There are so many lovely vegetables available in the UK at this time of year, not as many maybe as in the Summer months, but still lots of choice available for us to buy. And they are mostly homegrown.
And of course lots of lovely fruits available for us to buy in the shops, although until June we are not very self sufficient in this country for fruit. But there are still UK grown apples available and homegrown Rhubarb is just about to come into it's own, more than enough to get us the vitamin C we need.
So why just recently have I gone down a rabbit hole of ...
Fishless Fingers on buns.
Falafel Pizza served with bacon flavoured Pringles.
Linda McCartney Sausage Rolls.
Although my saving grace here was that at least I served them with Cherry tomatoes 😁
And pickled onions are a veg ... right!!
My only excuse is Christmas, being busy and soooo many vegan foods ... or should I say easy vegan junk foods ... suddenly being available in the shops in time for Veganuary. I've jumped onto a weird bandwagon and seriously now I feel the need to leap right back off, quickly.
I need to sit and read through my whole food plant-based cook books ... and more importantly ... actually cook from them. I need to meal prep and take myself in hand so that when I feel the need for a snack there is one waiting for me made from good foods sat in the fridge. No more grabbing a bun and slapping something on it, less bread makes me feel so much better anyway.
Life is busy yes, but I am able to cope with being busy so much better if I feel good and I really feel that I am at the end of my health tether at the moment. What better time than this my 60th year to take myself in hand and come out of it feeling, and perhaps even looking a bit better.
So as Alan takes on his new 8 week diet plan, which in traditional fashion he is starting on Monday, I am going to join in but in a different way, buying, cooking and eating good foods from scratch. Let's see if by my birthday in April I can make myself feel better.
Our plan is to round up all the leftover, still sealed Christmas food and gifts that have decent dates on them and drop them off at the supermarket Foodbank collection trolley when we go to stock up our respective larders in time for a new beginning food wise.
There ... I've committed it in writing on my blog so I HAVE to do it.
Sue xx
Good for you. It is very easy to slip into the make it fast habit. I am sure we all did so over Christmas. I need to get back into the no eating of the baked goods habit.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
We are giving ourselves just this weekend to eat the last of our favourite things from the cupboards, the sort of things we really don't want to be eating in the near future, and the rest is going to the Foodbank trolley.
DeleteBelieve me - I sympathize! I've tried to make sure that I still get a lot of daily fruit & veg but otherwise my diet has gone completely off the rails. I did a good shop yesterday so over the weekend I need to prep and prepare a few things for the week ahead. I feel sluggish and blah and need to get back on track!
ReplyDeleteYes, that's exactly how I feel, especially straight after eating stodge.
DeleteWhat is Falafel Pizza, please and is it gluten free? I will be doing more healthy eating my self but from the 10/02/2020. I am also going to start exercising again, that is my downfall as I am on the computer or cardmaking too much, which means I am sitting a lot. Helen S.
ReplyDeleteI have been buying the Goodfellas Falafel pizza ; https://www.goodfellaspizzas.com/our-range/pizzas/vegan/vegan-falafel
DeleteNo I don't think it's gluten free unfortunately, although they do make one that is.
It's all those months with only rhubarb for fruit that worries me!
ReplyDeleteThank goodness for supermarkets and the year round pineapples then ;-)
DeleteThose of us that grow do have berries and things in the freezer though don't we, so we can almost ride out the just rhubarb season.
How lovely that you have a place, to drop off, food you will not be using up.
ReplyDeleteOh so good, to get it out of the house! If it's still there, it will "call" to you, especially when you get a bit hungry.
Oh so wise, to be determined to buy and fix whole foods! Those "snack foods," which abound in the grocery store, are the worst. Having healthy items available at all times, is Wise.
Good luck to both of you!!!! Health and feeling better, are the best of motives!!!
🔥💛🔥
Yes, I would hate to see food go to waste. It's nice to know that as well as all the basic foods that people put into the Foodbank trolley on a weekly basis, at the moment a lot of folk are putting in 'treat' style food that is leftover from their Christmas shopping. I know from experience the thrill of being given some nice biscuits or cake when you have been subsisting on basic food for a long time.
DeleteI hope you enjoy cooking from scratch again as much as I am at the moment. So very satisfying, isn't it?
ReplyDeletexx
Yes, definitely, I am menu planning at the moment for the next two weeks using my Happy Pear books as inspiration.
DeleteI'm a firm believer that food has a huge effect on our bodies and minds. We are fortunate to live in an age where a good range of fruit and veg is available throughout the year. As I'm trying to eat more vegetarian I'm looking forward to seeing your meals. Do you have a good recipe for sweet pepper houmous?
ReplyDeleteI'll post about the meals then if there are a few people interested.
DeleteRed Pepper Hummus is literally your favourite hummus recipe with some roasted red pepper and a teaspoon of paprika added (and some chilli powder if you like it hot).
The recipe I use is from Deliciously Ella's first book.
2 tins Chickpeas
10 tbs Olive Oil (I use half and half Olive and Sunflower to keep it a bit lighter, or you can substitute some of this for water)
Juice of 1 or 2 lemons (taste and add the extra one at the end if it needs it)
2 tbs Tahini
3 cloves of Garlic, peeled
2 tsp Ground Cumin
Salt and Pepper
Mix everything in a bullet blender or food processor until it is as smooth as you like it.
For Red Pepper Hummus: Add to half of the above mixture:-
1 Roasted Red Pepper (chop into strips and roast for 20 minutes or so or use straight from a jar of ready cooked ones).
1 tsp Paprika
Pinch of Dried Chilli Powder
Whizz again.
Another variation that I like is to add one beetroot to the other half of the mixture, I use one of the vacuum packed already cooked ones so it is really easy. Make sure your original mix isn't too watery as the beetroot adds more moisture.
Hope this helps :-)
Funnily enough said as much to my husband the day before yesterday. We have had veg delivered for many many years but still felt we were eating a load of festive c**p. Working weird shifts and hours doesn't help to be honest and we've both had this horrid virus that's doing the rounds but it's no excuse. So we got back on proper cooking from scratch and eating meals rather than picking. I always feel yuk when eating badly!
ReplyDeleteFestive crap really does creep in on your doesn't it. I only bought a few treaty things, and admittedly then a few more. But then the hamper arrived full of even more, then we were unexpectedly gifted boxes and boxes of shortbread biscuits, cakes and sweets.
DeleteI'm menu planning today, shopping tomorrow and getting right back on track on Monday :-)
Oh and I meant to add, I do hope you're both feeling better now! There are some horrible virus's going around :-(
DeleteThanks, we are and eating better is a must for recovery. Good luck with the getting back on track!
DeleteI can sympathise: I've had this nasty flu type virus since just before Christmas and feel very run down. I was so off my usual food that I just ate what I could face, admittedly most of it wasn't my usual healthy stuff and I feel bloated and out of shape. Unfortunately, I just don't have my usual energy levels to walk it off. Hope you feel better soon.
DeleteMany thanks Susan. We have both worked all over Christmas and New Year too so that probably didn't help. Lack of energy is shocking isn't it?
DeleteI was given a huge tin of mixed biscuits for Christmas. I refuse point blank to open it, if I did I would scoff them till I was sick. The plan is to wait until everyone else has eaten their own biscuits, then donate the tin to the ambulance station so they can all dip into it when they have their tea breaks.
ReplyDeleteWhat a brilliant idea ♥️
DeleteThat's lovely.
DeleteThe Linda McCartney sausage rolls are definitely an easy meal... my family's special treat for Saturday lunches. Since we've been been weaning ourselves from meat, pastries and breads have definitely been more tempting. That Red pepper hummus sounds delicious. I must try it for simple lunches.
ReplyDeleteThey are lovely aren't they. And just as delicious cold the next day, which is why I always cook the box full in one go 😃
DeleteThe hummus makes a large portion, but it keeps for up to a week in the fridge. It's also really tasty used instead of spread on a salad sandwich or stirred through pasta for a hot lunch.
Must try the pasta idea!
DeletePost Christmas use-up exercise; OH roasted potatoes, parsnips, kohl rabi and jerusalem artichokes then added sliced haloumi 20 minutes before serving. Served with a chopped red cabbage, tomato and apple salad. Absolutely delicious and all home or very locally purchased. Having watched George Monbiot advocating the drastic reduction of the breeding and consumption of animals we’ve got three new veggy and vegan cookbooks to inspire us in 2020 to make real changes to our diet.
ReplyDeleteSounds, lovely. You can't beat roasted veg can you, the roasting really brings out the flavours.
DeleteGeorge Monbiot's programme was really good for putting things into perspective wasn't it. I've got a couple more vegan cookbooks myself over the last week and the Bosh guys new programme Living on the Veg started today, there were a couple of good recipe ideas on there.