It's national chip week starting on February 11th and despite their fatty reputation not all chips are terribly bad for you (well maybe a bit).... Here are some chip-related facts to help you pick the best, avoid the beastly and not feel so bad about tucking in to our national dish.

A small portion of oven chips can be as little as 10% of you GDA of fat.

McCain Oven Chips and Micro Chips are the lowest in saturated fats and salt and are the best nutritional choice.

You can get almost a third of your daily vitamin C from a portion of chips. A 100g serving of oven chips contains 12mg of vitamin C - that's double the amount of vitamin C in an apple.

1 in 5 people eat fish with their chips. An average portion of battered cod & chips contains at least a quarter of the fat and a third fewer calories than a serving of either chicken tikka massala and pilau rice, or sweet and sour pork and egg-fried rice.

There is four times as much fat in a bowl of spaghetti carbonara than a portion of oven cooked fish and chips.

And some non-dietry tit-bits for the pub quiz masters.

1 out of every 4 British potatoes are made into chips - that's approximately 1 1/4 million tonnes every year. (British Potato Council - www.lovechips.co.uk)

It would take an area the size of 56,000 Wembley Stadium football pitches to grow all the potatoes needed for the chips consumed in Great Britain each year. (British Potato Council, www.lovechips.co.uk)

8 out of 10 households buy frozen chips each year, so most of us have a bag in the freezer. (British Potato Council, www.lovechips.co.uk)

During World War Two Frederick Lord Walton, minister of food, declared that fish and chips were the only food not to be rationed. (The Publican …quot; www.thepublican.com)

In October 1995 the potato became the first vegetable to be grown in space. NASA worked with top scientists to develop a super-nutritious, versatile spud to feed astronauts on long space voyages. (British Potato Council - www.britishpotatoes.co.uk)

I haven't had chips so far this year... I could murder some.

Homemade potato chips with skins, soaked in warm bouillon, oven baked for
30 minutes.

A lot of palaver but worth it...

Home made oven chips.

rooster or similar potatoes, skins on, par boiled, fluffed up (like roasties) then spray oiled and left on oven tray untill crisp and golden outside and fluffy inside.

Heaven. No deprivation.

Served to accompany moules mariniere. Double heaven and very low fat/cal

I think the whole idea of "healthy" chips and "low fat" cake is misleading. That's why I don't like WW, with its emphasis on points rather than on eating whole foods. People assume they can eat this processed stuff and lose weight, instead of retraining their taste buds to enjoy fresh fruit and veg.
Perhaps have them as an occasional treat, but don't base your entire diet around these fake foods...you'll just end up heavy and miserable.

I do ww on-line and find the points really helpful. I know I can eat virtually any fruit and veg for 0 points so that's what I try to do. You can also create your own recipes and meals and save them so you don't have to work out the points whenever you cook them.

Having figured out what increases the points level, I'm now an avid label-reader when I do buy something pre-packed (which doesn't necessarily equate to "processed stuff"). I live away from home a lot and find it very useful to be able to work out roughly how many points are in an M&S salad for instance.

I'd love to have the time and lifestyle to eat healthy home-made food all the time, but the reality is many of us can't achieve that (unless we win the lottery and can give up work!)

I haven't had a chance to try this recipe yet (so it could be horrible!) but these people recommend soaking the potatoes in egg white before cooking??!
http://www.channel4.com/food/recipes/healthy/cook- yourself-thin/fish-and-chips-with-mushy-peas-recip e_p_1.html
Someone try the chips and let us all know!

potato wedges!!!! yum keep the skins on for fibre and microwave for 7-8 minutes then toss in some olive oil and herbs. Grill until crispy yum. Surely that's got to be a healthier way to have chips.

I tend to use lidls own brand of oven chips when I indulge, which isn't very often. There potato wedges are quite nice as well. Its the tempting smell you get at times when you walk past a chippy that makes me go mmm sometimes.