Weight Watchers from Heinz Balance frozen meals review

Christmas is on the way and, as the song says, it's the most wonderful time of the year. Sadly, it's also the most hectic time of the year at work, with a whole week full of after-school meetings. Getting home at 7-8pm at night, I really can't be bothered to start cooking a complete meal from scratch, but I don't want to spend the whole week eating junk food either. Luckily, Heinz picked the perfect time to send me through some vouchers to try out the new Weight Watchers from Heinz Balance range, with its collection of eight recipes inspired by world flavours. Each meal is under 500 calories, low in saturated fat and a source of protein, as well as clearly marked with the Weight Watchers SmartPoints® value to easily keep track of your daily allowance.

They are not all currently available in all supermarkets, so you may have to plan your shopping trips in advance if you want to try them all. Which one appeals to you the most?

Chicken and Roasted Vegetable Jalfrezi (347 calories - available exclusively in ASDA) – Tender chicken pieces & roasted vegetables in an aromatic curry sauce with a fiery chilli kick

Chicken and Chorizo Paella (437 calories - available in ASDA, Tesco and Sainsbury’s) – A Mediterranean inspired paella with tender chicken, smoky chorizo and roasted vegetables.

Chicken Tikka Masala (355 calories - available in ASDA, Tesco and Sainsbury’s) – Tender chicken pieces and lentils combined with a blend of warming Indian spices and a creamy tikka masala sauce.

 Chinese Style Chicken Noodles (450 calories - available in ASDA, Tesco and Sainsbury’s) – A delicious fusion of seared chicken with crunchy vegetable and noodles coated in an oriental style sauce.

Creamy King Prawn Pasta (395 calories - available in ASDA, Tesco and Sainsbury’s) – Juicy king prawns, garden vegetables and tagliatelle tossed in a delicious creamy sauce.

Mediterranean Chicken Pasta (396 calories - available exclusively in Tesco) – Tender chicken pieces & roasted vegetables cooked with spirali pasta in a rich tomato & herb sauce

Meatball Penne in spicy tomato sauce (443 calories - available in ASDA, Tesco and Sainsbury’s) – Beef meatballs with penne pasta in an arrabiata sauce, with cherry tomatoes, Italian herbs and a kick of fiery chilli.

South Indian Vegetable Curry (256 calories - available in ASDA, Tesco and Sainsbury’s) – An aromatic dish of chickpeas and vegetables, with a mix of warming Indian spices.

The Weight Watchers from Heinz Balance range is available in stores now, with a RRP of £2.79.

Disclosure : I received some vouchers to try out the range.

Giveaway #568 : Win some healthy baking ingredients - closed - winner Becky Funnell

You may remember a few days ago, I told you about some healthy baking ingredients that I'd been trying out from Protein UK and shared my opinions and recipe suggestions using Buff Bake Coffee Bean Almond Butter, Sweet Freedom Choc Shot, Walden Farms Calorie Free Fruit Spread and Copura Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil.

I've been making cakes, oat cookies, jam tarts, curries and lots more so I'll have more recipe suggestions coming up over the coming weeks. In the meantime, I've already shared my recipe for Healthy Chocolate Drops which were absolutely divine and also totally guilt-free.

If you fancy giving your baking an overhaul and trying out the products yourself, I have one baking bundle, containing the four products shown above, to give away to a lucky Madhouse Family Reviews reader. (Products may vary slightly to those shown.) Just fill in your entries in the rafflecopter widget below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

UK only. Closing date : 28/6/16

T & C's : Entries close at midnight on the closing date. Winners will be selected with a random number generator and announced on facebook, twitter and in the giveaway post subject line. Please note, you will be contacted by email and/or twitter and if I haven't heard from you after 28 days, I'll have to pick another winner. Prizes will be sent out by the companies or their PR directly to winners. Madhouse Family Reviews cannot be held responsible for any prizes that go astray !

You may also like to enter my other giveaways :

Giveaway #564 : Win a £25 voucher for the Nickelodeon Leicester Square Store - closing date 21/6

Giveaway #565 : Win Wet Head game - closing date 24/6

Giveaway #566 : Win Littlest Pet Shop: Lights Camera Fashion dvd - closing date 25/6

Giveaway #567 : Win 2 x In The Club Series Two on dvd - closing date 27/6

Swapping to healthier ingredients in time for summer (review)

I love baking and trying out new ingredients so I was very excited to receive a package of products from Protein UK. They sent through some healthy swaps for common baking ingredients and asked us to give them a try in the Madhouse kitchen. We received : Buff Bake Coffee Bean Almond Butter, Sweet Freedom Choc Shot, Walden Farms Calorie Free Fruit Spread and Copura Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. I'm all for healthier alternatives but they have to taste good, so I was keen to see how they would compare.

