The Simple Bare Necessities feat. Gratitude & Recipes

Greying_Pilgrim

Verbatim wrote: »

Is "progress" still about being able to move GP?

I know you fiercely guard yours and BG's anonymity on here so of course you don't say anything which might ID you, but I wondered if you could give a clue about what the challenge is?

Sort of, I'm 'light' on challenge details as I've not wholly formulated it yet. I just worked out that there were 13 weeks bet. 1st June and the end of August - or a 'trimester' which is still fresh in my memory as a significant period of time. It seemed like a good timeframe to set to try to achieve something.

Will we move in that period of time? Unlikely. If we get our acts together and 'work', will we be closer to moving? More likely. The closer we get to being 'able' to move, then our chances of actually doing it should increase - right?

We're not going 'away' for a holiday in that period of time, so there should be no momentum loss. The weather should be better and more daylight available. If we can't do 'something' with that set of 'ingredients' then we never will. So although I know we've got to get started, the detail isn't fixed yet - I've one week to get scribbling!

Hope that makes sense - at least!

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Thank you for your kindness

It occured that I hadn't posted a pic and recipe for last night's tea. I made (for the second time) an adaptation of Harry Eastwood's Asparagus and Gnocchetti. I dispensed with the prosciutto (natch), used gnocchi (2 for £1 at mrA, some time ago) and used skyr rather than creme fraiche. I won't lie to you, it t'wer a bit zingy........ a bit too zingy........ I used a lemon that I had got from M&$ and it wasn't as ripe as the spanish ones that i get from the market. And nowt I could do would 'correct' the zingyness. I also did too much sauce - as I didn't do enough last time! The asparagus was from mrL - £1.40 for 250g, British produce. A good price I think. It was tasty and you know you've eaten asparagus Despite making a hash of it, this recipe is a keeper for me. OK, so it will only be wheeled out (most likely) during asparagus season, but made well, it is a nice dish. Picture here;



I feel I'm making quite alot of progress today - long may it continue!

Greying X

apple_muncher

Maybe split your challenge up into different sections, and have a little dream about each one... That way, you are always making progress in some area or other.

It can be things you already do - getting out and about with bg; going to natty trust with your sangers; making yummy meals from fresh air. Or tasks in the homestead - big and small. Or NSDs. Or socialising (eek!!!!). I sometimes put a few key words into goggle and look at the images for ideas.

Anyhow, I believe that it will be truly worthy of you, greying, and an inspiration to us all. (no pressure then....)

Greying_Pilgrim

Aw apple you are so good

i was pondering something along the 'multi-thread' approach, as whilst I want the challenge to mostly move forward housey 'stuff', and in some ways 13 weeks is no time at all; in other ways, this is our life, and for all I know, we only get one run through. So yes, living our life, whilst in this 13 week phase is also important to me too. We'll never have this time with each other again, BG won't stay at one development stage, just because we're distracted in the other direction..... making memories together is of key importance to me

Right, to the stove, there is tea to be conjured up!

Greying X

Silver_Queen

De-lurking to say hello, that gnocchi looks absolutely amazing!

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Thanks Silver Queen - the gnocchi is from mrA, one of their ambient range. For 50p it was good

Well, I've ended up getting quite alot of itty-bitty things done today, which is good, but not wholly satisfying in terms of ticking things off a list.....

The weather has been lovely for us, so that has helped tremendously.

I tried out a new recipe for tea. Spanish speakers will hopefully know what Empedrado Madrileno means, and the builders amongst you will know the technique Basically it was spanish style rice & beans. It was good, but I'm glad I built tea around it, a bowl of it would have been a bit samey..... Good value though - made heaps, enough for 3 portions. I made some little red pepper/red onion frittatas (oven baked) to go with. I used some prepped salad (mrL), made a mixed cherry tomato salad - colours of the Spanish flag ! Did a quenelle each of the remaning carrot dip - was surprised how well that worked, it was just about thick enough to hang together And then I prepped a nut vinagrette that was based on a Marilyn Glenville recipe (no link I'm afraid), but I used blitzed almonds, lemon juice, a bit of toasted sesame oil, some olive oil, salt, pepper and a dash of cider vinegar. Orange juice would have been better, but it was good enough. Finished off with a sprinkle of sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds. We're now both stuffed! Picture here;



I'll keep the recipe, it's interesting without breaking the bank and could accompany all manner of foodstuffs. I was going to say it could be described as a buddha bowl, but I did buy the red kidney beans specifically to try out this dish. So, maybe a novice bowl......

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

Friendships - real-life and virtual

Professionalism - folk who know what they are doing, do what they say they are going to do and who treat you like a fellow human being rather than a statistic - huzzah :T

Clearance - maybe I'm getting to see a glimpse of the wood, despite the trees.................

Ta for popping in, saying howdy and being all round goodly eggs. Tis appreciated, muchly.

EDIT: For the Empedrado Madrileno recipe, click on the link, and then click on the blue view all - you will see the recipe and click on that page. Annoyingly the link will only send you to the index page, not to the actual recipe - Sorry!

Greying X

maganan

Hi I've been saying subscribed for a while and read daily for a little oasis of love and hope but haven't until now posted.......
My thoughts, which are meandering (and often meaningless!) on this occasion centre on the tragic events in Manchester, many a time I've been to a gig with one or other child and many a time I've done the "late pick up" circling the venue etc etc I cannot comprehend anyone wanting to destroy the happy memories of those young people or the very normal moans of the parents desperate to "pick em up and get home to bed" I was so lucky......
In the light of this, maybe a reality check (for me at least) do any of us need a huge number of recipes? Not a criticism at all as I love trying new stuff, new ways with what I have etc etc but if I know I have a family favourite (which provides nourishment and taste) go to recipe that doesn't require additional purchases when it's a really tough month/week then is a bulk batch for more than one day really so bad? Especially if you can adorn it differently (curry with rice then with naan, chilli with rice then with wedges?) made me wonder if I'm being overly ambitious or just overly arrogant............that said I do need variety so clearly no answer or am I thus far too privileged?! My problem, sorry I did say I was meandering and meaningless.............😏

Your diary is incrediblely relevant particularly for the penny off here and there because those penny's add up

Those amazing people in Manchester who ran to rather than away from tragedy and gave so much wouldn't care if they had the same meal twice in a week separated only by beans on toast (it's almost a luxury indulgence sometimes especially with a bit of cheese on top!) or do we really need to try so hard all the time?
Life is tough for many of us for many different reasons and I don't feel anyone is listening to me/my situation but I'm happy I do my best with what I have I surround myself with positive people as much as possible be they real life or virtual, tis why I love reading your diary and your positivity is making me want to readjust my meal plans (very fluid) and spending.

Please keep doing what you're doing xx

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Thanks maganan, at present I'm carrying on with the diary, so we'll see where we can get to in the next 13 weeks 6 days (13w 6d)

DH isn't aware of the challenge per se but is actually talking about actions that will help/move us forward, so I'm capitalising on that and building it in to the challenge, because, as we all know, every little helps!

Tea this evening will be a buddha bowl - but I am not going to buy anything extra for it. I certainly will seek to use some avocado - bought on a whim earlier in the week, but which hopefully will be luciously ripe, and will 'build' from there.

Unless Heron have the oven chips in I buy (oos yesterday, when I picked up the fish filets) I won't need to buy any food today. But I will be looking to buy a new notebook - primarily for the challenge - but also because I've filled my current one up with recipes! :rotfl: (and meal plans )

Have you noticed the significance of 10 pence? Everything that goes up in price on my shopping list at present is going up by 10p. I encountered it with a bottle of mrL wine - £4.09 from £3.99. I bought frozen raspberries in heron yesterday, now £1.59 rather than £1.49 - and I'd already mentioned the oven chips at £1.09 instead of 99p. So all the increased costs always add up to 10p per unit do they? Or is it a case that some whizz in a lab has worked out that our price tolerance threshold is at 10p. We'll carry on buying products that have gone up by 10p, but put them up by... eg 20p, and we seek substitutions? Trouble is, all these 10p's add up. Quickly.

We can't see a hand in front of our face here, heavy mist. So please be careful if you're travelling out and about. I hope the sun can burn it off quickly.

Ta for popping in. Appreciated.

Greying X

in_need_of_direction

Also, if it's misty now and you are heading off, please everyone pack the sunscreen for the sunshine that's promised for later.

Upsidedown_Bear

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

Also, if it's misty now and you are heading off, please everyone pack the sunscreen for the sunshine that's promised for later.

Good advice :T

Don't get burnt like I did on Tuesday :doh: