The Simple Bare Necessities feat. Gratitude & Recipes

Cheery_Daff

Eek, sorry to hear about your situation yesterday Greying what a worry for all concerned. Hope they recover soon xx

Greying_Pilgrim

Good evening :hello:

Hope you've had a great day. We have. DH has worked his socks off clearing and cleaning. I've done what I could around looking after BG and we even managed to shoe-horn in a little family time this arvo for a walk, toddle and lots of laughter

We didn't spend any money today :j Our walk this afternoon was completely free and we amused ourselves with totally free activities And an activity which was the preserve of mumma and BG has now been shared with papa, so he knows what we get up to sometimes whilst he is out grafting

We were having such a good time out and about that we were a little late back to the homestead. But we managed, by hook, crook and team-work to get tea made, the baby bathed and changed, tea munched and baby sent off to Bedfordshire smothered in kisses and hugs, only 15 minutes later than usual

Tea was indeed a salad bowl, which was I think it's fair to say, was inspired by Mellen's Bone Building salad, rather than a slavish adherence to it. T'was yum though, even if I do say so myself I'd been looking earlier at some of my pictures that made it on my previous threads, when p'bucket was a useful picture hosting outfit. And whilst my levels of presentation vary wildly, I think the salad bowls were possibly my best dishes, and certainly I amazed myself at some of the complex dishes I used to put together. Anyway, I was looking for an avocado salad dish that I knew that I had made and photographed, and whilst my memory played tricks on me, and I imagined it differently, it was there and so I made it again today.

So, our salad bowl comprised; a mould of brown basmati rice, a lentil version of Anissa Helou's Jerusalem Mix - which if you substitute all the meat for cooked lentils, and follow the ingredient list from 'onions' down, you will have what I made , Orange and fennel marinated olives (I include orange juice in my version, and the longer you leave the fennel, the better they taste ), sliced cucumber, wild rocket, avocado im egozim (I left the olives out, as we had olives on the plate already and my recipe - from another book - doesn't have yoghurt in it, but does have tomatoes) I topeed it all off with a boiled egg - sliced on my slicer scattered toasted flaked almonds and sunflower seeds over, adn drizzled over a dressing of orange juice, miso paste, yoghurt and mayonnaise. Yum.

I am guilty of wasting an avocado though in tea preparation. I think I picked up the wrong one - i certainly chose one of the bigger ones, over a smaller one. Unfortunately, despite feeling ripe, it wasn't and I had to compost it. Luckily the smaller one was perfectly ripe, so although we ate less, it was nice, so.........

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

precious family fun-time

a hard-working DH

a varied diet

Ta for popping by. Appreciated.

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Cheery_Daff wrote: »

Eek, sorry to hear about your situation yesterday Greying what a worry for all concerned. Hope they recover soon xx

Aw, thanks love. It's just life. But I did feel a bit helpless, and I'm not too sure what the solution will be going forward. Still, I'm not the first person to have ever faced the issue, with or without smalls to care for, so.....

Greying X

Fortune_Smiles

What a worry Greying. I hope the parentals are recovered and all is well.

Fortune x

supersaver1000

Pops in to say 'hi'

beanielou

Also hoping the parentals are recovering well.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Thank you for all your good wishes. Yes the gardening parental is on the mend, physically. Not too sure about mentally and emotionally. I mean, who ever wants to admit that the vagries of ageing are creeping up on them? Unfortunately, within the family (previous generations) although we've been a pretty independent, healthy(ish), 'aren't they good for their age' bunch; when the falls have started, they didn't stop at one, and were the precursor for other things. I think we all have to get our heads around that one and make necessary accommodations. However much we may not like it.

Siblings finally got in touch. Guess who'll have to be the 'bad cop' and have the 'you must leave us all with a number that you can be got in touch with, all the time' type of conversation...................

Right, to other matters.

Tea last night was a mish mash of pasta, mozarella (last 'log' from h3r0n f00ds ), chopped black olives, chopped, jarred red peppers, lemon dressing. BG surprised us by eating some too (because of the dressing - they love pasta!)

