Her Name Was Lola...

 ...She Ate Granola
Apologies to Barry Manilow, but I feel it would have been a good alternative lyric to "she was a showgirl"   Bob's appetite has returned,  a sure sign of recovery. Very appreciative of all your get well wishes, thanks everybody!

We are both very fond of granola. My 1978 Mennonite "More With Less" Cookbook has eight different granola recipes, but I haven't made my own for years. I generally buy Sainsbury's "Simple Granola" and throw in dried fruit and banana chips [bought cheaply from the friendly guy on Fakenham Market] But then I heard Nadiya Hussein talking about the "Bread granola" she makes for her children. So I began saving crusts and solitary slices in a bag in the freezer. And this week I made some...

Ingredients

300g/10½oz stale bread slices, cut into 1cm/½in cubes
200g/7oz slivered almonds
50g/1¾oz sunflower seeds
50g/1¾oz oats

25g/1oz desiccated coconut
200ml/7fl oz coconut oil melted
200ml/7fl oz maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
3 tsp ground  cinnamon
1 orange, zest only
200g/7oz dates chopped
Method

Preheat the oven to 190C/170C Fan/Gas 5.
Place the bread cubes on a large baking tray. Add the almonds, sunflower seeds, oats and desiccated
coconut and mix everything together.
Mix the coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract and almond extract together in a small jug and drizzle over the almond mixture. Get your hands in and make sure everything is well coated.
Sprinkle over the cinnamon, grate over the orange zest and mix again with a spoon.
Bake for 30–35 minutes, stirring halfway through to make sure everything is evenly golden.
Once everything is crisp and golden, remove from the oven, add the dates and mix through. Leave to cool. Once cooled, store the granola in an airtight container. 
Substitutions - I was using what I had in the cupboard, so used mixed nuts, and mixed seeds. I had no coconut oil or maple syrup. Rapeseed oil and golden syrup worked fine. No dates on hand so I chopped dried apricots and added a handful of sultanas.

Here it is in my tall lock'n'lock cereal box. The recipe says 'serves 4' but we've already had 4 portions and we're barely halfway through the quantity. Bob says it tastes more like Cinnamon Toast Crunch' than granola, which makes senses as it is bread-based after all.

Bread-and-warm-milk used to be very common as a breakfast food. Dating back to the Middle Ages it was called 'sop' [a precursor to 'soup'] and was a way of using up the stale bread and preventing waste. It was popular during WW and I ate it as a child in the late 50s. In Feed Your Family for £4 a day [Bernadine Lawrence 1989] she makes this as a breakfast dish using bread or toast cubes. 

Nadiya's recipe is tasty and ZeroWaste. I shall do it again!

ALSO thank you everybody for the positive comments about recycling and labels on last week's post. Steph said she showed it to her team at Tangible, who had helped with all the OPRL research. 

Have you ever recycled stale bread into a breakfast dish?

Lent 6: Release

The calendar picture is a little late - because I took it down from the hook in the kitchen, and then couldn't find the 'safe place' where I had put it!It turned up on Tuesday, when Julian was helping me go through the stacks of kitchen stuff in the back bedroom. 
It seemed a very apposite message - not everything that came out of my kitchen cupboards is going back! I even managed to let go of a beautiful NordicWare Bundt pan.  On sale at £50, it cost me £5 in a CS, but I have never used it [it was 'as new' when I got it] And my gran's glass jug [never used, as I was always afraid I might break it!]

There is no point in hanging onto things like this. They can go and bless others. But more than material items, it is important to let go of other 'stuff'

• bad, hurtful memories
  
• grudges or ill feeling because of past slights
• aspirations you will never realistically achieve 
• worse, aspirations for your children [they may not want to be doctors or lawyers or whatever]
• envy because you do not have as much money as someone else
• resentment because age or health is limiting your activities 

As we get older, we need to let go of things which have may been an important part of our lives in the past but we are just not able to do them anymore. Maybe we don't have the stamina, or the flexibility for the activities we enjoyed in our youth. We need to learn to  let go of these things with grace, rather than resentment

I spoke with a lovely lady on my Hospital Volunteer Visit this week. She is a widow, with no children-or grandchildren - she asked the head of a local school if she could give an Easter Egg to every pupil. She's done this for a number of years. The village children speak to her when they see her on her mobility scooter. She was so bright and cheerful [even in a hospital bed]  

In her eighties, she reluctantly had to give up knitting because she can't manipulate the needles anymore. So she gave her wool stash to a knitting group - and also made a donation to a group which provides "angel blankets" for mothers of stillborn babies. Rather than become embittered by her lack of family, and her loss of craft skills, she is using her resources in a positive way. She's making an impact.

I had a friend who used to say of things she was letting go of"it was mine for just a season, but now that time has gone". Release what is past to make room for what is to come. It will sometimes take courage. Don't dwell, don't dither, step out in faith.

Who knows what that new found freedom may bring?

Fuss In Boots

 I am so very annoyed with Boots right now. Have you seen this?

Initially it sounded good "Boots are going to recycle blister packs" said Bob "and our two nearest stores are collection points" Then we looked into it further...

IT IS "GREENWASHING", PRETENDING TO BE ECO FRIENDLY FOR APPEARANCE SAKE.

They say it is simple, but it isn't really. You need to have the app and scan all your blister packs. Once they are approved, you take them to the store. 15 packs will earn you 150 bonus points - but you only get them if you spend £10 within three days of donation.

If I've understood it correctly, donating 20 packs will still only get you 150 points [I may be wrong there]

Bob and I, between us, have a lot of daily meds

We drop our used packets in a box in the bedroom drawer, and there are always at least 10 per week. This appears to be a normal figure among the many OAPs I know [who often discuss their pills at the Church Café! ]

BUT a high proportion of these friends do not have smart phones or use apps. [Or bother with loyalty cards] So they can't use the scheme. Younger friends who perhaps only have 1 tablet a day will take months  to accumulate 15 empty packs.

Furthermore the reward scheme mostly benefits Boots! They are in effect saying "you need to spend even more with us to get points off your subsequent spending" 

I'm not fussed about reward points, I just want to recycle for the benefit of the planet.  This is far too complicated for me to bother with. And I suspect Boots know this, The management of a scheme like this will be complicated and costly for them to implement. So a few months down the line, I suspect it will be cancelled, and they will tell us that they did offer this environmentally friendly option, but customers didn't take it up. 

Some Superdrug stores have drop off points. No incentives or loyalty points - just the opportunity to help the planet.

We are fortunate to have Tony at our church. He takes all our packs  to a charity [I have forgotten which] who then sell them on to TerraCycle. So we will continue to do that.

I think most people who want to recycle want the simple Superdrug system [or a mate like Tony] saying "Leave your packs here, and we will ensure they get properly recycled" without apps and offers. An easy way to have a positive impact.

Come on Boots, surely you can do better than this!

Now I'm wondering what will happen if I take my bag of empty packs into Dereham Boots and try and sneak them into the box without using the app...

They Are Absolute Pants!

I really thought I had done my research here. I drew up a list of "pee pants" designed for "moderate-heavy" leakage. I eliminated the huge Granny-pants, and the minuscule briefs which would have been too small even for Jess. I kept to British and European companies. 

I chose ones made with cotton. I discarded the most expensive [we seniors need to be careful with our pensions] and the cheapest [avoid false economy. [check out Vimes Boots]  I'd decided to shell out for Sloggis, but they had none in stock in my size.

Then I finally found a company which purported to have been reviewed in a number of prestigious magazines, and featured on Loose Women [I don't watch LW but they seem the sort of crowd who chatter, giggle, and frequently experience what cousin Gill always called "Tena Lady Moments"] Its website was British based, with the green stars of Trust Pilot views scrolling across the page. The design showed a generous suzed gusset. And there was a multipack offer in the January Sale. So I sent off my money waiting for my express delivery from Vera

Two weeks later my package has arrived. 

IT IS ALL LIES!

These are incredibly poor quality briefs made from horrid nylon with a thin cotton gusset. I put one pair on the worktop on a piece of kitchen paper. I poured a teaspoon of water on the gusset ‐ in less than a minute the pants was wet through, as was the paper!

The pants come from China. 

I think these two are not the women who founded the company. I think they're just stock photos. Kate and Margaret are probably as real as Betty Crocker and Barbie.  If I send the pants back to China [at my own expense, £15+]  I may get a partial refund. I am not throwing more money at this. 

I am cross with myself for being stupid.

BUT 5000 people look at this blog every day. Many of you are women who understand the issues surrounding incontinence problems. The embarrassment and loss of dignity. The unwillingness to consign thousands of pantliners and disposable briefs to landfill sites.

If this post stops other people falling prey to this Vera scam, I will feel better about my financial loss. My post will have a positive impact

The urge to spend a penny should not cost a woman so many pounds! 

Lost And Found

If pace was my Word of the Year, I think I have totally failed. The pace of life has been rather too fast - except for poor Bob, for whom many activities have  been conducted at a much slower pace than in previous years. But Pilates is helping the back/ankle issues, and in the New Year he will be starting regular sessions at the Leisure Centre. And having a Blue Badge means he can at least park nearer his destination and reduce the amount of walking he has to do, we are very grateful for that. But we seem to have had a very full calendar in recent days. 

We actually scheduled last Monday as  Date Day - time to be together with no commitments to outside activities. I am taking time over the next couple of days to wrap Christmas Gifts.

Most of these have been bought over the last two or three months, and put on the top shelf in my wardrobe, But not everything - there was a stack of things on the spare bed at one point, and when I discovered Rosie and Jess were coming up to Norfolk for the weekend, I promptly hid their gifts. I didn't want surprises spoilt.

On Wednesday I got myself into a real panic because I could not find some gifts, and had completely forgotten where I had put them! Bob helped me locate 90% of  them [all in bizarre places]

Then there was the Christmas cake, which I originally planned to ice before Julian came.But he's not really fond of Christmas Cake, so I decided to wait. Could I find the cake on Wednesday? I hunted high and low, declaring confidently "It is in a round tin" Bob looked on the top of cupboards, and took the lids off the various round tins, only to find smaller round tins nesting inside. All empty! Eventually I found the square tin, neatly labelled "Christmas Cake" with the cake inside it [in my defence, the cake itself is round!] I have found the pack of fondant ready roll icing,but not the marzipan. The cake remains uniced as yet. [is uniced a word? it looks so similar to unicef, but pronounced so differently]

I returned the unsold craft goods to the loft, and went on to my 31:13 website to manage the inventory. And discovered to my horror that the mice were mistakenly listed as out of stock.No wonder none has sold for a few weeks! I've reduced some of the Christmas items.

We now have a clearer idea of which family members will be around, and when, over the festive season. So I shall make some serious menu plans and tidy the freezer and food cupboards next week.

I recently had a Waitrose voucher, and decided to stock up on tins from their Essentials Range. I am always intrigued by the items they consider to be 'essential'! These are currently on trays, slid under the spare bed. 

On Saturday morning, as I prepared for Christmas Lunch #1, I could not find the cranberry sauce [which I serve with roast chicken as well as with turkey] I knew I had bought a jar. We managed to find three in the end- one in the kitchen, one in the Futility Room anc one under the bed. 

"I once was lost, but now I'm found" is the soundtrack to life at Cornerstones this week

Happy Birthday, Bob!

This year has certainly had its ups and downs - lots of great family times and celebrations, good involvement with the community, but also health issues. Through it all you have remained cheerful and positive.
I was talking with Rosie about people who inspire us - and she mentioned a few famous characters [contemporary and historical] and then she said "and Grandad"
Have a happy birthday - we all love you so much! God bless you today and always

More Fish, Fewer Chips

The good news is that I returned from the Paris exactly the same weight as when I went. That's despite the massive Iles Flottantes, and the baguettes and croissants etc. [and the fact that we travelled mostly by bus or Metro, because Bob was not really up to walking]

The bad news is that my weight is still higher than I want it to be. 

I have really enjoyed the food we have eaten in Paris - especially that most of it was freshly made, non UPF stuff.

Bob, being Type 2 Diabetic, wants to make sure he eats wisely too.

I listened to an interesting programme on Radio 4, about Universities which are transitioning to entirely plant-based catering over the next 5 years. They are ditching animal products to help tackle the climate crisis.

Like all these programmes, the contributors were carefully chosen to present a 'balanced viewpoint'. It didn't help that I found the arguments of one of the vegan speakers unconvincing, and he didn't seem willing to listen to the other guys!

I heard it whilst driving home from Sainsburys, where I'd just done a major foodshop [all fresh food having been eaten up prior to the holiday]

I am not altogether sure that removing all non plant based foods from Campus is altogether helpful. That is basically taking away people's freedom of choice. And if you are not eating any animal protein, you need to eat a balance of complementary proteins to ensure a truly healthy diet. Would students bother? And if there are 'meat substitutes' [with names like What the Cluck, Tofurkey, FakinBacon etc] are not many of these produced in factories, and end up being the UPFs that we are supposed to be avoiding? 

I learned that I am now a reducetarian. Along with about 40% of the population. I have reduced the amount of meat products which I consume. Apparently we are also called flexitarians. The King is one of us, having two days a week without meat or fish, and one day without dairy. 

But whilst I am happy to up the quantity of veggies I eat [especially when I have grown them myself] I am aware that I need to maintain a reasonable protein intake. I cannot just fill up with salads and carb-laden potatoes. And a  piece of fruit is less fattening than an apple pie, or a rhubarb crumble. 

Furthermore, I am aware that in many ways, it is better for me [and the planet] to eat fish than red meat.

My Sainsburys trolley [I managed to save 10% on the final bill with various carefully managed Nectar offers] contained lots of seafood - kippers, smoked salmon [I love the trimmings snipped onto scrambled eggs] tuna, and mussels. I already have white fish fillets in the freezer. 

I still enjoy my dairy stuff - 'proper' milk in tea and coffee, and homemade yogurts [although my cheese intake is very limited] I do like eggs - and yes, I know, technically they are not 'dairy'. But we will definitely be having a Chippy Tea less frequently in future!

How can we balance a responsible attitude to climate change, and to eating sensibly - and especially, how can we do this when we have very busy lives, and small children with us at the meal table who are frequently quite fussy about what they eat?

Years ago, my daughters pointed out that when I eat a meal, I usually leave some of the potatoes till last. Why? It took me a while to work it out - as a child, the rule was 'no pudding if you do not eat all your meat and green veg' and if I ate the potatoes first, they filled me up too quickly. So I always ate the meat and green veg first, in order to ensure I got my pudding later. And I have never broken the habit!