Sh*t creek - is now in my rear view mirror...!

Irenadler

MovingForwards said:

Right size boobie holder? If you're storing biscuits and things in them for overwinter, they may not be getting the right support.
He he, hmmmm, my 'cups runneth over' at the moment! As per weight loss, like many, I have different sizes so have to dig out the grotty old 'generous' ones now, groan.....
I forgot about the non-hoarding side of the relatives 😳

A bath or shower at night, either work. It's all about teaching your brain what the routine is and sticking with it. Maybe get some colouring books and do one in bed, then lights off, or an easy to read book.

Brain = slow/no input error at the moment. I am grateful I could change into being vegan. That has stuck despite everything else.
Must lay my paws on the power of habit book, to kickstart better habits...

Really need to have yet another discussion with the relatives about support for them, as 'accident's' that do happen are worse (I am talking adult equivalent to a full nappy here, sorry folks who are eating breakfast) with no awareness that it's happened. Really feel it is all part of the poor (mental) diagnosis we are waiting to get referral for.... 

No wonder my brain is spluttering, powered by junk, and yes, I do have yet more junk in the trunk!

Positive side - I have delivered the last Xmas card, and the last gifts are being delivered tomorrow. Then I can feel on top of Xmas....

Irenadler

Another positive: I have gained a pound of the coinage type, which is in the stash jar. I am re-naming this the dog's jar in her honour (so she can advise on spends) - ha! With a nod to you Babs, nicking your cat tub!

MovingForwards

Chase up the referral and emphasise it's becoming more urgent.
Well done for being Ms Santa, that's going to be one less thing to worry about tomorrow!

If your dog is anything like my cat, you won't ever get to see the doggybucks 😁😁

Irenadler

Thanks Babs - I have yet again asked about this, for the third time. The GP receptionist this time is pressing the doctors urgently given initial standard questionnaire assessment was in October, and the incontinence assessment was initiated after this and already well on the way to being sorted.

Nearly there with Xmas stuff! 
In an effort to be money saving and time saving, I have brought Maris Pipers, pre-boiled, cooled and frozen them, so they are ready to roast on Xmas day. I am going to do the same with carrot and swede - make a carrot and swede mash, season and melt in vegan margarine & keep in a microwaveable dish so it can be defrosted and reheated in one go.

I've bought ready frozen parsnips - not the honey ones, as I count that as non-vegan. Going to roast the potatoes and parsnips together, maybe pop in some garlic/herbs, and drizzle a tiny bit of agave syrup on the parsnips for the same effect. Then its just a matter of roasting the vegan wellington I have bought (cheated!), putting on some greens to steam (broccoli and sprouts), more like a normal Sunday roast. I have already got some mini vegan cocktail sausages to add to the roasting dish, and I have the ingredients to make vegan stuffing balls. I even spotted vegan gravy, and after reading the prep to make my own, decided on the cheats version!

There's a choice of vegan mince pies with soya cream or ice cream, oatcakes or crackers with vegan cheese (cheddar type, Mexicana, or a different hot chilli one, or, if no-one feels that brave, a soft spread bland one!) and finally, the relatives are bringing their bit of cooked turkey, pork stuffing balls, cream and Xmas pud! I may get another vegan dessert but I really don't think there will be any room after that lot! 

Re: dog bucks - dog can be easily bribed with food though.....

MovingForwards

Hopefully that will be enough to get an urgent referral, but follow it up in the new year.

Christmas dinner is a Sunday dinner, but bigger 😁 well done on getting everything organised and don't see it as cheating, merely time saving; can't put a price on free time!

Ok, you have the upper hand, it's sh3ba bribes for us, but still doesn't get us near her tub 😂

Irenadler

Thanks Babs, going on that socially distanced walk soon with friends I haven't seen in months, really looking forward to talking and catching up! And those last gifts/cards will be sorted.

Skint_yet_Again

Socially distanced walk sounds lovely I hope the weather stays dry for you and you can meet up & catch up with your friends. 

Your Christmas food sounds yum 😋 and well done on all the advance prepping. I’m sure you will have a lovely time you deserve it! 😊

longway2go

Ahhhh enjoy the catch up. This year has definitely touaght us the importance of friends.
Can I ask will you cook the potatoes from frozen? I'm pretty rubbish about freezing food but trying to learn as the bits I now know save time and money. 

doingitanyway

Love how you have tackled Christmas dinner. Why have additional stress when it isn't necessary. 
I noticed L1d1 had a vegan wellington for a good price. All their veg is 15p too! Thinking of batch cooking some veggie curry to take advantage of it.
Hope your walk with friends was a tonic for you.

Irenadler

longway2go said:

Ahhhh enjoy the catch up. This year has definitely touaght us the importance of friends.
Can I ask will you cook the potatoes from frozen? I'm pretty rubbish about freezing food but trying to learn as the bits I now know save time and money. 

It was lovely to see friends, I have missed them so much, and so much has happened to us all, frankly we could have chatted all day and still not caught up!  

Of course, LW2G, I'm no expert, just trying to reduce the prep as much as possible. I googled it for tips but basically as follows:

Buy a good roasting potato (Maris Piper or Edwards). Peel and cut into similar sized chunks e.g. I halved them, and worked out roughly how many I thought we'd eat plus some extra! 12!!

Boiled these in salted water (stops browning/freezer burn hopefully) and simmer 5 mins. So they are only just cooked and firmish. 

Then shake them up to make edges a bit fluffy, leave to cool. It then says to 'open freeze' on a baking tray, but as I have a small freezer with too much in it, I put a bit of olive oil in a large freezer zip lock bag, put the cold spuds in and 'massaged' oil onto them, and laid on top of other freezer food so they were laying as flat as possible and not touching. 

It's worked! I don't need to spend time banging the spuds on the counter on Xmas Day to get the things apart and make the guests wonder what the heck is going on.... he he....

I am going to boil up the carrot and swede, peeled and chopped up, drain off the water and mash, add pepper and marg and squish this into one of my Pyr*x dishes with a lid. Then I can get this out Xmas Eve, put in fridge to defrost and whack it in the microwave to reheat and serve! The stuffing balls I am going to pre-make & freeze, and shove in oven frozen along with the vegan chipolatas. It's to basically to reduce prep on the day as much as I can. 

Don't want to spend all day in the kitchen sweating, so, anything time saving I am going to try this year. It still means I will be using the oven (vegan Wellington, roast tats, parsnips, stuffing and chipolatas), microwave (vegan gravy and reheat root mash) and hob (steam greens) but takes out the sweating over timing so much. 

HTH!