How to feed 5 on bugger all

Ok, dinner for this evening was shoestring 'nowt left int fridge' variety. I had 3 courgettes, 1 packet of chicken breasts = 2 normal size and one obviously from a dwarf chicken, 2 onions and some potatoes. I came up with Chicken Gratin.

For the guts:
2 & half chicken breasts chopped into 1cm cubes
2 onions
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp ginger
3 springs of Rosemary
Can of tomatoes (blitzed with a hand blender)
2 glugs of red wine
1 large courgette
3 large potatoes sliced on mandolin.
1 bag of frozen stock made previously from the water I boil the veg in.
salt and pepper

Cheese sauce:
Milk, cornflour, butter and grated hard cheese.

Fry the onion until soft, add all the rest of the stuff including the frozen stock (seen here as a lump of pale beige in the middle of the pan. Boil it all until chicken cooked... about 15 mins.


Then make the cheese sauce. Bumg milk in a pan and large dollop of butter and a large pile of cornflour. Keep whisking until it thickens. Stuff makign a roux and all that shenannigans. This is much easier and you have no lumps and it tastes the ticket. Then when cooked, take off the heat and add the grated cheese whisking it in and it will thicken more and melt into the sauce.


Slice the potatoes with their skins on with a mandolin, or if you can slice potato that thin, then give it a bash with a knife. Good luck with that btw!! If using a mandolin, remove and parts of sliced finger and nails before placing in the dish.


melt some butter and grease the whole dish, sides, bottom, everything. Then layer some of the potatoes on the bottom.


dollop some of the guts ontop of the potato slices and then ladle some of the cheese sauce like you are making a lasagne. then top with potato and keep doing this for ages or until all your stuff runs out.


You end up with a layer of potato slices and just brush them over with melted butter and set aside for when you want to cook it. When you want to cook it, put it in the oven for 1 hour at 170 deg C or about gas 5.


The result. Tuck in and enjoy with home made crusty bread


A fun sized (HAHA) MSG free meal for about 8 people above. Cost... oooh about £7. Nice.

blog awards

I am really amazed that I got an award from Tina and also Barbara, thank you peeps!

I am amazed because I am the crappiest blogger right now and the baddest, fattest arsed bandster on the planet (any one want to challenge me on that? I dare ya!!)

But thank you.

So I am not quite sure wot I have to do, but I will give it a go.

Apparently, I have to place my award proudly on my page (will do that in a mo)
and then do the following.

• Thank the person who nominated you for this award
• Copy the award and post it in your blog
• Link to the blog of the person who nominated you
• Tell seven interesting things about yourself
• Nominate seven bloggers
• Post links to the blogs of your nominees

So here goes:

Tina and Barbara, THANKYOU! I must admit I have not had a read through Barbara's blog until today when I noticed she has obviously been reading mine (i did mention that I am really slack right?) so tonight I am gunna catch up on who Barbara is and give her a good reading! From the few pages I read earlier, she seems to be really determined and also very upfront about her lap band and I love all the pictures. It makes it all real. So, thank you Barbara truly! And Tina, wow, you are a good person for me to know. You give me really good advice that I don't want to take, but know I should ;-) and you comment on my blog when I write about my appalling lack of drive and commitment to my lapband and I know you want me to experience the same success as you. You are a great blogger and enjoy reading your exploits about bike riding... and btw.. if you take the saddle off it might make it lot more fun!! HAHA

So thanks to both of you. It made my day.

7 things about me? Wow.

1.) I had a past life (which i actually don't believe in!?!) or what I prefer to call an inherited memory. I remember from an early age (about 3) that I had a picnic in a field with my Mum, Dad, Aunt, Uncle and Brother and another person. My 'Mum' was not the same as my Mum today, but everyone else was the same. We pulled up in an old motor car at the side of a road on a summer day, and walked across the little back and into a field of corn. In the shade of the oak trees we spread out a picnic blanket on the corn. It was balanced on the ears of corn and my brother and I jumped on it to flatten it down. We sat, ate our picnic, and I was wearing an apron thing over a dress, petticoats and boots and I would hazard a guess that it was about 1910 or thereabouts. I had dark brown long hair (as opposed to the blonde of reality) and we were very happy. After the lunch we walked through the field and up to a large manor house in the distance. It had a red brick wall around it with a 5 bar gate. At the gate there was a working man with horses and a cart and oxen loaded with a yoke. There was a huge fountain at the front with water pouring from little urns into a big pool. The man waved us through and we ran up the path of the house. It had a pea shingle path and was crunchy under foot which I liked. We went into the big house through a small conservatory and I remember running down the big hall/corridor in the house with the sun blaring through the big windows casting little wedges of light as it came through the door and the dust motes in the air in the sunlight. We were making a big noise and laughing and I was about 8. I don't know whose house it was, but we knew them, and were acquainted with them.

When I was 16 in my English Language Examination, I had to write an entry for a magazine about a place called Waddeston Manor in Buckinghamshire. As I read about it, I knew that this was the place that I had the memory of. As it was before the internet, I couldn't google it, but finally did so in about 2001 when I thought about it again and was surprised to see it was the exact same place that I have the memory of. I grew up in Sussex about 100 miles from this place. I have absolutely no idea how I know intimate details about this place.

2.) I am a trained cobbler. Not your mister minute variety, but a proper snobber - nails in mouth glue covered fingers and high on fumes. I have not practiced my art for some years, but if you needed a pair of shoes fixing and gave me the materials, then you would be impressed. I started a job at a shoe repair shop called R. Rhodes & Son for 8 hours a week when I was 13. I got paid a fortune of £1.50 per hour which gave me £12.00 to waste on sweets, magazines and junk every week. At first I worked in the shop taking in shoes and bags to mend, selling the shoe polish and shoes and plimsolls and keeping it tidy and stuff. When it was quiet, I used to go out the back and sit on the steps to the workshop while Old Mr Rhodes (who was older than God) ripped of soles, soaked boots in the water tub, and then realized he was doing the wrong job on the wrong pair of shoes and the younger Mr. Rhodes would sigh in despair at his poor old Dad, then we would all had a good laugh about it and talk about the world and how to put it right. The smell of the glue, the leather and the new shoes is still a delight to me. Then, gradually over the 4 years I worked there he would ask me to do little bits and bobs. It started with pricing the shoe repairs, which meant I had to learn the types of leather, heels and soles and all the different things so that I could price it right. Then he would ask me to trim the threads of the stitching repairs, then it would be skiving a bit of leather for a patch, then actually sticking the patch on, or repairing a dog chewed shoe with it, then a little bit of light hammering, then ripping the old soles off, then trimming the rubber heels with a knife and then when I had been preparing for about 2 years, I finally got to finish a pair on the machine. I wasn't aware that I was being trained, or anything, and if the little bell tinkled in the shop, I had to drop what I was doing and race up the steps, through the bead curtain and serve the customer, then go straight back to the job I was doing in the workshop. I loved being there, and was so upset when I had to leave because I started college. The money was rubbish, but the chat was rich, and I would have happily paid to work there. My brother took my job when I left, also aged 13 and he now has his own cobblers shop. Funny what happens huh!

3.) I have a basic education level, will die young and live a pretty mundane menial life according to the Office of National Statistics. The hard facts: I finished school at 16, took 9 GCSE's. I was married & pregnant in my teens. Sounds pretty grim. You get the idea - I should be barefoot and pregnant living in a caravan or council house with a filthy carpet and the place should be filled with that horrible sweet/sour smell from old chip fat and fag ends, have greasy hair with 1 inch bleach blonde root growth, have several teenage spotty children with at least 2 having an ASBO, time in juvenile detention or possibly in care, smoke, drink and go down the local pub daily with my benefit money. Hilarious! Although I went to college and university I have no other qualifications that I left school with - 9 GCSE's. On paper and in statistics I am qualified for nothing. In reality I have been running my own business for 14 years and own a large detached house, have no credit cards and a live with my husband who I have been with for 15 years on April 14th, we have 1 child (without an ASBO at the moment in time, or spots!) born well into wedlock. LOL
At college I did 14 A levels over the course of 4 years and I have completed 2 years of 3 degrees. Time and unforeseen occurrence befall us all, as the good book says, and this was the case. I have no need for a degree now, and no intention of getting one as I cant be bothered, but I learned a lot through the 2 years of each one that I did complete. The first one I dropped out of as we moved house. The second I left as I broke my knee cap and had too much time off. The third one I left because DS needed home schooling. It was then that I decided I was only getting a degree for the sake of having one, but also that it would be of no real use to me seeing as I fully intend to be a housewife, full time, as soon as I humanly possibly can.
My 14 A level courses came about because I joined a course, finished a year of it, and then changed course. If I had taken these courses these days, I would now have 14 AS level qualifications. That's how they work them now. You do one year and you get half an A level, and then you top it up to a full one in the second year. As it is, I did them between the age of 17 & 23 when you had to complete the full 2 years to get recognition for any of the work you did. That's my luck all over. So in reality I am a fully functioning adult, but statistically I am a drop kick waste of space. Cool.

4.) I want to be Asian. I really REALLY want to have been born Indian. I don't know why, but I wish I could become one. I like the way they dress, I like their culture and their sense of family and community and I enjoy being with my friends Rhuta and Gagan immensely and forget that I am white. Its always very disappointing leaving them and coming back to the English me.

5.) I love the programme Home and Away. I have watched it from the very first episode which aired here in the UK on a Saturday with Sally moving into the house with the Fletcher family. I know all about it, read up in advance and the day I sit down to watch it is the highlight of my week. I record the omnibus edition on Sky+ every Saturday morning while I am at work, and then I tease myself with it all week knowing its there for me to watch, like a chocolate mud pie in the fridge, and then when I cant stand it any more, I sit and watch the whole 2 hours in one hit with a bottle of wine and various treats.

6.) I am an excellent cook. I have no idea why, or how this happened, but I realized over the past year or so that I could totally wipe the floor with people in Master Chef. I never sing my praises, but this is one time I will. I can be given 3 ingredients and told to rustle something up, and I will. It will be tasty, nutritious, and I will know what went into it, the calories and all kinds of other stuff about it without having to think very hard at all. I can eat a meal at a restaurant and come home and reproduce it exactly. Today I had nothing in the fridge apart from 1 courgette (the other two were totally gone home with mould), some chicken, potato and cheese. I managed to create a Chicken and Potato gratin. I will post the pics on the next page but I freaking astound myself! I love cooking, love making lots of it and feeding the 5000 and just wish I could have had a massive family to cook for. I have to make do with 2 lodgers though, who polish it all off with aplomb.

7.) I won a competition to design a birthday card for the Queen when I was 10. So that would have been 1986 or 1987. It was her 60th Birthday - not sure if it was her real birthday, or the official birthday, but I won it nonetheless. It was a picture of a calculator with 60 on it. really boring and the competition was run by Wimpy restaurants. I got a letter from her and a cup commemorating it.

Ok, so that was really hard and took ages to write, and now onto my blog nominations:
This is very hard, because I like looking at a lot of blogs.


I feel I want to give special mention to some bloggers close to my heart, and rather than simply just nominate them back, just give them a great shout out as they just know that they would be instant nominees...Its pretty obvious I think that these 3 would be my first 3 choices anyway, so lets funk it up a bit....
So Tina - http://tinasweight-lossjourney.blogspot.com/ you are good for my soul and you have also had bumps along the way. But unlike me, you seem to get on with it, and I wish I had your strength. I am chuffed that you read my blog and help me with a good kick in the ass now and then. I know we will be firm friends when we get together in June! We got a lot in common hun, and I am really kind of please you are going to reopen the Home Ed thing again too. And also to Cara aka The Dash - http://carasquest.blogspot.com. I know you wont mind an especial mention - another wonderful blogger who takes the time to leave comments (i am a real slacker on that) and uplifting thoughts to let you know that writing the blog is worth it because someone is reading. Knowing that someone is reading makes typing until your fingers bleed so much more worthwhile. Your journey is also inspiring and your heartaches in family life are raw and full of emotion. And Caroline, you sweet things http://lonicera53.blogspot.com/ another of my homies (as I affectionately refer to you 3) i love your blog and think its full of very interesting stuff, not just about bands, but about travel and exoticness that I long for. I appreciate your comments on my blog and how you think my posts are funny! Sometimes when I read them a year later I laugh myself too!
Thanks to all three of you, truly.

So to be a little more random and unpredictable - here are the blogs I am gonna nominate for a BB award.

1.) H @ http://wlsgastricbanding.blogspot.com/

2.) Stardustic @ http://stardusticsjourney.blogspot.com/

3.) Dizrant @ http://dizrant.blogspot.com/

4.) Shaggs @ http://daggs2shaggs.blogspot.com/

5.) Erica @ http://mylapbandblog.blogspot.com/

6.) Robyn @ http://robyn-improvinglife.blogspot.com/

7.)Dee @ http://5incisions1bandandabdy.blogspot.com/

You are all GAWJUS LAYDEEZ and I love reading your blogs. Dee is the only blogger I have met in real life and gave me some serious help one time on a damn grim choke when I didn't know how to deal with it. I thought I was gunna die. We met and had the same shifty treatment from Dr. Dovey in London. Dee and I shared a starbucks or two, and some excellent convo's before she went back to Oz. Haven't heard from her in ages, but she surfaces now and again and has also had some problems, but faced them on the nose/chin whatever unlike me who is just a sniveling wretch. Erica is a little ahead of me in the game, but we've kind of been on the journey together. She is now preggers with a band baby and that's just so cool. Shes done really well, and was a source of real encouragement to me in the early days too. Robyn is simply rockin. I enjoy her posts. Shes nearly at her 1 year bandiversary and lost 50lbs. Wowza! Star, Diz and Shaggs have been around my blog for a few years too, and I like their blogs immensely. Diz makes me die laughing at her stress busting rants. An excellent release valve, although less releases in the last year or so... Keep em coming hun! Star is really inspirational too and I like her openness and good sing song nature. Shaggs is another mayhem magnet and love her blurts and funny turns of phrase. And H, a fellow UK bandit and a relatively recent gem of a find. Absolutely lovely hunny, funny, witty, empathetic and I am absolutely over the moon glad to have made contact with her.

This took like 4 HOURS to write. OMG. You guys better just know how special you all are ok. And that goes for all the rest of my followers too. You all deserve an award just for following this poxy blog!!! HAHAHA

Hello chickens

Well I think I have finally bit the bullet and taken control of my fat carcass. I emailed this woman called Jane last night. She offers mobile fills around the UK. She had her band about 3 years ago, and also by Dr. Dillemans, has lost 6 stone and is a qualified nurse to boot.

I think I might like to see her to get some insight into my band and whats going on, whether I need to have all the fluid out and just give myself a break for a while with everything thats going on, or whether what I need is a fine tuning, or whether actually I just need a kick up the Harris to get over myself.

I feel really really cruddy right now. Its probably a case of getting over the hell of that operation, coupled with monthly hormones and also the stress of the shop fitting etc. I just feel like I need a break. Its half term here right now and I have this week off work. Its Wednesday already and I have to work on Saturday and I don't feel like I have had a rest at all!

Everytime I go to the loo I think I am going to get that excruciating pain again and I just feel like I am in the down-in-the-dumps circle of depression and misery and I actually don't want to feel like this.

I am drinking way too much wine to have any weightloss, and eating too much sweets and ice cream and just generally feeling miserable for myself, but I haven't had a blow out binge which is something I guess.

I have had a nasty few days Friday -Monday where I could not eat/drink too and it always makes me feel like I need to catch up!!! On Saturday I had a coffee before I left for work, then a coffee at a pupils and then I was feeling really rubbish, so came home. I couldn't drink another coffee and I puked some of it. I tired squash, puke, and basically everything until midnight was not going down. I managed 2 black coffees over an hour at about midnight (if I drink milk when this tight, it curdles and turns into lumps of cheese and just makes the situation worse) then I had a very wet curry sauce that I made in the evening for dinner for the family, but it was about 1/4 cup and it wasn't feeling too great.

Sunday followed the same patten. 2 coffees in the morning, a few hours later nothing going down. pukey pukey puke and in the end I just went back to bed. After a sleep I managed some liquids, and Monday was exactly the same but much more soul destroying.

We went to London on a trip. I had a coffee before we left, no probs. I had a sip of drink on the coach, and it stuck. Nothing I could do about it for an hour until we got there and I had to rush to the loo and puke it. After the tour we went to Pizza Express. Now when I heard that this was where we were going for lunch, I was just like filled with dread and disappointment. Its NEVER going to happen at pizza express. After 3 days of tightness, pizza express is the last place on the planet I wanted to be.

I tried to be good and work my band, so I ordered a coffee, olives (as they always go down) and then a weird aubergine and cheese sauce bake - nice and sloppy. Our friend on our table also ordered a bottle of red between the 4 of us. I managed 4 sips of coffee and it was full stop. I waited till the feeling passed and tried an olive. Nope. I sat there for half an hour and watched everyone heartily enjoying themselves drinking wine, eating massive pizza's and having a lovely time and I wandered off to the bogs.

It was the most disappointing feeling in the world. Not because I couldn't eat, but because I also knew I wouldn't lose any weight because of it either. I ate bog all for 4 days and lost nothing. Then I had to face the barrage of 'why cant you eat' 'is that nice?' 'why didn't you eat your dinner r u poorly?' etc etc and then the whole dissection of me having a band and how they just wished I was happy again and how they all were basically saying I should just have it removed and does it really matter about being 20 stone?

