Tag: recipe

Lets play Fridge frenzy ….

You know those times?, normally around the wee small hours of the night?, When anyone with half ounce of sanity and a dash of common sense, are fast asleep? ….Well then there’s the rest of us raving lunatic insomniacs, …On many of these occasions my brain decides oh 3am this is the perfect time to go over everything last thing that’s wrong in your tiny corner of the looniverse…last week’s conundrum…how shall we loose this 6lb, gained since learning to bake the practically perfect gooey treble chocolate chip cookie? 🍪, that was fatal…..but in my defence they really were utterly divine., Trouble was each one was also sighs!. So how to loose this excess weight?……At the same time I’m also doing my online groceey shop….well doesn’t everyone do their shopping in the night while half asleep?….what do you mean not normally!!!!!! That will be just me then.😐

Just as I was ready to go through to checkout, I decided to check my list to make sure I had everything…..And boy did I have everything…there was that stray large packet of cashew nuts, vegetable crisps, French fancy cakes, oven fries, fish fingers, ect ECT ECT🙄 ……Not one solitary morsel of green stuff in sight….this on the whole isn’t me, I’m normally a very good eater(don’t sayyyyyy it)…I love fruit and veg…ok I also love cake, but I do try to avoid it where humanely possible😊, ….

Feeling deeply ashamed of my sudden onslaught of gluttony, I release all the goodies or is that baddies from my cart back into the wild😊, then i begin all over again by adding those things I know I should be having…Until my trolley is a positive rainbow of the vegetable variety…I have covered every root,vine,and pod, I sit back feeling all smug, thinking to myself when my delivery guy brings this little haul ain’t he going to be impressed😊, I check out then promptly fall into a deep comatose sleep ….see it’s working already…

That was last week, and I must confess a lot of the fresh vegetables still lurked untouched, looking at me accusingly each time I opened the fridge door….I tried shutting my eyes and wildly grabbing for the milk but ended up with mayonnaise…erm nope even my pallet won’t stretch to that in my morning coffee…..over the weekend I decided these veggies were trouble and had vegged out in my fridge quite long enough thankyou….I was sick of them doing a song and dance each time the spot light went on in the fridge…I was going to show them…huh!! …so here’s how you play along with Fridge frenzy….

Thousand vegetable soup….

Ok maybe not quite, but any you have to hand, and if those vegetroubles have any manky bits on them trying to get you to avoid eating them …..chop it off ouchhhhhhh!😊

My recipe….5 carrots or there abouts, .1. slightly manky red onion, green sprouting, I even used this chopped, .1. Leek, .1. Courgette.1. Parsnip.1. Potato, eyes enough to see in the dark. Any old frozen veg you have left over in the freezer..Garlic, tin of chopped toms, tin of French onion soup,.2. Stock cubes of choice,.1. teaspoon of ginger powder,.1. tablespoon of mixed herbs, parsley, basil and celery salt….I put this all in for four hours on low heat, in the slow cooker/crock pot, set about doing real chores, when it was virtually cooked, say the last 30 minutes…I made a slurry of corn flour and tomato ketchup, stir this well, add a ladle of your soup mix, stir some more then add to your crock pot, allowing it to cook on for another 30 minutes……when it was done I liberally added several glugs of worcheshire sauce to add a kick….. It turned out super thick, full of flavour and perfect for a cheap healthy lunch….if you want it thinner for your taste just add more water or stock……Bon appetite!!! Mon petits fleurs……until next time look after yourselves…..stay safe🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻x

Dear Wartime Diary…

Well this is fun..The rain started at some point during the night and hasn’t realised it can stop anytime now if it wanted to, obviously hasn’t got the message yet…, Most of England woke up to a generous covering of thick silvery grey blanket cloud, It was so dark here even at 8am I had to turn on big light….😁, main light for those posher folks amongst us, it’s one of those days if I’m honest i could either spend it curled up under a blanket sleeping for hours listening to the slow rhythmic patter of rain hitting the window pane, or drink coffee cheerfully making my way through an entire cake, alas living my wartime ration/frugal lifestyle cake is out…So coffee it is then…my heads abuzz with ideas today or is that just caffeine….unsure which yet but i,’ll take it…

