Eating Simply- Part 2

Continuing on with my foodie theme. One of the things I love is researching and trying out new recipes. Everything doesn't always go to plan, but when you find a recipe made of wholesome ingredients that you know is a 'keeper' it really feels good :)

My Mum got me these storage jars in a sale at her local garden centre. I now have a whole cupboard which is dedicated to food injars. I keep them all together just because they look so pretty :)



A small portion of my jars!

Today for lunch DH has taken wholemeal pittas with local cheese, spinach, cucumber and onion chutney, fruit and a homemade nut and seed bar I made last night. I have a large salad with homemade salad sprinkle, a nut and seed bar and fruit. For breakfast I had chia pudding, which was really good!!

I like a lot of foods that some people have never heard of and I likje taking my creations into work and getting everyone to try them if they want to.

Recently I had massive succcess with my chocolate tofu pudding, with everyone, even the 'tofu hater' saying it was really good and just tasted like normal chocolate pudding, which I was pleased about as it contained no refined sugar either and was v. low in fat :)

A colleague at work mentioned in tea break that she'd read about chia in her running magazine but had never heard of it. It's not that common in the UK. I love chia pudding so bought her in chocolate tofu pudding and spiced tofu pudding to try and she has now bought some herself to try at home :) The nice thing was most people were willing to try new things made from simple ingredients, even though they hadn't heard of them before. The lovely young girl who has Campbells Meat Balls or Super Noodles for lunch wanted to try the chia pudding although she did say it looked like frog spawn! She didn't like it, but she tried it and said she'd like to try the chocolate one if I made that and bought it in.

To me it's really good that more and more people seem to be taking an interest in healthy eating and cooking with more ingredients themselves and using less processed food. I have had 2 requests for my chocolate pudding recipe since I gave it out for people to try and I will post it up here if anybody's interested :)

xx

Eating Simply

DH and I mostly enjoy eating a more simple diet. It just goes better with the kind of lifestyle we lead. I enjoy preparing food, but usually in advance. I don't like spending hours in the kitchen after work preparing a big meal. I prefer to make bits and pieces in the week and do quite a lot at weekends so my evenings after work are more relaxed. So we try and keep our meals simple, healthy and as unprocessed as we can.

DH and I don't get takeaways and never have, they are expensive and generally really unhealthy. We eat out but only on special occasions. Every day I do packed lunches for us, I'm very interested in food and how it affects our bodies and wellbeing so I read a lot on food and nutrition too. 

Most days for breakfast I like a homemade smoothie which is usually banana based and I try make lots of healthy additions to it like hemp seeds and goji berries. At the moment I am enjoying homemade mueslie which only takes a few moments to make. I put a few tablespoons of oats into a small ramekin, add raisens, chopped brazil nuts, sliced banana or whatever else I feel like then add some rice or nut milk and drizzle a little maple syrup over the top. It's mega yum and keeps me filled. 

We do buy some processed food, it's hard to avoid anything processed completely but I always get the healthiest version I can from the health food shop e.g nut cutlets: non GM without added nasties and we always have a large salad or vegetables with most meals. I try to keep snacks simple, fruit, houmous and crackers or carrot sticks, fridge cookies (made from nuts and dried fruit). Being a veggie I love tofu and anything tofu based. I know it sounds gross but I make an amazing chocolate mouse based on silken tofu that even omni's love and if I could make you all one and pass it through to the computer screen so you could try it I would! It's seriously good!!! ;0)

I'll be doing some more posts on food soon as. . . . I love it! Feel free to comment below particuarly if you have any thought's in the way how we eat today is changing from people going back to basics and enjoying a more simple diet to people living the fast food craze.

Hugs

xx 



not the best pic in the world but it's my homemade muesli :)

Furniture For Free

Anyone who's been following my blog for a while may remember an old post I did in which I said that we'd hardly paid for any of our furniture. It was all pretty much 'hand me down's' and we were just going to wait and save to get better furniture. I even had my own kind of dresser in the kitchen I had made from a bureau and a bookcase (see below)

The orginal 'dresser' with the bookcase on top with the bureau underneath.

Well, we are very lucky in that we have finally been able to acquire some amazing furniture for free although it has come from sad circumstances. 

My parents have decided to downsize from there house into a more sensible bungalow for their retirement. There orignal house had an extension on where my Grandma lived. Sadly she died last year, so they have now decided to sell their house and downsize for their retirement. 

DH and I were offered a lot of family furniture, a lot of it belonging to my Grandma, as it will not fit in the new house. We were thrilled to take it and my Mum is pleased that it is staying in the family. DH and I are now proud receivers of a propert Welsh dresser, 2 chairs (so we don't have to sit on the floor when people come over anymore as we used to only have seating for 2!) and a small dining table and chairs. They look lovely in our home and we're very grateful.

Here is the 'new' Welsh dresser for our kitchen

Also given to us, plus 2 of the chairs at the edge of the frame :)

Has anyone else received any really lovely 'pre-loved' furniture??

xx

Starting Gardening In Pots

Being English I can't help but comment on the weather. It's practically the law! ;) But it is Sunny but cold today, which is good- at least it's stopped raining!

Gilbert was at the vets Thursday for his booster vaccination and thyroid check and he's doing well. He's put on weight since he's been on his medication and his MOT shows he's doing well for a senior chap.

At the moment in pots I am growing spinach and peas which are slow to start at the moment as the nights are still very cold. I am going to get some pots this weekend and hopefully get some bush sunflowers and french marigolds in too. A colleague at work gave me a small propogator too so I am going to get some salad leaves on  the go in there too (pics to follow).

Apart from that this weekend I am catching up on a LOT of washing as the weather is fine so hopefully everything will dry quickly. 

Had a bit of an emergency in the week with a leaky tap that caused a minor flood in the cupboard under the kitchen sink, but luckily we got recommended a really good plumber that fixed the problem in double quick time and charged about half of what I was expecting! Phew!

xx

 

Being A Good Wife

One of the things that is very important to me is my status as a wife. While I am a working wife and we have no children, it's still an important part of who I am. Whilst I am not perfect, I try and be a good wife and support both my husband and our household. 

DH and I share the household tasks but we both have areas that we take on as our own as we are just better at them. DH makes the bed every morning while I sort out our lunches. I cook all the meals and do the food shopping, but DH comes with me and carries everything :) When we do the big clean every weekend I do the bathroom and kitchen and DH does the communal living areas and bedroom, it just works better that way. I do the washing and drying of clothes and DH irons. 

DH came home last night tired after a busy day at work but with a load more work he had to get finished that night. So I did my best to cheer him on. I made veggie sausage, mashed potato and green beans for dinner, then he asked if I'd come and keep him company in the lounge while he worked so I did my puzzle book with Gilby (who wasn't that much help to be honest!), I made a freshly extracted apple juice which I warmed on the stove and topped with a sprinkle of cinnamon- yum! Then later in the evening and made sure everything was clean and tidied for the next day. After ten o'clock I was falling asleep on the sofa (I don't really do late nights!) so I toddled off to bed stopping by to bring DH a hot chocolate and a hot cross bun on my way through to keep him going. 

He came to bed late sand thanked me for staying up with him (or at least trying to!) although I didn't really do a lot- to him, being there was enough :) 

It's still very cold and frosty with a sprinkling of snow this morning.

xx

Got A Blog Anyone? . . . .

I'm really enjoying my time in the library this week and catching up on blogs and emails etc. If anyone has an interesting blog they read or write please leave a link below as I'm very nosey and am always interested in what other people are up to! 

Have a lovely day- raining so much again today! 

xx

Just the two of us . . . . .

We're having a lovely week off just the two of us. So far on my week off I have

* Sewn the buttons back on my coat!

* Made a lovely apple crumble with the leftover apples I had.

* DH made a scrummy curry with homemade naan (actually made from pitta bread!)

* Been to the library lots and caught up on Cat's Protection emails etc (I am a volunteer)

* I've done lots of reading including outside with Gilby when the suns been out with a cup of coffee. He really enjoyed the first warm sunshine of the year and took the opportunity to give himself a thorough wash :)

* Hired a DVD out the library.

* Planned decorating DH's study (to do when we've saved up)

* I've done some more butterfly looming.

* Made a tomato and lentil soup in the slow cooker.

* Also cooked some chickpeas from scratch in the slow cooker which I will freeze for use at a later date.

Today we are doing a small amount of shopping in town, then going home to have a clean and tidy up. Tonight I'm doing veggie chilli for dinner and we'll probably have my soup for lunch. All in all a very relaxing week so far :)

xx