EGG RAVIOLO (whole egg yolk inside)

EGG RAVIOLO contains a whole soft egg yolk inside the pasta. If cooked for the right amount of time the egg yolk will be runny. It's very more-ish especially when served with fresh seasonal asparagus.
Making pasta isn't that difficult but we think you'll need a pasta roller to achieve the very thin pasta required. We tried rolling it out by hand once and never did it again. You could try bought pasta sheets, but they should be pliable enough to seal totally to stop the egg escaping.
Our recipe serves two - making two raviolos per person, which is quite filling and would make a light meal at around 450 calories per serving.
This is one of our more technical dishes but worth the effort. There's nothing quite like your own fresh pasta if you can make it. We're only amateur cooks who like to try out different dishes and techniques. Here's the recipe:

PEPPERS & PASTA

Just a few ingredients transformed this easy PASTA & PEPPER dish which was ready within 30 minutes.
Keeping the peppers nice and chunky added great texture. Most of the calories in this meal come from the pasta. One small bell pepper weighing approximately 75g is around just 15 calories - so there's no need to skimp on them. As the peppers are the main component, aim to use at least 100g per person.
I used 75g dried pasta - which is approximately 265 calories. The whole dish is below 400 calories, very nutritious and most of all, very satisfying. Take a look at our recipe below:
Find out how we lost weight and have been keeping the weight off ever since with a method you can easily replicate.

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

Our very first blog post about our weight loss journey - back in 2011.

You'll find our successful weight loss method and a few tips and tricks here: WEIGHT LOSS STORY.

Copyright © forget dieting forever (2015), all rights reserved.

Weight loss with pasta and breadcrumbs

A CRUNCHY BREADCRUMB topping adds a lovely texture to any pasta dish, and it's a great way to use up stale bread.
It is also a very quick and easy recipe to make - taking us around 15 minutes from start to finish. It's a fabulous way to use store cupboard (and frozen) ingredients: dried pasta, tinned tomatoes, stale bread, garlic and frozen prawns. Swap prawns with chicken, cheese or spinach.
A single portion (75g) of dried spaghetti works out at 270 calories with the whole dish, as you see here, working out at around 400 calories.
Cook the spaghetti according to the instructions, and while this is cooking you can prepare the rest of the ingredients.
The ingredients below will serve two:
For the sauce we used half a tin of chopped tomatoes, one clove of crushed garlic, a sprinkle of dried chilli flakes, salt/pepper and warmed this through in a dry frying pan. I added half a small teaspoon of sugar to take the bitterness out of the sauce.
For the breadcrumbs weigh out 50g of stale bread (crust removed) and either roughly chop or put into a blender. Add a clove of crushed garlic, a twist of salt and pepper and a teaspoon of oil. If you have any lemons, you can add lemon zest if you like. Put this mixture into a small, lightly oiled frying pan and fry until browned (around 5 minutes).
We used 100g of raw prawns between the two of us. The prawns take just a few minutes to go pink, and you can add these to the sauce mixture towards the end of cooking.

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Be who you want to be.

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

Our very first blog post about our weight loss journey - back in 2011.

You'll find our successful weight loss method and a few tips and tricks here: WEIGHT LOSS STORY.

Tweak what you eat and lose weight.

Copyright © forget dieting forever (2015), all rights reserved.

SPICY PASTA WITH FETA

Pasta with feta with a refreshing yoghurt and pea dressing. 

Losing weight eating great food is also our secret to keeping the weight off. 

Give you body a good balance of everything to help eliminate cravings. 

Eat regularly, but most of all enjoy what you are eating. 

Calories in - calories out may sound too simplistic (and boring), but at the beginning of 2011we developed this simple equation into a very simple and successful WEIGHT LOSS PLAN, which helped us to lose over 7 stone between us. We learned there is no need to starve and no special foods are required.

Maintaining the weight seems to have surprised a lot of people - and almost 4 years later, we've continued to keep the weight off. Unlike lots of diets where the weight just piles back on once the diet is over.

To make this pasta dish, there are two stages - the yoghurt dressing can be made first and you can set it aside until you are ready to make the rest. We doubled up on the yoghurt dressing so we can use it again. In fact, you can double up on all the ingredients, as this is delicious eaten cold. Take it to work and your friends will be jealous of your tasty salad bowl.

Here's how we made this dish, adapted from an Ottolenghi recipe.

SPICY PASTA - serves TWO
Yoghurt dressing

60g natural yoghurt

25ml olive oil

50g frozen and defrosted peas

crushed clove garlic

salt/pepper

Blend yoghurt with 25ml of the olive oil, 50g of the peas and crushed garlic. Add salt and pepper.Mix until you have a pale green sauce. Set aside until later.

Spicy pasta

120g dried pasta

100g frozen peas

15g pine nuts (or chopped hazelnuts)

20 ml olive oil

1/4 teaspoon of chilli flakes (if you like it hot, use half teaspoon)

15g fresh basil leaves

50g feta cheese 

salt/pepper

Cook the pasta according to the instructions.  Add the frozen peas for the last couple of minutes.Drain well because the shells fill up with water, then very slowly, add the pasta to the sauce (so it doesn't split). 

Place the 20ml oil into a small frying pan. Add your chilli flakes and pine nuts. Cook gently until golden brown - 4-5 minutes.

Tear basil, crumble the feta and mix into the pasta. Top with the pine nuts and drizzle with the chilli/oil.

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Be who you want to be.

Eat great and lose weight. 

Copyright © forget dieting forever (2014), all rights reserved.

Please do not copy any of this material without our express permission.

PASTA SHELLS WITH PEAS & CHILLI

So how many calories are there in "Conchiglie pasta with yoghurt, peas and chilli"?
The original recipe for this dish is from Yotam Ottolenghi.
I adjusted the ingredients to make two portions. With a few further adjustments, e.g. using a little less oil, pasta and Feta, we estimate each portion at around 600 calories.
The pasta was satisfying enough using less Feta, yet we could easily have eaten it without cheese. The heat from the chilli lifted the whole dish to a new level and contrasted well with the creamy dressing.
We've lost over seven stone in weight between us, making small changes like this to our diet.
Keeping an eye on what goes into your food can add up to a BIG difference in your weight. If you carry on eating food you feel comfortable with, you'll find it easier to lose weight. Once upon a time I thought I had to go on a specific 'diet' to lose weight, but as you'll see (throughout this blog), we just carried on eating our usual food - while paying attention to the small details.

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.

Take a look at the recipe:

500 CALORIE BEEF STROGANOFF

This beef pasta recipe was made using double cream, rather than the usual sour cream used for a BEEF STROGANOFF. I didn't have any sour cream so to tone down the creaminess I added a tablespoon of full fat yoghurt.
The creamy mushroom sauce also goes very well with a whole steak.
I would estimate this dish (including the pasta) at around 500 calories per portion.

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

We began our weight loss journey in January 2011 - and began this blog in June 2011.
You'll find our first post (about our successful weight loss method here).

Read about our successful weight loss story and find out how you can lose weight eating the food you love.

Here's the RECIPE:

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.

Copyright © forget dieting forever, all rights reserved

Cheese & pasta salad

A warm green salad with pasta and cheese, can be ready to eat within half an hour.
For this type of salad we tend to use Pecorino - but we came across an interesting looking cheese in the supermarket called YORKSHIRE FETTLE. We thought we would give this a try, as it's a crumbly, feta style cheese. We weren't disappointed - and a little went a long way.
You can buy a ready made dressing, or make your own. We tend to make a few servings of our favourite (lemon & mustard) dressing and store in the fridge.
Here's how we made it.

ASPARAGUS & COURGETTE SALAD

We're making the most of the English asparagus season, with this warm ASPARAGUS & COURGETTE SALAD.
The zesty dressing and Pecorino turned the salad into a lunch time treat. We made enough dressing for several salads/meals.
We served ours with a little watercress although pea shoots would work really well.
This warm salad is versatile - served as a starter, side, or main with pasta.
HERBS can be costly, so here's my tip for keeping your mint going. Buy a small mint plant from the supermarket and repot into a bigger container to fit balcony or garden. Do this when the weather is warmer. The mint should spread nicely and keep going for months to come. Our mint survived quite nicely outside, disappearing over winter and returning in full glory.
Here's the recipe for the lemon dressing:

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:

SPICY PASTA - lunchbox idea

Here's a quick and easy recipe you can eat either hot or cold. SPICY PASTA. It will make an excellent lunchbox item, and goes great with s crunchy salad.
Use ingredients like chorizo so you don't have to use any further oil. Add your favourite extras such as sweetcorn.
When you're in a hurry, your diet can be the last thing on your mind. Here's a dish you can make ahead, enjoy hot then use later as a cold side, or reheat to enjoy again.
The great thing here is the cost - so much cheaper than you'll find on the high street. Why not take a look at just how easy this is to make:

