Mini Oreo Cheesecakes, Slimming World style

For anyone watching their weight in January but still wanting to indulge in a dessert, these Oreo cheesecakes are relatively low fat and work out at 3.5 syns on Slimming World plans, which really isn't that much. They look really cute too!

I can't remember exactly where I got the recipe from and whether it was in one of the Slimming World recipe books or online (it's not on the Slimming World website). This is what I did:

To make six, you need:

300ml Quark (curd cheese which tastes more like fromage frais than cheese but is thicker; it's eaten a lot in Germany but also available in supermarkets here, and is fat free)

1/4 cup sweetener like Splenda

1 tsp vanilla flavouring

1 egg

6 Oreo cookies

Preheat oven to 150C. Whisk the quark and sweetener until smooth, then add the vanilla flavouring and the egg.

Carefully separate the two sides of the Oreo cookies. Retain the half with the cream filling, and place the other halves into a food processor or plastic sandwich bag and crush with a rolling pin until you have fine crumbs. Stir into the quark mixture.

Place the other Oreo halves, filling side up, in the bottom of six muffin cases in a muffin tin.

Spoon the quark mixture on top, dividing evenly between the cake cases.

Bake for about 20 minutes until set.

Allow to cool and serve chilled.

Here you can see the underneath of one, with the Oreo cookie baked into the bottom:

And here's the view from the top. These are only bite-sized but much healthier than a large slice of full-fat cheesecake!

Louisa at Eat Your Veg along with Anneli at Delicieux, are the hosts of  the Four Seasons Food challenge and they are looking for virtuous recipes this month, and this low-fat and portion-controlled variation of cheesecake is just that.

Jane at the Hedgecombers is hosting Tea Time Treats this month on behalf of Karen at Lavender and Lovage and Kate from What Kate Baked. She is asking for any recipes using eggs; these cheesecakes only use one egg but nonetheless it is a key ingredient!

Broccoli, Courgette and Stilton Soup

I'm trying to eat more veg this month, and I also wanted to use up some cheese from Christmas, so I decided broccoli and stilton soup would be a great idea. I am a pretty fussy eater and don't like a lot of veg, so had an idea of sneaking some hidden veg... into my own food! My theory was that if I couldn't see it, and hopefully couldn't taste it, I wouldn't mind eating it. Courgette (zucchini) seemed a good option!

I can only give rough quantities for this recipe as it depends how thick you like your soup. To serve 3/4 you need:

1 head broccoli

about 100g stilton or 6 Laughing Cow Light blue cheese triangles

about 1 pint vegetable stock

half a courgette (zucchini)

salt, pepper

crispy bacon pieces to serve (optional)

Chop the broccoli into florets

And slice the courgette

You can either use leftover Stilton...

... or if you want to make this soup low fat and Slimming World friendly, use Laughing Cow Light Blue Cheese.

Bring the vegetable stock to the boil in a pan and simmer the broccoli and courgette until tender. Add the cheese and stir until melted.

Blend to a smooth soup either using a hand blender in the saucepan or by transferring the soup to a standalone blender.

I had some leftover bits of crispy bacon I decided to serve on top of the soup, the different texture and taste complemented the flavour of the soup really well.

Most importantly, I couldn't taste the courgette - so I successfully squeezed an extra portion of veg into this meal. The soup lasted me three days and I took it into work for lunch so it was both healthy and thrifty, which is a great combination for January!

First I am sending this to Family Foodies, the blog challenge hosted by Vanesther at Bangers and Mash and Louisa at Eat Your Veg, as the theme this month is hidden goodies (that is, hidden fruit and veg).

The theme for this month's No Croutons Required, hosted by Lisa's Kitchen and Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes, is a vegetarian soup or salad. Obviously if you were making this for vegetarians, leave off the bacon! You should also check that the cheese is made with rennet that does not come from animals and is suitable for vegetarians.

Louisa at Eat Your Veg is also hosting the Four Seasons Food challenge along with Anneli at Delicieux, and they are looking for virtuous recipes this month, so I think my vegetable soup - with extra hidden veg - is a good example.

On a similar note, Helen at Fuss Free Flavours and Michelle at Utterly Scrummy are hosting a new challenge, Extra Veg. They want to encourage us to eat an extra portion of vegetables whenever we can - so while this broccoli soup alone would count, I've also added the extra portion of veg with the hidden courgette.

January's Feel Good Food challenge, hosted by A Kick at the Pantry Door, is tasty and inexpensive. You can use vegetables that are a little past their best in this soup, and it's a good way to use up leftover cheese (eg from Christmas) so this is a pretty frugal recipe.

I'm not done yet... January's Cheese Please challenge, hosted by Fromage Homage, is comfort food and winter warmers. Soup is a lovely winter warmer and since I've used stilton I am sending this over.

Simply Food is hosting the event Let's Cook with Green Vegetables, and since it has to be a vegetarian recipe, you'll need to leave out the bacon and check your cheese is vegetarian.

And finally I am sending this to Turquoise Lemons' No Waste Food Challenge as you can use leftover veg and the cheese was hanging around from Christmas.

Restaurant Review - Cafe Rouge, Epsom

Restaurant name: Cafe Rouge
Location: High Street, Epsom
Description: Mid-priced French restaurant chain
Reason for visit: We went to the cinema to see the Hunger Games, and didn't have much time before the film started. When that is the case, we often go to Pizza Hut on the high street, so I was very surprised to find it had closed down, apparently due to lack of business! Cafe Rouge was a little further along the road and it had been a long time since we'd been to one.
I ate: Burger and fries, £10.95
My companion ate: The same

The food was: The burger was quite thin, and we weren't asked how we wanted it cooked which was surprising for a French restaurant that specializes in steak. The toasted brioche bun was a nice change but overall I've definitely had better burgers.
The atmosphere/service was: Nice, the restaurant was decorated for Christmas and it was very cosy - perhaps a little too cosy as the tables were very close together. It was hard to squeeze into my seat and we could hear the conversation at the next table!
Price range/value for money: Reasonable but I've had better burgers at this price.
Would I recommend it? Yes, it's nice once in a while as there are some good options on the menu if you like French food and from what I remember the steaks are pretty good.

Meal Planning 2014 - Week 2

Inspired by the Extra Veg blog challenge I've decided to eat at least one extra portion of fruit or veg a day, on top of what I would already have, and I will do a roundup at the end of the week to show what I did (and hopefully give you a few ideas).

Monday

Breakfast yogurt

Lunch leftover broccoli and stilton soup with hidden courgette from the weekend (extra veg)
Dinner Salmon with vegetables; possibly salmon in champagne sauce if I have time (I will be home late after an exercise class) as I still have leftover champagne to use up from new year (even if it's flat I can still use it in cooking)

Tuesday
Breakfast yogurt

Lunch sandwich

Dinner stir fry (the other half is out at the cinema) - I'll add spinach as an extra veg

Wednesday
Breakfast porridge with fruit (extra fruit)

Lunch  sandwich

Dinner chicken kiev for him, fish in breadcrumbs for me, with bacon and cheddar mashed potatoes with hidden veg from Sneaky Chef book p213 (extra veg)


Thursday
Breakfast yogurt

Lunch cous cous with roast chicken and red pepper (extra veg)

Dinner chicken fajitas with hidden veg cheese sauce from the Sneaky Chef book p176 (extra veg)



Friday
Breakfast porridge with fruit

Lunch sandwich

Dinner canneloni - meat for him, spinach, roasted garlic and ricotta for me (extra veg as I don't like spinach normally - but I do like it in pasta)


