What a splendidly blustery day.  Well, not totally splendid as the wind makes me nervous of all the trees round here and so we didn’t go for the planned walk to collect sloes 😦

Porridge for breakfast.  I am determined to stick to my points this week and porridge keeps me filled up until lunch time, as long as I add the Chia seeds and some kind of nut butter.  50 g oats, 1 tbsp chia seeds, 1 tbsp tahini and 140 ml soya milk.  Tahini is not great in porridge so I won’t try that again.  Edible but not worth repeating.

For some reason I decided that I would clear out most of my kitchen cupboards and drawers. I was like a whirling dervish in that kitchen today, emptying cupboard after cupboard, throwing out old packets and jars, then washing and cleaning shelves, drawers, drawer liners, backs, fronts and doors.  Very therapeutic and satisfying.

I rediscovered a large cutlery tray full of silver forks, spoons, tongs and some beautiful mother of pearl handled forks and intricately patterned teaspoons.  They had been abandoned in the cupboard for so long they were VERY tarnished.

But thanks to either the dipping potion or the silver cleaning paste, lots of elbow grease and a large bowl of hot soapy water, they came up beautifully.

I am a classy chick,  mixing up my silverware with the plastic cutlery.

I didn’t have lunch until 2:30 which is very late for me and unusual.  I didn’t want to waste time cooking or even preparing a large salad so I had 55 g of blue cheese with an apple and a pear.  Very simple and quite adequate.

During my cupboard clearing I came across a large bag of brown lentils that needed using up and I felt like experimenting with something new.  I decided to make the Lentil Babotie from the very excellent Eat ur Greens site.  Eat ur Greens is full of extremely healthy recipes and if you have to eat a restricted diet, each recipe clearly states whether it is gluten free or dairy free or vegetarian etc.  I love how bright and fresh the site looks and I am really impressed by the beautiful photography.  Something to aspire to!

I was sent the link to the site by Hannah, one of the contributors to Eat ur Greens.  Hannah is a Nutritional Therapist who I had the pleasure of studying with for 3 years.  This meal was delicious so I will definitely be trying more in the future –  go ahead and look at it.

I served the Lentil Babotie with a simple tomato salad.  I sliced plum tomatoes, halved cherry tomatoes and just added some black pepper.  Oh my, what a very sparkly serving fork that is 🙂

The Lentil Babotie is a garlicky, spicy and well seasoned lentil dish in a tomato sauce, with an egg and milk topping which sets firm and retains all the moisture of the lentils during cooking.

I followed the recipe exactly with 2 exceptions:

1. I didn’t have dried peaches so used 1 fresh peach
2. I didn’t have any xylitol so I used Agave syrup instead

All 4 of us enjoyed it and it seemed very nourishing and comforting.

Just the thing to end a blustery day with.