Tag: News

Posted on

Happy Birthday, Blog

Today marks a whole year since I started posting on a regular, if not daily, basis. The actual site started a few years earlier but life happens and priorities change.

So, what’s changed in a year? Well, I’ve not been snapped up as the next Nigel Slater so no living off my art just yet 😉  I started to work on my photos; better shots, more post-production, but it got to be a bit of a pain so I’m mostly just uploading straight from my little Nikon for posts. I may be doing a course to improve my skills, but got to put it in the queue with all the other must-dos.

Over the year, I’ve mostly stuck to the Paleo/ Primal plan but I can see where I’ve slipped up and what caused it. I assumed it would be holidays abroad, as I’m not home with my usual familiar resources, but actually that’s been fine.  At home, as long as I eat enough fat, I don’t get the munchies after dinner and I have the energy to give 100% at the gym. Where I have slipped up is the unexpectedly good Summer weather (= need a cold beer = ooh look, snacks!) and weeks where I’ve broken routine and not stocked up properly at the supermarket. All fixable 🙂

For the next 12 months I hope to be sticking to the food and exercise plans, but I’ll be branching out into Cross-Fit so I’ll be needing all the slow-carbs I can get!

Posted on

Can I help you?

Want to eat better?
Challenged by dietary restrictions?
Want to lose some weight and gain energy?
Want to stop wasting money?

Want to take charge of your kitchen and feel like a domestic goddess?!  ðŸ™‚


This is for busy people who want more variety in their diet, without resorting to expensive ready meals and takeaways, and people managing dietary restrictions who want to regain their love of food.

I want to give you the key skills to take apart any recipe and adapt to your requirements and budget. Let’s take the stress and frustration out of dinner times and make it a pleasure.

Unlike Diet Chef and Weight Watchers, this is not calorie-counting. It’s also not a prescribed eating plan – although I can help you put that together if you want it.

This is about cooking Real Food, and giving you the confidence to do it for yourself.

You can do better than a takeaway!


Who am I? *

Posted on

Why kale is the Chuck Norris of all veg

On a mission to eat more, nutrient-dense veggies I put kale on the menu this week but forgot that it doesn’t wilt down, like spinach, so got the bigger bag [price break 😉 ]  at Tesco. Problem is, I just can not get rid of it.

Seriously, I’ve put huge portions of it into dinner 3 times already this week and the bag is just not shrinking – in fact, I’m pretty sure it’s grown!

I’ve put aside enough to go with an Indian meal at the weekend, but I can’t face seeing it on my plate again today so thought I’d try out making crisps with it.

Using a NomNomPaleo recipe as a guide, I dried off about 100g chopped kale (that’s all that would fit on one of my baking trays – so no idea how big her oven is if she can do half a kilo at a time!), drizzled over melted ghee (about 2 tsp) and tumbled the lot onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Baked @ 180c for 10 mins, turned tray around and gave it another 5 mins. While it was still hot I seasoned with ground braai spice (mix of sale, coriander, garlic and chilli). Next time I would put more on the tray – it needs to be in a single layer but, as I use a fan-assisted setting on my oven, it would still get good and crispy even if there wasn’t clear space between the leaves. 

Crunchy-Yummy 🙂

Posted on

Super excited!!!!

I’ve finally been able to launch an idea I’ve been semi-working on for a while. Mindfull eating, outdoor living, group exercise and adventure!

Everything came together at the same time and I just jumped on it – sooo not like me but I love it!

Thinking this isn’t the time of might to make big decisions but…….. where has doing the right and being sensible thing got me so far, eh?

More in the morning – tee hee hee !

Posted on

Low Carb, High Fat for ZAR40 / day?

 

Interesting topic on Twitter from Prof. Tim Noakes this week. Can a LCHF diet be maintained on ZAR40 / day?

On today’s exchange rate, ZAR40 ≈ £2.25 ≈ $3.67

Not sure if this is based on an individual, buying food every couple of days or a family doing a weekly or bi-weekly supermarket shop taking advantage of economies of scale, and obviously I’ve not taken into account buying power in each country.

We average £40/ week on food shopping. This covers 3 meals a day for 2 adults so approx. £2.85 per person, per day. And that’s without really trying to cut costs; just shopping at the supermarket and shopping to a list, rather than picking up all the BOGOFs.

Our menu is varied and, even though it doesn’t often feature steak anymore, we eat good quality protein with each meal.

Does not include beer and wine, but of course we shun booze on our Paleo/ Primal diet don’t we…. 🙂

 

Posted on

Feeling like a proper grown up

After waving off hubby on Sunday morning, I’ve nearly completed a whole working day of being all on my lonesome.

Set an alarm on my mobile (as I don’t know how to operate the alarm in the bedroom…) and even made my own cup of tea before leaving for work. Managed a bit of breakie too. Had prepped packed lunch night before, as usual, so covered for that. Still managed to forget my expense receipts, but can’t get it all right on day one.

Evenings are much easier as I just have to potter around, making dinner and watching tv – simples. Not doing any foodography this week. Too time consuming and still working in the evenings on the day job. <sigh>

Knocked up a curry with a lot of extra chilli to try and kill off the cold I’m developing. Was meant to last 2 nights’ dinners but greed and a need for nurture took over. Must be my impending old age that’s making me weak and ill – ehem ehem sniiiiff hack hack………

Posted on

Hiatus over!

After an extended break, I’m back! Yes, I’m aware that no one actually noticed or gives a rat’s arse.

Anywho. I have a whole week on my own to get creative and cook up a storm. In reality I’m likely to be working late every night but it’ll be an experiment in how the busy, singletons live 🙂

As a mini-project, I’ve been looking at how I can use my interests and vast knowledge (aka, too much time spent reading food porn and watching Food Network) to help other people learn how to prepare food and not be scared by the kitchen. In an ideal world I’ll be discovered as the next Nigel Slater and spend my days in beautiful, fake film set kitchens but tbh. it’s something I’d love to do just because I’m passionate about it. Speaking to a young colleague I was genuinely shocked to hear “I don’t cook much”. Erm, so how do you eat?? She doesn’t have a long commute that gets her home late at night, and she doesn’t have the kind of income that supports a diet of takeaway or M&S ready meals. She’s not the only one. We now have at least 3 generations of adults in the UK who can’t cook; the youngest now heading off to uni. Do we blame the microwave, or the years of excessive credit and perceived wealth, or is it just that M&S ready meals are actually that bloody good!

This is a basic, life skill that everyone should have. Not to suggest that everyone will be a cordon bleu chef, but the ability to turn leftovers into something edible and appealing is critical in this time of money worries. Plus, given some ‘concerns’ around food origin in the UK lately, we need to be more aware of what we’re putting into our bodies and (cost wise) when paying more or going organic actually makes a difference. Found a handy list of ‘clean’ foods which shows which fruit and veg are affected most by pesticides etc. and which ones are hardly impacted at all, so paying a premium for them really isn’t making your eats any safer. In short, pick your fights 🙂

http://www.greenster.com/magazine/produce-dirty-dozen-and-clean-fifteen-updated/

There must be other life skills that are waning. Sewing? Ironing? Does anyone polish their shoes anymore?! These things don’t keep me awake at night, but they do make me ponder…..