Saturday
Breakfast yogurt with fruit (extra veg - possibly the only chance I will have all day!)
Lunch out- my boyfriend is going to a car show in Birmingham so I've decided to go shopping in Bicester Village :-)
Dinner Possibly from the chip shop as I expect we will both be back late

Sunday
Breakfast toast

Lunch baked potato

Dinner Slimming World provencale chicken with potato gratin. The recipe is from the calendar that came with the December issue of Slimming World magazine. It includes courgette which I don't  like, but I am buying it for one of the other recipes this week so I will blend it and put it in the sauce as my extra portion of veg. Dessert - Heath bar pie as I didn't make this last week

Floating Islands

Contestants on this year's Great British Bake Off were asked to make floating islands, a recipe I recently came across in the Macmillan Little Book of Treats. The charity cookbook features recipes from a selection of celebrities, some chefs and some TV personalities, as well as a handful of amateur food bloggers - including me!

Dolly Parton submitted a recipe called Floating Islands in the Stream (get it?) and I decided to try making it. This particular version is served in a chocolate custard. The recipe also gives instructions to make a chocolate sauce to drizzle over the top but I decided against making that due to lack of time.

To serve 6, you need:

For the chocolate custard:

4 egg yolks

150g caster sugar

pinch of salt

500ml milk

60ml double cream

125g dark chocolate, melted

2 tsp vanilla flavouring

meringue islands:

4 egg whites

170g caster sugar

Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and salt for the chocolate custard until creamy - I used my KitchenAid to do the job.

Next, stir in the milk and cream.

Cook in a saucepan over a low heat for 5-8 minutes, stirring constantly until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir in the melted chocolate and vanilla and put in a bowl in the fridge for half an hour.

To make the meringue, beat the egg whites until stiff then beat in the sugar. At the same time, bring a large pan of water to simmering point. I found it easiest to do this in a deep frying pan; the water doesn't need to be deep but you need a lot of surface space.

This is the tricky bit that some of the contestants in the Great British Bake Off struggled with, and I can see why! Using a large spoon, scoop up the meringue in an egg shape (or as much as you can manage) and gently slide into the simmering water. Poach the meringues for two minutes on each side then remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.

Take the custard from the fridge and pour into pudding bowls - fairly large, flattish bowls are good for this. Place a couple of the islands on top so they float in the stream.

Personally I find custard quite difficult to make and today was no exception, and it is hard to get the meringue into the pan of water without them falling apart - though they did poach nicely when they were in the water!

I'm sending this to Calendar Cakes, hosted by Rachel at Dollybakes and Laura at Laura Loves Cakes. They have quite a broad theme this month: "if it makes you happy", which Rachel explains can include many things, including trying something for the first time. Trying new and challenging recipes like this one definitely makes me happy!

Slimming World Tiramisu

To many people, January is a time of diets and trying to lose weight, but that doesn't mean you can't still enjoy nice food. This recipe is from Slimming World's Love Desserts book and is low fat; each serving has 3 syns on all Slimming World plans.

To serve two, you need:

1 egg yolk

2 tbsp sweetener

a few drops of vanilla essence

200g quark

6 sponge fingers

1 tsp instant coffee dissolved in 2 tbsp water

2 tbsp brandy or other spirit - I used cointreau

50g fat free natural fromage frais

1/2 tsp cocoa powder

Whisk the egg yolk with 1 tbsp sweetener then beat in the vanilla essence and 2 tbsp quark.

Gradually whisk in the remaining quark until you have a smooth cream

 Make up the coffee in the hot water and mix with the alcohol in a wide shallow bowl. Soak the sponge fingers for a minute or two until softened.

Spoon half the quark mixture into serving glasses, add the sponge fingers (broken into pieces), then another layer of quark and another layer of sponge fingers.

Top with the fromage frais and sprinkle over the cocoa powder. Chill until read to eat.

I am sending this to Four Seasons Food, the blog challenge hosted by Louisa at Eat Your Veg and Anneli at Delicieux. Their theme this month is 'virtuous'; some people may insist that no desserts are really that virtuous but this is a great low fat version of a usually very calorific dessert.

