Banana People

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

On the breakfast menu today, Chez Moi, were American style silver dollar pancakes, with banana, bacon and maple syrup.

Yesterday morning a blog I like, Kath Eats, had some fun with breakfast and made banana people to top her french toast with.   I thought Harvey and Herbie would enjoy some banana people on their breakfast pancakes.  Sebbie came round in the morning but had already eaten so he just had a drink.  They looked so gorgeous, sitting eating nicely,

until they saw the camera!

I decided I deserved some banana people too.

The eyes are dried blueberries, the noses are chunks of cashew or pecan nut and the mouths are dried cranberries.

If you go down to the woods today,

you’re sure of a big surprise.

But not of the teddy bear variety!

The cheeky boy type 🙂

I love how boys play.  They just get on with it.  In a wood, there are endless ways to be amused; stick fighting, climbing trees, swinging on branches, playing it/tag/chase, exploring ditches, jumping over small streams.  The possibilities are endless.  I had that momentary dilemma; should I stay with them and make sure they are safe or should I do my walk with the dogs and leave them to it.  Leave them to play, free from prying adult eyes, to make up their own games and have the freedom to inhabit their own little world for a brief hour.  I chose to leave them.

There is a loop I walk which Harvey is familiar with by now.  He knows to not go far off the track and actually, he doesn’t need to as there is plenty to do within the loop.  I walk it twice, once in each direction.  So I passed by the boys after half an hour and saw that they were fine.  Occasionally snatches of their laughter reached me as I walked in the lovely Autumn sunshine.  3 happy and hungry boys, 2 happy dogs and 1 happy Mummy walked home for lunch.

Lunch time.  The boys had cold meats, pasta, pesto and cheese.  I warmed through some falafel and some of the Hugh F-W oven baked tomatoes with garlic I made a couple of weeks ago.  I ate that with some lettuce and fresh tomatoes from the garden, slices of roast chicken leftover from Sunday and some leftover avocado dressing.  It was really good.  The oven baked tomatoes were fantastic warmed up and they went brilliantly with the falafel which I really like but which can be a bit dry.

My friend Eula sent me a recipe recently for carrot and butter bean soup and tonight was the right kind of a night for a soup for supper.

Eula’s Carrot and Butterbean Soup

  • About 6 large carrots, scrubbed or peeled and cut into thirds
  • One Leek, cleaned and chopped
  • Fresh Rosemary – a good sprig, chopped
  • A sprinkling of dried chilli flakes to taste
  • 2 pints vegetable stock
  • 1 x Can Butterbeans
  • Olive oil and a little butter
  • Roast the carrots in a hot oven in some olive oil, sprinkled with some salt and pepper, for about 20-25 mins
  • Meanwhile sweat the leek in a little butter for the flavour and some olive oil with the rosemary and chilli flakes until just golden
  • Add carrots and stock and bring to a simmer for about a further 20 mins until carrots soft.
  • Add butterbeans and warm through.
  • Whizz in a blender until smooth.
  • Serve with a dollop of natural yoghurt – I always use whole milk as it has the best flavour and is still only 4% fat anyhow.

I didn’t have a leek so used an onion which I roasted with the carrots rather than cook separately, to save another pan.  I sprinkled the rosemary and chilli on about 5 minutes before cooking time in the oven finished.  I had made a chicken stock with Sunday’s left over carcass so used that instead of vegetable stock.

It was delicious.  I would say it made 2 portions, which Harvey and I had.  We both really enjoyed it.  We didn’t add the yogurt; I only had dairy free ones with fruit in and I wanted to save my points/calories for pudding.  If you are dieting, it is delicious without anyway.  The texture was velvety smooth, the flavour was sweet and creamy with an undercurrent of warmth from the chilli and the colour was fabulous.  It was a comforting and happy bowl of Autumn.  Wonderful.  It was worthy of being eaten in my favourite bowls with my recently polished silver spoons.  Thank you for sharing Eula.

Last night, 3 of my “sisters” sent me a photo which I shared on FaceBook of their version of one of my food photos.  I shared it but only my FB friends would have seen it and even they would probably not have had even a hint of the hilarity that would have gone in to the photo.  After all, no one could begin to know quite how crazy (but wonderful) my “sisters” are.  It was similar to this photo below but even their lighting was poor (deliberately so).  I missed them all and wanted to be there with them, laughing and giggling and tucking in to one of Trev’s lovely crumbles.  So tonight, as a treat for us and in gratitude for having such wonderful “sisters”, here is a crumble I made.  Not for one upmanship, as the taste of mine would at best only be as good as theirs, and they are perfectly capable of taking good photos but chose not to.  But because we are kin.  Well, some of us are (but don’t tell Caz she’s not really a sister).

This is my version.

Make the topping first.  The basic recipe I use is:

  • 100 g butter
  • 175 g plain flour
  • 75 g demerera sugar

But I play around with it depending on what’s in the cupboard and what I fancy.  Tonight I used:

  • 100g butter
  • 100 g wholemeal flour
  • 75 g rolled Jumbo oats
  • 75 g demerera sugar

I mix the butter with the flour and oats in a food processor until it resembles breadcrumbs and then stir in the sugar.  After years of rubbing the butter in to the flour, the way my Grandmother would have done, I realised it is quicker to wash up the food processor which blitzes the flour and butter in to “breadcrumbs” in seconds !

I then prepare the filling.  I picked about 8 apples from the tree, peeled and cored them and put them in the baking dish (I use a deep dish to keep a high ratio of fruit to topping). My apples are quite sweet for cookers so I don’t need to add much sugar.  I sprinkled on a very heaped tbsp of the fabulous cane sugar I brought back from Barbados last year and which I reserve for special treats.  It has a wonderful caramel flavour.  I had some raspberries in the fridge so added them, now that blackberry season is over.  I like oats with raspberries too.  I think the Scots got that right as they are a great flavour and texture combination.

I press the topping down and sprinkle on a little more of the precious sugar and then pop it in a hot oven, 200 ° C, for 30 – 40 minutes.  It is cooked when the apples are soft which will vary depending on the variety and freshness of your fruit.

We loved our pudding.  It seemed a real treat and should clearly not feature on a diet blog but now and again it needs to be done.  While I enjoyed my crumble with tinned custard, I thought about my lovely family having some good times together in Uplyme, Devon/Dorset.  It’s on the border and I always forget which county it really is. Uplyme is next to Lyme Regis and was on Hugh F-W’s Veg! programme twice on Sunday !!  Once when he went to the Uplyme and Lyme Regis Cricket Club and then again when he went to the Uplyme Horticultural Show.

Thank you sisters for including me, albeit slightly bizarrely, in your meal last night.  For breakfast tomorrow, make some banana people 🙂

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Oh My Gourd!

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

I woke up and left my warm bed very early today.   I couldn’t remember what I was doing this week and it was bugging me so I came downstairs, made a pot of tea and checked out my calendar.  I was first up and enjoyed the tranquility and peace of an empty and quiet kitchen.

I have recently discovered the pleasures of loose leaf tea and the simple ceremony of making it in a pot.  This is a special pot.  It was given to me by work colleagues when I left London to live in New York for a year in 1994.  They thought I needed to remember my Englishness when I was away.  I believe Julia chose the pot and the elegant silver tea strainer.  It was a thoughtful gift and has been treasured ever since.  More to come about those work colleagues on Friday!

It is half term so I made chocolate porridge for breakfast.  I make porridge as usual and just add 1 tsp of cocoa powder.  So simple but very much enjoyed by Harvey and it makes a change for me too.  We ate it with strawberries, raspberries, pomegranate and hazelnut butter.

Harvey was busy all day and on my way home from dropping him at a friends I drove past the pumpkin and gourd stall on the Tenterden Road.  This stall is at the end of the drive to the house where it is all grown.  It is such a great stall and at the moment is selling pumpkins, squashes, gourds, pickles, eggs, apples and tomatoes.  All this only 10 minutes drive from my house 🙂  NB another sunny day.

They have little pumpkins.

Huge pumpkins.  They are so beautiful and reasonably priced.  I bought the large one on the right hand side of the picture for carving.

Stood and admired the variety of shapes and sizes the gourds come in.

Which ones shall I get?

So hard to choose.

Talk about a feast for photographic eyes.

I spent £11.50 and came home with a massive orange pumpkin, 4 small orange pumpkins, a grey pumpkin for eating and about 12 ornamental gourds.  Happy shopper 🙂

Lunch time.  I had some rice to eat up so I made Egg Fried Rice.  I picked some chard from the garden and assembled the other ingredients.

  • To make it I heated 1 tbsp sesame oil in a frying pan and lightly fried the spring onion and chopped up chard stalks.
  • I then added the chard greens and rice
  • While that cooked, I lightly whisked the eggs and added some soy sauce and sesame oil to the eggs.
  • I pushed the rice and greens to the outside of the pan and added the eggs to cook.  I do this because I like pieces of egg to eat with the rice.  You could cook it by mixing it all together but then you don’t get the larger eggy bits.

This is one of my favourite quick and easy meals.  Delicious.

I was tidying the kitchen this afternoon and noticed the basil plant needed trimming.  I used the trimmings to make some Pesto.  I make pesto so Harvey, who is dairy intolerant, can eat it as most shop bought pesto has cheese in it.  It was so easy.  I put some basil leaves, walnuts and olive oil in to the small blender and blitzed until smooth.  Traditionally pesto is made with pine nuts but I didn’t have any so I used walnuts.  You can use any nuts.

I added salt to taste.  It was a lovely dark green colour and I put it in a small pot in the fridge to have later.

I put the gourds in a large perspex bowl so I could see through it.  What a constant source of pleasure it is.

They are so fascinating and beautiful, I had to keep picking them up and looking at them.

For supper I made prawn fajitas as I had picked up some raw king prawns which were heavily discounted at the supermarket this morning.  Fajitas are so easy!  Chop up and lightly fry a red onion and a yellow and red pepper.

Add the prawns

Add the fajita seasoning and cook through.

I served them with a corn tortilla, half fat sour cream, some of the pesto I made earlier and cheddar cheese.  We all, including Harvey’s friend, who is here for a sleepover, totally enjoyed them.  Yum.

To celebrate losing some more weight (2.5 pounds this week) we all had pudding.  Meringue, Greek yogurt, honey, strawberries and raspberries.

I had a glass of red wine too, to celebrate my weight loss.  I have nearly lost 3 stone 🙂 .  Oh my gourd!

Posted in Healthy Lifestyle, Lose Weight, Recipe | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Canter Down to Camber

Posted on October 23, 2011 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Today did not turn out as planned.  The plan was to watch the rugby world cup final, go home and do some chores including phone calls and then Harvey was having a friend round for a sleepover.  What really happened was a bit different.

The day did start with the rugby.  We went to the rugby club and watched New Zealand beat France in a very close rugby match.  I prefer a few more trys but I was happy with the result.  It was really fun watching it with such a large crowd of people as you get a good atmosphere.  And there was such a good mix of kids and adults enjoying the match, it was great.  Many of the men got stuck in to the beer and roared and cheered as trys were imminent.  There was a group of youngsters in the middle with squeaky voices (relative to the deep bellows from the men) who enjoyed making up little rhymes and chants which they sang and clapped along to in support of the All Blacks.  I have many dear friends either in NZ or from NZ so was really pleased with the result.  And I thought of them all, on the other side of the word and imagined the excitement in their homes.

I had overslept a little so instead of eating at home, I took breakfast to eat during the match.  I felt a little out of place, eating my Bircher muesli while all around me munched on bacon butties and swilled beer.  I felt relieved it was dark in the clubhouse 🙂

Bircher Muesli with Pumpkin and Apple

Last night’s Bircher brew was made up of; 1/2 a cup of oats, 1 cup of almond milk, 3 tbsp of pumpkin puree, 2 apples which I picked from the tree, peeled, de-cored and then steamed with some cinnamon, plus 1 tbsp of Chia seeds.  I left the mix in the fridge overnight in the blender jug and then blitzed until it was smooth.  The idea of blending a Bircher muesli came from a Kath Eats recipe that I read a while ago and decided to try last night/this morning.  The consistency was reminiscent of wallpaper paste but it tasted lovely.  And most importantly, kept me full until 7pm which is when I next ate!

After the World Cup Final I watched Harvey’s training and match in the warm sunshine.  It was a very pleasant way to spend a Sunday morning.  We went home and I got a message to say Harvey’s friend needed to postpone by 24 hours which meant I had a free afternoon and evening.  Within minutes I received a phone call from my dear friend Sally to say she was taking her daughter and pony to Camber Sands so did I want to join her for a dog walk?  Yes please!  I couldn’t persuade my men folk to join me so went alone with the dogs.  It was lunch time but there was no time to eat so I grabbed an apple and hopped in the car for the 30 minute drive.

Hellooooo Camber Sands, you beautiful beach, with your miles of golden sands, backed by sand dunes.
Plus the occasional gorgeous house or beach cafe but no other developments.
Hello Sally, Alex and Pickles!  So good to see you all and such an unexpected pleasure for the afternoon 🙂 🙂 :-).
 And hello Barney.
I am no horse rider and actually find horses a little too big and rather scarey.  But this looked like fun and I would have enjoyed galloping down the beach on horseback.
 Girls and ponies on a beach.  What an amazing time they all had.  So did we, standing on the beautiful beach with endless entertainment all around us, chatting away.  It was wonderful.
I have never seen Alex ride before, apart from on countless videos on You Tube.  It was impressive stuff.

They look so gorgeous together.
I am so glad you called Sally 🙂
Time flew, as it always does when you are having such a lovely time, and the girls and ponies re-grouped and cantered off, back towards their horse boxes and then home.

Sally had time to come back for a cuppa and I got dinner in the oven.  I had such a lovely day I forgot I had missed lunch altogether!  It was 5 pm so too late for lunch but I was starving but I managed to resist snacking on anything.  So pleased with myself.

Dinner was roast chicken, mashed potato (wonder who fancied some comfort food!), broccoli and asparagus with gravy.

Greek Yoghurt with Red Berries

Followed by 100 g Greek yogurt with 1 tsp honey.  The honey is a raw one by Green Bay called ‘Raw and Rare Fir of Vytina’ and tastes divine.

Topped with strawberries, raspberries and pomegranate. Delicious.

So an unexpected day.  A wonderful day, watching the cantering at Camber.

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Super Salad Saturday

Posted on October 22, 2011 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Today’s mission was to eat ultra healthily and do some exercise. I am rather pleased with how well I did.

I started with tea, made from loose leaf tea and brewed in my tea pot.  I used my Audrey Hepburn cup which is perfect for tea.

Hubby bought it for me because I am a fan of Audrey Hepburn.  I love ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ and enjoyed visiting her home in Switzerland.  It is also a very practical cup as the saucer doubles up as a lid, making it east to carry upstairs, as I did today, or to take outside.  It prevents insects etc flying in to your tea when you are gardening.

I had prepared breakfast the previous evening so it could soften up overnight in a similar way to a Bircher muesli.  I mixed together 1/2 a cup of oats with the same quantity of almond milk, Greek yogurt and pumpkin puree.  I then added 1 tbsp of Chia seeds, 1/2 a tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie seasoning.  I left this on the side (i.e. not in the fridge) overnight.  All I had to do this morning was eat it and it was lovely.

The flavour is of mild pumpkin pie, due to the spices.  As the oats have soaked all night, they are very soft.  This is a great diet breakfast as it keeps me feeling full for hours.

First exercise for the day was a dog walk, in the sunshine, through the woods.

Home for a cup of green Rooibos tea which is light and refreshing.

Super Salad time 🙂

Whenever I want a salad, I go and see what I can find in the garden.  Today’s foraging provided lettuce, rocket, spinach, pink radishes and 3 baby carrots.

I added a beefsteak tomato and another of Mel’s yellow tomatoes.

To go on the salad I made an avocado dressing which I found on a blog I read regularly;  Live Avocado Goddess Sauce from Peas and Thank You.

I made up half the recipe quantity using:

  • 1 avocado
  • 1 tbsp cider vinegar
  • 1 small garlic clove, crushed
  • 1/2 a small sweet onion
  • pinch of parsley
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • ground black pepper
  • 1 heaped tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • water to make desired consistency

I put all the ingredients in a blender and blitzed it until it was really smooth.  The avocado was wonderful.  It was a perfect avocado, with no blemishes and I could have eaten it with a spoon.  But I am glad I put it in the dressing.  There is a general perception that one should not eat avocado as they are “fattening”.  They are quite high in calories/points but very nutritious, containing vitamin K, folate, potassium, vitamin E, Lutein, magnesium, vitamin C and vitamin B6.  They also contain monounsaturated fats which help with satiety.

I added 3 heaped tbsp to the salad and topped it with sunflower seed sprouts.  That left more than half the dressing which I have put in the fridge for another day.

This was a delicious and very nutritious salad.  I really enjoyed every mouthful and look forward to another serving of that wonderful dressing.

In the afternoon the little fella and I went to our local tennis club which has been closed for ages as the courts were resurfaced.  It has been frustrating but the club re-opened this week so I was keen to go and play on them.  They look really good and we had a happy hour there, running round and hitting balls.

When we got home I snacked on an apple and a clementine and then prepared supper.

I made chilli con carne with brown basmati rice.  When I made the tacos last night, I had seasoned and fried a 500g pack of beef mince with a chopped onion.  I used 1/3 of the mince to make the tacos and I put the other 2/3 of the cooked mince in to a saucepan and added a can of chopped tomatoes and a slug of red wine.   When it had cooked properly and cooled down, I put it in the fridge for today.  The boys had some of the mix, with some pureed pumpkin stirred in,  as bolognese with pasta for lunch.  The remainder I used to make the chilli.

I added a can of red kidney beans and 1 tsp of sweet smoked paprika.  So I probably had 50 g beef mince, 1/3 of a can of red kidney beans which I served with 100 g cooked brown basmati rice, a large tbsp half fat soured cream and broccoli.  I grated some dried chili on my meat to give it some heat.  It tasted really good and I was hungry by the evening so enjoyed a substantial meal.

I was focused on eating healthily and exercising today.  I did it and really enjoyed it.  I hope I can be as disciplined tomorrow.

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Masterchef Masterclass

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Harvey and I were excited about today.  We were going to a cookery class, run by Jenni, who was a Masterchef contestant last year.  She was also Harvey’s form tutor and brilliant English teacher, which is how we know her.  The cookery workshop was for the children and I volunteered to help out so I could spend some time with Jenni and learn some new cooking techniques.

I have heard high praise for Jenni’s cooking and was looking forward to learning something new, as I know her cooking is influenced by her native Australia and also Japan.

I had a quick breakfast of scrambled egg with a cup of tea.  I went for something substantial in the hope it would help me restrain myself from eating everything the children produced today!

Then off to Mel’s, who hosted the cooking workshop.  The first thing the children made was carrot cake muffins.

Which were decorated with cream cheese frosting,

then little “carrots” made from dried apricots and jelly snakes.  They looked really good.  These are the ones Edward made.

The children were all given muffin gift boxes to put their best muffin in as a gift for someone at home.  This is a present for Daddy.

The children also made some sushi rolls.  We both love Sushi rolls so I was delighted to learn how to make them.  First of all the children prepared the fillings;

  • Finely chopped cucumber
  • a bowl of black sesame seeds
  • a bowl or sesame seeds
  • deep fried prawn torpedoes
  • Crispy onion pieces

They prepared it all themselves, including the deep fat frying. Then they were ready to make the sushi rolls, which Jenni demonstrated first and then the children made their own.

1. Lay the seaweed sheet, rough side facing up, on a rolling mat.

2. Spread the sushi rice over the seaweed, leaving a 2cm gap along the top for sealing the rolled up sushi roll.

3. Lay your filling across the rice about a third up from the bottom.  Jenni added cucumber and black sesame seeds.  Then roll, dampening the top of the sea weed sheet so it seals the roll and squeezing with the mat so it is firm.  Then cut in half with a wet knife and then in to rounds (about 6-8 from each roll).

Jenni made it look very easy and after tasting them we all had a go.  Everyone really enjoyed it as it is a lovely tactile activity, it worked well as a group activity and we could add our own fillings.  I couldn’t resist an invitation to have a go so I made one too.

Is it a Christmas cracker?  No, it’s my prawn torpedo with cucumber and  black sesame seed sushi roll.

Ta daa.  First ever sushi roll, but definitely not the last.

They were delicious.  While we munched our way through the sushi rolls and passed our plates round and sampled each others, Jenni showed us how to make inside out sushi rolls i.e. the filling and seaweed are in the middle with the rice on the outside.

1. Prepare the central filling, which was thin slices of avocado with a Japanese mayonnaise and crispy onion pieces.

2. Lay a double layer of cling film on the work surface, add a layer of black sesame seeds and spread the sushi rice around.

3. Put the filling on the rice.

4. Roll and cut.

They were fabulous.  The children mainly preferred the inside out sushi rolls because they were not so keen on the seaweed.  I really liked both types and thoroughly enjoyed making them.  It was so great that Jenni had all the necessary equipment and condiments.

The children were also going to make some noodles for lunch but they were all full from all the delicious sushi they had eaten so they played and we cleared up.  Mel gave me some home grown yellow tomatoes to take away.  They are a cheery addition to my fruit bowl.

And we ate some with our evening supper which was tacos, made with 250 g minced beef, one onion, taco seasoning, red and yellow tomatoes, half fat soured cream and cheddar cheese.

I had so much fun with cooking today and spending time with Jenni and a great group of children.  It was great to learn how to cook sushi rolls and I will definitely try that.

The downside was the picking, which I seemed to do all afternoon.  I ate one of Harvey’s muffins, way too many dried fruits and nuts and then had a large glass of red wine in the evening.  I blame being hormonal for the food picking and an aching back ( due to a pulled muscle at tennis last week) for the red wine.

I loved my Masterchef masterclass and hope I can go to another one.  As did the little fella.  Thank you Jenni.

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Beach Babies

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Beach baby, beach baby, there on the sand.  Oh yes, another fantastic day on the beach.  We were so lucky that we woke up once more to bright blue sky and lots of sunshine.  Today was colder than it has been for ages but that did not deter the beach babies from choosing to spend their last day together on the beach, digging.

Fruit, yogurt and cereal for breakfast today.  Greek yogurt, mango, peach and Jordan’s Country Crisp with raisins for me.
Then off to my favourite beach which is only a 15 minute drive from our beach house.
To dig,
to hunt for crabs,
or sharks!  How we love our hunter-gatherers 🙂
To climb the cliffs,
to play in the cliffs,
to create giant ladies with seaweed hair and shell necklaces, and then hold her hand (so cute)
or make a life sized “water man”,
or make a giant sandcastle with a moat (Mummy helped a lot).
How we loved the virtually private beach.
Eventually the grown ups became too cold so it was time for lunch.

A diet-disaster!  Brie and bacon panini at Morelli‘s in Broadstairs,
with coffee,
Followed by ice-cream.  Morelli’s make their own ‘Gelato’ and I had one scoop of caramel in a small cone.  It was delicious.
It has been a total pleasure and a privilege to spend 3 days with my beautiful God-daughter and I enjoyed every minute of it all.

Alas, all good things come to an end and unfortunately it was time for our fab friends to head home to Leicestershire.  One last photo call with the dogs.
Come back and see us soon.

Back at home we had a quick and simple supper; falafel, humous, lettuce and some wonderfully juicy tomatoes with a small blob of mayonnaise.
For some inexplicable reason, I then pigged out on a slice of toast with marmalade and a hot chocolate :-(.  I am so dumb sometimes!  I don’t even know why I had that as I wasn’t feeling stressed which is my usual excuse.  I felt really happy and just a little tired.  I will not dwell on that little slip but will make much more effort tomorrow.

Tomorrow’s blog will be all about food and I will make sure I photograph everything I eat and it will all be healthy.


Posted in Beach, Lose Weight | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Happy Holidays Are ……

Posted on October 19, 2011 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Starting the day with good intentions; pumpkin, oats, soya milk and Greek yogurt with a cup of tea.

Fab friends arriving and in the excitement forgetting to take photos of lunch.  It was roasted vegetables and goats cheese on lightly toasted ciabatta spread with pesto.  Yummy.

Strolling on the beach and then having a beer in the late afternoon in The Belgian Cafe.  They have a choice of over 200 beers!
Or hot chocolate.
Relaxing at home together.
Eating supper together; roast chicken, baked pumpkin, baked sweet potato and broccoli.
Having pudding; knickerbocker glory – white chocolate ice-cream, maple and pecan ice-cream, blackcurrant jelly, chunks of a Crunchie bar (small ones), strawberries, peaches and raspberries.  And wine.  And then some!
Being together for breakfast.
Greek yogurt, British strawberries and raspberries.
Long walks along the beach in the sun.
Clambering about on the cliffs.
Exploring caves.
Searching for crabs in the rock pool.
Spending time with special people.
 Making sandcastles.
Chilling in the Autumn sunshine.
Eating lunch, outside,  in October, beside the sea at Osteria Pizzeria Posillipo in Broadstairs.
 Being treated to lunch by our fab friends.  Thank you.  A scrumptious seafood platter.
Followed by sea bass with spinach (and some chips) but forgetting to take photos as having such a lovely time.  Broadstairs is so gorgeous.

Having a simple supper as everyone is happily tired.  Chicken fajitas.
Followed by fresh fruit and ice-cream.
And rather a lot of Bounty rum from Saint Lucia and Sancerre.  Happy days 🙂

I love holidays :-).  And fab friends.

Posted in Beach | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Lovely Lunch

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Another bright blue skied sunny morning in Kent :-).  Every sunny day now seems a bonus before greyness and winter sets in.  Feeling bad about the garbage I had eaten yesterday, I wanted to start the day with a burst of nutrients and no fat.  So I retrieved my juicer from the back of the cupboard and went in search of raw food to push through it.  In my front garden is an apple tree.  They are cooking apples but I wanted something just picked and they are lovely apples, just a bit less sweet than eating apples.  The tree is smothered in rose hips from the pretty white rose that clambers all over it.
These two will do for a start.
In the fridge I found some floppy celery and a new carrot.  Why does celery go floppy?  The flavour is still lovely but I never fancy anything floppy in a salad bowl.
After washing them, I pushed them through the juicer.
3 simple ingredients, one glass of orange fabulousness.
And the frothy top was a bonus.

By lunch time I was starving.  I had some wonderful leftovers in the fridge; roasted onion squash, chickpeas with chard and cumin and the slow baked tomatoes with garlic.  I put them in a dish, covered with foil and popped them in the oven for half an hour to warm through.
I also wanted some green veg so I chopped up 1 leek, 1/2 a head of broccoli and 2 small courgettes.
The greens were stir fried in 1 tbsp groundnut oil.  They were taking a while to cook so I added a small amount of water to steam cook them for a bit.  I then added approximately 1 tbsp of soy sauce and  a similar amount of agave syrup.  I needed to sweeten them a bit to encourage Harvey to eat them.  Wow!  They tasted amazing, especially the leeks.  The leek picked up the salty soy flavour and the sweetness of the agave syrup perfectly.  I could have eaten a plateful of that alone.  The broccoli was really good too but the courgette was still slightly bitter.  Still very edible though.

As a complete dish, the lunch worked brilliantly.  many dishes taste better after the flavours have had a chance to mingle for a couple of days and that was true of the chick peas and garlicky tomatoes.  Combined with the squash and salty and sweet green veg, it made one of the tastiest lunches I have eaten for a long time.  Simply brilliant.
 The autumn nature table in the hall has had a whole bunch more nature added to it!

I have loved walking past this amazing bunch of flowers, seeing their beautiful blooms and smelling the wonderful scents which are filling the house.

Not so grand but just as charming in their own way, is the little bunch of cornflowers in a small vase in the kitchen.  They grew from a pre-seeded pouch Lucy gave me and are so pretty; I enjoy seeing them while I am cooking.
Supper was quick and easy; scrambled egg on toast.

I weighed in 2 pounds less tonight at Weight Watchers which I was pleased with.  That makes a total loss of 36 pounds now, two and a half stone plus a pound.   So I treated myself to a celebratory gin and tonic.  Delicious.
 I have some fab friends coming for lunch tomorrow.  What shall I make?

Posted in Healthy Lifestyle, Lose Weight, Recipe | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Downton Abbey

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Today was AWESOME 🙂 🙂 :-).  It started really well with a lovely breakfast.  A bowl-scrapingly delicious breakfast which had cold pumpkin in it but was still wonderful.  Kath Eats made an overnight oats bowl with pumpkin.  I knew we were getting up and going out early so I made this the night before.  I put oats, soya milk, pumpkin (puree from a can), Greek yogurt, Chia seeds and cinnamon in a bowl and left it overnight.   I had it with a cup of Twinings loose leaf breakfast tea.

It was really good and I ate about 2/3 of it but left the rest to have another time as it was very filling.  And I was excited about visiting Downton and wanted to get going.

We went to Highclere Castle which is the setting for ITV’s period drama Downton Abbey.  The Earl and Countess were hosting a fund raising day for the armed forces charities so it was a perfect day out for the three of us; history and Downton stuff for me, armed forces, guns and blood (only fake, don’t panic) for Harvey and vintage cars and planes for James.

We were there soon after it opened so had plenty of time to look at the vintage cars, like this 1912 Model T Ford.

It was a bit basic inside for me!  I like a few more comforts.

First view of Downton/Highclere.  Excitement mounts!!
We had to wait until 11:30 for the house to open (yes, gasp, we did go inside 🙂 ) so Harvey had the opportunity to sit in an Apache helicopter,
 where strangely I showed a great interest in how and when they are used.  How fortunate that the pilots were so good-looking helpful.
There was a delay to admitting people in to the castle so we grabbed a bite to eat.  Unfortunately there was nothing remotely healthy, it was all burgers and hot dogs, so I went for a vegetarian option.  THE only vegetarian option.  With a coffee.  A cheese, onion and potato pasty.  It actually tasted really good as the pastry was crisp and the cheese hot and melted,  but it was such a bad diet choice, since it was full of fat with some refined white flour and then loads more fat.  Approximately 22 WW points :-(.  Nearly 2/3 of a days allowance in one handful of fat.  We later found a restaurant in the castle so I should have waited.  Oh well, live and learn.
Finally it was time to get in to the Castle and we were one of the first in. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos inside but I did take some from inside, looking outside.  One of the horses from War Horse was there, amongst many displays, many of which had a military theme.
We walked through some of the rooms made famous by Downton Abbey, such as the library, morning room and the dining room.  We went upstairs and walked along the corridor, looking in to bedrooms and a bathroom and peering over the balustrade in to the hall below.  Luckily no dead Turks were being dragged about.

In the basement is an exhibition of Egyptian artefacts and replicas as it was the Earl of Carnarvon (the current Earl’s Grandfather I believe) who discovered Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1922.  On the way to the tea rooms is the bell board for all the rooms in the ‘upstairs’ of the house.  So when the servants heard the bell ring for attention, they knew which room to rush off to.
The house was full of staff who were very well informed about the history of the house and all the inevitable questions about Downton.  We had tea and cake in the garden which was lovely.  Another diet disaster but somehow it seemed like the thing to do, to take tea on the lawn.  With a scone, clotted cream and strawberry jam.  The flapjack and coffee and walnut cake were not for me!
We were treated to a flyover by a Spitfire.
And then walked around the castle, admiring the amazing architecture.
Harvey’s turn to see something he was interested in.  Wearing a flak jacket he put on some camouflage paint.
Had his arm put in plaster,
Handled a rifle,
And then we came across the Downton cast and costumes.  Woo Hoo!
I had a hug from Branson the chauffeur – what a twinkly eyed charmer he was,

Then headed off to the auction of Downton props which the delightful Mr Carson ran.  He was brilliant.  And we were in the second row so had a really good view.
Ably assisted by his Nobleness, the Earl of Grantham, who was in dress down mode!
And Mrs Hughes, Mrs Crawley, Daisy and Mrs Patmore.
It was great fun.  We entered in to the spirit of the auction and bought one of the huge vases of flowers.
There was still more to see on the way out.

We spotted the current Earl of Carnarvon giving an interview.
Had a quick peek inside a Chinook before it flew off.  Really interesting seeing such things so close.
And finally dragged ourselves away.  Farewell Highclere Castle, we had a brilliant day.
Back home I finished eating what I had started earlier; overnight pumpkin oats with a blood orange and grapes added to it.  It was good to eat something fresh and juicy.
Today was brilliant.  Highclere Castle opens a few times a year.  If you are interested in going, click the link at the top of this post and book tickets for the next opening which is in December.  They don’t normally have all the military displays and Downton cast there but I think it would still be worth a trip.

 

Posted in History, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Oat Cuisine

Posted on October 15, 2011 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

I eat porridge for breakfast quite regularly and I had it again today.  There are many health and weight loss benefits to eating porridge, assuming of course you do not make it with cream and then smother it with sugar!

Oats are a healthy addition to your diet:

  • Oats are high in dietary fibre which can help reduce cholesterol.
  • They are a low fat and low sugar source of fibre and protein.
  • Oats are a good source of minerals (iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper and manganese).
  • And a useful source of many of the B Vitamins.

Oats are good when you are losing weight because:

  • They are low in calories relative to their bulk which means they fill you up but do not contain a high proportion of your daily calorie allowance.
  • They have a reasonable glycaemic index (GI) which means they release energy slowly which provides you with energy for a longer period of time.  This helps you feel full for longer so you are less likely to head for an unhealthy snack.
  • If you eat them with protein they have an even better GI.

This morning I had 50 g Jumbo Oats, 140 ml soya milk, 1 tsp Chia seeds, a banana and a tbsp of hazelnut butter.  11 WW points.

I really like this nut butter and it seems to go with everything.  Hazlenuts are a source of healthy Omega 3 and Omega 6 oils, protein and several minerals including magnesium and vitamins including Vitamin E and K.  So eating Oats and hazelnuts, with some milk for calcium and fruit for vitamin C and you have a really healthy start to the day 🙂

I had a busy morning so lunch was rather unimaginative.  I popped potatoes in the oven so we could have jacket potatoes.  Jacket Potatoes always seem like an Autumn and Winter thing to eat because in the summer we tend to eat new potatoes which are not so good for baking.  The boys had sausages and although I bought good quality sausages (and I love sausages) I decided to resist them and have something lower fat.  I had tuna, with a level tbsp mayonnaise with lettuces, rocket and spinach from the garden and tomatoes.  I put 1 tsp butter on one potato half and had about 15 g Salad cream on the side.  This was a very high point lunch!  The potato and tuna were 8 points each and the meal total was 21 points !!!!  Just half a potato next time I think.

It was a bit boring but tasted fine and was very easy to prepare and virtually no clearing away – big bonus.  The lettuces and rocket have such a wonderful flavour, I really enjoy them at this time of year.  So unfortunately do all the caterpillars, slugs and snails which are busy munching their way through my garden!

By late afternoon I was feeling very “picky” i.e. I wanted to pick at something.  I tried resisting for a bit but was too preoccupied with what I could eat to manage to get on with anything else.  So I did what I have done before which is to give in to it.  Eat what ever the thing is that I want.  This afternoon it was a piece of bread and cheese.

So I don’t blow the diet, I track it i.e. weigh what I am eating, calculate the points and write it down.  Nothing is banned on Weight Watchers so I can eat whatever I want to.  There is no such thing as “naughty” or “bad” food.  There is however unhealthy food, which I try to avoid and some food has so many points you can not each much.  But by allowing myself to have what I fancied, I felt happier and because I tracked it, I stayed within points.

I had a thin (43 g) slice of Crank’s Wholemeal Bread and 9 g of butter and 46 g of cheese – the Shropshire Blue I had bought the other day.  9 WW points.  I really like Crank’s bread and not just because it has a naked man on the wrapper.  I had my bread and cheese with a cup of tea and flicked through the paper.   It was very enjoyable.  Did you really just click the link to check out the naked man?

Bizarely, even though I had my cheese and bread snack at 5 pm, I didn’t feel hungry again so had nothing else to eat.  So this strategy of giving in and having what I fancy seems to be working.  As long as I only have a little of it.  There is an old adage that “a little of what you fancy does you good”.  Seems to be working for me, as long as it is a LITTLE and I track it.

I am going to prepare breakfast for tomorrow.  I am so excited about tomorrow and will probably have some food treats so I need to start the day well.  It will be oats and I am soaking them overnight!

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