The single track road - life on a different path

MeandO

Thank you for the suggestions lovely people.


Apple, I guess know the whole 'I'm not buying that for myself' thing is a huge case of self-worth Apple, which I have always had very little of, I'm afraid. I'd rather spend the money making others happy and content... hence the debt I'm currently in pretty much.


Anyway, I've been quite productive and have looked in my plethora of cookbooks (although they've been dramatically culled since the ex moved out as most were his/he cooks a lot) and I have found my 'skinny slow cooker' books I bought around Christmas time, with the purpose of using them when I was living alone. I've found 3 recipes which sounds lovely to start with and have written the shopping list for them. The slow cooker is ideal for me really as I can never be bothered to cook when I get in from work, but am quite happy to prep stuff before bed the night before.
So, the first 3 dishes on the menu are Lentil dahl, Wild mushroom stroganoff and a simple chicken curry. I'll freeze the surplus as each makes enough for 4 servings, so should have lots of lunches and evening meals to hand.
Each time I do the grocery shopping, I'll plan for 3 new recipes for the week, that's a good place to start methinks.




I've done another 30 minutes on the wii fit again tonight, all the aerobic ones. I'm going to try and make it 30 minutes at least 4 times a week and build back up to the shred DVD, I know I couldn't keep up with it presently!

Right, off to try and have a very quick shower as I still have no hot water... it may wake me up at least!

x

hummingbird

"A Girl called Jack" is really good - you may have already come across her. I had the recipe book until I was going through a stage of overly-enthusiasic ebay selling! (I want it back again now LOL) However I think you can find a lot of her recipes and tips online, just google "Jack Monroe". Ideal too as she was cooking for herself and her little boy.

liltdiddylilt

Hey you

I am a voracious snacker at work, and then do precisely as you describe... come home starving, can't face the time it takes to wait for food to cook and so eat everything in sight then still eat my dinner at a late hour and feel very fat and rubbish.

I am with Apple, on the marksdailyapple.com - it doesn't have to cost the earth and O can eat exactly what you eat just with added mashed potatoes/rice/pasta if need be. It does take a LOT of prep, but I have now learned to do precisely what you are doing. I cook off turkey breasts in a bit of oil then at the last minute splash on soy sauce and sesame oil - covers me for snacks for work on top of nuts and pork scratchings. :rotfl: This I do on a Tuesday night. I also prep a stir fry or salad and make sure to add plenty of protein, and plenty of fat. The fat has a high satiety rate so if I eat that I won't be too terrible at snacking on the bits and pieces I bring with me. I prep it all the night before and then my evening meals are...well my freezer is full of a ketogenic cauliflower/spinach and prawn curry portioned off. I cook off steaks, slice them and add them to salad or stir fry (you can even buy frozen stir fry veggie packs!) - I get through DOZENS of eggs all by myself. little muffins baked with egg/cheese and bacon in the oven. 1 a day for breakfast and the recipe using 8 eggs makes 12... perfect, they freeze brilliantly.

I have found that the more fat and protein I eat and the more I avoid the carbs (especially the processed stuff) the less hungry and snacky I get. Which really helps you to stick to it when you just want to cave and eat cake. But caving one night of the week and having the cake won't kill you either...

Big hugs! Wish I was closer, or that my job was moveable. I'd be there cooking for you every night and sending you with packed lunches xx

MeandO

Ah hummingbird, yes, I have seen the girl called jack stuff, had it on my amazon wish list for a while actually. Thanks for the reminder, I think some of her recipes are online too from her sainsbury's days.

Lilty, you are my hero(ine)
Loving the turkey steak snack idea, which I will steal as soon as I've go shopping, and love love love stir fries and such.
Unfortunately O wouldn't touch anything I eat unless it's spaghetti bolognaise or lasagne, which I want to avoid for myself because of the pasta.
Thankfully, I'm not a big carb fan, love my protein foods when I am in the zone to prep them and am not being lazy.
As for eggs, that's what I'm living on presently! Most days feature an omelette/scrambled eggs/poached eggs in my singledom existence, but I screwed myself up today by having them for lunch and panicking about not knowing what to eat tonight!

And I wished you lived closer too... I need an evening walking by the sea buddy and a FGN!

Love you lots
X

MeandO

Forgot to mention, I received a lovely little package in the mail today from my best friend at 'home'. She sent me a cd which she knew I'd love, with a little note saying it was 'to chill out to when things get too much'.
It almost made me cry. She and her husband are lovely people who have two adorable kiddies and they hardly have two pennies to spare, yet she is always thinking of others. She had battled stress and depression for years too, so she knows what it's like.

I'm feeling very thankful for friends today, old, new and online

Night all.

Xx

MeandO

Oh, and Him has redeemed himself by just phoning me for a chat after his 15 hour working day today with news that he is coming home a day early this week for extra cuddles.

Happy happy
(And about time)


Xx

liltdiddylilt

I end up cooking 3 meals a day when Him is here. One for me, one for Jelly, and one for Him. She exists on spaghetti bolognese, sausages and scrambled eggs.. Oh and marmite sandwiches. Him... not fussy as long as it is man food. Me, you know what I eat.

I sometimes have cheesy scrambled eggs in the morning, a hard boiled egg with lunch and another one as a snack later. they are*free* on my diet. And a good source of protein, low carb and filling.

Reckon you would actually really enjoy this once you got into the swing of it. But your head has to be in the right place. Apple is doing the less stressful version, with lots more veggies than I tend to go for. You can even eat sweet potatoes primal blueprint style

Your friend... bless her she brought tears to my eyes. When I had finally kicked Him out I had contact from an old school friend just catching up as we often do. I finally got around to telling him that Him had gone - next thing I knew there was a box of fresh flowers delivered through my letterbox with the most beautiful note and some chocolate. telling me I was amazing and fantastic and deserved the best of everything in the world. It was his wife that did it, rather than him... but it was so lovely of the 2 of them. We are blessed with fantastic people in our lives, both near and far eh xxx

YAY for Him!!! And sleep tight xxx

Levi-

Hey MnO!
My internet is being an absolute MARE so I'm finding it hard to keep up but just wanted to say hey and I'm rooting for you.. the CBT will be hugely beneficial, go for it - the waiting list can be a bit long but you never know, its a bit of a lottery with your primary care trust funding.
However, once you get going - the CBT therapists are usually really good... it will help you manage your feelings and challenge your thoughts which you start to apply naturally before too long. A bit like working out a muscle which gets stronger.

I have my 4th session tomorrow but work with people a lot who have had very sucessful treatment, life changing. It takes a bit of work your side and energy plus being in the right headspace for it (and you get HOMEWORK!) but my sessions are an hour long and so far I've looked forward to it every time and come out feeling the benefit. They will warn you that sometimes it can force you to address uncomfortable feelings (as all therapy does) and you have to be slightly ready for that and look at it face on. I found that bad in my 2nd session actually and came out feeling more depressed ! But I understood why and could unravel it and work with it from there. So necessary. They tend to want to focus your CBT on a streamlined area rather than a mish-mash of issues (which is what I walked in with) but you may find like me that you can kinda address the top 'tier' problem and the techniques will trickle down to help you with the rest too. I am aiming mine at the feelings of low self worth I have together with feeling like I am to blame for everything bad and feeling like I deserve to be treated bad but in turn from addressing that I am able to apply the ways of thinking (or more importantly stopping certain ways of thinking) in all ways.

xx

Levi-

PS What is it with us eating half cans of sweetcorn? LOL, randomly that is also what I had for well.. a dinner-ish snack tonight.

greyfox

I don't suppose you could work at home on the days you have to wait in for tradespeople, could you? (I don't know what sort of work you do, so apologies if this is a stupid suggestion.)