FESTIVE SHOPPING - RAISING AWARENESS

When it comes to festive shopping why not make it a little less stressful. After hours on your feet wouldn't it be nice to come home to something you've prepared earlier? 
Being prepared is one thing, being aware is another.
While you are out shopping, look out for these eye catching Christmas tree decorations!
The UK male cancer charity ORCHID has launched a campaign to raise money for life saving research. The campaign has been endorsed by a number of celebrities too.
'Check your bauballs' - is designed to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of testicular cancer.
Why not grab a 'bauball' at just £5 each for this worthy cause.
They are available from House of Fraser stores now and from the end of November you can by them online at http://www.checkyourbauballs.com.
Why not raise a smile along with raising awareness and decorate your tree with bravado!

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Now for being prepared - this is something we like to do and it has helped us to keep the weight off. Festive shopping can be quite demanding and you probably won't want to be standing around in the kitchen rustling up a meal from scratch. So having a meal half prepared is better than arriving home with only enough energy to pick up the phone and dial a takeaway.
This PASTA AND MEATBALLS recipe will serve you well. I've no idea why I thought of this particular recipe…  but it will certainly hit the spot after a long day.
You may be surprised to find just how much you've 'worked out' while shopping. But what does all this mean for you?
During my last shopping spree I clocked up over three whole miles! Walking each mile (relative to my height and weight) was equal to working out at around 80 calories per mile - or 240 calories in total to be precise. Take in a few stairs and shun the escalator and you can add a few more calories to that total.
If you would like to know more about calories and just what it can do for you and your weight, then why not take a look at our calories page for more details. 
Now what better way to spend your calories! You can prepare most of this beforehand - here's just how easy it is to make:

BEEF BOLOGNESE

I made this BEEF LASAGNE (new recipe) after cooking a batch of bolognese sauce with the intention of making a spaghetti bolognese.
Unfortunately, I used cheaper pre-packed minced beef, but found the grainy texture of the meat disappointing, and I didn't want to use it in a spaghetti bolognese.
Without wishing to waste all my hard work, I reasoned the bolognese would benefit from further slow cooking. And... I wasn't disappointed either; the resulting lasagne, slow cooked in the oven yesterday, proved to be a hit and was devoured in minutes. What a great rescue plan.
Making meals from scratch takes effort and time - both can be in short supply! Then if things go wrong, it can be very frustrating. So, as I've just learned, it makes sense to start with good ingredients. They may cost a bit more, but the end result will be worth it.
I'm experimenting with garlic too - and found this smoked garlic (front of pic) in Morrisons supermarket at just 59p. I wish I could 'attach' the wonderful smoky aroma to this post!
We love pasta, and have eaten it right from the start of our fabulous weight loss. It's filling, tasty and this lasagne for example is under 500 calories! What more can you ask? Oh, and egg pasta is more filling because it contains egg (protein).
If you are going to turn this beef bolognese into a LASAGNE here's a link to how we achieved the perfectly smooth white sauce - it never fails!!
Here's the NEW bolognese recipe I was trying out - experimenting with smoked garlic and other vegetables. The sauce was positively bursting with so much flavour.

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.

Spicy baked sea bass

Spicy baked sea bass - a tasty way to cook this fish without fuss. You won't be disappointed.
Did you know you cannot taste coriander if you hold your nose! Coriander is an AROMATIC herb and if you chew it while holding your nose, you won't taste it at all. Try it - pinch your nose while chewing on a bit of coriander then release... you'll soon realise just how pungent coriander is.
Tonight we cooked this wonderful fresh sea-bass, baked with lemon, basil and coriander and a hint of chilli. Our visit to the Severn and Wye smokery  resulted in buying some wonderful fresh and smoked products which we'll be eating over the next few days and weeks.
Sea bass is very low in calories - like most fish at approximately 1 calorie per gram. We served our sea bass with spicy noodles and onion bhajis - the whole dish was under 500 calories! We picked up a bag of onion bhajis from the takeaway on the way back from the pub! We popped them into the oven to reheat while the fish was cooking.
Here's how it looked before going into the oven. Once cooked, just peel off the skin and enjoy the most succulent piece of fish ever.
Here's how we prepared our fish along with our Thai noodle recipe:

Spaghetti bolognese

SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE - freshened up from the freezer. We spruced up our frozen dish and gave it a fresh twist with an abundance of seasonal tomatoes.
Being prepared has to be our number one tip for successful weight loss. The weeks where we have sat down, written out a list of meals, then bought the ingredients and STUCK to our plan, have often turned out to be the best for weight loss.
Make use of your freezer - and dried ingredients whenever you can. When we make spaghetti bolognese, we like to make double the quantity and freeze in portions. It's a great standby. If you have less time - you could always buy a ready meal and add a few fresh ingredients.
It was nice to know something was defrosting while we were busy getting on with life.
To make the basic mince mixture - which could be used for a lasagne too, we follow this easy recipe which brings our meal (including the pasta) to under 500 calories:

Pasta with tomatoes

A very easy and simple recipe - PASTA with fresh tomato sauce.
Does your pasta fill you up? We found the fresh pasta we were making actually filled us up for a lot longer than the dried pasta we've been using. That makes fresh pasta great for weight loss.
We wanted to know why we felt much fuller after eating our home made pasta. After a little research, we found the reason our fresh pasta was so filling is because our fresh pasta is made with EGG which provides more protein. Some things are simple once you know!
We now realise some dried pasta is made with semolina flour and water and no egg. So the next time you're buying dried pasta, take a look at the ingredients. I'll be looking out for dried pasta with egg! Last time we made this delicious (and VERY easy tomato sauce) we used this spicy recipe. But today, we opted for something even more simple.... fresh egg pasta and fresh tomatoes.
Here's our pasta and tomato sauce recipe (making use of our glut of home grown tomatoes) you will be amazed at how low in calories this actually is:

Chicken & avocado pasta with a mint and lemon dressing

Wondering what to have for a solo lunch and needing a little inspiration? Why not take a look around the kitchen and see what you have. Here's what I found around the kitchen/garden!
We like to grow vegetables in pots, and the peas were just shooting so I picked a few pods. There was a pot of mint. Some leftover chicken breast and a couple of asparagus spears.
Here's what I made - which will also make a great lunchbox alternative.
For my recipe below I've estimated the calories in this dish, which are incredibly low.
Our long term strategy for maintaining weight loss is to keep applying the knowledge we have built up while following our simple METHOD. Especially about CALORIES (see below), and what they mean to us. This has worked remarkably well, and we continue to eat whatever we want yet keep the weight off.
I am aiming to lose a little bit more because (annoyingly) I seem to be

PASTA WITH SPICY CHORIZO SAUCE

Yesterday we had one of our favourite salads: tinned tuna, egg and cheese. It's a great combination, and we served it with our usual new potatoes (with a little butter). If we're having a salad at lunch time, we usually like to eat around 400-500 calories, fill up and be satisfied. Today's salad is avocado, goat's cheese and bacon. We quite often eat this combination too.
Our evening meal was this tasty home made CHORIZO PASTA, which after an hour in the garden, disappeared with relish. You could use dried pasta but you MUST try this spicy chorizo sauce. It's so versatile and can be used in many dishes. Here's a link to our RECIPE.
Following our weekend celebrating over the Bank Holiday, we are now back to the weight we were before we went away. With a little careful planning, and watching what we eat (or should I say - snack on) means we are never too far away from our 'goal' weight. We still get to choose whatever we want to eat, whenever we want to eat it. One thing we ensure is we eat enough and don't go hungry.
I find I am quite tuned into what my body wants to eat now. Take yesterday's lunch. I really fancied the tuna, but didn't fancy eating it in a sandwich. I was looking for the crunch for some reason. On other days I might really want bread - so I will go ahead and eat a sandwich. I have no idea why this happens, but when I do listen to my body, I generally find the food I eat is much more satisfying and I'm less likely to snack. Isn't it better to eat what you love and enjoy your food? It certainly made our weight loss much more enjoyable. We feel much better when we balance out our meals.

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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).

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.

Pasta with courgettes (zucchini) - budget recipe

There is nothing quite like the taste of courgettes (zucchini) and when they are in season they are cheap. After searching the internet I found pasta, courgette and chopped mint a popular combination. I was intrigued enough to try this out. With the mint sat on the windowsill and courgettes in the fridge, what was I waiting for.
I've used dried pasta today as I'm busy and I've chosen to use penne.
The mint and lemon zest gave this spring dish a fragrant lift - very fresh and zingy. I could have used a bit more mint too, which surprised me.
This pasta dish is estimated at around 400-450 calories depending on the ingredients used, for example if you omit the bacon it will be lower in calories. You may also prefer less pasta - we used 75g of dried pasta, which was quite a large serving. Serve with a chunk of crusty bread.
A great BUDGET recipe. In fact courgettes are extremely easy to grow - we grew them last year. We were forever picking them off the plant and they lasted for months. Here's our recipe: