Simple Start Beef Burrito with crispy wedges

Serves 2.

Ingredients:
For Beef Mixture
250g Extra Lean Beef Mince
½ Red Onion - peeled and chopped
One Red pepper - chopped
One tsp oil from daily allowance
One beef stock cube
½ carton Passata
1 tsp Tomato Puree
Chilli Powder - add to taste
Cumin Powder - add to taste

For dressing the Burrito
Rocket and Spinach leaves chopped
20g of reduced fat cheese (2pp from weeklies)
1 tbsp of Quark mixed with 1 tsp of water and black pepper to taste.
Two WW wraps - free on SS

For the Wedges:
6-8 small new potatoes - sliced into wedges
One tsp from daily allowance

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 190’.
Place potatoes into a large saucepan and boil until par-boiled (approx 15 minutes)
Once par-boiled, drain the wedges and place in a baking tray.
Drizzle with oil and toss until evenly coated.
Bake for approximately 25minutes, or until crispy.

In the meantime…
In a large saucepan on a medium heat, fry the extra lean beef until browned.
Add the red onion and pepper and cook until softened.
Add a crumbled stock cube and then stir in the passata.
Add in the chilli powder and cumin, along with the tomato puree.
Leave to simmer for approximately 10 minutes, until the sauce thickens and coats the beef.
Remove from heat.
Place two wraps on a plate and warm in microwave for 10-15 seconds.
Remove from microwave.
Assemble the Burrito as follows:
Wrap, rocket & spinach, beef mixture, 1-2 tsp of quark dressing and sprinkle of cheese.
Fold the wrap, ensuring to tuck in the end of the wrap for easy eating.
Remove wedges from oven and serve along with the wrap.

Simple Start Creamy Potato and Sweet Corn Soup

(Serves 2)

Ingredients:
5 - 6 baby potatoes - washed and sliced.
¼ cup Sweet Corn
¼ Red Onion - sliced
One clove of Garlic - peeled and finely chopped
One bacon Medallion - cut into slices
One vegetable stock cube
200ml skimmed milk
1 tsp Corn flour mixed with 2 tsp of milk. (1pp for one TBSP, 0pp for 1tsp)

Method:

1. Place the sliced baby potatoes in a sauce pan and cover with hot water. Add a sprinkle of salt and simmer. 
2. Cook for 10 minutes on a medium heat until the potatoes are parboiled. 
3. Remove from heat.
4. Pour away approximately half the salted water and leave the remaining potatoes & water in the pan. Add the 200ml of milk to the potatoes.
5. In a frying pan, dry fry the onion and garlic.
6. Once softened  add to the potato & water.
7. Add in the sweet corn, crumbled stock cube and milk and stir.
8. Return to the heat for 10 minutes, ensuring not to boil.
9. In a separate pan, dry fry the sliced bacon until crisp.
10. Remove the soup from heat after 10 minutes and slowly add in the corn flour mixed with milk, stirring continuously. 
11. Pour into a bowl, and garnish with the sliced bacon. 



Simple Start Banana & Raspberry Muffins

Ingredients:
2 cups of oats
¾ cup sweetener
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1-2 bananas (very ripe, mashed)
One pear
2 eggs (beaten)
1/4 cup zero fat yogurt
½ cup raspberries

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180‘. 
2. Line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper or a muffin tin with paper cases & set aside.
3. Take one cup of the oats and using an blitz until they become a coarse flour.
4. In a large mixing bowl, stir together blitzed oats, oats, the sweetener, cinnamon, salt and baking powder. 
5. Whisk the eggs in a separate bowl until foamy.
6. Add in the banana, pear, yogurt and mix until smooth. 
7. Add to the dry ingredients, and stir until the batter comes together. 
8. Pour batter into prepared pan.
9. Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the top of the loaf feels firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out with a moist crumb. 
10. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing from tin and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
11. If using paper cases, remove from the pan immediately and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Simple Start Curry Roasted Chickpea & Sweet Potato Salad

Ingredients:
¼ tin Chickpeas - drained and washed
¼ Sweet Potato - peeled and chopped
1 tsp of oil from Daily Allowance
1 -2 tsp of Curry Powder
½ Yellow Pepper - sliced
1 tbsp Sweet Corn
½ a Beetroot - chopped
A few heads of Broccoli
Feta (1pp worth) - crumbled
1-2 tsp Quark
Black Pepper
1 tsp water

Method:

1. Put the chickpeas and sweet potato in a roasting dish. Sprinkle with curry powder and drizzle with oil. 
2. Toss to ensure all the chickpeas and sweet potato are coated.
3. Oven roast for 20 minutes at 180’ until slightly crispy.
4. Add all the other ingredients to the roasting dish and mix together.
5. Place salad on a plate.
6. In a separate dish mix the Quark with the water to make a dressing. Add in a sprinkle of black pepper.
7. Drizzle the salad with Quark dressing and enjoy!



Simple Start Roasted Pepper and Sweet Potato Salad.

