Stir Fry Paste from DeSiam!

Spotted these little beauties hiding in my local Supervalu! Full of flavour and SO low in PP... most of the time making a stir fry is the easiest thing ever but chopping and grating ginger when you just want to eat can be a right pain! These pastes from DeSiam are very low and FULL of flavour! Worth having in your cupboard if you're a big fan of Asian flavours...  

DeSiam Ginger Stir-Fry paste - 1 PP per 15g sachet

DeSiam Lemongrass Stir-Fry paste - 0 PP per 15g sachet

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My birds aren't fat...

The birds in my garden aren't fat... they're very well fed... in fact they're pretty spoiled! I feed them in the morning whilst I'm boiling the kettle... I buy them nuts and seeds... I hang up tasty little balls of suet fat for them, where neither the magpies nor the neighbours cat can get at them... they have a fresh bird bath ever week... and for the winter the BBQ becomes a runway for my feathered friends... in fact I have a little robin who is getting a little demanding right now.... and isn't one bit afraid of me! Chirping away in protest when something isn't to his liking!

But he's not fat.. despite having a full buffet in front of him every day... he knows when to stop!

He fluffs about all day ... chirping ... sometimes just sits on the fence in the morning sun with his eyes closed which I just love to see ... he has his own little routine and it's fascinating to watch, but he knows how to stop eating when he's full... he listens to his body... Something he is teaching me!

It's WAY to easy to be over weight these days, that's not an excuse, convenience food has been the demise of our health... it's cheaper to buy 4 large sausage rolls at the deli counter than a punnet of fruit... we can eat strawberries in December, which taste NOTHING like the ones ripened by the sun in the summer and not bat an eyelid... Life is so much faster now... not so long ago, everyone had seasonal fruit and veggies... for a reason.. they're fresher... cheaper... they taste better... anything that has to be forced in a greenhouse and fed isn't in it natural form...

My birds are very picky.. took me ages to work out why some weren't eating certain nuts whilst the blackbirds devoured them.. they only eat what is good for them.. they only eat what they need... and in winter its kinda tough so my little bird house just helps them along, but it's not a binge-fest!

Maybe if we listened to our bodies more.. took a day off from 'DEAR GOD IT'S 1PM I MUST HAVE LUNCH!' and had lunch when we were actually hungry and ate what we really, REALLY wanted... just listened to our bodies, no one would be on a diet! We don't really want chocolate.. our bodies have been conditioned to want chocolate, especially my generation... TV dinners were magic when I was a kid.. space food no less! But my mum always had stew in winter.. salads in summer... and because money was tight junk food didn't feature in my diet until I had to fend for myself!

I recently read a book by Michael Pollan about 'Food Rules'... and it's something my grandmother could have told you... only eat what is in season... if something has an ingredient you can pronounce it's not suppose to be in your body... anything with more than 5 ingredients isn't fresh and is officially called 'processed' .. how many of our grannies had processed food? and this is less than 50 years ago... Chocolates were a treat, not a daily snack to keep our energy up... coffee wasn't on tap... maybe today be like the birds and listen to what your body needs and wants... 

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Cool beans...

Sometimes you just get bored with the same old thing... I love beans... nothing like them on toast or a baked potato... but, like butternut squash soup, come this time of year you tend to get a but fed up with the same thing, so trying something new keeps you on track... these are 'Cool Beans!", I spotted 3 varieties...  Smokey, Chilli and Original! 

All work out at 9PP per pot or 2PP per 100g serving... 

Find out more 

FB - HERE

TWITTER - HERE

ONLINE - HERE

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This one time, in Weight watchers...

First up... my leader is awesome... I truly believe she has no idea how much she motivates our class every week! If she heard the chats at the gate every Thursday, when we're leaving... we're all motivated... we're all 'right.. be good this week!' ... She is absolutely brilliant!  

I have often moaned about my inability to poach an egg... I have been given gifts at Christmas... I've had fancy gadgets and scoop ladle things and every time I've drowned my toast, burnt myself and sworn a lot! honestly the only reason I have eggs benedict at brunch is because I love poached eggs and I'm rap at them... Make a pavlova, sure! Beef wellington.. no problem... in fact most recipes don't defeat me but add a poached egg and I'm out! My leader know this... and last week at the scales gave me these! 

Stick with it... I've tried something similar before, making up my own rules I might add and it's been a disaster... but she imparted the following knowledge and I've now crossed '... can poach an egg...' off my bucket list! who knew!!! 

So.. spray them lightly with your spray oil... 

Set a pan of COLD water on the hob.. COLD!!! 

This is where I've been going wrong! This and 'swirling'!

Pop the eggs in the water ...

THEN light your hob... in the next 5 minutes... the following will happen...

 Pop the lid on for the last minute to cook (steam) the top ... Et VOILA! 

Simples as the meerkats say!

Slimbo for 3PP

1 x Mallon sausage - 1PP

1 bacon rasher - 2 

Egg  - 2PP

Season and some roasted tomatoes! 

Breakfast bap for 8PP with a perfectly poached egg! TA DA!

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Happy New Year... Part 2!

Today is Chinese New Year... so... 

新年快乐  

get me and google translate! 

I thought a quick stir fry recipe would fit the menu tonight and this one is SO flexible... The recipe works out at 19PP and 5PP per portion... it would be less with chicken or prawns.. 

My Stir Fry Beef is adapted from the Weight Watchers Seriously Satisfying Cookbook... 

What's in it?
Diced beef - 14PP
   This works out at 3PP per 100g, I got the butcher to cut off the fat and dice 
   it small for me... I bought 500g for 4, then weighed it on my WW scales... 

