Sweet and Sour

Bearing in mind what I cook and how I cook it, it would appear that my sauces are pretty good for the SW meals. I use fresh vegetables and a stock cube for most which are all on the ‘Free’ list, as are herbs and spices, so it’s a good start.
I was somewhat curious to know then how synful my sweet and sour sauce is.

Today, I used lean chicken breast, and served it with rice (both classed as ‘Free’ foods).
This recipe is for the two of us, so technically speaking, I only half synned.
Quantity unless stated is unmeasured and to personal taste.

sauce bit:
1 tablespoon cornflour              1 syn
1 tablespoon sugar                    3 syns
1 stock cube *
vinegar *
soy sauce *
pineapple juice from tin ** see below
2 gloves garlic*
ginger*
extra water if required

Un sauce bit (mixed in later) :
chicken breast*
red/green/yellow sliced peppers*
200g of a 240g tin of pineapple in juice       5 syns

For my added 1/3 of a plate with ‘speed food’ I had a mix of mushrooms*,  cherry tomatoes* and mixed peppers*.

* Free food list

You can just make out the rice on the right hand side of the plate in my photo.
This meal therefore equates to 4.5 syns.

Free Dessert:
We were given a bag of red and white grapes today. As the white ones were seedless, we both munched our way through them, but the red ones had pips.
Both Hubby and I hate pips, so he cut the red ones in half to de-pip them, and I added a clementine orange and the pineapple pieces I had left over to each dish (approx 1 syn), put a dollop of natural greek yoghurt on the top, and then sprinkled mine with cinnamon (I hate natural yoghurt, but it’s better than cream or ice cream and it’s another Free food).

Cook’s Note:
I have used onions and mushrooms in my sweet and sour dishes in the past, and mixing them in with the rest of the ingredients doesn’t work for me. The mushrooms* turn the mix ‘dirty’ and the onions did nothing at all to enhance the flavour.
*Closed cup or button mushrooms don’t normally discolour though, so you could always add them five minutes or so before serving so that they are just soft.

Addendum:
Colin has rightly raised the issue of sugars in this post (see comments and my response).
I am a borderline type 2 diabetic, and so sugar is something I have to be careful with.
I am not a professional nutritionist, dietician, or food expert in any way, and there are some things in the SW programme that go against a lot of things I have believed in having a healthy food plan/diet over the years.
I intend to have a chat with the Group Leader tomorrow evening at our meeting. It’ll also be my first weigh in, and to be honest? I think the salads are going to go against me.

This is the kind of feedback and comments I am hoping for.
Everyone is different. We all see things differently, and what works for one, doesn’t work for another. I look forward to hearing from you.