The cookie monster within

In the kitchen looking all freshly baked seductive and stuff is a small tray of chocolate cookies lovingly baked by my own hands,,, my only quandary now for the day is ..One of trying to eek them out, making them last a few days or eat them up quick before they go all soft and chewy…no one wants something soft, when it’s not meant to be do we?😏, just a disappointment all round really…Sunday’s batch lasted all of two days…I tried honest but I’m a weak woman, never put temptation in a woman’s path.🙄.

Yesterdays left overs are being made into a kind of strange hot pot type meal… The main ingredients being a combination of Minced beef, black lentils, leek, carrot, tinned tomatoes, herbs, salt and black pepper, ..I’ve taken some of the meat mixture, covered it in herby thin sliced potato and shoved(placing) this in the oven for 30 minutes or until a crisp golden colour,.After this portion there should be enough to make two hearty meals if I’m careful, (big if)🙄😊😊😊😊, Tonight’s I will serve with extra veggies to make it go that bit further, …by adding cheap tinned lentils you can stretch out really any meat a bit further..according to the one book I have, A weeks Rations by Karen Wiles, either oats, lentils or breadcrumbs were commonly used to make any meat that could be sourced stretch ….woman queued for hours daily often just to come away with a rather bedraggled cheap cut of meat, and that’s if they were lucky, (I’ve been reading how woman often sought out the longest queues, outside a shop cleverly knowing these had the best chance of getting something worthwhile for that evenings meal, their poor feet, the lines were huge often as not going down the street… Mostly by the time one got to the front everything had already gone…

Slippery Saturday…

Saturday I woke up early….(insert screeching brakes sounds here, I actually didn’t really sleep in the truest sense of the word, making do with a cat nap for the odd ten minutes, finally giving up around 4:30am. by five I was showered ready to do my first load of laundry for the day, Wanting it done quickly before it realised it hadn’t rained for at least hour now. A light load was first as a had a particularly stained t shirt I wanted to tackle, tomato sauce is a devil right?…I sprayed it liberally with a mixture of alcohol, dish soap and water, rubbing it into the affected area vigorously…before digging out my stash of soda crystals, hidden under the sink for my back up plan…(this is one of those times im unsure whether ive mentioned this in the past or not?, But as I pushed in deeply the handy plastic spoon, kept solely for measuring out purposes ..My treacherous arm decided that was to be the exact moment to go into spasm, sending a lovely arc of glistening soda crystals into the air, before they showered down scattering the length and breadth of the kitchen floor…never mind rain!!🙄, it’s in fact now snowing, …(Spasms being common with EDS, always but always when most inconvenient, like with a spoon of coffee, flour, sugar…not to mention glue don’t ask 😊…sighs..

I manage to clear up most with a damp microfibre cloth before pushing the now covered cloth into the washing machine with the still soaking stained t shirt, determined if nothing else that the soda crystals were not going to go to waste, I set the machine off before starting to clean the kitchen counter tops, that were also dusted in white 😊,Still angry and checking where I put my feet, the very next thing I was aware in fact aware of, were my legs going in two separate directions like demented scissors, Trying desperately to react quick enough to stay upright, all the while clutching at the door frame, my legs slipping and sliding across the glass like floor surfice… despite my best efforts and at least not falling over completely thank goodness, I did however twist my knee cap quite badly, feeling the knee sublux as my left leg twisted back to front horribly, .I righted myself somewhat easily enough, but not before the damage was it seems already done…it was the knee I had just spent months trying to get to heal…when I looked down at the floor, it had become a veritable ice rink, thanks very much to the aid of a damp cloth and Soda crystals…although sore after some strong language and manipulation I manoeuvered the kneecap somewhere near to the right place..held there mainly by masses of kinetic tape and sheer determination for the rest of the day😊.

