Handling Your Bank Holiday
During a bank holiday weekend many activities involve eating and socialising - for three days your POINTS value planning could be put to the test.
On a long weekend many activities may revolve around food - from pub lunches to summer picnics. A little advance planning and some healthy recipes will keep you on track - whatever the weather.
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Rainy Days
If you are stuck indoors on a rainy bank holiday you may be tempted to snack more than usual, simply because food is there Instead focus on mealtimes and prepare a tasty special two course dinner as part of your contingency plan for wet weather.
"Make each of your meals an occasion. Get everyone involved in the preparation and make two courses - a savoury and sweet - Have extra fruit in the house for snacking," suggests Judy More, a registered dietitian with The British Dietetic Association (BDA).
Picnic Ideas
If picnics with an array of finger food gives you the urge to nibble - arm yourself with a few useful POINTS® value facts before you go out to keep count. Picnic favourites include: cocktail sausages (1 POINTS value each), houmous (½ POINTS value per tablespoon), pork pies (6 POINTS values each), mini scotch eggs (1 POINTS value each), pitta bread (2½ POINTS values each), quiche (around 7 POINTS values per slice, depending on brand) and vegetable samosas (roughly 1½ POINTS values each).
More advises: "Try to avoid sausage rolls, deep fried or pastry-smothered nibbles. Take your own vegetable sticks with a healthier dip like houmous or tzatziki. You could make your own mackerel dip - with plain yogurt and some low fat mayonnaise. With sandwiches, make sure you have some salad in them for balance, for example, ham or cold meat with lettuce or tomato."
Prepare your own picnic dish - not only will you impress, preparing food yourself means you can ensure it contains healthy ingredients.
Barbecue Balance
"If you serve meat, balance it with the same amount of salad or vegetables. People forget about vegetables, so a pre-prepared skewer mixing meat or fish with veg and roasting vegetables gives them a nice flavour," says More.
For the salad and vegetable balance prepare some interesting salads…
Pub Lunches
Typical pub grub choices like burgers, fish and chips and pies can add up the POINTS values. For a sensible and filling alternative try a jacket potato - a medium jacket with baked beans and salad is around 6½ POINTS values.
Instead of heavy, white 'doorstop' sandwiches order a wrap, for example, a Wetherspoons tuna mayonnaise wrap is 6½ POINTS values.
If you fancy pasta, try one without a creamy sauce like a Mediterranean pasta bake (9½ POINTS values at Wetherspoons).
Dining at a carvery? Go for grilled items, like Harvester's flame-grilled tuna steak (7 POINTS values without a jacket potato) or Brewers Fayre's grilled chicken breast (11½ POINTS values).
Bank Holiday Boozing
Booze can be anyone’s downfall - especially on a sociable bank holiday. "Match every glass of alcohol with a glass of something non-alcoholic like diet cola or mix white wine with fizzy water to make a spritzer. Try and stick to drinks lower in alcohol and calories - a lighter German wine, for example," says More. The lower the alcohol the lower the calories.
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