Stracciatella Soup- enough for 2 giant bowls

In my family this was called 'sick soup' not because it looked like sick (thought I should point that out!) but because it's a light broth type soup.

Stracciatella soup is an italian egg drop soup;

1 egg

little pasta shapes I think commonly star shaped in UK (think very little) or pasta broken into little tiny pieces- only a little handful

2 chicken (or veg for vegetarian) stock cubes

Make up the stock as directed and set on the stove, cook the pasta in the stock, meanwhile whisk your egg.

Once the pasta is cooked set the stock on a rolling boil and using a fork to whisk the egg into the stock/ pasta slowly pour the egg into the saucepan whisking the stock the whole time. Turn off heat and eat.

For more syns my nona adds some grated parmesan and breadcrumbs to the egg before adding it to the soup- just syn as much as you use.

Rice Pudding

This is technically a syn free rice pudding if you count the milk as a Healthy A choice.... I'm seriously considering this as a winter breakfast as it means I can save my HeB for later in the day as the rice is free!

Serves 2 (very generously)

500ml of semi skimmed milk (I think skimmed with be a bit too watery)

500ml water

vanilla pod/ paste or extract

20g sweetner

120g pudding rice

Place the milk, water, vanilla in a saucepan until nearly simmering then stir in the sweetener and add the rice and turn heat down- simmer for 30-40(maybe a little longer) minutes until most of the liquid is absorbed - the less you simmer the runnier the consistency (also thickens a little when cooled)

Variations- for a couple of syns add- a sachet of options white chocolate for 2 syns, cinnamon and raisins (syn as used)......jam?

cheesy Chicken Nuggets

1 chicken breast diced into nugget sized pieces or strips
HeB bread option lightly toasted then whizzed or grated to make breadcrumbs
- add flavouring to the breadcrumbs my favourites are parmesan grated (heA) or parsley and lemon zest and pepper
Some beaten egg

Dip the chicken pieces in beaten egg and into the breadcrumb mixture and place on a baking sheet sprayed liberally in spray oil and bake in the oven for 15- 20 minutes depending on size, serve with a WW wrap and salad, or chips.......

syns - the bread if not using as HeB - 2 slices brown (small loaf) 5 syns
and what ever extras you add.

Sausage casserole and mustard mash

syns will depend on the sausages used
Sainsbury's extra lean sausages = 0.5 syns each
WW sausages= 1 syn each (but slightly on the smaller side)
Tesco light choice pork sausages= 1 syn each

Brown off sausages and drain on kitchen towel

Slice 3 white onions and 2 red onions and saute until softened and starting to colour- add sausages back to the pan and pour in 500ml hot stock and simmer on a low heat for 30 minutes

Make a slurry- 1tbsp of cornflour (3.5 syns) mixed a little cold water (about the same amount maybe a little more) to make a smooth paste and add to the casserole and stir to help thicken it - continue simmering for 10-15 minutes

Serve with mash potatoes with wholegrain mustard mixed in to taste and seasoned = 0.5 syns per tsp

Total per serving
3 sausages at 1 syn each
mustard mash 0.5 syns
cornflour 1 syn (rounding up)
= 4.5 syns on an EE day obviously less if sausages only 0.5 syns

You may need to add more cornflour in which case just keep counting - it depends on how thick you want your casserole :)

Pizza thin and crispy

Weight Watchers tortilla wrap 5 syns, fry in a pan with a little spray oil on one side only or grill until slightly crispy- this is the pizza base

On the softer side spread toppings over the pizza base, I normally use tomato puree 1 tbsp 0.5 syns or bbq sauce 1 tbsp 1 syn as a base then load with loads of free foods- sweetcorn, ham, onion, mushrooms, peppers..... and top with heA cheese and place in a high temp oven or under grill for 5 minutes until cheese is melted

ww wrap makes a thin crispy base, I have been using 1 as a HeB as they work out better on all fronts then bread options as they are exceptionally high in fibre (as detailed on the pack), so it;s a judgement call really!

Some kind of variation on Bircher muesli?!

Breakfast- Apple Oats

Porridge oats 28g HeB, mix with 150 ml of milk and grate one apple into the porridge mix, add 14g of raisins (optional) for 2 syns - Do this the night before and leave in a covered bowl over night the next morning eat cold and the porridge has plumped up with the apple flavoured milk as has the raisins and the apple is deliciously moist.

Total syns
If using milk and porridge as healthy extras only syn raisins = 2 syns
if syning milk add 3.5 syns

If you can get them Dorset raisin and apple porridge sachets are a healthy B option and really enhance the apple flavour, they have a few raisins thrown in too and no need to weigh your oats!

Bill Granger style LA burgers serves 4

500g of leanest pork mince mix with 1/2 a grated onion, 1tsp of fennel seeds lightly toasted (in a dry frying pan) and crushed, salt and pepper, some parsley chopped, 2 slices of brown bread from a small loaf (5 syns) and 1 beaten egg

Once combined, shape and refrigerate for 30 minutes before frying in fry light about 6 minutes each side

All 4 burgers work out at 5 syns - I would round down so 1 syn each but if your better than me round up to 1.5 syns each...

The actual recipes serves them with sweet potato wedges roasted in lime juice and a sprinkle of paprika.