Just a quick post I just spotted this a picture of Wollaton Hall which is some 2.5 miles away from my home. I hope that you can see the picture here it is number 2 of the 16 http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/nottingh...00/8424941.stm It is a recent picture as you can see by the date of December 2009. I am lucky that if I go round the corner of my road and walk a little way up the road no more that 1 minute from my house you get a magnificent view of Wollaton Hall but my favourite view is when it is lit up with flood lights. Here you can see the large volume of snow we had that needed a magnify glass to see it By the way we did have a little more snow than that come Christmas day but not a huge amount more.
Just been reading that we have more snow on its way tonight and some places of the UK have been issued with a severe weather warning. Namely parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland. I will have to see how bad the weather is otherwise it may not be wise for me to attend treatment it is not so much the snow but the thick layer of ice we have at the moment. Will fill you in on how much snow we have in my part of the world.
HEY PURPLE ~ those are nice pictures; I can see the snow; boy, those kiddies are trying so hard to go sledding or sledging as you call it. I thought the picture of the St. Andrew's Church was nice too. You can see lots more snow around the Nottinghamshire area too.
Hope you can get out to your therapy session tomorrow; I know how much you appreciate them. Yes, the slippery roads seem to be one of the biggest problems of this type of weather. I actually think that winter is a pretty season, but this year it is much more nippy than other years.
HI KIM ~ oh those are lovely mountains you have there too; what a view! All our trees had a covering of frost and/or ice today; it was nippy cold out there today, but it looked very pretty. I'll see if I can come up with some pics of our town for you too.
I just stayed home and indoors; too cold for me. I'm turning into a bear in this weather; I just want to hybernate until spring. I'll sleep, and someone can wake me up when it's over ... Had a good on plan day; had steak and mushroom medley for dinner with brown rice mix.
Take good care and everyone stay warm now ... ROSEBUD
Last edited by Justwant2Bhealthy; 01-04-2010 at 11:51 PM.
HI MOUSSE ~ I agree that I think calorie counting is good for the long haul. I did low carb when I was younger, but found it was hard to keep up over the years, and slowly gained the weight back. As I got older, I needed something more balanced as I had a vitamin deficiency and have to watch my BSL (blood sugar levels too).
PURPLE has some wonderful ideas for quick and ez recipes; esp for healthy snacks and desserts, so keep an eye peeled for those too ...
Well we did have a small flurry of snowfall during the night but nothing to talk home about we did not have it has severe as the forecast suggested which I am very grateful for. So I did go to have my weekly treatment all but one of my whist drives (whist I think is a British game) have been cancelled this week due to the weather. Most games I play are out in rural areas which are quite remote like tonight I would travel some 28 miles one way to this village.
Even though the weather was not at its best I was surprised to see so many of us here today at the MS centre. It was good to catch up after the Christmas break and have a little chat with them.
KIM A Hogwart's fan I see like myself and I have read all 7 volumes of the story. An acquaintance of mine who I play cards with actually went there I seem to think it was where she did her teacher training and I seem to think she goes back to the Alnwick castle (aka Hogwarts) for reunions. I think maybe I do not appreciate building as much as I should do as we have numerous ones in the UK.
Thanks for the view of the beautiful wasatch mountains the only remotely views like that of mountains are in either Wales or Scotland. Though I am more likely to think of Scotland. It made to think of all the mountains in Scotland that are over 3000ft and were first documented way back in the late 1800's by a man called Hugh Munro for the Scottish mountaineer club. He found that there were nearly 600 of them and now people want to climb all of these and it is know as Munro bagging.
I recently saw a programme on the gentleman Hugh Munro and how Munro bagging then started. The one thing I remember was a gentleman had lost his wife and he was a mountaineer and he decided to do all the Munro mountains listed. He said it helped him heal after the loss of his wife and he did a lot of his grieving on the mountain and healing come to that. It followed him on his last Munro to climb and the celebration at the peak at achieving all of them.
