CHICKEN BREAST WRAPPED IN PARMA HAM RECIPE

A succulent chicken breast stuffed with watercress, cream cheese and garlic then lightly wrapped in Parma ham. Serve with a velvety full cream watercress sauce and you have an especially tasty dish to wow your audience. And its under 450 calories too, would you believe!
The dish is not too difficult especially as it can all be prepared beforehand.
The cooking time for succulent chicken is all important. You can see from the photograph just how juicy the chicken turned out cooked this way.
The watercress was very peppery and we found ours in Sainsburys. The Parma ham came from Aldi at £1.99 - enough to cover four chicken breasts.
Take a look at our mouth watering recipe below:

Do you know how many calories you can eat each day?

Here's a link to our very first blog post along our easy weight loss journey 2011. We started this blog as a way of recording what we ate while losing weight. The blog is a food diary, and contains lots of recipes, tips and ideas about losing weight.

You'll find our WEIGHT LOSS PLAN here. 

Copyright © forget dieting forever (2015), all rights reserved. Please do not copy any of this material without our express permission.

BACON SANDWICH and CALORIES

What an excuse for a BACON, LETTUCE & TOMATO (BLT) sandwich. It's the Bank Holiday!! Who needs an excuse anyway, especially when the bacon is cooked in such a way you get to save around 150 calories. 

This sandwich is around 450 calories, yet it could have been more. We even weighed the fat that didn't go into the sandwich and were surprised at the results: For two bacon sandwiches today, we found there was 35g of bacon fat left in the frying pan - which, at 88 calories for 10g of bacon fat, saved around 150 calories per sandwich. Yet the resulting sandwich didn't suffer - it was as tasty as ever. 

This is our favourite way of cooking bacon and you'll get to enjoy all the flavour while eating less calories. 

First snip off the fat from the bacon slices and put this fat to one side. Most standard bacon is full of water, and the aim is to remove it.
Place the trimmed slices of bacon into an oiled saucepan. Now fry the lean bacon until you see the water escape - it looks like milky liquid. As soon as this starts happening - remove the bacon (which is only half cooked).  Wipe the pan to remove the liquid.
Next, put the fat pieces into the pan and fry these on a very LOW heat. This turns the fat pieces into oil. Once the oil starts to appear in the pan, add your half cooked bacon and fry to your liking.
This will give the bacon ALL the flavour you would want without overloading on calories. Don't forget to toast one side of the bread, which gives the sandwich that all important crunch!

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REMEMBER: We all have a calorie allowance - do you know yours?

We began our weight loss journey in January 2011 - and began our blog in June 2011. Here's a link to the first post. (here's the link).

Read about our UNIQUE METHOD of weight loss and find out how you can lose weight eating the food you love.

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QUICK PASTA

Here's a very quick and easy pasta dish using  store cupboard ingredients. Spaghetti with tomatoes, garlic and Parmesan - assembled in under 15 minutes.
After an unexpectedly hot day, we wandered out to the local pub for dinner. It soon became obvious many others had the same idea; the pub was packed and all the tables booked.
On returning home, we found a few ripe tomatoes, and used them to make a quick sauce for the spaghetti. The result was a quick and simple, refreshing pasta dish around 400 calories.
To make the dish:
Prepare the dried spaghetti (approx 60g per person) according to the instructions on the pack. While the pasta is cooking, take a couple of cloves of garlic and sprinkle with a little salt before crushing with the back of a knife. Chop a few ripe tomatoes. Put a small amount of olive oil into a frying pan and heat gently. Add the tomatoes and garlic, stirring all the time over a low heat for 2 - 3 minutes, then turn off the heat. When the pasta is cooked, add a couple of tablespoons of the pasta water to the tomatoes and garlic. Drain pasta and dress with a little oil and/or butter. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the tomatoes and sprinkle generously with cheese. We used Parmesan, which is less fatty than e.g. Cheddar. But use what you have. We added fresh chopped basil, which added a fragrant touch, and finished with a little olive oil and a fresh grating of black pepper before devouring.

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REMEMBER: We all have a calorie allowance - do you know yours?

We began our weight loss journey in January 2011 - and began our blog in June 2011. Here's a link to the first post. (here's the link).

Read about our UNIQUE METHOD of weight loss and find out how you can lose weight eating the food you love.

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Chorizo salad with Manchego

Brunch was a warm and slightly spicy Chorizo salad with Manchego cheese. This bold salad recipe, infused with the flavours of Spain, went down a storm.
Undecided about what to eat - hot or cold - we ended up with this delicious combination.
The result was a very colourful, tasty and filling salad around 450 calories.
Here's how we made it.
Boil 120g potatoes (per person) and dress with some of the Chorizo oil. Allow five minutes for the flavours to mingle. Lightly boil the egg(s) - I used two left over quail's eggs here, although one normal egg would suffice. Cook 30g of sliced fresh Chorizo - which should be more than enough. Combine with your favourite salad vegetables, we used spinach, courgette and tomato - and sprinkle with 15g grated Manchego.

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REMEMBER: We all have a calorie allowance - do you know yours?

We began our weight loss journey in January 2011 - and began our blog in June 2011. Here's a link to the first post. (here's the link).

Read about our UNIQUE METHOD of weight loss and find out how you can lose weight eating the food you love.

Copyright © forget dieting forever, all rights reserved

JERK PORK

JERK PORK skewers with sweet potato wedges. Why not bring a bit of colour and sunshine to your meals.
I was inspired by a delicious Jerk turkey recipe by MizPepperpot (which I will make another day when I have the ingredients). Being pushed for time, I used what I had in the fridge (Clara's Jerk Seasoning) and pork. The meal was ready in under an hour and economical too.
The JERK PORK skewers were refreshingly spicy. They can be cooked on the barbecue or grilled and will be ready in no time.
We served ours with a salad, this pineapple salsa we made the other day and these delicious sweet potato wedges.
The SWEET POTATO WEDGES were very easy - just coat in a small amount of oil and sprinkle with cajun seasoning. Cook in a hot oven until soft - about 40 minutes. They cook very well on the barbecue too. They disappeared very quickly...
Marinate (cubed) pork tenderloin fillet in a ready made Jerk paste for at least 20 minutes. Thread onto skewers with fresh pineapple. Brush with oil and cook on the grill or barbecue. Make sure they are cooked all the way through - depending on the size of the meat cubes depends on cooking time. Rest the skewers before serving.
REMEMBER: We all have a calorie allowance - do you know yours?

We began our weight loss journey in January 2011 - and began our blog in June 2011. Here's a link to the first post. (here's the link).

Read about our UNIQUE METHOD of weight loss and find out how you can lose weight eating the food you love.

Copyright © forget dieting forever, all rights reserved

Chilli beef with wild rice

This minced beef chilli with long grain wild rice was made using mainly store cupboard ingredients. It's a dish that always comes in handy, when you're not quite sure what to do with that pack of minced beef.
I often make this using basmati rice, which is what I usually have in the cupboard. But here I used a packet mixed with long grain and wild rice. It was quite cheap at around £1 per 500g.
I love the nutty texture of the wild rice which adds something to the whole dish.
If you can get hold of star anise - then add this to the pot. It's not necessary, but it does add a hint of something 'different' to the dish. We tend to use star anise more, since discovering it. Unlike lots of spices which can easily accumulate… This woody spice can be added to many other dishes e.g. stews. The only thing you have to remember is to remove it before serving, as it's not very pleasant if you end up chewing on it.
The minced beef was very simple to put together too, and a portion of this will set you back somewhere around 300 calories (or 450 calories including the rice).
Here's how we made the chilli:

Salmon salad

This teriyaki salmon salad was very quick and easy to make. And after a weekend of eating out, it was good to see something 'green' on the plate. I'm not sure if I was after the watercress or the fish?
I often wonder if my body tells me to eat something it needs now. Yesterday we went for a longish walk but it was much warmer than anticipated. Perhaps we needed a mineral or two? Watercress is not something I always buy.
We've enjoyed teriyaki salmon before, see this recipe here, where it was served with a very refreshing noodle salad. Today we fancied potatoes and watercress.
The whole dish was around 450 calories and very filling.
This time we used frozen salmon, which we defrosted first. I couldn't tell the difference between the frozen salmon today and the last time when it was fresh.
For the marinade you will need just two tablespoons each of: Mirin, Sake, Soy and sugar. You could always buy a ready made sauce if you don't have the ingredients.

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REMEMBER:  - Do you know how many calories you are allowed each day?

Here's a link to our very first blog post about our weight loss journey, which we began in January 2011. We started this blog as a way of recording what we ate while losing weight. The blog is a food diary, and contains lots of recipes, tips and ideas about losing weight.

You'll find our WEIGHT LOSS PLAN here. 

Copyright © forget dieting forever (2014), all rights reserved. Please do not copy any of this material without my express permission.

COLOURFUL PASTA BAKE

PASTA BAKE - great for weight loss at around 450 calories per portion.  We enjoyed ours with a nice glass of red wine.
Roasting the vegetables first helps intensify the flavour of the overall dish. Choose whatever vegetables you like - but don't forget the courgettes (zucchini) as I thought they really made the dish. Here's how we made it:

LEMON SOLE for WEIGHT LOSS

Worrying about weight gain after the festive season? Why not follow our unique weight loss system. Lose weight and never go hungry - this is weight loss that works.
We've shown you can lose weight easily eating a lot more than some well known diets would impose on you. In fact our weight loss system was so easy, we ended up losing 7 stone between us. Not bad when you consider the very high diet failure rate. Until I used this system I found it difficult to lose weight and keep it off.
Here's what we ate yesterday. We used normal cooking techniques too with butter and oil.
LEMON SOLE has such a delicate flavour you would think this powerful caper sauce would do it an injustice. In fact, the opposite was true.
When I tasted the caper sauce on its own, it was so acidic I thought I had better get the ketchup ready on standby. But… together they were divine. Like chalk and cheese - yet an unexpected perfect match.
Despite the butter, the dish came in under 450 calories. There was quite a bit of the sauce left in the pan - so it could stretch to serving four with less reduction. It was so much tastier than anticipated.
I had a jar of capers in the fridge - they've been haunting me for months, so I thought I'd better use them. (One of those purchases you make when you feel creative while shopping).
Our weight loss philosophy is to eat what you enjoy - nothing is banned. Live life to the full and savour your food. Forget about all that substitute low-fat food - just eat the real thing, and you will probably find you naturally eat less of it. As in this dish - we used full fat ingredients, yet there was plenty of sauce left in the frying pan. It's about not being afraid, and taking a leap of faith.
After enjoying such a wonderful treat, I can thoroughly recommend this dish. We were very surprised at just how balanced the fish was, and better still, you can prepare it within 30 minutes - the potatoes taking the longest! So why not experiment, try something new and enjoy this fabulous recipe:

FESTIVE HOT OPEN SANDWICH

What a great idea for a quick festive treat! This hot open sandwich reminded me of Christmas - cranberry, parma ham, chicken and melting mozzarella.
You can use sliced chicken or turkey, but we chose to flatten a chicken breast and flash fried. Spread the ciabatta toast with cranberry sauce, top with chicken and parma ham. Grill for a minute before adding the cheese, then continue to heat under the grill until crispy. Serve with a light salad and you have a delicious hot lunch around 450 calories.

EAT GREAT AND LOSE WEIGHT.

Do you know how many calories you can eat each day?

Here's a link to our very first blog post about our weight loss journey, which we began in January 2011. We started this blog as a way of recording what we ate while losing weight. The blog is a food diary, and contains lots of recipes, tips and ideas about losing weight.

You'll find our WEIGHT LOSS PLAN here. 

Copyright © forget dieting forever (2013), all rights reserved. Please do not copy any of this material without our express permission.

BREAD & WEIGHT LOSS

Lunch was a tasty BEEF, EGG & ONION sandwich, and it certainly hit the spot. (See how we made it below).
If you love bread, why give it up to lose weight? We carried on eating bread and believe this actually helped us. If you stop eating foods you are likely to crave, you might just find you eat more of it. Perhaps you'll find yourself skulking around the bread bin, sneaking a slice of bread here or there? Why go through the torture.
Embrace bread and try different flavours, like we do. Just keep a balanced approach, vary your diet and enjoy your food.
We counted the calories in this tasty sandwich

Weekday cajun chicken

This cajun chicken meal is one of our favourites. It's so quick and easy to put together. Serve with buttered new potatoes and you have a delicious meal at around 450 calories.
If you cut the chicken breast open and flatten it slightly, it should cook more evenly. We coated ours in cajun seasoning then fried in a little oil.
We're not afraid to use oil and butter in our meals, because we think this helps to fill us up. We're not talking of using large amounts (as you may have seen on television). A little goes a long way!

REMEMBER: We all have a calorie allowance - do you know yours?

We began our weight loss journey in January 2011 - and began our blog in June 2011. Here's a link to the first post. (here's the link).

We like to post our main meals to show you what CAN be eaten. You won’t find us posting every last morsel though – but we hope this gives you an idea of how far calories can go! I'm currently going through the photographs and replacing them with more website friendly versions which will allow the blog to load quickly. 

Here's our UNIQUE METHOD of weight loss. Lose weight eating the food you enjoy most. 

Copyright © forget dieting forever, all rights reserved.

COD in breadcrumbs

I was really hankering after some fish - so we made this delicious cod in breadcrumbs again. Once you've made this yourself, you'll probably wonder why you've never thought to make it before. It's so easy, and so much tastier than its processed, frozen friend.
Tonight we served ours with potato wedges - cooked in the oven in a piri-piri seasoning.
My 180g portion of raw cod is around 150 calories.
After bread crumbing and serving with spicy oven cooked potato wedges, and a little side salad, the whole dish is still only around 600 calories.
Take a look at our truly succulent lemony cod recipe:

BRISKET OF BEEF

BRISKET of beef is a great cut of meat for slow-cooking. We cooked ours in the SLOW-COOKER which we turned on in the morning before going out to work. All that was needed was to steam the veg and pop a few Yorkshire puddings into the oven... It was a lovely mid-week treat, with enough meat for another couple of meals. Our kilo of brisket was very economical too at just under £6.
Let your kitchen gadgets do the work for you: add stock vegetables to the slow-cooker, place the meat on top and fill with around a litre of hot water. The meat falls apart and has a really meaty taste. It's also low in calories and this plateful is around 450 calories - including the Yorkshire pudding (see recipe below)!

CHEESE & HAM TOASTIES

LUNCH. Mmmm these cheese and ham toasties were delicious. We served ours with .... courgette soup.
The soup was very filling and low in calories which offset its higher calorie accompaniment. When making the toastie you'll need less cheese than you think - we used about 25g each (approx 100 cals) of strong cheddar.
The glut of courgettes (zucchini) goes on in our small flower bed. I'm not complaining, as they are all being eaten - friends and family love the round courgettes too.
This recipe was slightly different to my previous attempt at courgette soup (see below). A tablespoon of single cream (15g - just 30 cals) added a luxurious touch, and gave the soup a more velvety texture. The whole lunch came to around 450 calories! Here's the recipe:

SEAFOOD PASTA

You either love seafood or hate it. Here's our SEAFOOD PASTA. Good fresh ingredients are best for this dish.
After a holiday you may find the weight has piled on. We've just returned from our holiday, enjoying the sunshine, food and drink. We also did a lot of sight seeing - or should I say 'walking' - and we think this has helped our weight to remain stable (a balance of calories). We ate very heartily too. When we returned home, we found our weight was more or less stable, which is more than we can say about our (poor and often non-existent) internet service. Hence the lack of posts but I'll attempt to post whenever possible.
I took very few FOOD photographs while away as I was too busy capturing the scenery, but here's the meal we ate when we arrived home. We love shellfish, and even foraged for our own mussels which were sweet and juicy. We brought back lots of fresh seafood, making this pasta dish amazingly fresh. When you have fresh seafood you'll find the texture is incredibly soft. Here's a link to the spicy tomato sauce we used in this dish. SEAFOOD is low in calories, so this dish is only around 450 calories.

REMEMBER: We all have a calorie allowance - do you know yours?

We began our weight loss journey in January 2011 - and began our blog in June 2011. Here's a link to the first post. (here's the link).

We like to post our main meals to show you what CAN be eaten. You won’t find us posting every last morsel though – but we hope this gives you an idea of how far calories can go! I'm currently going through the photographs and replacing them with more website friendly versions which will allow the blog to load quickly. 

Read about our UNIQUE METHOD of weight loss and find out how you can lose weight eating all of your favourite food and drink. Put hunger to rest.

Copyright © forget dieting forever, all rights reserved.

Smoked trout salad

Today we had smoked trout salad with new potatoes for lunch.
If you are dieting and want to make a real difference to your weight (forever) then why not take a look at our weight loss method. We've managed to lose 7 stone between us, and have kept the weight off without any problems. Our philosophy is to eat ALL foods - nothing banned eg if you love fish and chips - have them. This is what we fancied today.  Our meal was under 450 calories and very filling/satisfying.
You can buy pre-packed cooked, smoked trout fillets in the supermarket. Ours came from a Smokery, as we were passing the shop. Smoked trout is quite a subtle tasting fish and makes a nice change from eg smoked salmon. Great with a creamy potato salad, or simply with brown bread and butter.

REMEMBER: We all have a calorie allowance - do you know yours?

We began our weight loss journey in January 2011 - and began our blog in June 2011. Here's a link to the first post. (here's the link).

We like to post our main meals to show you what CAN be eaten. You won’t find us posting every last morsel though – but we hope this gives you an idea of how far calories can go! I'm currently going through the photographs and replacing them with more website friendly versions which will allow the blog to load quickly. 

Read about our UNIQUE METHOD of weight loss and find out how you can lose weight eating the food you love.

Copyright © forget dieting forever, all rights reserved.

Vegetable curry

With a glut of courgettes (zucchini) and very cheap aubergines - I thought ...why not add them to a vegetable curry. I've never eaten them in a curry and was curious to see how they would work.
Not quite sure how it would turn out, but we were definitely not disappointed!
What was most interesting was both the courgette and aubergine soaked up more of the curry flavours than the rest of the vegetables. We'll be using them again in a curry.
Very low in calories (see below).
Here's our delicious recipe:

Chinese pork with rice

Dieting? If you love your food and drink, you'll probably find diets a bit of a trial - losing a bit of weight only to regain it later. Well here's the answer! See our METHOD below. Not only have we lost 7 stone in weight, but we've managed to keep it off too! 

Once you've lost the weight, you can adopt the principles of our system and use them to maintain your weight. We believe it's the only weight management tool you'll ever need, and you get to enjoy your food too.

So what were we having during the week? This spicy pork dish was so easy to make, and not as expensive as you may think. It's also quite low in calories too. Take a look at our recipe and start enjoying tasty food.

Classic chicken Caesar salad

This was our first CHICKEN CAESAR salad and it was very, very tasty.
In my old 'dieting' days, a creamy salad dressing was a no no and I believed they were wicked, contained too many calories were to be avoided at all costs. Now I think differently.
Low-fat processed dressings just never tasted that good either. So perhaps that's why I never bothered with this salad. Until now. I would say the effort to make this is well worth it and I wish I'd made double the quantity to store in the fridge for another day.
After weighing out all the ingredients I found myself pleasantly surprised at the amount of fat, protein and carbohydrate in this meal. It all seems perfectly balanced too.
I've worked out an approximate calorie count for this lunch and you might just be surprised. Here's our recipe: