Loose ends..

It's been a week of finishing of things, which I have now decided feels even better than starting them. All ducks getting neatly in a row. And it fits in pretty well with it being a crazy quarter of the way through 2013. 

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I know some pretty avid fans but I couldn't have a more of a divided opinion. The storyline is a little too silly at times but it's kind of mind blowing that somebody came up with it. It's pretty poorly written but for some reason you cannot put it down. All in all, I don't think I'll read the others but I cannot wait to see the film.

Waiting for a holiday

And a trip to the Alpes. Ok so that's not really finishing something but it's all I can think about right now so it had to feature somewhere. 

Little bit in love with new anon haven goggles I bought today.

Game of Thrones Season 2

Best series anyone could ever watch so everyone must watch it. And in time for Season 3 this time next week!

Putting off the clear out

Now I can freely slide the clothes in my cupboard all the way to the left. And then back to the right. And to the left. And then to the.... It's just amazing ok

And last but one hundred percent not least...

My first ever knitted scarf
Started 2nd January and finished 20th March. This is the first thing I have made in a looong time and just in time for the end the longest winter I can remember. It's also proved a great distraction to avoid after-dinner nibbling whilst watching TV; just to a put a dietetic spin on it

 

 

I don’t do mornings.

Every morning this week I've felt like my eyes were wired shut. No prizing those peepers open. My Mum had a sweatshirt when I was younger that read 'I don't do mornings' with a photo of a sleepy seal on it. She'd always wear it on early morning flights and I'd definitely pinch it now if she still had it.

Sometimes the only reason I've got up over these winter months has been the thought of my warm bowl of porridge. I LOVE it. How does anyone get up without breakfast? I always add raisins and have it with a black cup of coffee while I get ready.

Some reasons why porridge is just great.

a soluble fibre in porridge called beta glucan has proven (a rare find for nutrition) to lower ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol in the blood by binding to it in the gut; preventing its absorption along with other substances that help us absorb fat

it's an excellent source of protein; porridge contains lots of the amino acids that the body can’t make so can only be taken in from what we eat (these amino acids are hard to come by in non-meat products)

the soluble fibres also mix with water to form a gel that keeps porridge in the stomach for longer; helping to control hunger and therefore with weight management

low GI – porridge releases its sugars slowly, helping to maintain energy levels and control blood sugar levels

cheap cheap at just over £1 per kilo

Little bit in love with this tray

good source of antioxidants including vitamin E and phytoestrogens, which may help prevent against cancer and heart disease

the insoluble fibres serves that are also found in porridge oats acts as a prebiotic to feed the healthy bacteria in the large intestine

200grams of cooked porridge made with milk will have around 250mgs of calcium (adults need around 700mgs each day) and will also be rich in iron

“pure oats” are safe for people with Coeliac disease but you have to be careful because unless they have been labelled as pure, most oats will have come into contact with wheat

New Year's Intentions

I never know with New Years Resolutions. Should you make one that you stick to or shoot for lots that you'll probably only stick to some of the time? Probably the former if you have any intention of keeping them, but it's been my experience that they can't be kept all the time anyway. And that's why I've put together a list of New Year's Intentions that I one hundred percent intend to keep, but not one hundred percent of the time.

          

1. Run every 2-3 days and sign up to events - My ankle's hurting at the moment so going to need to visit a physio friend and invest in a new pair of trainers in order to stick to this. But I've already signed up to a 10K in February, so off to a good start.
2. Pick three exercises to do after a run and stick to them - Have settled on sit-ups, squats and tricep dips.
3. Drink at least 2L water every day - I'm pretty good at this and it makes such a difference. But I can't say I do it every day.
4. Up the fruit and veg - At least five, but I'd like to try for seven. The evidence is all for seven; they picked five because it was too much of a jump from the national average of two to three.
5. Moisturise moisturise moisturise - This is going to be the hardest. I'm good with my face but I hate the sticky feeling (it's the same reason I can't fake tan), but it's important, so I'm going to try.
6. Learn to use my new SLR and use it - This is already going well and the brother has pointed me in the direction of some great video tutorials.
7. Travel, travel, travel - One skiing holiday in the bag and another in the pipeline but it could be time for another mini adventure this summer...
8. New music please - I'm pretty bored of everything I've got at the moment so I downloaded the NME app for Spotify yesterday and found Two Hours by Theme Park, which is my favourite song this week (their cover of Wildest Moments is pretty good too).
9. Slowwww down - Aiming for 7-8 hours sleep a night, not rushing and still being late everywhere, reading, and doing lots more loitering. Last week, I went to Borough market with my housemates, we loitered, and it was great.

     

Magic Moments

It's well-known to those who know me that I'm a bit of an Anya Hindmarch fan, and this year I've been more than a little bit captivated with her All I've Ever Wanted collection.

It one hundred percent appeals to my inner little girl. The window displays at Selfridge's are magical -  little black toy trains whizzing around bits of factory machinery that are ferrying around tiny jewel coloured Quality Streets. It's like chocolate factory meets toy town.

The AW12 makeover that the Marano clutch has had, takes handbags to a whole new level. They either light up and twinkle or play music, and have been packaged and presented to look like toys (you can watch the videos here); truly, ridiculously, incredible.

The Marano Dancer

The Tiny Tim

Quality Streets feature heavily in the collection. They didn't really in my family christmases growing up, but definitely have done this year. There has been a tin in the office, on the ward and on my living room table pretty much every day this month. They've even managed to get a look in on my Christmas wrapping.

I now appreciate that sinking feeling - when there are no more green triangles, fudges or the purple ones left. The fuss, however, that some people make about toffee pennies, orange cremes and toffee deluxes, is lost on me.

Unfortunately the beautiful AH bags are a little out of my price range. But it didn't stop me buying one little 'To Me, From Me' present this year.

The contents were, as ever, a little disappointing but they did all contain a lottery ticket with the chance to win something from the AW12 collection. Like most people, I don't tend to do well with these sorts of things, but we'll see. And if not, at least we got a giggle out of some too-good-to-be-bad cracker jokes. 

Merry Christmas xxx

Proud to be Patriotic

12 happens to be my favourite number, but I think the world has come to agree that this, as it has been said many times in the last few months... 

has been quite a year for the Brits!!

The Union Jack is everywhere!

I'm counting down the days till the Team GB track tops are back in stock

We all took a souvenir from a street party near us

One Victoria almost fell off the roof of a London taxi cab

And another turned in her grave

Radio One Big Weekend arrived on the Hackney Marshes

                     

Whilst the queen and co flotilla'd down the Thames

(in the rain)

Before she surpassed ALL expectations

  

And of course.. we only went and smashed it at the 2012 Olympics 

at home with a whopping 65 metals!

And my super clever, super brilliant friend Ashleigh Ball got a Hockey Bronze!!!!!

Could the support for Team GB both sport and non-sport related be any greater?!!

A Proper British Mess! X

For the fool-proof meringues…

Make sure all your utensils are sparkly clean and preheat the oven to 140 degrees – wiping utensils with a bit of lemon juice on a piece of tissue will help remove any hidden grease.  Carefully separate four egg whites into a bowl making sure no yolk is taken with them – eggs separate more easily if they are fresh.

Whisk the egg whites for 2-3 minutes until the eggs reach a moussey type consistency and then for a further 1-3 minutes until they form stiff white peaks at the end of the whisk – it’s really important not to overwhisk.

The rule of thumb is 55g caster sugar per egg with meringues so that is 220g for four. Whisk it in three tablespoons at a time and once it’s all in you should be left with a lovely shiny, glossy mixture.

Lay a sheet of baking paper on a tray – you can use a few blobs of the meringue mix to stick the corners down.  Then spoon the mixture out to make your meringues – I prefer the big ones and this recipe will make around 8. Avoid being neat with the spooning – meringues look and of course taste heaps better when they’ve got personality.

Pop in the oven and bake for 45-60minutes. Once done they need to be left to cool completely, ideally whilst in the oven.

For the strawberry puree…

Chop half a punnet (200g) of strawbs and use a hand blender to juice them (so satisfying!). Strain them through a sieve – it’s best not to miss this step – before stirring in a tablespoon of icing sugar. (Definitely worth a taste at this stage)

How to make a jolly old mess…

Whip the double cream but keep it relatively floppy and then use the same bowl (any chance to save on washing up) to get messy. Chop the rest of the strawberries into halves or quarters and break up the meringues before gently folding them all into the cream – try to keep the bits relatively separate and make sure it's all nice and chunky. Stir in the blueberries at this point too and half the puree, it's worth squashing a few bluebugs at this stage. Serve it up, drizzle each portion with a little puree and..

            Tuck in old boy!

Playing with Pancakes... The Results Show

If a little too embarrassingly late... here are a few of the cheeky treats I made with the boys back in February.

Meatball Marinara

Followed by... Banana, Nutella, Peanut butter

                           

Further apologies for the chocolate splodge on one of the pictures it was hard at times to restrain long enough to take them!

Playing with pancakes

Shrove Tuesday.... Clearly one of the best days of the year...

Method:

1.                Get together with some fellow pancake enthusiasts

2.                Spend 20 minutes Googling the best batter recipes

3.                3 minutes making it up

4.                At least 10 minutes hotly debating whether thick or thin pancakes should take precedence

5.                With a decision reached, wait patiently whilst reminiscing over some memorable pancake-related stories (peanut butter with cheese, enjoying sunset on the beach in Thailand has to top my list)

6.                Enjoy with some seriously cheeky fillings!

                           Feeling brave?? I promise you, savoury stuffings are the way forward:

Bacon and cheese

Mexican 3 bean

Warmed tomato, mozzarella and basil

Chille con carne

Chicken tikka masala

Ham, leek and mushroom

Meatball Marinara

7.                Follow with a sufficient number of happy gustatory noises

8.              And.......... squabbling over who gets the last one is of course compulsory.

Right now it looks like Tom, Joey and I will be choosing between Bacon and Cheese and Meatball Marinara. Photos to follow! X