 

Choc Shot is something that I'd heard lots of positive things about - I know it is particularly popular with Slimming World fans. It is 100% natural, only 14 calories per teaspoon, 95% fat free, vegan and low GI so it's a good choice if you have diabetes (as part of a healthy diet). Straight from the spoon, it's an acquired taste and the Madhouse kids weren't keen, but once added to cakes, cookies and other chocolatey desserts, it got a big thumbs up. (£3.95 for 320g)

 

I'll be honest, I was slightly more unsure of the Buff Bake Protein Almond Butter when I investigated the label. We love peanut butter so I liked the idea of a nut butter, but we got the Coffee Bean variety and I'm not a coffee fan. Buff Bake Almond Butter is made with Roasted Almonds, Whey Protein, Coconut Palm Sugar, Coconut Oil, Chia Seed, Flax Seed and in our coffee version, the bit that made me wrinkle up my nose, Coffee Grounds. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised - it doesn't have the strong coffee flavour or gritty texture that I was expecting and it works perfectly in recipes in place of peanut butter. If you're on a high protein diet, it's ideal because each 2tbsp serving contains 11g of Protein with no added sugar, as well as calcium, Vitamin E, fibre, Omega-3 and antioxidants. It is also gluten-free. (Available in Snickerdoodle, Coffee Bean and Cookie varieties, £9.99 for 340g)

Walden Farms Calorie Free Fruit Spread comes in a range of fruity flavours and is an alternative to jam without the sugar, fat, carbs and calories. It has a slightly strange, gloopy texture, more like lemon curd than normal jam, but it tastes lovely and is surprisingly sweet. We decided to use some in jam tarts and they flew off the plate quicker than I could make them !

I made a few with lemon curd too and as you can see, the raspberry spread behaved itself much better than the lemon curd, which splurged out everywhere in the oven. The ingredients list did cause a few raised eyebrows : the main ingredient is Triple Filtered Purified Water, which explains why it is calorie-free. The gloopy texture comes from the Cellulose Gel (Thickener) and the sweetness from Sucralose. The colour comes from purple sweet potato, which sounds nice and natural, so it's a shame that lower down the list are a bunch of artificial additives : Sodium Citrate (Acidity Regulator), Preservative: Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, Beta Carotine, Caramel Color, E129. Overall, it's a good alternative if you want a calorie free and sugar free option. (£3.99 for 340g)

 

 

Coconut Oil is an ingredient that I had already been experimenting with and it can be used in place of butter in sweet and savoury recipes, such as cookies, cakes and curries, where it imparts a subtle coconut flavour, or even as a beauty product, for skin, lips and hair. In fact, I've recently discovered that it can also be applied to burns, insect bites or nappy rash to help soothe them. It comes out of the jar solid and melts to create a clear liquid. Copura Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is a cold pressed 100% raw coconut oïl which has the added benefit of being naturally cholesterol-free. (£14.99 for 1 litre)

 

I have lots of recipes to share with you over the coming weeks that use these ingredients, but to start you off, here's a very simple one adapted from one that I spotted on the Choc Shot newsletter, which really shows off how good they can taste. 

Healthy Chocolate Drops

 

ingredients :

3tbsp Copura Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

3tbsb Buff Bake Coffee Bean Almond Butter

1tbsp Sweet Freedom Choc Shot

2 drops of vanilla essence

 

Instructions

Melt the coconut oil in a bowl in the microwave and mix in all the remaining ingredients. Pour into a silicon ice cube tray and freeze for 2 hours until set. Press out and store in a bowl in the fridge.

 

Disclosure : We received the products in order to write an honest review.

 

Sunday weigh-in : I'm back !

You may have noticed that I skipped the weigh-in post last Sunday. My internet access has been playing up for weeks and I just couldn't be bothered to do battle with it. (The same happened this week - this post was ready to go live at the usual time first thing this morning, along with my #mySundayphoto but I haven(t managed to get online before now to publish it *sigh*.) I did jump on the scales though and had a head-shaking moment. After putting on a kilo then losing it a week later, it went back on again last week so the scales flashed up 89kg - eeek ! This cheesed me off because the day before, it had said 88.5 and all I ate was a salad for lunch and soup in the evening, so it made no sense whatsoever.

This week, I'm weighing back in at 87.9kg - I'm starting to wonder if my scales are going wrong because it's never usually this erratic but that'll do nicely for this week's weigh-in !

We have friends over for lunch - and when I say lunch, it'll be a French lunch so they'll be arriving at 1pm for an apéro (pre-dinner drinks and nibbles) then we'll be at the table, talking and stuffing our faces all afternoon until about 6pm. The sun has come back so we're having the first bbq of the season - I'll be making a potato and tuna salad, coleslaw, tomato salad, mixed salad and rice salad to go with it, which is reasonably healthy, but I'll also be making a cheesecake AND one of those ultra rich chocolate tarts for dessert. Oops !

Positives of the week

- Stepping away from the scales gives you a chance to focus on other signs - my watch and fitbug constantly slipping around on my wrists, for example.

- I managed to get through a busy week and stay on track

Current targets 

Last week's target :   Back to work, back to routine. A loss, however small, will get me back into the 87s (DONE)

This week's targets :  Stay in the 87's Get out in the sunshine and do some geocaching or go for a long walk - maybe even start the runs in the park again.

Short-term targets : 

(1) get back into the 80's
(2) get my "lbs lost" back into double figures
(3)  get my "weight to lose" badge down into the 40's
 (4)  get back to 87kg, my pre-holiday weight   
(5) get my "kg lost" badge back into double figures 
(6) get my "weight loss" badge higher than my "still to go" badge
(7) get back into my (smallest) bright blue jeans comfortably
(8) get back to 77kg - my lowest weight since my pregnancies

Longer-term targets :  Hit my target weight of 70kg.

START WEIGHT :93.7kg (BMI 34.8)

TARGET WEIGHT : 70kg (BMI 26)

WEIGHT LAST WEEK  :  88.2kg 

WEIGHT TODAY :  87.9kg 

WEIGHT LOST SO FAR :  5.8kg

STILL TO GO : 17.9kg

CHANGE THIS WEEK : -0.3kg

Feel free to add your weightloss posts to my weekly linkie - it's great to see how everyone else has been getting on and give each other support and encouragement. :)

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

 MyFitnessPal - Nutrition Facts For Foods

Sunday weigh-in : That's the way to do it !

Last week I was very cheesed off to put on 1kg (and weigh in at 88.9kg - almost back in the 89s, eeek !) because I didn't really think it was deserved. This week, I don't think I've anything differently really but the scales have been playing nicely. I've basically almost lost the kilo I put on last week - woohoo ! If the scales have been fluctuating this much, it doesn't really make sense so I'm wondering if last week's gain was the result of my mission to up my water intake. Whatever the reason, I'm happy with this week's weigh-in anyway :)

Positives of the week

- It's been another relaxing week of blogging, baking, having fun with the kids and picking up my family history research so whatever the scales say, I've been in a happy place this week. I even gave my blog a fresh new look :)

- My jeans have been falling down so much, it's ridiculous - I think I'm going to have to stop wearing them !

- I've come up with some utterly delicious salad recipes - the warm spicy lime prawn salad is totally moreish

The badges are looking better ! - last week 5kg lost, 50lb to go, 11lb lost; this week 6kg lost, 49lb to go, 12lb lost

Current targets 

Last week's target :   Ignore the scales, enjoy the week, eat well, live well, be happy !! (DONE)

This week's targets : Back to work, back to routine. A loss, however small, will get me back into the 87s

Short-term targets : 

(1) get back into the 80's
(2) get my "lbs lost" back into double figures
(3)  get my "weight to lose" badge down into the 40's
 (4)  get back to 87kg, my pre-holiday weight   
(5) get my "kg lost" badge back into double figures 
(6) get my "weight loss" badge higher than my "still to go" badge
(7) get back into my (smallest) bright blue jeans comfortably
(8) get back to 77kg - my lowest weight since my pregnancies

Longer-term targets :  Hit my target weight of 70kg.

START WEIGHT :93.7kg (BMI 34.8)

TARGET WEIGHT : 70kg (BMI 26)

WEIGHT LAST WEEK  :  88.9kg 

WEIGHT TODAY :  88.2kg 

WEIGHT LOST SO FAR :  5.5kg

STILL TO GO : 18.2kg

CHANGE THIS WEEK : -0.7kg

Feel free to add your weightloss posts to my weekly linkie - it's great to see how everyone else has been getting on and give each other support and encouragement. :)

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

 MyFitnessPal - Nutrition Facts For Foods

Sunday weigh-in : Sod the scales !

This week, I've been on holiday which often goes with a weight gain, and sure enough, I've put on 1kg. I don't actually think it's justified - I've been eating lots of fruit & veg, drinking more water, not eating the cakes I've been baking (only a quick taste), getting out and about lots with the kids, but nevermind, I'll roll with it ! Maybe the stress and rushing around when I'm at work burns off extra calories ?!

Positives of the week

- Whatever the scales say, my mindset has been a lot more positive and relaxed this week. I feel like the Caramel Bunny ... all blissed out and relaxed !

- I may have put on 1kg but my Fitbug keeps going upside down on my wrist so it must be looser and my jeans keep slipping down which is strange !

Current targets 

Last week's target :  Enjoy my time off. Get out for fun-exercise - long walks, geocaching, playing football with Pierre at the park ... (DONE)

This week's targets : Ignore the scales, enjoy the week, eat well, live well, be happy !!

Short-term targets : 

(1) get back into the 80's
(2) get my "lbs lost" back into double figures
(3)  get my "weight to lose" badge down into the 40's
 (4)  get back to 87kg, my pre-holiday weight   
(5) get my "kg lost" badge back into double figures 
(6) get my "weight loss" badge higher than my "still to go" badge
(7) get back into my (smallest) bright blue jeans comfortably
(8) get back to 77kg - my lowest weight since my pregnancies

Longer-term targets :  Hit my target weight of 70kg.

START WEIGHT :93.7kg (BMI 34.8)

TARGET WEIGHT : 70kg (BMI 26)

WEIGHT LAST WEEK  :  87.9kg 

WEIGHT TODAY :  88.9kg 

WEIGHT LOST SO FAR :  4.8kg

STILL TO GO : 18.9kg

CHANGE THIS WEEK : +1kg

Feel free to add your weightloss posts to my weekly linkie - it's great to see how everyone else has been getting on and give each other support and encouragement. :)

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

 MyFitnessPal - Nutrition Facts For Foods

Sunday weigh-in : And breathe !

This week is a maintain - there seems to be no logic to what the scales are saying at the moment so I'll just shrug and go with that ! We're now into the holidays so I can finally chill out, take some well-earned me-time and get out and about with the kids for some long walks. Bring it on ! It looks like the weather has even perked up too, which is a bonus :)

Positives of the week

- Stress levels will radically drop now that I'm on holiday - I' looking forward to slowing things down and just generally chilling out for a while !

Current targets 

Last week's target :  Take some me-time, whether that be sitting on the settee with the kids watching a film or getting out for a run - I need to regroup ! Plan ahead with the slow cooker to avoid freezer diving when I get in late from work. (DONE)

This week's targets : Enjoy my time off. Get out for fun-exercise - long walks, geocaching, playing football with Pierre at the park ...

Short-term targets : 

(1) get back into the 80's
(2) get my "lbs lost" back into double figures
(3)  get my "weight to lose" badge down into the 40's
 (4)  get back to 87kg, my pre-holiday weight   
(5) get my "kg lost" badge back into double figures 
(6) get my "weight loss" badge higher than my "still to go" badge
(7) get back into my (smallest) bright blue jeans comfortably
(8) get back to 77kg - my lowest weight since my pregnancies

Longer-term targets :  Hit my target weight of 70kg.

START WEIGHT :93.7kg (BMI 34.8)

TARGET WEIGHT : 70kg (BMI 26)

WEIGHT LAST WEEK  :  87.9kg 

WEIGHT TODAY :  87.9kg (BMI 32.6)

WEIGHT LOST SO FAR :  5.8kg

STILL TO GO : 17.9kg

CHANGE THIS WEEK : -0kg

Feel free to add your weightloss posts to my weekly linkie - it's great to see how everyone else has been getting on and give each other support and encouragement. :)

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

 MyFitnessPal - Nutrition Facts For Foods

Sunday weigh-in : A nice surprise

This week has been another hectic one - luckily things should calm down a bit next week and then it's a fortnight off, phew ! - so I've been eating lots of rubbish. Chocolates in the staff room, frozen pizza when I got in late from work, very greasy meat at the canteen, ... On top of that, there has been no time for getting out walking or running at all as my half days off were taken up with inset days and meetings. I almost skipped weighing in today because I didn't want to know what the scales were going to say, but in the end, I decided to face the music and I'm glad I did - it's a 700g loss ! Goodness knows how I managed that but I'll take it, thank you very much ! 

Positives of the week

- I've been eating a fair bit of convenience food this week but did balance it out with soup and haven't been snacking, which probably helps. I've been eating breakfasts too, which could be a good thing and have also started taking water in to work to drink throughout the day - I'll have to keep it going and see it has a positive effect.

