I'm Giving 'Macro' a go...

Hello folks..please forgive my lack of posts over the weekend. The fall I had on Friday hit me harder than I realised on the day. So I've been keeping to myself and trying to keep it together. We did venture out on Sunday afternoon to visit our pals D & B which was a great relief and a much needed distraction from the pain. I guess it goes without saying that I didn't get back into the kitchen. But I still remain hopeful that it will happen soon. And when I do...I am going to try Macrobiotics for four months.

My bargain second hand copy of Modern Day Macrobiotics ~ Brown/Brown

I have to confess that I had always considered Macrobiotics as a fad. I was forming this opinion on no information, ignorance and a tiredness of the celebrity 'diets' culture. My first real contact was whilst reading The Kind Diet by Silverstone. I know..I know..it's not lost on me that I was reading a celeb cookbook..lol. The Kind Diet had been recommended to me so many times by other friends and some of my readers but because it was a 'celebrity' diet I didn't immediately take any interest. Then I made a recipe from someones blog and then when I left a comment on the site the next day..I found it was a recipe taken from The Kind Diet. So the next day, I paid a visit to my local library and found I could request a copy of the book. I did and I still have it checked out to this day...lol. It's sat next to me as I type..lol. I read the book from cover to cover and found that I was drawn very clearly to the Macrobiotic information and recipes. Armed with this information I started to research a little more, each day. I found that I was feeling increasing eager to try this way of eating and living.

I bought Modern Day Macrobiotics second hand, it came in the post last Thursday and I didn't get a chance to even glance inside the cover until Saturday evening. There was so much information to take in...I felt like I was cramming for an exam. lol. I found myself developing a new form of Tai Chi as I tried to get my brain to take in the energy information. So now I look at vegetables and hands fly into 'Up', 'Down', 'Out' and 'Horizontal' energies gestures..I am hopeful one day I won't have to do this but it really is helpful. lol. And I am still cramming...there is so much information to take in and cooking methods and the reasoning for it. It's also quite tricky to find some of the fermented products where I live. My Love was online last night buying packets of Burdock and Diakon seeds so we can get planting as soon as the cold weather is over. lol.

Why am I choosing to try this way of eating? Because I feel so ill and full of pain I need to feel like I am doing everything I possibly can to help myself. I need my op and I want to give myself the best possible outcome and recovery from it. The whole subject of 'eating to heal yourself' has always been interesting to me and I'm only surprised I didn't see the link with Macrobiotics before now. I'm staggered.

The book I'm reading has several different ways of using Macrobiotics and I am choosing the Healing Plan. Brown asks you to commit to the plan for 4 months and that is what I am going to do. I shall start it this weekend as I still need to purchase a few products first. Who knew Umboshi plums would be so hard to track down? lol. But I am excited and hopeful and fully prepared to commit to the four months and I shall share with you my daily findings...and of course the recipes and results. I shall also be cooking other recipes and creating my own as My Love isn't going to be following this plan...just me. So there will be a healthy and fun mix of recipes for you guys.

Is it going to be a challenge? Yes..most definitely. Am I going to want to throw the towel in at times? I should imagine so. It's going to take me out of my comfort zone and I would be naive to think it was going to be plain sailing through the four months. I am looking forward to the challenge and prepared to meet it head on. I want to feel well as soon as I can and I think this will help...

So my questions are...have you tried Macrobiotics? How did it make you feel? If you are Macrobiotic...what words of wisdom can you share with me? I would appreciate all words of advice...

I found a recipe I haven't blogged about in my archive yesterday and it's the final one. So that will be the post for tomorrow....I am at hospital on Thursday so I will be back on Friday.

Hope you all had a great weekend and your week is going well? Thank you for your loyalty during this period of ARGHHHHness. ;o)

~R~

Friday Afternoon Bargains....

Well despite that fact that I had a bad fall 'up' the stairs in a coffee shop...yesterday afternoon's jaunt out of the house went well. *sighs* OK that was a bit of a fib. It hurt before the fall and then afterwards I was shuffling along like 100 year old..infact I think I was probably over taken by a few! This made for a very frustrating trip out of the house, for me and my poor Mum who was worried sick. So I am now sporting a bump on the left hand side of my head and bruising and pulled muscles down the right hand side of my body...and then just to take the mickey as we were leaving the shop, I smacked my right knee into a stupid wooden ledge! Marvelous! It would've been funny if I was the hapless fool in some funny movie. ANYWAY.....lol

I found some cream coloured vegan wool to get me started on my challenge and in the same shop I found the most beautiful plate for £1. It shall be starring in many food photos in the future. But the bargain of the afternoon was found in a shop we stopped at on the way home. My Mum was in search of a container for one of her dried ingredients so whilst she was doing that My Love and I ventured off into the other aisles...which is where we found our bargain.

I found this photo of one online and although it's not a great photo I think you can get the gist..lol. My mobility isn't that great today..(what a shock lol) so I couldn't take photos.

It is a Multi-Use Bottle which is foldable, rollable and refillable. Use can fill it and freeze it and it comes with a carabiner type connector for clipping onto your belt etc for easy carriage. And they were a freaking steal at 99p each. Online and other outdoorsy type shops have been selling them for at least £6. So I now own a lovely green one and My Love a black one. With the hope of using them when I am feeling much better..post op..and enjoying our lovely walks and hikes again. An investment for the future healthy living.

I am now going to go and enjoy some much needed family time with my sister and the gang of little ones..I love family day...just wish I wasn't so bruised. But I'm sure I'll manage some cuddles anyway..especially floating on this painkiller cloud I am currently on! ;o)

Happy Saturday all and I hope you are having fun? Be warned..watch out for those tricky cafe stairs and hidden wooden thingys on the way out...they sure do hurt if you don't lol.

~R~

Challenge Lists ~ Knitting

Yesterday I blogged about making some lists to keep myself sane. lol. And on these lists I have set myself some small challenges that I can start now and keep at, for the rest of the year. No matter what state my health is in or how much pain I'm in at the time. Sadly until the results of the upcoming op come to fruition..I have to make allowances for this condition to be part of my life...Anyway...

One of the first challenges I have set myself, is to...knit something. Yep..you did read that correctly. Hey! Knitting is very Rock and Roll now..don't ya know? ;o) lol

Challenge 1 ~ Knit a blanket.

Some talented people out there may laugh at this challenge and think "..That's not a challenge!.." However, if you had seen my past results you would be gasping in horror! lol I have always had the skill to knit as my Mum taught me as a small child. My Mum is one those lucky people that knitting and crocheting comes easily. She can do both without watching what she's doing, read any pattern and make up her own and still produce beautiful things. Lucky her, eh?

Me? Well I can cast on...when I have searched my memory for how to do it. Once I get started I can produce a lovely set of fresh new stitches on my knitting needle. Fancy, eh? lol And I can master the knit stitch...and that's about it. I used to be able to do a pearl stitch..and even do one of each to produce a lovely product. But that skill has disappeared into the memory vault and doesn't seem to want to come out. And ask me to read a pattern...sorry...I wish you could hear how much I was laughing as I typed that word. I have never been good with patterns..it's like a whole new language to me. Like learning Italian..I want to be able to do it..but somehow it's eluded me so far..lol. I can knit a very fetching scarf..multi coloured and all! But that is as far as my skill in knitting goes.

So the challenge is to knit a square each day (or more if I'm on rest dammit ) with the aim of making a large blanket for our bedroom by next winter. The colours I'm hoping to use are cream, deep red and deep purple. Hopefully in a couple of months when I've brushed up my very basic skills I will then ask my Mum for a refresher course and hopefully when she has finished laughing at my request...she will teach me how to read a pattern and then produce something other than 'knit stitch' squares and scarves. lol.

So challenge one from my list decided. I am escaping the house this afternoon for a couple of hours to go in search of some wool. Then I will have the fun job of asking My Love to retrieve my 'knitting bag' from the depths of the storage room. That will be fun! lol.

Hope you are having a fantastic Friday folks...Kitchen Day Sunday...48 hours...not that I am counting...lol

~R~

Sunshine and the pain...

The sunshine and the pain..(Pic from Google Images ~R~)

It was such a lovely surprise to open the curtains this morning to a sunny morning. We've had a run of grey, drab and wet weather here..I know...I know! I live in England but it's not always that way..lol. Seeing the sun shining made me think of all the spring things I would like to be doing and suddenly I wanted to make lists..hush...I know lists make some people scream in horror! I don't live my life by lists but I like to make them to ease my mind. I felt a spark of 'happy' fill my heart and then it was shortly followed by a deep stab of familiar pain. Suddenly things didn't look so sunny.

