A Bag of Pumps

I’ve discovered loads of healthy options and alternatives on my weight loss journey and in doing this have definitely broadened my horizons when it comes to my food choices.

Best invention ever (slight exaggeration) is 1 cal spray oil. The brand is Frylight and it now has 5 varieties of flavour, olive oil, sunflower, butter, coconut and rapeseed. Take your pick! They’re all just 1 calorie per spray which means you can reduce the WW points or calories in loads of recipes by replacing the oil with 1 cal spray. Result!

If you like a sweet treat then Alpen Light bars could be for you. The Jaffa cake ones are delicious and the cherry bakewell are also a firm favourite. If you can’t do it with pieces of fruit try and swap out high calorie biscuits or chocolate bars with these. They are a) delicious b) low in calories and c) give you that sought after sugar hit. Yay!

Then you have the mothership. Let me talk to you about cauliflower rice… The concept seems pretty odd as surely chopped cauliflower just tastes like cauliflower? Well yes, kinda. Anyway, what you basically have here is a rice replacement capable of bulking up any stir fry or as an accompaniment to your favourite curry or Mexican dish. In weight watchers terms it’s a zero hero (no points, yay!) and in calorie terms it’s virtually negligible. When I discovered cauliflower rice it was in a bag from M&S that you pierce and microwave. The minute you pierce that bag the smell that hits you can only be described as ‘like opening a bag of pumps’ jeez what is this food?! It can also make you pretty unpopular with those sharing a kitchen with you, ha. Don’t be put off though, it really doesn’t taste like it smells. Thankfully.

I’m now a cauliflower rice pro and blend my own. Oh yes, I’m that skilled! It’s so much cheaper to make your own as the bags really are overpriced for what is essentially chopped up cauliflower. A portion size is 150g of cauliflower florets and I blitz mine into tiny chunks, slightly bigger than grains of rice, in my food processor. I tend to have mine with a curry so I add a tsp of cumin and a tsp of tumeric before I blitz it to make pilau cauliflower rice. I’m the original sceptic but I have to say it’s a winner for me. Try it, I’d love to know what you think…

Mutha Fitness

Mutha Fitness is a blog to share my weight loss story so far. I'm a 30 something Mum embarking upon a journey of general health, fitness and overall wellbeing.