- The badges are back on the move - from 50lb to go/11lb lost/5kg lost to 48lb to go/13lb lost/6kg lost. That's more like it :)

Current targets 

Last week's target :  It's another manic week so just cut myself some slack and try to avoid a gain. (DONE with bells on !)

This week's targets : Take some me-time, whether that be sitting on the settee with the kids watching a film or getting out for a run - I need to regroup ! Plan ahead with the slow cooker to avoid freezer diving when I get in late from work.

Short-term targets : 

(1) get back into the 80's
(2) get my "lbs lost" back into double figures
(3)  get my "weight to lose" badge down into the 40's
 (4)  get back to 87kg, my pre-holiday weight   
(5) get my "kg lost" badge back into double figures 
(6) get my "weight loss" badge higher than my "still to go" badge
(7) get back into my (smallest) bright blue jeans comfortably
(8) get back to 77kg - my lowest weight since my pregnancies

Longer-term targets :  Hit my target weight of 70kg.

START WEIGHT :93.7kg (BMI 34.8)

TARGET WEIGHT : 70kg (BMI 26)

WEIGHT LAST WEEK  :  88.6kg 

WEIGHT TODAY :  87.9kg (BMI 32.6)

WEIGHT LOST SO FAR :  5.8kg

STILL TO GO : 17.9kg

CHANGE THIS WEEK : -0.7kg

Feel free to add your weightloss posts to my weekly linkie - it's great to see how everyone else has been getting on and give each other support and encouragement. You can even grab the linkie code and add it to your own blog if you like. :)

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

 MyFitnessPal - Nutrition Facts For Foods

Sunday weigh-in : Not Super Mum !

Last week was all about making Pierre feel better. This week was all about catching up at work, which was no mean feat as we're into the two busiest weeks of term. On top of all the normal teacher stuff, over the next two weeks, each class has an after school meeting where we look at the marks and behaviour of each pupil, compare it to last term's and - for the final year students - see if their choice of further studies is compatible with their results. I have seven classes so I have seven meetings.

 For the younger kids, each meeting only takes about an hour. For the older ones, the parents are invited along and we deal with each case individually so it takes about three hours - eeek ! - and I have three of those. On top of that, there are two more inset halfdays - the government has launched a huge reform for education so we have 38 hours of training to add in over the year, all unpaid of course - so I don't even get my Wednesday afternoon off this week. Add in all the marking and school report filling that has carried over from last week when I was off with Pierre and basically, I'm running on fumes.

I thought I was coming down with something yesterday because I went back to bed for an hour in the morning and had a 2-hour nap in the afternoon. This morning I got up and I can feel my lip about to explode with a coldsore, my eye feels like it has a stye and something is hurting inside my nose. All three are in a perfect straight line so it's presumably all linked and I had exactly this same thing at the end of last time, so it's obviously my body's way of telling me to slow down. Last time, my lip looked like I'd gone three rounds with Mike Tyson so that'll be nice next week !

Basically, with all of this, weightloss hasn't even been on my mind. This week is a maintain and I was actually expecting worse. Roll on the holidays - two weeks to go !

Positives of the week

- I made it through the week !

Current targets 

Last week's target :  Get back into routine - Slimfast meal bars/shakes at work for lunch, healthy options at home, listen to the Slimpod and get out for a run (FAILED)

This week's targets : It's another manic week so just cut myself some slack and try to avoid a gain.

Short-term targets : 

(1) get back into the 80's
(2) get my "lbs lost" back into double figures
(3)  get my "weight to lose" badge down into the 40's
 (4)  get back to 87kg, my pre-holiday weight   
(5) get my "kg lost" badge back into double figures 
(6) get my "weight loss" badge higher than my "still to go" badge
(7) get back into my (smallest) bright blue jeans comfortably
(8) get back to 77kg - my lowest weight since my pregnancies

Longer-term targets :  Hit my target weight of 70kg.

START WEIGHT :93.7kg (BMI 34.8)

TARGET WEIGHT : 70kg (BMI 26)

WEIGHT LAST WEEK  :  87.8kg (BMI 32.6)

WEIGHT TODAY :  88.6kg

WEIGHT LOST SO FAR :  5.1kg

STILL TO GO : 18.6kg

CHANGE THIS WEEK : +0kg

Feel free to add your weightloss posts to my weekly linkie - it's great to see how everyone else has been getting on and give each other support and encouragement. You can even grab the linkie code and add it to your own blog if you like. :)

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

 MyFitnessPal - Nutrition Facts For Foods