Sunday Music

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What I Ate

Because of the festival of painting last weekend, I didn’t get around to doing anything vaguely house or shopping related. The house was pretty tidy and I was mostly up to date with laundry so it wasn’t a disaster and I thought that I’d go shopping on Monday night and it would be ok.

Then I wondered what if I didn’t? The fridge seemed pretty packed with vegetables and the freezer always seems full so why not find out if I could live for the week without doing a shop. That’s what I did so instead of a menu plan for next week, I’d thought I’d show you what I ended up eating last week.

Monday night I made Rachel Roddy’s lentils.

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Which I ate with fried eggs (not pretty but very delicious!)

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Tuesday was an aubergine and olive sauce with pasta (using 2 cups of this Tomato Sauce). This did for dinner and one lunch but there was enough pasta and sauce left over so I’ve mixed it up and frozen it for a pasta bake next week.

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Wednesday was taco chilli, which I ate with cheese and greek yoghurt (my go to sub for sour cream)

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Thursday, is always make it up as you go night anyway, and this was a vegetable thing, using an onion, 3 carrots, 2 peppers, some frozen veg, chickpeas and the rest of the tomato sauce from Tuesday) which I ate with tortillas from the freezer.

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Friday I ate at Kathy and Adam’s ’cause I was babysitting.

Breakfast was yoghurt and pear honey (although there were pain au raisin on Monday and Friday!). Lunch was leftovers, lentils on Monday and Thursday, pasta thing on Wednesday and veg and chickpea stew thing on Friday.

It was useful to do and it made me think about the way I shop and eat, because this weekend is also busy, I’m not going to do a big shop this week either, I will need at some point to buy some fresh fruit and vegetables but it’s been nice to use what’s there. Next week, I have a rough plan for next week, Ma’s coming over on Saturday so I’m making lentil cottage pie, I’m going to make some soup (probably something like this) with the butternut squash in the veg basket, there’s a pasta bake, stock, meat, pizza dough and peas, sweetcorn and green beans in the freezer. I also have yoghurt, eggs and plenty of cheese in the fridge. I’ll make a loaf of bread too. I will have to do a bigger shop next weekend because the family is coming over for lunch next Sunday for Ma’s birthday, but I feel that there’s lots of food to keep me going and I’m enjoying finding out how long I can go without shopping!

 

 

 

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Friday Night Cocktail

One of the stand out drinks when we went to the Sipsmith 100 Martini Bar, was the Suffragette.20141016-105021-39021155.jpgI really liked it (and it wasn’t my drink!), but I don’t currently have any sloe gin in the house but I was keen to try it with the plum gin because it seemed like it would be good substitute.

I made it according to the original Sipsmith recipe of 25ml plum gin, 25 ml dry vermouth and 25 ml sweet vermouth.

Unfortunately, the plum gin is much lighter than the sloe and couldn’t stand up to the vermouth. So I just used more gin and less vermouth. Because of the change of ingredients and quantities, I’ve decided to give it a new name. So this week’s drink is called The Huzzah. In case you’re wondering, it’s from The Suffragette Scandal by Courtney Milan. At the beginning of the book our heroine tells the hero how to correctly pronounce the word suffragette:

“Suffragette,” she said, “is pronounced with an exclamation point at the end. Like this: ‘Huzzah! Suffragettes!'”

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWhat

30ml plum gin

10ml sweet vermouth

10ml dry vermouthOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAHow

1. Put all three ingredients in a mixing glass filled with ice.

2. Stir until well chilled.

3.Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

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Friday Links

Happy Friday! This week felt busier than it should have been but hurrah, I’m at the end of it and I get Saturday to lie in and then sort my living space out because on Sunday I’m at Oli’s birthday party and Monday Ma finally moves, so I’ll be taking furniture apart and putting it back together!

This week’s links….

1. This makes me sad. Plymouth Gin to ditch it’s geographical indication

2. Lauren Lavern on being a ‘digital immigrant’

3. This is worth watching. Britain isn’t Eating.

4. Toddlers and touch screens.

5. File this under things you didn’t know and maybe didn’t need to. Why no one can design a better speculum.

6. You’re not Type A, you’re just rude…

7. It’s a bit snowy in the US right now!

8. Whole Foods in Detroit.

9. I knew that the US taxed all of it’s citizens regardless of where they lived (it’s like my mother taught me, with privilege comes responsibility) but I didn’t know that Boris Johnson held and US passport although  I am entirely unsurprised to find that he’s a tax dodger!

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Basic Tomato Sauce

Does anyone need a recipe for tomato sauce? I’ve eaten a lot of bad tomato sauce, so I would say yes. This the sauce I use when I just want a thicker tomato sauce. Most often I just mix it in with pasta but it’s useful to have around for adding to other things, on top of a baked potato or mixed into some cooked veg to make a really quick sauce for something. Sometimes simple is good.

These two ingredients are the basis and you can add anything you like from there. I usually add a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar.

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Put in a pan and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until you have a thick sauce and use accordingly.

 

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This week, I used it to make an aubergine and olive sauce for pasta.

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Want

My life is full of things I really don’t need and really can’t afford but would like anyway. As I’ve apparently hit the difficult to buy for stage of my life i.e. I don’t think I’m hard to buy for but I do have all the essentials, there’s nothing I really need and everything I do want is expensive.  On my wish list currently is a wardrobe, kitchen chairs, a kitchen aid and a new computer. Which are all for me to buy and not anything I would ask for as a present. When asked what I’d like for birthdays or Christmas, I’m pushed to think of something to ask for because I don’t want to sound greedy and because I don’t actually need anything!

However, the world is full of lovely things and I like buying presents for other people. I’m always vaguely horrified to find that lots of people hate buying presents and can’t think of anything to buy others. I can think of loads of things, the only thing I lack is cash! Presents and the buying of them are on my mind at the moment because next Saturday is the beginning of my own personal ‘birthday season’ from now until January – Oli, Christelle, Jane, Ma, Helene and Luc, Ms T, Charles, Jo, Ryan and, Claire. Of those birthdays four, (Christelle, Charles, Ryan and Claire) are landmark birthdays. Oh yeah and there’s Christmas coming too….

So over the next couple of months, I’m going to link to stuff I have seen around and think would make a good gift, some of it I have for me, some of it I’ve been given, some of it I’ve given and some of it I’d like to give.

These boards from Oak and Rope are lovely. You can personalise them too.

If you have a foodie (who isn’t a vegetarian) in you life, then Hawksmoor At Home cookbook is a delight. It’s been well used in my house and it’s worth buying even if you only read the how to cook a steak at home properly and the cocktail section!

While I’m on a food and drink theme, I really like these glasses made out of old bottles. They’re sold by Bottles and Wood  in the US but I have quite a few IBC Rootbeer bottles at home so I might have to try my hand at this!

 

 

 

 

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Thankful

Tuesday 11 November

This is Jo’s kitchen shelf. She and I have been friends for 24 years. We’ve changed lots over that time but our friendship hasn’t. I’m thankful for that and for getting to read a bedtime story to ‘Little Miss No’ otherwise called Tabitha!

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Wednesday 12 November

An empty train at Northfields! I got to sit down all the way to Green Park and on Wednesday I was tired and the train was slow, I was so thankful for that seat!

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Thursday 13 November

Thursday was a running about sort of a day. Work was busy and frustrating, then to Ma’s and the prospect of painting. It’s tough to be thankful when your day has been eaten up by petty frustrations. When I first did ‘Thankful’, I didn’t have a job, I was worried about money all the time and I was beginning to think that no-one would ever employ me again. My world felt very narrow and scary.

Now, I go to work, which can be frustrating and tiring and eats into my reading time but I can pay my rent and the world isn’t quite so scary, so I’m thankful for that!

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Friday 14 November

Pizza at Ma’s after Day one of the painting.

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Saturday 15 November

We painted and then it was mostly done. Thankful I could do it, thankful that Ma has a secure place to live, thankful I will never have to do this again!

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Sunday 16 November

Home. To a tidy house, so I didn’t have masses to do. I am always thankful to have this place to be, to rest, to shelter and re-charge. It’s easy to take home for granted but there were times when I nearly didn’t.

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Monday 17 November

I didn’t shop over the weekend and I didn’t shop on Monday and there was still enough food in the house to make dinner. I promise that this was tasty despite how it looks in this picture. I watched this yesterday and Ma volunteers at her local foodbank. I’m thankful that I didn’t need to shop to have enough food for dinner, I’m thankful that I am one of those lucky people that can find some food in a cupboard or freezer. I have noticed this month, that more people are feeling stressed and closer to the edge, it’s a feeling that Christmas intensifies. Sometimes I feel like that, aware of how close to the edge my life is but it’s not that close. Because there is food in the cupboard and I have the ability to cook it.  20141118-091013-33013740.jpg

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Life Happened – Work, Friends and Painting

Dinner at Jo’s, where I amused myself taking photos of the things on her kitchen shelf.

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There was the unexpected joy of an empty train on the way to work.

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Coffee with Christelle.

There was painting, lots and lots of painting, if I never see a paintbrush again that’s just fine with me.

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Sunday Music

I’ve spent the weekend with Ma, painting it’s been hell. This is one of the songs we agree on.

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Food This Week – 15 to 21 November 2014

I ended up spending £57 last week, but I did buy 12 bottles of wine so I’m feeling good about that! I have wine for Christmas! I didn’t eat as much as I’d planned because I ended up at Jo’s for dinner on Tuesday. This week’s plan is based on a busy weekend and being fairly anti social for the rest of the week because it’s another busy weekend!

Saturday

Breakfast – No plan

Lunch – No plan

Dinner – No plan

I’m still at Ma’s on Saturday although plan to be home on Saturday night depending on how the painting goes. I’ll probably pick something up on the way home or eat toast!

Sunday

Breakfast – Waffles

Lunch – no plan

Dinner – Pork and spaghetti (Tina used to cook this and it’s good and I just fancied it!)

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Monday

Breakfast – Yoghurt, oats and apple honey – this is the ugliest breakfast but it’s really good for keeping the snacking at bay!

Lunch – Leftovers

Dinner – Taco chilli

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Tuesday

Breakfast – Yoghurt, oats and apple honey

Lunch – Leftovers

Dinner – Chickpea cakes. I’ve been reading some recipes, I’m going to have a play!

Wednesday

Breakfast – Yoghurt, oats and apple honey

Lunch – Leftovers

Dinner – Halloumi and lentils. I didn’t eat this last week and the halloumi is still good!

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Thursday

Breakfast – Yoghurt, oats and apple honey

Lunch – Leftovers

Dinner – No plan

Friday

Breakfast – Pain au Raisin

Lunch – Leftovers

Dinner – Friday Night Pizza

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Snacks

  • Yoghurt
  • Vegetables and dip
  • Fruit

Shopping list.

I haven’t done one yet so no list this week!

 

 

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