Ingredient:
Half a Sweet Potato - Pealed and chopped
One Red Pepper - Sliced
Half a Red Onion - Sliced
A few heads of Broccoli - Chopped
One Bacon Medallion
One Carrot - Grated
One Beetroot - Chopped
Handful of Sweet-corn
Rocket
1 tbsp Quark
Tsp Sweet Chilli

Method:

1. Par-boil the chopped Sweet Potato.
2. Once par-boiled, put in an oven proof dish along with the sliced Red Pepper and Onion.
3. Oven roast for 15-20mins until slightly crisp.
4. In the meantime grill/dry fry a bacon medallion and chop.
5. Once oven roast vegetables are ready, combine with the other vegetables.
6. In a separate dish, stir 1 tsp of sweet chilli into one tbsp of quark.
7. Add this to the vegetables and mix thoroughly.



Simple Start Carbonara

Ingredients:
60g Spaghetti  pasta
2 x Bacon Medallions
½ a clove of garlic - peeled and finely chopped
1 cup of button mushrooms - thinly sliced
½ cup of frozen peas, defrosted
1 large egg yolks
50g quark
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. Bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil. Add pasta and boil until el-dente. 
2. Cook the bacon in a non stick frying pan for 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and mushrooms.
3. Add the peas cook for 1 minute to heat through.
4. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk and quark together with some seasoning.
5. Ladle some of the pasta cooking water into a cup and set aside.
6. Drain the pasta. 
7. Place them back in the saucepan. 
8. Add the bacon and vegetable mixture and stir through. 
9. Remove from the heat and stir in the egg and quark mixture, adding 2-3 tablespoons of the reserve cooking water to loosen the sauce a little. 
10. Stir thoroughly until the pasta is coated.
11. (Ensure pasta is piping hot while doing this to allow the egg mixture to cook.)
12. Serve immediately. 

Simple Start Slow cooked Beef Stroganoff.

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:
1lb of Lean Stewing Steak - cubed
One punnet of  button mushrooms - sliced
One red onion - sliced
Two cloves of garlic - finely chopped
One beef stock cube
One cup of water
Half a tub of Passata
Half a tub of Quark

Method:

1. In a hot pan, seal the stewing steak.
2. Pour the passata, and water into your slow cooker.
3. Add in the red onion, mushrooms, garlic and stewing steak.
4. Crumble in the beef stock cube.
5. Put lid on slow cooker and cook on high for 3-4 hours or medium for 6-7 hours.
6. When ready to eat, remove ingredients from the slow cooker and transfer to a bowl.
7. Add in the ½ tub of Quark and stir. (this reduces the risk of Quark separating.)
8. Season to taste.
9. Serve with brown rice.



Simple Start Air Popped Popcorn.

Ingredients:
Popping Corn Kernels (I use Kelkin wholegrain)

Equipment:
One microwave..
One microwave bowl
One lid/plate

Method:

1. Pour your serving of kernels into the bowl
2. Cover with the lid/plate
3. Heat on high for 2 ½ - 3 minutes shaking halfway
4. Keep popping until pops are approx 2 -3 seconds apart
5. Remove from microwave and season with salt.

Alternatives:
Sweet Popcorn..sprinkle with sweetener and cinnamon! 



Simple Start Colourful Salad.

Ingredients:
Rocket
Broccoli - washed and chopped 
½ Red Pepper - sliced 
Corn 
1 Beetroot - chopped
One bacon medallion - grilled
1/2 chicken breast  - grilled
Sun dried tomato with garlic (not in oil) - chopped
1pp worth of feta. (taken out of weeklies) - crumbled
3 tsp Quark
Black Pepper
2-3 tsp of water

Method:

1. Shred the chicken breast and chop the cooked bacon.
2. Combine all the ingredients together and mix well.
3. In a little dish add water to the quark & stir. Add in black pepper to taste.
4. Pour the quark dressing over the salad and enjoy!

Simple Start Chicken Fajitas

Ingredients:
One Chicken Breast-chopped
1/4 Red Onion-finely chopped
1 clove of Garlic-crushed
1/4 Yellow Pepper-sliced
1/4 Red Pepper-sliced
3-4 button Mushrooms-sliced
1/4 cup Kidney Beans
1 vegetable stock cube
1/2 carton of Passata
1 tsp Chili Pepper
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
Salt & Pepper to season
2 - 3 tsp Quark
2 Calorie Controlled wraps

Method:

1. Heat a sauce pan, spray with spray oil and add the chopped chicken breast. 
2. Add in the red onion and garlic and cook until softened & chicken is cooked through.
3. Add in the remaining vegetables and cook for a few minutes.
4. Add in the kidney beans and stir.
5. Pour in the Passata and crumble in the stock cube. Add the spices.
6. Allow to cook for 10 minutes.
7. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Spread quark on the wraps before filling with the chicken mixture.
9. Enjoy! 

