottom line is use whatever you have that needs using up.
You can find this recipe in my Cookbook My Fakeaway & Evening Meals which is available on Amazon in Paperback and Kindle press here https://amzn.eu/d/8iJRPY1
As the year moves on into autumn and winter im more determined to look at the money i am spending on food and questioning every purchase and when i went shopping this week i bought a whole chicken which was £2.59 and weighed 1.38kg. This chicken is the perfect size for two people and my aim is to make 4 different meals from it which will also serve 2 people, 8 plates of food (and a couple more in places) 32p approx per person per plate!!!
First step was to cook the chicken and as always i cooked mine in the slow cooker (i will link how i do this below). Once it was cooked i let it cool and stripped it from the carcass divided it into 4 portions and planned my meals.
Chicken portioned from the whole chicken cook previously
2 x carrots
1 x vegetable stock pot or cube
1 x nest of dried noodles
1 x leek
Finely chop leek and fry off in pan on high heat, dice carrots and add them, add vegetable stock, cover with water to approx 25mm over contents you may need to add more water depending on how thick/thin you like your soups, bring to the boil then reduce to simmer
After approx 10mins of cooking add the cooked chicken and dried noodles the stock will cook them, once the noodles separate cut them into smaller lengths with a pair of scissors. The key is to get the carrots partly cooked so try and keep the dice small and they will cook quicker – cook for a further 5 to 10mins check seasoning and your done! This recipe made 3 big portions.
Meal 2 – Creamy Pesto Chicken Pasta
Use cooked chicken
Cooked pasta
2 x tablespoons of light pesto
dollop of cream cheese (any you like) i used primula
reserve some pasta water to help make the sauce
add any vegetables you like – i used the ones that were lurking in the bottom of my fridge
This is a really easy one but makes a fantastic quick filling meal – here is what i did, softened half a red onion, added some mushrooms cooked for approx 3 more mins added the cooked chicken and some tomatoes, add a splash of pasta water stops the chicken burning and ensures it heats through properly. I then added the cooked pasta, 2 tablespoons of pesto and a dollop of cream cheese together with a small amount of pasta water this will help the pesto and cream cheese create a silky smooth sauce. Once cooked this actually made 3 big portions, i weigh out my dry pasta and as a rule of thumb pasta cooked is double the weight of dry pasta.
Meal 3 – Spicentice Chinese Chicken Curry
This is one of my favourites and its so easy to make and now we are using cooked chicken its going to make the cooking even easier – the key for this meal is to reduce the sauce the get a thick ish covering over the chicken and vegetables. Video below of how i cooked it without using flour.
This meal can also be made in the slow cooker but i would only use this method if you are making 4 portions – its linked her if you want to give it a try.
Ohhhh yes this is the real deal and totally worth every calorie, syn or points whichever diet you are following.
You can easily reduce the amount of pastry you need by using a smaller pie dish or indiviual casserole dishes or even just pop a pastry heart on top, when i plated up the pie served 3 portions.
I used Tesco light puff pastry from the chilled section it worked just as well as other branded products and a fraction of the cost, leftover pastry was placed in the freezer for another day.
I hope you have enjoyed this feature and in the future i will be making more money saving videos even i have found this a useful exercise and questioning why am i buying food i dont need when i have cupboards and freezers full of food!
Linked here are a couple of extra videos that also fit in with this topic
I have wanted to make this type of baked oats for ages but never really found a chocolate spread i liked. That all changed when i bought the Sweet Freedom Choc Pot spread which i absolutely love – gooey chocolate recipes coming up lol.
These little pots really hit the spot when you need something sweet to eat, fantastic at breakfast time or as an after dinner pudding.
Im a huge fan of Spicentice and was really excited to try out the new Vegan range they have created however, as i have said in the video for me personally moving to a vegan diet is just not for me but i have huge amounts of respect for anyone who makes changes to their lifestyle and diet.
The kit is supposed to be shepherds pie but after a vote on my Facebook page the finished meal as you will see is Vegetarian Sausage Pie and i have to say it was the right decision the end meal was delicious.
Moving forward im going to try and create 1 Vegetarian recipe per week and have 1 meat free day per week so these kits will really help me on this new venture.
Every month or so on my Facebook Page i run a feature which is either food ideas or ideas to minimise food waste – this is the latest feature and one that went down a storm. I hadn’t realised that so many struggled with lunch ideas whether that be at home or to take “on the go” so every meal you see below can either be eating at home or in the work environment.
Top Tip….if you do not have facilities to heat food at work then look at buying a food flask i have used one for years spending many hours and miles driving all over the UK – they really do work and when its cold wet and miserable a hot meal can be most welcoming
KOREAN BBQ CHICKEN
Everything i used and i how cooked it is in the below video, picture of finished meal is below
I appreciate this is only pasta and sauce from a packet BUT you can really make a meal of it by adding lots of vegetables and maybe a little chorizo or ham
TANDOORI CHICKEN & RICE
This is a super speedy meal it would even work well for an evening meal – the chicken can be eaten hot or cold and is from Asda. The slide showing Syn Values is from a Facebook Group called Syns R Us and is a fantastic group well worth joining.
CHICKEN PESTO PASTA
You can basically add anything into this one you like, i used cooked chicken but you could use packet chicken if you wish. Fry off any vegetables you like if using cooked chicken add it to the veg and heat it through, once the pasta is cooked add that to the pan also. Stir in the pesto use as much or as little as you like but remember to syn it or calculate the calories brands differ so please check the one you are using. If the consistency is a little too thick add a little of the pasta water and will help thicken the sauce and allow the pesto to coat everything.
PANINI
I used the promise gluten free roll then added anything i could find in the fridge that needed using up – the cheese is light Mozzarella
CAJUN PASTA BAKE
Another fantastic easy recipe that works well for lunches or evening meal i have made this many times and it never disappoints, again add any vegetables you like.
You can watch the How To video by pressing the link below
This is one of my favourite Spicentice meals it makes a fantastic weekend meal and it never disappoints! I don’t actually follow the cooking instructions on the back of the card 🙈 as I just find it easier doing this way but do whichever way is easiest for you.
I’m making 2 portions and the kits make 4 so I will save half and use it another day.
This is truly a fantastic weekend meal and can be served with so many different side dishes you could add egg fried rice, noodles, spring rolls it really does make a great basis for a Chinese banquet meal.
I always use a bag of stir fry with this meal to bulk it out I cook this separately with a splash of Soy Sauce.
If you decide to try any of the Spicentice kits you can use my discount code Jules20 for 20% off any order (AFFILIATE) https://bit.ly/2VYUZLG
A fantastic batch cook soup perfect for lunches or a light evening meal. This recipe makes 4-6 portions depending on how big your portions are i got 4 big bowls out of the batch i made. Will this soup freeze?? the answer is yes but what i would do is freeze if without the cream cheese then defrost the portion you need and add the cream cheese at that point.
I added potatoes and lentils to the soup to give carbohydrates and protein this makes the soup more filling and will stop you feeling hungry an hour after eating it.
Jules The Lazy Cook 