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That's a wrap!

I love a good wrap! I do! You can mix things up very easily with different fillings and dressings, last nights dinner can be 'wrapped up' for lunch... you can toast them, use them as pizza bases or make them into 'skinny nachos' ... There's a good variety out there to choose from too but the Weight Watchers ones aren't to be found any where near my camp I'm afraid... Top tip, if you're going to freeze them, slip a piece of greaseproof paper between each one and they'll slip out of the freezer one a time very easily, only takes a couple of minutes to defrost! x

East To West Artisan Bakery, Wholemeal Flatbread Wraps
per 46g wrap - 4SP

East To West Artisan Bakery, 'Soft double later' white flatbread wraps
per 46g wrap - 4SP

Mission Deli, Original Mini wraps
per 32g wrap - 3SP

Mission Deli, Wheat & white mini wraps
per 32g wrap - 3SP

Mission Deli, Wholemeal wraps (full size)
per wrap - 6SP

LIDL, Rowan Hill Bakery, Mediterranean herb wraps
per 64g wrap - 5SP

LIDL, Rowan Hill Bakery, Plain wraps
per 64g wrap - 6SP

Tesco, White tortilla wraps
64g wrap - 6SP

Tesco, Multiseed tortilla wraps
64g wrap - 6SP

Tesco, Mediterranean herb tortilla wraps
64g wrap - 6SP

Fitzgeralds Bakery, Multiseed & cereal wraps
per 37g wrap - 4SP

Country Kitched Bakery (Now Fitzgeralds bakery) 
Multigrain wraps 
per 62g wrap - 7SP

Country Kitchen Bakery, Tomato & basil wraps
My fav for home made pizza bases! 
per 62g wrap - 6SP

Country Kitchen Bakery, Plain wraps
per 62g wrap - 6SP

Country Kitchen Bakery, Wholemeal wraps
per 62g wrap - 5SP

BFree, Multigrain wraps
per 42g wrap - 3SP

BFree, Quinoa & chia seed wraps
per 42g wrap - 3SP

BFree, Sweet potato wraps
per 42g wrap - 3SP

Country Kitchen Bakery, Kids wraps
per 40g wrap - 4SP

Dunnes Stores, Plain Tortilla wraps
per 62g wrap - 6SP

ALDI, Simply Deli-cious, Wholemeal wraps
per 64g wrap - 5SP

ALDI, Simply Deli-cious, Original wraps

per 64g wrap - 6SP

ALDI, Simply Deli-cious, Garlic wraps

per 64g wrap - 6SP

ALDI, Simply Deli-cious, 'Both in One' wraps
per 64g wrap - 6SP

Marks & Spencer, Plain tortilla wraps
per 58g wrap - 5SP

Marks & Spencer, soft tacos
per 34g taco  - 3SP

How many SmartPoints in a chinese takeaway?

Dear god if I had a euro for every time I've been asked this question I could afford lipo, a tummy tuck and a pool boy!

On the right hand side of this blog there is a column with pages listing all the the foods that I love (and you really love too!) SmartPointed... I've also left the original ProPoints lists, as I got so many requests not to delete them, so if you scroll down you'll find them there too... In these ProPoint lists are the values of takeaways... as they were given by Weight Watchers way back when ProPoints where the thing and sugar wasn't factor in the WW plan, but these were guidelines... good old common sense was to be used too!

Here's the bottom line on takeaways in my opinion, YOU are responsible for what you put in your mouth, YOU... and if you want to eat a double portion of chicken curry and claim 'Well her blog says it's 18SP and I'm still up this week so she's wrong not me' or 'my leader says it's 15SP' I'm not going to argue with you.... in fact I'm happy that you talked to you leader about it! But if you want someone to blame, then you're looking for the holy grail of losing weight by not having to work hard for it... good luck with that...

Now, before the SmartPoint police ride into town, I'm not saying you can't have a takeaway... I love a my chinese food... (I love all kinda of food, so that's my problem!)...Sweet chilli chicken is my FAV, and I've learned how to make that now and it's WAY nicer than any takeaway! >>> HERE <<<  and gimme a skewered chicken satay from my local Thai place every night of the week but you see, I'm fat! I have struggle with an eating disorder since my teens and I still  have 5/6 stone to lose  and whilst I can have it if I want, I save takeaways for treats and I have to work out the SP values based on what I see! It's the same in any restaurant... pizza in an Italian restaurant will be different to a Dominos or one you'd make yourself... a portion of battered cod will vary from chip shop to chip shop...

I usually order chicken chow mein and the first night I ordered this when SmartPoints started, I took my chow mein apart, literally... I weighed the chicken and the noodles... I was honest about how many noodles were in there no guessing and I probably did overestimate the amount of sauce but when I order it now, I whip 20SP off my weeklies... I make mayfield curry sauce whilst the delivery is on the way and have some broghies as prawn crackers and I'm happy out! But that's just my local chinese and the skewered satay from one is VASTLY different to another I order from, loads more sauce but smaller skewers and there's 3 in their portion not 2, so again I have to use common sense... they couldn't possibly both be the same SmartPoints...

So here's the low down on takeaways and why there's no definitive list of SmartPoint values for it!

1. Portion size... 

I live in the city and 3 chinese takeaways near my house, all deliver the food in different shaped boxes... there's the foil kind with the paper lid, the plastic 'I'm gonna save this and use it as a lunch box' kind (FYI these never see a sandwich, let alone your desk!) and the paper boxes 'we think we live in New York and are on an episode of Friends' kind... these all vary in size, so saying a chicken curry from all of them would be the same SmartPoints, just doesn't make ME smart to be honest... Not only does each takeaway vary but the box the rice comes in can be slightly larger or smaller that the box the curry comes in (see pic below!)... Most chinese takeaway portions are for two people but you'll only know that if YOU ask them...