Soy Sauce - 1PP - 0PP for up to 1 tbsp, 1PP for up to 3 tbsp
Oyster Sauce - 1 PP - 0PP for up to 1 tbsp, 1PP for up to 3 tbsp
Sweet Chilli Sauce - 2PP - 1PP per tbsp
Linseeds - 1 PP - 1PP per tsp

Optional 
Rice 
Noodles 
Or ZERO PP Zoodles RECIPE >>> HERE <<<


Zero Heros
ALL the veg... 
Pak Choi
Red and Yellow Pepper
Leek
Beansprouts
Mushrooms
Mangetout
Broccoli 
Carrot
Spring onions
Ginger
Garlic
Spray oil

How?

Spray your pan with oil and get it nice and hot... Add your meat and season... if you're not a fan of real chillis... I spend most of my time hunting out chillis from the Chinese... then add just a few flakes... I got the little chilli flake grinder (on the far left...) in LIDL and it adds just enough without blowing your head off! The Simplee Chilli Sea Salt is fab too! AND it's Irish! Don't be afraid to harass your supermarket manager to get it in for you!   

If you're not a fan of red meat, I was cooking this for 4 carnivores... Chicken, prawns, pork, all work with this recipe so swapsies! It's even lovely with just all the veg, if you've gone over your daily points and need to claw some back! 

Prepare your veg whilst your meat is cooking... I don't use onions in my stir fries as I think they can be a bit strong, so I use leeks... Cut them diagonally so they cook quicker and they look a little fancier! 

For the carrots... use your veg peeler to make 'ribbons' again it'll make it faster to cook and add lots of colour for zero ProPoints... 

Once you've sealed your meat and its cooked through, take it out of the pan and leave it to rest... Then a light spray of oil again if your pan needs it ... and there's a specific order to this... leeks and broccoli first... chop your broccoli florets small, they'll cook quicker...  let them cook for a minute or two, then add peppers... mushrooms... then your beansprouts, and lastly your mangetout and carrot... you don't want anything going mushy... 

To this add your spices... garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sweet chilli and oyster sauce... if you don't have these, add a pack of Blue Dragon Stir fry sauce, they're listed >>> HERE <<<  these are on special in Supervalu at the moment too! Love a bargain! 

Chinese 5 spice is your friend... if you've never tried it... pick up one of the own brand labels, Supervalu have it for €1 at the moment, it's not spicy in a 'hot' chilli kinda of way and not to go all 'cheffy' on you, it's very fragrant and a pinch on some veg in a wok will make ALL the difference trust me... try it out! 

I'm not a big ginger fan so buying fresh stuff is always wasted in my house but there are SO many alternatives out there... have a shop around, I use the Fissi concentrated Ginger puree in my Chinese dishes and you really only need a tiny bit for BIG flavour.. tube lasts AGES too! Same thing goes for garlic... if you're in a hurry and just want to eat, the pre-chopped stuff is the way forward AND it'll last in your fridge! 

Oyster Sauce is another good one to have in the spice rack... again it's not 'hot' or even 'fishy'... it's less salty than soy and a little sweeter...  

Common misconception is that 'light' Soy sauce is better for you.. it's not 'light' in the diet way... it's just light in colour and less intense in flavour... I use the 'less salt' soy sauce which is in most supermarkets... 

Once your veg are nearly cooked through... add your meat back into the pan and add your Pak Choi... Pam choi cooks like spinach so it doesn't need long in the wok or you'll be looking at it all wilted wondering what happened! 

I don't eat carbs late at night and this recipe can be made fast! So if you wanted noodles or rice you could add them at this stage, don't forget to ProPoint them! I chopped off the biggest leaf off a head of iceberg and that was my 'bowl' ... and filled it up with the stir fry... A sprinkle of chopped spring onion and a teaspoon of linseeds seeds and ta da!

This recipe is VERY flexible... with meat or without, it still works... add noodles or rice... add some heat with some chopped chilli if that's your thing... you can make it your way... 

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Zoodles... you heard me!

A quick recipe for ZERO PP noodles... 

ZOODLES... 

called so because they're made from zucchini and are noodles... 

Clue's in the name eh?!

For those who are wheat intolerant, celiac

or if you just ran out of propoints these are quick, filling 

and bulk up a strip fry or pasta dish without all the carbs! 

You will need... 

A courgette / zucchini ... of course...  

Salt... any kind will do... 

If you have one, a spiralising ?! (not a real word is it?!) type gadget... 

There are a few on the market... If you think you'll get a lot of use out of it, 

there's a fancy one >>> HERE <<< 

I went for the "I-won't-be-making-them-everyday-so-this-will-do' version on amazon... 

>>> HERE <<<

Or the good old veggie peeler is just as good! 

Wash, top and tail your courgette... 

Set your colander over a bowl... 

Set your gadget to thick.. the skinny side just kinda of dissolves the courgette.. 

and off you go!

into your colander... 

add your salt... and leave it for approximately 20 mins.. 

... the excess water will have drained off... 

If you're using a potato peeler... 

lay your courgette flat and make 'ribbons' going lengthwise... 

Stop when you get to the centre and see the seeds... this is where the most moisture is 

and it's the most bitter part of the zucchini... Chop it up and add it to your main dish... 

Et Voila... 

If you don't have time, you can skip the 'salting' step and 30 secs in the microwave and they're done... or you can just add them straight to your stir fry or pasta sauce but you won't need to add any liquid and the longer they cook the more likely they are to break down and get mushy on you.. You've been warned!

Great for ZERO ProPoints! 

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