It’s still moving about, swollen and hot, but living alone means things most still get done..I baked cookies…yes of course that’s essential work!! A woman needs biscuits at a time like this😊, I watered my garden also, I can’t let weeks of hard work go to waste…my tomato plants are looking far too good to neglect…besides it will all be worth in a few weeks when I’m eating tomatoes still warm from the sun…but later on I decided to lay down and rest my leg with an ice pack strapped on firmly, all the while cheering myself up with research for new recipes I could find online, they are few and far between but my notepad is looking fuller…

I have still narrowly avoided assauging my frustrations and boredom with the lure of “The Zon” (Amazon)isn’t always easy though I must admit, especially when a low hits unexpectedly, but each time I’ve found myself drawn to the dark side by promises of sales, or you might like popping up on my face book, I put down my tablet and listen to music or read…I also carry on with WW2 research, history being that huge draw for me…learning the somewhat shocking statistic of losses of over 60,000.. I thought I knew about the blitz and the terrible loss, but reading that bought it all home..I think my family must have been extremely lucky because despite living in a dock area, my mother never mentioned losing anyone in our immediate rather large extended family on either side…mother and father originally living next door to one another while growing up…anyway enough of my Gas bagging, I’ve washing up to get done, a kitchen to straighten up before lights out…least I’m not living in black, with an ARP warden knocking at my door for neglected chinks of light escaping…😊, take care all, and look after one another…ps…exciting news being on my WW2 rations, I’ve already lost 10lb…that’s in a week..I’ve eaten home made cake, biscuits and bread most days…lot to be said for rations😁.💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛

May day, may day, may day..dear diary

After what I can only call an epic nights sleep, which believe it or not began around the 7pmish mark that evening and finally finished somewhat reluctantly by myself, at an astonishing 8am this morning. I would love to say I awoke fully refreshed, full of the joys of spring and vim and vigour, flinging the covers back and diving out of bed ready for anything.. (Instead I was ready for nothing) being rudely awakened instead, the room ablaze with a golden yellow hue..it’s my new curtains folks, not an alien invasion…when I did finally managed to pry open my eyes halfway,(this only achieved manually) I glared up at the intrusion not amused…I’m grumpy before BC

Anyone else after nearly 10 hours sleep(allowing for the four half hour intervals) would surely feel well rested right?…instead here I am staring about myself in a almost stupified daze, Coffee! and much of it, after refamiliarising myself with the flats layout..(well it had been some hours, I finally felt my way out into the kitchen, (felt because the Sun was still flooding into every room and steadily doing its upmost to bore out the back of my eye sockets, so I keeping my eyes closed, in doing stubbing my little toe, falling through the kitchen door, after opening it of course (and smashing it into my already aching head)… I decide maybe I should risk the laser beam sun with my eyes after all…

I already know without any shadow of a doubt it’s going to a multiple coffee infusion kind of day..I can feel it in my veins, or is that the zinging of freshly squeezed caffeine berries trying desperately to awaken the undead, they fail miserably…Time to call out the big guns…a lovely cold water shower mmmmhmmm…(I just love my life), . Since the installation of this electricity use recorder gadget, I have been inflicted with a kind of paranoia…who wouldn’t though…I swear it records everything including my movements, marking it all down as energy used….well it is agreed, but just looking at those massive green numbers flashing away, their dire warnings of power used, especially when it informs me most gleefully I’ve gone over budget..this only serves to increase my anxiety level…but in fairness it works as I now watch over my use more intently…Hence no longer putting on the boiler to heat the water unless it’s an emergency, hot showers now being a luxury and only to be indulged in over the winter months….maybe I should invest in a tin bath by the mock coal fire…..could be a thought …only the thought of boiling endless kettles deters…..😁

