BBQ sauces...

The summer is here... or at least that's what the calendar says but who knows with this weather...
When the BBQs come out, it's 'Everyone come over.to mine..' sometimes you can't control what other people will cook and what dips & sauces they have... so here's the summer range from Hellman's in case you get caught out and just want a tablespoon to dunk your chicken wings in!

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Helllman's Smokey BBQ sauce

per 15g - 1SP

per 30g - 2SP

per 45g - 3SP

Helllman's Garlic Chilli sauce

per 15g - 1SP

per 30g - 3SP

per 45g - 4SP

Helllman's Chunky Burger sauce

per 15g - 1SP

per 30g - 2SP

per 45g - 4SP

Helllman's Garlic & Herb sauce

per 15g - 2SP

per 30g - 3SP

per 45g - 5SP

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Digestive anyone?

For the dunkers amongst us... here's a swap you will love... 

Eat 'em slowly & let the chocolate get all melty... the thins have the same yummy chocolate on top so there's no difference between them only you'll get 3 thins for one normal biccie! 

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McVitie's Digestive thins per 6.2g biccie...

1 thin - 1 SP

2 thins - 3SP

3 thins - 4SP

4 thins - 5SP

McVitie's Digestive biscuits per 16.7 biccie...

1 biscuit - 4SP

2 biscuits - 7SP

3 biscuits - 11SP

4 biscuits - 14Sp

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Why 'Zero Heros' are actually Heros!

The sun is out again and ALL the salad goodness is out in the shops now to enjoy! I LOVE it! Homemade coleslaw, beetroot, gherkins all satisfy my savoury teeth! It is SO easy to fill up your plate with 0SP salads and veggies... I get a lot of queries about Zero heroes and 'WHY do I need to fill up on them?'  This little graphic explains it perfectly...

We eat with our eyes and a full plate equals a full stomach in our minds, which means we are full, content and less likely to binge or snack on rubbish after meals! The low saturated fat, low calories and the natural sugars in these foods mean we can fill up on them and still be healthy! You can see that 400 calories of oil isn't going to get you through the night without a trip to the fridge!

As much as you might HATE veggies and CAN'T STAND lettuce, it's really worth sticking with them and working out what works best for you... Add dressings and herbs, spices and roast veggies to give  loads of flavour... experiment with flavours, mint, thyme, chives, lemon zest, lime juice, balsamic vinegar, orange juice, try all the spices in the shops! Please note some of these experiments will go horribly wrong and end up in the bin but that's no excuse to give up trying! You will find the perfect dressing for you and LOVE it!

Eating half a plate full of freshly chopped tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, sugar snap peas, scallions, peppers, roasted shallots, asparagus, green beans, radishes, celery, slices of orange, baby tomatoes, I mean the list goes on... it's just good for us and if you're doing the Count plan they're all 0SP! It's natural unprocessed food, grown in the ground and most of it goes no where near chemicals... and it's what we're designed to eat... So get adventurous now the sun has come out and fill up on the good stuff! Don't forget your sunscreen!

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GOSH!

Gluten free goodies from Gosh Naturally Free From range... Dairy, nut and Soya free these are burgers and bakes for those readers who are vegetarian or vegan too! Something nice to try at lunchtime too even for the carnivores amongst us! Paced with flavour! You'll find them in the chilled part of the supermarket... 

Available in Tesco & Dunnes.

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GOSH - Sweetcorn & Quinoa Bites

per 20g 'bite' - 1 SP

per 5 'bites' - 6SP

GOSH - Mushroom, Puy lentil & Butter bean burgers

per 125g burger - 6SP

GOSH - Mixed seed, quinoa, carrot & coriander bakes

per 125g bake - 4SP

GOSH - Chickpea, courgette & moroccan spiced bakes

per 125g bake - 7SP

GOSH - Beetroot, kale & quinoa burgers

per 125g burger - 6SP

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Ketchups...

You either love it or hate it! I put it on EVERYTHING... Also in Ireland you were either a 'Chef' or 'Heinz' family... we're Chef through and through and we're very judgey of places that only serve Heinz... But that's just our nutty clan... The hidden sugars in savoury food is incredible... my fav tinned soup is loaded with sugar... so these alternatives are so much better for your health because you're not loading your system with hidden sugars...