Simple Start Chilli

Ingredients:
250g Extra Lean Beef Mince
½ pack of Passata (Sieved Tomato)
Chilli powder (mild, medium or hot depending on personal taste)
Beef Stock Cube
1 clove of garlic
½ Red Onion
½ Red Pepper
4-5 button mushrooms
Wholegrain Rice
Sweet-corn
Peas

Prep:
Begin cooking the wholegrain rice (mine takes 35mins to cook)

Method:

1. Finely chop garlic and red onion. Soften in a frying pan with spray oil.
2. Add the extra lean beef mince and cook until browned.
3. Add in the pepper and mushrooms.
4. Crumble in the beef stock cube, add a little water to dissolve.
5. Once all combined, add the ½ pack of passata & spice and stir.
6. Leave all the ingredients to simmer for 15 minutes.
7. Serve with wholegrain rice with sweet-corn and peas through in.



Simple Start Lemon Curd

Ingredients:
2-3 Lemons
1/2 cup of Splenda
Pinch of Salt
1 Egg
1 Egg Yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla

Method:

1. Wash and zest your lemons.  
2. Mix the zest with the splenda in a bowl.
3. Juice lemons until you have 1/3 cup of lemon juice.  
4. Strain out any seeds.  
5. Add the juice, lemon zest & splenda & sauce to saucepan.
6. Warm over medium heat, stirring constantly, until all the splenda is dissolved.
7. Beat the egg and egg yolk together in a medium bowl
8. While whisking constantly, slowly pour the warm lemon mixture into the eggs.  
9. Continue to beat for a minute or so.
10. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over low heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens, about 10-15 minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
11. Let the curd cool to room temperature, then transfer to a glass jar or another airtight container.  
12. Store in the refrigerator.  

Lemon curd will keep, refrigerated, for at least two weeks. 

Simple Start Fancy French Toast.

Ingredients:
Two slice of your chosen calorie controlled bread
One medium egg
A dash of skimmed milk
Cinnamon
Sweetener
Strawberries
Raspberries
Quark

Prep:
Chop strawberries into small chunks and half the raspberries.
In a small dish, combine 3-4 tsp of quark with a sprinkle of sweetener and cinnamon.

Method:

1. Crack your egg into a shallow bowl and lightly whisk. Add a dash of skimmed milk and stir.
2. Dip your bread on both sides into the eggy mixture.
3. Heat a sauce pan and spray with spray oil.
4. (Alternatively, use a George Foreman to grill the bread)
5. Once the pan is hot, place the eggy bread into the pan, and turn occasionally.
6. Allow to brown, and once cooked through, remove from the heat.
7. Serve with the sweetened Quark and the chopped fruit.



Simple Start Chicken Curry.

Ingredients:
2 Chicken Breasts
Red Onion
Garlic
Red & Yellow Peppers
Button Mushrooms
Chickpeas
Quark (0% fat cream cheese)
Medium Curry Powder to taste
Approx 150ml Boiling water with a Chicken Stock Cube dissolved
Wholegrain Brown Rice
Peas & Sweet corn

Method:

1. Finely chop the red onion and garlic and soften in a frying pan with spray oil.
2. Cut chicken into small pieces and add to the garlic and onion. Cook until browned.
3. Chop all the other vegetables and add to the chicken, garlic and onion.
4. Add the chickpeas to the mix.
5. Once all combined, add the chicken stock and stir.
6. Add in the curry powder to taste, I used around 3 -4 tsp.
7. Allow to simmer for 15 minutes or until all vegetables are soft.
8. Top up the liquid with more boiling water if it is becoming too dry.
9. (You want the vegetables to remain covered but it not to be too soup like!)
10. Once all is cooked through, add 2 tbsp of Quark to the pan and stir until well combined.
11. It should be a creamy looking curry sauce. You can add more quark if needed.
12. Serve with boiled wholegrain rice. I add a stock cube, peas and corn to my rice when it is cooking for added flavour.

Alternatives:
You could also add butternut squash and sweet potato to the curry.
You could also serve with egg fried wholegrain rice.
I grilled the chicken breast in the George Foreman, however you could use spray oil and chop the chicken & brown in a frying pan.

Simple Start Chicken and Sweet Potato Pasta.

Ingredients:
Chicken Breast x 2
Half a Sweet Potato
1 -2 garlic cloves
Half a red onion
5-6 Button mushrooms
150ml boiled water with a vegetable stock cube 
2 -3 tbsp Quark
Wholegrain Pasta

Method:

1. Peel and cube the sweet potato. Place in a sauce pan & cook through.
2. Put the pasta on to cook in a separate pan of salted water.
3. Finely chop the onion and garlic, and soften in a separate pan with spray oil.
4. Once softened, add chopped chicken breast and gently cook until slightly browned.
5. Add the sliced button mushrooms.
6. Pour in the stock and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.
7. Add the sweet potato.
8. Stir in the Quark until combined (more can be added if needed.)
9. Pour the chicken sauce over the pasta & stir.

Enjoy!