So I was left with a choice..I either gave in to this painful sadness and feel blue for the rest of this sunny day...or I make a choice to try and do things differently. I chose the latter and although I am in a staggering amount of pain I have set myself goals to achieve today. Not earth shattering goals and sadly not kitchen duties...but I can make a start on menu planning for the weekend...set up daily writing goals...research goals and finally...get my bloody lovely iTunes library under control. lol. Hopefully I will feel like I have achieved something by the end of today and not feel like the pain is in control of me. Grrrrrr....hear my resolve?? lol

Sunshine is barely there now as the clouds are started to slide back in place but my resolve is stronger than the sun today. And I am determined that no matter what I will make it into the kitchen this weekend.

Thank you for stopping by and staying with me...

~R~ aka 'I am determined...hear me roar!' lol

Majulas Apple Crumb Pie

Kitchen Play List:  Extreme ~ More Then Words
                                      Madeleine Peyroux ~ A Little Bit
                                      Harry Connick.Jr ~ And I Love Her
                                      Harry Connick.Jr ~ And I Love You So
                                      The Gossip ~ Listen Up!
                                      Bowes & Morley ~ Don't Take Your Love Away
                                      Colbie Calliat ~ Fearless

NB: I made this dessert some time ago and I found it in the archives today...So as I'm still resting..I am without current recipes. (Insert many frustrated expletives here!) lol. It was a very tasty dessert and we all enjoyed it. Something a little different...that's always good, right? ~R~

I found this recipe from a search on the internet for Indian Dessert. I needed a recipe that wasn't full of sugar or could be converted easily as my friend S is a diabetic. He loves the occasional treat and I always try and find him something tasty but won't send his sugar levels up past the moon. It wasn't perfect but with a little tweaking it would be good enough. 

The results were a soft apple base with an almost flapjack topping. The smells as it baked were causing hunger pangs all over the place. lol. All who tried it loved it and I had to email the recipe to my friend S today. 

Bubbling hot straight out of the oven!

Mijulas Apple Crumb Pie
(Recipe from Mijulas Kitchen)

4 green Granny Smiths Apples peeled, cored and sliced
2 tbsp water
3/4 cup oatmeal (not Jumbo oats)
1/4 cup crushed walnuts
3/4 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup Splenda and 1/4 sugar)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup butter ( I used Pure/Soya)

Pre-heat the oven to 375'F/190'C/Gas Mark 5 and have a pie dish ready to use. 

In a bowl mix together the oatmeal, walnut, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and butter. Rub in as though making a crumble. 

Peel and slice the apples and spread over the bottom of the pie dish, making sure they are even. 

Spread the oatmeal mixture over the apple slices and make sure it's even and the apples are covered. 

Put the pie dish on the centre shelf of your oven and bake for 20 minutes. 

Take it out of the oven and carefully tilt the plate a little and press a spoon down to get the juices running onto it. Spoon the juices up and over the crumb mix. Spooning the juices over the crumb mix will keep them moist and crunchy. (It does! lol)

Place it back into the oven and back for a further 15 minutes. Serve hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. Delish!

So good...there was no leftovers! What a surprise! lol

 
 Make this for yourselves...you're worth it! Enjoy!

Ice Hockey, family, car disasters, friendship, hummus & green olives, drums and shakers...

It is a simple fact that My Love and I would have gotten nowhere this weekend emotionally and physically without our close circle of friends. And we are extremely thankful for each and every one of them. Friends are the family you choose.

This is so very true...

The weekend started off really well and we enjoyed our family time with my sister and the gang of little ones. Our plans for Saturday evening were simple..our friends D & B were coming over and then we were all going to watch my little brother G play Ice Hockey. It was B's first time at an Ice Hockey game...my brother lives at the seaside so we planned to visit a Chip Shop and enjoy a bag of Chips on the sea front before we went to the match. Simple...no? Yes...until our car died. Refused to start..battery was just fine..but refused to start. So very stressful! B offered to drive in her car so we quickly decamped to her car and made our way. Chips were successfully enjoyed sat in front of the dark sea and then we made our way to the Ice Arena.

The Stormers ~ my bro is the one with the orange gloves

I think B is now an Ice Hockey convert..lol. She enjoyed the game greatly and so did the rest of us. Although the Stormers lost to the Cobras we enjoyed every second of the game and I was very proud of G even if he did end up in the Sin bin..lol. After the game we made our way home and after D & B dropped us off we tried the car again..still dead. Bugger! What a nuisance.

Our plans for the Sunday was to visit with friends in the city near us..they had invited us to spend the afternoon with them, join them for a meal and then watch/participate in the African Drumming group they are part of. We had been looking forward to it so much and we knew they had gone to a lot of trouble foodwise for my vegan ways and My Loves 'Sali' food issues...we really didn't want to let them down.

Our friends J & S came over Sunday morning and My Love and S spent an hour outside trying to work out the problem with the car as S is very handy with all things mechanical. But after many attempts the car was still dead. They offered to take us to our friends house in the city and we were truly humbled by their offers of help. B had offered to bring us home if we could get there....friendship eh?

So we had a choice to make...stay home and be miserable about the car and finances crisis we are about to face...or take our friends offer of help and spend some much needed time with them. It took us about 5 minutes to make our decision...lol...we struggle with letting people help us. (Much to the annoyance of those close to us!)

Before we knew it we were in their Landy and making the journey to A & C's house. It was really good to see A & C and spent a couple of hours feeding their Brennan musical gadget..we take a stack of CDs with us each visit and feed them into this mass storage unit...we enjoyed catching up..drinking tea and mainly...laughing. And did we ever need a laugh. It is always so easy spending time with them.

A Brennan...also known as Bella!

We were soon joined by D & B and we then enjoyed a lovely cold Sunday evening meal. The table was filled with fresh salad veggies, a selection of hummus, various breads, flavoured dipping oils and dressing, a bowl of green olives and in the kitchen there was a fish platter for the non-vegans. We sat around the table and devoured the spread and enjoyed just being together and relaxing. I particulary loved the green olives, hummus's, rocket, peppers and breads. It was a lovely meal with great company.

There were at least six hummus selections and I enjoyed the Chilli, Caramelised Onion, Sun Blushed Tomato varieties.

I am always 1 happy person with a bowl of green olives in front of me..lol

Once the meal was over we decamped to the lounge and I watched in wonder as it was transformed into a music room filled with many various drums and percussion instruments. Bella played good music in the background whilst we waited for other members of the group to arrive. My Love was strapped into a Djembe drum and was given a quick beginners lesson. lol.

Djembe Drum

As I'm still not on form I chose to try the percussion instruments...I started with four shakers that had stones in the shells...

I had four of these lovelies and enjoyed playing them.

then chose some Bean Shakers which where beans that had been dried in their skins and made a really good sound...

Bean Shakers...I played a 'train track' with these..lol

and at the end of the evening I had a go at one final 'shaker'...I'm not deliberately being vague..I have just forgotten the name of it..lol.

Mystery shaker! lol

The group were fantastic...My Love enjoyed playing the Djembe and confessed to getting completely lost during one piece of music. But A & D were very patient and very good instructors. D also played a drum but also played percussion too and was really good at getting across what they needed from me. I loved every second of it...I was in awe at how they all worked together and at how much they were all 'buzzing' from it. And I have to say that I was enjoying it so much that I found it hypnotic and forgot what I was supposed to be doing during the 'mystery' shaker piece of music. I was off somewhere else and feeling so happy. I know I've always enjoyed Drum music but didn't realise it could 'chill' me out so much..lol. In what seemed like mere moments everyone was packing away their drums and it was time to go home.

 D & B drove us home and when we came back into our house and sat down with a cuppa...I was quite emotional about our friendships and how they had rallied around us. So thank you guys...each one of you are individually special people and our lives wouldn't be the same without you.

And the car....

Currently residing in Car Hospital! We are awaiting 'that call'...

I've had a little set back but I am hoping to back in the kitchen very soon. Otherwise you may hear me screaming...

Thanks for stopping by...
~R~

UPDATE: The car issue was the camshaft sensor...and the car is now running and My Love is on the way to pick it up! Phew! lol. Just incase you were interested...lol ~R~

Finding giggles amongst the blues...

I would be a liar if I said that I'm not feeling blue today. I think it is a case of the 'resting blues' and I haven't been in my kitchen for nearly 2 1/2 weeks. I forget that I get so much out of cooking and I often joke that it's where I go to for therapy. Give me veggies to prep and I zen out. I try to keep it real and give myself regular reality checks...after all there is light at the end of the tunnel now. But the 'sat in a chair resting' gets me down after a while.....Anyway...

In the spirit of laughter being the best medicine I have been trying to do things that cheer me up..last night I had some Lemon Sorbet for dessert and ended up with the giggles after every mouthful as I got hit with the Zing!

This morning I watched a new TV show that I've never seen before and on so many levels it shouldn't have been funny but it had me in tears laughing. Who knew?

And during some research this afternoon I found these two bumper stickers and they made me smile too...so I wanted to share them with you.

Once again..thank you for sticking with me..I promise normal service will be resumed very soon...I hope! ~R~