February Recap and Plans for March

Posted on March 3, 2015 by nicdempsey

February was not a good month. I sort of feel that January and February have been ruined by my being sick and that I’ve yet to start the year at all. I want to feel well and nothing that I do seems to help with that. I’m just a coughing, poorly person and I’d quite like it to stop now!IMG_2807

With that in mind, let’s recap my goals.

  • I didn’t hit any of my fitness goals in February, I did get to the gym for 3 classes but everything else just fell apart because I got so ill.
  • I still haven’t bought any books, yay me!
  • As for the flat, it’s tidy and that’s all I can really say about it, I didn’t really do anything to improve it.
  • I did stick to my £80 budget for food though and even impressed myself. I haven’t used my credit cards, I did buy new glasses and some new clothes but that was from money I had saved from Christmas and all purchases were needed!

March Plans and Goals

BODY

I’m still not feeling 100% better and so I want to use March to get properly well. Although I can’t spend the month in bed asleep, I do need to be gentle with myself and I want to prioritise both rest and strength. So I will get to the gym for a Body Balance or Pilates class at least 4 times in the month and make sure that I’m in bed for eight hours a night (I can’t guarantee that I’ll sleep for 8 hours but I’ll make sure that I turn all electronics off an hour before I go to bed too.

Eat more mindfully. I lost half a stone of weight last month, while I absolutely believe that catching flu is not a great way to lose weight, not wanting to eat for a week has reset my hunger signals, so I want to use that as a starting point to think about what, how and when I eat and eat when I’m hungry, instead of when I’m bored. I’m also going to eat better, I don’t think I eat badly as it is but I do want to restrict the amount of sugar I consume!

HOME & MIND (BOOKS)

Continue as I’m going, try not to give into the temptation to buy any books (which will be harder this month as there are so many books I want to read being released this month) and to make more use of my local library

HOME GENERAL

This is just a straight repeat of last month’s goals, which I didn’t get round to at all!

  • Hang the pictures of Oli and Ben that I was given for Christmas
  • Clean the oven
  • Tidy the cupboard (again!)

MONEY

Food budget. Go back to planning to spend £20 a week on food.

Much of March is about recovery and rest, I don’t have major plans for the month, I’ll be going watch Oli in the St Patrick’s Parade, celebrating Mothers Day and babysitting Oli, Christelle and I have scheduled in a date for dinner too (finally) and I have to have a haircut. Other than, hopefully, enjoying better weather (it’s England so you never can tell if the weather will be better!) I’m planning for a quietly productive month!

 

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Life Happened – Flu

Posted on March 2, 2015 by nicdempsey

Hello world! It’s been a while. It’s been a while because the cold that wouldn’t die, mutated into something else really grim, we’re thinking flu because of the uncontrollable shaking, high temp and my not being able to eat or read (seriously, that’s like the end of days where I’m concerned!).IMG_2807Last Monday, the doctor prescribed antibiotics for the chest/sinus infection and signed me off sick for the week, I did not argue because when my mother tells me I’m sick, it’s time to give up the fight and go to bed. She also went down with it the next day, so we’ve spent the week ringing each other every 12 hours, just to check we’re both alive. It’s not been a great week and though I’m back at work, I’m still pretty weak and feeble and am coming in and going home early so that I have a fighting chance of getting to and from work in one piece and can get my required 12 hours a night sleep. Yes, it’s that bad. No, I really don’t care anymore.

Life last week pretty much reduced down to being sick and not doing anything else. I didn’t have my haircut, I didn’t go to Christina’s 30th birthday party, I didn’t see anyone, speak to anyone. I didn’t exercise, unless walking from the bedroom to the bathroom to the kitchen counts. I lost half a stone because I didn’t really want to eat or cook or have anything to do with food. It was a very beige week and this week is shaping up for more of the same but expanding to include work and that’s about it.

 

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Friday Links

Posted on February 20, 2015 by nicdempsey

Happy Friday! It’s always good to get to the end of the week and onto the weekend! Tonight I have friends coming for dinner and other fun stuff planned for the rest of the weekend. This week’s links…

1) Tax Avoidance. Marina Hyde nails it and it makes me so bloody angry.

2) Oliver James on the fallacy at the centre of the riches thinking on what they owe to the State. Or as Obama said “You didn’t build this”

3) Giles Fraser on the removal of Satan in the CoE baptism service. The line from the RC service, when I was baptised asked my parents and godparents to reject “Satan and all his empty promises”. Like Giles, I don’t believe in an actual Devil, but I think that the empty promises of evil and sin sum up what I reject as a Christian. Doing the right thing is hard sometimes and doing the wrong thing in the short term can feel better but ultimately it’s a hollow thing, that doesn’t nourish. Empty promises…

4) More religion, this time on Valentine’s Day and the gift of singleness. 

5) This came from Jo. It’s very funny but not safe for work. An Australian’s take on US gun laws.

6) Street Kids and Football in Cote d’Ivoire. I was really struck by those kids when I was there, children bringing each other up, it’s one of those things that has stayed with me..

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

7) Israelis and Arabs contested history. This is one of the best pieces of writing I’ve seen on Israel in a long time.

8) This. I really object to people talking about now they don’t do chemicals. Everything is chemicals. Water is a chemical. Harmful chemicals are one thing, but you can’t exist on this planet and be chemical free. This type of pseudo science is why we have people who think that measles are healthier than vaccinations…

9) I don’t know whether to be amused or alarmed…Boston mayor tells people to stop jumping out of windows and into snow. But seven and a half feet of snow…I can’t imagine what that looks like!

10) But a couple of inches of snow shut DC down. Which I totally get, because that’s pretty much what happens here although ’cause of DC’s reliance on cars, I think it’s a little bit worse. Seriously, they think they have a good transport system but I have never missed the Tube as much as I did that week!

Cue gratuitous photo of DC in the snow!20140305-072908.jpg

 

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Green Sauce

Posted on February 19, 2015 by nicdempsey

I originally made this to go with roasted pork belly, where it was a great foil to the fatty pork, but there was quite a bit left over and I do hate waste! So, I’ve put it in a cheese sandwich, I grated some parmesan into it and mixed it through pasta as a sort of pesto, I’ve put it in corn and black bean tacos, I’ve dolloped it in soups and I’ve used it on pizza instead of red sauce

2015/02/img_2745.jpgIn all things it has been delicious, although I’m incapable of taking a photo of it, where it looks as good as it tastes! It lasts a fair amount of time in the fridge (the longest I’ve left it is 2 and a half weeks!)

What

4 cloves of garlic

a bunch of mint

a bunch of basil

a bunch of parlsey

a tablespoon of djion mustard

a tablespoon of capers

olive oil

How

Throw everything except the olive oil into a food processor and blend, gradually add olive oil until it’s a bit soupy.

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Simple Chocolate Cupcakes

Posted on February 18, 2015 by nicdempsey

Sometimes you need a cake.

Last weekend on Saturday, I needed cake. I made my go-to chocolate cupcakes because I almost always have the ingredients in the house, then I took some of them to Kathy and Adam’s and some to Ryan.

The original recipe came from Smitten Kitchen (as do so many good things!) but keen eyed amongst you will notice that the original recipe features Guinness and sour cream and be wondering about what’s usually in my fridge, ok it’s true I almost never have those things in my fridge. For the Guinness, I’ve used the same amount of coffee, root beer, coca-cola and on one desperate occasion, ginger beer. So basically any fizzy drink or coffee would do. For sour cream, I subbed greek yoghurt, (which I do in these pancakes too).

You can gussy them up with ganache and frosting if you wish but I like them plain, they are moist enough that they are good on their own and they also freeze really well.

As usual I’ve mixed and matched the weights and measurements to suit my peculiar way of cooking, butter does not come in sticks in my part of the world but a stick of butter is 4oz, US pint sizes are 4 oz smaller than UK ones as well, it’s all very confusing!

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Simple Chocolate Cupcakes (makes 20 to 24)

What

1 cup liquid such as Guinness, coca-cola, coffee or root beer
8 oz unsalted butter
3/4 cup ( unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup greek yoghurt

How

1) Preheat oven to about 220C (which is pretty much the temp my oven is stuck on!)

2) Line muffin tin with cake cases.

3) Put the butter and your chosen liquid in a saucepan and heat until the butter is melted.

4) Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth, let the mixture cool slightly.

5) Add flour, sugar, bicarb salt to a bowl and stir to blend.

6) In another large bowl, beat eggs and greek yoghurt together (this is best done with an electric whisk if you have one).

7) Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat to combine.

8) Add the flour mixture and beat on slow speed, then fold batter until completely combined.

9) Pour the batter into cake cases, fill them about 2/3 to 3/4 up and bake until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. About 15-20 minutes.

 

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Pancakes

Posted on February 17, 2015 by nicdempsey

Growing up, my family didn’t really follow the food traditions of those around us. We did not do roast dinners every Sunday because it was ‘too much work’, we didn’t eat turkey at Christmas ’cause no one really liked it and so on. Sure we had our own food traditions, just ask my brother about Dad cooking corned beef hash (it was not a success!).

The one thing we did do like every other family, was pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. In fact, it was the one time that Dad did cook successfully though I think Ma actually made the batter and washed up – this weekend we were watching a Mickey Flannagan thing and he stated that his Dad did nothing, “came in, put his money on the table, walked around in his pants” and it was funny because I know that house, I grew up in it! However Dad did make the pancakes and we ate them savoury, with mince in the middle and cheese melted on top and sweet, with banana and sugar (me) and lemon juice and sugar (everyone else).

Tonight I will be making traditional pancakes, which I’m going to fill with a vegetable and chickpea sauce and cover in cheese but you can make American style fluffy ones if the British flat ones aren’t your thing.

Other good recipes to try are this one from The Usual Saucepans and Scotch pancakes from Utterly Scrummy and the perfect crepe from Felicity Cloak in the Guardian

The only sad thing is that I can’t eat them all, right now….

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Life Happened – Work meetings from Hell

Posted on February 16, 2015 by nicdempsey

So last week was all about still not feeling well and trying to get through work.

Thursday was the hardest day of work ’cause I minuted a six hour meeting. Ugh..IMG_2766

On Friday I had a migraine, which was not lovely, fortunately it was done by Friday night and I woke up on Saturday feeling if not exactly well, still coughing and wheezing at least normal for the last couple of weeks.

On Saturday, I made cupcakes. Went to Kathy and Adam’s to reset their kitchen. Also got lots of love from the toddlers. Seriously, it’s like being a rock star!

Then to Ryan’s to see how the poor sick bunny was (yeah he is 30 but as his mother pointed out, it’s what we do!). Then shopping and housework and bed.

On Sunday, I did some food prep and chose some new glasses, had lunch with Ma and took photos of none of it!

This weeks plans are writing minutes, going to the doctors and I have friends coming to dinner on Friday. Very quiet week.

What is everyone else up to?

 

 

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Friday Links on Saturday night

Posted on February 13, 2015 by nicdempsey

Friday was cancelled because of a migraine and Saturday has been quite busy. So this is a bit late!

1) Giles Fraser on Thomas More and the human capacity for love and cruelty.

2) Dresden, bombing and the rise of Pegida. I’ve always had an ambivalent attitude to the Allied bombing on Dresden because I know that the Allies shouldn’t have done it but at the same time, I grew up in city scarred by the Blitz and I know about the bombing of other British cities. So I don’t condone it but I can understand why the Allies did it. I think it’s fascinating the way consequences play out over generations.

3) Obama says something perfectly reasonable about religion, Fox News and it’s friends go nuts. It was ever thus.

4) Why grown ups shouldn’t drink milk. Milk is the devil’s work but cheese, that’s a completely different thing..

5) Valentines Day blues or not as the case may be.

6) This is a rubbish list. I can think of 4 better ruins in Northumberland alone, and what about Middleham?

 

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Penne Rosa

Posted on February 12, 2015 by nicdempsey

One Saturday I made dinner and it was amazing, one of those dinners that is so much more than the sum of it’s parts.IMG_2758

 

It was from Back to Her Roots although of course I made some changes.

  • I didn’t use whole wheat pasta and I used rigatoni rather than penne.
  • I used cooked prawns, in fact a packet of these
  • I don’t often use raw tomatoes in anything but I do have cherry tomatoes around a lot so I used a packet of them, they weighed about 9oz
  • I used six blocks of defrosted and drained whole leaf spinach, instead of fresh
  • I didn’t weigh the mushrooms but probably used half a pack, so about 4oz
  • I made the marinara sauce. I took two tins of chopped tomatoes, a finely chopped onion, about 4 cloves of garlic and a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and cooked it down. (Obviously that made loads more than the half cup required but who can’t find a use for marinara sauce?)

Seriously folks, it’s easy and quick and my mother was impressed enough to think about cooking it herself (this is high praise indeed!)

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Coping with the cold that will not die

Posted on February 11, 2015 by nicdempsey

Anybody reading this that doesn’t know I’ve had a cold (and a cough and sore throat) for what feels like forever but has actually only about 4 weeks….but 4 weeks is long enough to be really, really fed up.

I’m in that twilight zone of not being well but not being sick enough to stay off work. So this is how I’m coping.

SleepIMG_2726Possibly because I’m so rubbish at it, sleep is my go to cure for everything. Staying asleep is hard when you have a cold and over reliance on Night Nurse is a thing. So back to sleep hygiene basics (regular waking up times and no screens half an hour before bed) and going to bed early. I’ve been in bed by 9.30pm every school night because 5 hours sleep is better than 3 and small sleeps at the weekend so I can stay awake in company. Yes, I do feel like I’m 87 instead of 41 but I’m significantly more cheerful as a pretend 87 year old, than I would be if I was trying to carry on as if I wasn’t ill and I have to confess, that isn’t much more cheerful!

Gentle ExerciseDSCF4422I’ve been trying to get my steps in and do my yoga (although I’ve stopped this week on account of not being able to bend down without wanting to faint!), I’m not advocating a 10k run but making sure I’m a little bit active is helping me feel the good kind of tired that comes from doing something and getting out in the fresh air (or as fresh as the air gets in London) and that is helping to lift my spirit because when you feel rotten there is something amazing about knowing that despite that, you got some exercise in.

Eating rightDSCF2723Comfort food is great when you’re sick and my inclination when I’m feeling this grotty is to eat lots of ‘junk’ food that doesn’t take a lot of work because cooking feels like an effort and I want something tasty and easy. So I’ve planned lots of easy food that means I can get home and eat well without too much effort. For me that’s lots of vegetable soups, dahl and extra vegetables generally. Lunches are easy to prep and eat, my standard combo of vegetables, boiled eggs, hummus and oatcakes and I’m ensuring that I drink loads of liquid and herbal teas. I do eat treat food you won’t be able to tear my daily Dark Chocolate Tunnocks Caramel Wafer from my cold, dead hands but I’m trying to fuel my body with what it needs to get better.

Vitamin SupplementsIMG_2647A daily berocca and a multi-vitamin. Are they helping? I’m still not feeling better, but every little helps!

Sinus Rinsing

At week three the biggest problem I was having were the coughing caused by the nasal drip and the ‘squeaky’ noises my draining sinuses made at night (seriously weird!), so brought out the big guns and started rinsing my sinuses out using this. The first day I did it, the noise stopped and I didn’t wake up at 4am in the morning with a coughing fit but it’s not actually stopping anything. I’m told it takes a while for this to change anything so I’ll continue.

Cough SyrupIMG_2741The NHS says that most cough syrups you can buy over the counter don’t work. My doctor says that pholcodine syrup is the only thing that works to suppress a cough but that has it’s issues so I made one. 5 tablespoons of honey (I used this one, because much as I’m told manuka honey is the thing, that stuff is expensive and this is minimally processed and tastes good), 5 tablespoons of water, the juice of a lemon. Heated and reduced, take as needed, adding ginger to this works too.

I have a doctors appointment next Monday, so for now I’ll just have to keep on with this. Everyone seems to have a version of this going around and it’s really, really boring.

 

 

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