An Ode To popchips

November 12, 2013November 12, 20131 Comment

I have a bit of a thing for popchips – I first heard about them on the Jillian Michael’s podcast, as she’s an investor in the company, and as you know, I love me some Jillian. So I was eager to try them out, and boy, did they live up to the hype.

I got an email through from popchips recently about research they did about snacking at work, that used the term ‘snackered’ to describe the British workforce – the word combining ‘knackered’ with ‘snack’ to refer to someone who is both tired and in need of a little sustenance to restore their soul. I don’t know if they coined this term, but I like it, and I’m adding it in to the very important diet-related word ‘hangry’ – when you’re so hungry, you get angry because you’re on a diet and you’re not ‘allowed’ to eat anything. Well, popchips are under 100 calories a bag, so whether you’re hangry or snackered, I’m fairly sure you can fit this into your calorie allowance!

Most diet plans will have an allowance for snack food – sometimes twice a day – and that fits into popchips’ research that workers reach for snacks at 11.30am and 3pm daily. Plus, apparently, 1 in 10 workers of the 2000 they surveyed admitted to taking a day off with a faked illness when they ran out of energy in the afternoon, while 6% said they take their snacks into the toilet to eat in secret! Not sure what’s going on there, but I don’t think you’d have a reason to hide your bag of popchips at the office – unless you were scared of your co-workers stealing them! I have to say, in the case of bunking off work because of low energy levels, I don’t think a bag of popchips can really solve that problem (sometimes, a sickie is just a sickie), but it will console you to snack on them during your commute home as you contemplate a half duvet day…

popchips are definitely one of those snacks that it’s worth having around the house (and office!) for when you get an attack of the munchies – because they’re not fried, but rather popped like popcorn, they’re healthier for you than regular potato crisps. I wouldn’t say they’re an alternative to crisps, because it does them a disservice to compare the two – they’re really a unique product all on their own, and the process of manufacturing them is totally different to the way crisps are made (here’s a fact – the chips aren’t made from slices of potato, but rather small kernels of potato that are popped just like popcorn!). Who would have thought that there were more ways to cook a potato in the year 2013!

Visit popchips at www.popchips.co.uk to find out more, including stockist information.

My thanks to popchips for providing me with the delicious snacks mentioned above!

Win! 12 bags of Popchips share bags

January 21, 20133 Comments

This is a momentous occasion: my first giveaway on the blog! I have 12 bags of Popchips Share Bags in assorted flavours to give away to one lucky reader! You might remember my review of Popchips last year: read about it here. I love snacking on these – they’re a healthy treat that’s full of flavour without filling you full of fat.

You can have three chances to win these Popchips! Firstly, follow me on Twitter @foodfashfit. Secondly, like my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/FoodFashFit. Thirdly, tweet about the competition, making sure to include @popchipsUK and @foodfashfit, and the phrase “RT to win”! Then, please post a comment below, letting me know which of these you’ve done – you can do all three, remember! – along with your FB and Twitter name so I can check!

The competition will be open to UK residents only, starting 21/01/2013, and will close at 28/01/2013, midnight, UK time. The prize will be supplied by Wild Card PR. Good luck!

Party On: PopChips Review Extravaganza!

November 28, 2012November 28, 20122 Comments

Recently, the nice people at PopChips sent me a box of tasty treats to review, and by a fantastic coincidence, they arrived the day of my best friends’ birthday (they are twins… the grammar is making my head ache)! Already armed with the super delicious (but highly calorific) Kettle Chips I had already bought, I took the box along to share, and get everyone’s opinions about PopChips.

I first heard about PopChips through Jillian Michaels’ podcast, as she’s an investor in the company (and you know I love me some Jillian). These are often listed as one of her recommended snacks on her diet plans. However, these really aren’t diet food – but then, they’re not really crisps, either. They’re puffed up discs of deliciously flavoured, 100% real potato goodness, and each bag is under 100 calories.

Think popcorn, but crisps! So, I took my magical box to the party (not just ANY party, a 30th birthday party!) to canvass some opinions. And to be honest, some of my friends sounded like they were auditioning for a job in PR when I asked them to text me their thoughts later – they obviously really liked these crisps! (And there were plenty of Kettle Chips that got left behind that night, let me tell you.)

This is Charlie. He had plenty to say about PopChips, all of them in handy, bite-sized slogans. He started off quizzically.

“Who would have thought you could flavour air? Crazy!”

Then he upped the ante.

“They were so good, I had my sex-face on. Mmm-mmm.”

(I did not get a sex-face photo. Sorry.)

He finished off with:

“If Sting had PopChips, he wouldn’t need tantric sex.”

Indeed! Those salt and vinegar ones must be good. (What a scamp!)

This is birthday girl #1, Rachel! She loved the salt and vinegar flavour too, and complimented them on their crunchiness.

This is Lorraine, birthday girl #2! She was also heavily into writing slogans when I texted her about her thoughts. “Why have crisps when you can have PopChips?!” she demanded. “Taste just as yummy but fewer calories – just what I want from a snack! Particularly liked the barbeque flavour, very tasty!”

As you can see, Omar was initially sceptical about the idea of low calorie crisps. He is a man’s man. Man’s men don’t eat low calorie crisps. However, he was won over, and pronounced them “tasty, and surprisingly light.” Well. He was eating the manliest flavour, after all.

Here’s Sara (you might remember her from the post about WestQuay’s new Dining area). She liked her salt and vinegar flavour, and told me she reckoned they were “a good alternative to crisps.”

Finally, my dear husband, Michael. We don’t need a quote from him. Look how happy he is, just eating those PopChips.

Really, the face says it all, doesn’t it?

You can buy PopChips at WHSmith, Waitrose, Ocado, Boots, amazon.co.uk and many other fine retailers. Check out PopChips’ site here! Or, visit them on Facebook. Tell them I sent ya!