2. and Portion size... 

Spring roll on the left - 2SP 
Spring roll on the right - 1SP

Exhibit 'A' your honour.... Here's two spring rolls... I know the SmartPoint values of these because I bought them in a shop with the nutritional values on the pack but HOW the ones in YOUR local chinese are cooked and what they're cooked in, can be different to these which are just baked in the oven... EG: One of my local takeaways sends 2 large veggie spring rolls and another send 3 smaller ones with duck in them... No way they could both be the same SmartPoint value... It's up to me to work out the SmartPoints in them... 

Diggers mini chicken spring roll 15g per roll - 
1 mini roll - 1 SP
2 mini rolls - 3SP
3 mini rolls - 4SP
4 mini rolls - 6SP 

Oriental Kitchen Vegetable Spring Rolls
per 50g roll - 2SP
2 veggie rolls - 4SP

3. How the food is prepared... 

This yummy bag of hot, spicy, flavoured food arrives to your front door, smelling like heaven and you never had to chop an onion... you can dish it out on plates or tuck straight into the cartons and do a DIY service! BUT who cooked it? and how? Did they use rapeseed oil? Olive oil? Did they spray the wok lightly before stir frying your food? What's the batter made from? Is everything deep fried? Is it deep fried in vegetable oil? Are there any additives in it? MSG?  How much sugar is added to your sweet & sour sauce or does it come from somewhere else that the takeaway wouldn't even know the answer to that question? These are all variables as to why each takeaway is different...

When you make a stir fry at home YOU are in control... you can add all the free veggies you like to bulk it up, you can control the amount of sauce you add and you can weigh out your protein... that doesn't happen in a takeaway... they fill up the tub from food that has been prepared and off it scoots to your house as fast as it can. and even faster into our bellies... anyone else just hoover a takeaway?! Just me?! 

I read that Weight Watchers did some research on this exact topic taking 2 different Sweet & Sour chicken dishes from 2 different takeaways... one worked out at 13SP, the other 31SP! Purely because of how it was cooked, the ingredients used and the portion sizes... Once you start making your own chinese and pizzas, nothing from a takeaway tastes as good... it's amazing how your palate changes as you eat more healthily and everything just tastes greasy... I also feel the same way about full fat milk! bleurgh...

So the answer to that age old question... 

How many SmartPoints are in a chinese takeaway?
The only person who knows is you! 

Again, for the record your honour,  I'm not against takeaways, and I'm not picking on chinese food either, no way not me... but YOU have to use your common sense when you order food and if you want the works, order it! Get chopsticks and eat it slowly to enjoy every single mouthful! You are responsible for your weight loss, so if you're like me, pick your fav takeaway... take the time to work out your fav dish and then the next time you order it you can relax knowing that you can have it and enjoy it and know you're staying within your SmartPoints!

Choc Pot...

OK, so I know this is already in some stores in the UK but it's not everywhere yet so sit tight! 
Before Christmas I entered a competition on the Sweet Freedom Newsletter to win a jar of their new Choc Pot that was being launched and I won! Now most of you know I'm a savoury fan but I do fall off the choccie wagon every now and then... If you've followed me on here for a while, you'll know I'm a big Choc Shot fan... it gives you that choccie fix without crying with guilt over a Kit Kat Chunky (which is 12SP FYI!)... I usually add Choc Shot to my banana pancakes, >>> HERE <<< and when I'm thinking pancakes, I'm usually craving sweet stuff and it really does the job, also drizzle a bit of the Orange Spice one over your meringue and fizzy jelly, you won't look back! Lots of people bake successfully with them too, great to add in the breakfast baked oat muffins! 

5g - 1SP
10g - 1SP
15g - 2SP
20g - 3SP
25g - 4SP
30g - 4SP

Right, the new kid on the block... so the jar is 250g so it's going to last you forever! (It keeps for 6 weeks in the fridge)... Unless you have a real addiction and then it's a different kinda meeting for YOU!

When I opened the jar there was a strong smell of cocoa... it's that lovely dark bitter chocolate smell and as I was working out the SmartPoints I left it open on my desk... moths to a flame I tell ya! It spreads easily, I even checked it again this morning from the fridge and it doesn't go rock hard when it's stored...and it melts easily (see crumpet below! yum!) ... its not the kinda spread you would sit and eat with a spoon and keep going if that makes any sense because it's such condensed flavour, and the portion size is 5g which when you taste it you'll see is plenty for that chocolate flavour... AND It's out in time for pancake season.. YAY! 

This was a 5g portion spread over a standard size crumpet and there was plenty...

For those with allergies... 

and the ingredients... 

It's already out in some stores but for my UK friends it's in ASDA from 20th Feb and in the health sections of larger Boots stores from April 3rd, but it's coming to all the major supermarkets! 

For my Irish friends its going to be stocked in Holland & Barrett and Tesco to start with, and will then filter everywhere you can get the original Choc Shot now... 

Now I know people will try to compare it to this bad boy but they're very different in taste and the thing is with WW if you want this, you can have it, just point it, simples... it's all down to how you want to spend your SmartPoints and personally I'd rather spend mine on another pancake and still get my choccie fix!  So how do the SPs work out on it? Well I've compared the two just to show the difference because there's no processed sugar in it... 

5g - 1SP
10g - 1SP
15g - 2SP
20g - 3SP
30g - 4SP

5g - 1SP
10g - 3SP
15g - 4SP
20g - 5SP
30g - 8SP

Like I said, I won this (sign up to the Sweet Freedom newsletter, they are always doing little giveaways!) and I'm just sharing the SP love! If you're a choccie fan it might be the thing that saves you driving to the 24hr garage at midnight for a Wispa (11SP) ... just me?! sigh...

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