Jelly Sweets à la Slimming World

I dedicate my second ever post to those of you out there who are following the Slimming World plan.  I have been on plan since 5th January 2012 and while progress is slow I have managed to loose a total of  2st 41/2 pound so far I said it was slow, but as the old adage goes, better off than on! 

Having said that, I have achieved my first milestone which was my Club 10 target.  That means loosing 10 % of your starting weight.  My next mile stone is 3 stone, the halfway point of what I want to lose hopefully by the end of the year!

So ... it is going in the right direction after all, as my consultant says "some people take the express way and some a more scenic route" and while at first I thought this was really rather cheesy, I've gradually come to realise that this isn't a competition.   With everything else in my life I want it yesterday, or at the very least by 5.30pm ... so it gives me a chance to play with whatever it is before bedtime!  However, this time I've promised myself that I'm in for the long haul, it's not a race, I want it to work and I want it stay off.

Which leads me onto the main reason for this post - Jelly Sweets.  Part of my journey has involved me joining the Diet Momma facebook group. Which, I have to say is a not only a brilliant support network and massive inspiration but contains wonderful and creative recipe ideas.  One such recipe was for a Haribo  bear replacement, Slimming World friendly Jelly Sweets.  Well, nothing ventured nothing gained and I love both Haribo and jelly so off I went to have a play in the kitchen. 

Ingredients:

1 x sachet of jelly crystals

2 x sachets of gelatine powder

1/2 pint water

2-3 small silicone moulds
optional: 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of Citric Acid

Method:

1.  Place 1/2 pint water in a small saucepan and put onto a gentle heat (on our Aga I put it onto the simmering plate)

2.  Add sachet of jelly crystals, I use Hartley's at 1.5 syns for 1 sachet (as pictured), and stir until dissolved.

3.  Add both sachets of gelatine powder and then gently stir until dissolved (don't worry if it goes instantly lumpy, just keep stirring and it should all dissolve)

4.  At this point add the citric acid if you like that sour edge. I love it, the more sour the better!

5.  Pour into jelly moulds and then put in fridge for at least 1 1/2 hours.

 And voila!

Jelly sweets! 

I'm starting to like these better than the shop bought ones and everyone I've forced them upon has really enjoyed them too.

The thing is with these the possibilities are endless, you can try different flavours, adding a tablespoon of yoghurt to make a different texture, even splitting the layers to have multi-coloured sweets.

It's a fab activity to try with the kids and you can even get experimental with the moulds you have around the house: egg cups, yogurt pots, cake moulds, ice-cube trays, shot glasses and on and on.  If you use anything non silicone based, i would recommend spraying the inside with FryLight first to make it easier to get out.

If you're interested, I got the butterfly, teddy and heart moulds from Home Bargains for 79p each.  PoundStretcher and B&M also do them from time to time and I found the other chocolate moulds in T.K.Maxx.  Now I'm always on the look out for fun moulds.  Enjoy and report back if you find any cool variations.  

Happy slimming!

P.S. I have tried (in vain) to make syn free versions of the above that would still remain edible.  I have tried sugar free squashes and also diet fizzy drinks but none taste as good as with the jelly crystals.  So feel free to try, but believe me, I wouldn't bother, so throw caution to the wind and use your 1 1/2 syns.   You deserve it (wink).