tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21819876537629418922024-03-12T19:03:56.630-07:00Trudie's FoodTrudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2181987653762941892.post-2136460008612805492014-07-02T03:38:00.000-07:002014-07-02T03:38:01.404-07:00End of June Feasts and Slow Cookers<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've got to go back to work! Sadly the happy interlude that is maternity leave is coming to an end. This means I won't be here to cook dinner at least three nights a week. That means S has to and he likes an easy life in the kitchen, so if it was up to hime we'd have oven chips every night. I can't let that happen, so my plan is to cook in bulk on the days I am around and leave a stash of food in the freezer. This means I need to be organised enough to get food out in the morning, but I plan the meals on a weekly basis so this is no problem.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The other thing is though that I have recently chucked away our microwave. To be honest the thought of microwaved food was making me feel uncomfortable so I had stopped using it. It was taking up space too, space that I could fill in otherways. So when I chucked out the microwave I bought a slow cooked instead. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I had a slow cooked a few years ago, but it was small and not very good. This time I did a bit of research and bought a good one with a large capacity.</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am hoping that this will also help S out. I can chuck everything in the slow cooker in the morning before I go to work and then all he will have to do is cook up some rice or pasta and serve. Well, we'll see eh.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, this week I have three slow cooker meals planned. So here is this weeks menu.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saturday - vegan chicken nuggets, chips and peas</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunday - pie, new potatoes and veg. And there was pudding gooseberry and redcurrant crumble (using allotment fruit) with vegan ice cream.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Monday - BBQ tofu, veg and rice (slow cooker)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tuesday - Stroganoff</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wednesday - Refried beans in tortillas</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thursday - Aubergine parmazano (well actually aubergine with Tesco vegan cheese)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Friday - Stew and dumplings (slow cooker).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a pretty good shop this week too. I spent £40 and somethign pence. I thought it would be much more as I bought vegan cheese, tofu, lots of fruit, Trex, veggie meat substitutes (chicken nuggets and cauliflower cheese grills) and lots of other expensive stuff.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, the slow cooker is working out well too. I can smell my refried beans now and they smell good and everyone liked the BBQ tofu, especially N who has got really fussy lately.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recipes to follow - E has just woken up! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span>Trudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2181987653762941892.post-83988000896565289682014-07-02T03:12:00.003-07:002014-07-02T03:12:57.948-07:00No Knead Sour Dough<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bread, yum yum. I know, it's a guilty pleasure, I can't wean myself off toast. But do I need to? If I can make my toast with good quality bread, then that's OK right?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The thing is bread has got expensive and most of it is squashy, steam filled, additive laden rubbish. Artisan bread is expensive and not easy to get. I like a challenge though, and so making sour dough bread has been on my to do list for a while. I did have a stab last October, but the starter didn't froth eagerly, the loaves never really rose and in the end the starter smelled of paint! I gave up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then I had another go. . .</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The big difference this time is that I've been using mineral water to get my sour dough starter going. When I looked into this last year I found posts saying not to as the minerals are too strong, but when I looked this time I saw mineral water being recommended as the chlorine in tap water can kill the yeast. Turns out that even though I was using filtered water my tap water is not conducive to growing yeast, so having overcome that hurdle I now have a lovely bubbly wild yeast culture. And despite what my web based research led me to believe, once I cracked this issue, cultivating yeast is surprisingly easy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There's lots of good (and some confusing) advice out there. My favorite resource has been <a href="http://www.breadtopia.com/make-your-own-sourdough-starter/" target="_blank">breadtopia</a>. I have broadly followed the method for a starter here. I used a mix of whole meal and rye to begin with - no discarding, just two tablespoons of flour and two of water everyday for 8 days.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My frothy starter, not as frothy as usual though as I've just reawoken it from being in the fridge.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since i've got my starter going there's been no stopping me, but my favourite method is a no knead one. I wrote about no knead bread a couple of years ago <a href="http://trudiesviews.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=no+knead" target="_blank">here</a>, but I now use a method adapted again from <a href="http://www.breadtopia.com/sourdough-no-knead-method/" target="_blank">Breadtopia. </a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My recipe is a bit more intuitive and involves a small knead. As it's a wet dough I was finding it got stuck to the bowl after proofing, but an additional little knead, a bit more flour and prove sorts that out. So here, it is.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>My method and ingredients</b> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">c. 3.5 cups of flour (I use a mixture of white, whole meal and rye) plus a bit more for dusting and kneading.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.5 tsp of salt</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">0.5 cup of starter</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2.25 cups of mineral water</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mix the flour and salt together.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Add the starter and water and mix. Add a bit more flour if it's very very wet. You should have a wetish, but cohesive dough. Might take some trial and error.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dust with flour and place in a bowl covered with cling film. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Leave to rise (ideally) somewhere warm for between 4 and 8 hours.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the dough has risen, sprinkle on a bit more flour and knead a few times until smooth (say about 30 seconds, this isn't a laborious step).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dust the bottom of the bowl with more flour and shape you loaf into a nice round shape. Place it back into the floury bowl and cover again with cling film. Put the bowl somewhere warm.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Turn on the oven and preheat to gas mark 8. Take a large oven proof pot with a lid and place in the oven. Heat it up for 30-40 minutes. At the end of this time put the bread in the pot, put the lid on and put in the oven for 30 minutes. Then remove the lid (be careful it's super hot) and bake for another 15 minutes. Voila! You have bread.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And actually, since originally drafting this post I have taken an even less rigid approach. Today I put a full cup of starter in my bowl (the starter had been in the fridge so I thought it might need a bit of extra yeast) along with 3 cups of organic white bread flour and 2 cups of water. When I mixed it it was a bit wet so<i> </i>I shook in some wholemeal flour until it was about right. I left it overnight (it wasn't particularly warm where I left it). This morning the dough was very sticky so I added more white flour until it was smooth and left it for about an hour to proove. Here is the result:</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Bread - it nearly fills the bottom of my 5L pot!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I should also say is that as I add extra flour and another proove my dough is less holey than it would otherwise be. Some people are really after the holes in sourdough, but I don't have a sour dough basket to help with handling, so I forego the holes. It still tastes good and is a good texture though.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the very best thing is, this good quality sour dough loaf costs about £1, less if I use just wholemeal and not organic flour.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Trudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2181987653762941892.post-21121995237605390832014-05-31T08:24:00.001-07:002014-06-03T14:34:20.112-07:00Salad Days<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just recently I made a pledge to myself to eat more veggies. You'd think that as a vegan I'd eat heaps of veggies, but sometimes I don't. I may have cereal or toast for breakfast, beans on toast for lunch, and then maybe only a portion or two of veg for dinner. Sure, I snack on fruit in between, but I resolved to do better on the veg front.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The answer was simple, eat salad for lunch and so for the last 8 weeks or so that's what I've done every day. And I really look forward to my daily salad, which contains a rainbow of raw veg.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I weighed my lunch a couple of times, and it averages around 450-500 grammes - roughly the equivalent of 5-6 servings. This also means I make good in roads into my 7 a day quota.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And best of all what I've realized is, is just how tasty a varied salad bowl can be. My salad rules are to include some kind of leaf, veg of a couple of colours (the more the better), something crunchy and a nice dressing. Last week I had some bean sprouts left over from dinner, so I made an chinese nspired salad, with lots of bean spouts, crunchy carrots sticks, avocado and a tahini and soya sauce dressing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also pretty much always add toasted seeds (usually a mix of sunflower, pumpkin and cumin) and I've just started making a dressing using a flax and hemp seed oil blend for added omegas. I like to have something special in the salad too, so griddled aubergine, or asparagus, avocado or toasted nuts often feature. I have also added in grains and beans if they're to hand. I'll go to my local greengrocer and have a browse to see what's in season and then chuck it in.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Three of last week's lunches, you can tell I had aubergine in!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And I plan on keeping up the healthy habit all year round. I'm looking forward to some hearty winter salads full of crunch to keep me bright and healthy later in the year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In case you want to try it here's my tahini and soya sauce dressing recipe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 tsp of dark soya sauce</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 tsp of dark tahini</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 tsp of flax and hemp seed blend oil (sesame oil, or even olive oil would work well too)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 tsp of fresh lemon juice</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Put all the ingredients in a jar, put the lid on and shake. Pour over the salad (works well if the salad is nice and crunchy).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you eat lots of salad, why not tweet it with the hashtag #saladaday and share the veggie love!</span></div>
Trudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2181987653762941892.post-52950929570385089872014-05-11T02:24:00.000-07:002014-05-11T02:24:33.203-07:00May's meals<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Menu this week (sorry didn't manage photos)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saturday (spontaneous) Barbecue</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunday Spag Bol</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Monday Lentil Flan and Salad</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tuesday Shepherd's Pie</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wednesday Sausage casserole and mash</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thursday Baked potatoes, beans and sausages</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Friday Bean casserole.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Err recipes another time I'm afraid, got to catch the wind in the washing!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Trudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2181987653762941892.post-14152531817001106072014-05-11T02:20:00.000-07:002014-05-11T02:20:05.693-07:00Organic or cheap?<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been having an internal tussle recently. Do I buy as much organic produce as I can for my family, at a greater financial cost, or do I try and save the pennies and buy the cheaper stuff? I spent a full five minutes on Friday picking up the normal brocolli and then putting it back and choosing organic and vice versa. In the end I chose the organic brocolli, it was 76p more than the normal stuff, but as I looked at E smiling at me in the trolley I knew what choice I wanted to make.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">E suffers from ezcema and I've just made the decision to upgrade his vests and sleep suits to organic cotton for the next size. This is a pricey decision, but if it helps his skin then it's a no brained. And if I want what he wears to be organic then of course what he eats should be too. The question is will it make a difference?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I used to think organic was a waste of money - pesticides are still used, so it's not really any better. However, far fewer pesticides are used and crucially organic farming practices are different. Organic matter (poo) is an important part of the cycle, soil quality is important as is rotation. Many people have attributed modern industrial farming practices as one of the reasons Somerset flooded so badly in the winter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where does this leave my budget? Well, it means food is costing me a bit more. Me and E don't drink milk, eat cheese or eggs, but N and S do and I don't want them to have the hormone filled, super dairy, GMO stuff, both for health, social and political reasons. So I buy organic, but expect them to eat a but less of it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eating less veg is not an option though. In fact, I've been eating a large and varied salad everyday for lunch for the last six weeks and upping our veggie in take all round, so our veg spending is significant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a budget busting light on the horizon though, summer is coming and seeds are a sprouting. We are very lucky to have an allotment. We've neglected a bit over the last few years, but this year it's looking good. We've got carrots, radishes, parsnips, leeks, broad beans and beetroot in now. There are redcurrants, blackcurrants, and gooseberries ripening on the bushes. In the garden we've got more radishes, rocket, mixed leaves and strawberries appearing. There are peppers, chillis, beans and courgettes germinating in pots on the window sills. Through all this we've greatly reduced our food miles, given the bees something to pollinate (we've got companion flowers too), and supplemented our organic vegan in take.</span><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1WYWcHGpE4g/U28_PxOEdxI/AAAAAAAAAOs/1WNX1QvieK4/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1WYWcHGpE4g/U28_PxOEdxI/AAAAAAAAAOs/1WNX1QvieK4/s1600/photo.JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7s4MsEfrTRE/U28_P-lxZ9I/AAAAAAAAAOs/4Omtlp01Xo8/s1600/photo-3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nOLmp7__59U/U28_P8dX-HI/AAAAAAAAAOs/wVScI-XJKKQ/s1600/photo-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nOLmp7__59U/U28_P8dX-HI/AAAAAAAAAOs/wVScI-XJKKQ/s1600/photo-2.JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition I've been making no knead bread and started a sour dough starter. Organic flour is pricey, but cheap compared to organic bread.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having said all this though I did buy the cheapest pasta and tinned tomatoes in the shop this week. It's all about compromise I guess!</span>Trudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2181987653762941892.post-21275681555322074032014-03-07T13:11:00.002-08:002014-03-07T13:11:50.018-08:00Weaning<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've sort lost track where I am. I've been away quite alot in the last fortnight, so haven't had two full weeks to report on our meals. However, the big news is that we've started weaning E. He's over 24 weeks old now, can sit up and was showing lots of interest in food. Well I say he was showing interest in food, he certainly seemed transfixed when we ate, but as he puts everything in his mouth I'm not entirely sure this counts!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We're going with baby led weaning - we did this with N too. It's messy, but fun and easy peasy and cheap. There's no need to buy specialist baby food and no need to prepare any purees. E just eats what we eat. We started Tuesday lunch time and this is what he's had so far.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tuesday - Homemade houmous on rice cakes for lunch. A few pieces of mozarella pasta and some undressed tomato and cucumber from the salad for dinner.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wednesday - banana mashed on a piece of rice cake for breakfast, avocado and a cherry tomato for lunch (I just cut a wedge of avocado off to suck straight from the skin). Some shepherd's pie (filling and mash) squidged on a rice cake, steamed carrots and a piece of frozen banana for tea</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thursday - peanut butter and banana mashed on a rice cake for breakfast. Avocado and vegan mayonaise mini sandwiches and plain home popped popcorn for lunch. Pasta in nut bolognaise sauce for dinner.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Friday - vegetarian pate on toast fingers for breakfast. Plain tofu and houmous on rice cakes followed by a piece of satsuma for lunch. Tarka dhal and rice on rice cakes and a small piece of home made onion bhaji for dinner.</span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sSacNkm952U/Uxo041Ic4HI/AAAAAAAAAKU/TQZ0Uc_wMwE/s1600/eric+eating.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sSacNkm952U/Uxo041Ic4HI/AAAAAAAAAKU/TQZ0Uc_wMwE/s1600/eric+eating.jpg" height="240" title="" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">E chasing satsuma and carrot</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span id="goog_1134588717"></span><span id="goog_1134588718"></span>Most of the food ends up smeared on the table, E's bib or on the floor, but that's ok. Milk remains the most important food a baby eats for the first year - food for fun until they're one, the saying goes. This weaning malarky is about learning about taste, texture and importantly how to chew. I read recently that when you spoon feed a baby they learn to swallow first then chew, but with baby led weaning it's the other way round and that means the baby is in control. Our daughter was a brilliant eater (well until she found sweets sometime around the age of two) and I think that's because she was allowed to control the food herself - we certainly never had any fights over food with her as a baby or refusals to eat.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Check out the <a href="http://www.babyledweaning.com/" target="_blank">baby led weaning</a> website for more info or Jill Rapsley's book on the subject.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My top tip would be don't worry about the mess and think of rice cakes, toast and celery as edible cutlery and plates. I will move on to splodges of mashed potato by themselves, but at this stage, when E is just learning and experimenting with getting the food to his mouth it helps if he has something edible to convey the food (I've already dispensed with plates as he tried to eat them too). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I never cook vegetables, potatoes or pasta in salted water, I don't add salt to mash potato either and will from now on leave it out of stews etc (I had just started adding a bit back in now N's a bit older). Salt can be added at the table for people like me who have no taste buds left. This means the whole family can eat the same foods together. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did steam extra carrots on Wednesday for dinner and saved them for a quick snack later on - this means I have cooled food handy at a moment's notice too. That's the trickiest thing really, making sure the food for E is cool enough, but as long as I serve his food first it's normally not an issue. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I made my own houmous (so I know what's in it) and E loves it, I thought I'd include the recipe.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Half a can of chick peas</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 tablespoons of tahini</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 cloves of garlic</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Juice of half a lemon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Glug of olive oil</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Water</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Put the first five ingredients in a blender or food processor and whizz. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Add enough water to reach a consistency you like.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Store in a pot</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This makes about the same as a regular supermarket tub.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Enjoy!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">n.b. sorry about the orientation of the photo - I can't seem to rotate it and make it stick and haven't got time to sort it out now. Will try and amend later.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Trudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2181987653762941892.post-40411605369877079402014-02-22T12:23:00.001-08:002014-02-22T12:23:41.532-08:00Not Quite Mozarella Pasta, Pizza and Shepherd's Pie<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So this is my first retrospective week. We went to Aldi for our weekly food shop and spent just over £32, which is a cheap week. Although the other day I was looking back at some old posts and finding this would have been an expensive week, which just shows you how much food costs have risen in the last few years, oh well!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Anyway, what did we eat:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Saturday - <a href="http://trudiesviews.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/chiaras-mozzarella-pasta-and-my-sweet.html" target="_blank">Chiara's Mozarella Pasta</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sunday - Vegan Roast Beef and Yorkshire Puddings.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Monday - Chilli (from the freezer)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tuesday - Our version of Stroganoff</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Wednesday - Homemade Pizza</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Thursday - N and S had cheesy pasta (real cheese) and I went out for a curry with friends.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Friday - Shepherd's Pie</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I have a confession though. Although I officially spent £32 on the food, I made a sneaky purchase from my weekly allowance on some vegan melting cheese called <a href="http://vegusto.co.uk/" target="_blank">Vegusto</a>. I bought a melting version (anyone who's tried knows that meltingness is not a strong point of vegan cheese) and it was expensive - a whopping £7.49. I had wanted to try a different brand I had already tried, but they didn't have that at my local health food shop. Anyway, I've worked out that I have had 11 meals (and extra snacks) from this purchase, so at just over 70p per portion that's more acceptable. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It actually tastes quite nice (also not guaranteed with vegan cheese) and melts in things reasonably well. I used it in the mozarella pasta to good effect. It didn't melt quite so well on my pizza, but it was acceptable. I would buy it again, but I still prefer Mozarisella so I'll be picking some of that up next time I see it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We also had vegan roast beef for a second Sunday running. That's because my brother works in an independent health food shop and had two free packets to give me, which he sent via my parents who came for a visit. Thanks little brother. It also gave me the chance to perfect my yorkshire puddings. I used to make lovely light yorkshire puddings, but I don't know what recipe I used, and in this case the internet isn't much help (until now where I step in). I have tweaked a traditional yorkshires recipe, which I will share with you now.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4 oz of self raising flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1 tablespoon of gram flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1 tablespoon of soya flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">pinch of salt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4 tablespoons of water</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">half a pint of soya milk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Oil for the tin</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. Put a little oil in each of he holes of a patty tin and swirl.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. Turn the oven up high (I go for gas mark 8) and preheat the oil in the tin for at least 20 minutes)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. Mix the dry ingredients together.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. Pour on the wet ingredients and give a good whisk to make sure all the flour is incorporated (I do this in a tall measuring jug).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4. Pour the mix in the patty tins and put the tin in the oven for about 20 minutes. DON'T open the oven door before this time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This I am happy to say makes pretty good vegan yorkshires puddings. I will try and add a photo some time. </span><br />
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Trudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2181987653762941892.post-39809873524808247252014-02-22T12:01:00.001-08:002014-02-22T12:01:36.160-08:00Homemade Soya YoghurtThere's a big brand soya yoghurt available in most supermarkets, but it's sweetened and thickened and isn't that nice. It's also no good for making labneh (a sort of yoghurt cottage cheese).<br />
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So instead I make my own, it's easy peasy and very cheap.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1dnGngmtuaY/UwkB0jXvLVI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/Mx1rtwLLaDY/s1600/photo(12).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1dnGngmtuaY/UwkB0jXvLVI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/Mx1rtwLLaDY/s1600/photo(12).JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a>I measure out half a litre of soya milk (I usually use organic soya milk, so that's about 50p's worth). I heat this until it boils and use a jam thermometer to measure the temperature. When the temperature reaches 40 degrees it's ready. A friend of mine without a thermometer just waits for it to cool a little and then pours it onto to her hand, when it's cool enough to hold she knows it's ready.<br />
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While I am heating the milk I fill a wide necked flask with boiling water. When my milk has reached the right temperature I stir in a couple of teablespoons of live soya yoghur, pour the boiling water out of the flask and replace with the milk mixture. I put the flask in the airing cupboard (not really neccesary, but it feels authentic) and wait overnight. The next morning I have lovely yoghurt.<br />
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I can keep a mix going like this for ages, but reknew the process with fresh yoghurt every once in a while. I use a good quality soya yoghurt from the health food shop as my starter and when I buy it, I use a couple of spponfuls, but freeze the rest in an ice cube tray to use later on.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aZBQS2QsEiU/UwkB8keo3tI/AAAAAAAAAKA/I1xm1rffxrU/s1600/photo(13).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aZBQS2QsEiU/UwkB8keo3tI/AAAAAAAAAKA/I1xm1rffxrU/s1600/photo(13).JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Homemade yoghurt, homemade granola and extra raisins</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I would like to make some coconut yoghurt, but I don't think you can use soya yoghurt to start it. I'll give it a go sometime and when I do, I'll let you know. Trudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2181987653762941892.post-67592535067372399222014-02-19T01:22:00.001-08:002014-02-19T01:22:52.349-08:00Chemical light toiletriesI've decided to make a bit of a change to how I post. I have been posting my weekly menu on a Sunday. Given that our meal plans run Saturday to Saturday so that means I can only post photos of Saturday's dinner. So I've decided to tweak things so I will post our meal plans retrospectively so I can include photos with recipes.<br />
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This means I have a week in hand, so I'm going to fill that gap with a post about chemical light/frugal toiletries. I did post about this some time ago, I having reviewed that post I see that I've gone much further now and I thought I'd share that with you.<br />
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<b>Teeth</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x0nOk0kOAPw/UwRsZSG7x-I/AAAAAAAAAI8/yl7sAy4k89w/s1600/TOOTH+POWDER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x0nOk0kOAPw/UwRsZSG7x-I/AAAAAAAAAI8/yl7sAy4k89w/s1600/TOOTH+POWDER.jpg" height="200" width="162" /></a></div>
I previously mentioned that I use a tooth powder mixture made of crushed myrhh, sage and bicarb. It's fab, cheap and most importantly fluoride free. Hmm, but isn't fluoride important for your teeth I hear you say. Well apparantly the science behind that assumption is highly flawed and in actual fact fluoride is seriously toxic and bad for you. Check out this <a href="http://drjaygordon.com/pediatricks/general/fluoride.html" target="_blank">post</a> by Dr Jay Gordon, a Californian pediatrician for more details.<br />
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The powder is definitely an aquired taste and a bit salty for N. Instead she uses a nice <a href="http://www.greenpeople.co.uk/organic-baby-toothpaste.aspx" target="_blank">fluoride free tooth paste by Green People.</a><br />
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<b>Hair</b><br />
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I had my hair cut really short about two years ago and it was the perfect opportunity to give up shampoo. Why give up shampoo? Because it's full of parabens and phthalates, I knew I wanted another baby and I wanted to cut out as many of these nasty chemicals as I could. I wasn't ready to completely give up washing my hair so instead I chose a 'no-poo' method. Basically I wash my hair with about two tablespoons of bicarb mixed with a little water to make a paste. Then I spray a diluted mix of apple cider vinegar on my hair, leave it for a few minutes and then rinse. It doesn't make me smell of vinegar, instead my hair is shny and soft and I only need to wash it once, maybe twice a week. If I blow dry my hair it gets a bit dry, but I just use a bit of coconut oil and then it's smooth and shiny again. <br />
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It takes a bit of experimentation to find what works best and I admit I'm not loving my hair at the moment. I have to tell myself though, that's my hormones rebalancing and my hair would probably dissapoint me even if I washed it with pantene at the moment.<br />
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As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago I use tea tohide my grey hairs. I've done a bit of experimentation with that and have tried coffee too, but the best mix for me is strong tea boiled up with some sage.<br />
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<b>Face</b><br />
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My initial push towards moving chemical light was a prograame on Channel 4 a few years ago called How Toxic Are You. I was really stunned by this programme and threw out most of my cosmetics as a result. To be honest I don't wear make up every day, but for days when I do I use <a href="http://www.lilylolo.co.uk/" target="_blank">Lily Lilo</a> products. <br />
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Their mineral foundation is amazing, so light! And the minerals are good for you, so it actually counts as skincare.<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5dQbjrOq_4g/UwRyFnsxsdI/AAAAAAAAAJc/nmPVlh2a2kg/s1600/OATS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5dQbjrOq_4g/UwRyFnsxsdI/AAAAAAAAAJc/nmPVlh2a2kg/s1600/OATS.jpg" height="171" width="200" /></a><br />
I haven't tried their mascara yet, but I'm going to give <a href="http://www.thankyourbody.com/all-natural-homemade-mascara/" target="_blank">making my own a go</a>, using cocoa powder. I'll let you know how it goes. Actually, this is an interesting point. At first when I tried to go chemical light I looked for new products, but increasinly I find I have what I need already in my food cupboards.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8DQqZLcNa-Y/UwRyEKn7DoI/AAAAAAAAAJU/jQWo-tyryIs/s1600/coconut+oil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8DQqZLcNa-Y/UwRyEKn7DoI/AAAAAAAAAJU/jQWo-tyryIs/s1600/coconut+oil.jpg" height="196" width="200" /></a>I also use food to wash and moisturise my face. I used ground up oats to simultaneously cleanse, exfoliate and moisturise. Amazing! If I need a bit of extra moisture or want to remove eye make-up I use coconut oil.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rU8Id6yikwc/UwR0g11XbDI/AAAAAAAAAJo/rIU8t4ECon0/s1600/deoderant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rU8Id6yikwc/UwR0g11XbDI/AAAAAAAAAJo/rIU8t4ECon0/s1600/deoderant.jpg" height="200" width="102" /></a><br />
<b>Body</b><br />
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I use olive oil soap to wash and a crystal stick deoderant. It's the most effective natural deoderant I've used. It costs about £4.50, but literally lasts years. I also use oats in the bath and ground up as a body polish.<br />
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<b>Women's stuff</b><br />
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Still being in that 'not quite back to normal' post baby phase I haven't had to think about sanitary wear again yet, but when I do I will go back to using my<a href="http://www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/cgi-local/frameset/detail/914322_Mooncup_Size_A.html" target="_blank"> mooncup.</a> Ok, so a menstrual cup sounds really weird, but probably not as weird as the normalised bleached products that I used to use. It takes a little practise, but then is much better and gives you a much better idea of what's really going on with your body. The initial outlay seems expensive, but given that two of these will probably last a woman's entire menstruating life, then they're really actually a very good deal.<br />
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<b>Kids</b><br />
<br />
N uses olive soap when she's dirty, but mainly I just use plain water, maybe with a few drops of lavender oil, in the bath for my two children. <b> </b>N has some shampoo and conditioner from the health food shop, but I just use water on E's hair. I massage E everyday with coconut oil. I use homemade wipes with water to clean his bottom and reusable nappies. The wipes are just squares cut from an old towel double zig zag sewn around the edge. Squares of fleece also work well and I'll use fleece as resuable liners when he starts on solids. The great thing about reusable wipes is that I can just check them in with the nappies when I wash them and never run out.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
So that's it basically, oats, vinegar, bicarb and coconut oild are our staples here. I also use a lot of these things for cleaning, but that's another post.<br />
<b> </b><br />
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<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F-8DQqZLcNa-Y%2FUwRyEKn7DoI%2FAAAAAAAAAJU%2FjQWo-tyryIs%2Fs1600%2Fcoconut%2Boil.jpg&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8DQqZLcNa-Y/UwRyEKn7DoI/AAAAAAAAAJU/jQWo-tyryIs/s1600/coconut+oil.jpg" -->Trudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2181987653762941892.post-29186129413054363232014-02-10T12:16:00.001-08:002014-02-14T13:30:10.678-08:00What’s the Point of a Fishless Fish Finger?This week I bought a box of Quorn fishless fish fingers. I also have a packet of Quorn ham in the fridge, veggie sausage mix in the cupboard and soya mince, veggie bacon and veggie sausages in the freezer. I know what you’re thinking, “just what sort of vegetarian is this woman”. If you are a vegetarian yourself, you might be disgusted that I am eating these processed foods which are designed to resemble meat and if you eat meat you might be wondering why if I am prepared to eat something parading itself as meat why don’t I actually eat meat itself. <br />
<br />
So, here’s my answer. I am under no illusion that my veggie sausages are anything like real sausages (having said that a fellow mum didn’t realise the sausage rolls at N’s birthday party were actually vegetarian) and I don’t care. I haven’t eaten ‘real’ meat for 25 years. I know I used to like the taste of meat (I became a vegetarian for ethical and financial reasons not for culinary ones), but I can’t actually remember what meat tastes like. I do know I don’t like the smell of meat now, so I am personally quite glad that ‘fake’ meat isn’t too close to the real thing. Fake meat does however, lend protein and variety to my diet and sometimes a welcome short cut. <br />
<br />
I do like lentils, nuts, rice and beans and curiously, if cooking for non-vegetarians these are the sort of ingredients I’ll stick too. I only very rarely and with extreme caution give them ‘fake’ meat because although I do know some meat eaters who eat vegetarian sausages and mince through choice (it tending to be lower in fat than its meat counterparts), why compete in a losing race – I can choose meatless cuisines from all over the world that were designed to be that way rather than dressing soya up in lamb’s clothing. <br />
<br />
Plus S really likes fake meat. He was a confirmed vegetarian long before we met, but he came to it at an older age than me and he’s not keen on cooking; he’d happily eat veggie burger and chips every day if I let him. I don’t, but cooking for a family’s is about compromise, so this week fishless fish fingers are on the menu.<br />
<br />
Speaking of which here is the menu this week:<br />
<br />
Saturday – Chiara’s mozzarella pasta and tomato, red onion and cucumber salad (with enough for the freezer)<br />
<br />
Sunday -Steamed suet pudding (or stuffed marrow if there are any when I go to the allotment) with roast veg (parsnips, potatoes, carrots and beetroot)<br />
<br />
Monday – Mixed pepper fajitas and guacamole<br />
<br />
Tuesday – Fishless fish fingers, chips and peas<br />
<br />
Wednesday – Veggie sausages, mash, veg and onion gravy<br />
<br />
Thursday – Baked potatoes with cheese and baked beans<br />
<br />
Friday – Pasta with (veggie) herb and meatballs<br />
<br />
Crikey, there’s a lot of comfort food in there. I suppose that’s a feature of the nights drawing in!Trudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2181987653762941892.post-41239562221457767072014-02-10T12:14:00.001-08:002014-02-14T13:31:26.369-08:00Vegan Donner Kebabs!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here’s our menu for this week</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Saturday – Suet pastry crunchy pasties with boiled potatoes
and peas</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sunday – Cheats roast beef with yorkshire puddings, roast
potatoes and veg.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Monday – Vegan donner kebabs and chips</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tuesday – Thai Green curry (from a couple of weeks ago in
the freezer)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Wednesday – Chick pea curry</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Thursday – Stroganoff</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Friday – Cashew nut teriyaki</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This week’s spend - £38, but I had vouchers for £6, giving a
grand total of just over £32.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The pasties were filled with a swede, onion, carrot, celery and red
lentil mix. I used half marg and half veggie suet to make the pastry. I made 10 pasties, so that's at least two more meals stashed in the freezer.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z58SXrHS_xI/UvkymBltvjI/AAAAAAAAAIs/j514UShNMOo/s1600/photo+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z58SXrHS_xI/UvkymBltvjI/AAAAAAAAAIs/j514UShNMOo/s1600/photo+1.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sunday and Monday’s dinners were made possible thanks to a
vegan beef roasting joint. The ingredient list for this anomaly is pretty small
and is based on wheat gluten. It’s not cheap at nearly £4.50 per joint, but my
Mum spotted these in a well known health food shop before Christmas reduced to
a £1 each, so I bought a couple and stashed them in the freezer. One joint will
do two dinners for us – a roast on Sunday and kebabs on Monday (S says the
veggie meat is quite like donner meat, but without the horror of having to eat
an unspecified meat that’s been rotating for an unspecified amount of time.
