QUICK SPICY RISOTTO

SPICY CHICKEN & CHORIZO RISOTTO is a quick and easy recipe under 500 calories per portion.
Faddy diets may work in the very short term, but weight management doesn't stop when the diet ends. Keeping track of calories - quite often guessing, estimating and roughly counting - is one of our secrets to losing weight and weight management. You don't want it taking up too much of your time. Take a look at our weight loss story to learn more. We know counting calories is not an exact science, but we use it as a rough guide. Weight fluctuates for many reasons.
Our philosophy is to eat food you enjoy while losing weight and keeping the weight off. You CAN lose weight eating your favourite foods. We've posted our meals to show others what we've been eating, the blog is like a food diary, as well as a recipe bank. We do not eat any 'special' foods, and have kept the weight off for four years eating a varied diet.
We love the versatility of this dish - which was created on what we had available at the time. You can adjust the ingredients to suit: swap chicken with prawns, add different vegetables, increase the spice level.  Here's our spicy risotto recipe:

SMOKED CHICKEN CURRY

We loved this smoked CHICKEN CURRY recipe.
We couldn't be bothered to chop the chillies and garlic so we used what we had. It may not be authentic but it tasted great.
The dish was ready in under 30 minutes - and we would happily pay good money for it!
The secret ingredient surprised us - and turned the curry into something very special.
We would estimate this plateful at under 500 calories.
We both agree 'this is about the best curry we have ever made at home'. So forget the takeaway - give this a try.
Get creative in the kitchen, which means - for us at least - thinking outside the box and using what you have available. We just happened to have the following ingredients - and wanted to create a quick and easy curry. The resulting plate of food was unexpectedly and extremely tasty, and one we will be making again.

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.

Take a look at our recipe:

THAI GREEN CURRY

This THAI GREEN CURRY was very quick to make - perfect if you are time poor, and looking for something you can rustle up in no time.
Rather than buy a ready made curry, we wanted to see how easy it was to make our own.
We bought this Thai green curry paste - by Thai Taste - and followed the recipe on the pot. It was less expensive than some other brands, and the 200g pot makes 10-12 servings. Not bad. But that's not all, I was very surprised at how few calories the paste contained.
I haven't been asked to write a review about this product. It's just that when I find something that really 'works' for us, I love to spread the word.
For this recipe - which serves two hungry people, but will spread to three, I picked up 2 chicken breasts and a pack of baby sweetcorn/sugar snap peas. We used 80g of dried basmati rice between us. A rough calorie count (using 60g of the Thai paste) works out at under 500 calories each if sharing between two people, or 360 calories if sharing between three people for a light lunch perhaps.
And the flavour - well, we were quite taken aback at just how good this was. The authentic Thai flavours with its gentle heat soon had us emptying our plates. I'm sure we'll be eating this again very soon, and trying it with chicken thighs or prawns.

***

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

STUFFED SWEET RED PEPPERS

We stuffed sweet red peppers with the same spicy risotto mix we cooked with meatballs the other day. The risotto is so versatile, and this was a very tasty way to eat it.
It's packed with flavour and low in calories too (see below).
Just slice the pepper in half and fill with the risotto. Place on a baking tray and cook for around 45 mins at 180ºC, until the top is crispy.
You could top with a bit of your fav cheese and let that melt in the oven for a couple of minutes. We sprinkled ours with Parmesan shavings and served with a rocket salad and chicken.
Here's the recipe for the really spicy risotto.
I've got a feeling we'll be making this stuffed red pepper again too!

Spicy risotto with meatballs

This budget SPICY RISOTTO is a very quick one pot dish.
You can serve it on its own or with any meat, fish or vegetables.
We served ours with pork meatballs.
I'm sure the leftovers will taste just as good cold. A great lunchbox idea.
We didn't use arborio rice, as we didn't have any, and the end result gave a slightly nuttier texture.
Here's the recipe:

CHICKEN CURRY SOUP - 250 calories

CHICKEN CURRY SOUP - for when you fancy something light and spicy.
We ate this gorgeous soup again yesterday and it was a tasty as ever.
I've included the original recipe below (for those who haven't seen it before).
I had to make a few minor changes, based on what I had in the cupboard e.g. substitute the turnip with a parsnip. And today I topped it with toasted cumin seeds for a bit of crunch.
This is a different and very simple way to use up leftover chicken - while achieving your curry fix at the same time. You can make it with or without chicken - perhaps add butternut squash, or whatever you have to hand.
It's packed with blended vegetables and contains very little fat, so you get all the curry flavour for under 250 calories - depending on the amount of rice used. We found 15-20g of dried rice was plenty per portion.
There's a big debate at the moment over the best way to lose weight: FAT versus SUGAR. Well all I can say is we have successfully lost lots of weight eating a varied diet. Take a look at what we have eaten - it's all here on our blog. Why not see what we did with our CALORIES - to achieve such a fantastic weight loss result.
Here's our curry soup recipe - you can make double the quantity and freeze if you like.

