Slimming World best 'free' foods

[AyeWhySWIM]

I joined Slimming World last night and while I'm impressed with the lists of 'free' foods I heard a couple of murmurings relating to popular, possibly branded, things that don't appear in the book eg Mug Shots - tried one today, thought it was nasty but willing to try anything once!

I was hoping people could share any hidden gems that count as free (...please please say sticky toffee pudding...). Am doing EE.
TiA

[TheGashlycrumbTinies]

Jacket potato with baked beans, bacon and eggs, chicken and cous cous salad, greek yoghurt. I think slimming world is fab, only ever been for 2 months, after gaining weight and failing to shift it after 2 pregnancies. It just got me back into my size 10 skinnies again:)

I love the fact that you never need to be hungry.

Good luck. :)

[AyeWhySWIM]

Hmm I'm already wondering if I've chosen the wrong diet here - loads to eat but nothing that tastes very nice without adding things you're not allowed! It's only just past breakfast and I'm already wondering how to construct proper meals that aren't bland and don't require following fiddly altered recipes.

[Shaxx]

All normal food is free.
What kind of food do you like to eat? Apart from junk food which is restricted on all diets.

I think sw is good for me as I'm too busy to count points and calories and I can eat the kind of food I like. I do tend to cook every day and the only different thing I'm finding I have to do is use only 2 tsp of oil to fry onions for recipes. Snacks are fruit mostly.

I can have caseroles, curries, stir frys, pasta dishes, roasts and grilled fish/chicken with new potatoes and veg. It's a good diet.

[Shaxx]

I've tried loads of diets and it's the best one by far. I've gone back to it this week. I've done it in the past and lost 2 st.
It's much more balanced and easier to stick to than low carb diets.

It depends what works for you.

[AyeWhySWIM]

I love to cook and prepare meals from scratch every day but that's been the problem! It's obviously the way I like to cook - olive oil, mayonnaise, sauces. That's what makes the food tasty! So yes - I can have all of the foods I like but not prepared the way we like it! Last night I tried a version of salmon carbonara but found that the sour taste of the quark took away the pleasure of the other ingredients even though I used plenty of seasoning. I'm going to give it a go anyway and see if I can find some better ways to make the food less bland. All suggestions appreciated!

[Toobluntforboss]

There are loads of great recipes for curries which are sooo tasty using different spices (also using frylight rather than oil). Go on the website for different ideas as i make loads of tasty dinners that are generally totally free and not bland at all. Also ask your consultant for recipes. I lost almost 5stone in 9 months following my 2nd baby and am back again after baby no 3 with 2 stone to lose. Good luck as it really does work and there should be loads of food you enjoy.

[ceebeegeebies]

I use extra-light mayonnaise - it still tastes good but has hardly any calories in it. It isn't free on SW but is so low calorie, the the Syn value would be next to nothing.

One of my fave SW recipes is to cut bacon into strips (without the fat obviously ) and fry it with loads of mushrooms (using the Fry-light spray) and crushed garlic. Mix some extra-light mayo with a bit of dijon mustard and mix it in with cooked pasta then put the bacon and mushrooms on top and grate some parmesan (use it as your Healthy A Extra) on - it is lovely. It tastes nice without the parmesan aswell if you wanted to use your Healthy A Extra at a different time (I quite like having low-fat cheddar as a snack).

Also, quite a few of the Muller-light yoghurts are free (or have a syn value of 1/2 or 1). Low-sugar jelly is also very low Syn value.

[AyeWhySWIM]

That bacon recipe sounds lovely - maybe tea tonight!! Have had a good dig around the website and found some good recipes so feeling more excited that I'm going to succeed with this. Also spoke to someone in rl who mentioned a 'scan bran cake' - does anyone have a recipe for this? It's not on the website.

[ceebeegeebies]

Another tip which someone gave me (be warned, it sounds and looks disgusting but actually tastes yummy!).

Use one of the sachets of Quaker Porridge Oats as your Healthy B Extra - mix it with a Mullerlight yoghurt and leave in the fridge over night. The oats soften and it becomes like mush (it looks a lot like babyfood ) but is a very quick and healthy breakfast (or snack), particularly if you use one of the tastier Mullerlight yoghurts (such as toffee) and chuck some fruit on top aswell.

[AyeWhySWIM]

Yeah, I've quickly learnt to avoid trying anything creamy or sweet. Can't bear these fake alternatives - quark?? Scan bran?? They're like something off Tomorrow's World! Boak. Tried some scan bran cake and it was beyond vile. Think I'll be falling off the wagon occasionally because of my sweet tooth - muller lights can only take you so far!!

[debka]

I save my syns up and have a standard Galaxy after the girls are in bed- 12.5 syns. Stops me falling off the wagon too dramatically!

[DottyDot]

Hi - I'm a SW convert - have been going for 10 weeks and have lost 24lbs so far (about half way there ).

I've got an incredibly sweet tooth, so I use my syns to have some Haribo each evening . So I'll have 10 or so sweets (5 syns if they're little!) and I always use 1 syn having sugar on my cornflakes. Other than that they get saved for wine

For lunch during the week I have a aldi muller light yog plus a load of fruit, then a lovely big tea - so I feel full in the evening which is the time I usually want to nibble - hence the Haribo after tea, with a cup of coffee when ds's are in bed!

[DottyDot]

ooh and top tip - if you like fizzy flying saucers (yes I am 5 at heart) then you can have 40 for 10 syns

[DottyDot]

Hi there - well I'm cheating a bit there! I have Coeliac disease (have to be gluten-free) so my options for breakfast are very limited. So I have 1oz of gluten-free cornflakes and think sod it - it barely covers the bowl and is one of the few things I can eat - I tend not to eat any kind of gluten-free bread anyway, so never have things like toast.

I think a small breakfast, i.e. 1oz of cereal then a yoghurt and fruit for lunch is so small in terms of food intake, that then having a lovely big tea and sweets for afters still means the weight comes off pretty well.

[JohnniesBitch]

I have been doing slimming world for a few months now and have had good losses (last thursday was 2.5lb from my 6 stone award).
The free food junk stuff like the mug shots etc arent very nice and certainly not healthy. Meal planning is the key to success making sure you have enough fruit and veg in each meal. if you have a muller light or activia yogurt that is free make sure you have an apple or banana as well, or even follow with a raw carrot, or soem crudites. the ee plan works best with third super free at every meal/snack time.
a good snack for a sweet tooth is make up a sachet of sugar free jelly with small amount of boiling water (enough to dissolve the crystals) and then mix with a tub of fat free fromage frais or fat free yogurt. (the origional recipe calls for 300g but i find 500g gives a less jelly like texture) leave to set, and depending on which flavour you use it tastes like mouse, strwberry tastes liike strawberry cheesecake without the base and lime tastes like key lime pie without the base.
i know people who serve it on a rich tea or malted milk biscuit to get the crunch but those are 2 syns each. the whole mouse/jelly made up is 1.5 syns and provides at least 3 portions so .5 syn for a sweet treat.
ive found ti hels to cut out bread almost completley, perhaps one or twice a week i will have toast made with two slices of wholemeal small loaf, either with peanut butter (4syns) or with scrambled eggs (free) for breakfast and no bread at any other time.

[newpup]

I joined SW 4 weeks ago and have lost 1s 2 lbs! I love it! I eat fruit, yoghurt for breakfast and enjoy a SW fry up at the weekend. Lunch is usually baked pot with tuna/prawns/beans and salad or soup or pasta salad. Dinner can be anything from steak, salmon, spaghetti bolognese, chilli, chicken pie. There is so much to choose in the recipe books. I quickly learned to avoid quark or any of the sustitute stuff and just use proper lean meat.

I think you need to have a look at the recipe books or the web site. You can eat good tasty food and loose weight.

Good Luck.

[DottyDot]

ooh yes and eggs - have never eaten so many eggs in my life! Usually have a huge omlette for lunch at the weekends - with potato, tomatoes, ham - anything I can throw in it. Then hard boiled eggs for lunches sometimes.

Dp's been following SW with me - not going to the meetings but we're having the same meals and she's lost about 17lbs!

[ceebeegeebies]

Oh another tip. If your oven has a timer that you can set to cook in the future (iyswim), I put some bacon (with the fat cut off of course), tomatoes and mushrooms cut into quarters into a dish and put it in the oven the night before on a timer to be ready for when I get up in the morning. Then I just scramble or fry (using fry light) some eggs and, voila, a cooked breakfast in the morning (I have to be out of the house with 2 DC by 7.45 so time is of the essence in the morning!)

[nappyaddict]

Are there any supermarket sausages which are still syn free?

[TheCornishPickle]

Nor that I've heard of - that would be brilliant! Quorn used to be but aren't any more

[nappyaddict]

Anyone with SW online know the syn value for Tesco and Asda half fat pork sausages and reduced fat pork sausages, Sainsbury's 50% less fat pork sausages and Waitrose Half Fat Premium Extra Lean Pork Sausages?