I think it will be a 'salad bowl' of some description again tonight. I want to use up the amba chutney - which I didn't make to 'proper' chutney standards, and hence it won't keep as long. Will have a root around and throw a few things together. It was easier when 'Tuesday night was soup night', but I think there is a strong possibility that today will shape up to be another fine weather day, not conducive with hot soup......

I've some shopping to do for bits and pieces and it's TV guide day, so will pick that up along the way somewhere. I've some pictures to get printed in various forms, so better get on with sorting that out onto my memory stick.

A friend is coming to visit today, so that will be nice. They adore BG and are great company and an interesting and stimulating conversationalist I am so lucky with my friends - old and new

Right, best shift-a-tail-feather and get on with it!

Ta for popping by and being so supportive. It is greatly appreciated. By me. Always.

Greying X

beanielou

Have a lovely time with your friend

apple_muncher

I bought some frozen avocado halves from icyland today and my first thought was, 'ooh, must tell gp about them'! They were £3.50 for 8 halves and you can see them all as the packet is clearish. I have no idea how the price compares with elsewhere. But I can say that once defrosted, they don't keep their shape like fresh ones. Still tasty though.

Jus' lettin' ya know....

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

beanielou wrote: »

Have a lovely time with your friend

Thanks love, we did

apple_muncher wrote: »

I bought some frozen avocado halves from icyland today and my first thought was, 'ooh, must tell gp about them'! They were £3.50 for 8 halves and you can see them all as the packet is clearish. I have no idea how the price compares with elsewhere. But I can say that once defrosted, they don't keep their shape like fresh ones. Still tasty though.

Jus' lettin' ya know....

Ah, thanks for thinking of me! I think that sounds on a par with mrT, who is one retailer that I know did stock them. The issue that I found with our mrT was the variable nature of them having them in stock - and the vagries of working out where they had been 'put' in the freezer aisle 'this' week - when is a fruit not a fruit? I agree, they are just about passable for use raw, and most excellent for anything whizzed up or cooked

Our friend arrived and we enjoyed a wonderful time with them. It is always good and illuminating to chat to them. BG was reasonably well-behaved whilst my friend was with us. But their behaviour did deteriorate when they had gone. I'm not too sure if tiredness is to blame, or whether they were a little overwrought, or whether it is a stage, or............. But it's something that will need to be kept an eye on. Forgive me for not going into detail, it's not something I particularly want to talk about at the mo, but I didn't want to give the impression that I'm going for 'Mum of the Year 2018', neither, and that BG is always perfectly behaved and has a permanent halo........... Because they don't, and they are just being 'normal', but normal has it's pitfalls

I did a bit of shopping today, before our friend arrived. I spent £3 on fruit alone in HB! But I did get a pack of purple sprouting broccoli - British grown, 200g for £1 from there too. That must be nearly half the price you'd pay elsewhere - I'm looking at you mand$. When I was cooking it, I pulled out a piece to test for 'doneness'. BG correctly identified it as broccoli, and went to take it from my hand. I explained it was too hot, but began breaking off some of the tiny florets to cool quicker. BG picked up a cooled piece, and I began eating my floret 'with gusto' - they looked unconvinced, but did at least try the floret. They gave me half back :rotfl: but they did, at least try it (voluntarily) - which is a first! :j

Tea this evening was a salad bowl. I cooked some brown basmati rice, did the Happy Pear apple/beetroot salad, dressed some wild rocket, steamed the PSB and drizzled some tahini/miso/citrus dressing over, chopped up some cucumber, fried some HM, Happy Pear Vegan Sausages and served them with the salad, the amba chutney and a tomato poncily cut into a water-lily shape :rotfl:(I am that 1970's throw-back :rotfl:) Considering it was mostly using up bits and bobs, and thrown together, it filled us up and tasted OK. The PSB was lovely, and such a rare treat to have a seasonal veg - more or less in season! (coming to the end now).

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

kindness

compassion

companionship

Ta for popping in and joining in the chat. Appreciated.

Greying X