Yummy Tom Yummy

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Tennis Tuesday – woo hoo 🙂 .  So I usually have a light breakfast on a Tuesday and it tends to be a smoothie.  I was really pleased to have found a sugar free almond milk.  I try to not eat/drink too much dairy which is a real weakness of mine.  I I do not want to overdo soya products.  I don’t like rice or oat milk, except in porridge.  The only almond milk I have come across has sugar in it and I am trying to cut down.  So I was elated to find some sugar free Almond milk.

My smoothie was made from frozen mixed berries, a banana, 1 tbsp Chia seeds (2 points) and 200ml almond milk (2 points).

After tennis I had a coffee and snacked on an apple.

I was hungry at lunch time and wanted something spicy and something I have not had for a long time so I headed to Thailand for inspiration.  One of my favourite soups is Tom Yum with coconut milk added.  I bought a jar of Tom Yum paste so it was a really easy lunch to make.

Tom Yum with Coconut

  • 3 tbsp Tom Yum paste
  • 500 ml boiling water
  • 200 ml coconut milk
  • 1 small chicken breast, cut in half lengthways and sliced thinly
  • 1 small head of broccoli, cut in to small florets
  • 1 tbsp Thai fish sauce
  • Juice from 1 lime
  • Fresh basil and coriander, finely chopped
  • Green chili, finely chopped (optional)

  • Mix the Tom Yum paste in with the water in a large saucepan.
  • When the paste is mixed in, add the coconut milk and bring to a simmer.
  • Chop the broccoli and chicken.  I used the broccoli stalks too.

  • Add the chicken and broccoli to the saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes.

  • After 10 minutes the chicken should be cooked and the broccoli tender.
  • Add the fish sauce and lime juice and taste for seasoning.
  • Serve in to a large bowl and sprinkle the fresh herbs and chili on top.

It was a huge bowlful of food and was all so delicious.  The heat (i.e. chili) was just how I like it.  The herbs and lime juice make it taste fresh and zingy and the coconut is sweet and creamy.  A perfect flavour combination.

You could make it without the coconut milk and save 9 WW points but I love the sweetness it adds.  That huge bowlful was 15 WW points.

I didn’t get round to supper until 9:30pm so I just made an omelette.  2 large eggs, 50 g cheddar, 3 tsp butter, 40g peas and parsley.  Simple but satisfying.

But not a patch on that Tom Yum.  Which was so yummy.

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Sloely Sloely

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

I thought I may have a diet nightmare today.  I had a bad nights sleep last night so I woke up tired.  Plus this is the first day I really have to face my half empty nest. This is the kind of a day where alarm bells ring and klaxons blast as Zoë over eats.  But not today!  No siree.  I decided to take it relatively easy to get over the tiredness and focus on healthy eating and track EVERYthing so I don’t over eat.

First thing, a very large cup of tea.  Using semi skimmed milk from the 140 ml I set aside each day for hot drinks (2 WW points).

I waited until 9am to have breakfast and decided I really wanted porridge.  50 g Jumbo Oats (5 points), approx 200 ml water, 140ml soya milk (1 point), 30 g clementine cashew nut butter (5 points) and a medium banana.  I don’t think you need another photo of porridge 🙂

I have had this tea in the cupboard for ages and decided to have a cup instead of a coffee so I don’t drink too much caffeine today which is always tempting when one is tired.  Dr Stuart’s Slim Plus tea.  On the side of the packet it says; “a delicious herbal infusion including fennel, linden leaves and galangal root believed to suppress the appetite”.  I may quibble with “delicious” but it tasted fine.

I had a pleasant potter in the garden and picked this crazy dahlia to brighten up a dull corner of the kitchen.

William, the tortoise got a big bunch of dandelion leaves, which are his favourite.

I put together a large salad for lunch.  I wanted to pack in as many nutrients as possible and aimed to have a lot of raw fruits and vegetables.  I gathered 2 types of lettuce, spinach, rocket and beetroot leaves from the garden.  I wanted to grate some raw beetroot in to the salad but my beetroot hasn’t grown. The radish (green stem and green leaves) was huge but the beetroot might as well have not bothered!  Check out the photo to which I added a matchbox for size comparison.  So to any veg growers out there – what have I done wrong?

Here’s a close up in case you can’t see quite how tragic that beetroot is:

I know the radish (on the left in the photo above) looks like a beetroot as I happened to pull up a purple one, but they are all white inside.  I will grow this multi coloured variety next year.  They are tasty and peppery and the different colours look really attractive in a salad.   See, it really was a radish!

Today’s lunch time salad was radish, beetroot, salad leaves, orange pepper, baby plum tomatoes, cucumber and a blood orange.

Topped with a tin of sardine fillets, drained of its olive oil, which left 67 g drained weight (4 points).

I made a mustard and honey dressing to go with it.

Mustard and Honey Salad Dressing (enough for 1 large salad)
1 tsp runny honey (1 point)
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp oil (I used walnut but any would do (1 point))
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
pinch of salt

I put all the ingredients in a small tupperware pot with a very tight fitting lid and shook it like crazy for a couple of minutes so all the ingredients were well mixed.  I was pleased with the dressing and the salad as it was so colourful and tasted really good.  The total WW points for this delicious and nutritious salad bowl was only 6!

Dinner was adapted from Hugh F-W’s ‘Veg Everyday!’ book; a Leek and Cheese Toastie.

Ingredients

  • 1 tsp butter
  • 2 leeks, washed and sliced finely
  • Leaves from 1 sprig of thyme
  • 3 tbsp Greek yogurt
  • 50 g strong cheddar, grated
  • 2 thick slices sourdough bread
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Method

  1. Melt the butter over a low heat and fry the leeks gently until tender.
  2. Stir in the thyme, yogurt, 2/3 of the cheese and salt and pepper.
  3. Preheat the grill and toast the bread lightly.
  4. Spread the leek mixture over the bread, top with the remaining cheddar and heat under the grill until the cheese is golden and bubbling.

In terms of points, it had 10 g butter (2 points), 1 and 1/2 tbsp Greek yogurt (2 points), 40 g Cheddar (5 points) and 70g Sourdough bread (5 points).  That makes a total of 14 WW points.  The recipe book says to use cream instead of yogurt but I didn’t have cream.  I served it with a little Dijon mustard and it was lovely.  A very quick and easy supper.

I then spent a very pleasant time de-stalking and pricking sloes and plonking them in to a vat of gin.

There are squillions of recipes out there on the internet but I wanted to use one I had been recommended.  Thank you Andrew for sharing your family recipe.

Andrew’s Sloe Gin
3 lb sloes
2 lb sugar
3 litres gin

Pull the stalks off the sloes
Cut them in half ( I actually just pricked them with a small knife)
Put in large glass Kilner style jar or demi john.
Add sugar
Add gin
Shake it all up until the sugar dissolves.  You don’t want a syrupy bottom!

This is not a quick task so I settled down in the lounge with a large bowl of sloes and the gin in the glass jar ready and waiting.  My remaining little bird in the nest sat next to me and chirped a little about his day at school.  While I slowly pulled, pricked and plonked the sloes in to the gin.  Not a job to be done in a rush.  Slowly with the sloes.

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Sunny Sunday

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

This glorious weather is amazing and I am loving all the sunshine.  Sunday was no misnomer this week!

My eating was generally good today 🙂 .  First thing I made a smoothie with some frozen berries, a banana, soya milk and some clementine cashew nut butter.

Sausages for lunch (just 2 chipolatas for me) with new potatoes and salad leaves and radishes from the garden, plus 15 g mayonnaise and 15 g butter.  Mayo and butter are not “diet” food but I am not on a diet but a life plan and as long as I count the points I can eat such food types.  I was really pleased to observe the males ate sausages with salad without any comment.  3 months ago it would have been eaten with a hot dog roll or baked beans but now we eat fresh fruit and/or veg with every meal, it has become the norm.  I am delighted 🙂 .

To make the most of the amazing sunshine we went to Rye Harbour which ticks all our boxes.  A lovely walk with lots of interesting smells for the dogs, pebbles and the sea for Harvey, a nature reserve for James and the seashore for me.

To anyone who has never been – GO!  It is a wonderful landscape of salt marshes and shingle which support a beautiful array of plants and birds.  And rabbits, which were on the other side of the fence, much to the frustration of the dogs!  There is a small visitor centre, a bird hide (so take binoculars) and an extensive network of paths which you can walk or cycle along.  It is very beautiful and I have always loved this shack, which was looking very bright today.

For a little boy and his dogs, there was plenty to do:  run up and down the shingle heaps, swim in the sea, try some body boarding or throw pebbles for the dogs.  Despite there being millions of pebbles lying around, those dumb dogs chased every single one thrown for them!

Lots of fun in the sun.

With plenty of time for relaxing too.

So much fun but eventually we came home.  James cooked supper which was a lovely treat.  He made chicken and ginger in coconut milk with rice and stir fried chard and spinach (from the garden).  I do prefer my plate to be half full of veg but hey, someone else cooked so I am not complaining.

Here’s hoping for a sunny Monday.

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The long and winding road

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

This will be a very short blog today and the last until Sunday I suspect.  On the eve of taking my beautiful daughter to begin her University education, I want to spend the day with her.  I want to be doing things with and for her, not for me.  How we spend our last day at home until the Christmas holidays and the first days in Durham is just for us.

As a family of four, we are all living our lives and following our own paths in life.  Separately and together.  Sometimes we walk the same path, other times our paths are parallel and at others, they are divergent.  But then they come together again, are shared or are crossed over.  Onwards, ever onwards and continuing.  From one minute to the next, as we walk the same road, we build up memories of shared experiences.  When we no longer share so much space, we can begin to share separate experiences, together.  Just from afar.

As a Mother, I feel very proud of a job well done.  Our daughter is ready to take the first steps towards leaving home.  While she alternates between anxiety and excitement, she is looking forwards to the future.   She will do well for herself and continue growing in to the amazing, independent young woman I know she will be.  She knows where we are when she needs us and we will always be here for her.  She also knows the time has come to stride out on her own.  And she is ready.

I think the road to Durham and back will be a long and emotional one.

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The wonders of the Blogosphere

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Earlier today I saw what I consider to be one of the wonders of the blogosphere.  2 people, my sister Lucy and a friend of mine, ‘Veg Grower’ connected to each other via this blog.  Veg Grower has lots of fennel and Lucy posted a favourite fennel recipe in the comments.  How amazing is that?  There are millions of blogs out there, where people share and give away information.  I find it incredible how much information is on blogs if you look for it.  Readily given with no expectation of anything to be received in return.  It really made my day to see people getting involved on my blog and I was delighted.  Thank you Lucy.  I hope it inspires many others to do the same.

My eating today started really well.  I haven’t had porridge for a few days and I had missed it.  50 g Jumbo oats, 140 ml soya milk, 1 tsp Chia seeds, 1 small banana, 2 fresh figs and 1 tbsp Clementine cashew butter.  Delicious and filling and satisfying.  Shame the figs look like minced meat!  Don’t let that put you off though as they go really well in porridge.

Lunch was another Hugh recipe.  Twice cooked potatoes.  A bit of a cheat recipe really as it is so easy and it has been done many times before.  You bake the potato in its jacket for an hour, scrape the inside in to a bowl, put the skins in the oven to crisp up for 10 minutes while you add to the potato in the bowl.  We added spring onion, butter, cottage cheese and cheddar.  Put the filling back inside the skin, pop back in to the oven for 10 minutes to warm through and then it’s ready.  I just added some baby plum tomatoes.  Mangez mangez!

The rose I cut on Sunday has opened fully and is so beautiful and smells wonderful too.  We should all have something in the home which brings us great pleasure, however fleeting.

This afternoon, Lara and I stood in the very warm September sunshine and watched Harvey play football with the school team.  It was a close match and it was a shame they drew 0 -0 as I think they deserved to win.  I was very proud of my little man though as he played his socks off.

This evening we three adults in the family went out for dinner.  We went to The Great House in Hawkhurst.  I like the building, the decor, the ambience and the food is good too.  Unfortunately I had forgotten to bring along my little friend Will Power.  Having left him at home I tucked in to a baked Camembert to start with.  I shared it with Lara and it was splendid.  Almost worth every calorie/point.

My main was reasonably healthy; calves liver with mash and vegetables.  It was tasty and the portion was adequate but not excessive which is a good thing.

I was full and contented but as soon as they ask “would you like to see the dessert menu?”, I am nodding before I have even processed the question, never mind had any time to wrangle with my conscience.  So I semi-consciously ordered the apple and pear crumble with honeycomb ice-cream.

With the half bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon I washed it all down with, I definitely blew the calorie/points budget today.  And I guess watching football doesn’t really count as doing any exercise either does it?

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Veg everyday !

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Those of you who have read previous posts will know I am a huge fan of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.  Those of you who haven’t do now.  I was very excited to receive my copy of his new book ‘Veg everyday!’ and even more excited to look through it and decide I like the look of nearly every recipe.  I almost became over excited as I couldn’t decide what to cook first, so I have decided, slightly a la mode of Julie & Julia, to cook it all.  But without the pressure of a deadline.  So I am stating my intention to cook every single recipe in Hugh’s book, at some point.  I also pledge to cook them as they are written, rather than reading a recipe and using it for inspiration because I think I can do better.

Breakfast was not the time to start a vegetable recipe though.  This morning’s fare was a scrambled egg with baby plum tomatoes.  Using a non stick saucepan, I melted 1 tsp of butter, cut the baby plum tomatoes in half and lightly warmed them through in the butter.  I put the tomatoes on our plates and scrambled the eggs in the butter left in the pan.  There was only enough egg to have one each but it was sufficient.  Only 4 WW points.

Well, it was enough for a while anyway.  I did need a small snack to keep me going until lunch time so I ate one of the blood oranges I had bought yesterday.  It was sweet and juicy and really rather wonderful.

Lunch time heralded the first meal to be cooked from the book.  Hushed tones, reverence and a drum roll are required please.  THE book.  For those of you whose lives have not yet been enhanced by the addition of the latest wonderful Hugh F-W tome on your bookshelves, this is what ‘Vegetables everyday!‘ looks like.

I had most of a large cauliflower in the fridge that needed using up.  The boys dislike cauliflower but Lara and I both really enjoy it.  Admittedly I like it best smothered in a very cheesy cheese sauce but that won’t help me lose weight.  So on page 27 I found the recipe for a Cauliflower and Chickpea Curry.  The recipe is based on one from Angela Hartnett who is a chef I very much admire.  Partly, or even mainly, because she is a female.  Being a top chef is not easy and her success as a female is rare so should be celebrated.

Ingredients

  • 1 medium cauliflower, cut in to florets
  • 2 tbsp groundnut oil
  • 3 onions chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • Large pinch of dried chilli flakes
  • 2 star anise
  • 400g can of chopped tomatoes
  • 400 g can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 2 tsp garam masala
  • Fresh coriander, chopped
  • Salt and pepper

Method

  1. Put the cauliflower in to a large pan of water, cover with cold water and a pinch of salt, and bring to the boil.
  2. When the water has boiled, drain the cauliflower then return to the pan to keep warm.
  3. Fry the onions, garlic and ginger for 10 minutes until soft.
  4. Add the spices and seasoning and cook for another 5 minutes.
  5. Add the tomatoes and chickpeas, mix well and then add the cauliflower.
  6. Pour in enough cold water to nearly cover everything and simmer to 5-10 minutes until the cauliflower is cooked.
  7. Stir in the gram masala and coriander and season to taste.

It was very easy to make the curry and it seems very nutritious to me as it is a light and low fat dish, full of cauliflower and chickpeas, funnily enough.  The spicing is well rounded and the flavour gradually builds as you eat it.  We ate it as it was, without any rice or other accompaniments.  Except I added 50g Greek natural yogurt (2 WW points) and 33 g mango chutney (2 WW points).  I nearly always add natural yogurt to a tomato based curry as I like the sharp creaminess of the yogurt against the sweet acidity of the tomato. If I had eaten half the curry, which I was planning to do, it would have been 14 WW points for the whole meal (including yogurt and chutney points).  I actually ate less but left that many points on the tracker anyway.

Confession time.  For some reason, which I can not explain, I had a binge late last night.  I was disappointed to have only lost 1 pound last week when I thought I deserved to have lost 2.  After all, I had been swimming and had mainly eaten very well.  Or so I thought.  Looking back on my blog today I can see why I didn’t lose 2 pounds.  I did way too much socialising, ate too much cheese and clearly drank too much Sloe gin.  As I didn’t track points most days last week, I probably over ate most days.

That is how I can look at it today, when I feel calm and logical.  But last night I was gripped by a momentary dip in good feelings and did what I often do when feeling down – comfort eat.  I had 3 slices of Soreen malt loaf, thickly spread with butter cold from the fridge and then a giant iced chocolate cup cake.  I haven’t had such naughty food in the house recently but we bought them yesterday and I turned to them in my momentary despair last night.

Today, I decided to not dwell on my stupidity but deal with it.  I logged on to the Weight Watcher site and put in everything I ate yesterday and what I have eaten so far today.  For those of you not familiar with Weight Watchers, you are given a daily “point” allowance which varies depending on your age and weight.  People typically get around 30 points a day.  In addition, you have an extra 49 points a week which you can either blow in one go on a large feast or use to top up each day.  So my comfort eating last night used up a lot of my weekly points.  But I have added them up as I am determined to lose more this week.  You can also add points by doing exercise so I will do that too.

I love this view of the Cranbrook windmill and red rooves, taken this afternoon from the Tanyard car park.  Lara and I had a lovely girly time in the hairdressers 🙂 .

Supper was based around the lovely salmon I bought yesterday.

Roasted Vegetables with salmon

  • Red onion, chopped
  • Yellow pepper, chopped
  • Orange pepper, chopped
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • Cherry or plum tomatoes, halved
  • 2 field mushrooms, chopped
  • Salmon
  1. Pre heat oven to 180 °C
  2. Chop the onion and peppers and put in to a baking dish
  3. Pour over the oil and stir to mix
  4. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes
  5. Add the tomatoes and mushrooms
  6. Season with salt and pepper
  7. Lay the salmon over the top of the vegetables and bake for 15 minutes

Easy to prepare, fairly quick to cook and delicious and nutritious.  And only 10 WW points for the 135 g cooked salmon I had and 2 tsp olive oil on the roasted vegetables.  I would ideally have added some green steamed veg too but we were kicking back and chilling and so enjoyed the easy supper option.

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Costco May Cost More

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Harvey had not wanted his smoothie the previous day so it sat in the fridge overnight.

I wanted to use it up but fancied something more substantial so I tipped it into a bowl and added 40g Jordan’s Country Crisp with nuts.  Delicious.  I love the colour, which came from all the blackberries in the smoothie.

I took Lara to Costco.  I tend to go every 2 – 3 months for a mega shop and she came along to help and to get some goodies for University.  Unsurprisingly we returned with a mountain of shopping.  It is even worse than it looks as the Costco shopping trolleys are about twice the size of a normal trolley.  The keen-eyed amongst you may notice the Velvet Toilet Tissue in the trolley on the left.  Well that is a bundle of 40 rolls.  Yes, 10 x 4 in a packet and they barely take up any room in the monster Costco trolley.

Lunch was some Sushi in the car on the way home.  Once Lara had got the hang of how much wasabi I liked they were delicious.  Her first attempt nearly killed me it was soooo hot!  I was disappointed to see how many points/calories Sushi has so it will be saved as a special occasion treat in the future.

So why do I go over to Lakeside Retail Park to shop in a massive warehouse when I could pop to my local supermarket of farm shop?  Partly cost; I am sure that even deducting the cost of petrol and the Dartford Crossing I saved money.  Mainly opportunity.  I can buy things in Costco and buy them in bulk that I can not find anywhere else.

For example, now that British fresh berries are finished I am using frozen berries.  At Costco I can buy 1.81 Kg of mixed berries for £9.59.  That is a huge bag and I now have 2 bags of ‘Nature’s Three Berries’ in the freezer which will keep me in smoothies until Christmas.  Any idea what a Marionberry is?

Another reason I go is because I think their meat and fish is good quality, full of flavour and very reasonable.  I bought this huge piece of salmon for £16.38.  I forgot to check the weight before I threw out the packet but as you can see in the photo, it is falling off both ends of my extra large chopping board and I put a bottle of Lee & Perrins in the photo to provide a scale.  The salmon is now chopped up in to 14 separate fillets, 4 are in the fridge ready for dinner tomorrow and the rest are in the freezer.  It is a beautiful piece of fish.  Bright in colour with no unpleasant “fishy” smell and not at all slimy to touch.

The downside to Costco, besides the journey time and that most of the produce is imported from the USA, is that they cleverly manipulate you in to buying more than you want to.  In a similar way that IKEA does, no one item seems expensive so you keep popping things in the trolley.  It is only when you get to the checkout and are presented with a MASSIVE bill that you realise you have been taken in again.

They are very clever with their set up.  By giving you a huge trolley, and because the shop is inside a massive warehouse, the huge packets of produce you buy don’t seem so ludicrously large.  I think it is no accident that the fresh produce is at the back of the store.  So you warm up and become acclimatised to the huge packets of food you are buying.  So when you get to the fresh produce you are soon hefting 5 Kg bags of potatoes in to your trolley and do not bat an eyelid at the 2 . 33 Kg tray of steak mince you are buying.  The usual 250 g packs are for wimps after all.  This is shopping for big girls!  It is only when you get home and try to unpack it you realise how big everything is.  And how much space the 10 x 185 g tins of tuna you bought for £7.49 take up.

After unpacking the car, putting the food away and decanting the large packets of salmon, mince and sausages in to meal sized parcels in the fridge and freezer, we took the dogs over the road for a walk in the woods.  I did 2 loops which takes about 55 minutes, Lara ran 5 laps and the dogs were confused.

I went to be weighed and Lara cooked dinner.  It was similar to a pepperonata but with more tomatoes in it.  She slowly fried onions, garlic and red pepper, added tinned chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper.  When it was nearly ready she put it in to a rectangular baking dish, cracked 4 eggs on to it and put it in the oven for about 10 minutes until the eggs had set.  It was lovely but not substantial enough, even with the leftover Sushi.

At Costco I treated myself to a tray of Turkish figs.  I love figs and these were perfect specimens.  I put 100 g Greek yogurt in to a bowl, added 2 figs and a tbsp of runny honey.  It was divine and worth every single one of the 8 WW points.

I may have spend more than I wanted to today but my goodness, we are going to eat like Kings and Queens.

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Fire light

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

I started the day with a berry blaster.  I made a smoothie with a banana, a handful of blackberries I picked recently and some frozen raspberries, strawberries, redcurrants and blackcurrants.  I added to this about 140 ml of soya milk, 1 tbsp Chia seeds and 3 heaped tablespoons of cottage cheese.  I confess I was slightly dubious about the cottage cheese but it worked very well and the smoothie seemed well balanced nutritionally and full of flavor.  Every sip was very enjoyable.

 Most of the morning was spent watching Harvey play rugby.  It was gloriously sunny and so warm it was a real pleasure.  I had a lovely chat with Anna and she had a brilliant idea for me.  I was explaining that I spend too much time socializing around food and need to find alternative ways of spending time with my friends but without the food element.  She suggested I play cards with friends.  I love cards so that is a great suggestion.  Anyone up for a cards and crudités night?

While I was out admiring my late summer garden, Lara made lunch 🙂 .

 I don’t remember the flowers ever looking so good before and I am particularly fond of this rose bush.

Lara made us Quesadillas for lunch.  This was a trial of a cheap, nutritious and quick to cook meal she can do when she is at University.  She fried an onion with some garlic, added 2 chopped tomatoes, half a can of sweetcorn and a can of red kidney beans.  When they were all warmed through, she warmed one large wholemeal tortilla per person in a large frying pan and spread the bean mixture on half the tortilla.

I added some grated cheese and served it with a large tbsp of guacamole.

 Guacamole is very easy to make and fresh guacamole is so much better than the green paste you can buy in shops.  Mash one avocado with the juice of half a lime and mix with a finely chopped tomato, 1/2 a tsp of salt and some coriander.  It tastes fresh and full of flavour.

After lunch we wanted to take advantage of the warm sunshine so we went foraging in the apple orchards in the village.  The 4 of us set out with a large tupperware pot which we soon filled with sloes and a few blackberries.

When out walking or just pottering in the garden, children often pick up objects that interest them.  Harvey is forever coming in with rocks, stones, feathers and other treasures.  Autumn is such a pretty time of year I thought it would be fun to collect some objects and create an Autumn nature table.

We all found little things we thought were really pretty or interesting.

My favourite was the oak leaves with the acorn in its little cup.  I have always loved acorns and used to play with them as a child, making fairy hats and bowls with them.

I also love the colours and shapes of the humble blackberry.  Plus it has the bonus of being one of the best sources of vitamin C, especially when eaten straight from the bramble.

It is very handy being married to someone who can identify everything.  I knew the red berry was a rose hip but had no idea the cute little catkins were from a hazel tree or the little green plant was an ivy flower.

The Autumn Nature table has been moved from the garden table outside to the hall table and it can be added to as and when anyone gathers anything of interest.

I spent all afternoon burning the summer’s cuttings on a huge bonfire.  Harvey helped me and in fact he was the one who managed to get the fire started.  We spent about 4 hours outside, burning leaves, twigs, sticks, branches and even some tree trunks.  I love a good bonfire and was grateful for his company and all his help.

I was also grateful for a couple of glasses of sloe and damson gin which James brought out to me.  I bought the bottle locally last year and had never got round to drinking it.  Check out those red cheeks – our fire was so big it generated some phenomenal heat.

I started the sloe and damson gin last night after I had posted yesterday’s blog; this is what I drank last night and this afternoon.  It is very moreish!  I hope I can make some that is this drinkable.

After about 3 – 4 hours of burning garden rubbish, I fancied a sit down and I love sitting beside a fire.  It is even better in the dark but the twilight was fine so we pulled garden chairs over to the area next to the bonfire.  We sat down and had a drink together and reflected on how this is the last day we will all be at home together before Lara goes to Durham.  We planned what we all want to do during the week ahead and how to mark the occasion of Lara’s departure.  All the while Harvey and Lara toasted and ate marshmallows.  I was really good and resisted all but one, which was so perfectly toasted it was worth every point/calorie.  Harvey toasted it for me.

I love my babies.

James had been cooking lunch while we were burning the bonfire and it was a gammon, slow baked in apple juice (the recipe said to use cider but we didn’t have any) with celery, carrots and clove studded onions.  Half an hour before eating, James added potatoes, carrots, peas and sweetcorn.  It was lovely and I was so grateful to have had dinner cooked for me as I felt very tired by the time I came in.  The meat was lean and tender and the long slow cook meant the stock was well flavoured.  It was delicious.

As we were washing up there was a power cut.  We live in a rural area with no street lights so the power cut meant we were in pitch darkness.  Luckily I happened to be in the kitchen near the torch which amazingly worked so it didn’t take long to light some candles.  It was really peaceful and quiet and so pretty, with just some candles for light.

We should sit by fire light more often.

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The Chapel

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

It was very foggy when I woke up this morning but the sun soon burnt it off and we had a glorious September day.  Bright blue skies, the sun shining brightly on the leaves which are just beginning to turn orange, yellow and brown and a delightful crispness in the air.  Perfect for the Autumn Fayre at Harvey’s school.

I had, unusually, pre-planned breakfast.  Last night I put a portion of rice in to the fridge so I could make e.g. fried rice this morning.  I knew we would be having a late lunch so I wanted a substantial breakfast.  I have recently been in the habit of putting some of the food from dinner in to the fridge for another meal another day.  So instead of making a bit extra for later, we are actually all eating a bit less, which no one seems to have noticed.

Harvey was keen to help and this is very easy for children to make.  The quantities fed 2.

  • Heat 1 tbsp groundnut oil in a saucepan, fry the chopped spring onion briefly and add the cooked rice to warm through.
  • In a separate jug, beat 3 eggs and add 1 tbsp sesame oil and 1/2 a tbsp of soy sauce.
  • Make a well in the middle of the rice in the frying pan and pour in the eggs.  As they begin to set, stir in to the rice.

To paraphrase a Meerkat, “Simples” !

Harvey and I then went to the Autumn Fayre which is a wonderful opportunity for the children to be entrepreneurial with all monies raised being donated to charity.  Harvey’s favourite was “Ice Ice baby” – a competition to see how long you can leave your hand and arm in a bucket of iced water.  He managed about 17 minutes!  Little boys can do some strange things.

Harvey and I then headed up to Marylebone to The Chapel.

The Godfather was in town and we had been invited to a big get together with friends and family.  James and Lara had gone ahead and had been there for 2 hours when we arrived.  Mr B. hid his early inebriation well!

Good to see you Daddy.

For those of you who don’t know Dan he is James’ oldest friend, he was best man at our wedding and he is Lara’s Godfather.  During her gap year he arranged for her to work at All Saints Vineyard in Australia where he is head winemaker. She lived and worked with Dan and his family for 6 or 7 weeks, learning all aspects of vintage which was an amazing experience.

Dan has come over to England for a holiday and we met him, his family and friends and had a very long lunch in The Chapel.  It was lovely to see them, Dan’s sister and her family and their old friends, who we hadn’t seen since Dan was last over, 2 years ago.

I didn’t take any photos of the sausages, creamy mash and curly kale followed by a cheese platter I had for lunch.  I was too busy enjoying the moment and forgot all about it.  The food and the pint of beer and glass of wine were clearly not great diet food though but they were good.  I was pleased with myself for resisting the Banoffee pie and chocolate brownie.  I didn’t even have a taste of anyone’s dessert 🙂 .

It was wonderful to see Dan, Therese, Tom and Grace and hard to say good-bye.  Au revoir dear friends, enjoy the rest of your trip and see you next time we Skype you.

We left His Nibs there as Lara was babysitting so we needed to head home.  I realise I am showing my age but I can’t listen to half a song like todays youth can.

Once at home,  I just wanted some fruit for supper as lunch was so substantial.  To be truthful I wanted all kinds of other things but thought a fruit plate would be a good idea after a rich lunch.   I hadn’t got round to eating the melon I bought at Jane’s recently and it was sweet and juicy.  Hard to believe it was grown just round the corner.

Being the kitchen gadget queen I naturally have a melon baller 🙂 . The melon, grapes and orange were prepared and munched as we watched X Factor.

A lovely day spent with lovely people. I wonder when James will return from The Chapel.

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Beverley Hills

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

Did any of you do the Beverley Hills diet?  It was published in 1981 by Judy Mazel and it was all about pineapples.  I remember eating so  many unripe pineapples they made my mouth sore.  If I remember correctly, the idea behind it was that pineapples contained enzymes that improved digestion and undigested food was stored as body fat.  The diet did not contain many calories and I was always starving and it put me off pineapples for years.  However, since discovering Pina Coladas I am ok with pineapple again and Lara bought me the most amazing gadget (I love kitchen gadgets) for my birthday – a pineapple peeler and slicer.

First though, what did I have for breakfast?  Well not pineapple.  Lara and I dropped Harvey off and went for a swim and a shower.  I swam non-stop for 40 minutes and tried to up the speed and try different strokes, so I think I had a really good workout. It was also very sociable as I bumped in to tennis pals, Sally and Luly.  I had never thought of swimming as being so sociable:-)

Back home we had porridge with some clementine cashew nut butter I made recently and will tell you about another time.  So brekkie today was 50 g Jumbo oats, 140 ml soya milk, 1/2 tbsp Chia seeds, 1/2 a banana and 1 tbsp clementine cashew nut butter.  Warming, comforting and very satisfying.

Then the plumbers came.  I was beside myself with anxiety as to whether hubby’s proposal would work.  If it did, we would save about £500 on the cost of a new pump and if we had enough water pressure to not need a pump, the house would be a lot more peaceful. That old pump was very noisy and roared in to life any time anyone ran any water.  It took about an hour, 2 cups of tea each and lots of running up and down stairs but they then declared it a success.  YIPPEE.  By replumbing some pipes we now have all our water directly from the mains.  Our toilets flush and water gushes out of every tap again.  I am so happy.

Back to the pineapple.  Our neighbour was coming for lunch and I knew she liked pineapple so  I got my pineapple slicer out and set to.

1. The gadget and the pineapple.

2. The pineapple slicer cuts across the pineapple.

3. And cuts the pineapple away from the skin.

4. So you end up with a corkscrew like row of pineapple rings and leave the skin and central hard core behind.

5. Genius!

Lunch was cauliflower, broccoli and carrot cheese (made by Lara, thank you, xx) and a naked spinach and tomato salad.

             “YUM”

Followed by pineapple and grapes.

Out for dinner tonight to celebrate Lisa’s birthday.  Happy (belated) birthday Lisa 🙂

Karen hosted a pot luck supper and I volunteered to cook a chicken dish.  I made Pollo al ajillo (chicken cooked with bay, garlic and white wine) from MORO The Cookbook.  I followed the recipe exactly and used sherry as I was out of white wine.  I also made tsatsiki to go with it.  I used the recipe in Flavours of Greece and again, followed it exactly except I didn’t strain the yogurt.  They both turned out really well.

The entire meal was amazing.  In addition to chicken and tsatsiki we had a rice and wild rice salad, tomato and mozzarella salad, green and tomato salad, wholemeal walnut bread and we finished with hokey pokey ice-cream and carrot cake.

The food was great but the best bit was the wonderful company.  Thank you Karen, Lisa, Marion and Sarah for such a fun evening.

THURSDAY ::

2 signs today that Autumn is really here; frozen berries rather than fresh and long shadows in the kitchen in the mornings.

Berry smoothie for breakfast: frozen berries, 1 banana, 140 ml semi skimmed milk, 1 tbsp Tahini.

A real treat lay in store this morning.  I went to listen to Frances play some of the pieces she is playing at a charity piano recital with Alex Metcalf in aid of Hospice In The Weald:

Saturday 15th October at 7:30pm.
King Charles The Martyr
Tunbridge Wells
TN2 5TD
£5 on the door

I have seen Frances play previously as Frances Yonge and the Freeze and I really enjoy her music.  This was different obviously as she was playing pieces by Bach and Beethoven on her Grand Piano.  It was fabulous and the beautiful music filled the room.  I really enjoyed listening and wish I could start more days like that.

The rest of the day was happily spent with Lara visiting Dad and Jilly so she could say good-bye before going to University.  We were taken out for lunch and Lara had the biggest pizza I have ever seen!

I had a goats cheese salad starter followed by a lovely chicken salad and then an almond, plum and fig tart and finally an espresso.  Thank you Daddy.

As Dad is hoping to move, this was the last time Lara visited them in Carshalton.

Neither of us needed any supper after that feast.  Writing this blog has made me realise how much I have eaten with other people recently.  I have thoroughly enjoyed all of it but my stomach and bank balance need a rest from all this excessive socialising.  I think sociable dog walking and meeting for coffee will be more prominent in my life.

After the indulgences of the past two days I am wondering where that Beverley Hills Diet book is.

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