Tingling Chillis

Oooh....I'm tingling.......my lips, my face, my fingers. I have been harvesting and drying the chilli's left on my lovely Chilli plant in the polytunnel. And although I thoroughly washed my hands wherever I have touched since then is tingling away.

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They are red hot and too strong to eat on their own, well for us anyway, a friend of my Lovely Hubbys has had two dozen off us and he loves their fieriness. It has been a very productive little plant. I have made a jar of crushed dried chilli and put into some oil to give us a Chilli Oil as well as all the fresh chillis we have used throughout the summer.

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Christmas preparations are well underway here, with supplies bought to compliment the store cupboards stash. The home produced foods (jams and chutneys etc) will see us through the Christmas period with enough over for hampers of homemade goodies for our loved ones.

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I am hoping to start the New Year with a fresh push into eating healthier. We aim to grow even more of our own food next year and with the chicken empire about to expand, hopefully we will have even more fresh free range eggs.

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As this is the last post on this Blog before Christmas I would like to wish all readers

A Very Merry Christmas

and a Happy and Healthy New Year.

Sue xx

A Happier and Healthier Lifestyle?

Today I am tired. Yesterday I was wet and cold. Tomorrow I will be shorter of hair (and lighter of purse!!). But mostly.........mostly I am fed up of rain and wind!!

I think I am lacking motivation. So I think I will get out one of my excercise DVDs and work myself into a sweat with Davina. It usually does the trick and it's warmer to exercise in the house than it is to pick up a spade and exercise outside on the farm!!

The picture at the top has nothing to do with any of this!! (I am making an effort to cut down on salt though!)

Sue xx

24 Hour Detox

Yesterdays Detox went extremely well, but I've decided I cannot stand the taste of good old Gillian's detox powders any more (and they are pretty expensive). So next time I will make do with just water and fruit juices and cut out the 'funny face' inducing sour powders that you add to your juice.

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I feel positively refreshed already, I really believe (for me anyway) that just giving your digestive system a break just for a short period of time does it wonders and concentrates your mind on the things you have been eating recently.

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A Detox day is like putting your house in order, it pulls you up in your tracks and makes you think about things. It also takes your mind off food for a while, no bad thing. Each time you're hungry you have a drink of water or juice, if you really can't do without anything solid it is okay to have any clear soups or even some brown rice to give you a satisfied feeling, but personally I never need to do that.

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If you're trying a detox for the first time it's quite a good idea to make your 24 hours start just after lunchtime one day until teatime the following day. That way you can have a good breakfast and lunch (not too heavy or stodgy, think chicken salad or something similar) and also you are asleep for a good chunk of the detoxing time and it really helps your system not to be digesting any food while you sleep, You wake feeling refreshed and rested and no where near as hungry as you might think.

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More and more snack food had been creeping in to my diet, even biscuits and chocolate, something I had cut out almost completely until recently. I think once you start eating these foods you crave more, it's the sugar and additives and empty carbs that do it, easy for you to grab, eat and digest, so it whizzes through your system and leaves you needing more much sooner, than say a piece of fruit.

Now I'm feeling this good I am going to try to stick to non-processed foods, fruit, veggies and pure juices or water. Of course, I'll never give up my coffee (in lots of ways it's pretty good for you anyway) but I will cut back down to 3 or 4 cups a day. That way I find I really enjoy it and even look forward to a sit down with a steaming mug of coffee and not just something that I grab and drink without thinking about!

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For the rest of today I will be drinking lots of sparkling water with lemon. A little tip, buy lemons in bulk when there is a good deal at the supermarket, wash and slice them, remove any pips and then open freeze them on trays, once frozen tip into a zip top bag and keep in the freezer, that way whenever you fancy a drink you always have individually slices of fresh lemon that cool your drink without watering it down as with ice (also good in gin and tonic of course).

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For lunch I will be having some blueberries with natural yogurt and then by teatime I will be on the real solid stuff, Chilli Salmon with tagliatelle.......yummy, I'm really looking forward to that. I just have to go and pick a chilli from the polytunnel!

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For me a successful detox I think. Now looking forward to going shopping later in the week and filling my now nearly empty fridge with all manner of colourful natural foods (I may even take a picture!).

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Sue xx

Storecupboards and a Detox

Last week saw me do minimal shopping and this week....I should be able to do it again. The cupboards are providing us with all sorts of goodies.

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On the menu this week.

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Monday - Rump Steak, Onion Rings and HG Salad for Lovely Hubby.......

...... and for me Gillians 24hr Detox Pack

Tuesday - Tagliatelle with Chilli Salmon

Wednesday - Cod, Chunky Chips and HG Peas

Thursday - HM Chickpea Curry with Rice

Friday - Homemade Pizza (using all the leftover veggies in the fridge).

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I do a Detox about once every six months it just entails drinking only Gillians Special Mix and Pink Grapefruit juice from 5pm one night until mid morning the next day and then a day of light eating and lots of water drinking, which I am still trying to keep up with. It really helps me feel clearer, and at the moment I am feeling positively sluggish!

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For all of the above I don't have to buy any shopping this week, only perhaps a sliced loaf for LH's morning toast and a couple of bottles of milk. And who knows after my detox it may all change...we'll see!

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So it should be a cheap week, why didn't I pick this week for my litle challenge to myself??

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Sue xxx

The Smallest Melon Ever?

The melon I mentioned in the previous post.......well I thought I would show it you now.

So I sat it in an egg cup!!

Sue xx

Menu for the week. (We'll see if I can stick to this one!!)

Well I did it, I sat down (or rather strolled around the kitchen looking in cupboards) and planned out the menu for this week.

Monday - Steak/Chicken and chunky chips. (It was yummy.)

Tuesday - HomeMade (HM) Quiche with Rocket, Pepper and Cucumber Salad

Wednesday - Pasta with HM Sauce and HM Garlic Ciabbattas

Thursday - Chilli Salmon and Potatoes with Veggies

Friday - Eating out at Prezzo (we have vouchers!!)

All the above veggies are homegrown, and from the store or fresh from the polytunnel. The things I am most proud of are my four lovely little cucumbers harvested this weekend, planted way too late and yet they have grown lovely and chunky. (I have also grown a melon....I'll show you a picture of that another day!)

The above picture shows yesterdays forays into the kitchen. I made a batch of Tomato, Onion and Garlic soup with the last of our green and red tomatoes and two gorgeous loaves, yes I know there is only one in the picture, can't you guess where the other one is........it lasted one hour!! I did share it with Lovely hubby....honest I did!

Sue xx

Well that didn't work!!

I started the week with good intentions but............My Name is Sue and I am a Spendaholic!!

Seriously, Lovely Hubby reminded me after I had written the last post, that we had a supper party on Saturday night and then at the last minute an additional guest was included so the menu I had planned wouldn't have worked.

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So I did it........I took my debit card to the supermarket and bought everything we needed and, as is the way with supermarkets, I also bought things we didn't really need but that were fantastic bargains.

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Do I start it again this week, I don't think so. I think my best bet is just to get on and go back to my original plan of building the weeks menu around what we already have in the cupboards and freezers and see how much money I can save this way.

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For the supper party we made much use of our own produce. The main course was a chicken rissotto style dish with home grown, leeks, onions, carrots and the gloriously hot Red Chillis you see above. For sweet we had meringue with brandy soaked pears (thanks Mum) and home picked blackberries topped with a delicious dollop of clotted cream icecream.

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After that we sat with wine, crackers and a well stocked cheeseboard and chatted into the night. A lovely evening and because of all the home produced food included not too expensive.

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Later today I will work out the menu for the week and let you know tomorrow just what it is we'll be dining on this week. I am finding that living from the cupboards you come across some luxurious items, speciality chutneys and tins of salmon, things I have obviously been tempted into during wealthier weeks. These make it a pleasure rather than a chore to design a menu for the week.

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Sue xx