I used Cointreau in this recipe as I already had an open bottle in the cupboard, rather than buying brandy as the recipe called for, and it tasted really nice - I think this qualifies me for the "frugal" theme for Baking with Spirit! Though this dessert isn't actually baked so I will have to see what  Janine at Cake of the Week says!

Update: I'm sending this to Chris at Cooking Around the World as the month the challenge has reached Italy.

Restaurant Review: Nando's, Whitechapel, London

Restaurant name: Nando's

Location: Mile End Road, Whitechapel, London

Description: Chain of South African restaurants serving chicken and chicken burgers

Reason for visit: Lunch during a team building day with work colleagues - we were gardening at a children's centre and went for lunch nearby.

I ate: chicken breast fillet burger in the lime and herb marinade (I don't really like spicy food) with a slice of halloumi and fries

My companions ate: Most people had burgers but several of them went for the extra hot marinade, which my boss likes so much that I took him a bottle when he moved back to America and I went to visit our office there! We also had one vegetarian in the group who had a beanie burger; there is more than one veggie option which is good.

The food was: The chicken is good quality and tasty and the baps are 'proper' bread. I'm not sure I would bother having the halloumi with the chicken burger again though as it's quite salty and doesn't melt.

The atmosphere/service was: This is a causal, low-key restaurant that was friendly and not too busy

Price range/value for money: It depends if you class this as fast food or not; it's more expensive than a McChicken sandwich but good value as a restaurant.

Would I recommend it? I like Nando's, but not as much as a lot of my friends - I don't really understand why some people rave about it. The menu is relatively limited but if I did want a good chicken burger this is where I would go.

Slimming World Spicy Chicken Burger

This recipe is from a Slimming World magazine; my boyfriend loves chicken burgers so I thought I would try to make my own so it would be as healthy as possible. This turned out really well and he was very impressed!

To serve 2, you need:

2 chicken breasts

1 tsp curry powder

half a carrot, grated

bread rolls to serve

Chop the chicken in a food processor until you have mince

Grate the carrot and mix in, along with the curry powder.

Shape into patties and grill or oven cook for about 15 mins

I cut into one to check it was cooked; the curry powder gives the burgers a pink colour so it's hard to tell from the outside when they are ready.

Serve in a bread roll, and enjoy!

I'd already written this post when I saw that Helen at Fuss Free Flavours and Michelle at Utterly Scrummy have come up with a great blog challenge- Extra Veg. The idea is to include an extra portion of veg in any recipe or meal - so these burgers with their hidden grated carrot are perfect (and you can't taste the carrot, I promise!).

I'm also sending this to the Family Foodies  blog challenge as this month it is Hidden Goodies,  looking for ways to sneak hidden veg into meals - which they say is for children but to be honest sometimes you need to do that for adults as well! I'm looking forward to getting some ideas from the roundup at the end of this month. The challenge is hosted by Bangers and Mash and Eat Your Veg.

New Year's Resolutions

I've never really been one for New Year's Resolutions - I don't even bother with generalised ones like "lose weight". But after I came out of a long relationship a few years ago, I made a list of resolutions that was more like things I wanted to do, and steadily worked my way through the list - ranging from taking ice skating lessons to starting a blog. I thought it would be fun this year to make some foodie and blog-related resolutions - or at least, a list of things I want to do. Why not leave a comment in the box below and tell me if you have any similar foodie resolutions?

In 2014 I want to:

- Redesign my blog. I put very little thought into it when I started the blog and was only capable of using the blogspot template, but as my boyfriend is something very senior in IT, I'm sure between us we can work out how to make it look a bit better!

- Improve my ranking in the Foodies 100. I was almost in the top 100, at 108, when they changed the way the metrics were calculated, and at the same time I changed my web address from carolinemakesblogspot.co.uk to carolinemakes.net and I fell several hundred positions.

