My Secret Weapon

I have a really sweet tooth. The hardest thing so far has been avoiding the sweet stuff. I miss the chips and pizza but that's really only a problem when I smell them. Sweet stuff has been the real killer. I never really feel like I've finished my lunch or dinner unless I have something sweet at the end. Tea and coffee taste so much better when you have them with a chocolate biscuit - even a digestive is better than nothing. So no biscuits and no chocolate has been the hardest part of the challenge so far. I've been eating a lot of fruit. It's not as bad as I thought it was but it doesn't go very well with tea of coffee. You can't really dunk a banana in your tea. Yogurts are my substitute for ice-cream. Again, a poor substitute, but they've been keeping me going. Thankfully, for the last week I've had a secret weapon which has kept my sweet tooth very happy. It's the most divine blackcurrant jam. I wouldn't be a big jam person normally - I mean jam really belongs in a Victoria Sandwich Cake under a layer of thick cream - but if I'm going to have jam at all, blackcurrant is definitely my favourite. A very kind friend gave me a pot of home-made blackcurrant jam (although I do wonder where he got the blackcurrants - they're not in season yet are they? There aren't any around the Canal where I can normally spot them). It's no ordinary blackcurrant jam - it's rich, fruity, lucious, sticky and very sweet. And, as it's home-made and full of fruit, it definitely doesn't come under the junk food banner. It's been my saviour - and doesn't go too bad on a sandwich with a cup of tea. So a big thank you to my generous jam benefactor - if you are reading this you might notice that the jar is nearly empty (hint hint;)). And to the rest of you, if you are enjoying my blog - and if you have a fiver to spare - here's the website for donations: www.mycharity.ie/event/nojunkfoodchallenge/