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' ...

x

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! 

x

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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Just Food Soups...

I know it's May but it's still soup weather... I mean there's snow here... SNOW!

This is the time of year when I get SO fed up even looking at a butternut squash... I spotted this range from the Just Food Company in Dunnes Stores the other day at lunchtime, and the 400g tubs are big enough for lunch or if you pair one with a sandwich you'll get two days out of them! The tomato and roast veggie one is delicious! 

x

Just Food, HiLo SuperGreens Broth

per 200g (half pot) - 1SP

per 400g pot - 3SP

Just Food, Tomato & Roast Vegetable soup

per 200g (half pot) - 3SP

per 400g pot - 5SP

Just Food, Cuban Black Bean Meal Soup

per 200g (half pot) - 3SP

per 400g pot - 6SP

Just Food, Spicy Lentil Meal Soup

per 200g (half pot) - 5SP

per 400g pot - 10SP

Just Food, Moroccan Chickpea Meal Soup

per 200g (half pot) - 3SP

per 400g pot - 6SP

Just Food, Winter Minestrone Meal Soup

per 200g (half pot) - 3SP

per 400g pot - 7SP

Just Food, Carrot & Coriander 

per 200g (half pot) - 2SP

per 400g pot - 5SP

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Am I unlovable?

I wrote this post on my iPad when I was stuck waiting for Storm Stella to calm her boots and let me get to Boston for St. Patricks day... I wasn't going to post it, it's been sitting the drafts folder ever since, but this happened to me as I was going to get a bottle of water waiting 4 hours for my next flight, and whilst I was very sad, I thought that writing it down would help... it kinda did...

'Would you still love me if I looked like her?'

Having been super morbidly obese, not many comments get to me to be honest, people think it's OK to judge you on how you look, regardless of the kind of person you are... Do they know how smart you are? do they know your job and how good you are at it? Do they know you're a fab mum? An amazing friend and all round good person? Do they know you cry every week at SuperVet and First Dates makes your heart melt because you just want everyone to feel loved? So they know how funny you are? How good you make people feel? That you spend your winter nights crocheting tea cosys for charity to stop you eating crisps? They don't know any of these things about you... and it doesn't matter because all of that means nothing to them, they just see the physical you, walking past and they feel they have the right to make massive assumptions... and they do, but do it when I'm out of ear shot eh?!

As I walked to the machine to get my water, I walked past a couple... and the first thing this woman could think to say to her boyfriend/husband/partner as I walked by was 'would you still love me if I looked like her?' ... I thought nothing of it... well I did but I didn't flinch, people have felt it's OK to pass remarks on me since I can remember... remember the woman who tried to order me a salad once! But as I walked back to my seat I had 4 hours in a packed airport to think about it, (to good when you're an over thinker at the best of times... But i couldn't help wonder does she think I'm unlovable? Does she think I'm not worthy of love because of my size? Does she think a man couldn't be attracted to me? That I repel any kind of love because I'm over weight? It's something I question all the time! I still look in the mirror and see the person I used to be sometimes and I really hate that... I know this girl was just making an off the cuff remark, she just wanted to hear 'I love you no matter what baby!' from her other half but being fat doesn't make you deaf! Everyone is entitled to an opinion, god knows I've a load of them myself, but I'd never comment on a stranger whilst they were standing in front of me... I said nothing, these were random strangers but it stuck with me for the rest of the trip... It's something that women say when they get pregnant 'will you still love me when I'm fat...' If any gobshite says 'no I won't love you when you're creating a tiny human inside you', first slap him THEN show him the door! Making a baby isn't being fat, it's a human marvel! But having fat doesn't make you any less worthy of love... I am not fat, I HAVE fat on my body... If the boy don't like it, you can google him a map to the front door! I've written posts before about things that the general public think it's OK to say to me... but it's not OK!

A couple of months ago I was out with my family in a very 'posh' restaurant (well posh for us!) and I was feeling quite good about myself! I was wearing a royal blue kimono dress from Scarlett & Jo... 

I wasn't head to toe in black for a change! I was wearing my fancy suede boots and when I looked in the mirror I felt OK about being me! That doesn't happen very often, so I left the house with a 'sure it'll do'...  When we got to the restaurant I made sure I sat with my back to the wall... I didn't want to get in the way of the waiters, these are the things I used to have to think about all the time when I used to go out to restaurants and I was 9 stone heavier, and these things still play on my mind. Honestly, I really don't have to worry so much about these things anymore but the fear stays with you for a long time, you feel like an inconvenience... I can't tell ou the number of times I've apologised for being me because of my size... Anyway, we had a great night, I had a great night, until we got up to leave... there was a man beside us at a table with his wife (I'm assuming it was his wife) As I got up he said 'my god that's a very fat woman, she's very big!' No one in my family flinched, we're better than that, we've had manners slapped into us with the fear of a wooden spoon... We've been taught if you don't have anything nice to say, shut up and keep it to yourself, you don't know someones story so zip it! Normally I would say nothing and just leave, go home, be upset and wait till I was alone and have a good old cry...  Not this time, I decided to take my own advice and call him out on it, much to the horror and shock of my own family! I turned to him as I stood up and said 'sir, it's not news to me that I'm fat or a big woman but thank you for reminding me' he was horrified... throughout the evening we had endured his loud conversation with his poor wife (I'm making assumptions but she looked like she'd been stuck with him a lifetime!) We heard about his sister being buried in Mount Jerome, how he wasn't going to be buried there near her! Honestly we tried to ignore him as much as we could but he thought he was special, very special and better than anyone else in the room so the last thing he expected was a 'fat' woman to stand up to him... So yes, I said 'sir, it's not news to me that I'm fat or a big woman but thank you for reminding me' Immediately his wife apologised, so I stood my ground, much to the surprise of my family who torn between being glued to the ground and sprinting for the door... I don't have a temper, I don't like confrontation but when it I'm pushed and I lose it, run to the hills! 

'Why are you apologising for a grown mans bad behaviour? He sounds like the kind of man that could apologise himself if he had the balls... I mean we've all had to listen to him spouting off all night ' ... Cue the tumbleweed... he said nothing... he just looked down at the table... nada! But I was on a roll... 'Sir you're incredibly ignorant and honestly if I was married to you I'd make sure you were buried in Mount Jerome, face down!' Just as I was about to spin on my suede heels the waiter apologised for him... so as loudly as I could i said 'Oh there's no need to apologise for his ignorance... his wife seems to do his dirty work for him...' Not one of my finest moments... but I spun on my hells and legged it down the stairs... I held back the tears on the way home, there was no need to make anyone else sad and my tipsy family were both delighted that I stood up for myself, bitching about 'yer man & the state of him' and sad that the night had to end like that for me... Once I got home, I got upset, mostly with anger to be honest... This man knows nothing about me... NOTHING... He doesn't know who I am, what I've achieved in my life, the joys and sadness I've experienced, nothing... He saw me getting up from a table (I was the only sober one, being the designated driver!) and he though it was OK to pick on me! WRONG!

People have no right to talk about me or you or anyone about how they look... They have no right to judge what I'm wearing, where I'm sitting or who I'm with... my size didn't affect anyones evening... my size didn't ruin anyones night... I wasn't in anyones way... I wanted to pull out my weight watchers card and flash him all the silver sevens and shout 'you think I'm big now.. you should have seen me before!' but I'm sure my grandmother  looking down on me would have struck me with lightening for shouting and not behaving properly in a fancy schmancy place ... As she taught us, manners are free, clearly his grandma didn't teach him the same... you don't know peoples' story.. so unless you're going to say something nice or helpful... zip it! If you allow people to treat you a certain way, then they start to believe it's ok... So you've got to put people straight... otherwise the sabotage just continues... 

Do I let it derail my journey? Nope... 

Would I do it again? ABSOLUTELY! 

Am I lovable? Hell yeah!

Would I do it for someone else? Damn straight... 

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Scoffies...

Following on from last weeks snack pack post, here's some new ones called Scoffies from 'Cheestrings' which I spotted in Tesco... The portion size on these is 20g but I couldn't see anyone not literally scoffing the 60g box... Anyone tried them out? x

Cheestrings Scoffies, Apricot, cherry cubes & yogurt raisins 

per 20g portion - 3SP

per 60g pack - 8SP

Cheestrings Scoffies, Cherry strings, biscuits & choc raisins 

per 20g portion - 3SP

per 60g pack - 9SP

Cheestrings Scoffies, Fruity mix & white chocolate shortcake pieces

per 20g portion - 3SP

per 60g pack - 9SP

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