- Figure out and start using the likes of Kred, Klout etc - I probably need to do this to achieve the above resolution, though so far it's been hard to find the time.

- Reach 400,000 blog hits. I am at 290,000 at the moment, so I think 300,000 is a far too easily achievable target, and I may as well aim for the next big one!

- Make better use of Facebook to promote my blog and start using Google Plus. I think I do OK with using Twitter to promote blog posts but I could definitely be better at replying to tweets.

- Work out how to get on more company/PR mailing lists for product reviews and so on - if anyone has any advice please let me know!

- On which note, make more of an effort to reply to comments on my blog. I do appreciate them everyone, honestly!

- Take a cooking or cake decorating class - I've already signed up to an 8-week evening class in royal icing and piping, starting in January, and before the end of the year I'd like to do something else as well.

- Sort out my cake decorating cupboard that has gotten into a complete mess again!

In 2014, I want to eat at:

- Hawksmoor
- Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium - which is hopefully opening soon! I've got a voucher for afternoon tea for two already as I contributed to the crowdfunding scheme to help the place open - I am a little bit feline-obsessed!
- Bubbledogs - I wanted to go here in 2013 but never managed it
- The Lazy Cow in Salisbury (my home town)
- Bubba Gump's, if and when it finally opens in the UK (there was meant to be one opening in London in November but it has all gone quiet)
- Anywhere in Cambridge - I've wanted to take my boyfriend there for a long weekend for a while and so far we haven't found the time. He's never visited Cambridge, and it's where I went to university and where a lot of my friends still live, so it means a lot to me.
I realise none of these are particularly high-brow and most people would have places like the Fat Duck on their list, but I am a fussy eater and don't think I would enjoy it!

In 2014, I want to cook:

- Salmon in a dishwasher - apparently it's a good method of cooking fish, and other things!
- Bread: I've never made bread (apart from the bread sticks I made at Christmas) other than using my breadmaker so want to try out some proper Paul Hollywood recipes
- Heath bar pie 
- something to use up a lot of the ingredients that are nearing their use-by date, including candy I brought back from America
- something to try out some pieces of baking and cake decorating equipment I have bought but never used. That's a fairly generalised comment but for instance I've got the Wilton heart-shaped tasty fill pan which was quite expensive and I've never used (though it doesn't help that the recipe leaflet with it calls for some ingredients I don't think you can get in this country), and some ice shot glass moulds I want to use for a chocolate dessert.
- Giant cupcake - I've tried a couple of times but it's never turned out that well so I really want to get to grips with it this year.
- Something using the Lakeland R-evolution Cuisine kit I got for my birthday and haven't used yet
- a proper cream pie like the one I had in Wyoming
- a really good approximation of a Cheesecake Factory cheesecake; the recipes I've tried before haven't quite tasted right.
- Something from my Artusi cookbook even though it is in German so will take me longer to figure out
- Homemade mozzarella sticks, as my boyfriend loves the ones you get in TGI Friday's
- Try out a couple of the Great British Bake Off technical challenges that I haven't already made - perhaps angel food cake or doughnuts.
- More "food from fiction" - often when I read a novel I am transported by the description of food and there are some books in which food and meals play a large part. I am occasionally inspired to make something based on the book but haven't done so for several months so I want to get back into it, as I have several books in mind! I do regularly take part in Food n Flix, which has a similar idea of making food based on a movie, but the films are chosen by someone each month and I want to make some of my own ideas.
- I want to try out some meals with 'hidden veg' as my boyfriend and I are very fussy eaters, but there are plenty of recipes I could try - like a pasta sauce - where I can add things we wouldn't normally eat and hopefully not notice! I think I will also need to make some more freeze-ahead meals too.

That's all I can think of for now, but I might add to this list as other things occur to me. Do you have any suggestions for things I should try to cook or bake this year?