So the swaps... 

Chef Tomato Ketchup, 50% less sugar & 25% less salt

per 15g - 1SP

per 30g - 1SP

per 45g - 2SP

Chef Tomato Ketchup

per 15g - 1Sp

per 30g - 2SP

Heinz Tomato Ketchup 50% less sugar and salt

15g - 0SP

30g - 1SP

Heinz Tomato Ketchup

per 15g - 1 SP

per 30g - 2SP

Other great low sugar alternatives out there ... 

Real Good Tomato Ketchup - 70% less sugar

per 15g - 0SP

per 30g - 1SP

per 45g - 1SP

per 60g - 2SP

Dunnes Stores own brand Tomato Ketchup 50% less sugar

per 15g - 0 SP

per 30g - 1 SP

Hellman's Tomato Ketchup sweetened with honey

per 15g - 1SP

per 30g - 1SP

per 45g - 2SP

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Philadelphia Whipped!

*raises right hand* 

My names Doll and I'm a cheesaholic... 

You can keep your lindt bunnies, I'd sell my family for a melty cheese toasty! I've pointed these ages ago when they were PP but I'm still a huge fan of the herby garlic one... and 140g goes a long way! 

Anyone else given them a try?

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Philadelphia Sensations Deliciously Whipped, 

Original

per 30g - 4 SP

per 140g pot - 17SP

Philadelphia Sensations Deliciously Whipped, 

Black & Green Olives

per 30g - 4 SP

per 140g pot - 17SP

Philadelphia Sensations Deliciously Whipped, 

Fine Herbs & a Hint of Garlic

per 30g - 4 SP

per 140g pot - 17SP

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Listen...

We all have those little voices... the evils ones who whisper that 

'one bag of crisps never killed anyone GO ON... have em!'... 

'sure you've ruined the week anyway you might as well just give in and start again after class....' 

'You're never going to do it anyway so why are you even bothering?!'

We all have these voices and we can torment ourselves by listening to them and worse giving into them... we listen, we act on them, we feel guilty and the vicious circle starts again... But there's always that one little voice that get drowned out by the noise... The voice that says 'of course you can do it! I belive in you!'

'You look fab today' ...  'Wear the red lippy' ... 'We're another step closer to goal...'

but we fear it... We doubt ourselves and we refuse to believe that maybe that voice might just be right... Surely that voice can't be telling the truth... We're scared we'll look foolish, that we'll look like we have 'notions' ... 

'Would you look at her wearing fancy red lippy on a Monday, who does she think she is?' ... 

But in our heads it sounds more like this...

'Who do you think you are wearing red lipstick... 

For gods sake take it off you look like a clown! A fat clown too!'

We're afraid that people will think that we're smug because we've had a really good day and we just want to share it with others... 'Oh it's all right for you!' 

But this week, let's all listen to THAT voice... Let's believe THAT voice... 

We can all do this, we are all worth it and we ARE good enough! 

In fact we're more than good enough! 

Wear the lippy today... you'll look FABULOUS! 

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Feeling fraiche!

Another Saturday, another swap... 

I buy a tub of creme fraiche nearly every week... I use it in curries, I stir a tablespoon into soups, it makes a great marie rose sauce for fish dishes and I love it with fruit... it's very versatile and much lower in SmartPoints than cream! Plus it lasts much longer than cream in the fridge!

But... a couple of tablespoons in a curry can cost you 2SP or 5SP!

 Just buy choosing a lighter version, in this case the Tesco own brand version... That's 3SP from your weeklies that can be spent on a glass of wine! Just sayin' ...

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Tesco Half fat Creme Fraiche

15g - 1 SP

30g - 2SP

Note the only difference in the packaging is the green swirl around the top... I've been caught out a few times not paying attention only to realise I've bought the wrong one! 

Tesco Creme Fraiche - 

15g - 2SP

30g - 5SP

Irish Yoghurts Creme Fraiche - Half fat

15g - 1SP

30g - 2SP

Yoplait Creme Fraiche 

15g - 2SP

30g - 4SP

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Go Go's Spreadables!

Cheese! I'm pretty sure I'm a reincarnation of Grommit! I LOVE cheese and I miss it... 

I'm not a fan of the protein stuff either... life is too short to be eating something one molecule away from being plastic! 

This Go Go's Gorgeous Goodness Spreadable cheese range is in the shops now, in three flavours... The black pepper one is lush! NOM! 

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Go Go's Gorgeous Goodness Spreadable Emmental

per 20g serv - 1SP

per 125g tub - 9SP

Go Go's Gorgeous Goodness Spreadable Mature Cheddar

per 20g serv - 2SP

per 125g tub - 10SP

Go Go's Gorgeous Goodness Spreadable 

Mature Cheddar with Cracked Black Pepper

per 20g serv - 2SP

per 125g tub - 10SP

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Swap Saturdays! Cheese pleeeeease...

We all get caught out with the full fat stuff when we're eating out, a lot of the time we don't have a choice with what restaurants use to cook our food in... But when we're shopping we're in control and there's so much choice now with where we shop and the various versions out there... I thought I'd do a weekly post on what good 'swaps' are out there... If something isn't in your supermarket, you've got to ask (DEMAND!) that to get it in for you! Don't ask... don't get!  First Saturday Swap post is Tesco own brand Mozzarella... I HATE protein cheese, there I've said it, it tastes like rubber, it's just not for me... I'm not a chocolate fan, I adore my crisps and cheese is the one thing I'd happily spend my weeklies on... when I'm making pizza wraps I love real mozzarella cheese and getting low fat versions can be difficult... Swapping to the half fat version available you can save 2SP per 30grams... That's two more SmartPoints for wine, just sayin'! 

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Spice spice baby!

Spice bags... for those of my friends not in Ireland you'll have no clue what I'm talking about... a spice bag is a bag of goodness from the takeaway ... it's spicy (the clue is in the name!) and very very high in Smartpoints... Last week I discovered this 'Spice Bag' seasoning in two of my local butchers... Sure I had to try it out! So, here's my step by step version of a 'spice bag' ...

If you fancy making your own mix, the spice bag seasoning mix contains:

Salt, cinnamon, fennel seeds, star anise seeds, cardamon, ginger and szechwan peppercorns... no chilli.. if you're a fan of the extra heat, then you'll have to add your own... It is 1SP for the 150g tub!

Click HERE for a list of stockists for those in Ireland..

Also over on Skinny Jeans & the In-betweens blog there's a breakdown of the seasoning too... 

To get your chicken pieces crispy... 

... I used Panko breadcrumbs... I just happened to have these in the cupboard but you can use your low cal bread too just check the SmartPoints! These are 1SP per 10g.

Mix your 'breadcrumb' mix with the spice mix and mix it well, you don't want a mouthful of that spice by itself! 

Dunk your chicken pieces into some egg white, I used 50ml of this brand. Then toss them in the dry mix and get them in the oven... You can use a whole egg but if you can save 2 points then it's worth it in my book!

Pop them on a baking tray, sprayed lightly with oil and get your chips in there too! 

I had a bag of these Gorge Us! oven chips from Unislim in the freezer and they're really handy, when you don't have the time (or can't be bothered!) to be peeling spuds! 

4SP per 100g




Whilst the chicken & chips in the oven, get your veggies going in a pan... add a sprinkle of the seasoning.. I used leftover peppers and red onions... Now is the time to add your chilli flakes or chopped chilli...


Once it's all cooked, approx 30 mins depending on the size of your chicken pieces... assemble!
This is just the way I like it done... but you can mix it up and add whatever you fancy to yours!




Veggies on the bottom...

a layer of chips....

Crispy chicken to top it all off.... 

and a drizzle of curry sauce... I used the Mayfield Curry sauce for 3SP! 

I got the takeaway trays in Dealz and no body even guessed there weren't from the actual takeaway! 

This worked out at 9SP per portion and was the most satisfying food I've had in AGES!

ENJOY! 

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