Today was all about making the most of every minute I had left with Lara as she had to return to Durham this afternoon.  Hopefully I will go and see her in February but she can’t come home again until March as she has lectures all week and a job at the weekends.  So I am having to say good-bye for at least 4 – 5 weeks, maybe longer.

True to her word, she was up with the rest of us at 7am so she could say good-bye to her Daddy and brother.  I had Grape Nuts again today, but a whole bowlful this time.  So 50 g Grape Nuts, 100ml coconut milk, 2 heaped tbsp vanilla soya yogurt and 1 tbsp coconut almond butter.  The drop in temperature has set the nut butter.  I assume the coconut oil has gone hard.  It still tastes lovely but I prefer the drippy consistency.  This was 11 WW points.

It was very cold out but sunny.  The air was so clean and fresh it was a pleasure to be walking in it.  We took the dogs to the woods and walked for about an hour, along a route involving as many hills as possible.  That was hard work but satisfying.

As an early birthday treat and because it was the one place Lara had said she wanted to go to when she first came home in December but which we hadn’t got to, we went to Tunbridge Wells for lunch at Wagamama.  For those of you who have not been before, Wagamama was inspired by Japanese noodle bars. The setting is minimalist and contemporary, service is friendly but brisk and efficient.  Not somewhere to go for a leisurely 3 hour lunch but if you want tasty and healthy(ish) food, served quickly with no fuss or drama, then this is a great place to go.

I had a freshly squeezed fruit juice to start with (apple, orange and passionfruit).

There was a new side dish on the menu of Pork Ribs, glazed in a BBQ sauce.  YUM!  These were delicious.  5 little ribs, tender and sweet.  Just wonderful.  I estimate 8 WW points.

One Wagamama custom is to bring the food when it is cooked, regardless of whether it is a main meal or a side dish.  I had only just begun to nibble at the pork when my main came.  So I ate them both at the same time.

I had Itame which is “rice noodles in a spicy green coconut and lemongrass soup topped with stir-fried chicken or fried tofu, beansprouts, chillies, red and spring onions, bok choi, peppers and mushrooms. garnished with coriander and lime”.  I chose chicken.

I am actually not a huge fan of noodles.  I don’t dislike them but they are my least favourite starchy carb.  But I really enjoy the bowls of noodles because I like the vegetables, chicken and the broth.  Aaah, the broth.  Sweet and creamy from the coconut and spicy from the abundant red chillis.  Freshly squeezed lime juice adds to the freshness of the dish.

It was lovely.  For the first time, I thought how large the portions were.  I have always eaten it all before but I left quite a lot of the noodles.  Not because I didn’t like them but because I had eaten enough.  Really hard to calculate the points but I found something on the Weight Watchers site that sounded similar and was 14 WW points.

Lara had duck gyoza (five deep-fried duck dumplings served with a spicy cherry hoi sin sauce ) and Chicken Katsu Curry (chicken breast deep-fried in panko breadcrumbs or grilled, served with a curry sauce and sticky white rice. Garnished with dressed mixed leaves and red pickles ).  She was unable to finish her curry as the portions are so large but really enjoyed everything too.

I hate saying good-bye and wonder if it will ever get easier.  In the evening I felt very out of sorts and could easily have persuaded myself I deserved that bar of Lindt Cointreau chocolate I know the local garage sells.  But I managed to persuade myself that I have to stop eating sweet things as a way of cheering myself up.  And even though I went to said garage, I did not buy anything with sugar in.  Instead I bought a box of eggs.  Truly.  I only wanted something small for supper but something that seemed like a treat.

When I was a child, my Dad would sometimes cook baked eggs for tea on a Sunday evening.  I decided that was what I fancied tonight.

Baked Eggs

Ingredients (makes 2)

1 tsp butter
2 eggs
40 g Cheddar cheese, grated
Salt and pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 180 ° C.
Butter the inside of 2 ramekin dishes.

Place ¼ of the cheese in the bottom of each ramekin.
Crack the egg on top of the cheese.

Season the egg with salt and pepper.
Cover each egg with the remaining half of cheese.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

They came out of the oven risen slightly, looking a bit like mini soufflés.  Ideally the white will be set and the yolks runny.  The cheese melts round the eggs and bakes to create a lovely chewy outer shell to hopefully a perfectly cooked egg.  Mine was overcooked unfortunately but still delicious and I happily ate them both.  10 WW points.

I now know that my daughter navigated her way back to her hall in Durham safely, and within 15 minutes of arriving she was heading for a bus to go clubbing in Newcastle.  She is making the most of every minute, and so will I.  You should too 🙂