Pasta Arrabiata

Welcome to another Tasty Tuesday! I'm really enjoying getting into a regular habit of posting these. I've noticed however, that I'm doing mainly Main dishes and I'm wondering if anyone out there would like some pudding/dessert recipes or maybe some starters? Let me know in the comments box and I'll get to work on them for future posts. In the meantime though, here is another delicious recipe to try out if you're trying to lose weight.

Now we all know about good carbs and bad carbs right? Pasta is one of those that seems to be able to fall into both camps. Certainly I've noticed that since Weight Watchers have changed their plan, I get far less pasta for my ProPoints than I used to on the old Points system. Which is a pity because I lurve pasta. I don't care what the sauce is just give me pasta!! So I was really happy to see this recipe in my favourite WW recipe book. Yay! Pasta!! Anyway, have a look at the recipe and tell me what you think.

low fat cooking spray
2 rashers smoked lean back bacon, trimmed of excess fat and chopped into strips
1 large garlic clove, chopped
½ - 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
400g can chopped tomatoes with herbs
150g dried pasta shapes or spaghetti
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, to serve

1. Heat a medium, non stick pan until you can feel a good heat rising and spray with the cooking spray. Add the bacon and cook on a medium heat for 2 minutes.
2. Add the garlic and enough chilli flakes to suit your taste and then cook for a further 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and seasoning and cook for 10 minutes, stirring once or twice.
3. Meanwhile, bring  a pan of water to the boil and cook the pasta for about 8 minutes or according to the packet instructions. Drain and then mix in the tomato and chilli sauce. Serve the pasta sprinkled with the parsley.

Serves: 2

Total ProPoints: 18

ProPoints/serving: 9

Verdict: 

Of course it's pasta, so it was always going to go down well with me. However, it uses tomatoes which meant it was not really going to hit the spot for Himself and the girls. It had me unduly concerned though as Himself loved it. The kids refused to eat it the first time. The second time they picked out the bacon only and the third time the whole lot disappeared! Now it's become one of Herself's favourite dishes despite it having tomotoes in it and being far more spicy than she would normally tolerate. This dish is definitely well worth making! Especially if you love pasta and feel like you're being deprived of it on the road to your new, leaner body.

Just a note though, you will notice in this picture that I shaved some parmesan over. It is gorgeous with it on, but you have to remember to add the appropriate amount of ProPoints to your total. However, the good news is that Parmesan is very low in ProPoints compared to other cheese, so you can get quite a bit on your plate!! Yum.

So what do you think? Would you try this one or are you tomato-phobic like my family? Give it a try and tell me what your thoughts are on it. I'd love to hear! Now if you'd like to see some other gorgeous recipes hop over to FTLOB to see what everyone else has been cooking up this week!

Thanks for dropping by and leaving me a comment. I always read them and appreciate them!

Meatball Pasta Bake

Good morning! If you've been reading my Tasty Tuesday posts for the last couple of weeks you'll have noticed that I seem to have gotten stuck on chicken. So today, I've decided to stay away from the chicken and go for beef instead. Himself and Myself love using mince beef (or ground beef as our cousins across the big blue like to say), however, Herself and Weeself always pull their noses up at it. I don't know why. The only thing I can think of is that they don't like the texture? Who knows with kids and toddlers, eh?! The only way they DO eat it is when it's presented as Meatballs. So it was with great joy that I found this recipe in one of my WW recipe books. 

400g lean beef mince
1 large onion, chopped finely
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
½ teaspoon dried oregano
low fat cooking spray
175g dried penne pasta
2x400g cans chopped tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, chopped
125g pack mozzarella light, drained and chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. In a large bowl, mix together the beef, onion and herbs with some seasoning. Shape into 16 walnut sized balls.
2. Spray a non-stick frying pan with the cooking spray and heat until hot. Add the meatballs and cook for 7-8 minutes until browned all over; don't worry if they are not cooked through as they will continue cooking in the oven. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5/190C/fan oven 170C. Bring a pan of water to the boil, add the pasta and cook for 5 minutes or about half the cooking time stated on the packet. Drain well and mix with the tomatoes and garlic.
4. Spoon the pasta mixture into an ovenproof dish. Nestle the meatballs into the pasta, top with the mozzarella and bake for 25-30 minutes until bubbling

Serves: 4

Total ProPoints: 42

ProPoints/serving: 10

Verdict:

Finally! A mince beef meal that the kids will eat!! Ok, so they still refused to eat the tomato bits, but all the pasta and meatballs disappeared at the speed of light. Yay! As for the adults, I would recommend some salad to go with it just to fill any gaps. Very very tasty dish, so be careful because you WILL be tempted to go back for more!

