Homemade Quorn paella.

Hello to all my lovely readers. I'm sorry for the lack of posts. Since my last post, I haven't really gotten any better with my health or weight. My weight is still slowly, but surely, going up, no matter how hard I try, which is pretty depressing. :( This is mainly why I haven't posted as much. I don't want to just post about how bad everything is and how bigger I've gotten, but I am mentioning it now as I also don't want to lie to all of you and make everyone think I am some kind superior dieter who breezes through dieting and loses weight without any setbacks. People will go through difficult struggles/stages when dieting, and through life in general, and that's just obviously what is going on with me right now. I just can't seem to get out of this rut. :( But I won't stop trying.

But anyway, on a nicer note: here is a very delicious recipe I tried about a week or so ago. It's a very tasty, very flavourful and a very colourful dish which everyone will enjoy - a Quorn paella. Meat and fish-free too, so also suitable for vegetarians! I tried my first ever paella (a seafood one) when I went to Mallorca in March, with college, and it was sooo good! Since then I had been wanting to make one at home. So I've finally got round to doing it. I am so happy with how it turned out. :)

This recipe serves 4 people and each serving is 450 kcals.

Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 brown onion, sliced thinly
- 1 red pepper, deseeded and sliced
- 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and sliced
- 200g fine green beans, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp saffron
- 1 tsp mild chilli powder
- 250g long grain rice (uncooked)
- 1 green/vegetable Oxo cube (dissolved into 900ml hot water)
- 100g (1 whole pack) Quorn chorizo style slices
- 200g Quorn chicken style pieces
- 400g fresh tomatoes, skinned and chopped
- 200g garden peas
- 3 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, to garnish (optional)

Method:

1. In a large frying pan, heat up 1 tbsp of the oil and cook the onions, both peppers and green beans for about 3 minutes.

2. Add in the garlic, paprika, saffron and chilli powder into the pan, give it all a good stir and cook for another 2 minutes.

3. Stir in the vegetable stock (the dissolved Oxo cube) and all of the uncooked rice and cover up with a lid. If you do not have a lid of the correct size, carefully cover the pan with tin foil. Simmer the contents for 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

4. Meanwhile, in a separate frying pan, heat the remaining 1 tbsp of oil and fry the Quorn chicken style pieces for about 2-3 minutes until they go golden.

5. After the 20 minutes of simmering, add the Quorn chicken style pieces, the Quorn chorizo style slices, the tomato and peas into the rice mixture and reduce the heat. Cook this for a further 5 minutes.

6. Remove the pan from the heat and share the paella equally between 4 bowls/plates (or between less bowls if you're feeling extra hungry - if you shared it between 3 plates, it would only be 600 kcal per serving, so not too bad considering). Garnish with the fresh parsley and serve.



P.S. Feels so good to do a blog post again. I have missed it. Sorry again for the lack of posts. I'll try not to leave it as long next time. <3

Homemade Quorn enchiladas.

These enchiladas were originally created by just experimenting with random ingredients I had in my cupboards. This isn't my first attempt at creating enchiladas from scratch. I've tried once previously, but I only made it a single serving. As I loved my first creation so much, I made it again but altered the recipe slightly to enhance the flavours. Originally I didn't include pepper, chilli, paprika or cayenne pepper into it. Considering I never looked up any recipe and have never made or even seen a homemade enchilada before, it turned out amazingly.

My best friend, Emily, came over for the afternoon so I thought it would be a great excuse to attempt to create the same dish all over again, but "family-sized" (and of course, her stirring-skills were a great help to me as I prepped the ingredients as I went along - not recommended, as if you don't have the extra help, this can be rather time consuming!). The dish went down a hit with everyone, and they've all requested that I make this dish for them on a regular basis, which feels great to hear!

If you prefer your real meat to your meat substitute, just replace the Quorn/vegetarian mince with real mince. I assume you'd cook it the same way, but don't quote me on that as I have next to no experience cooking with meat (apart from my recent recipe for "Homemade lean beef burgers", of course).

Serves 4 people (approx. 460 kcal per serving) if you're giving two enchiladas per person, or serves 8 people (approx. 230 kcal per person) if you're giving one enchilada per person.