They did make a lot of sense. At that point, considering I was only 3 miles away from the Harley Street clinic where I usually have the fills, I felt like just booking in and having it all removed and just "BLOW IT".

Now, I kind of feel guilty that I have paid all this money to have the band, put my family through hell twice because of the band blowing, gone through so much during those horrible months when it was broken, lost so much money through illness with it, tried so darn hard, almost given up 35 times a week, and spent £100 a throw on 14 fills odd, and should I really give up now?

Its been 3 years guys and I don't know which way is up any more.

On a more positive note, Albert Ladysmith Steptoe has allowed me to eat anything I darn well please yesterday and today so far. So I am at full fury defcon 1, and then instantly at full stepdown and peace negotiations.

I honestly don't know if I can handle the whirlwind ups and downs of this nightmare that is my band any more. I am done with the fickleness of it.

Maybe I should have the fluid out and rest my gastric juices for a while, and then start again...

I just don't know.

Sorry guys

Too long no write. Sorry about that. Soooo much happening over here and nothing really about the lapband or weightloss... I have been the same weight since December now...

So, the operation on my bladder was NOT a success. How could I dare to think otherwise. I still have exactly the same pain as I had before, but also a nice 6 weeks of extra pain and nastiness into the mix. Only in the last week have things finally settled down so that the Detrusitol tablets actually mask the pain again. I have had a course of antibiotics which did nothing, and then because the pain was practically unbearable, they gave me Co-Amoxiclav which made me feel even worse, have diarrhoea and sickness and headaches and STILL not clear it up.

I finished those pills 2 weeks ago, and its only just starting to subside. That pain is so wearing and all consuming. You cant get away from it. 1x30mg codeine tablet does nothing 2x30mg makes me off my face and a danger to myself and the population at large. No win.

I just haven't felt like sitting at the computer typing as the pain in the nethers is just too horrible on this chair.

There has been a lot of other stress too... Good stress, and bad stress all at the same time. Between my last post and now, my husband has quit his job, taken on a lease and is opening a Jewellery shop. From scratch. *GULP*

This is excellent and horrifying at the same time. We get the keys on 1st March and then he has 4 weeks notice to serve. We open 3rd April.

The shop we have rented is a shell. Everything has to be done from scratch. Its damp and has been empty for 6 months, so we need to get some dehumidifiers in there on 1st March. Then a thorough cleanse is in order. A big clean up and vax the carpets etc. Then begins the decorating, and renovating and shop fitting. At this moment in time we know where everythings coming from... we just havent bought it yet. I cant stand the thought of the house full of stuff like desks, counters and paint and stick and all kinds of stuff.

This is a huge project and its got to be pulled off by 3rd April by muggins here. DH will be working 9-5 in his own job, and its up to me to get the other shiz done. I am pretty sure I can do it, but its really daunting cos this is for our livelihoods.

Bandwise... well it was my 3rd anniversary in lapband land yesterday. 3 years. That is actually quite unbelievable as yesterday after 2 days of not being able to eat or drink, I was seriously contemplating an emergency appointment with Wendy and having it all taken out. Funny huh!

3 years guys, and I have lost 20 lbs (not quite 1 and a half stone)

Yesterday evening I managed a coffee, then some cheese sauce (NO MSG BEFORE YOU ASK!!!) and then some sugary sweet chew bar as I was shaking like a hypo.

Today is another day. Off we go again.

I am off to London for the day today with DH and DS. should be good. Wondering wot a salad at Pizza Express will be like after the last couple of days dramas....

Feeling much more chirpy

Cheep cheep. Yes, the undercarriage is certainly on the mend, albeit taking a while. My consultant said it would possibly get worse (GULP!) before it got better, but so far it hasnt got too horrendous. All those times I thought I had cystitis, or a urine infection. Pffft! All I can say is that I think we should ALL have a copy of our medical records that we have to carry around with us because the doctors I have dealt with in my time don't seem to read them. If they had they would have recognized that every time I came in for a urine infection or dose of cystitis medicine and did one of those pee tests that I had in fact NOT GOT ONE!!!! For goodness sake. I am sure that I would be a much better doctor. I am sure in this day and age someone could bung "Urine infection results" in a search facility on our medical notes and see some kind of throw up of results. Its not rocket science is it.

So, apart from knowing categorically that I have to take control and have a thorough working quizzical knowledge of medicine for my own sanity, I am getting better DESPITE the doctor.

Thankfully the consultants in hospitals get the job done, but its getting there in the first place isn't it. I hate going to the doctor and saying "I have such and such" and then as they are getting ready to launch a few antibiotics at you, you say "I have been looking into it on the internet and I think it could be X" and they kind of sneer at you like they are god. How could you possibly know what you have as a mere mortal? What I LOVE is that I usually turn out to be right. I would take great delight in rubbing their face in it the next time I go to see them and say "Yeah, so I was right about that thing YOU SAID IT WASN'T you dumb ass". Oh how I wish I could, but obviously that's just a big fat dream. HA!

So yes, I am getting better, and hopefully it will all be sorted out once the burnt bits have healed up. And yes, I was as scared as crap about it!! I think the word cauterize and bladder in the same sentence are a tad distressing, especially when you consider where they attack it all from. *whimper* It's probably even a form of torture in some places.

Eating. Well, I have been doing a lot of that, and all nice and home cooked. I made a yummy chicken stew last night. It was a bit of a 'throw it all together' meal, but turned out absolutely yummy. I am using the pressure cooker so much as it makes the meat so tender. I had some fruity vegetable stock in the freezer - I had a load of peelings and skins from onions, carrots and cabbage etc and a few plums that were going over ripe and no one was going to eat, so I boiled them all up to make this fruity stock about a month ago.

I am amazed that I never did this before to be honest. Its so easy. Instead of throwing all your vegetable peelings out, wash them, put them all in a pan and boil them (possibly with a bit of extra veg too if you want) and then strain them to get a really nice gravy or stew stock. Its so much better than boiling up vegetables just to throw them away. A neat trick is definitely to use onion skins in the stock as that is what gives it that browny colour.

I used to just peel and throw into the garden recycling. Its actually such a waste when you think about it. It kind of sounds a bit grim - boiled peelings - but it really does make a good stock and does the job well.

So I used that fruity frozen stock, shoved in an onion, a couple of sticks of celery, 4 chopped organic chicken breasts, 1 big Bramley cooking apple and a bunch of tarragon that I found frozen in the freezer (another fave tip of mine - buy herbs when they are 10p going out of date in the supermarket and freezer them and they are absolutely as fine as fresh but about 1/8th the price!) and cooked it all in the pressure cooker. I added a bit of cornflour at the end to thicken the juice/gravy and served it with boiled potatoes, and it was scrumptious and very band friendly.

I am really enjoying eating lovely tasty food that is home cooked and even Charlotte, our 20 year old lodger, says her skin has changed and cleared up completely (I agree) and she says she feel's much more alert as she is sleeping better and happy in her soul. When we were away in France she said she really missed us and it was really noticeable about the change in the food. She said that after the 4th day she found that she got a whole heap of spots come back on her face and back. She had reverted to type and went back to eating pot noodles and processed ready meals or frozen curries and convenience foods - albeit weight watchers and supposedly healthy living varieties. Its when you do things like that that you start to notice that going MSG/additive free is actually making a big change in your life.

I talked about Sue, our other lodger, being a bit of a saboteur to all this last time. Well, I think it is a case that its showing up her cravings. She hadn't thought about it apparently, but when I mentioned it she said it was true that she was seeming to have a 'fancying' for something but she didn't know what. So she said she was going to watch it a bit more. Whether she does or not is another matter, but the evening meals are staying MSG FREE!! I told her she could take a slice of my cake (Date and ginger today) with her to work if she would rather, as suddenly she has been buying Swiss roll and brownies etc...

Its obviously making changes to people just by one meal! That is staggering. DH, DS and I are obviously just eating additive free foods now, but Sue has her own breakfast and lunch, so to have one meal making such a difference is amazing. Charlotte skips breakfast, and has soup for lunch, so her intake of MSG/additives daily is less than Sue ordinarily anyway. Sue always has a big bowl of cereal and toast with jam and then for lunch she has sandwiches, cake, crisps, yoghurt and biscuits as snacks throughout the day and also takes a gazillion medicines and vitamin supplements which are FULL of this stuff.

I would also like to point out that Sue and Charlotte are both waifs. A wisp of wind and they would both fly off over the hills. How?????

Anyway, band wise - I am conscious that I am coming up to my original 3 year band-iversary. That is truly unbelievable. I cannot believe that it was 3 years ago I did that. Last year I was around the same weight I am now, so I hope to shift a bit more each week until then and hopefully that little record of shame will be over with.