Right now I'm rushing off to the hairdresser for a trim.... and then after that it's rush, rush, rush!! Thanks for dropping by and leaving me a comment. Have a look at FTLOB for more Tasty Tuesday recipes.

Cider Braised Stuffed Chicken

My apologies for being so late today with the Tasty Tuesday post! Normally I schedule the post at least the night before but with yesterday being a bank holiday here in the UK things got turned upside down. Normally I schedule the posts beforehand because Tuesday is one of my busiest days of the week with nursery and school run, gym, housework, collections, lunches, swimming lessons etc. And that is all BEFORE Herself comes home from school and all the homework needs to be dealt with! So today I'm busy typing this at the dining table, having finished my lunch and while Weeself if finishing hers. Once she's done we'll be off for her swimming lesson and then back just in time to collect Herself from the bus stop. Phew! I really should have pulled my finger out yesterday and scheduled this post but ho-hum.

So, today I wanted to show you this beautiful dish. We seem to be on a roll with Chicken dishes at the moment... and this one was to die for.

2 x 150g skinless boneless chicken breasts

low fat cooking spray

1 red onion, cut into thin slices

150ml dry cider

freshly ground black pepper

For the stuffing:

50g wholemeal breadcrumbs

2 teaspoons capers in brine

4 fresh sage leaves, chopped

1 garlic clove, diced

15g low fat spread

1. Place the chicken breasts between two sheets of cling film on a chopping board and bash gently with the end of a rolling pin to flatten slightly. Use a sharp knife to cut into the meat to form a pocket.
2. Mix together the ingredients for the stuffing and season with some black pepper. Push the stuffing into the pocket, pulling the chicken over. Keep back about a tablespoon of the mixture.
3. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4/180C/fan oven 160C. Spray a non stick frying pan with the cooking spray and heat until hot. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes until softened. Spoon into an ovenproof dish which will hold the chicken snugly.
4. Place the chicken on top of the onions and pour over the cider. Scatter over the remaining stuffing. Spray a sheet of foil with the cooking spray and cover the dish. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and cook for a further 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Serve immediately.

White breadcrumbs work well in this recipe if you have them to hand, but wholemeal adds a good nutty flavour. Serve with 150g chopped carrots, 100g boiled peas, as well as 125g potatoes mashed with 30 ml skimmed milk each for an extra 5 ProPoints values per serving.

Serves: 2

ProPoints Total: 14

ProPoints/serving: 7

Verdict:

Wow. This recipe is gorgeous!! The first time we made it just for Himself and Myself and we were completely blown away by it. Last night we made it again and this time we made enough for the kids too. Hmmm, to say that they were unimpressed would be an understatement. Although Herself did actually eat most of the chicken. However, Weeself decided that the chicken was a step too far for her. Oh well, we will carry on putting new foods in front of them in the hopes that they might oneday grow up to be less fussy children and eventually non-fussy adults!! We live in hope!!

Anyway, I'm off to the swimming pool now with Weeself. We will be a little late but hey at least we'll be there!

Thanks for dropping by and leaving me a comment. Please feel free to drop by FTLOB to see what other recipes have been shared today!

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Oooooh, yummy!! Welcome to Tasty Tuesday!! If you're not sure what Tasty Tuesday is then please hop over to FTLOB for details and lots more tasty recipes. Some of them are healthy, some are most definitely not.... but they're ALL delicious! If you just try the recipes from one Tasty Tuesday you won't have to reach for a recipe book in a looooooong time. Just make sure you come back here once you've had a look over there!

