ONE WEEK LATER

THE DUST HAS SETTLED

since Mum died.... we have been to the probate office only to find my parents didn't have their own wills, only copies.  So a call to the Blackpool solicitors and now, 5 days later, I am still waiting for them to arrive.
The paperwork was unbelievable........... 4 pages on what money and assets Mum owned....almost nothing I might say.....together with 38 pages  (yes, 38) of notes.  Plus another 4 page form about her and all her relatives.  How many siblings died before her...that was easy.  But how many of their children are still alive...I have no idea.  We never saw the Sussex side of the family though cards were sometimes exchanged.
Then there were questions about Mum's aunts and uncles............... can you believe it?  I didn't and I had no idea either.  Oh, and their surviving children. 

Dad is doing well...he's very quiet and sleeps a lot but he is still reading a lot and enjoying a nip of brandy occasionally.

We have Mum's ashes on the coffee table at the moment.  She's in recyclable paper and card.  We are going to plant a rose bush and scatter the ashes round it.  There is a query about whether you need permission to scatter ashes but since folk do it all the time I can't see why a registrar would be needed.
so, next decent day we'll take Dad to the garden centre to choose a rose and have a cuppa in the café.  We need to get him out and about.

DIET AND FASTING

It's a week since we started the fasting diet and we will weigh in this evening.  We seem to manage the fasting bit OK, starting after the evening meal and skipping breakfast, soup for lunch and a slightly later evening meal so we fast for the 24 hours.  It means we have 2 alcohol free days so that's good. 
The calorie counter on myfitnesspal.com is really helpful. 

So what are we eating at the moment?   Sunday I tried a new recipe voted terrific by the menfolk.

BACON WRAPPED CHICKEN

Halve chicken breast pieces and wrap each in a half rasher of bacon...I used smoked.....you get more flavour for your money.

Peel potatoes and cut into small pieces, and some carrots.  Put in the roasting tin with some small onions.  Lay the chicken pieces on top and add fat...duck fat or butter or olive oil.  Season with salt, pepper, a tsp of thyme, and 1/3 bottle maple syrup.

Cook reg 6 for an hour.  Lift out the chicken and keep warm.  Leave the lid off, pour off the excess liquid and put the vegetables back for 1/2 more.  Serve with peas/beans/roast parsnips or whatever you like.

My oven turned itself off at one point but since I didn't notice for ages the timings are a bit hit and miss!

POT LUCK SOUP

All through the winter we have a soup pot on the stove.  I start with a good stock.....  either chicken carcase or clean veg peelings covered in water with onion, peppercorns and bay leaf added.  Pressure cook for an hour or so, strain and use.  Who needs stock cubes?

To this I add a handful of red lentils and a chopped onion.  Then diced carrot, diced squash, a bit of sweet potato, celery, a red pepper, seasoning and anything else in the veg rack.  Cook till all veg are soft then liquidise and adjust seasoning.
If it's too thick add passata.

As the week progresses I liquidise and add any left over veg.  It's really good for getting those of us who have hang-ups about veg to consume things we wouldn't otherwise eat!  Win-win.  I wash up the pot every week and start again.

FRUIT PUDDINGS

I bought lots of cooking apples at the harvest auction so it was time to  use them.  I stewed them and then what to do with it all!  We have lots of blackberries in the freezer so I made apple crumble, blackberry and apple crumble and an apple sponge pudding. 

Crumble topping
8 oz plain flour
2 oz sugar  (there's plenty in the fruit)
4 oz marg/butter

Rub fat into dry ingredients then spread over the fruit.
Cook 40 minutes or so at reg 6.

Sponge topping
Cream together 8 oz butter/marg with 8 oz sugar.
Mix in 4 eggs, 1 at a time, with a little flour from 8 oz SR flour.
When the eggs are mixed in add the rest of the flour and stir gently.
It should be what's called a stiff dropping mixture ie when you hold up a spoonful it should gently drop off.  If it's too stiff mix in a little milk.

Spread a layer on top of the fruit and use the rest to make a batch of plain buns.  It will make about 15 buns, fewer if you make muffin sized buns.

The buns take about 10 minutes at reg 4/5.  the sponge pudding will take longer....20 minutes +... but it depends on how thick the layer of sponge is. 
Stick a skewer or knife into the sponge to check if it's done.....it should come out clean.

LONG TIME NO BLOG!

It's such a long time since I posted anything here but life just got in the way.

First it was all the fruit and veg in the garden and I started jam making etc.
 

Then we had our holidays.
Then we had Messy Church to organise.

Then we had another holiday and came back with our granddaughter, who stayed for 6 months whilst she attended Bradford college.
And then our daughter decided she was getting married.....with a couple of months notice.

Then we took the granddaughter back and had a few days in France.

And so on............till  3 weeks ago when Mum was taken ill.  I spent 5 days at the hospital and then they arranged for her to go home to Springfield, where she died later in the day.  So then there was/is all the stuff that comes after a death. 

So here's to a new start.......we need to lose a bit of weight and so we, hubby and I, are going to have a go at the 5:2 diet.  The science seems to make sense, with the 2 fast days triggering the body's repair mechanisms, which results in weight loss and improved health.  I've tried cutting down generally....I always get up from meal still a bit hungry....that's deliberate........but I still don't lose weight.  SO........... let's hope that this will work. 

Today we weigh ourselves and set a target weight loss.  We're also going to measure our waists...apparently your waist should only be half your height and mine's a bit too big!  Of course, I'm the shape my Mum was at this age but that's no help is it?  She didn't lose weight till she was really, really old.....80 +....... so I need to do something now.

So, weight 64kgs
      waist   39 inches.............and I'm only 4ft 111/2 inches so something has to go!

Tomorrow is our first fast day....500 calories for me, 600 for hubby .... homemade soup and no bread at lunchtime and if we skip breakfast we'll be almost there.... if we can not snack this evening and have no alcohol then the fast will actually have started after this evening's meal so it shouldn't be so bad.