Ingredients:
- Low-kcal cooking spray
- 300g frozen Quorn/vegetarian mince
- 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
- 1 x carton of tomato passata
- 3 x garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 x brown onion, diced
- 1.5 x red peppers, diced
- 1 x red chilli, finely chopped
- 1 x dash of paprika
- 1 x dash of cayenne pepper
- 1 x tbsp tomato ketchup
- Freshly ground salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 x dash of Worcestershire sauce
- 8 x medium soft wholemeal tortilla wraps
- 80g lighter/low-fat cheddar cheese, grated

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to about 200°c. Prep a large rectangular oven-proof dish by spraying it well with low-kcal cooking spray.

2. In a medium sauce pan on a medium-high heat, pour in the frozen Quorn mince and brown it off. Now pour in half of the chopped tomatoes and half of the tomato passata and add in 3/4 of the onion, all 3 garlic cloves and 1 pepper. Stir well and cook for approx. 10 minutes.

3. Stir in the paprika, cayenne pepper, a dash of Worcestershire sauce, ketchup and seasoning and cook for a further 2 minutes.

4. Now separate the mince mixture between the 8 tortilla wraps as evenly as possible. Place them side by side, with the overlapped sides of the tortilla wraps facing downwards to keep them closed.

5. In a medium bowl or saucepan, pour in the remaining chopped tomatoes, tomato passata, onion, red pepper and a dash of Worcestershire sauce and stir together well.

6. Pour this tomato mixture evenly along the middle of the tortilla wraps, trying to keep both ends of the tortilla wraps exposed. Sprinkle the grated cheese evenly all over the top of the sauce.

7. Place the dish into the middle of the preheated oven and leave to cook for 30 minutes, until it's piping hot throughout, the exposed ends of the tortilla wraps have crisped up and the cheese has melted and has turned a lovely golden colour. Try not to burn it!

8. Serve immediately. You can serve either two enchiladas per person, or just one per person, plus something nice extra on the side, such as Mexican style rice, nachos with dip(s)/cheese or some vegetables.


P.S. Just so you know, I won't be posting at all for the next week or so, as I'm jetting off to sunny Magaluf! I managed to lose 5 lbs in about 2/3 weeks, but knowing the nature of this type of holiday (booze and fatty foods) I'll probably put it all back on and more, and will have to start back at square 1 when I return). I will be sure to post about my holiday when I get back, and I already have a new recipe in mind to create and post about when I get back too, so keep your eyes peeled! Have a lovely week everybody. :)

Vegetarian sweet potato & Quorn dopiaza curry.

I do really love an Indian takeaway from time to time! My family are more keen of a Chinese but I much prefer a spicy Indian! But with the amount of grease and fat in it, I don't like to have them very often. For a very long time I have been meaning to create a healthier curry for me to enjoy, without feeling the guilt. And I have FINALLY got round to doing it! I've put together a vegetarian dopiaza curry (medium heat) and it's absolutely delicious! I picked to do a dopiaza curry because that's one of the ones I often order at my local Indian and I love it - it's a little hot, spicy and heart-warming. But, just so you all know: I have never ever made a curry before; I didn't look up a recipe; and I used a pre-made curry sauce (as I would have no idea where to start, without a recipe at hand to follow).

This recipe serves 4 people and contains approx. 218kcal per serving. So here's what I did:

Ingredients:

- 1 jar of 'Tesco' dopiaza sauce (450g)

- 500g sweet potato, peeled and cut into small cubes

- 1 whole small/medium brown onion, chopped largely

- 150g portobello mushrooms, cut into large pieces

- 85g frozen 'Quorn' chicken style pieces

- 1 packet of 'Just Add' one shot chilli (15g) (or 1-2tsp fresh finely chopped chilli)

- 'Fry Light' 1 kcal cooking spray

Method:

1. Firstly, fill a medium-large saucepan with water, put onto a hight heat and bring to the boil. Once boiling add in the sweet potato. Boil until the potato starts to turn soft (test with a knife - you should be able to just about push a knife through it, but no super easily). Once ready, take off the heat, drain the potato and leave to one side.

