I was definitely not going to have any sugar today and definitely no refined carbohydrates.  So for breakfast we went for eggs with kale and a frankfurter.  I had breakfast with Harvey and he ate the same as me.  I am really pleased with his eating as he usually eats what I eat which is good going for a 10 year old.  What a glowing picture of health he is 🙂

I had one and a half eggs, 2 handfuls of kale and a frankfurter with some pepper sauce on top.  I ate breakfast late and was intending to eat nothing else until supper time which I planned to have ready for 6pm.

I had supper bubbling away in the slow cooker before breakfast.  I used a recipe from this book which James bought me for Valentines Day.

The actual recipe was for pork with red cabbage, pears and ginger.  I didn’t quite have those ingredients though so I adapted the recipe slightly.

Pork with Red Cabbage and Apples

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, peeled and sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 1/2 tsp caraway seeds
• 2 tsp paprika
• Grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 4 pork chops with all visible fat cut off
• 1 tbsp flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
• 1/2 red cabbage, cored and shredded
• 250ml white wine
• 300ml hot vegetable stock
• 3 apples, cored and quartered
• Salt and pepper

Method

1. Heat oil in a large flameproof casserole over a medium heat
2. Add the onion and cook fro 3-4 minutes
3. Add the garlic, caraway, paprika, lemon zest and thyme and cook for a minute more
4. Coat the pork chops in the seasoned flour and add to the casserole.  Turn to coat, increase the heat and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side
5. Add the cabbage, increase the heat and add the wine
6. When the wine gets to boiling point transfer everything to the slow cooker
7. Add the stock and the apples
8. Cook on low for 8 hours

While the pork was slowly cooking I met Annette for a dog walk over the road.  It was horrible outside today – very cold and threatening to rain and/or snow.  Left to myself I would only have given the dogs a quick walk in such weather but luckily Annette is not as wimpy as me so we managed a good walk.

I was then going to head home and continue with my chores.  I was definitely NOT going to eat cake.  However, Annette had barely begun to ask if I wanted a cup of tea and a piece of cake and I was there.  Settled in to the sofa while her lovely son Josh iced the cake he had made.

I really am so hopeless.  I didn’t even offer up the slightest hint of resistance.  I heard the word cake and I was on my way, practically bulldozing the door down to get at it.  It was lovely and I enjoyed sitting in their cosy sitting room, with a wood burner making it all toasty.  That was particularly welcome as we had a power failure in the part of the house with the boiler so we had no heating or hot water.  Luckily that is now fixed.

For supper we had the pork with red cabbage and it was good.  The pork came from pigs reared at Harvey’s school farm so that ticks the eat locally box and the slow cooking meant it fell off the bone.  The flavour was good.  The sauce was disappointingly watery so I didn’t use it!  I served it with a baked sweet potato and steamed green beans, Brussel sprouts and broccoli.  With butter.

Apart from the cake, I had a good days eating.  The cake was good though.  Really good.