Hellooooooo

I is back!

Sorry it was a bit long... I forgot to tell you all I had to have a little operation. It was just going to be some tests under general, but ended up being a cauterizing of my bladder and other such delights which has left me with some considerable pain in my undercarriage and a nice infection too. YUM!

So, new years eve saw me at the mercy of my Urologist and his lovely Cystoscope. Can you believe that i walked into theatre and went "Oh, I forgot to take off my pants!" Now HOW did I forget that? What a moron I am. Maybe it was a little mind battle "NO DON'T DO IT TO ME" or something.

I was so freaking out about it. Talk about stressful. We got back from France the day before and so I didn't leave myself much time to prepare, which I think was a good thing, but I was dreading it all through my trip away.

Anyway, France was excellent. Considering that we couldn't be completely additive free whilst away, and I the fact that I didn't hold back on my eating at all, I was amazed today at Slimmingworld that I had actually lost half a pound!! YAY!

Thats the first time EVER that I have lost weight over any holiday. Awesome! So have been continuing immediately with no MSG/additives on my return and things are going pretty ok. The wine is also all used up now (well we had to bring SOME back didn't we!!), and so we are back to the status quo.

I must admit Sue is putting the odd spanner in the works. She bought a chicken with stuffing, sausages and bacon and syrup puddings for dinner the other day. I always cook for the family and the 2 lodgers, but being of tender loins over the weekend, DH was on duty. Taking pity on the poor bloke (or fed up with sausage(albeit organic no additive ones!!!) and mash or jacket potato and beans!) she cooked this lovely roast. However, the stuffing was full of crud, as were the sausages and bacon wraps and the puddings. She also bought tins of ambrosia rice pudding and put it in my cupboard, and some custard and biscuits. Nice thought, but MSG MSG MSG and all kinds of stuff we DON'T WANT thanks very much!!!

Its like she has suddenly developed a craving for them. She used to buy the odd thing for us all to eat, but not like this and its not like she is flush or anything. Me thinks its a bit unusual that she is suddenly buying these things now she doesn't get the MSG enriched ones on a daily basis from me! Maybe that shows up her craving/need. Interesting.

DH is now Tea Total apparently. He decided after France that after drinking he feels really lousy in the mornings and doesn't want to any more. Thats kind of interesting too. After not drinking for some weeks (ok... not many, but at least 4) I noticed a marked difference in the morning after too, and that was only after a few glasses. After drinking practically daily over the last week with our booze buys from Francais, its noticeable less... like I got used to it again!! Nightmare. So will be good to get that back out of our systems again. DH also stopped the plonk when I did, so its interesting he noticed a 'roughness' after it was reinstated. Maybe this just means we drank far too much in the first place... I don't know.

So, cooking this year started yesterday evening with a GORGEOUS dinner. I haven't dreamed up a name for it, but it was delish. I soooo wish I had taken a photo, but I didn't. These flavours might sound a bit odd, but trust me it really worked.

get a curly kale or hard greens and shred. Fry with a little oil, 1 finely chopped onion and some salt and pepper, dill and parsley and 3 cloves of grated garlic. add a few spoons of water and cover to simmer and wilt. Make sure all water is gone and set aside.

Make pastry with a lot of butter and flour and some sage. roll out into an oblong shape and spread the kale/greens mixture down the centre in a long pile. Cut up and blob blue cheese all along the cabbage mixture then over the roll with rashers of bacon. Then cut the pastry into little feathers along the edge and fold over the mixture to make it look like a strudel or en-croute. bake for 20-25 minutes and serve with roast potatoes and roasted vine ripened cheery tomatoes.

Mmmm. It was so rich and lush and delisious. The tomatoes just cut through that richness and it was gorgeous. I will make it again and photo it as it was awesome.

Bacon, Kale and Blue cheese strudel. that sounds good.

So, here we go again, another week, another load of eating, another load of msg/additive avoidance and hopefully another week of a happy fresh mind, better skin and hopefully no bladder pain!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

off to FRANCAIS

Ok, see ya soon people. Am off to the land of moules frites and pain aux chocolat.

We are hiring a little gite called La Salamandre -http://lapruneraie.co.uk/lasalamandre.aspx

Drool at will. I cant wait to get there, and thankfully eurotunnel has sorted its act out and we are ready to rock.

See ya's all in a week or so.
xxxxxxxx

6 Grand - already trashed

Dont you just love them? No, we haent been raided or burgled. This IS the sty that my son wallows in. He has no shame. He doesnt even care if his mates see what a sloven he is. I have asked his mate (pictured above) "Do you keep your bedroom tidy?" and the answer was "Yes!" and Ds confirmed it. What is it with my son? I tidy this up and its beautiful, and the NEXT DAY its back to this again. I give up

Freedom!

Great stuff! No work now until next year!! I love saying that. I start back 4th January, so 2 weeks off - YAY!

I have become addicted to farmville on facebook. Its a nightmare. I am dreaming about plants and crops and when I went to the loo at about 3:30 this morning I thought about having a quick check up on my farm!

Well, we go to France next Friday for 4 nights. Can't wait. We will be leaving here at the unearthly time of 2 in the morning on Friday to catch the Euro-tunnel to Le Francais. We should be there by 6am their time, and at the little gite by 11am. Its in Normandy so we are going to go to the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition, and also the Mont St. Michel and some other amazing castle and stuff.

We will just chill out and go for walks for the first couple of days as nothing will be open particularly. We find that some of the Turkish restaurants are open though as they don't do xmas either, but whether there is much of a 'kebab' community in Normandy, I haven't a clue. You can usually find something open though, but France is probably the hardest country to find food in over that period. Will make sure we take stuff with us!

I dont want to eat out too much really either because of the MSG, but I am not sure what its like in other countries. I certainly put on weight when I go to France or anywhere else, but that's probably because of the vast gallons of wine I drink whilst there *hick* and haven't been having much of that lately.

My skin has really cleared up I have noticed. I am not putting it down to anything as sometimes it does just look better for about a week before sprouting white pussy pimples again and red whelts. I love nothing better than a good squeeze!!

Havent had to HMS for quite some time now, and the band seems to be working ok.
Last night I made cannelloni's for the family. they were yum..

There wasn't a lot left at the end of it either! One more vanished and then I froze three.

I absolutely love this dish but it is a bit of a pain to make. You make thin pancakes (crepes) with batter made from a couple of eggs, plain flour, milk, salt and pepper. You only need them little so about 7inch round is fine. For a man with a reasonably healthy appetite, but not wanting to stuff himslef, I would say 3 pancakes. DH had 3 plus salad and he was full. He did however still manage to eat a sponge pudding with cream and also my portion too... so I guess he could have gone 4 pancakes. Up to you. DS and the 2 girls had 2 each.

So you put the pancakes cooked to one side. I made 14 for all of us.
Then you fry some mince (ground beef) in a large pan until well cooked and browning. Add 1 onion very finely chopped and 3 cloves of minced garlic. Fry it off for a while and add a little salt. I then normally add a good whack of tomato puree, but I didn't have any, so I blended some sun dried tomato's with a little water. They were fine! You could use tinned tomato but it makes it all a bit wet, and you do need a dryish meat mix or a paste. Add some dried sage right now if you like it. Yummy

Then you get each pancake and spread it with soft cheese - like philadelphia, then add a dollop of meat mix and roll them babies up. You lay them down in the tray and pack each one nice and tight to the next one to hold them all together or they all go a bit flacid.

then make a white sauce with milk, butter and flour and some black pepper. grade some hard cheese into the mix to make it a bit cheesy and then pour all over those cannelloni's. Then sprinkle more cheese on top and bake.

Serve this with a green salad and big sliced beef tomatoes and slice of onion and its awesome.

As a bandster, I managed to eat my 1 cannelloni and 2tbsp salad. I thought I could go some more, and had another one. I managed about 1/3rd of it before I was definitely full and stopped.

I then made a syrup sponge pudding, and DS and Onion went to the shop for cream. I served it up, had a mouthful, and then could not eat any more. So DH polished that off! LOL

So there you go. I am eating regular foods, but just less of them and its all home made too. I get a kick out of that.

Crazy kid

My son is a complete headcase, a bit like me. Needless to say - ITS SNOWING!

He came rushing into my office to tell me - how he knew this and was not sound asleep I still dont know.

Exploits of Cooker Girl

When DS was a little chicken of about 2 and a half, I remember him telling me during dinner "Mummy, you really are a good cooker girl". I will never forget that! So cute, I could eat the whole sentence right up!! Obviously he now knows the word chef and stuff, but what a cool title!

