NST Awesome August

Swayingseaweed

Just caught up with everyone's post. 
Dad is back in hospital again, so lots of toing and froing. Nsd no. 4 I think. 
Currently in Manchester as we are going to see
https://factoryinternational.org/whats-on/yayoi-kusama-you-me-and-the-balloons/
tomorrow. Tickets were quite cheap.
Grateful 
1)satnav got me here,
2) nice wide wheelchair friendly paths
3)YD has had a phone from college to tell her what days she will be in.
Seaweed x 

lcc86

Well it's a good job I enjoyed my lie in yesterday as I woke up today at 6 and it's my non-working day!  annoying but I sat with a coffee watching the goings on in my aquarium - sounds odd but I find it very relaxing!

Managed a short workout and got three loads of washing on and outside to dry, I guess waking up unnecessarily early does have its perks sometimes.

I pre-planned a bit of sightseeing in London today so took myself off for about half the day, got some food at a lovely cafe I'd seen online too. So no NSD but it was pre-planned and budgeted for. I try to do something for "me" on my non-working days once a fortnight, it doesn't always involve spending but today's shenanigans did.

Watched a film and did a little housework this afternoon, have checked my work emails ready for tomorrow (shouldn't really but I couldn't help myself, needless to say the world hasn't fallen apart!), have had dinner and a quick bath and am ready for bed! 

grandmanerd

Cooking with Chronic Illness / temporary or permanent disability/ ageing
Consider your regular pans. I had 2 Le crew -say pans (always wanted them and finally got them at a bargain price when our Co-op department store closed down). However some years ago, I realised they were getting too heavy for me to handle easily, so I gave them to DS2 when he moved into renting his own space. For some years, when I buy dishes/ containers of any kind (I frequently get other people's cast offs so it's not very often) I've tried to buy ones that are suitable for use in the freezer, DW and microwave - you don't want to be standing (or sitting) by the DW trying to remember which things can and can't go in. I've never liked non-stick pans and bakeware (can migrate into your food) so when I replaced my kitchen 19 years ago I bought a set of matching stainless steel pots (aluminium pans contribute to dementia - this info is from a Friends of the Earth guide I read many many years ago so things may have changed) with copper bottoms. These replaced the ones I had 17 years before that when I got married. Before that we just had the mish mash you get when 2 households are joined and both have a selection of oddments other family members gave them - I remember 2 enamel pans that had been my grandma's (one in 1930's green, the other cream) 

Minimise your cooking equipment In fact minimise your whole house. Mum had pan drawers but she still stacked all the saucepans inside one another and I found lifting 3 pans from knee height stressful. The top drawer was cutlery + utensils (we're talking melon baller, egg slicer and other things that only get used once in a blue moon) and the middle drawer 'useful' stuff that was needed even less frequently. I might write another day about ergonomics - how much space you need between various items of furniture, how you put your heaviest books (ornaments etc) in the middle of the shelves (waist to eye level) so you aren't dragging heavy things up or hoping they don't fall off on top of you. For now I'll just say that if cooking a meal means clearing things off the worktop or stove top to make space, you'll run out of energy very quickly and it might deter you from even starting. This may not apply to most of you now, but think about in 5 or 10 years, what are the most likely things to happen to you healthwise - heart attacks, cancer, osteo-arthritis (I hope you're all healthy and happy but hope for the best,prepare for the worst) 

Don't do too much When the boys were young I'd batch cook - set a couple of things going, move them onto the back burners to continue simmering once I'd brought them up to the boil, set another couple of things off, check everything from time to time to make sure it wasn't sticking and moved cooked items onto a trivet to free up another ring (or onto the back step if I wanted things to cool rapidly for freezing. These days I get flustered a lot more easily, I can't cook more than 2 things or one will end up burnt and sticking to the bottom of the pan. I can cook cauliflower in a steamer above the pasta water and cook cheese sauce in a separate pan but not 3 different dishes - I can't stand over them, stirring and checking all the time (after my operation I used the perching stool to sit watching pots of dishes cooking). I cook most veg in the microwave - a habit I got into when DS1 and DS2 worked in pubs so I could reheat a Sunday dinner and give them a mixture of the veg they liked. It's tempting when you feel good early on to write too ambitious a list and then find yourself exhausted. When I catered for mum's 80th birthday I decided on the Saturday that making my own sandwiches, sausage rolls, quiches etc and marinading a selection of meats and mixing salads meant I had to go and buy cakes (I'd already bought the ingredients but things didn't go to plan and I was running out of time). I catered for over 200 at my wedding (with help from mum, mum's cousin and her eldest daughter) and about 100 for my 21st (me, mum and a friend). 

Have a list of go to quick recipes so you don't have to spend too much time on your feet. It's okay to use bought ingredients to make things easier.

Meal prep and batch cook when you can and put the extra in the freezer for bad days. A lot can be done sitting down, watching tv or a film. I did this from the first time I was pregnant. I found it hard to rest but could sit in my granddad's wooden armchair with my feet up and sit happily chopping veg without feeling guilty (no tv because we didn't have one for another 4 years but radio 4 is good).

Use pre-cut veg and fruit Older turtles will remember how I agonised over buying packs of frozen chopped onions but for me, cooking most meals starts with chopping the onions and it became so difficult that I just gave up. Now I have frozen onions in the freezer (and sometimes buy the packs of fresh sliced red onion for salads - mostly when they're reduced to 10p a pack). I also use a lot of leeks as I find them much easier to chop.

Use 'packet' food Now the reality is very few people stand and make their own pasta to make lasagne. Pasta, rice, oats and couscous are all 'packet' foods and we don't hesitate to use them. But you can also get packs of cooked quinoa, cooked lentils, tinned chickpeas and many more. The hassle of cooking has been done for you and you can just combine with other ingredients for a salad, soup or stew.

Which leads us neatly on to
Cooking equipment and utensils
Instant pot Many people swear by these (I think they're similar but not the same as a slow cooker - throw it all in and leave it do the work). Mum asked for one and it baffled 3 of us, one of whom had one herself - whether it was broken or too complicated I don't know.

Nutribullet (I think apple has one). The blog writer uses hers for soups, smoothies, sauces, making pesto and making breadcrumbs. I'm not a gadget girl - billy blender is enough for me.

Electric can opener this is magic for thee cans it will open. Budget brand cans tend to have deeper rims and sometimes it won't do them (sometimes it works by scoring a line the first time and digging in the second time). I also have a soft grips manual can opener (the turning handle is bigger than a plain can opener too).

Veg chopper can make life easier but some require quite a bit of manual effort so may not be suitable for everyone

Easy grip peeler swivel blades follow the contours of the veg. Can be used by left-handers as well as right, Can get a good grips version

Jar opener I bought one for mum. It's like a pair of rubber tongs (like the ones you used to get with twin tub) with circles on the inside - 3 different sizes to grip the widest gherkin jars down to sauce and beer bottles. I loved it and so did her cleaner/ Saturday visitor so mum made me go back to buy one for each of us - I used to have a row of jars and bottles lined up for visitors to open - during the pandemic I'd put them all outside the gate and leave a note for the 'paperboy' then wipe them before bringing them back in

Claire's last tip is to Use a perching stool and I've already mentioned that.

beanielou

I love my electric tin opener.

DrCarrie

Ooppps...

on SFD #2 - pretty poor, but its been Pride in Brighton and a whole lot of stress at work. I am bored and tired of it, I have asked for a discussion on alternative roles. 

Grateful for; coming back to the challenge, taking the risk to talk about my role and how unhappy I am in parts of it. A really fun Sunday at Pride. 

thriftylass

Hello,

arrived back home yesterday. Did an Asd@ pick up order from the car while driving up from Newcastle. Couldn't face doing a big shop in person. Managed to get three loads of washing on the line, only a last load left for today.

Went through my accounts and that holiday did more damage than expected. However, my debt free plan stands and my spread sheets are done till that date in December 2024. Definitely need to book next year's trip earlier or find a better deal. That ferry is not worth the money anymore and so much more expensive (however, flights and rental car are not much better and more restrictive, ggrrr)

Toni'sfriend

NSD No 7

Big frog dealt with today.. Defrosted the small freezer, tidied the big one and now know exactly what's in there. I'll have gills and fins by the time we deal with all that fish! But it does mean that we should only have to buy fruit and veg this month (possibly some butter and yoghurt) if I can keep Himself under control. Does anyone have a nice simple recipe for kedgeree. My mum used to make it for me but I've never done it myself. Himself has never tried it but I know he'll like it.

Now that I've started to get back into a routine of doing the things that really need done every day both the house and the "garden" are looking a lot better. Plants were looking a bit sorry for themselves

Started to try to get back into reading again as well. This week's book is The Mission Song by John LeCarre.

So, surprise, surprise fish for dinner with baby potatoes and tender stem broccoli. Very healthy!

Have a lovely evening. xxx 

f0xh0les

Today was NSD2.  Made £10+ on p/academic, got work expenses and PB winnings paid in this morning, which was very exciting as was not expecting them together.  Juggled some money around the place. 
All food from stores. 

grandmanerd

Strange day. I was still awake after midnight (should not have caffeine after noon) so slept later than usual. Knees and other bits still hurting so opted for a long slow thorough wash (also gave me an up close view of the sink so dealt with any bits I'd missed). Washed my mask and ordered a repeat prescription but then felt myself drifting back to sleep for the first of several times today. I didn't sleep but dozed/ rested. 

I was downstairs early and have half filled the green bin plus more things to the paper bin. I'm getting there slowly, zero motivation but plodding on and getting through my list and adding back some everyday things taht have slipped away in the past 2 weeks.

Grateful for food (mainly fridge raiding), good books and feeling more in control.

lcc86

Couple of email frogs tackled today, including handing my notice in at my part-time job. Busy day at work so can't say I did much else today but it's an NSD!