After the almost drive through speedy body wash type shower, I am now somewhat awake…(least there’s early signs, which is hopeful) in my infinite wisdom or boredom could be either at this stage..I decide to tackle the kitchen…and not just a quicky😊….but a deep clean..(was I mad?, this of course is debatable..or is that non negotiable?I’m never sure .. My eye is drawn firstly to my kitchen utensil holder, it’s a shiny black earthen ware affair, says utensils on the front in big bold white writing, so it must be true…in Theresa logic(not to be trusted be anyone other than myself) it’s black right so how dirty can it get?😁, Plus I only put in washed up items…like my spatula…no reason for this information only I love the word Spatula….s p a t u l a!!!!! ….anyhow where was I again? Oh yes the black holder….I pull out all the kitchen accoutrements….sounds posh don’t it….oh don’t you believe it…as I look into the black hole of the top…I’m met with shock horror!!!😮…not Saturn’s rings, but more white limescale rings than I care to admit….for shame …if the rings on trees denote their age, then this blooming black shiny thing came from the ancient Greek Asda super store….I rapidly fill it full of a water and bleach mix, this is far too grosse to take in especially this early….I re_wash every blooming utensil plus scald them thoroughly with hot water from the still boiling kettle…. Ouch! Yes I touched them just to see if they were indeed hot enough, you,’ll be relieved to hear they are now fully sanitised, so is my fast blistering finger…..

After that debacle Im left feeling the intense need to check absolutely everything…ohhhhhh just look at the glass jar holding my measuring spoons…Damn!!! as Sage the budgie screams (all too often), could this really my kitchen?, has it really become a retirement home for a frap of bacteria?…But then I wash this jar every few days…even using white vinegar to be on the safe side…as I run water into the jar, the same jar that in a previous life held scrumptious amounts of black currant jam, now relegated to a mere utensil prison..water trickled out of the bottom….no that’s impossible!!, it can’t can it?, I mean it’s water proof….yes it is normally, until it’s not…until I must of at some point dropped the things in with over zealousness….literally smashing a tiny chip that I hadn’t noticed, up until now that is….sighs!….now what could I use….aha I have just finished a can of Azera coffee…yup let’s repurpose that, I love a good reinvent….being metal I can’t have a mishap with that surely …..Theresa hush thy blooming clanging mouth woman 😊.

My day did indeed go steadily from bad to worse, it’s already 10:30 by this time, and I’m thinking breakfast, I’ve earnt a good old fashioned bacon sandwich…I can taste it already…the crisp edge bacon…the still warm freshly made soft bread straight out the bread maker…this begins the drool reflex…like Pavlovas dog…will get your mind off food woman…(Pavlovs, it’s Pavlovs dog….I drag out the bread maker, place it on the kitchen counter top.. I know the recipe by heart…soon the whirling, bucking bronco bread machine gets down to work, I can hear it from the other room…thumping about as it stirs the flour mix into a dough….I’m already looking forward to bread in a couple of hours….

As I sit relaxed drinking my second coffee of the morning , I hear an almighty crash…id love to say I rushed out into the kitchen to see what it was, but with my gimpy leg…rushing is something of the past…but when I do finally reach the kitchen there’s carnage…the bread maker is now laying on its side upon the floor lid completely broken off its hinges , There’s flour everywhere like Christmas scene from a Hallmark movie, and all I can think is well guess there’s no bread for me today then….I begin clearing up the mess, it wasn’t the first time my bread machine worked it’s way off the counter, but unlike the other times I couldn’t rescue it….

After clearing up my kitchen for the second time that morning..I hit on a crazy notion..Treez make the bread by hand…..stop it!!!!😁, I can hand make bread if I want..course I can, it’s easy….Using the same recipe I do for a bread maker(one that doesn’t have a death wish that is) I set about mixing the ingredients.. As incorporate 300g of warm water, a table spoon of sea salt , tablespoon of sugar, 3 cups of strong flour, 1/2 a cup of spelt flour, two spoons of Pesto, grated Parmesan cheese … As the warm yeasty scent reaches my nostrils, like bakers, woman in warm kitchens gone on before me, I feel an instant connection to the past, providing food for hungry mouths… Just as I’m doing..for mine and Sages hungry mouth..he loves bread 😁…

Only thing that stumped me, is when it comes down to proving the bread(getting the dough to rise)…you need either a bakers oven or a warm spot…as everywhere in this flats cold I’m at a loss…until necessity proves the mother of all invention…light bulb moment inserted here…, Of course my bedroom window ledge…I rinse a tea towel in warm water laying it across my mixing bowl, walk into my bedroom and as if the sun was mocking me once again it promptly hides forever!, Sliding behind a group of fast growing big black threatening cloud…. I should have known it!!!!!!,

Not to be outdone though, I remembered suddenly from last night huddling under my blankets with my electric hand warmers….Now I’m in no way suggesting huddling with dough under blankets or indeed with hand warmers…but hey if needs must…😁, No I turned on said hand warmers and placed them under the plastic mixing bowl, not thinking I had a chance of it working… it only worked though ….the dough doubled in size not only once, but for the prove needed too..genius…what’s more I couldn’t believe my luck when later that same morning two perfect specimens of baked bread came out hot from my airfryer….not having an oven needs must and all that….I even had enough dough left for two bread rolls, which I filled with bacon for brunchfast …the taste was remarkable and well worth the hassle to get there…. Anyhow folks have a grand Mayday bank holiday or what’s left of it anyhow, take care of yourself whatever your doing….stay safe 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞x

Dear Diary…in a stew

It’s been one month exactly since I began my grand finale in an otherwise long line of previous failures. A last quest for health before ancient and decrepit😁, that final attempt!, So I’m more determined than ever this time to make it work for me…And so far so good…the scales are indeed tipping…and my way for once thank goodness.

Part of what I’m doing is a daily 12 hour fast, if I’m honest this is no real hardship for me, I have never been a great one for having breakfast,. I have researched, read all those pros and cons, those for and against.  Fully understanding the concept of eating something first thing in the morning to get your metabolism kicked in, . But for me this has always been something of an issue, I’m just not hungry!, . I’ve been told often but many including one long suffering dietician, if I would just start having something, anything then my body will go onto naturally become hungry….no not mine, I’m just sat for an age trying to force down a few mouthfuls of something inbetween gagging…so fasting is never a problem.

Lunch is also a battle ground, …see I’ve never felt that stomach rumbling effect ect, well at least not until around the earliest of 5pm anyhow,.. The whole getting me to eat more than once daily has never been quite natural, and considering my weight issues, getting people to take in this information including my doctors has proven hard going many times, so I now no longer try.

Anyhow I digress as per😁, last week on reading the label of a well known brand of tinned soup, I can’t go as far as to say Im shocked by the amount of sugar it contains, as I already suspected if I’m honest, but it did confirm it for me..so instead of ignoring the blatantly obvious, I decided to do something about it…make my own.😁

Now I have several old favourites, Ones I turn to for comfort…these are Tomato, Pea and ham, or anything thick and meaty… I hate watery thin soups with a passion. ..It bodes well for me that am in fact an old hand at soup DIY, perfecting and altering recipes to my taste…Thursday just gone, I decide what tickled my juices most was some thick Pea and ham soup, what’s more I had everything in take make it, plus there’s not a lot of chopping of veggies involved and the prep time is roughly only about ten minutes.

The hardest part of the whole recipe is smelling it cooking slowly over four excruciating slow hours in the slow cooker…😁,..I began with chopping up some Gammon I had cooked and leftover from the previous days dinner, into nice large chunks…(one or two didn’t quite make it im afraid😁) but the rest did., I then roughly chopped up a large onion, a leek, four cloves of garlic😁, you can add less, I just love it 😁,, after which I added a whole large bag of frozen garden peas, a stock cube, water after which closing down the lid firmly, leaving it to stew in its own juices for four hours…

All afternoon the most gorgeous aroma percolated from my tiny kitchen, I could hardly contain myself, keeping busy was the only way in fact… Every once in a while I would torture myself by standing beside the little red slow cooker, where wafts of Gammon and veg were incorporating into a lush soup,. I stirred it several times as the peas lost their form finally, making the broth a thick but very odd shade of well..pea green colour😁,.

Each hour seemed agonisingly long, and dinner time longer away still, but after three and half hours, it was time to make the slurry..( not a nice term used for making a flour and water paste, of which you stir in for the last half hour, only here I use Greek yogurt and cornflour, this works for me)… I pulled out the pack of shops own brand of corn flour, added two large tea spoonfuls, and two of yogurt into a Ramikin, stirring constantly until its smooth, before finally adding it into my bubbling pot of beautiful soup, the smells coming from that pot filled the whole flat with deliciousness…..stir until it’s mixed in….Now thinking back, I had noted, that the slurry(paste) on hindsight had not been as thick as on previous occasions,. Isn’t hindsight a wonderful thing😁.

That half an hour was one of the longest of my life, as the smell drifted on the air and into my room, my stomach growled, I was really ready to eat by now..I couldn’t wait to help myself to a large steaming bowl of goodness, each minute felt like an hour, until finally the alarm on the slow cooker beeped out its readiness, finally being done, the kitchen was filled with its lush aroma, . And as I lifted the lid, i breathed in the warm scents…it had a bubbling thick gloopy consitancy, my mouth drooled as I put in a large ladle, scooping out some steaming liquid into my favourite bowl..

I washed up a few things while I waited somewhat impatiently for it to turn from molten lava, to be remotely edible… I could not wait a second longer, taking up my spoon, I dipped it into the still steaming broth, blowing it twice then i put the whole spoonful into my mouth, but instead of my tastebuds receiving the long awaited cacophony of rich flavours, it was met by a disgusting mix of saccharin sweet green pea horrific gloop, it was vile!, There was no way I could eat this this thing!!! Concoction, mess whatever!, …

Now keep in mind I’m no soup virgin, over my many many years on this mortal coil I’ve made large batches very successfully, without a hitch…none had ever tasted like this though. Mentally I went over the ingredients, over and over, I know them by heart. I couldn’t work out where if anywhere I had erred, made a mistake, but it’s obvious I had. ..I tried it again, in some vague hope, it was just that my tastebuds were playing up after giving up Sugar, as they can do….but the sweetness of this actually physically hurt my tongue…this was madness ! What had I done.

There wasn’t nothing for it, I would have to throw this whole batch out, there wasn’t any way of rescuing it, before I did this though, I opened the cupboard door to my dried ingredients, On the bottom self at the front is where I store the things I use most regular, chilli seasoning, chicken seasoning, wheatfree flour, stock cubes, pasta, cornflour and icing sugar…..screeches to halt, goes back to look again..there stood side by side in almost identical shops own boxes, were Corn flour and icing sugar…both packs the same colouring…I began to understand where I had gone so very very wrong, Remember when I said the slurry had been somewhat thinner this time?, Well now at least we know why., My eyesight being not the best to begin with, only having sight in one eye, then the kitchen also being dark and somewhat dingy it was an easy mistake to make, not very professional, but I had done it all the same..I was angry with myself, ..my punishment a dinner of ricecakes thin sliced cheese and cucumber..not the hot meaty very longed for bowl of soup…I threw the icing sugar in the bin out of temper of my own stupidity… I won’t be doing that again folks 😁😁😁😁😁. ..take care of you in whatever your up to folks ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤x