I mentioned I'd found my camera leads and all my old cards? Prepare to be pic spammed!

Pretty, healthy, wholesome food some of which went straight from the garden into my tum tonight. Two types of lettuce (the green frilly one and the red/green leaves), peas, chicory and rocket all home grown. Tomatoes, beets, beans, eggs and cheese purchased. Alas my toms are not ripe yet. I keep begging encouraging them to grow faster. *G*



'Twas yummy indeed.

Must start planning late summer sowings so I can have winter greens in a few weeks. Then plan for next year (I found my stockpile of seeds) \o/

Thanks for the kind comments the other day. Have been much less mopey and OMG FAIL over the last few days. ( Progress Has Been MadeCollapse )

Have booked a van to head to Sheffield on Sunday 11th July with the ex and we will blitz decorate and pack what I want to bring back (mostly glassware) returning on Wednesday 14th. Hopefully can get two agents in to give me full valuations (rather than previous guestimates) on Wednesday and then I can put the place on the market. Cross your fingers for a buoyant market and a quick sale at the asking price.

Also may have seen a job I actually want to apply for!

Porridge makes a particularly yummy breakfast if you soak the oats overnight with a couple of small pieces of dried fruit and a pinch of cinnamon.

NOM NOM NOM!

On the upside I have painkillers and enough stew (created from veggie that were approaching science experiment state) to feed me for all the lunchtimes I am at work this week.

Alas today is CEO's very very final day and I have left the present I bought her at home so I have to scuttle there and back again at lunchtime *headdesk* which means today (as I have so much to do) is going to be a long, long, long day.

Still it's only a 3 day week so it's not all bad!

Take:

• 5 red onions
• 7 cloves of garlic
• 2 small acorn squash
• 1 small pumpkin
• 1 head of celery
• 1 carrot
• a handful of mushrooms
  
• 1 red and 1 orange pepper
• 1 can peeled plum tomatoes
• 1 can sweetcorn
• 1 can pinto beans
• 1 can black eye beans
• a healthy dash of olive oil
• suitable seasoning

and what  you got? 

You got  Stew o'Doom version got alone knows what.

Which means I do not have to cook at all this week once it is finished. I can grab some chicken to hurl into the cauldron on the back of the stove tomorrow (and I use the word cauldron advisedly) and I am set for lunch and dinner all next week.

Go me!

On the bah! Meh! Grumble front - I seem to be coming down with a cold and I have had pins and needles in my right arm all day.

But on the upside last night/this morning I reduced 7 x2ft high piles of paper to 1 box of  of  URGENT Must Be Dealt With Now paperwork and 1 box of To Be Dealt with at Lesiure paperwork - gaining about 3ft sq floorspace in the process.

Now I am going to have baked beans and sausages on toast and watch the rest of Return of The King.  Hobbitses!  The charge of the Riders of Rohan (there will be tears later), battles won against insurmountable odds, and Aragorn and his sword. *puuuurrrrrsss*

I lead such a very exciting life don't you agree? *G*

Sometimes it is worth taking the time out. Sitting in my fridge, chilling nicely, to feed me for the next few days are:

• organic green salad - lettuce, spring onions, cucumber, green pepper, courgette and basil
• the kick ass fennel salad - fennel, spring onions, carrots and dressed with raisins soaked in organic orange juice
• organic vine tomatoes (OMG have toms ever tasted so goo) with red onions and basil
• baby new potatoes chilling in organic honey and mustard dressing

There are also organic broad beans and mixed pulses to add to the potatoes, or use to stuff some organic courgettes (along with chesnut mushrooms and cheese tomorrow night).

And pomegranate, blueberries and organic yoghurt for breakfast tomorrow.

I am guessing I'm set for food til Sunday at least.  *beams*

Wireless keyboard and mouse (installed last night)....WHHHHEHEEEE! OK so they're black and the PC is cream - but dudes...no more wires. No tripping up every time I stand up *G* I need a USB hub now - oh yes yes I do. *plots trip to PC World*

And even better PANCAKES!

For this morning it is Shrove Tuesday and for the first time in years too many to mention I made pancakes for breakfast. And so what if it took me a couple of attempts to get a whole one out of the pan rather than a crumpled and smooshed one...I say again PANCAKES! and enough batter to have pancakes for pudding tonight or again for breakfast tomorrow.

And now? Now I must go do battle with the week from hell at work.

Okay...substituting organic millet for pearl barley shouldn't cause any major culinary disasters provided I keep an eye on cooking times - right?

I seem to have no pearl barley although I do have two different types of millet, quinoa, amaranth, and more varieties of rice and beans and lentils than any sane person should have in their cupboards.

Hmmm - let's find out. Life is all about experimentation right?

And speaking of experimentation I also now have some Dunn's River Cornmeal Grits *eyes ely_jan and menomegirl*. So hit me with some recipes for grits, please?

*puppy dog eyes*

Okay dinner - tonight a rather lovely looking mozarella salad - and then work.

*le grand sigh*

Anyone got any kick ass recipes for something new and different to do with Jerusalem artichokes or swede? *G*

The bathroom and kitchen are clean (second time for the kitchen), experimental cooking is taking place to provide lunches over the weekend, a last minute shop at Lidl has been accompished (OMG forget being snotty about where you shop - 6 quid for a bag of veggies - baby corn, french beans, sugar snap peas and mangetout, and cheese - mozarella and feta - and posh Belgian choccies...must shop there more often)!

Note to self - when cleaning the kitchen? In future clean it before you decide to grate raw beetroot, because the splatter effect looked like Hannibal Lecter had been preparing aperetifs - CSI would not have been out of place in there.

Anyone wanna take bets on how the beetroot and feta soup (with garlic and onion) will turn out? It's a very pretty colour and so far smells...interesting.

The organic veggie box has arrived - yummmmmmy - tons of brocolli, mushrooms, celery, peppers, bean sprouts, sweeeet tasty carrots and yes I shall be getting creative with Jerusalem artichokes and celeriac next week. This year I will find something more exciting to do with celeriac than just treat it as an alternative to potatoes!

I have eaten and I have wine and chocolate for later to aid with the thinking process for writing. I am about to have a looooong, hot, relaxing bath and Leonard Cohen (I've mentioned at great length how very, very much I like Mr C's music have I not?) is playing very loudly on the CD.

*sighs contentedly*

Mmmmm - sometimes simple is the best.

Monkfish cooked in a little butter, a lot of black pepper and a squeeze of fresh lime. Accompanied by lightly nuked (i.e. still crispy) spouting broccoli, french beans and asparagus tips - which were whizzed in the remaining butter after the fish was removed before serving.

Mmmmmm...mmmmmmm...mmmmmm! Heaven!

*beams at you all*

The kitchen is clean and the fridge is full - the organic veggie box arrived today - and I will find something exciting and creative to do with savoy cabbage and beetroot on Sunday.

I have tea, I have wine chilling in the fridge and I have hot cross buns in case of a snack attack later (yes I know it's not Easter yet but they were on special offer at the Co-op).

A have a stack of DVDs nearly 4 feet high (it's a 2 year backlog!) and no plans at all for this evening or the next 2 days.

*battens down hatches and curls up on sofa*

See you all on the flip side!

...hmmmmm - perhaps adding spinach to piperade is not one of my better ideas.

For a moment there it went all *ahem* soggy. Still - turned out well - organic eggs, red onion, brown mushrooms, tomato, garlic, pepper and the spinach. OK it might not've looked all that pretty but it tasted wonderful.

And creme fraiche on brocolli is....interesting.

Which reminds me - note to self. Self please remember that neither organic spinach nor brocolli keep well - you need to eat them in the first couple of days after delivery. And self? You should order organic fruit too. Get with the seasonal cooking and not the preserved and irradiated stuff which is tasteless.

Yes - after a summer of dissolution - thanks LA and Booster - I'm back in the gym and eating heathily. Why?

Because we move offices in three weeks and the next six months (whether the secondment happens or not) are going to be sheer hell - moving from 2 to three offices, new staff, restructuring (*sigh* again - why do we rectructure every 3 years!) and Inspection (night of the long knives from the Audit Commission) looming large.

All of which means instead of walking the 3 minutes to work I'm going to have get my ass in gear and start cycling (stop sniggering in the back there...yes I have a bike...admittedly I've not ridden it in *cough* mumble mumble *cough* years...but you don't forget - right??) the however many miles it is to the new offices in Clapham. And so I must get the bike serviced in the next 10 days or so.

Heh - well I'll either get fit or end up under a bus *g*

I have rediscovered joys of cooking *g*. Tonight was swordfish with sweet potato and brocolli. Tomorrow is the kick-ass marinaded tuna (which is marinading in garlic, ginger, lime, soy and sesame as we speak) with either crunchy veggies or a green salad.

And yes - this is classic displacement activity because I still have to start writing those 2 x 1500 word essays which are due in 5pm Thursday.

So that'll be me on a 40 hour writing jag starting at 4pm Tuesday (interspersed with work, naturally). Meh - sleep is highly over-rated at times.

I embrace stress and my deviant psychology. *g*

I joined an organic box scheme not long ago - great idea - organic veggies delivered to my door. I've rediscovered the joys of spinach and chard, have experimented with various forms of squash (Yum!) and fooled around with fennel.

But now - now they have given me celeriac - aka celery root or root celery.

Does anyone have any interesting recipes for this?

My cookbooks are drawing a blank other than suggesting puree or slicing into salads.

Smooshed veggies are what you get when the demands of a full time job and the demands of studying for a part time MA, collide head on with fangirl bit of your brain insisting that you spend every hour (not studying or working) writing or reading slash (or sending effusuive letters of thanks to those who do) and when not doing that drifting off happily to comtemplate the glory that was the Halloween weekend The White Room and The Kane gig. Not complaining - just stating a fact *g*

Smooshed veggies, in short, are what you get for dinner when you discover you haven't shopped for 10 days or more, and that the fresh veggies you thought you had are, sadly, no longer fresh. However they can be thrown into a pan, spiced and turned into something vaguely edible.

Meh - eating and sleep - both highly overrated concepts when you're on a roll.

Next up is finishing writing part 2 of my latest obsession (CK/SC) - which means I can clear the decks this weekend to research and write the copyright and defamation/privacy assignments - which have to be handed in on 25th November.

Then I have 5 articles and a chapter of Aristotle (generally linked to persuasion and rhetoric) to read before the seminar tomorrow evening.

And then there's that lovely new book on Literature, Criticism and Theory ::picks up book, hugs it and purrs:: which I am banned from reading until I have written the assignments. Systems of bribery and rewards - never fails.

'Nother late night then? *g*