I was born in a county called Lincolnshire and it is very flat not a mountain in sight. Plenty of farms with either crops or cattle. I then moved to Nottinghamshire and what a culture shock I asked what was that and it was the big wheel that was spinning. They were so shocked I did not recognise a mine pit head as they had lived in it's shadow for all there lives. Nottinghamshire when I first moved here one of their main employment was working down the mines. I don't think now there is barely one open now they gradually shut down one by one.
ROSEBUD Yes the poor children desperate to sled but barely enough snow to do so. Wollaton Hall has a lovely park or grounds that it set in and when I could walk better I use to walk down that hill and around a lake that is at the bottom. If you are lucky you see the deer that roam the park and I have done so on several occasions. The only pity is that the hall itself is not set as it would in the period of the house as many stately homes are in the UK. The house is a natural history museum and other museums in the out-buildings. It sound that we are not the only ones then experiencing colder weather than normal for this time of year. I read that China and parts of Europe had lower temperatures and higher snowfall than normal.
I have just been writing my shopping list out for Thursday as we normally go tomorrow but we have the washing machine engineer coming tomorrow. I was putting things on the list that we have run out of this week. I need to stock up on lentils, beans and wholemeal pasta. I add lots of beans and lentils to dishes to reduce the meat content or omit it altogether for a vegetarian day. Got to get my thinking cap on though for tomorrow as I need to plan tomorrows menu but something quick and simple as I do not want pots and pans every where and food half prepared when the washing machine engineer comes along.
Time to wash up from tea (we had cooked one today) the more I sit here and more I don't feel like getting up and doing it Catch up with you all soon
Temps were warmer again today ... -10C -- still a wind and we had some more ***** but it was nice and fluffy, so it looked very pretty. I tooke some pics today of our snow and will try to get some more this week; then put some in here. We had a nice and easy Chicken Stew with homemade biscuits for dinner tonight and it was yummy!
Not much else going on around here right now; we still have lots of birdies comin' to our feeder and DH just loves watching them too. NIKO is well and playful as ever. DH has been pilin' the ***** up around our place and we really think it is helping us feel warmer.
Hope you all have a WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY tomorrow; and do take good care of yourselves too ... ROSEBUD
PURPLE ~ when you talk about the mines there; are you talking about COAL MINES? We used to have lots of those out in the eastern provinces, but DH was telling me just yesterday that most, if not all of them have closed becuz they were not safe. I was just reading a story and I think it may have been based in England (not sure; will have to check on that) ... anyways, they used a lot of coal to heat their homes, etc.
What do you use to heat most of your homes now if there isn't as much coal available now? Here we use gas, oil, and wood or wood products like pellets; and some use hydro. They are now making hydro heaters that are a bit lower in cost, but I think it is still a bit expensive. I hear the oil is really the worst now. Things have changed -- becuz now the gas is cheaper than the oil and it was the opposite for a while.
Sorry you missed your whist games; but glad you got out for your treatments. Better safe than sorry, in the bad weather though. Hope you think of an easy dinner for tomorrow; how about a one pot dinner in the oven? I love those -- put a piece of meat (any kind) in a roaster, and surround it with lots of veggies and small tators. Not much clean-up and the oven does the cooking for you. Add one of your quick fruit & yogurt desserts, and you have an easier day ...
Last edited by Justwant2Bhealthy; 01-05-2010 at 10:28 PM.
We had more snowfall over night wow no real snow for years and years and now we have had two good periods of snowfall one for Christmas and one right now. Everywhere looks very pretty covered in white fluffy snow today whilst at at local supermarket in the car park of this supermarket there is a hand car wash business. The men bless them had build a snowman complete with arms across his belly really cute looking.
I have made for tomorrow's dinner a spaghetti bolognese with lean mince and added in some haricot beans to decrease the meat content. This will be served with wholemeal pasta which I weight out of course as I am so heavy handed with it. I tend to put on the amount for the street I think The next day is a vegetarian day and we are having a vegetarian day with chickpea curry (low calorie sauce that I have found) and served with brown rice. Tonight and tomorrow night we will be having my home-made leek and potato soup. I think by tomorrow night it will be the end of it and time for me to make another batch of soup maybe my version of my cabbage soup.
Now talking of food I caught a programme on cookery but this was different to the normal run of the mill ones. These were two men who are motor cyclist and collectively known as the hairy bikers. They just happen to be chefs as well. This time they have gone to ordinary people's home and want them to cook their family favourite dishes which have been handed down from their parents or grandparents. This is so such recipes are not lost and many people now do not cook or bake like they used to so often they reach for convenience foods. I think I maybe tempted to buy this book as some of the recipes I can see that I may use or tweak to make them healthier. OK I think I will be steering clear of the cakes etc but the soups and main dinners are something I can manage to put in our daily healthy eating. This programme got me to thinking that at my mum's in an old cookery book of my grandmother's is a recipe scribbled out and it is entitled wine cake. This is a recipe that is used even to this day by my parents for their Christmas cake they have never iced this cake (due my father's dislike for icing) and instead it was always decorated with whole blanched almonds.
ROSEBUD Yes the mines in my area that I live in are or should I shall were coal mines. The reason that most closed to my knowledge was coal was being produced cheaper else where (namely abroad) so now any coal that is needed is mainly imported into the UK. There were other types of mines like lead, copper and tin in other parts of the UK just depended on where these minerals were situated to what type of mine was in your area.
Homes in general are heated either by gas central heating or by something called calor gas (huge bottles) in rural areas where they are not on the mains gas. We are on the mains gas as we are not in a rural area. If you live in a rural area and do not want to use bottled gas then electric storage heaters are used as a form of heating. A few still heat their homes with coal (smokeless due to the clean air act) or log burners. I think I have heard of some areas using oil as a form of heating but they are definitely in the minority. The biggest percentage use gas as their heating like ourselves.
My parents home they still live in when they got married had fireplaces in every room except the kitchen, bathroom and the smallest bedroom. Although bedroom fireplaces were never lit unless you where poorly in bed or a pregnant lady was due to give birth at home. When I was little many a winters morning I got up and their was ice on the window pane inside. Needless to say you did not hang about getting dress or having a bath cos it was so cold. We didn't know any different and all our friends homes where exactly the same. I can't remember what age I was but I was about 10 or 11 I think and I can remember the floor boards being taken up for the gas central heating to be installed. Then later on we had double glazing windows installed. It shows how the progression of time and the produces becoming more affordable that my parents had them installed. We now expect these features as standard in homes today.
When I was at my grandparents home it was the real two up and two down home. This meant there was two rooms upstairs (bedrooms) and two rooms downstairs (kitchen and lounge or parlour as it was known them days). So no luxuries such as inside toilet (this was a primitive affair in a tin hut that you had to take a stick as a grass snake loved to hide in there . Not that it was poisonousness or dangerous but my grandmother hated it so told us to take a stick to rattle on the tin to make the snake vacant its hiding . Baths were taken in the parlour in front of the fire such a hard task filling it up with hot water as there was no hot running water in the house only cold. So kettles and huge pans where heated up on the stove. With all that effort to fill the bath then we all had to share the same bath water if you where lucky it did get topped up with some more hot water. No washing machine it was the dolly tub and elbow grease to wash clothes. I has a child was expected to help in the chores and I would help with washing. Stand for what seemed like hours turning the mangle to squeeze out the water. In the evening we would play cards or board game around the kitchen table.
Granddad worked on the rail way operating the gates and changing the rails for the train to go on. I can remember odd times my Dad taking me down early in the morning just before granddad was due to finish work and I would get to sit in the hut where he changed the rails and if I was good I could open one of the gates to the road. Needless to say this made me feel important and I loved to go down. So if granddad was on night due I would be eagerly up in the morning hoping to be taken to bring granddad home from work.
I cooked a one pot meal like you said for lunch today using chicken vegetable and potatoes all in one. So only one pot to wash up liked that. Seeing as the engineer for the washing machine came rather early was able to make another dish at the same time. It is not such good news though with the washing machine the electrical board wiring has been modified since the washing was made obviously due to some problem with the original wire attachments. So unfortunately both should have been ordered at the same time only one thing was ordered the board. It has been put through as an emergency so hopefully should hear in the next couple of days what day they are coming to do the washing machine. So third time lucky
Have you every used puy lentils I spotted them today but do not exactly know what to do with them. Are they used in the same manor as brown or split lentils for example? I like to try and experiment with different beans etc as I found that I now like them to think that 3 years ago I would not touch them with a barge pole My diet has changed so much since then it is barely recognisable so much less meat and huge volume of vegetables, beans and now wholemeal food that I would not have eaten either. I suppose looking now my diet is evolving slowly and I am in the process of trying a few more vegetarian dishes like chickpea curry, vegetarian burgers and reading about vegetarian dishes that we would both like. Not that I think I would go vegetarian but we are trying for one or two days per week. Then upping that to 3 when we are ready. We both like to go slow in the change as it has worked for us so far rather than going the whole hog as it is too alien from what you are use to. We did that with changing the type of bread, pasta (wholemeal) and rice (brown) to name a few changes.
No further news I can think of for today so I will drop by tomorrow till then take care.
HI LADIES ~ The temps were about the same between -10C and -13C and the did try to peek out for a short while this afternoon. We had our fine feathered friends come by again; love seeing them each day -- they are a real blessing!
Had something different for dinner tonight; whole grain spagetti with chicken and mushroom Ragu sauce: I added in some diced green peppers, carrots, and zucchini to thicken the sauce up a bit. DH & I loved it, so we will be making this again for sure.
PURPLE ~ glad you found that one pot meal so handy; yes, you could easily bake a dessert along side like baked apples or a crumble with that meal too. I like to try healthier meals all the time too. I made a chicken stew yesterday and put some pea lentils in that to up the protein with the chicken. I'm not sure what "PUY" lentils are either; would have to google that one.
Yes, it's nice to look at old family recipes; I was looking thru a book today that had a few easy ones, but many have way too much sugar and fat in them and would have to be modified. Some are just to complex and would take too much time for my liking; I am looking for more simple recipes these days. I like to make homemade soups & stews too; my stews are really just thick & hearty soups really, with lots of veggies in them so that makes them thick (I don't thicken them like I did in the past with flour).
I am supposed to get a couple of small fillings tomorrow AM; sure hope that all goes well. My PC was really slow tonight; it took me ages to be able to come in here and post. Actually, it was other places; then I came in here and was able to post, so who knows what was going on?
Anyways, time to go; do a bit of reading and to bed earlier tonight to get up earlier tomorrow. Take good care ladies ... ROSEBUD
We had a minute snowfall last night but today it is brilliant sunshine this unusually indicates that you will get a frost at night time. So has you have gathered our snow is still visiting us and some of the children have time off school due to the weather as schools often close down in such weather. This use to happen if we got the slightest snowfall whilst I was a school this was as pupils who had to get into school via the bus each and every route had a steep hill to climb. These children lived in the villages surrounding my home town of Grantham. I was one of the last pupils to be allowed to go home why? because we walked or cycled to school. I lived about a mile from the school and thinking now I did good exercise every day. I walked there for the beginning of school then there and back at lunch time. I then had the final walk at the end of the school day so that was a minimum of 4 miles I walked a day. Then sometimes I would have to walk another 1.5 miles to a clinic my sister attended for her eyes then back home again. Though I did not give it a second thought at the time people did have cars but they still where a luxury to many families. We did have a car but my mum did not drive only my Dad.
DH today had to visit the dentist for a filling so needless to say he had needles in his gums. Unfortunately he has to go back as another tooth requires work. He had also to have some work done on his upper dentures which are ill fitting. The bottom set is perfect just the top he has trouble with.
At the moment my house smells like Balti mile a road in Birmingham. (this is a road in the city of Birmingham that has got this name due to the number of Balti houses along there.) Curry is popular in this country with the British people and many of the best ones are run by top Indian chef's. We have a beautiful Indian restaurant not too far from our home and the staff are so welcoming plus helpful. The food is glorious and good for a special night out. They even do a set menu I notice with a view to the times of a healthy option of chicken no heavy sauces or vegetable curry. I think there is a selection of fish curries in that section. Well if you have not guessed by now I am cooking a jalfrazi (spelling? I think is a bit dubious ) curry with chickpeas and carrots. So very simple ingredients but I found a light sauce that was good on the calorie front so am giving it a whirl. In my portion that I have dishes out separately for myself I have put in some natural yoghurt to calm the spices down a bit. I think there will be a good portion left over to go in the freezer for another day.
ROSEBUD Yes looking at old recipes sees how our taste evolves over time. My grandparents would fry things like bacon or sausage in LARD They would never grill anything as we do today. I feel green at the gills at their style of cooking sometimes but that generation all did the same. The knowledge of food was not as we know today. Though there again there was virtually no processed food and there were some tinned items on sale at the grocery. All in all a high percentage of their diet was healthy compared with today. No fast food to tempted you with either and there was not the money for lots of things.
Watching the series on the Victorian farm it shows how much work actually went into some of the dishes that were made. I know some of the recipes can be tweaked or give us ideas on a new dish altogether that would be healthy. Everything was home-made nothing was shop bought even treats such as sweets were made at home. I have never been one for many shop bought things as I was brought up baking and cooking from a young age.
We have eaten the last of our leek and potato soup so today I made a batch of new soup. This is the soup that I call cabbage soup from a recipe I spotted on the internet but it has really involved into more of a vegetable soup. Although this soup I choose not to put potatoes in but every other vegetable that I may have in store. The biggest ingredients by far is the 1/2 a cabbage. It does not matter what sort of cabbage it is although I have not ever tried red cabbage so can't comment on that one. I normally use savoy but today I used something we know as a white cabbage. Soups in our family were traditionally thickened by using a huge mount of mashed potato. (no butter or any substitute for that. no seasoning either is used or milk nor cream, so just potatoes mashed up) The potato has starch in as we know and this I think in turns thickens the soup. So often the soup is much thicker the next day. I like you now thicken a soup by sheer volume of vegetables and pulses used. Way less calories and healthier.
I hope that your trip to the dentist went well must be the day for dental treatment what with yourself and my DH. The dish that you made with spaghetti sounded rather yummy and filling. I have been toying with the idea of making my own vegetable burgers maybe with lentils for my first bash. I did a little research yesterday but the recipes I found had numerous ingredients that it would end up a little costly having to buy quite a few of them in to make it. So I am on the look out for a simple lentil burger with not like a 25 items in it to make it now that would be a recipe for disaster. I thought it might be quite nice in a burger bun and I know that that they do wholemeal ones now so that will be a plus as well.
After writing well typing this post I must dispense my tablets for the week as I only have one full day left in my book like holder for my weeks supply of tablets. It takes quite a while to dispense all my pills as I have them 4 times a day with out any extras for bouts of pain that I may experience. I have just counted up in my head my days supply and I have 14 tablets per day
No further news for now I have not ventured too far with the weather being like it is. Till next time ladies keep up the good work
Hello everyone! And, welcome to all our newbies! I hope you find 3fc and especially this group to be very helpful and supportive, as I have!
Purple-the photos were so beautiful! Thank you for sharing the link. How quickly does your snow disappear? Wondering if your temps warm back up quickly or if it stays cold for awhile and the snow lingers? Here, once winter hits, it rarely warms up enough for the snow to melt. Sometimes, we'll get a "January thaw" but it doesn't last very long! We have about 20-24 inches of snow in the shallow areas and where it's been piled up from the snowblower or plows, it's 3 or 4 feet deep or more-at some of the street corners, I can't see down the road in my van without inching out into the lane. That makes me crazy all winter long!
ShootingStar-your photo is beautiful also! I've seen those Wasatch Mtns, as my step-son and his family used to live near Boise, so we ventured out that way several times and took in a lot of the beautiful scenery out there in N. UT, WY, MT, ID, as well as SD. Love the western parts of our country and can't wait for another chance to go out there, but now the family has moved back here, so it may be awhile before we get another trip.
Rosebud-sounds like we're all having dental issues. Hope your fillings went ok. I've ended up having a root canal-half of it is done and I go back Tuesday to finish. Still quite painful and I'm hoping it improves after the permanent filling stuff is completed. You and Purple always talk about such yummy dinners! Makes me hungry-lol! Actually, it gives me ideas for things to try here, so keep sharing!
Tuesday after the root canal was started and I couldn't eat anything hard, I made a potato soup with white and sweet potatoes, along with celery, carrots, and chicken boullion. It was really good and I've been able to eat it for lunches all week, since my tooth and cheek still hurt. Need to get to the grocery store, but we've had another bad snow storm with high winds and white-out conditions, so no driving anywhere until it all clears up. Hoping for tomorrow if DS2 has school. I'm a mean mom-I made the boys do homeschool work today even though the public schools had cancelled-they were less than thrilled-lol!
Well, time to go relax and watch some tv. Hope you are all well and keeping warm! Have a great day tomorrow!
HI PURPLE ~ well, my dentist appt went well, thanks! Hope your DH's did too ... I only had work done on one today and I am glad of that really. I will also have to go back later for some work on another one in late February. Down the road, I will have to have one of my wisdom teeth extracted as it has a cavity in it and it is coming in sideways. I can't actually use it to chew as it only came in halfway and I don't have a corresponding bottom tooth (a birth defect) -- it will be taken out as a preventative measure so it doesn't cause an infection or spread to the next tooth. There's no hurry for that right now though ...
After the dentist, we went shopping since we were up there and I was looking at the lentils in the store. I saw some red ones that I thought might be nice in spagetti sauce or a tomato based soup, so I may pick some up next time I go. I put yellow ones in the chicken stew I made earlier this week; and you hardly even noticed they were in it really but it adds more protein and thickens it up as well.
So I got lots of walking in today as well; so it's time to relax and put my sore feet up and do some reading. Hope you have a Fabulous Friday tomorrow ... ROSEBUD
HI RONNIE ~ you posted whilst I was typing -- yes, it seems it is a week for going to the dentist. Everything went well today; he gave me a shot to prevent pain (so glad of that); and he spent some time explaining everything to me and showing me the xrays so I could see what has to be done and why. Quite a change from what I had in the past really.
We usually have snow days when we have a big ***** storm like you are having right now; the temps stayed around -10C today, so it wasn't too bad to go out, but now they are dropping and at -16C at this moment. DH is hunting down spare bulbs for my Christmas tree as one blew on the bottom half and then I'll have to figure out which one it is -- that will be fun!
Today, we had BBQ spit chicken for a later hot lunch; and just had leftovers for dinner tonight. I didn't really feel like doing a lot of cooking today. That soup you made sounds really good too; I made my chicken stew/soup with leftover potatoes and sweet potatoes from another dinner too.
I am assuming from what you say that IOWA is on the eastern side of the US and somewhat north, as you get almost as much snow and cold temps as we are right now; and I am in northern Canada. We are not in the far, far north which would be the territories; we are just below them -- though near the top of this province which is quite large. In the Artic there is a large bay called "Hudsons Bay" and it has a small bay called "James Bay"; we live about 400 miles south of a place called Moosonee on the edge of James Bay or in an area called "The James Bay Frontier". Gee, should get out some maps and check this geography all out; hope I am getting it right ... I did well in Geography in school, but I haven't been in school for some time.
I hope that your mouth heals up real soon; do they give you shots to freeze it while they are doing it? That helps a lot; but maybe it's the aftermath that is causing the pain problem. Will send up some prayers for you for relief ...
Take good care and hope you have a Fantabulously pain-free Friday ...
I am just taking this opportunity to type this post as I have my drink after my dinner. Today's fayre was bolognese with wholemeal pasta for after we had a portion of green grapes. The bolognese with made with extra lean mince beef and I added in 1 tin of harricot beans. This has made a portion also to go in the freezer which I also am really pleased about. so in the past couple of days I have managed to put in two extra meals into the freezer So these are my versions of ready made meals so all is needed is a defrost then re-heat serve with pasta, rice, jacket potato or even side salad in the summer. My ready made meals were running low so I was hoping that I would be able to start replacing some that I had used.
Today we will be having my version of cabbage soup for tea I know it sounds rather peculiar cabbage soup. Though in actual fact it is very tasty. It is a great way of putting lots of vegetables in then blitzing them down with either hand held blender or food processor. I am already thinking about what to make for my next home made soup. I am thinking that this could be butternut squash with a smidge (tiny amount) of curry spices in to give it a little kick. Was watching something on television last night and I had never seen it before. It was a programme set in Ireland (Northern) and the people taking part all had chronic health conditions. Part of the course that they were on dealt with nutritious diet and of course this was healthy eating. I had never seen what these guests had for breakfast one morning which was tomato cups. They seem simple enough to make firstly you need a large tomato wash and take a slice from the top of the tomato. Now scoop out all the seeds from the tomato and then crack open an egg and put this inside the hollowed out tomato. Now place on a baking tray for 15 minute until cooked serve with wholemeal toast. The only thing I do not know what temperature to cook these add but I am presuming it is around the same temperature for shirred eggs (eggs cooked in the oven) which is gas mark 4 / 350f /180c. It maybe a little trial and error to get the temperature right at the beginning so that the eggs are cooked to your liking.
I know that my DH loves shirred eggs. If you are making those instead place one or two eggs (depending on how hungry someone is ) per person into either a ramekin or some other small cooking pot. Either butter this dish or as I do know spray well with one cal so that dish is coated. Now to this add Spoon 1 tablespoon milk or cream over eggs (skim milk, low-fat milk, half and half, or light cream may be substituted). Spooning a liquid over the eggs can help prevent drying out. season with salt and pepper (I personally do not do this as I use very little salt in our diet but sometime put black pepper). Now cook at gas mark 4 /350f or 180c for about 12 to 14 minutes. When done, the whites should be completely set and the yolks beginning to thicken but not hard. Today now I must sit down and plan the weekend menu so that we do not stray. I find it easier that way that I know before hand what we are having and that it is on plan.
My TOM is nearing so I have been a craving chocolate monster Although yesterday was much better on that front. I had my first curry in simply ages last night my chickpea and carrot one. I did add a spoon full of yoghurt into my portion to make it less hot and spicy. No bad tummy this morning so really pleased Not that I am being stupid and going mad on the spice front any time soon I have had to many days in pain to remind me to be careful and respect my tummy. Saved my 100 calories for my chocolate monster that lurks inside me so that I could have a choc ice (ice cream coated in chocolate this pans in at 96 calories.
The snow still remains with us and I was right about the frost last night it was a bitterly cold night and temperatures in Scotland hit an all time low of -22.3C (-8.1F). Although my part of the world Nottingham did not experience temperatures as low as that so where in the region of -6C (21F). This is cold for us in the UK as I have only ever seen -8c once in my life time. Our winter temperature tend to be just below freezing at night at worse.
RONNI Normally when we get any snow it is virtually here today gone tomorrow. We just get a sprinkling of snow which lays that day by the day break next morning the sun comes out and melts all the snow away. Children here seldom get the pleasure of building a snowman or sledging. (Scotland though tends to be colder though so any snowfall tends to greater and stays for longer. There are even several ski resorts in Scotland where you can get to ski for a few months of the year.) Our climate is what is referred to as temperature so our summer and winter temperatures really are not so different. The snowfall you experience every year is something I have never seen in my life apart from the television. I had my first white Christmas since I was about 15 this year so rather special even if we needed a magnify glass to see the snow
Sorry to hear that you have been having a tough time with a root canal treatment and that eating is difficult. Soup is always a good when you have trouble chewing and they can be very nutritious and filling especially when home made. There are numerous ones out there to make to suit most peoples tastes they are easy to make and much cheaper than soup bought variety. I hope that your root canal soon feels better so that you are able to eat normally again.
ROSEBUD Glad that your dental treatment went OK as did my DH. Although I had planned a soft diet for today just encase things where not so rosy this morning. Many people have trouble with wisdom teeth coming at strange angle or missing altogether. It is good that your dentist is doing preventive treatment to avoid infection in the future. When I was about 11 my dental did a radical step of taking out 4 of my molars one from either side of my mouth. This would be so that my teeth in the future would be straight and not crooked from over crowded. This radical step to take out 4 health teeth did its job. Trouble then you had to have general anaesthetic to take out teeth which I was not overly fond of like most people. I think it was the old rubber masks that it so horrid. Glad that they have changed the way in which it is administered but even still no one really wants to be put to sleep.
Lentils are so versatile in cooking easily put in soups, stews, bolognese sauces and curries to name a few off the top of my head. They are good at absorbing the flavour of the dish and like you say you barely know they are in there. Especially in soups when blended like I have done with the cabbage soup. I added the split lentils which are orange in colour and they thicken like you say. They are plant form of protein which means you can cut down on the meat used in meat dishes. Though still have the fullness that it gives.
My father next week has got to go to hospital for a test he is have a colonoscopy due to having rectal bleeding. This is a worrying time for all of us. I am trying to be positive especially for Dad who is expectedly nervous about what this will reveal.
Time for me to go and wash up a few pots and make a cup of tea. Then finish up on the last bits of house work for today. Bye bye and take care ladies.
Rosebud-yeah, the dentist numbed everything up to do the work, but the aftereffects have been miserable. Hoping that when the root canal is completed next week, the pain will go away. Iowa is actually in the center of the US-south of Minnesota and western Ontario. We're very, very cold right now (-9F) and the winds are really bad, so you know the wind chill is really bad, too. No school today either due to road conditions and also the blowing snow causes white-outs along the roadways. I think I found on the map about where you live. I've not been to your part of Canada, but visited Niagara-Toronto-Hamilton-London area with my grandparents after high school. I remember it being very beautiful all through there.
Purple-I'd love to have the quick-to-go-away variety of snow. Here, it just lingers waaaayyyy tooooo looooong! I'll keep your dad in my prayers for good test results and healing. Very stressful waiting for tests like that. I actually like cabbage soup. My dad always made one with just cabbage, tomatoes (or tomato juice) and onions, salt and pepper, and it was really tasty! DH is not so fond of it, but I can make it as a side dish, so he doesn't have to eat it if he doesn't want.
Well, not much going on here, as it's just too cold to do anything. Hope you all have a great day!
By the way we did have a little more snow than that come Christmas day but not a huge amount more.
I'll sleep, and someone can wake me up when it's over ... 
Had a good on plan day; had steak and mushroom medley for dinner with brown rice mix. 
like myself and I have read all 7 volumes of the story. An acquaintance of mine who I play cards with actually went there I seem to think it was where she did her teacher training and I seem to think she goes back to the Alnwick castle (aka Hogwarts) for reunions. I think maybe I do not appreciate building as much as I should do as we have numerous ones in the UK.
did try to peek out for a short while this afternoon. We had our fine feathered friends come by again; love seeing them each day -- they are a real blessing!
They would never grill anything as we do today. I feel green at the gills at their style of cooking sometimes but that generation all did the same. The knowledge of food was not as we know today. Though there again there was virtually no processed food and there were some tinned items on sale at the grocery. All in all a high percentage of their diet was healthy compared with today. No fast food to tempted you with either and there was not the money for lots of things.
Then finish up on the last bits of house work for today. Bye bye and take care ladies.