So here are some more of cooker girl's antics in the kitchen this merry morn. I love Branston pickle. Its fab with cheese, crackers, with sausages, mashed potato, in a sandwich, on cheese on toast (MMMMmmmm), with all salads and just basically YUM. However, the commercial brand is full of muck - that's a given. So longing for a bit of pickle in my little MSG free life, I found a recipe for it online. This is what it looks like at the start. You boil this mess for 2 hours and end up with the pure luxurious dark chutney shortly after that.

Here it is is for your enjoyment. I didn't need to pressure can this as its very high in acid with the amount of vinegar and lemon juice etc, but I did anyway! I have a canner so why not use it! LOL. Also makes sure it is really sterilized too, as I don't know how quickly I will eat my way through 8 POUNDS of this stuff!! LOL
All I can say is that the taste is absolutely amazing. Its just like Branston pickle, but kind of nicer! Apparently it will be even better in a couple of weeks. Its something that gets better with age.
Onto more cooker girl cooking. Above is something I find vaguely tactile. I kind of want to stroke its soft swellingness... rising bread in my amazing pullman tin. Its the only way to get a square loaf. It was about £5 from china, and I wish I bought 2 now as I have to keep waiting for one loaf to finish before doing another. Anyway, 3 loaves made today.
2 of the loaves cooling after baking next to my newest toy in the playhouse of Bunny aka Nigella! This is a bread slicer from the Czech Republic. Monika had one, as do most people, and I wanted one - especially as now all our bread is home grown! DH with a knife makes doorsteps with a difference... the difference being they are wafer thin one end and 3 inch thick the other side. I don't quite know how he manages do cut bread quite so badly, so this is saving me a fortune in the long run. You can buy scrappy plastic ones that don't stick down and haven't got that weight behind them, but I knew of the real deal. It fixes to the worktop and is cast friggin iron too, so its rather heavy.
Fabulous. It was from eBay for £50 which is pricey, but seeing as we are not going to the CZ rep any time soon, and they are £42 over there anyway, I thought why not!

Had my hypnotherapy yesterday. This is my 3rd proper session... we are kind of tracing back to where my need for comfort eating comes from. Its very peculiar all this stuff that comes out I must say. Yesterday I did have a memory of the situation and it was familiar to me, but the depth of it was quite horrible and I had been crying during the session, but thankfully I feel at peace afterward, and when I tried to recall the feelings I had surrounding that pain, I couldn't get hold of them... I wanted to go to it, but my mind would not go directly to those painful feelings or thoughts, which is what my therapist helped me change during the session. we replaced the feelings (after destroying them) with happy and positive thoughts and feelings and forgiveness, which sounds terribly cliched, but it wasn't. It was good.

Last week, it was of a situation that i could not remember, and was too young to have a physical memory of. My mother actually did remember the things I was talking about, which was kind of cool. Apparently, as I regressed through my past to this feeling - to do with comfort eating - I was eating black paint and being told off, and all kinds of other stuff at playschool. Really random, but it made sense. I haven't felt the need to comfort eat recently... but its early days.

With hypnosis, I think its sometime later that you realize that you haven't done 'this' or 'that' or felt 'this way' or reacted in a typical fashion and that's when you realize that things are fundamentally changing.

What is interesting is that I have a dominant Nomad personality. Now this is odd, because I really relate to the qualities - positive and negative - of a nomad type. My secondary personality is settler.. so they conflict to a certain extent.

The true type is called Charismatic Evidential Personality. I guess it tells you stuff you already knew, but can then digest and see if you can use the information to your advantage.

My major positive characteristics (of which not all will be true to me, but give an idea)according to the test are;
Enthusiastic, lively, Exuberant, Innovative, Confident, Outgoing, Uninhibited, Sometimes Outrageous, Uncomplicated, Charismatic, good image, Sometimes witty/funny, Handle change/surprises well, good mimic, Smart and/or elegant
Major negatives (again which wont all be me specific) are:
Loud, Impulsive, childish, Fickle, Tend to exaggerate, give up easily, self indulgent, thoughtless, Unreliable, Lazy, scruffy.

Overall my personality summary is:
Chances are you are a fun loving individual who can usually find a way to enjoy yourself. It is important to you, though, that there is always something 'going on' in your life because boredom can set in far too easily otherwise and you will then become restless and may even start to create some sort of upheaval just for the hell of it! You are lively and can easily carry others along on a tide of your own enthusiasm, thanks to your inspirational nature and your ability to thrust the inhibitions of others aside. You may well have an expert eye for presentation and a love of novelty. there is a need to be in some way different from the crowd, even if it means having an unusual illness! You are probably extremely smart or extremely sloppy, maybe both at different times - and revel in it either way. Under pressure, you are excellent at 'blagging' your way through. WYSIWYG -"What you see is what you get" sums you up quite well.

Skills:
Presentation, promotional situations, direct sales, entertainment, new or novel products or schemes... anything where image, persona and/or enthusiasm are important. Many actors and 'super-salespersons' fall within this group.

Avoid:
Pondering, or taking too much notice of others telling you to be cautious.

I thought this was a pretty accurate description of me. HA HA!! I honestly did. I can see me in all of this lot. But I am not scruffy, thoughtless or lazy. Those things are not me. Out of the house I am extremely smart... but randomly I hate washing my hair and hardly ever shower as I HATE it. I tell people too (revel in my weirdness)!! Everything else is me though.

I have a weird illness - lupus, I like to be different too! I have a lap band, home school, got married very young, have a random career and I don't dress like my peers in ANY way! I also have other 'oddities' that do put me in the front line for "WTF?"

I love having stuff going on in my life. I do seem to lurch from one drama to another, but not that I invent, I must admit. I would actually like a bit of an easy ride actually, so this is a little at odds with that. But I am also the queen of blag!! Musicians usually are. Obviously my musical career also falls into the exuberant jobs where enthusiasm is needed too.

So, what kind of personality are you? Do the test here:
http://www.theconsultingrooms.co.uk/index.php
Make sure you tell me!!!!!!

Another Goal + HAM SHAM!

I just thought of another set of goals...

How about Previous lowest weights, and other interesting facts Goals!! LOL I know this is really dumb but anything to get me through the next couple of years has got to be worth it! HA HA

I was 17 stone 11 when I had my appointment with the midwife for DS in 1998
I got to 16 stone 6 with my band before it broke in May 2007
I got to 15 stone 6 before the dastardly unfill in September 2008
I was 15 stone 2 when I joined slimmingworld the first time in 1996
I was 13 stone 4 when I met DH in April 1996
I was 11 stone 4 when I left school aged 16 in 1993

So those are some nice milestones to remember too.

Had a good day band wise and headspace wise yesterday. I think these goal thingys are quite fun, it means that I am kind of achieving something each week, and as a person who just cant do long term missions of weightloss, that's what I need.

Its kind of odd, losing weight. You need to focus on the bigger picture, but also the tiny picture too. Its so messed up. If I lose a pound a week, I need to think "that's 4 stone in a year" but I also need to think... "Yay! I got my 'X' goal this week"

But thinking about it, I did get thoroughly annoyed yesterday about 7pm. I was making dinner for the troops and then realized as I was idly frying the ham and onion mix for the carbonara that it had FREAKING MSG in it!!!!!!!!!! How many ingredients do you think its possible for HAM to have?? 2?? 3... 5??? Try 33!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the flesh of a pig right? Meat. Natural. comes from pigs. boiled. you eat it. Why the HELL do they shag it around with all kinds of crap?

So my innocent intentions of HOME COOKED MEAL of PASTA CARBONARA last night without knowing it contained all this dross:

Pork 75% (that means 25% NOT HAM in ham!!!)
Water
Salt
honey
dextrose *
mustard - (oil, seeds, flavours*)
wheat flour
yeast *
turmeric
colour - (Paprika extract*)
sugar
vegetable oil
paprika
natural flavourings **** ( this IS actual MS freaking G)
ginger
modified maize starch ***(70% MSG)
spirit vinegar
natural carrot extract* (wtf is that??)
shallot
lemon peel
citric acid
thickener -(xanthan gum)
stabilisers -(tri, di and polyphosphates of fatty acids*)
Pork gelatine*
antioxidants* - (sodium ascorbate)
preservative -(sodium nitrite, potassium nitrite, potassium sorbate)
dried glucose syrup*
crushed black peppercorns
herbs
caramelised sugar syrup*
milk protein**** (sodium cassienate - 70% MSG)
pepper
black treacle

* means that this is a source of MSG often up to 70% of the ingredient

this is NOT ham is it. Its something else. Its like SHAM rather than HAM. No wonder that we are all messed up royally by the food we eat. I honestly didn't think there could be anything wrong with Ham.

So after cooking it all up with a luscious sauce of Gold Top milk, flour, mustard, garlic, and egg yolks I served them it all and had bread and frigging butter. Joy.

So yesterdays food was yoghurt, bread, and cereal. grrrrrrr8! But then I guess its better than nothing which was Sunday. Found it really difficult to eat anything on sunday for some reason.

Tracking with Weightloss Achievement Charts

Its kind of cool to have lots of different ways to measure success.

I lost 2lbs this week, which is AWESOME so I was just thinking about all the little things we can set ourselves.

Slimmingworld - Got my 1 stone loss award since returning back to class in June as I was 17 stone 8 pounds when I went back to slimmingworld.

I have lost 32.5 lbs since starting my weightloss expedition which means 2.5lbs until my next goal of 35lbs lost.

I have lost 1 stone 6lbs since having my lap band fitted (20lbs)

I am only 71 lbs from my goal weight

I have nearly crashed through the 230lbs barrier weighing in at 232lbs

Hmmm, so how to lay this out.

ORANGE GOALS - Slimming world GOALS (264.5lbs at start)

1/2 stone - ACHIEVED 29th September 2009
1 stone - ACHIEVED 14th December 2009
1 & 1/2 stone - (7lbs to go!)
2 stone -
2 & 1/2 stone -
3 stone -
3 & 1/2 stone -
4 stone -
4 & 1/2 stone -
5 stone -

RED GOALS - Weightloss Expedition Goals (264.5lbs on starting)

lose 5lbs - ACHIEVED 28th June 2005
lose 10lbs - ACHIEVED 5th July 2005
lose 15lbs - ACHIEVED 12th November 2007
lose 20lbs - ACHIEVED 1st July 2008
lose 25lbs - ACHIEVED 28th September 2009
lose 30lbs - ACHIEVED 7th December 2009
lose 35lbs - (2 & 1/2 lbs to go!)
lose 40lbs
lose 45lbs
lose 50lbs
lose 55lbs
lose 60lbs
lose 65lbs
lose 70lbs
lose 75lbs
lose 80lbs
lose 85lbs
lose 90lbs
lose 95lbs
lose 100lbs


GREEN GOALS - Lap Band Goals (18 stone (252lbs) when lap banded)

5lbs lost - ACHIEVED 8th June 2009
10lbs lost - ACHIEVED 22nd June 2009
15lbs lost - ACHIEVED 21st September 2009
20lbs lost - ACHIEVED 14th DECEMBER
25lbs lost - (5 lbs to go!)
30lbs lost -
35lbs lost -
40lbs lost -
45lbs lost -
50lbs lost -
55lbs lost -
60lbs lost -
65 lbs lost -
70 lbs lost -
75 lbs lost -
80lbs lost -
85lbs lost -
90lbs lost -

YELLOW GOALS - Lowering Body Weight (252lbs at outset)
Be under 250 - ACHIEVED 12th November 2007
Be under 245 - ACHIEVED 14th January 2008
Be under 240 - ACHIEVED 28th September 2009
Be under 235 - ACHIEVED 7th December 2009
Be under 230 - (2lbs to go)
Be under 225
Be under 220
Be under 215
Be under 210
Be under 205
Be under 200
Be under 195
Be under 190
Be under 185
Be under 180
Be under 175
Be under 170

BLUE GOALS - Distance from Goal Weight
be only 70lbs from goal weight (1lb to go!)
be only 65lbs from goal weight
be only 60lbs from goal weight
be only 55lbs from goal weight
be only 50lbs from goal weight
be only 45lbs from goal weight
be only 40lbs from goal weight
be only 35lbs from goal weight
be only 30lbs from goal weight
be only 25lbs from goal weight
be only 20lbs from goal weight
be only 15lbs from goal weight
be only 10lbs from goal weight
be only 5lbs from goal weight

So from the above I have only:
1 POUND to get another BLUE Goal Weight Goal
2 POUNDS to get another YELLOW Lowering Body Weight Goal
2 &1/2 POUNDS to get another RED Weightloss Expedition Goal
5 POUNDS to get another GREEN Lap Band Goal
7 POUNDS to get another ORANGE Slimmingworld Goal

That's great! If I lose just 1 pound next week, I will have achieved one of my goals, and all the others will be closer too! I am going to label them with colours to give myself an even better idea. I will probably refer to them as

How I can can

I am trying to do low acid foods, so I can't just water bathe them, which is a bit of a pain.

I had to purchase a pressure canner. I bought a Presto one from eBay for £83 - an amazing BARGAIN as getting it from USA would be about £150 with postage and customs as you cannot buy them in the UK.

So here's how I do it:

1.) Make my tomato sauce

4 tins chopped tomato
5 cloves garlic
1 onion
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp white pepper
1 pint of vegetable stock (from vegetable cooking water or similar)
(if not canning I use 10 tbsp olive oil - pressure canning CANNOT use oil in this recipe as seals cannot be made)
Blend when cooked

2.) cook 1kg cannellini beans (small white - half size of kidney beans) in pressure cooker for 10 mins
3.) combine above in huge Vat
4.) remove hot jars from dishwasher (after hot sterilize cycle)
5.) fill jars with hot beans
6.) centre flat lid on jar and screw down bands
7.) put 3 quarts (6 pints) boiling water in my canner & insert rack for first layer of jars
7.) place jars in pressure canner - (mine fits 20 pint mason jars on 2 layers)
9.) place lid on and ignite burner with weight OFF
10.) bring canner to boil until steam is exhausting from vent hole - Vent for 10 mins
11.) place weight onto vent and bring to pressure (beans - 11psi as I am at sea level here)
12.) when pressure reached, time 'Botulinum Cook' for 90 minutes (specifically for beans) - this is because the product is dense and a heat of 125 Degrees Celsius must be reached for 3 minutes throughout entire jarred product for security.
13.) let pressure subside and then remove jars with jar lifters and set aside to cool
14.) when cool, remove bands and check seals are popped concave and sealed tight.
15.) wash bands and store leaving all jars in dark pantry cupboard until use.
16.) important to store without bands so that if botulinum toxin does grow the seals will readily break letting you know (not necessary with high acid foods/fruits and toms)

The jars I bought today that you can see in the picture are 1 piece lids and jars. They screw down and stay intact, making a hermetic seal on cooling. The important thing with these types of jars is to check for the THUNK at opening. If there is no resistance, then the seal is not intact and could be potentially dangerous.

I think its basically the same, but its a HELL of a lot cheaper than mason jars. We import those, so its immediately more expensive. The replacement lids and bands for cinch seal jars are £6.99 for 12. I bought 40 lids for £3.50 this afternoon which is more my style! HA HA

I will save my mason jars for meats and things I know will be potentially hazardous as Mason jars are the industry standard for pressure canning (hee hee, what a swot I am!), but will use the others for pickles, jams, butters etc.

So, water bathe is practically the same, but its the heat needed. My cousin from California just spent a weekend canning tuna her husband caught. How cool is that. Practically free food!

Good Timez

Oh it was so cool today. Yesterday I ordered a new mobile phone. I had needed one for some time because it was just playing up all the time, and I had absolutely no signal whatsoever in the places I go, so I changed network and ordered my new phone. Well, surprise surprise... with my new mobile phone I got a free gift to choose from. I could NOT believe the choices...

£150 cash back, or a Nintendo Wii with Wii-fit plus, or a PS3, or an XBox 360 Elite or all kinds of other stuff (I am in the UK by the way, so anyone wanting to get the same deal as me will have to also be in the UK), and I was AMAZED. Well, first I thought it was a complete con or something, but it wasnt. The only relatively non 'problem' was that the contract is for 2 years. Well, thats not a big deal for me, I havent changed my phone for 2 years anyway and it was Shit! So I am getting a new phone with 400 mins, unlimited text messages for £25 a month with a FREE XBox 360 Elite Live with the game Forza 3 racing... i was already paying £30 a month for less minutes and 200 txts... so I canceled that swine and got this!

If you want to get a similar deal http://www.mobiles.co.uk/refer.aspx?refer=cust1045074

Well, lets just say that when the post came this morning after DS had been bursting his guts waiting for it he was over the moon excited and screaming:

There is something so awesome about getting something for nothing, but also it being exactly what your child has wanted for, like, ages!!! He was so excited yesterday. We were going to get him an Xbox in the January sales and he was practically faint with expectation for that, let alone getting it now! As another little treat, DH came home from work with a brand new flat screen TV for him and a Free View ariel so that he can watch Sky TV in his bedroom and play on his new Xbox. Up until now he has been using our old crappy TV from about 10 years ago which has definitely seen better days. So he is happier than a pig in muck right now!!

Its so cool giving really unexpected gifts and I get such enjoyment out of watching him being all happy and amazed and dazzled and over the moon. He is such a grateful little boy and so deserving. He really is the most humble and loving son a mother could hope to have.

Onto me... I was gutted today when I went to an old favorite shop of mine. I read your comment, Tina, about being harder for us here, and it certainly is. It got me thinking about a shop called The Daily Bread which does all kinds of Organic stuff and I had kind of forgotten about it. Its in Cambridge so its a bit of a trek, but I went this afternoon. Well I WISH I had gone before. I could have saved myself £50 on Mason jars!!! How gutted. I bought 20 1lb jars and 20 2lb jars for £15 and 40 replacement lids for £3.50. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!
So I guess I will only use my precious Mason Ball jars for very special foods. I can get these other ones any time, and they are cheap. The only problem is that they don't have a safety button on the cap, but I guess when you open them, if they don't make that nice THUNK sound, then its no go. I could not believe I could get them there, and I had searched everywhere on the net. *Blows lips out*


Ended up spending a small fortune in The Daily Bread too. I had run out of Granola, and I thought "make my own?" so bought all the ingredients for it:

and the result:

Mmmmm. Also found my favorite honey for £2.85 per lb as opposed to £4.25 a lb if you buy it by the 1lb jar. Bargain!

Got lots of herbs, and other bits including my favorite Canadian wholemeal flour and White Manitoba flour. They make my wonderful loaves.

So a good day today, I actually don't think i have eaten anything at all today - nope, I havent. How random, not been hungry! But I am about to have braised lamb and onions with roast tatties and sugar snap peas. YUM.

Housewifery extravaganza

I have thoroughly enjoyed today. Check out my days fruitage:

2 Loaves of Bread

1 Fabulous 23 litre Presto Pressure Canner (drooooooling) ready to go!
12 Jars of Baked beans in tomato sauce ready for blast off in the wonder canner

Whilst waiting for the canner to finish (90 mins at 15psi) a batch of shortbread

12 cans of Pasteurised baked beans ready to go in the cupboard

My MSG free pantry filled with baked beans and also a couple of jars of pasta sauce.

Was a really excellent day. I spent the majority cooking, but I was enjoying it. canning isn't something you need to do all the time. 12 cans of beans will last me a month and a half, so I will do it all again then. It was my canner's first run, and she held up really well. It was quite scary, but easy, and I only had 1 can that failed to seal, so I ate it! HA HA.

the shortbread is excellent. Its really not diet friendly, but soooooo easy and nice that it would be a shame not to mention it. 4oz butter, 2 oz icing sugar and 8 oz plain flour. Cream fat and sugar, then mix in the flour. squeeze and kneed it with your hands until it sticks together in a clump (at first you think that it will NEVER stick ever, but it does). Then roll out and cut with a shape and bake at 180 degrees C for 12 to 15 mins.

Today's food has been good. I had some baked bean sauce with a slice of fresh baked bread and butter (Mmmmmmmm) and then for dinner I had savory mince in gravy with peas, carrots and roast potato. I also had 1 can of my beans. Yum.

The mince I made was not particularly appetizing to look at because there was no OXO. I fried the mince, then drained off the fat, added an onion and 1/2pt of meat stock I had made a while ago and frozen. Then I cooked it for a while. I added salt, pepper, whole grain mustard and some peas and it tasted great. I added cornflour towards the end to thicken the sauce and it was scrumptious... it just looked a bit anemic. However, that was just what it looked like! It tasted delish! How very random. It was very filling too which was good. I dry roasted the potatoes (without fat) and they were crispy and nice too. Nothing like a bit of lard though is there!! Lard does potatoes like nothing else. I love 'em. I didn't have any lard today though and I hate potatoes roasted (or more boiled) in oil. Yuk. They are always greasy.

So off to bed now.

Busted!

Yes, that's right I got a goal this week! I crashed through the elusive 30lbs down barrier today and am now 30 something lost! How did I achieve this magical feat? By going back to basics!

I have decided that as a general rule of thumb for anything I buy in a shop is:

If I dont have this ingredient in my kitchen cupboards, then I best not eat it.

This basically means that I have cut all additives and preservatives from my diet and generally got back to food basics. I am now 2 weeks into my MSG free diet and 2 weeks without quick meals, pre-packed or tins of processed foods, sauces or condiments that have anything 'suspect' and not in my own cupboard. The only two things I have found and bought that I can have are a £2.50 mayonnaise (absolutely whole ingredients which I could have made it myself if I had a kenwood chef - but don't so didn't) and a jar of mustard (also pure) that I found in the local butchers. No muck.

To be honest, both of these I could make, but its easier not to. I don't want hard work, so if I can avoid it then great.

I am eating my own bread, my own marmalade, organic butter, cheese, milk and eggs from up the road. Organic meat and vegetables bought locally, and NO SAUCE!

wine, has been an interesting connundrum. It does contain preservatives and sometimes sulphites, so you have to buy specific bottles and my favorites dont have them. Last night I found a 250ml (1 large glass!) mini bottle of Chianti at the back of the cupboard, and to my delight it didnt have crap in, so I drank it. However, it was really strong. It went to my head and if it had been a whole 750ml bottle, I would not have had another glass. I find that interesting as I really loved full bodied oaky red wine which would dry your innards out at one gulp. Obviously there must be great variations in wine, but this is interesting.

Things are going the right way, and I haven't been this weight since this time last year in fact - great news!

The band is behaving and I haven't had any puking sessions, stopped when I felt that familiar swelling feeling in the chest and just not been pushing it. Being MSG free is kind of nice because it allows me and my mind to eat absolutely anything we want, but not with that in it. Which means we are then unconsciously choosing better and healthier options because all take-away, junk, crisps, sweets, burgers, packet grills, frozen meals etc are off limits.

My usual day now is:

Breakfast - nothing but coffee & whole milk
Lunch - sice toast and butter and marmalade
dinner - meat and 3 veg plus gravy made from vegetable cooking water/home made stock
snacks - home made hummus, olives, crackerbread, lentil dhal (home made and canned), banana, yoghurt and honey, fairy cake or flapjack.

cool.

Ok , now ready to talk

Yeah, you know I was going through some stuff a few weeks back and just couldn't talk about it? It culminated in one or two of those binge out pictures remember? The last 2 weeks I have been back on track and all has been settled, and now I feel I can talk about it, and why it was so hard.

This is VERY long winded, but it will be cathartic. Don't read if you don't want to read drivel. I just couldnt bring myself to talk about it on here right then, which is weird because it always makes me feel so much better to get things off my chest. I guess I wasnt sure that I should write about it, just in case it turned out they read it or something, but dont think there is much hope of that.

To sum it up (and there was a LOT more so this is seriously edited) we found out that the neighbour we thought did the dirty on us regarding our previous garage conversion back in February, was not the culprit. It completely rocked my world when I found out who it actually was to be honest.

I found out by pure accident as their Singular Offspring was being a bit too nice - offering services free of charge and being really wheedling and it just smacked of guilt. Turns out it's because it's parent is a BEEYATCH

When we did the original conversion, which was back in February (all on the blog - pictures and all) we didn't really know that we needed certain regulations because we were already using the room as a room and not a garage. The doorway was there, and so we just made it better. We didn't give it much thought as we weren't changing the structure or anything and not being builders... how would we know. So when we received a letter from the council 6 months later asking "did we know we needed building regs" the answer was no.

To be honest, it was not too much of a problem really... after the flood in August we decided that we would get the thing done really well and nicely and get a nice window in there. What it meant was we needed to raise the cash a bit faster as obviously we now needed to get it done to building regs. What I did feel was a bit let down that someone was obviously poking their nose into our business and it had to be someone who knew about the room... and who knew about the room, and was that bothered about it, that they would actually bother to find the number and ring the council about it. I mean, for goodness sake. It wasn't hurting anyone was it. In fact the house looked exactly the same as it did before.

Anyway, once we knew we had to 'comply' to certain issues, we employed a builder and did it. We are law abiding citizens and I hated the fact that someone thought I was flouting the rules, when I was simply ignorant.