Now, are you back? Did you like those recipes?? Mmmmm..... yum.

We've been trying recipes from several different recipe books, class leaflets, online resources and also ones that we just made up. However, there is one particular book which constantly seems to provide tasty recipes that are quick and easy to prepare. This one! (Click on the picture to check it out on Amazon). I got this book in Tesco. It was an impulse buy and totally random. I don't know if I even looked at the recipes before I put it in the trolley. I just know that it had those two magic words.... "WeightWatchers" and "Easy"! What a gem of a purchase it was too! So here's another recipe that we tried from this particular book recently:

50g Smoked Ham, diced
2 teaspoons snipped chives
100g low fat soft cheese
4 x 165g skineless, boneless chicken breasts
low fat cooking spray
salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6/200C/fan oven 180C
2. Mix the ham, chives and seasoning into the low fat soft cheese
3. Using a small sharp knife, make a pocket along the length of each chicken breast, taking care not to cut right through. Fill with the stuffing then place the chicken breasts in a small roasting time and spray with a little cooking spray.
4. Roast for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through; the juices should run clear when the thickest part of the chicken is pierced.

Serves: 4

ProPoints Total: 21

ProPoints/serving: 5

Don't forget to count the ProPoints for your potatoes/rice and any other sides you might have! 

Verdict:

We first tried this recipe a few weeks ago and it's been done at least 3 times since then. I was absolutely amazed to see two little girls who absolutely wolfed it down and then asked for seconds!! Now, those of you who've been reading my Tasty Tuesday submissions for a bit will know how fussy my kids are. Not many of these recipes have gone down well with them and yet, here is one that they can't get enough of. Yay!! Happy Mum! This is quickly becoming a family favourite and will stay in the repertoire long after Himself and I have lost the weight and become super-skinny.

I hope you liked today's recipe! I'm really enjoying doing the Tasty Tuesday submissions and we're enjoying trying out new recipes as a family. It's a real bonus when the kids enjoy them as much as we do!! I have yet to pluck up the courage to try them on the Spinach Lasagne yet. I might serve this one a few more times before I try feeding that one to the world's fussiest children!!

Thanks for dropping by and leaving me a comment!



PS. I've suddenly realised that I didn't do a Weight loss update for April! I have the photo's ready and waiting so I'll put that post up tomorrow.

Superquick Spinach and Cheese Lasagne

Yay! It's Tuesday, which means Tasty Tuesday is here again. If you're new to this blog and don't know what I'm talking about then please hop over to FTLOB to see all the entries for this week's meme. There's loads of lovely recipes all waiting and crying out to be tried. Over on this blog I try to inspire my fellow Weight Watchers with yummy recipes that are not going to result in the dreaded weight gain at the weekly weigh in. Most of the recipes are from various WW cookbooks, leaflets, websites etc. 

When Himself (aka Lego Man) decided that he wanted to try this recipe, I will admit, I pulled a face. Hmmmm, yes. Spinach. Need I say more?? My perception of spinach has an awful lot to do with boarding school food. It was a mass of soggy, stringy green stuff that was schlopped onto your plate on a fairly regular basis. It sat there looking malevolent and giving off a smell - no, an odour - that was only a mild foretaste of the horrors that you were going to have to endure. And it had to be eaten because the Boarder Mistress/Master would be checking. The first mouthful would be enough to put anyone off spinach for life because it would reveal that the wonderful odour was just a confirmation of the flavour. The second mouthful would reveal that it hadn't been washed properly and still contained grit, and then you had to chew your way through half a bucketful of soil that had managed not to get boiled out of the soggy mass. You also learned to pick your way very carefully through it after one unfortunate girl found a teeny tiny baby snail on her plate. Yes. Really. 

So, it was with much trepidation that I agreed to put this recipe on the menu for the week. Himself did the honours of cooking it. It was surprisingly quick and easy to do...

Low fat cooking spray

200g frozen spinach, defrosted and drained (we used a whole bunch of fresh spinach instead)

100g low fat soft cheese with garlic and herbs

6 sheets no pre-cook lasagne (ok, we used a few more... about 9 or so)

400g can chopped tomatoes

50g low fat Cheddar cheese, grated

salt and freshly ground black pepper

a handful of fresh basil or parsley to garnish, optional.

1. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4/ 180C/Fan oven 160C. Spray a small ovenproof dish with the cooking spray.
2. In a bowl, mix together the spinach and soft cheese and season with black pepper. Place two sheets of lasagne in the oven dish, then spoon over half the spinach mixture.
3. Place two more sheets of lasagne on top and spoon the remaining spinach mixture onto it. Repeat with the last two sheets, pours over the chopped tomatoes, season generously and sprinkle with the grated cheese
4. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and bubbling. Garnish with basil or parsley, if using.

Serves: 2

ProPoints Total: 17

ProPoints/serving: 8

Verdict:

Oh my! This dish completely changed my view of spinach!! I never knew it could be this good. I'm definitely not a vegetarian and love my meat, but this lasagne was a great addition to our repetoire. We will definitely be putting it on the menu more often from now on. Although, I have to note that we didn't attempt to serve this to the kids as we predicted that a riot would probably be the result. However, I think the gruesome twosome could probably learn to eat this without too much fuss......

Who am I kidding? Expecting them to eat greenery in a new recipe is going to be disastrous, but I might still try. They pull their noses up at everything else, so it won't make much of a change will it?

I heartily recommend it, even if you don't usually eat spinach. Let me know what you think, and if you make it I'd love some feedback!!

Come back tomorrow for WOYWW. Hopefully I'll be able to participate this week. It all depends on how organised I am in the morning. 

See you soon!!

Orange Mustard Chicken with Parsnip Mash

For quite a number of weeks now, himself and I have been trying out some new recipes. We figured that we have so many Weight Watchers recipe books that we never seem to use! Each time we try a new recipe I try to take a decent photo of the plated dish. I'm not sure I always succeed though as I am by no means a food-photographer. Here's my contribution to FTLOB's "Tasty Tuesday" meme. As I've got quite a selection of photo's and recipes now I figured I'd join in!! 

2 Parsnips, peeled and sliced thingly

1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard

2 teaspoons reduced-sugar orange marmalade

150g skinless boneless chicken breast

1 tablespoon low fat fromage frais

1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives or parsley

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the grill to medium high. Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the parsnips for 15 minutes or until tender.

2. In a small bowl, mix the mustard and marmalade together.

3. Meanwhile, place the chicken, upper side face down, in a foil lined grill tray. Season. Grill for 8 - 10 minutes, then turn the chicken over and spread on the mustard and marmalade. Cook for a further 8 - 10 minutes or until the chicken is tender and the glaze has turned a deep golden colour.

4. Drain the cooked parsnips. Mash with the fromage frais and chopped chives or parsley. Slice the chicken and serve piled on top of the mash.

Serves: 1

ProPoints per serving: 10

Takes 25 minutes

Verdict:

Himself and I loved the chicken done this way. It comes out wonderfully succulent. Not dry at all, which is the problem I normally find with doing chicken breasts under the grill. However, as I'm not overly keen on parsnips, I didn't particularly enjoy the mash. It was okay-ish when eaten with the chicken; but once the chicken was gone I found the flavour unpleasant.... much to hubby's amusement. He loves parsnip! However, even he was struggling with the mash. We tried this recipe a second time using potatoes for the mash and found that to be much better as long as you don't use the fromage frais. 

The kids, however, pulled their noses up at it. As usual! I'm not sure why we don't just serve them chicken nuggets and fries for dinner every single day. However, himself and I are not giving up. We will continue to put new foods and recipes in front of them in the hopes that oneday they might try something and find that they actually like it! Hmmmm.... hell might freeze over before that happens I'm afraid!

All-in-all, I'd say this is a good one to try if you adore Parsnips. If not, substitute them with normal mashed potato and it still works well!

If you'd like to see some more recipes then please head over to FTLOB to see what everyone else is up to! Make sure you come back again next Tuesday for another Tasty recipe!!

Sausage, Apple & Lentil Casserole

Welcome to Tasty Tuesday! This is a regular feature hosted by the For the Love of Blogs community. I figured I would jump in and add my tuppence worth and show you a dish that we had on Saturday. It was simply gorgeous and will definitely become one of our firm family favourites. The best thing is that it's a Weight Watchers recipe! This is great because it means I can keep on track with the weight loss which you guys have been so great about encouraging me to do. The results have been well worth it and I'm happy that I'm finally back on track again.

Each week Weight Watchers releases a small publication called 'Your Week' containing tips, advice, inspiration and recipes for the week. I find it useful to read in about 5 seconds flat and then I don't look at it again for the rest of the week. Bad, bad dieter!! LOL. I really should pay it more attention as there are always some really gorgeous looking recipes included. Some weeks more than others. Last week when I headed back to the meeting for the first time in aaaaaaages I picked up the 'Your Week' and gave it the usual cursory glance before shoving it in my bag alongside several boxes of WW Chocolate or Cereal bars and a couple of packets of WW crisps. I thought that would be 'it' as per usual, however, our wonderful leader Mandy pointed out a couple of interesting tips to us during the meeting and that made me dig it out again and have a really good read. I'm so glad she did because this recipe caught my eye and I took it straight home and made Himself look at it. It was good timing really as he was just preparing the weekly menu and shopping list!

Of course, the 'Your Week' had a photograph of this recipe piled up high with lashings of onions and sausages draped artistically in the food equivalent of the girl-on-the-car-bonnet photo. Mine, however, looked somewhat plainer.... but I still took a photo because a photo is always good on a blog post, right?

Ok, ignore the photo then.... and trust me, this dish is delicious!! (and my photography skills are not)

Sausage, Apple & Lentil Casserole

Mist a large casserole dish with calorie controlled cooking spray and add 6 Weight Watchers Premium Pork Sausages, halved. Fry, turning, for 5 minutes until starting to brown. Add 2 onions, sliced into thin wedges, with a splash of water and fry, stirring, for a further 10 minutes. Stir in ½ tbsp plain flour to coat, then add 1 x 410g can green lentils, drained, 600ml hot chicken stock and 1tbsp fresh sage leaves, chopped. Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook for 20 minutes until thickened. Add 300g apples, peeled cored and sliced into thick wedges, and simmer for a further 10 minutes, until the apple wedges are tender. Divide between 4 bowls. Serve with 50g crusty bread each.

All this for only 8 ProPoints, including the bread!! Bargain.

I know that my daughters both pulled their noses up at it, but they missed out. Unfortunately both my kids are at that stage where if it's not coated in batter and deep fried they won't touch it. More's the pity!

I'm off to print the recipe off so that I can put it in my stack of trusty recipes. Will it join your regular repetoire? Let me know once you've tried it!

PS. If you're not overly worried about watching your waistline then you can use non-diet sausages and lashings of butter on the crusty bread.... oh and you'll want to cook up a double batch because I guarantee you'll want a second helping!

Spiced Yummy-ness

Yummy-ness. Yup, in this household its a technical term! I'm sure it is in some other households too, although the Oxford Dictionary people would probably be turning in their gravy right now. The reason for using this technical terminology is... baking. Hmmmm.... there is much yummy-ness to be had whenever baking is being done, but especially when the festive period arrives and I get the urge to bake. It doesn't happen often tho', which is a pity! I don't really see myself as a baker. That was always my sisters forté. 


We used to go to my Gran's house whenever my parents needed to go shopping. Once there, she would sit me behind her old treadle Singer sewing machine with some fabric, thread and a big tinful of buttons. Then she would scuttle off to her small kitchenette with my little sister in tow to do some baking. My sister would have hours of fun measuring and mixing and then out of that small kitchen would come the most delicious things. I think that was when I realised that working in the kitchen could produce more than just food to fill hungry tummies. Working in her kitchen would produce the most mouth watering stuff which could only be considered as treats. Scotch pancakes (which we called crumpets), brownies, cakes, pancakes, scones, fairy cakes and biscuits. My Gran and my sister made all of those in the times we visited her. I suppose my Gran did most of the work in the early years - my sister would only have been about three at the time - but over the years my sister became more proficient in her own right. My sewing improved too in those years, and so it became that while sewing was 'my thing', baking was always the province of my younger sister. Even now, when I try to bake it doesn't always come out well. Its always a bit hit and miss. However, occasionally I find a recipe that always works well. 


The one thing I don't ever remember my Gran baking was muffins. I'm not sure if they're largely an American thing or a modern thing or just not my Gran's thing, but muffins were never on the menu. Me? I luuuuuurve muffins of all flavours! Luckily for me I found the most delicious muffin recipe... and it seems to be one of those that always works! Yay!! We had invited some people around for Saturday afternoon as a housewarming/christmas/birthday party and had decided just to invite people around for coffee and biscuits. However, I decided to do an extra little something in the form of some Spiced Cranberry Muffins and some Mulled wine too. So, on Saturday morning I did some baking and produced some lovely yummy-ness! They turned out well and everyone who had one said they were delicious! 


So, for those that visited and asked for the recipe... and for those that are sitting at home wanting some, here's the recipe!


You will need:
300g Plain white flour
2tsp baking powder
½tsp ground cinnamon
½tsp ground nutmeg
finely grated zest of 1 orange
125g demerara sugar
75g frozen cranberries, defrosted
50ml sunflower oil
225ml skimmed milk
1 egg

Preheat oven to gas mark 6/200C/Fan oven 180C. Line 12 hole muffin tray with muffin cases. Sift flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl and stir in cinnamon, nutmeg and orange zest. Add sugar and cranberries. Beat together oil, milk and egg and pour over dry ingredients.

Mix well with a wooden spoon to make a soft batter. Spoon mixture into muffin cases and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the muffins are well risen and golden.

I have made a couple of changes to this original recipe. Firstly, I used dried Cranberries as I couldn't find any frozen ones; and Secondly, I put more mixture into each muffin case so I only got 9 muffins out of the recipe rather than 12.


Don't you think these are just the epitome of yummy-ness? I do! In fact, I have a few left.... I might just go knick one now. Shhhhh! Don't tell the kids!!

Prompt #4: Blogging the Mundane...

I'm loving Shimelle's class! Today's prompt is all about blogging mundane things. Things that we think are 'boring' that might actually be interesting to other people. So, life is not always a rollercoaster of highs and lows, sometimes its just nice and flat and uninteresting... so what? Perhaps nice, flat and uninteresting is good - because a rollercoaster life can make you sick! Shimelle was talking about blogging about things like

• going to the library
• doing the shopping
• the school run
• filling up at the petrol station ....

....oooh now there's one that would do me! I nipped there this morning to get some milk after I had dropped herself off at nursery. I filled up with petrol too at the same time... and then came home to find Shimelle's prompt sat in my inbox. It did get me thinking! I remember when I was a kid I used to sit in the car with my parents while the petrol was being filled up! Yup, my Mum and Dad sat in the car too! See I grew up in South Africa where illiteracy is high and lots of people don't have jobs. There is no dole, no benefits or handouts - so if you don't work, you don't eat. Consequently, there are a lot of things that people are 'employed' to do, that here in the UK we do for ourselves... and one of them is filling up at the petrol station. You drive onto the forecourt, open your window and hand a guy the keys. You tell him what type of fuel your car takes and then wait for him to fill up. I remember as a child thinking how it all sounded like a foreign language as my Mom would hand him the keys saying "fill up, 98, oil and tyres" Suddenly there would be three guys rushing around. One would be filling up, one would be checking the oil and another would be checking the tyres. A fourth man would approach the window and ask if she would like the windscreen cleaned. The petrol attendant would then tell my Mom how much it cost and she would give him the cash (before the days of credit cards!) he would take it to the kiosk and bring her the receipt and the change. She would then have to tip him and they would divide it between them. That is how they lived... on tips. I only found out years later that the garage didn't pay them a salary, they did all that in the hope of a tip... and quite a few people didn't give them even that much! The only time my parents would actually set foot anywhere near the kiosk was when us kids nagged them into getting us some crisps or a drink. Quite unlike living here in the UK... where we now have to get out the car (shock, horror!) and do it ourselves. So I filled up the car; watching the numbers whizz by until it clicks. Then I do this "thing", I rock the car - to get the air out of the petrol tank - and then continue to fill it up until it clicks again. Does anyone else do this? I'm not sure where I picked it up from? I think I must be the only person who does this. LOL. I collect my wallet from the car and then head into the shop. Of course it is a *shop* now - not just a little kiosk- petrol stations have now become mini-supermarkets. Our local one has a Marks & Spencers shop, so I often get stuff for tea from there too. I wander around the shop; even though I know I really only need milk -  and pick up a quiche, milk, bread, a snack selection, ham, cheese and sushi. Mmmmmm, yup Sushi. Its a M&S and their sushi is gorgeous. I'm addicted to it! I can happily walk right past the chocolates and crisps as long as I can get my hands on some sushi! I take my stuff to the till and pay.... £60 later I walk out of the shop with a full tank of petrol, the milk I originally wanted and nearly £20's worth of stuff that I had never intended to buy! And sushi. Yum!

I think that the old South African system was probably better, the temptation to buy additional stuff was easier to resist when it was someone else who was handling the money and doing all the work!

(Photo source)

Poem

Thanks to Eleanor on UKScrappers for sending me this poem. It's apt! The cravings are still there but not as strongly now.... just trying to ignore them as I don't have anymore olives in the house and don't really want to go shopping especially!

Olives
Sometimes a craving comes for salt, not sweet,
For fruits that you can eat
Only if pickled in a vat of tears —
A rich and dark and indehiscent meat
Clinging tightly to the pit — on spears
Of toothpicks, maybe, drowned beneath a tide
Of vodka and vermouth,
Rocking at the bottom of a wide,
Shallow, long-stemmed glass, and gentrified;
Or rustic, on a plate cracked like a tooth —
A miscellany of the humble hues
Eponymously drab —
Brown greens and purple browns, the blacks and blues
That chart the slow chromatics of a bruise —
Washed down with swigs of barrel wine that stab
The palate with pine-sharpness. They recall
The harvest and its toil,
The nets spread under silver trees that foil
The blue glass of the heavens in the fall —
Daylight packed in treasuries of oil,
Paradigmatic summers that decline
Like singular archaic nouns, the troops
Of hours in retreat. These fruits are mine —
Small bitter drupes
Full of the golden past and cured in brine.
A. E. Stallings
The New Criterion
June 2006

Strange Cravings...

Nope I'm definitely NOT pregnant, believe me I have tested and have proof. There is not going to be any new additions to our family any time soon.  So why am I craving?? Anyone out there with medical knowledge who can tell me, I would be most grateful!

So here it is.... I hate olives. Never have liked them and always avoid them like the plague.  I bought a 400g jar of them from Tesco's just before Christmas for the simple reason that my parents were coming for Christmas day and my parents love them. I figured it would be a nice little snack to have with a light tea in the evening.  As it turned out we were all so full from lunch that tea never happened, so I was left with some food, including a jar of olives. The rest of the food got eaten over the course of the week between Christmas and New Years but the olives got shoved to the back of a shelf and I was resigned to the fact that in a couple of years time I would discover the jar of out-of-date olives while I was desperately trying to find a tin of tomatoes. 

Then suddenly last week I started this craving for olives.... don't know why, it just happened. I remembered the poor un-loved jar of olives in the back of the cupboard and opened it thinking that I would probably have one little olive; decide I still hate them and end up throwing the rest of the jar away.  Well, it didn't happen like that. I ate the whole 400g in the space of 36 hours.... and I'm still craving olives.

This morning I decided to rummage through the larder cupboard again to see what I had and found a tin of anchovies. They're ok but have to be put with loads of other stuff to take the edge off the saltiness.... but I had them this morning on toast with melted cheese. It was rather nice actually, but surely not normal?

So there you have it. Why am I craving? I have no idea, but I'm rather enjoying the odd combinations!