2. Now put the Quorn chicken pieces, along with the onion and mushrooms, into a medium-large wok and put it onto the high heat that the saucepan was on. Spray it all with Fry Light, stir regularly and cook until the Quorn has cooked through (taste a little or cut in half to check) and the onion and mushrooms have started to brown.

3. Now add all of the sauce into the wok and turn the heat down to medium (to help stop the sauce spitting). Stir occasionally. Now stir in all of the chilli. After 2 minutes, add in the sweet potato. Cook for about 5-7 minutes, stirring regularly, until all is pipping hot.

4. Share it all equally into 4 and serve immanently. Enjoy!

As no one else in my house likes mushrooms, sweet potatoes or chilli so I separated the curry into 4 containers - I've eaten one and froze the other 3, to enjoy another time.

TIP: meal prepping in advance is a great way of keeping your healthy eating on track! Whenever you are low on food in your cupboards, having a naughty day and are in need of a quick, healthy meal to give you a boost or are just craving an Indian takeaway, take it out of the freezer and heat it up - sorted!

Quorn spaghetti bolognese.

I would say that spaghetti bolognese is one of the most popular dishes to have at home - we have it about once a week in our house! It's filling, tasty and can be made to suit you. Some like it cheesy, some like it chunky and some even like throwing in some meatballs to the mix! You can customise it pretty much to however you want. Weirdly enough, before I was a "vegetarian" (yes, I know I eat fish, but I completely avoid meat), I never use to like spaghetti bolognese. But when I found the meat substitute, "Quorn", I actually started to like it. Just because you're a vegetarian doesn't mean you have to miss out on a meal as amazing as this! Just replace the beef mince with Quorn mince, or the meatballs with Quorn meatballs and you can enjoy it too! In my opinion Quorn is far more tasty than meat anyway.. And a lot healthier too! So here it is, homemade Quorn spaghetti:

This little dish was actually something my sister put together (I did ask if it was okay to put it on my blog - she said yeah), but I really want to share it with you guys! It was so nice that I couldn't help but tuck into it a little before taking a photograph.. Oops!

This recipe serves 4 and has approx. 415kcal per serving (without any cheese).

Ingredients:
- 300g dried spaghetti pasta
- 300g Quorn mince
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
- 400g passata
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper
- 15g HP brown sauce
- 1.5 tsp dried mixed herbs
- 1.5 tsp dried onion granules
- 1.5 tsp dried chopped garlic
- low-fat cheese, grated (optional)

Method:
1. Fill a large saucepan, about three-quarters full, with water and a tiny pinch of salt and place on a high heat. Bring it to a fierce boil. Once boiling, add in the dried spaghetti pasta. Leave the pasta to cook (approx. 10-15 minutes), but remember to stir it occasionally so it doesn't all stick together.
2. Meanwhile, in another medium-large saucepan, placed on a medium heat, add in the Quorn mince, passata, chopped tomatoes and tomato purée. Cook for a minute or two, continually stirring. Then add in the HP brown sauce, vegetable stock cube, salt, pepper, onion granules and chopped garlic. Give it a good stir so it's all mixed together nicely. Then turn the heat down a little and let it simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring a few times, until it reduces and thickens to your preferred consistency.
4. Once you think the pasta is cooked (either taste a bit to check or get a piece of the spaghetti and throw it at a wall - sounds bonkers, I know.. If the spaghetti sticks to the wall it's supposedly cooked) take it off the heat and use a colander to drain it. Evenly dish out the cooked spaghetti pasta between 4 plates. Then take the Quorn/tomato mixture off the heat and also dish it out evenly between the 4 plates.
5. If you like your spaghetti cheesy, grate about 10g of your preferred cheese on top of each dish. Make sure you do it straight away so the cheese melts! Use whichever cheese you like (although low-fat cheese is better for you calorie-wise)!

P.S. To jazz this recipe up a little, you could swap the Quorn mince for Quorn meatballs (adding them in at the same time you would the mince) or you could add in some chunky vegetables to give the dish a bit more texture, such as carrot, mushrooms, onion, whatever you fancy really (add these in at the same time as the sauce, stock & seasonings). Enjoy!

(Above: Quorn spaghetti bolognese, made with Quorn meatballs, instead of mince, and an extra 10g of low-fat cheddar cheese - approx. 514kcal).