We just didnt know it was this particular neighbour. We had our suspicions, but they were NOT this one. This neighbour was very seriously ill about 3 years ago and since the incident we have literally bent over BACKWARDS to help them and their singular adult offspring. Its just them two living alone. I will refer to the informer as IT. IT is completely disabled down one side. I don't do things for people because I am going to get anything back - EVER - but I just want give you some idea of the FEW things that we have done over the years:
*Taken the Offspring to see It every other day in hospital for about 6 weeks until they passed their driving test.
*Cooked the Offspring many meals as they were working all the hours and also visiting hospitals etc.
*Helped the Offspring when the parent came home with washing, cleaning and sorting the house out before they arrived back to bedlam after being hospitalised for 6 months
*Done umpteen tesco orders for It with MY card, on MY computer, getting it delivered - and orchestrating that, as well as my own shopping, and then letting It pay me back for the shopping at their convenience "whenever you like is fine, don't stress" - so it usually got paid back a week later after the money had come out of my bank for it already.
*Applied 3 summers worth of sun screen to It's 'live' arm because their dead arm cannot reach obviously.
* SHAVED It's armpit because obviously you cant shave both armpits with one working arm.
*Sorted out It's electric stair lift whenever the power goes off
*Taken It's shower curtain down, washed it and put it back up when they thought it was dirty
*Got into It's house numerous times when they locked themselves out by accident
*Helped It with their arm braces, fixing small parts that have fallen off etc
*Done millions of things - DAILY
*Helped It pay for THEIR boundary fence because it was broken and I felt sorry for It being single and ill and alone and stuff.
*Helped It write cheques, do banking, run errands, take to Physio when Offspring was on a 4 month holiday (!) etc

When work started on the conversion proper, I hear from my lovely builders that she keeps complainign to them about - the noise, the fact there are vans on OUR drive, a Skip on OUR drive and making all kinds of nuisance.

For goodness sake, its not like she lives in a preservation area or a country park! Its my bloody drive and I am having work done. Of course there are going to be vans there, and a skip. It was only for 2 weeks! It has vans and ambulances there all the time - sometimes I have been late for work because I cant get out of my drive because of an Ambulance on IT's drive taking her out.

I try and placate the builders with coffee and tea and explain to them that IT has been very disabled and is not completely all there now and has nothing else to worry about in IT's life any more other than little insignificant things. Bless it. Should feel sorry for It (obviously am blissfully unaware its a complete bastard at the moment!).

So, my builders are tearing their hair out as the Building people are also, inexplicably, really coming down on them with all kinds of stuff that's completely unnecessary. I have a friend in the inspection trade for another country and he TOLD us we didn't need these things, and that someone was obviously making complaints and they were getting jiggly and officious. He said it would all sort itself out, and it did, but I never thought it would.

The crunch came when we were told that we needed to have a sound test on our new room. Neither our builders or a couple of builders we know, knew what the building guy was on about. Our garage is next to another.... garage. Both were uninhabitable rooms. We obviously were changing ours into a habitable room. If the party wall had been next to another habitable room, then we would need to make sure they didn't hear us singing at 2am and chatting and turning lights off etc. However, the room next door was a garage. This is not a habitable space. Its empty. We were dumbstruck.

My builder put up exactly the right stuff to drown out noise, infact Over and above the regs. He ever bought a decibel reader to check it. We did various tests with a radio on white noise and a drill going and made sure that it was reading 45 Db difference. However, it was looking more and more like we were going to have to get a professional company in to do the readings because the council were going off.

So I rang several of these sound places. They all said they would not want to do the job because it would fail. The flat roof, the fact that IT's garage door was 1 foot from the new window, the joint shared concrete floor etc. It would all have too much sound leakage for an accurate reading. So we were in a catch 22. They didn't want to do it, council said we must, regs said we didn't need to. Who the fuck was right. Face off. But WHY??????

Whatever happened, I certainly didn't want to throw £1000 away for nothing!

There was 2 ways around the situation. 1.) Get the test done, have it fail and tell them why and then hope they are satisfied and or give a solution for compromise (especially seeing as the regs don't need it anyway!!!!) 2.) As a reasonable person, and in good standing with neighbours, Ask IT if IT will refuse a sound test. Then the whole thing will be assessed on materials and (seeing as we dont need it) cleared up. It would also be better for IT to refuse a sound test... why? Because the sound technician must come into and out of IT's property many, many times, set up 100Db bass noise, block up their garage door, and test over several hours with the sound in it's garage VERY LOUD. It would have caused terrible disruption to IT, and IT is very sensitive to noise and has just had new carpets, is already finicky about stuff and precious since the disability and you cant explain stuff to IT well and IT's just a royal pain in the arse, although we try our best to be nice. Try to having a cup of tea takes IT 10 minutes to talk itself around to it.

But feeling like we should give IT the option to not have all that disruption, and maybe give us a hand so we didn't have to fork out £1000 for something that was not necessary anyway, and us knowing each other well after all - or so I thought, and still not knowing It was the protagonist in all of this, we went around there to speak to them.

The Offspring is sitting there hanging their head in shame (so that's why offspring was offering their help so much. GUILT!) as they know exactly what the parent is like and the Offspring is actually a thoroughly good sort and we get on with them well, but its the parent who has lost their mind. IT was honestly a little bit of an arsehole before, but now worse if you know what I mean.

So we sat around there and I am in tears from the stress of everything, coupled with the tests I have to go through for my kidneys and bladder and my Dad in hospital again (long story) everything like that, I just cant cope with anything else and I couldn't have stopped crying whilst sitting there - even if we had been best of mates and were just having chin wag. Telling it all again to them was too much for me, and I thought it would be easily sorted out. We have lived next to them for years and years and thought we knew them well.

I thought it would just be elimentary.

Well, IT is a complete FUCKER. Absolutely not prepared to give an inch. It complained when we said we need a sound test because we need to get into their property and put a 100Db noise in their house and test in our house for sound. They don't like that idea. The only reason we need to do this is because they complained in the first place (It told us it did!) so, shocked by this, we say then - still reeling - all they have to do is withdraw the complaint or refuse access to their house and all is fine again, but NO NO NO. Their mind is too fucked up to reason with itself. It would rather go through all that hassle for some reason.

THEN, we find out the real reason. Insane jealousy. Offspring sits with head in hands excruciatingly annoyed with the parent, and I am in tears, DH is fit to blow a blood vessel, and we could see this was a pointless waste of time and get up to leave, keeping amazingly calm - so the sound test, costing £1000 which WILL fail because of the logistics, will have to be paid. We just start to settle that fact in our hearts and also the one where, although we have helped IT so much, the one time we need IT's help, it is simply not prepared to. EVEN THOUGH this has absolutely no impact on them.

*I must stress this as otherwise it might seem unfair - The party wall is a garage wall and there is NO SOUND able to permeate into it, let alone from there into their garage. This is such a NON story that we are stunned by Its sheer viciousness and venom that it attacked with. It was honestly at war with us as we walked through IT's door. *

Then, as we decide to leave, losing £1000, but whatever... IT says "Why don't you just forget it? I mean, how are you going to pay for that test?"... I am annoyed right, and I reply "Not that it's any of your business, but my parents are helping us" and IT says "Oh! well that's nice! Lucky you having family to bail you out! We don't have any help like that! No one comes and see I am alright" And the Offspring says "Oh lets not get into that, that hasn't anything to do with anything" and IT SCREAMS at the offspring to "Shut UP!" and turns on us and says "I just want it to go back to being a garage like it used to be".

I cannot believe my ears. My tears have stopped and I reply "Well, sorry X, that ain't ever going to happen! If you think i am going to pay £6K for a conversion and then wipe my hands of it you have to be crazy!" at which point we left.

Now remember that this was not all that was said. IT was really really hideous and nasty and was totally unbending. IT didn't want us to do the sound test because it meant us coming into their home, setting up loads of equipment and making awful noise for a day, but IT didn't want us to not have the sound test either as IT apparently wanted to "make sure it was all above board"! Stupid fucker. You can't have it both ways love. Above board is already done. This is going beyond the beyond. The fact that we didn't have to have this done in the first place is just compounding the lunacy. I am not sure if you are getting this but it was honestly like the proverbial chicken and egg conundrum but with 5 parts!

1.) Don't need it done
2.) Idiot#1 from council says we do
3.) She wants it above board
4.) she doesn't want noise
5.)has to be noise if done
6.) don't need it done
7.) Idiot 1 from council says we do

and on.... and on....and on..... and... on......

The best bit - it REALLY didn't need any of it. We didn't need planning anyway, they had no hold over what we turned the garage into and it didn't need a sound test costing £1000 as it was next to an UNINHABITABLE SPACE. It's been passed and we just haven't bothered IT with that news, so IT can sit there and stew thinking that they have the upper hand until the cows come home but I have my certificate and that's all that matters. If IT ever asks about it, then I might tell IT... or I might not.

Can you imagine an armpit that can never be washed. GRIM. Well, I certainly ain't going to shave any fucking stinky armpits again!

The pure jealousy of it was so abundant, and I am left with a knowledge that IT is a deeply nasty person, even though damaged. To be outright vindictive to people who have honestly bent over backwards for you, for no good reason is totally unbelievable. When we told people they couldn't believe it.

Here is a picture of the finished article. As you can see the conversion is next to IT's garage. Why it was so annoyed or upset I cannot imagine. It neither sits in It's garage or uses it for anything at all, with 20cms of insulation It also ain't gonna hear a bomb going off in there, and thankfully we wont hear It complaining through it either!

Wonder if IT will ask for help ever again. Hope so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!