After yesterday’s excesses I had to really behave myself today.  I didn’t get to bed until 2:30am so had less than 4 and a half hours sleep.  I was very tired when I woke up.  I chose a smoothie for breakfast so I had something easy to digest and full of vitamins.

Frozen mixed berries, 140 ml unsweetened soya milk, 100 g Greek yogurt, 1 tbsp pumpkin seed butter.

The result was creamy and fruity and very drinkable.  9 WW points.

I made a very large salad for lunch.  I picked rocket, 3 types of lettuce and spinach from the garden.  I added celery, tomatoes, last nights left over roasted vegetables and new potatoes (100g), 20 g Salad Cream and 90 g lean ham.  It was very tasty and only 7 WW points.

This afternoon I went a few hundred metres up the road to visit ‘Veg Grower Up The Road’.  We sat in her beautiful garden in the October sunshine for coffee and cake.

Not only does Veg Grower grow vegetables and give away fruit from her orchard, she is a fabulous cook too.  Delectable home made delicacies enjoyed in the past include rhubarb cake and beetroot brownies.   Today it was apple cake and it was delicious.  I am not sure how to work out the points so I estimated 10 which is probably too many but I would rather be over then under in my estimations.

Another neighbour, Judy, was there too and she was telling us about how she took 1 and a half tons of apples from her orchard to  Ringden Farm to be made in to apple juice and cider.  The apple juice remains drinkable for 5 years.  It is pasteurised in the bottle and contains no additives.  So if any of you local people have lots of apples, consider having your own juice and /or cider made.  We used to do this as a fund raiser for the village school and it is not very expensive so look in to it if you are interested.  Thank you Judy for the reminder.  And thank you Veg Grower for a lovely afternoon and some more diet-busting cake.  At least it had lots of fruit in it :-).

For supper tonight I adapted another recipe from Hugh F-W’s ‘Veg everyday!’ book to make Chickpeas with Chard and Cumin.  I wanted to use up some of the Rainbow Chard I have plenty of in the garden.

On p. 246 is a recipe for chickpeas with spinach and cumin.  I made the recipe exactly except I switched the spinach for chard.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Pinch of dried chilli flakes
•  1 tsp ground cumin
• Grated zest of 1 lemon
• 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
• Approx 4 large leaves Rainbow Chard
• 400 g tin chickpeas, drained and washed
• Salt and Pepper

Method

1. Remove the stalks from the chard and chop up.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the onions and chard stalks until soft which takes about 8-10 minutes.
3. Add the garlic, chilli, cumin and lemon and cook for another 2 minutes.
4. Add the tomatoes and cook for a few minutes.
5. Add the chard leaves and cook until they are wilted.
6. Add the chickpeas and cook until they are warmed through.
7. Season to taste and serve.

The final result was good.  Not excellent but good.

I bought an onion squash this week and thought the gentle flavour and soft texture would go well with the chickpea dish.  I guess an onion squash is so named because it looks like a large orange onion!

To cook it I cut it in half and scooped out the seeds.  I then cut each half in to slices over which I spread 1 tsp butter, brushed on 1 tbsp maple syrup and ground salt and pepper over it.

I baked it in the oven at 180 ° C for 30 – 40 minutes.  It was really good.  Such a lovely sweet flavour and soft texture.  It went really well with the spicy earthy chick pea dish.  It made it a delicious dinner.

I am sorry summer is over but there is a lot to celebrate and enjoy in Autumn. Apples and squash are some of the wonderful fresh flavours of the season.

P.S. Good luck Wales tomorrow morning.