Making Dinner

Have you ever noticed that it is easier to prepare a formal or celebration meal then cook everyday food for the family.

I have hit the the February food blahs. I can not get excited about anything that is in my current cycle of cooking. I say it is because I am waiting for the lovely fresh fruit and veg from my garden but it is not that. I am bored - I sound like one of my kids. But I am bored. I need a change in food.

I have spent days surfing the web looking for something, anything that will tickle my funny bone.

The house is very busy in the spring, all the school activities, the need to play in the garden and the lengthening of days. I have decided to cook two meals a week in the slow cooker.

I will photograph and keep you informed.

"In Dreams"

Unique Sheep Eos " Big Sur Twilight" 

In Dreams Mystery Shawl

by Susan Pandorf

 

The Mystery KAL starts Feb 4. I can not wait! 

Evenstar

I'm done. It took me a year. The learning curve was huge. I have to block it again but.... I am done!

Best New Condement

I am a person of habit when it comes to cooking Holiday meals.
Cranberry sauce, Keen's Mustard preped the day before, onion marmalade cooking on the oven vent all day.
This year I tried something new!
I made an onion pickle. Just a fast day of pickle, easy and very tasty.
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup white sugar
Bring to a boil
Add
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
Bring back to boil
Turn off heat and let it cool

Tangy, yummy, and great in a sandwich.

The Stuff in my house.

I have just read the most amazing book. Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things. The book is a compelling read, a page turner, sort of like watching an accident. You want to read about the people who are worse then you and you want to congratulate yourself on not being like them but you see little bits of you or your loved ones on the pages.

One point that was made very clear in the book is the massive, one day, huge clean out do not work and in some cases have lead to the suicide of the hoarder. The forced loss of their stuff is to traumatizing and they can not cope.   

I  watch the tv show " Hoarders" it is one of my guilty little pleasures. It also serves a purpose in my life. After every episode I toss out, recycle or give away stuff. The show reminds me to clear off my flat surfaces. After reading the book I don't know if I can watch the show. The empathy I have for the hoarders is to strong. It is a mental illness, one that can be mitigated, one that can be lessened with therapy and new coping skills. Not in two days of cleaning. When the coupon for 2 for 1 Pizza expired in 2009 is as important as photographs for family and friends throwing out the coupon is not the answer.

Read the book. If you have the condition find a professional to help. If a loved one has the condition find empathy and a professional.

The Power Breakfast

My Doctor put the fear of death in my mind back in June. My cholesterol was to high, my weight was to high and my blood pressure was to high. Welcome to your fifties.

Being the type of person I am I ran to the library to find every book on the subject I could. To distill all my reading down to a few lines this is what I learned. My father was right, eat your porridge.

With a page taken from the Swiss and their muesli the new porridge is raw. That is right raw.

My first raw porridge was made with organic quick cook oats. I took 1 cup of oats and 1 cup of water. combined them and put the mix into the fridge.

In the morning I put half the mix into a bowl, added 1/2 cup yogurt and a sprinkling of mixed nuts. Good but not great.

My next mix had organic quick cook oats, steel cut oats, buckwheat and assorted nuts. Much better. Great mouth feel, chewy and nutty. I keep a large jar of the mix within easy reach. The hardest part is to remember to make up the watery mix every night.


The theory behind the breakfast is to make your stomach "work" for it's food. You need cholesterol in your body to help digest your food. By making the stomach work and use up the cholesterol in your stomach it makes the body draw the more cholesterol from your bloodstream there by lowering your reading. Well that is my unscientific reasoning.
 
Four months later I am still enjoying my chewy, healthy, cheap power breakfast. I have lost weight and gained energy.

This has to be read by everyone

Please read the post by Franklin over at The Panopticon. He writes one of my favorite kitting blogs but this one is not about knitting. It is strong, it is witty and it will make you cry.

Click It Gets Better and be ready to send it to everyone you know.