Smoky Mountain Memories

Posted on September 9, 2011 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

I had a truly splendid birthday yesterday.  I am very lucky.  I spent a happy morning pottering about Rye with Lara and then we had a wonderful and fun lunch at Chapel Down in Tenterden.  In the evening I went to see Dolly Parton with the Stilletto Sawkins sisters,  Jane and Joanne.

Dolly was FAB-U-LOUS!  She sang her classics, sang songs from her latest album and other people’s songs too.  I had no idea she was able to play so many instruments either; guitar,banjo, piano, some kind of a pipe/flute, harmonica and the saxophone.  Dolly can write songs, sing songs and play many instruments.  She is so talented.

Lots of my nearest and dearest were surprised I am a Dolly fan but I am.  I enjoy her songs and her voice is delightful and I admire her for coming from nothing and becoming so successful.  And I admire her even more for staying local to her roots where she has built up some very successful businesses, such as Dollywood,  which bring much needed income to a very poor area of the USA.

Dolly Parton is who she is and doesn’t pretend to be any different, which is refreshing.  As she said “it costs a lot of money to look this cheap”.  For a woman of 65 years, she looked great, belted out the songs and danced.  Amazing.

Dolly talked about her upbringing as one of 12 in a one roomed cabin in the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and she has written songs about that time.  And that got me thinking about one of my favourite holidays.  In October 1994, I went camping in the Smoky Mountains with James, Lara (who was only 2 years old) and a very special friend, By Jove.  We camped at the KOA campground in Cherokee, North Carolina within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  We walked round the mountains in warm sunshine by day and froze at night.  Apart from being scared of the bears, it was a brilliant and very interesting holiday.  This is a photo of a photo of myself, James and Lara out on one of our walks.

I would love to go back and I hope that someday I will.

The day after a birthday is always a bit of an anti-climax.  And I had to be careful with points today after yesterdays blowout.  A very simple breakfast of 50g Jumbo oats, 140 ml soya milk, 1/2 tbsp Chia seeds and 1 tbsp almond butter with coconut and cinnamon. Harvey and I both overslept so we had to add cold milk so we could eat it before rushing to school, which is why it looks so runny today.

I also had a lot to do, after swanning around yesterday.  I weeded the vegetable beds and planted more lettuces and radishes.  Check out my new girly gardening accessory I bought yesterday.

That pretty little bag is perfect to carry round my gardening gloves, packets of seed, plant labels, twine, mini secateurs and weeding tool.

I swept the patio, cleared out some flowerpots and planted more winter lettuces.  Hopefully the empty looking pot will soon look more like this 🙂

Quick and easy lunch of salad leaves, spinach, radishes and tomatoes from the garden with some leftover pasta and salad from 2 of our meals earlier in the week and some blue cheese.  And Salad Cream – I am such Trailer Trash.

Lara and I met Lucy in Hemstead Forest for a lovely long dog walk.  We have had back to back holidays and trips away since returning from Turkey so we haven’t seen her since saying farewell at Gatwick in early August so it was great to catch up.  Plus we had a lovely walk in a beautiful forest so that was a great afternoon.

I wanted to cook a traditional meal from the Smoky Mountains but I didn’t have the correct ingredients or any time to get them.  I should have been cooking chicken and rice or grits with collard greens and cornbread.   So, using what I had, I made Jambalaya – meat free.  Vegan actually.  So vis a vis my Dolly tribute meal, I was staying in the South but moving along a bit to Louisiana.  I will do a Smoky Mountains recipe another day.

Jambalaya (meat free) for 4 people

  • Brown rice
  • Onion, finely chopped
  • Garlic, minced
  • Tofu sausages, Andouillette style  (or you could use  meat ones if you prefer), chopped
  • Swiss Chard
  • 1 can of tomatoes
  • 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
  • 1 tbsp jalapeño jelly (not necessary but adds a sweet heat kick)

Method

  • Put 1 cup of brown rice in a saucepan with 3 cups of water.  Bring to the boil then put the lid on and simmer gently for 30 minutes
  • Meanwhile,  fry the onions gently until they soften
  • Add the garlic
  • Remove the stalks from the chard and add to the frying pan and let them soften
  • Chop the leafy part of the chard and add to the pan

  • Add the tinned tomatoes, Tofu sausages, sweet smoked paprika and jalapeño jelly.

  • After about 10 minutes more it’s ready.
  • Stir the rice in to the other ingredients in the frying pan.

Bon appétit!

Tonight I went to the George in Cranbrook for a birthday drink with our friends from the village.  We all have a 19 year old who has had a gap year and is about to leave home for the first time.  Sad times:-(  Where did this time go.  How did they get to leave home/school so soon after joining ?  I am so proud of Lara for getting in to such a good University and I feel so excited and happy for her and sad, all at the same time.

As they used to say in the Smokies whenever we left anywhere, “Y’all come back now ya hear”.

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Granola Goddess

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

When I woke up today, I was not planning to make Granola for the first time.  My objective today was to get all Harvey’s uniform and kit labelled and ready for school tomorrow.

I wanted a quick breakfast but we had no decent cereal so I had a smoothie.  Strawberries, banana, tahini, 3 tbsp Greek yogurt and soya milk.

While I had my smoothie I browsed some blogs,  looking for some recipes for Granola.  This was prompted partly because I only managed to eat 25 g out of the 500 g bag I bought at great expense at the Town Mill Bakery in Lyme Regis due to the speed with which James and Harvey ate it.  Ands also because it is expensive and there is not much choice in the supermarkets.  Lots of muesli but not much granola.  If I am using the terms correctly, to me muesli is uncooked and granola is similar ingredients and roasted.

I came across a recipe on Nutmeg Notebook which seemed good.  Using that recipe as a base, this is what I actually made.

Fantabulosa Granola

  • 200 g Jumbo Oats
  • 25 g ground almonds
  • 35 g pumpkin seeds
  • 25 g almonds
  • 10 g desiccated coconut (I would add 25 g next time but I only had 10 g today)
  • 1 tbsp Honey
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • 3 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 2 tbsp apple juice
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon (next time I would add 1 tsp)
  • 100 g raisins
  • 50 g mixed berries and nuts (the ones I used had raisins, cashew nuts, cranberries, pecan nuts and blueberries )

Method

  • Heat oven to 140
  • Put oats, ground almonds, pumpkin seeds, almonds and desiccated coconut in to a large bowl and stir to mix
  • Put the honey, maple syrup, rapeseed oil, apple juice and cinnamon in a saucepan.  Heat gently so all ingredients have become liquid and well mixed.
  • Stir the liquid mix in to the dry mix in the large bowl
  • Spread on to a baking dish ( I use one of the Pampered Chef Stoneware pieces).  If you are using a metal baking sheet you would need to oil it first but well seasoned stoneware doesn’t need oiling
  • Place in oven for 30 minutes
  • Remove from oven, stir and add the raisins and mixed berries and nuts
  • Put back in oven for 20 minutes
  • When it is cooked, allow to cool completely before storing in tupperware or glass jar.

My recipe filled the jar perfectly.

Wow did it taste good.  I noticed handfuls of it were disappearing fast.  I kept giving in to temptation too so I can’t just blame the kids.  The amount I managed to put in a jar was approx. 500 g.  Assuming an average serving would be 50 g, I estimated, using WW e-source, that each serving would be 7 WW points.  So not a diet food really but if you can limit the amount you have, it will be fantastic sprinkled on yogurt or added to stewed fruit.  Or just eaten as it is.

I had a really light lunch; salad leaves and radishes from the garden, 1 rasher of bacon, 1/2 a chicken drumstick and 1 tbsp salad cream.

I could not resist the lure of the Granola a minute longer.  I had to have some after lunch;  100 g Greek Yogurt with 25 g Fantabulosa Granola and 1 tsp raw honey.  It was so delicious I could have eaten it again and again and again.

I was not in the mood for cooking at all tonight, which is very unusual for me.  So we had some pasta with vegan pesto, tinned sardines in olive oil and because I can not eat something without fruits or vegetables, I added some grated carrot.  It tasted ok actually and everyone ate it with no complaints.

How long until breakfast so I can have some more Granola?

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Deal or no Deal?

Posted on September 6, 2011 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Today did not go as planned.  I was supposed to be playing tennis and then meeting Judy and some other people for a long walk and a picnic.  Thanks to the rain, that was all cancelled.  Humph!

Blueberry Porridge; 50 g oats, loads of blueberries, 1/2 a small banana and 2 tsp cashew nut butter.  8 WW points.

The new plan for the day was to go to Ramsgate and change over all the linen and towels and clear out the rubbish after the most recent holiday let.  And then hopefully go to Deal.  But Harvey was allowed to choose what to do after Ramsgate in return for helping me with chores.  So would I get to Deal or not?  Or would it be a long and boring session at the Skateboard park?

One thing that amazes me is the garbage people eat!  In the fridge in Ramsgate I found a packet of square sausages.  1kg of sausages which cost £1.  I understand that many people have to eat on a tight budget but how could you buy and then cook and feed such cr*p to yourself and especially your children?  If money was so tight, I would eat lentils for 2 days and then eat some decent meat.

Much to my relief the little fella chose Deal.  I wanted to go to the cafe at the end of the pier but it was so wet and windy, we didn’t find the walk along the exposed pier very appealing.  So we walked in to town and found ourselves at  Bistro Oregano instead.  We had been there before and we both liked it.

Smoked Haddock with Welsh Rarebit on salad for me.  The portion was quite small and the cheesy sauce was a bit stingy but for someone on a diet that was probably a good thing.  And the whole dish was delicious.  9 WW points.

Omelette and chips for Harvey which he thought was “really good”.

The drive home was tough, due to the very heavy rain and really strong winds.  The weather was so foul I wanted some comfort food for supper.  Something stodgy and creamy and filling.

Spaghetti with Bacon, Peas and Cream

  • 80 g pasta per person
  • 1 lean rasher of bacon per person
  • Peas (I shelled a 750g bag for 4 of us)
  • 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
  • Small pot of cream or Alpro single cream
  • Cherry Tomatoes

Method

  • Fry the bacon.  I used a non stick pan so didn’t add any fat
  • Put water on to boil for the pasta
  • Cook bacon to taste – we like it well done but not too crispy
  • When the bacon is cooked removed from pan and add onions and let them cook gently in the bacon fat
  • Cut all visible fat off the bacon and then cut up in to bite-sized chunks
  • Cook pasta and add peas to pasta water 5 minutes before end of cooking time
  • Add bacon and cream to onions
  • Drain pasta and peas and add to onion, bacon and cream and mix well together
  • Season with lots of black pepper and serve with cherry tomatoes

I used the Black Farmer bacon because it is very lean and has no added water.  So when it cooks it doesn’t fill the pan with water and white goo.  It also doesn’t shrivel up when it cooks.  The flavour in the Hickory Smoked is superb and works well with this dish.  I cooked 2 extra rashers which are in the fridge ready to be eaten in a salad tomorrow.

I would prefer to cook this with real cream but as Harvey is dairy intolerant we use the Alpro soya single “cream” alternative.  It has a slightly strange taste but all credit to Alpro for making it and providing us with an alternative.  We usually have tomato based sauces but sometimes it has to be creamy.

Adding the “cream” to the onions and bacon.  The only fat in this dish comes from the bacon which was lean and the cream but there is less fat in Alpro than real cream.

The finished dish.  I credit Sally with this recipe because she cooked it for me for supper once many years ago.  And we have eaten it many times since.  If I wasn’t dieting, I would add grated Parmesan which would make a lovely dish amazing.  17 WW points.

One day soon, I will return to Deal and have lunch in the cafe at the end of the pier.

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Two Stone

Posted on September 5, 2011 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Two stone, two stone, I have lost two stone, two stone.

I lost 3 pounds this week which is what I wanted to lose to make it a 2 stone loss since I first weighed in on the 23rd May 2011.

I knew today was going to be good when I woke up.  After 10 hours sleep I woke up feeling refreshed.  Porridge with blueberries and banana for breakfast.  It looks like a huge bowlful but I only had my usual amount of oats but the blueberries and banana added a lot of bulk.  I cooked the blueberries in with the porridge and it was delicious.

50 g Jumbo oats, 140 ml semi-skimmed milk, 1 tsp Chia seeds, 1 small banana, 1/2 punnett blueberries, 1 tbsp peanut butter.

Harvey had Sebbie to play with all day so I got lots done and then took the 2 boys and 2 dogs for a long walk in the woods.

I had quite a few courgettes that needed picking and cooking.  I am not that keen on the variety I grew this year – Genovese.  They have an unusual after taste which I do not like much.  I decided on a simple lunch.

▪   2 courgettes

▪   80 g Halloumi

▪   Cherry tomatoes.

This was so easy.  I sliced the courgettes lenthwise.  Washed the cherry tomatoes.  Sliced the Halloumi.

I warmed up a griddle pan (one with ridges) and using my red silicon pastry brush I brushed 1/2 a tsp of groundnut oil over the pan.  If you don’t have one of these brushes, get one!  They enable you to use a lot less fat.  And you don’t have to buy spray oils which can have some rubbishy ingredients added to them.

When the pan was warm, I put everything in together and gently cooked it all for about 10 minutes.  The only thing I added was some salt and pepper.

It tasted lovely and looked rather elegant.

I felt quite chuffed with the simple lunch I had put together and really enjoyed eating it.

I spent a pleasant afternoon gardening and then some going back to school chores, such as a haircut for Harvey.

I decided to try something new tonight – some giant wholegrain couscous with roasted vegetables and chicken kebabs.

Wholegrain Couscous with roasted vegetables and chicken kebabs – for 4 people.

  • 50g wholegrain couscous per person, cooked as per instructions on packet.
  • 1 each of red, orange, yellow and green pepper
  • 2 onion
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 chicken breasts (we have 1/2 per person but you could have more)
    Bottle of BBQ sauce (or similar)
    Juice of 1 lime
    Coriander

Method

  • Turn oven on to 180
  • Line a baking tray with foil
  • 
Chop up peppers and onions in to bite sized chunks
  • 
Cut each chicken breast in to approx. 10 pieces, as equal in size as possible
  • Push 1/4 of the peppers and onions on to skewers, alternating with a piece of chicken.
  • Brush BBQ sauce over kebabs.
Place kebabs on to baking tray and place in oven.
  • Mix remaining peppers and onions together with the olive oil.
  • Put in to a dish and roast in the oven.
  • The chicken and vegetables take about half an hour to cook.  Turn them at least once during cooking.
  • Mix the roasted vegetables in with the giant wholegrain couscous.
  • Pour over the lime juice and mix well.
  • Add the chopped coriander.

The wholegrain couscous is quite different to the fluffy tasteless couscous we are more familiar with and we unanimously preferred it.  The chicken kebabs were a little bland as the sauce was disappointing but overall, this was a delicious meal and very easy.  It was also one that sat quite happily on the side, waiting for people to come in as it was good hot or at room temperature.  We were doing different things tonight so it was a perfect flexible dinner.

I had 6 WW points left over so I had the last piece of chocolate fudge cake.

I tried hard this week and apart from a massive fall from grace on Saturday, I ate within points all week and exercised nearly every day.

Just shows what you can do when you try.

2 stone 🙂

 

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Hangovers – what a waste

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

After a very late night, during which I ate and drank way too much of everything,  I woke up feeling dreadful.  No surprises there.  I would ideally have made myself some freshly squeezed juices but rugby started today and Harvey had to be at Cranbrook Rugby Club at 10am and I had overslept.  It’s a well attended rugby club and for the Under 10 group, they have 10 coaches.  I think it is fantastic that all those Dads give up a Sunday morning to coach the little fellas.

Lara and I alternated between the rugby club, so we could watch Harvey,  and Sissinghurst Tennis Club which was hosting the club tournament finals with a BBQ for lunch.  I was tempted by a sausage in a roll.  It doesn’t look very appetising but it tasted good.  And only 7 WW points.

The tennis was in full swing when unfortunately rain stopped play.  We all waited in the club house for a while which was great fun but my mate Will Power deserts me when I am very tired.  The table was heavily laden with French bread, cheese, pork pies, homemade cakes.  All very tempting.  The rain looked like it was settled in for a few hours so we headed home.

I had a healthy and very delicious snack.  I chopped up one of the apples I picked yesterday and spread half with 1 tsp of pumpkin seed butter and half with 1 tsp of almond butter with cinnamon and coconut.  Washed down with a cup of tea it was very tasty.

The almond butter worked better than the pumpkin but both were good.

I settled on to the sofa for a lovely snooze but after a while Drill Sargent woke me up and insisted I went on a walk.  Which I did but reluctantly today as I was so tired.

We haven’t been home on a Sunday for a while and we fancied a roast.  We had slow roast pork belly, new potatoes, fresh podded peas (thank you Harvey for shelling them), leeks and carrots.  With gravy and butter.  Yummy.  Slow roasting gives the fat a chance to drip out of the meat, leaving lean and tender and very tasty meat.

Lara, who is a good cook, for some reason loves Betty Crocker cake mixes and she had made a Chocolate Fudge Cake.  I had enough points left for a small slice.  Not a patch on a homemade cake but I confess I enjoyed it.

I think dinner was WW 27 points.  I may have over estimated as I don’t feel as if I ate much today.  But maybe I did.  The trouble with hangovers is that the day passes in a tired and irritable blur.  What a waste 😦

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Best Foot Forward

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

Today was so sunny when I woke up.  I LOVE sunny mornings.

I made my favourite breakfast; 50g oats, 140ml soya milk, 1/2 a banana and Chia seeds.  And I added 1 tbsp almond butter with cinnamon and coconut and blueberries.  Delicious.  I have noticed that the Chia seeds make a difference in keeping me feeling fuller for longer.

After breakfast I headed off to the tennis club because it is finals weekend.  The Plate finals are on today and some of my lovely friends were playing today.  Our little club is so friendly and I had a wonderful morning, sitting in the sun, watching 2 great tennis matches, chatting to lots of lovely people.

The Ladies doubles was close and it was a shame anyone had to lose.

SHame the sun was in the wrong place but here are the smiling faces of the winners of the mens doubles – a Father and son team.  It is great to have mixed generation matches and in fact, their opponents were also Father and son.

I would have liked to stay at the club for the next matches but we had things to do.

Next stop was an apple orchard belonging to a dear near-neighbour and who generously said we could go and help ourselves to some of the plentiful crop.

So we did.

These apples are delicious.  Thank you veg grower up the road for being so generous 🙂

Quick and easy lunch of pasta with tuna, sweetcorn and mayonnaise with salad and radishes from the garden.

And then shoe shopping.  Lara needed running shoes, I needed walking shoes and Harvey needed 2 pairs of trainers (one indoor, one outdoor), school shoes and new rugby boots.

First stop was Sweatshop Sports Shop in Maidstone.  They were fantastic and we received a great level of service.  They monitor your gait by getting you to walk or run on a treadmill and then analysis how you stride so they can recommend shoes that fit perfectly.  All 3 of us came away with a good pair of trainers, fit for the purpose.

Next stop was my favourite shoe shop for kids, The Golden Boot in Maidstone.  This great shop has been running from the same location and privately owned by the same family for 221 years!!  And they had everything we needed and the service was brilliant.  I really recommend The Golden Boot for children and it also has adults shoes too.

Time to head home with our purchases!

Quick cup of tea and the Drill Sargent  said it was time to put on our new trainers and take the dogs in to the woods.  Who was I to argue?

The woods are beautiful.  The kids and dogs ran off and I walked 2 laps, one on my own and one with their company.  Happy times.

We were out for dinner.  I left the camera and point counting behind and set off for Judy and Wills’.  We had a fantastic evening and I ate and drank way too much.  Thank goodness I did a long walk.

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Slowing Down

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

We had a visitor for breakfast today – good morning Lucas 🙂  Lucas had his first sleepover with us last night and it was a great success as they both had lots of fun and amazingly lots of sleep.

While the boys chomped their way through cheese or eggs on muffins, Lara and I opted for a smoothie.

Mango, strawberries, soya milk and cashew nut butter made a thick, creamy and very moreish smoothie.  6 WW points.

Harvey and Lucas had a swimming lesson in the school pool with the lovely Andrea.  This is the third lesson in 3 days for Harvey and I was so amazed by how much he had improved.  And very proud of him because he listened very carefully and tried so hard.  It was great to see how pleased he was with his progress too.  Thank you Andrea.  We will be back.

On the way home we drove passed these beautiful cosmos.  They look like a giant bunch of flowers.  I might try that next year.

I was alone at home from 11 am until 7pm today.  Usually I have a long list of things to do and I charge around all day doing them  Some are fun and my hobbies,  I fit in lots of socialising plus there are chores to do.  I rarely just sit and relax.  I was tired today so decided to slow down a bit and catch up on reading.  It was good.

Lunch time and I wanted a big crunchy salad.  There was a piece of pesto chicken in the fridge,  left over from the other night so that made the protein component.  I headed off in to the garden to forage.  I love homegrown tomatoes.  They are so sweet and full of flavour.  I grew some in large flower pots in a warm sunny spot and they really thrived so next year I will do more in this part of the garden.

Why is one red but the others are still green?

I also wanted lots of salad leaves.  Not a problem as the garden has gone mad recently and I can’t eat them quickly enough.

I had a large pile of mixed salad leaves, tomatoes, radishes and pesto chicken.  And I fancied Salad Cream with it.  I wanted a vinagery kick rather than an oily or creamy dressing.  8 WW points.

It was crunchy and sweet and zingy and tasty.  Hit the spot.

This afternoon I took things easy.  Slowed down.  Appreciated and enjoyed the sunshine and warmth.  Had a snooze.  Sat in a chair in the garden and enjoyed the sights, sounds and smells of a late summer garden.

I have lots of WW points left and supper was also quite light.  So it meant I could add some treats.  We started with some sweet, juicy, tender sweetcorn.  Frozen and canned corn is tough and tasteless compared to the fresh just picked and eaten off the cob variety.  Not from my garden sadly but near by.   I boiled them for 5 minutes and we ate them with butter and pepper.  Divine.

And then in to the same buttery, sweet corny bowls, I served the soup I made.  Using another litre of the chicken stock I made yesterday,  with chunks of chicken meat in it, I added 2 sweet potatoes and a leek.  I served it looking like a broth and we mashed the sweet potato in to it as we ate.  A simple and satisfying supper and only 9 WW points.

And I had enough points left to finish the last piece of Linda’s blackcurrant cheesecake – 6 WW points.

I still have 5 points left.  It’s a Friday night so I am going to use them up on a glass of red wine.

I am learning to slow down.  And loving the opportunity.

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Caught in Rye

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

I used to eat Bircher Muesli a lot and am not sure why I stopped as it is nutritious and delicious.  It is named after the Swiss physician Maximillan Bircher-Brenner, who , in about 1900, gave it to his patients in hospital who were following a diet rich in fruits and vegetables.  The muesli is soaked overnight to soften the grains which makes them easier to digest.  Typically you would add a grated apple, nuts and seeds.

Last night I soaked 50g oats and 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds in 140ml of soya milk.  I didn’t fancy an apple this morning as I had lots of strawberries and blueberries so I had those instead.  The soaked muesli tasted cleaner and fresher than porridge and the fruits were lovely.

Breakfast was 8 WW points.

The strawberries were so perfect and naturally sweet that none of us needed to add sugar.

Today I am chauffeuring Harvey around.  First to a swimming lesson, then to his friend Sebbie’s for a play date.  While he was out I made a chicken stock for tonight’s risotto.  Sometimes I make the stock immediately after I have used the chicken but sometimes I don’t have time or can’t be bothered so I pop the carcasses in to the freezer until I have the time and inclination.  Chicken stock is so useful and homemade is so much better than a stock cube.

I use cooked or raw carcasses to make stock.  I virtually never throw them away and have even been known to take them away from friends houses!

Chicken Stock – to make 2 litres of stock.

2 Chicken carcasses
Large leek, cut in to chunks
2 onions, skin left on, quartered (the skin helps colour the stock brown)
3  large carrots, quartered lengthwise
3 bay leaves
About 10 peppercorns
Water to cover carcasses

Method.
Put all ingredients in a pot, cover with water, bring to boil, cover with lid and simmer for about 2 hours.
Leave to cool in pot.
Strain and remove all solid pieces to leave a delicious stock, to which I add salt when I use the stock in subsequent cooking.  I don’t add any salt to the stock in case I use the stock to make something like a ham risotto which is salty enough without adding more salt to the stock.

Tonight I am making a chicken risotto and so I picked off every piece of chicken.  The easiest way is to do this when the stock is still warm and use your fingers.  It is amazing how much meat you can pick off.  I then leave the stock to cool completely.  If you are needing a very low-fat stock, you can remove the fat that settles on the top as it cools.  But this is the tastiest bit so I leave it and add WW points accordingly.

My chauffering duties continued.  I was due to collect Harvey and 3 friends and take them to Teddy’s cricket party in Udimore, which is near Rye.  I only had 5 minutes for lunch (where did the morning go?) and decided a peach and some Brie de Meaux would do.  I had a fancy for a chunk of cheese.  However, the peach was a big disappointment.  It was dry and a bit floury.   I had one mouthful of peach and then witnessed something unpleasant which turned my stomach and I completely lost my appetite.  Enough said and I had to go get those boys!

I dropped the boys off at their cricket party and had 3 hours to myself.  It seemed silly to drive home so I went to Rye which was nearby.  Rye is full of 14th and 15th Century buildings, quaint cobbled streets, charming tea shops, antique shops and many art galleries.  A very easy place to while away a few hours.

The numerous black and white buildings are beautiful and I intended to walk around and take lots of photos.

However, I soon realised how hungry I felt and decided to treat myself to lunch in one of the cafes.  I fancied a toasted cheese sandwich and my favourite types of cafe are not the ubiquitous High St. chain stores but independent cafes.  I fancied sitting in a large comfortable leather chair, reading a paper while I munched my lunch.  And I found the perfect place.

The Apothecary Cafe was so perfect I sat there for nearly 2 hours.  Peace and quiet.  No one saying “Mummy”.  No charging around trying to complete endless work and chores.  Just sitting, eating and reading.  Bliss.

I had Welsh Rarebit with coleslaw and salad.  It was calorific but so delicious it was worth it.

Arranged over the counter were numerous amazing looking homemade cakes and I succumbed to a large slice of lemon drizzle with a pot of tea.  I didn’t take a photo alas.

Delicious as lunch was, it was very point heavy.  I find it difficult calculating points from this type of meal and would rather over-estimate than under-estimate.  I am estimating that lunch was a whopping 35 WW points so I have used up some of my weekly spare points.

I made a chicken risotto for supper which everyone ate but me.  I just wasn’t hungry so my supper was a glass of water and some grapes.  I seem to have left my appetite in Rye.

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Smack Boys

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

I was in a rush today so made a very simple breakfast of Jumbo porridge oats, soya milk and water.  I stirred in a tbsp of the almond butter I made with cinnamon and coconut which goes perfectly with porridge.  Cup of tea and off to Harvey’s swimming lesson and then Ramsgate.

Breakfast was 9 WW points.

I took Lara and Holly to Ramsgate as they were doing the changeover for me – thanks girls, you did a great job.  Harvey’s friend Lucas came as well so while I was busy checking the house, they could amuse themselves which they did.  Give 2 boys a football and a patch of garden and they are happy!

At lunch time the boys and I walked round the corner to Waitrose and chose a selection of sandwiches, drinks and crisps.  I had a cheddar and celery sandwich and a bottle of water.  I forgot to type the details on the packet in to the WW website which is a fantastic feature so you can get an accurate points calculation.  So I estimated 10 WW points for the sandwich.  I rarely have a sandwich for lunch as they seem to use up a lot of points and are not that substantial but sometimes needs must.

After lunch I took Harvey and Lucas out for a walk around the harbour.  At the base of Jacob’s ladder is a charming little old church called “Sailors Church”.  It is unlike any other church you see as it is built in to the cliffs.  It is very small and inside are several models of boats.  In the picture below, the church is on the ground floor of the brick building to the right of the ladder.  In the rooms above and in the building next door, the “Smack Boys” used to live when they were on shore.  The Smack Boys were young boys, as young as 10, who worked as apprentices on the fishing smacks.  The Home for Smack Boys was used as accommodation for the young boys from 1881 to 1915.

The little church is well worth a visit if you are ever in Ramsgate.

If you have good eyesight, you can read ‘The Ramsgate Home for Smack Boys Founded 1881’ on the front of the building in the picture below.  Our house is the third in from the right.  It has grey walls and a red roof and all the windows are open.

We walked around the harbour wall to the lighthouse at the end.

And then I took them to the beach where the water was just irresistible.  How different life is for these 2 little boys, who are nearly the same age as some of the youngest Smack Boys were when they were sent out to work on the fishing smacks.

Dinner was nearly a disaster but it turned out very well.  I was going to cook another vegetarian meal but we were all hungry and fancied meat tonight.  I went to the village shop and bought 4 chicken breasts which I intended to wrap in some parma ham that needed using up in the fridge.  But when I took the parma ham out, sell by was 3rd August and it didn’t smell too good.  So having failed the sniff test, it was thrown out.

So now what could I make?  It was 7pm and we were all hungry.  Eureka!  Pesto chicken.  I haven’t done this before but I sometimes cook a bland piece of fish in sun-dried tomato pesto which is delicious.  So it should work with chicken.

To make Red Pesto Chicken:

  • Place the chicken breasts on to a baking dish
  • Put a heaped tsp of red pesto on top of each breast and spread it so all the chicken is covered.
  • Cover with foiled and place in oven at 140 for half an hour.
  • After half an hour, remove the foil and put back in the over for about 15 more minutes.

When it is cooked, most of the oil is in the bottom of the pan.  It is delicious spooned over the chicken when you serve it  but if you are low on points, leave it in the pan!

NB: Pesto has cheese in it.  Harvey, who is dairy intolerant, has been given pesto so many times because people do not realise it has cheese in it.  I had some vegan pesto in the fridge which he had and enjoyed, so I guess this dish works with green pesto as well as red.  But I prefer red.

The Ocado Cavalry were due at 8:30pm so I took all the vegetables that needed using up out of the fridge.  While the chicken was cooking, I chopped them up, mixed them with 2 tbsp Rapeseed oil and salt and put them in a large baking dish.  I cooked them in the oven for about 30 minutes, turning them about twice so the veggies on top don’t burn.  Most vegetables can be baked/roasted but tonight I happened to have:

red onion
a courgette from the garden
celery
cauliflower
a large field mushroom

It was delicious and the cauliflower seemed particularly tasty.  And the chicken was great.

I wonder what the Smack Boys used to get for dinner.

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Love All

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

I slept very badly last night.  Probably because I was too full from the previous nights piggery.  It was hard to get comfortable with enough food to feed half the nation swirling round in my belly, all of which was longing for some digestive acids to come their way so they could make some progress out of the stomach.  Fat chance!  Then the guilt that I had eaten so much began to niggle.

So I woke up feeling exhausted and tetchy.  Normally the sort of day that would send me snuffling off to the trough/bread bin to start eating slice after slice of thickly buttered toast.  Not today though.  My mate Will Power had returned and I actually didn’t really feel hungry.  Plus I never have bread in the house any more 🙂  Now there’s a top diet tip for you.

I decided to have a half portion of the delicious muesli I had bought in the Town Mill Bakery In Lyme Regis at the weekend.  I had 25 g muesli, 1 tbsp Greek yogurt and a splash of soya milk.  It was hardly worth making the bowl dirty, it was such a small breakfast.  But it was delicious.  That and a cup of tea put a bit of a spring back in to my step.

Tuesday = Tennis.

Yippee 🙂

On Tuesdays I go to Ladies Drills which is about an hour of coaching and then half an hour of playing a game of tennis.  I LOVE tennis.  I enjoy playing it and I enjoy watching it.  And I enjoy being with the people who play tennis.  Well, certainly at Sissinghurst Tennis Club.  All the ladies who play are very lovely and so are the coaches at the club.  At drills we all want to improve our game but we don’t take tennis or ourselves too seriously.  The husband of one of the ladies who plays calls drills “tap and chat”.  How very dare he !!! OK so we do chat and we also laugh a lot but there are some competitive moments too.  And some very fine tennis.

So I was really looking forward to going and so was Harvey because in the holidays he gets to play with some other children from school, as their Mummy is also playing tennis.  So while we chatted, laughed and whacked the little yellow balls about, we could hear the children playing and giggling on the other side of the hedge.  Children’s laughter is one of my favourite sounds.

All games start at love all.  Why does tennis have a score line that includes ‘love’?  According to the Online Oxford Dictionary , it has been adapted from the phrase ‘to play for love ‘ (of the game) i.e. to play for nothing.  I think the quirky scoring in tennis merely enhances its appeal even more.

I played badly today but still enjoyed myself and walked away feeling much happier than when I arrived.  Harvey had a brilliant time playing in the park and we rushed home as he had a play date for the day due to arrive; Angus from his school.

I picked my first beetroot today from the garden.  Look at the colour of the leaves!  It is a variety called “Bull’s Blood” and is grown more for the leaves than the bulb.  I intended to have them in a salad but they are still in the fridge, alongside the bulb which has been roasted and is ready for eating.  I also picked the last of the broad beans 😦 and the last of the potatoes.

I had some spinach dal lurking about in the fridge from last Wednesday so I heated that up for lunch.  I am not bothered about use by dates.  If it looks ok and doesn’t smell revolting we eat it.  I didn’t want to poison our visitor though in case he had a more delicate constitution.  I also wasn’t sure what he liked to eat so the boys had sausages, potatoes (which I chopped up and baked in the oven) with peas and sweetcorn.  Quite a safe bet.  And my spinach dal and remnants of potato and pea curry were even more delicious than the day I made it.

