I am not a fan of super stores or even large supermarkets and try to avoid them.  I either order online or shop locally, favouring farm and independent shops.  But sometimes you have to pluck up the courage, steel your nerves and face them.

Before I reflect on my super store ordeal, I will show you some other things I have been doing in the past couple of days.  On Thursday evening I accompanied my manager to Leicester Square. The Odeon in Leicester Square often hosts film premieres and on this particular night they were hosting the premiere of 50 Shades of Grey.  I did read the book, was appalled by how badly written it was but wished I had written it as the author has made so much money from it.  Who would have thought one badly written book could make so much money and become such a success!  Having wasted my time and money on book 1 I didn’t bother with 2 or 3. Anyway, I enjoyed the atmosphere but had to leave before any of the ‘stars’ arrived.  We were offered free tickets to watch the film but neither of us were able to go so I headed home.  Friday morning is weigh day for me and I lost another pound which I was grateful for after 3 nights of drinking and a couple of unhealthy snacks.  In total that makes 17 pounds this year 🙂

I have some new stencils too – I find working near the London Graphic Centre too tempting some days.

On Saturday morning I began the day with a really delicious banana ice-cream made with 2 frozen bananas, 12 almonds I had soaked overnight, 1 tsp spirulina and almond milk.  It was excellent.  Harvey and I then set off on our shopathon.  We began in Tunbridge Wells and completed all errands and shopping targets in time for lunch.  I was introduced to Basil’s in Tunbridge Wells 2 weeks ago by Lucy and this was my third visit!!!

They were very good at looking up the ingredients of their salads and they confirmed these three were all vegan: couscous with lots of finely chopped herbs, lentils with roasted veggies and a cucumber salad.  It was excellent.
Harvey had a quiche and salad and then the chocolate covered flapjack I have treated myself to during the previous 2 visits.  I managed to restrain myself this time. Just look at how tempting that is!  I was too full from my huge salad so it was easy to resist.  I just had a soya milk latte instead. We then hit the super stores: Costco and Ikea.  Actually Costco is relatively quick to go round because although the store is huge they only stock a limited range of products so you can get round quickly and I found lots of goodies.  We then went to Ikea which takes forever.  I haven’t been for a very long time but soon remembered how quickly my initial enthusiasm for the place wanes and it is hard to get round quickly.  To increase my frustration I couldn’t find what I was looking for but we did at least get the things we needed for Harvey. Some of the goodies I bought in Costco included a tray of persimmons,  a HUGE jar of coconut oil.  Look at the size of it compared to my usual brand. These are incredible, as are the calories in them so this will be a once in a lifetime opportunity! We didnt get home until nearly 9pm so I had a bowl of granola with coconut yogurt, a persimmon and a handful of those awesome coconut chips. It was so good I had it all again which is way too much sugar to consume. I still felt full this morning so I just had a juice for breakfast.  This made enough juice for 2 of us.

Very enjoyable.

I had a very relaxing day, pottering about, clearing out and tidying up cupboards in the kitchen.  I am removing and re-arranging some of the units, painting it white and replacing the very old lino.  So not a major scheme of works but enough to brighten it up. The spice drawers were well sorted and organised. I am frustrated with this section.  I have seen the exact units I want at ‘Muuto’, a Danish design/furniture shop but it is too expensive so I was hoping Ikea would offer a much cheaper alternative but sadly not.  So for now this shelving until will have to do.  It is too tall, too narrow and too dull for what I need but it is practical and better than nothing. I do like my new storage jars though. For supper I made a Jamie Oliver recipe for ‘Keralan Veggie Curry’.  As per usual I adapted his recipe to what I had and added extra vegetables but to see the original, click here.

Here is my version.

Keralan Vegetable Curry

Ingredients (serves 4)

1/2 a cauliflower, cut in to slices about 1 cm thick
Spring greens or other green leafy veg (optional)
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp turmeric
1 small handful curry leaves
1 thumb sized piece of ginger
2 cloves of garlic
6 spring onions
1 fresh chilli
1 large bunch fresh coriander
2 ripe tomatoes
1 x 400g can coconut milk light
1 x 400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed ( I had run out so used flageolet)
1/4 of a large pineapple, peeled and chopped roughly
1 lemon or 1 lime
1 cup brown basmati rice
4 cloves

Method

1. Slice the greens and set aside.
2. Slice the cauliflower and heat a griddle pan.
3. Place the cauliflower in the pan and cook until lightly charred on both sides.
4. Cook the rice according to instructions and add the cloves as the beginning of the cooking time (remove cloves before serving)
5. Pour the oil in to a large casserole pan, heat up and then add the mustard and fenugreek seeds, turmeric and curry leaves
6. Blitz the ginger, garlic, spring onions, chilli and coriander until very finely chopped and add to the oil and spices
7. Roughly chop and add the tomatoes, spring greens and any other vegetables you want to add (today I added sweetcorn and sliced mushrooms too)
8. Blend the pineapple (or you could chop instead) and add to the pan with the coconut milk, the chickpeas, the girdled cauliflower and salt and pepper.
9. Add the juice of the lime and cook gently for 10 – 15 minutes until the vegetables are cooked.

This is a very tasty curry.  Apart from the long list of ingredients and several pans to wash up, it is an easy curry to make.

I have eaten well today apart from this evening I did have a bagel with nutella.  I really can’t have these food types in the house!