Beef & mushroom fried rice

Tonight we chose BEEF & MUSHROOM fried rice with pak choi.
People we speak to say one of their greatest aids to weight loss is being prepared. We agree and we are now more likely to plan ahead for the next few meals.
Having prepared some of this dish earlier, we were able to go about our busy day, and return to a meal which was ready in less than 10 minutes. We doubt we could have eaten sooner if we had chosen a takeaway!
The mushroom, egg fried rice was very delicate, and the whole dish was around 400-450 calories - which was pretty amazing. Here's how we made it:

JAMBALAYA

Tonight we're having a JAMBALAYA - it's an easy, spicy dish to make, and always disappears fast.  We estimate each portion at around 500 calories per serving. This is a good alternative to a curry, and for using up bits and pieces in the fridge. Our version was more a case of what was available in the fridge - rather than following an authentic recipe. 

 JAMBALAYA

Ingredients to serve 4 

50g chorizo - sliced

300g chicken breast - cubed

large tin of chopped tomatoes (400g)

2 peppers - we only had green ones, so used those

1 large onion (finely chopped)

stick of chopped celery

2 cloves garlic

1 large chilli - we used a red one and removed seeds

1 teaspoon turmeric

3 tsp cajun powder

250g basmati rice

750g chicken stock / water

dessertspoon olive oil

150g of prawns if using them

handful of peas (that's all we had to hand)

****

Fry the onion and celery in a little oil for 5 minutes, then add the sliced peppers, garlic and chilli. Continue frying for couple of minutes. 

Add chicken & chorizo slices and fry for a further 5 minutes. 

Add tomatoes, rice, cajun, turmeric and stock/water. Cook until tender, but not dry. 

When almost ready to serve, add the peas and prawns (if using) and heat through for a couple more minutes. Don't forget to taste and season with salt and pepper!

****

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.

Chicken in tarragon sauce

Cooking food from scratch doesn't have to be time consuming.
We saved time and money by buying ready filleted chicken strips and a tub of creamy tarragon sauce. Normally we would make the  sauce, but decided this shortcut was worth testing out. With a new supermarket in town, we popped in to see what was on offer.
It was a very tasty meal to come home to, and knowing it was going to be ready within 15 minutes really helps when you are peckish.
We were pleasantly surprised the sauce had such a robust tarragon flavour. It was actually cheaper to use than buying the separate ingredients. The whole meal was surprisingly lower in calories than we anticipated too. Here's how we made this:

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.

LAMB CURRY with spinach

If you're dieting and fancy a curry in a hurry, we have just the recipe for you. We used leg of lamb for this quick cook LAMB CURRY WITH SPINACH.
Quite often we use budget cuts of meat and slow cook, but today we wanted to test out this quick (new) recipe using the half price leg of lamb that was on offer at the supermarket. We weren't disappointed.
Our recipe is an amalgamation - using what we had in the cupboard. Yoghurt gave the whole dish something special, and it was the first time we had used it.
Curries are often thought of as a no go area when

Egg fried rice with teriyaki beef

Wouldn't it be nice to open the fridge and have all the ingredients waiting to be transformed into this tasty TERIYAKI BEEF dish, without having to resort to a takeaway.
Our home grown peas are bursting out of their pods, and every time we walk past them we end up picking one or two. So, before they disappear entirely, I thought I'd add them to this delicate EGG FRIED RICE recipe. You can always use frozen peas of course.
TIP: The trick with egg fried rice is to use cold rice, which will stop the rice sticking together.
If you just want to try this without splashing out too much on the more expensive ingredients, I've suggested some cheaper alternatives.
Despite a little bit of preparation beforehand, the rest of the dish will take just minutes to rustle up, and you won't believe just how tasty it is. We served ours with pak choi on the side.
The dish is around 400 calories and 100g of beef was enough to satisfy the largest of appetites - in our opinion! So why not have a go at this dish and forget that takeaway. Here's our easy recipe:

MUSHROOM RISOTTO

Mushroom risotto - soft, velvety and comforting. Cooked in two stages, using two types of mushroom; fresh and dried.
The dried mushrooms were soaked beforehand and the liquid was strained and used as stock.
We then went on to cook this in two stages. This enabled us to return to the cooking process later, with only 10 minutes to finish the dish. Great if you are going out and know you will be ravenous when you get home. Our recipe is quite simple, and it's not necessary to

Chinese style pork

We smothered 450g of pork in hoi sin sauce, garlic, ginger and a little soy, marinated for an hour, then after browning in a pan we cooked in the oven for 20 minutes. The result was succulent and tasty - not dry at all. A good serving of stir fry veg, our home made delicate egg fried rice and our dinner came to approximately 550 calories.
We cooked some basmati rice earlier on in the day then left it to cool. The cold rice was cooked in oil (we used groundnut) together with one beaten egg and peas. 

Read OUR IDEA - to find out how we are eating fabulous food and losing weight.

Copyright © (c)forgetdietingforever 2012, all rights reserved.

SEA BASS

The blackcurrant base was a perfect foil for the wonderfully creamy risotto and sea bass. For the risotto we sweated some shallots until translucent, then added some crushed garlic (to your taste...). The rice was added to the pan and cooked for about 2-3 minutes until the edges were translucent. We added a glass of white wine and waited until that was absorbed then added the vegetable stock. The stock was added slowly during the cooking time until the rice was the right consistency. There are tons of recipes online for cooking risotto - we tend to use our judgment, and this varies according to the amount of rice used. Believe it or not, the blackcurrant base was

Beef teriyaki

BEEF TERIYAKI

We marinated a sirloin steak in a teriyaki sauce overnight. The sauce contained: equal portions of MIRIN, Sake, soy sauce and sugar. We used 2 tablespoons of each.
The sirloin steak (together with the sauce) was fried according to our taste - then the steak was removed and rested. During the cooking time, the sauce reduced and caramelised nicely.

RICE

We cooked some basmati rice earlier on in the day then left it to cool. The cold rice was cooked in oil (we used groundnut) together with one beaten egg and peas. This was absolutely delicious and so very delicate in flavour. We are certainly going to eat this again - perhaps adding a few fried onions and mushrooms maybe.

SAUCE

The side dish was pak choi cooked briefly.The sauce for the pak choi was the same as we used for the steak (uncooked).

Each steak was around 175g (approx 260 calories). The fried rice amounted to approx 250 calories each - no more than 300 calories, so we estimate the whole meal to have been somewhere around 550 to 600 calories.
NOTE: We can understand why teriyaki salmon is popular now, and plan to make this next time. We also think the sauce will could work with a slow cooked piece of meat, so we might experiment with that another day.
If you would like to know more about how we have achieved over 6.5 stone weight loss eating all this wonderful food - see OUR IDEA

Read how we put 'our idea' to the test  -  Our Experiment

We keep mentioning CALORIES - see why!

Copyright © (c)forgetdietingforever 2012, all rights reserved.

Monday's dinner

This jambalaya was as delicious as ever and very quick to prepare! Our RECIPE includes prawns, but these can be left out.
At around 500 calories this was a really filling and very satisfying meal.
For tomorrow we've decided to make a beef and mushroom style hotpot using up the leftover Sunday roast.  We've already cut the meat into cubes and added to a pot with some finely chopped garlic, a small onion, and 200g of mushrooms. We chopped a handful of dried mushrooms and soaked these before adding to the pot with a tablespoon of tomato puree and covering with beef stock. This is marinating overnight. Tomorrow we'll thicken with a little cornflour, then put into an ovenproof dish, season and  top with sliced potatoes. We'll cook covered for around 30-40 minutes, then remove the lid and continue cooking until the potatoes have crisped up.

If you would like to know more about how we achieved our fabulous weight loss see OUR IDEA

Read how we put 'our idea' to the test  -  Our Experiment

Copyright © (c)forgetdietingforever 2012, all rights reserved.

Risotto at around 450 calories

Peas are in season - and these were fabulous, with a sweet crunch like no other. For the risotto we used 150g of arborio risotto rice because that's all  we had in the cupboard. The recipes we were looking at suggested using 200g of rice (for two servings). We actually felt quite full using the 150g - and obviously saved a few calories too.
Fry off one diced onion in a little oil, once translucent, add crushed garlic and the raw rice. We added a little white wine (because we wanted to) and cooked until the rice starts to go translucent (about 5 mins). Then we added the vegetable stock a little at a time, watching as the rice soaks it up. Keep adding the stock/water - it took us about 25 minutes. In the end, the stock we used came to around 4 times the weight of the rice. We added the fresh peas after 20 minutes as they take longer to cook than frozen peas. At the end we added a good spoonful of grated parmesan and 30g of mascarpone (to make it creamier). If you don't have mascarpone, don't worry, as it's not necessary. But... it's Saturday, and we like a bit of what we fancy.
We added a few more shavings of parmesan and our delicious risotto came to around 450 calories.

If you would like to know more about our 'intermittent eating plan' see OUR IDEA.

Read more about how we began this successful weight loss journey - Our Experiment

Copyright © (c)forgetdietingforever 2012, all rights reserved.