While the children were happily occupied by playing outside, I had a splendid afternoon clearing out cupboards.  I was upstairs sorting through the linen cupboard, odds and sods cupboard and the cupboard where occasional wear is stored.  I got lots done, found some long-lost treasures I had forgotten about and some horrors which made me wonder what on earth was I thinking when I bought them?  So 2 huge floor to ceiling cupboards are clean and tidy.  But there are piles of things all over the landing and my bedroom floor; some for the charity shop, some for Ebay, some for I am not quite sure but I am sure inspiration will strike soon.  Or the bin.  One or the other.

In the early evening, while waiting for Harvey’s bath to run, I came out of the bathroom and stopped to admire the clean and tidy cupboards once again (I am that sad that I do things like that).  But to my absolute horror, coming out of one cupboard, was the most enormous spider I have seen in months or even years.  I feel sick to think it must have been hiding in there while I stuck my head in.  How had the Hoover not sucked it up nor my cloth not killed it as I scrubbed every shelf, wall and even the ceiling.  AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!!

I am a complete arachnaphobe.  So I screamed the place down and then came over all peculiar.  Harvey clung on to me for dear life and we were too scared to move in case we saw it again.  Lara doesn’t like spiders either but she was very heroic.  With the aid of a step-ladder (in case it ran and she didn’t want it near her feet) and Harvey’s hockey stick, she managed to club it to death.  I sucked up the grisly remains with the Hoover and Harvey felt hard done by as he had to clean spider goo off his hockey stick.  Thank you Lara for saving us from probably decades of anxious sleep, wondering where the 8 legged monster had gone.  Makes me shiver just to remember it.

Dinner time.  I am saving some WW points for whisky tonight (see why later) so had a very light supper of a Spanish style omelette which I shared with Harvey.  Lara and James apparently don’t like omelette, tonight.  So they were left to their own devices.

So for 2 people, this is what I used to make a Spanish Omelette.

1 onion
2 smallish potatoes
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large field mushroom
1 large ripe tomato
4 medium-sized eggs

Method.
Slice the potato as thin as you can.  I cut each potato in half and then sliced it with a Mandoline (not the musical instrument, silly !) so each piece was small and very thin.
Put the sliced potato in a bowl with 1/2 tsp salt.
Slice and chop the onion finely and add to the potato and salt.  Mix well so all pieces of potato and onion have some salt on them.
Gently heat the oil in a frying pan and add the potato and onion.  Fry gently on a low heat, stirring regularly for about 15 minutes, so the potato is soft.
Add the tomatoes and mushrooms and cook until softened.

Crack the eggs in to a bowl and whisk until just blended.
Pour over the vegetable mix and leave to cook on a very low heat for about 10 minutes.
To finish it off, you can either put it under a grill to cook the top or turn it over by tipping the omelette on to a dinner plate and then tipping it back in to the pan.  Or do what I do and just flip half over the other half (like a calzone pizza) and leave in the warm pan for about 5 minutes so you don’t have slimy whites.  I had intended to serve it with a salad but I couldn’t be bothered so I ate it as it was.  Harvey had ketchup with his and we both thoroughly enjoyed it.

I have noticed, from looking at my photos, that all my meals today have been yellow.  Not by intention but by chance. Yellow.  Just like a tennis ball.

I had a melancholy moment earlier in the day as it would be my Mother’s birthday today if she were still alive.  She would be 75.  She was only 56 when she died and it is impossible to think of her as an old lady.  I am rarely melancholy about special days anymore, such as on the anniversary of her either coming in to the world or leaving it.  But today I am.  Probably because we have just been in Devon, staying with Ian who was her partner/husband for 19 years so that always makes me think of her.  And Ian has lots of pictures of her in the house which is lovely to see.  I should put more up myself.

I was also more conscious than normal that today was her birthday because Lucy made a tribute pudding – a Summer Pudding which was one of her favourites – which is a lovely idea.  But it surprised me because we have not mentioned her birthday for a long time.

But today I am going to.  I wanted to do my own tribute to Mummy.  There are 4 things that spring to mind when I think of my Mother.  4 things, besides my 3 sisters and I, that she loved.  And unlike her girls, who she didn’t see or speak to daily, she did enjoy all of these every day: Lambert and Butler “ciggies”, KitKats, The Daily Mail and whisky.

Well I don’t smoke, I don’t have enough points for a KitKat, The Daily Mail doesn’t appeal and so that leaves the whisky.  So for my mother,  I have saved 6 WW points, so I can drink 75 ml of whisky.  I usually drink it with ginger ale, but as a tribute, I am drinking it with a splash of water, as she would have done.  And I am burning an apricot scented candle in the pretty pink tea light holder with the silver garland, that I always use when burning a candle for her.

So cheers and happy birthday to Mummy. And for my 3 sisters, I love you all.

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