We’ll have these in pitta breads with salad and jalapenos. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I haven’t made teriyaki sauce before, but I’ve got some
fresh ginger which needs using up and still have garlic from N’s mum and dad’s
allotment, so I thought why not give it a whirl.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I’m hoping to supplement our diet with our first foraged
food of the year this week, alexanders and hairy bittercress, but more on that
another time. . . .</span></div>
Trudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2181987653762941892.post-8278761800056702622014-02-10T12:10:00.001-08:002014-02-14T13:33:05.901-08:00No Egg Cakes<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Twice in the last week I have observed Facebook statuses
which tell of baking crises during which baking is forestalled by a lack of
eggs. No eggs, no problem, I say. On one occasion I recommended a tablespoon of
vinegar for each missing egg (reacts with the bicarb in self raising flour to
produce bubbles and hence a rise – you may need to add extra bicarb if using
plain flour) and on another I promised to pass on recipes. So since the weather
outside is stormy, I’ve decided to bake a cake with N and this is a perfect
excuse to blog two of my favourite cake recipes for my eggless friend.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Both these recipes use citrus instead of vinegar, which
gives a nice flavour, but I promise you, if you use vinegar instead (as many
vegan chocolate cakes call for) you won’t taste it in the finished product.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Mum’s Lemon Cake</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is my mum’s invention and doesn’t call for any weird
ingredients like soya flour (soya milk is readily available, but you could
substitute for normal milk if you’re not concerned about being dairy free).</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">8 oz of SR flour</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2 tsp of baking powder</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3 oz of cornflour</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pinch of salt</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4 fl oz of oil (I use sunflower)</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2 fl oz of soya milk</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Rind and juice of 2 medium lemons* </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">9 fl oz of water (including the juice of the above)*</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">6 oz of caster sugar*</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*I couldn’t get unwaxed lemons so I used all lemon juice instead
and in my efforts to reduce my sugar intake I cut the sugar down to 4 oz
(futile really as I’m going to smear the cake with butter cream).</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is the easiest method ever!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Grease and line the cake tins.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Preheat the oven to c. 180 degrees or gas mark
5.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Weigh out the dry ingredients and mix.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Measure out the wet ingredients and pour into
the dry ingredients.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Mix and pour into the cake tins.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Bake for c. 30 minutes.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Cool and sandwich with lemon buttercream (I use
vegan marg) or lemon curd.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On reflection having made this cake, the cornflour makes the cake slightly chewy. Next time, as I have it in the cupboard, I'll use soya flour instead.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eUAJ9u5BKaw/UvkxutKmzzI/AAAAAAAAAIk/SRD-YCx9sWE/s1600/photo+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eUAJ9u5BKaw/UvkxutKmzzI/AAAAAAAAAIk/SRD-YCx9sWE/s1600/photo+4.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">N did the piping on this. Not bad for a 3 year old.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Coffee Cake</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is one of my best cakes. Every time I make I get lots
of requests for the recipe and I have been told by more than one person that
it’s the best coffee cake they’ve ever tasted!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">10 oz of SR flour</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2 oz of soya flour (many big supermarkets sell this, or you
can get it cheaply from your local health food shop – I’ve known people to just
substitute flour or cornflour, I haven’t tried this myself)</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">8 oz of sugar</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">8 fl oz of oil</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5 fl oz of orange juice</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5 fl oz of boiling water mixed with a heaped teaspoon of
instant coffee, then cooled.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1.5 tsp of vanilla essence.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Grease and line the cake tins.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Preheat the oven to c. 160 degrees or gas mark
4.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Sift the dry ingredients together.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Measure out the liquids and whisk.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Mix wet and dry ingredients together.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Bake for 30 minutes.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>Cool and sandwich together with coffee butter
cream and decorate with walnuts.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The consistency of the batters for these cakes will probably
be looser then you are used to. Don’t worry, it’s completely normal and will bake fine.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Give them a try and let me know what you think.</span></div>
Trudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2181987653762941892.post-29749820544419143942014-02-05T03:38:00.000-08:002014-02-14T13:34:47.698-08:00Sugar is the new tobacco!So last week Horizon was about the ills of sugar, which is something I have considered before on this blog. In truth I have a love hate relationship with sugar: I have a very sweet tooth, but I am fully aware of how bad sugar is. When I was a kid and I used to ask for sweets my Dad told me how the people who make sweets didn't like me very much and he was right. Now he commonly refers to sugar as the 'Devil's Grains'. Anyway, despite knowing all this I still struggle with suagr addiction and so does N, despite my best efforts early on.<br />
<br />
The chief offender is my well meaning Grandad. He's just so lovely, but comes from a time when you showed children love by giving them sweets. Since my maternity leave started he has literally showered us with sweets and chocolate. I've had to throw it away (although the idea of throwing food away goes against the grain we were inundated) more than once. Fortunately, I was somewhat protected by reverting to veganism, but poor N was constantly taunted by the sweets in the tin and the chocolate in the cupboard.<br />
<br />
So after the latest clear out I decided to take action and restock with healthy snacks. My (re)discovery was toddler snacks in the pharmacy aisle at the supermarket - organic sugarless snacks - brilliant, but why do food producers think that wanting to be healthy stops after 2! Not for us at least, dehydrated banana chips (as opposed to driedf and sweetened), organic maize tomato snacks and fruit juice ginger bread went into the trolley. I also saw they had oat bars, but thought I could make my own.<br />
<br />
My first attempt was recipe free and turned into extra granola ;-) So I decided to find a recipe. I'm sorry to say I can't remember where I found the recipe (so if anyone can rectify my plagiarism then please do), but this is roughly the recipe (as I can remember):<br />
<br />
3 apples grated (skin, seeds and all)<br />
300 ml of apple juice<br />
160 g of raisins (I think)<br />
30 g of seeds (I used a misture of pumpkin and sunflower)<br />
200 g (I think of oats).<br />
couple of teaspoons of cinnamon <br />
<br />
Cook the apple in the apple juice until it's cooked to a mush.<br />
Add all the other ingredients.<br />
Press into a greased 22cm dish and bake at c. gas mark 4 for about 25 minutes (keep an eye on them as I can't quite remember the timings).<br />
Leave to cool for 10 minutes then score in the tin and leave to cool.<br />
Turn out and eat!<br />
<br />
Brilliant, sugar free oaty snacks, yum.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Trudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2181987653762941892.post-5569326483792098682014-02-05T02:23:00.001-08:002014-02-14T13:35:45.763-08:00Urgh, the weather is horrible. Comfort food is called for. Plus I am still nursing a cold which followed a really horrible virus (hence no post last week).<br />
<br />
So the menu this week is as follows:<br />
<br />
Saturday - S and N had pizza and I had, erm, can't remember, but something easy, some pasta I think!<br />
Sunday - Homemade pie, mashed potato and assorted veg<br />
Monday - Tofu hash<br />
Tuesday - Tacos<br />
Wednesday - Stew and dumplings (from the freezer)<br />
Thursday - Fish fingers and chips (yes, vegan fish fingers really)<br />
Friday - Kidney bean pasta<br />
<br />
So there's a lot of soya and processed food this week, but as I said I am still nursing a cold and needing easy meals.<br />
<br />
This week I went over budget - £46 but that followed a bargain shop of £32 the week before, so it's swings and roundabouts I guess. <br />
<br />
Here's my recipe for tofu hash (I'll try and upload a pic too)<br />
<br />
1 block of tofu,<br />
3 medium potatoes<br />
2 tomatoes<br />
half a can of sweetcorn<br />
half a packet of green beans<br />
2 small onions<br />
<br />
<br />
Drain the tofu, wrap in kitchen paper and press witha heavy book on a plate.<br />
Cut the tofu into cubes and fry, drain on kitchen paper.<br />
Peel the potatoes and cut into cubes, parboil.<br />
Saute the onion and tomatoes.<br />
Add the cooked potato, it will mush up a bit.<br />
Lightly blanch the beans. <br />
Add the sweetcorn and beans.<br />
<br />
Serve.<br />
<br />
I also deglazed the pan with a bit of balsamic vinegar and put that on the side.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JqJGXdJQVcw/UvIQ5ZzXQ1I/AAAAAAAAAIU/3Xi24I3ID60/s1600/photo(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JqJGXdJQVcw/UvIQ5ZzXQ1I/AAAAAAAAAIU/3Xi24I3ID60/s1600/photo(3).JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
Hmm, I promise it was nicer than this looks. Must learn to take better food photos!<br />
<br />
<br />Trudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2181987653762941892.post-8960896032813553382014-01-19T11:39:00.000-08:002014-02-14T13:37:14.041-08:00What's in the cupboardI want to talk about store cupboard staples this week, but first I'll start with this week's menu:<br />
<br />
Saturday - Shepherd's pie (freezer) and sweetcorn<br />
<br />
Sunday - Crunchy pie (freezer), brussel sprouts, mange tout, roast potatoes and carrots<br />
<br />
Monday - Butternut squash Thai Green Curry<br />
<br />
Tuesday - Sausage, mash, peas and onion gravy (this is one of my favourite meals ever)<br />
<br />
Wednesday - Nut spaghetti bolognaise<br />
<br />
Thurdsay - Chips etc<br />
<br />
Friday - Pasta bake<br />
<br />
This week's shopping was a wee bit over at £46. <br />
<br />
I would also like to add my onion bhajis last Friday were a triumph. Here's the recipe I used.<br />
<br />
<b>Ingredients (these are approximate)</b> <br />
About a cup full of gram flour<br />
<br />
About 3/4 cup of SR flour<br />
<br />
Bit of salt<br />
<br />
2 tsps of cumin (I didn't have any ground, so I toasted some and ground it in a pestle and mortar)<br />
<br />
2 tsps of tumeric<br />
<br />
1 tsp of cayenne pepper<br />
<br />
1 tsp of garum masala<br />
<br />
Lots of sliced onion (I used 4 small onions)<br />
<br />
Enough water to make a gloopy batter <br />
<br />
Oil for frying<br />
<br />
I heated about 1 cm of oil (I used sumflower) in a frying pan until it was really hot. <br />
Meanwhile I mixed the dry ingredients together and then added the onions, mixing them about so they were coverd. I then added the water until it was a thick batter.<br />
<br />
I added desert spoon sized dollops to the pan, let them set on one side and then turned them, once or twice until browned. I then drained them on kitchen paper.<br />
<br />
These quantities of ingredients made about 15 onion bhajis. Yum!<br />
<br />
But the store cupboard, yes, that's the point of this post. . .<br />
<br />
I think having a well stocked cupboard is essential to making cheap meals. Sometimes I only need a bit of flour, or a spoonful of raisins, to make something, but if I had to buy everything I needed for every recipe it would be an onerous task shopping for all this cooking. It does make it hard for me to cost things out though. I forget what a packet of rice costs, let along diving that cost by the small amount I've used. What I do though is try and balance things out so the cupboard is always stocked with essentials and these are bought within the weekly budget.<br />
<br />
So what are the essentials? They are (in my humble opinion) as follows:<br />
<br />
Plain flour, self raising flour, gram flour and soya flour<br />
Cornflour <br />
Pasta<br />
Long grain rice<br />
Sugar (icing sugar and golden granulated as standard - I know you're meant to use caster for cakes, but I'm not a stickler for this)<br />
Vanilla essence (although I've run out of this at the moment, but I do have vanilla pods)<br />
Raisins or sultanas<br />
Cocoa powder<br />
Seeds (usually pumpkin and sunflower)<br />
Red lentils<br />
Pearl barley<br />
Dried beans and/or chick peas<br />
Other grains such as millet, quinoa, cous cous and/or bulgar wheat<br />
Sunflower oil<br />
Olive oil<br />
White wine vinegar<br />
Malt vinegar<br />
Chopped tomatoes<br />
Tomato puree<br />
Baked beans<br />
Soya sauce<br />
Yeast extract<br />
Course sea salt<br />
Pepper corns<br />
Cayenne pepper<br />
Cumin<br />
Tumeric<br />
Sage<br />
Thyme<br />
Oregano<br />
Peanut butter<br />
Vegetarian gravy granules <br />
<br />
I also have peas in the freezer, onions and potatoes and oats in the pantry.<br />
<br />
Various other bits come and go in the cupboards, other herbs and spices, stock powders, oils, vinegars and nuts, but what I have described above is my starting point. With these ingredients I can add a few other fresh things and make a meal (or even resort to what's here if needs be). So I make sure I don't run out of these things. I wonder what your staples are?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Trudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2181987653762941892.post-4146896932728683952014-01-13T02:44:00.001-08:002014-02-14T13:37:59.515-08:00Why Do I Write This BlogAs I made my random <a href="http://trudiesviews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/homemade-granola.html">granola</a> I started to wonder why I write this blog. My granola was inspired by <a href="http://agirlcalledjack.com/2014/01/09/peanut-butter-and-honey-granola-10p/">Jack Monroe's recipe</a>. Jack writes a very succesful blog which documents her frugal food journey - much more frugal than mine and more accesible (a lot of her recipes are vegetarian, but she does include meat and fish) - who really wants to hear about my weird vegan food? Jack also calls herself a writer and justifably so with a column in the Guardian and a book deal. Do I want to be a writer? Yes, of course, a little bit. It was a childhood dream and I'm sure I've got a book in me, but I know I'm not really a writer. I haven't got the skill or the patience - this blog isn't an exercise in getting noticed by publishers or honing my craft.<br />
<br />
So what's it all about then?<br />
<br />
Well, I guess a little bit of me hopes that people I don't know might stumble upon this and find out something they wanted to know. Many of my ideas for my weird vegan diet and experiments to find natural cleaning and body products come from people's blogs I found through Google searches. <br />
<br />
And it's a little bit about showing how you can eat cheaply (my food isn't the cheapest around, but less than £40 a week for 63 meals isn't bad). I know many people won't want to eat lentils, nuts and beans as often as I do, but as many of my meals substitute these things for meat, they could be reversed again.<br />
<br />
It's also about writing stuff in general for other people to read, not as a career move. I'm lucky enough that I already have a career I quite like and don't have the pressure of needing to be good at this.<br />
<br />
But most of all it's a project for me and I love project's (especially the ones that are a bit like school homework - what a geek). I can ramble on about food and turn it into a project - it doesn't hurt anyone or cost me anything. I get to have a go at blogging and when I've got some more time I look forward to looking properly at the design and maybe even do a bit of coding (I can be a super geek sometimes). So yes, it's pretty self-indulgent and I thank anyone who's reading this for indulging me, and cyber space for giving me the opportunity.<br />
<br />
So if you find this blog and find something useful on it, then I am very pleased, but if you don't, then I don't mind either, I'm still having fun writing it and thinking about it. <br />
<br />Trudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2181987653762941892.post-72683081401239711972014-01-13T02:23:00.000-08:002014-02-14T13:38:48.065-08:00Homemade GranolaI was inspired yesterday by A Girl Called Jack's<a href="http://agirlcalledjack.com/2014/01/09/peanut-butter-and-honey-granola-10p/"> peanut butter granola</a>. Brilliant. I love peanut butter too and I really like granola, but find it hard to justify eating something so sugary in the morning, so this was a great solution.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I thought I'd adapt it to suit my own needs, tastes and store cupboard. As a vegan I don't eat honey, but a mix of agave syrup and maple syrup (which I have in the cupboard) would work.<br />
<br />
So here's my recipe:<br />
<br />
oats<br />
agave syrup<br />
maple syrup<br />
coconut oil<br />
pecan nuts<br />
dessicated coconut<br />
sunflower seeds<br />
dried cherries<br />
peanut butter<br />
sultanas<br />
cinnamon<br />
<br />
I'm afraid I haven't got any measues for this, and to be honest the ingredient list just comprises what I had. You could pretty much substitute anything (except the oats, it wouldn't be granola without the oats) for what you've got. Here's how I made it.<br />
<br />
Chuck a big spoonful of peanut butter, a spoonful of coconut oil, a squeeze of agave syrup and a drizzle of maple syrup into a pan and melt together.<br />
<br />
Add in any other stuff you want (nuts, seeds, dried fruit).<br />
<br />
Add a good shaking of oats and mix.<br />
<br />
At this stage I didn't think it looked like I had enough oats, so I threw in some more. Then it looked a bit dry so I added some more peanut butter and coconut oil.<br />
<br />
Spread on a baking tray and bake in a medium oven (gas mark 6 here) until it smells cooked and looks slightly toasted.<br />
<br />
Give it a stir and put back in the oven (turn it off if you're a scatter brain like me and have other things to flit to) to dry out.<br />
<br />
Store in an air tight container.<br />
<br />
I'm guessing mine costs more than Jack's 10p a portion, due to the inclusion of stuff like coconut oil and maple syrup. To be honest though, I haven't got a clue, these were all things I already had and I only used a wee bit of each (I'm really good at eeking). I don't spend alot on food, but I do keep a stock of stuff like this.<br />
<br />
What this made me wonder is why I write this blog, so perhaps I should explain. Got to dash to do a puzzle with N, but I will explain in my <a href="http://trudiesviews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/why-do-i-write-this-blog.html">next post</a> and I'll put up a pic of the granola.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Trudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2181987653762941892.post-52620371924903544672014-01-12T06:49:00.002-08:002014-02-14T13:39:57.856-08:00The Wonderous Properties of Tea<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Our menu this week started with sausage kebabs. N requested
kebabs after watching ‘I Can Cook’, so how could I refuse. I cut up the veg and N
and I threaded the kebabs together. I made my own version of a barbecue glaze
and we had a very nice dinner thank you.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I also experimented with store cupboard stables as beauty products again.
Currently, bicarb, vinegar and oats are all featured in my toilet bag, but now
I’ve also added tea – to dye my hair! I use the no-poo method of washing my
hair and so I didn’t want to ruin that regime with chemical hair dye, but I’ve
just had a fringe cut in and now a few straggly grey hairs loom on my forehead.
So after a quick google around I decided tea would be just the thing. And it
worked. OK, so I know there are still grey hairs there, but they are far less
visible and from what I can gather, regular use of tea as a treatment works
best. In fact, mix in a bit of sage and it works even better. All I did was
brew up some really strong tea and rinse my hair in it after I washed it. I
left this rinse in and let me hair dry. Brilliant.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Anyway, here’s this week’s menu.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Saturday – Veggie Sausage kebabs with rice and salad</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sunday – Nut roast (freezer) with roast parsnips, carrots,
sprouts and green beans</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Monday – Vegetable and bean stew and dumplings</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tuesday – Vegetable chilli and rice</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Wednesday – Cauliflower cheese grills (S)/Bean burger (me
and N) and chips</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thursday – Stroganoff</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Friday – Tarka Dhal
and homemade onion bhajis.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Shopping bill - £37.55</div>
Trudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2181987653762941892.post-58517988790632619402014-01-05T04:10:00.000-08:002014-02-14T13:40:39.657-08:00I'm back!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">OK, I’m
back. I’ve been away for a year and a half (busy finishing my thesis and having
babies, well, a baby), but I’m ready to start blogging again.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, lots of
changes here. I got pregnant, lapsed into eating dairy again. My son was born,
I returned to the fold of veganism, finally had my thesis approved (and so got
the green light to restart my life) and most importantly for this blog, upped
my food budget from £30 to £35 then £40 (prices have gone up and I’m trying to
eat more organic food). </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So there it
is. My new purpose is to feed my family of four on £40 a week or less eating
mainly vegan food (completely vegan for me, vegetarian for N and S and
eventually E when he starts eating). I would like to add to that an aim to eat
more foraged food. I had this as a New Year’s resolution, but pregnancy and
aversion to eating vegetables (weird, I know) meant I had to delay my resolve.
However, I plan to give foraging a go again this year. I also hope to grow a
bit more at the allotment too. It was brilliant summer last year, but being
hugely pregnant and extremely tired impeded my efforts, Hmm, we’ll see how
practical this is with two small kiddiwinks!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So this week
I spent £32.94 on food (but I’ll need to spend a little more when I top up with
bread and fruit). I even managed to replenish my dried beans and seed stores. Fortunately,
I didn’t have a big things to buy (like washing powder). I bought value range
chopped tomatoes and soya milk instead of organic this week (in an effort to
spend less following the excesses of Christmas), I’ve still got lots left from
Christmas ( e.g. brussels on the brussel tree and cheese), stored apples and
leeks in the garden. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This is our
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Saturday –
Cashew nut stir fry</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sunday –
Vegetable cobbler (from the freezer)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Monday – Red
lentil flan</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Tuesday –
Veggie burger and chips</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Wednesday –
Nut spag bol</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thurdsay –
Shepherd’s pie (freezer)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Friday- -
Bean and tomato casserole</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Here’s the
recipes for my stir fry and nut spag bol</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Cashew nut
stir fry</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ingredients</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">c. 125g of
cashew nuts</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Half a red
pepper</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Half a green
pepper</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2 sticks of
celery</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1 onion
(sliced)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2 carrots
(cut in battons)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">6 brussel
sprouts (sliced)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Rice or
noodles</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Tbsp of
tomato puree</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2 tbsp of
vinegar</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I cup of
pineapple juice</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">3 tbsp of
soya sauce</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2 tbsp of
cornflour</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mix the vinegar, soya sauce, tomato puree
and pineapple juice in a small saucepan. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Use a little of the liquid to slacken
the cornflour in a bowl. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Add the cornflour to the saucepan,
mix thoroughly and heat until thickened</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Toast the cashew nuts in a dry pan
and set aside.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Heat a little oil and stir fry the
veggies (I’ve used the combination above, because that’s what I had but you
could vary them).</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Boil the kettle and cook the noodles
or rice.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Add the sauce to the veggies when the
rice or noodles are cooked. Serve the veggies over the rice or noodles.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Nut Spag Bol
(thanks Mum, this is her recipe)</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ingredients</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Spaghetti</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1 tin of
chopped tomatoes</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1 onion,
chopped</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Half a
pepper</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1 stick of
celery</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1 carrot,
grated</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2 cloves of
garlic, crushed</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1 tbsp of
tomato puree</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Herbs (I
used dried basic and oregano)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Half a
packet of chopped nuts</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Boil the kettle and cook the
spaghetti.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sauté the onions, garlic, celery,
pepper and grated carrot.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato
puree and herbs.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Season with salt and pepper, reduce a
little</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Drain the pasta</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Add the chopped nuts to the sauce and
serve.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">N and S have
their with a sprinkle of cheese. I have a sprinkle of nutritional yeast flakes
and fresh parsley.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Enjoy!</span></div>
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Trudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2181987653762941892.post-82511121380318388112012-06-07T13:52:00.000-07:002012-06-07T13:52:36.339-07:00This Week (Saturday June 2nd - Friday 8th June)<b>Saturday</b> - Coconut and chick pea curry (my own invention, basically just cumin, tumeric, onions, chickpeas, carrots, mange tout, baby corns, water and creamed coconut. Yum
<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>Sunday</b> - Onion and oat savoury steamed pudding, mashed swede, broccoli, savoy cabbage and gravy. Rhubarb crumble and soya custard<br />
<br />
<b>Monday</b> - Vegan aubergine parmazano, red onion, cucumber and tomato salad and bread for dipping
<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>Tuesday</b> - Cashew nut stirfry and egg fried rice
<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>Wednesday</b> - Millet casserole, peas and sweetcorn
<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>Thursday</b> - spag bol
<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>Friday</b> - Veggie stew and dumplings.Trudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2181987653762941892.post-72526941638311383452012-03-23T16:31:00.000-07:002014-02-14T13:57:18.703-08:00A Tribute To My Nan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jbbJFM8eUNI/T2z_F7TndrI/AAAAAAAAAEo/iFinYP_u6jM/s1600/nan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jbbJFM8eUNI/T2z_F7TndrI/AAAAAAAAAEo/iFinYP_u6jM/s320/nan.jpg" height="298" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
My Nan, along with my Mum taught me to cook and in fact (sorry Mum) it's standing next to my Nan and her stock phrases which stand out in my mind when I think of my early cooking experiences. She was a key inspiration for this blog. She sadly passed away on 23rd February this year and I miss her so much it actually physically hurts. <br />
<br />
But she lives on in my memories and my heart and is there with me everytime I bake a cake or make the dinner and so it's fitting that I dedicate this post to her.<br />
<br />
My Nan had five children and nine grandchildren who were comforted by her clever and satisfying home cooking. In fact, at her funeral, her last day holiday hash even got a mention. Nan and Granddad didn't have much money when my Mum and her brothers and sisters were growing up, but they never missed a meal - largely due to my Nan's skill at frugal cooking. Both my Nan and my Granddad prioritised food. Offering guests something to eat was fundamental to welcoming someone into their home, to the point that if you decline my granddad will keep offering a range of tasty morsels until he finds something that suits (and if you're not hungry that's no excuse). <br />
<br />
My Nan's mother was a cook and she passed her secrets on to my Nan and in turn they were passed on to me. My apprenticeship including cakes (fruit and sponge), souffles, quiches, how to make a basic roux (and from there a white sauce and a whole host of other dishes) and even on one occasion rainbow trout (I didn't like it). I was a vegetarian (well pescatarian until the age of 15 when I finally declared no more fish after a 14 day fish diet instigated by my Granddad to help me with my exams - brain food don't you know) from an early age and this was unquestioningly accomodated by my Nan. It was a common Saturday ritual to discuss what I wanted for dinner and then have my Nan help me cook it. My favourites were cauliflower cheese and vegetable lasagne (that basic roux came in so handy). I can hear Nan's voice now, "As my Mother said, gentle persuasion is the key Trudie". This gentle guidance was given in response to my over zealous mixing which splattered the walls and surfaces with molten cheese sauce.<br />
<br />
We never used a recipe and apart from cakes I don't remember doing much measuring. It was all stored in our heads having been orally transmitted from my Nan to me. I'll let you in to the secret of the white sauce later.<br />
<br />
I suppose my training started even before I could reach the cooker when I come to think about it. My early memories involve standing with my elder cousin and a play rolling pin in my Nan and Granddad's conservatory or shaking milk in a jar to make butter (rancid after a day of shaking by little hands on a sunny day).<br />
<br />
And before I give you my family method for a white sauce, there's one more tip. "Use the heat of your hand". This is invaluable when creaming butter and sugar when making cakes ;-)<br />
<br />
Nan's white sauce:<br />
<br />
A large dollop of butter (or marg if that's what you have or are sticking to the dairy free thing)<br />
Plain flour (although if I've only got self-raising I'll use this instead)<br />
Milk (or milk and water, or soya milk - my preference)<br />
Salt and pepper (and now I tend to add a bay leave too)<br />
<br />
First slowly melt the fat. <br />
Turn the heat down a bit. <br />
Shake in flour and stir until you've got a smooth lump (this is a roux). You can probably look up the flour to fat ratio, I do it by eye.<br />
Slowly add the milk stirring, stirring (remember gentle persuasion) so it's smooth.<br />
Don't worry if you get lumps, you can beat them out with a whisk and usually I abandon the wooden spoon and move over to a whisk at this point as a matter of course.<br />
Keep adding liquid until you get the right consistency (e.g. the thickness you like).<br />
Season.<br />
If I'm making a cheese sauce (either using actual cheese or nutritional yeast flakes for the vegan option) I'll make the white sauce a bit thinner than I like because the cheesy stuff will thicken it up. <br />
<br />
So here's to you Nan. I've already had N on a chair next to me in the kitchen and I promise to cook with her, teach her your recipes, methods and phrases and above all to remember the love you put into food and me.Trudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2181987653762941892.post-53752293456219523172012-02-07T11:15:00.000-08:002014-02-14T13:58:41.363-08:00Dairy free and sugar liteMy youngest brother gave up sugar a couple of years ago and I don't mean sugar in tea. He just literally gave up all sugar. No more sweets, no more chocolate, no commercially produced bread (yes bread contains sugar), no tomato sauce. The list goes on. He gave it up partly to control his weight and partly to stave off tooth decay. <br />
<br />
He did continue to eat honey and fructose, so my Mum would make him 'special cakes' made with fruit sugar, but recently he's gone even more hardcore. Sugar substitutes are out now too. That means his diet is essentially savoury and unprocessed. <br />
<br />
He's also recently given up dairy and is a committed vegetarian. I have to say his will power is stunning!<br />
<br />
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<br />
Now I like sugar. Not on my cereal or in tea, but I like sweets and cakes. A bit too much. Just before Christmas I realised sugary treats had ceased to become treats and were a daily addiction. I don't like that sort of feeling of powerlessness and my trousers were feeling tight. Sugar had to go. My resolve was increased when I did a life expectancy test (motivated by a programme on Radio 4). Given my lifestyle my expected life expenctancy was 98, but the feedback suggested I could do a bit better with a few small changes and limiting sugar was one of the changes I could easily make.<br />
<br />
So I've gone sugar lite. I'm not as hardcore as my brother, and I like the occasional treat, but I firmly believe that's all it should be. I've also given up dairy - I used to be a vegan so this is no big deal.<br />
<br />
The remarkable thing is that I am less hungry than I was. I think my blood sugar must have been in turmoil from the sugar highs and crashes.<br />
<br />
Here's my sugar lite and dairy free menu for this week<br />
<br />
Saturday - Pasta with slow cooked cabbage and pinenuts (this is much nicer than it sounds)<br />
Sunday - Snitzel with mashed swede, roast potatoes and parsnips and broccoli.<br />
Monday - Sausage casserole and sweet potato mash<br />
Tuesday - Savoury roly poly with mashed swede, green beans and carrots<br />
Wednesday - Sausage and chips<br />
Thursday - S is cooking (he doesn't like me to plan his days too often)<br />
Friday - Millet casserole.<br />
<br />
I've just realised that everything except Friday's dinner begins with an 'S' - maybe I should change Friday's menu.<br />
<br />
I should also add I made leek and potato soup for lunch on Sunday, which is sustaining me though lunches all this week. I grew the leeks so it's been a particularly cheap week of lunches. In fact Sunday is becoming decidely soupy in our house, but that's for another blog.<br />
<br />
I thought you might like the recipe for the savoury roly poly as it was super nice.<br />
<br />
Ingredients<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
Roly poly part<br />
4 oz vegetable suet<br />
8 oz of SR flour<br />
pinch of salt<br />
water to make a dough<br />
<br />
Filling<br />
2 medium onions<br />
tsp of bullion powder<br />
tsp of veggie gravy granules<br />
3-4 tbs of veggie mince<br />
splash of water<br />
<br />
Mix the suet, flour and salt together and add enough water to make a dough. Put in the fridge to chill.<br />
<br />
Cut the onions into slivers and fry off. I like to brown mine, but you could cook them more slowly.<br />
Add the rest of the ingredients and heat the mice through.<br />
<br />
Roll the pastry into a rectangle about 6 inches by 10 inches. Spread the filling over the pastry leaving the top quarter empty (so the filling doesn't all sqidge out).<br />
<br />
Roll the pastry up like a swiss roll and tuck in the ends.Wrap loosely in foil if steaming or in greasproof paper if microwaving.<br />
<br />
You can steam the package for 1.5-2 hours over a steamer if you like. I haven't got a steamer so I microwaved mine for 7-8 minutes.<br />
<br />
Enjoy!Trudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2181987653762941892.post-2002190122646895682012-01-12T12:57:00.000-08:002014-02-14T13:59:29.218-08:00This week/next weekThis week<br />
<br />
Spaghetti sorentina<br />
Leek and quorn pie (ah allotment leeks, yum), served with allotment cabbage.<br />
Cauliflower cheese<br />
Almond and coconut korma<br />
Quorn chicken, chips and peas<br />
Shepherds pie<br />
Medjerra http://www.deandeluca.com/recipes/recipe_lebanese_rice_and_lentils_with_caramelized_onions_mujadarah.aspx (My recipe's slightly different to this, but I am being lazy, posting this link instead of writing it up). It's soooooo nice though, really tasty - much more than you'd think.<br />
<br />
Next week<br />
[Away until Tuesday's dinner]<br />
Sausage and tomato casserole and mash<br />
Egg and chips<br />
something previously made from the freezer (I'll let S decide as it's his turn to cook - I'm hoping he'll go for toad in the hole)<br />
Leek, walnut and lemon pastaTrudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2181987653762941892.post-15658568194829609722011-12-12T13:57:00.000-08:002014-02-14T13:41:49.393-08:00Sage toothpaste and other frugal toiletriesI haven't spent a full week at home for ages so my weekly shops and meal plans haven't been weekly recently, but I thought it was about time for another post.<br />
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And I definitely have something to talk about. . . <br />
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My last post was about frugal house cleaning and this post is about frugal self-cleaning (sort of) and so I'll start with my favourite topic of the moment - sage toothpaste.<br />
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S's Mum has given us a tub of toothpowder she made from sage, myrrh and bicarb and I'm telling you, it's amazing. You just wet your toothbrush, dip it in and brush. My mouth has never felt so fresh. I tested my teeth with disclosing tablets before<br />
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I started using the powder and then again after a week and the results are astounding. Before I had a lot of plaque left after brushing, after a week of use twice a day my teeth were sparkling!<br />
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This toothpowder is cheap - sage is not expensive (particularly if you grow your own), bicarb won't break the bank and I've just checked online and you can get 12.5 g of myrrh for 61p. The recipe came from James Wong's second 'Grow Your Own Drugs' book - so I'd better not post it up, but find the recipe if you can and try it.<br />
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I try and steer clear of personal chemicals and say no to parabens (although I do use a nasty plasticy brand name shampoo. I used to use a good no chemical one but the manufacturers no longer make it). I use a crystal stick deoderant (pricey initially but they last forever, proividing you don't drop them) and I use cotton wool and water for N's bum. We use plain glycerine soap in the bath and shower (we don't use anything in N's bath except a couple of drops of lavender oil) and generally steer clear of other products. I do splash out on a moisturiser from <a href="http://www.purenuffstuff.co.uk/">Pure Nuff Stuff</a>, but at £9.25 per pot, it's not an excessive expense.<br />
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There's a world of homemade beauty products out there to try. I've tried a papaya exfoliator (honey and papaya), vinegar hair rinses and oat scrubs to name but a few. All worth a go if you ask me - cheap and much more pleasant a pot filled with chemical nasties! And do try the toothpowder it really is amazing.Trudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2181987653762941892.post-41572517216107404162011-11-02T14:40:00.000-07:002014-02-14T14:00:10.005-08:00Wednesday bargainsI was coming back from an exercise class earlier and I needed some bread. I tried to use the co-op but having driven round the block twice there wads definitely no where to park, so I gave up and went to Tesco (I hate Tesco so this sticks in my throat).<br />
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On this occasion though Tesco was the right place to go. I bought<br />
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A spelt and sunflower bloomer<br />
Two organic avocados<br />
A bag of wild rocket<br />
A six chocolate teatime cakes <br />
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This cost me a grand total of 32 pence!<br />
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I did need the bread, but the other items were impulse buys. Still at 14p, 9p, 4p and 5p respectively I think I can justify the spends. And actually I spent half of what I would on the co-op bread. Nice.<br />
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So going to the supermarket at 8pm is obviously a winner!<br />
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Trudiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14795058414656984965noreply@blogger.com0