Despite eating a very restricted diet yesterday, I was not at at all hungry when I woke up. I was still  feeling pleased with myself and wanted to eat healthily, despite being allowed to eat anything.

Last night I had prepared breakfast.  In one bowl I soaked almonds, pumpkin, flax, sesame and blue poppy seeds in water.

In another bowl I soaked raw buckwheat groats

This may look like red wine but it is sour cherry juice.

Overnight Buckwheat with Nuts, Seeds and Fruit

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 1/2 cup of raw buckwheat groats
• 1/2 cup of mixed nuts and seeds
• 200 ml sour cherry juice (or other fruit juice)
• 1 orange, peeled
• 1 mango
• 1/2 cup blueberries

Method

1. Soak the buckwheats in a bowl, with at least twice their volume of water, overnight
2. Soak the nuts and seeds in a separate bowl with water overnight
3. In the morning, rinse the buckwheat, nuts and seeds and place in blender
4. Add orange and fruit juice
5. Blend until smooth
6. Pour in to a tall glass and top with fresh fruit ( I used mango and blueberries but any will do)

This was the perfect way to break a fast.  It was light, flavourful, filling and delicious.  The best part of all was that it was full of a wide range of macro and micro nutrients so as you ate it, you knew every yummy mouthful was going to do you good.

The eating went downhill from then though.

We were all very surprised and excited to receive a package containing three presents, one each, from Lara.

On a recent trip, our dear daughter had bought us all a little souvenir.  You will never guess which country she visited 🙂

Mine was the fudge and my gorgeous girl knows me far too well.  I love fudge and this was perfect.  It has to be crunchy, not soft and not chewy.  It was so amazing I ate it in one go with a lovely cup of tea.  Once I start something sweet, I just can’t stop!

I had to take my car to the garage to have a new tyre fitted and I was surprised to see some large birds in a neighbours garden.

Honk Honk!  That is something you don’t see every day.

We went to Dad’s for lunch and he cooked for us.  I was so touched as he finds cooking harder these days.  For most of my life, Dad has done the majority of the cooking at home but in recent years, various health problems have made cooking difficult for him so he usually prefers to take us out somewhere.  I never mind what we have as I go to visit him to spend time with him and do not mind what we eat.  Cheese and biscuits would be fine.  But it was really lovely that he cooked for us today as I wasn’t sure if I would ever have a home cooked meal again so it was a real pleasure.  We had bangers and mash with onions.  Really good quality sausages, full of meat rather then fat and bread and delicious.  The mashed potato was a bad choice for me as it has a very high GI but I was already on a sugar roller coaster so I went with it and enjoyed it.

As if I hadn’t eaten enough sugar for the day, after lunch we went to Michelle’s for a cake and fizz party to celebrate her birthday.  What a feast she had prepared.

We had finger sandwiches: smoked salmon or egg mayonnaise or cucumber.

There were doughnuts and a home made lemon drizzle cake.  Ted, we can see you sniffing the food so get away from the table 🙂

These really cute baby pink meringues filled with cream.

Homemade scones filled with jam and cream.

A lovely pot of tea – love the little milk bottle jugs.

Michelle’s niece Emily arrived with this lovely birthday cake.

Cup of tea anyone?

What a delightful afternoon we had.  Sally and Lucy were there too as well as other of Michelle’s close friends and family.  I ate far too much of everything but it was hard not to.  I think it is a nurturing and lovely thing to invite people to your home and to cook for them.  It is a treat to be taken out for a meal too but I am always most grateful to the friend or family member, who takes the time to think about, plan, shop and cook for me.  Thank you Michelle and Dad for today.  It may not have helped me lose any weight but it sure did make me feel loved.  As did my gift from Edinburgh – thank you Lara.  My body may not have been well nourished today but my soul definitely was.