Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred - A Review

I have a "Mum Tum". My first step is admitting it. Apparently,  some people with means schedule tummy tucks after giving birth. Before I had children, I thought this was ludicrous. Do a few sits ups. Cut down on the biscuits. Get out there and walk. No need for surgery, I thought with judgmental delusion.

Mind you, as I write this, I'm finishing off a glass of wine and just enjoyed a home made brownie. Perhaps I have ordinary "Fat Tum" rather than "Mum Tum" and am just in denial?

The Nicest Home Made Chips that aren't Deep Fried

Obviously, if you have a deep frier, this post will be of no interest to you because let's face it, home made chips made in the deep frier are the most delicious. I love chips and I have played around with various recipes for home made wedges and chips and this is the closest I've gotten to deep fried loveliness.

My Tuppence Worth to those about to become new Parents

Hi There, impending parent, normal, civilised person, who has all the time in the world. That's how I view you and indeed how you may come to view other childless people around about two seconds after your new baby "pops out". Because after that momentous event, the part of your life you can devote to you and your needs and sleep and your interests and sleep and your desires shrinks to almost nothing. Your life is instantly transformed, mostly for the good, honestly. I have jotted down a few points which might be of interest to you (or may be annoyingly condescending). I hope it's the former.

Cheat's Porridge

I like a bowl of porridge in the morning. Warm, filling, cheap. It's all good.

There are perhaps many schools of thought as to how porridge should taste. When studying for Inter cert Irish (I am that old), "Leite Donncha Pheig" was one of the stories I learnt (and indeed the only one I actually remember). I recall it dealt with matrimonial disharmony arising out of a difference in taste for porridge between salty and sweet. I don’t put salt into my porridge but I like to sprinkle it with sugar, brown if I’m treating myself. While I’m at it, I love to pour a little cream over my porridge too. Not every day.

My Friend

The gardens in the houses in my row slope around in a vaguely semi circular fashion and I can just catch a glimpse of the end of a clothes line in the garden of a house several doors up from mine.

Each morning I engage in a sort of risk assessment as to where it might be wisest to place our wet laundry to dry. The tumble drier doesn’t get a look in as I have a deep-seated prejudice against them, borne out of my rearing and bitter experience. I resent the clothes-horses taking up room and the fact that it takes longer for the clothes to dry inside. On the other hand, it is so satisfying to watch the clothes outside on the line blowing back and forth drying briskly in the air.  So many considerations to factor in: the temperature, the forecast, how much time I have, if I will be there to take the clothes in before it gets too late, whether there is “good drying”.

The Children's Dinners - Using a Safefood Meal Planner

Back in the day when I had none of my own, I smugly (and naively) pooh poohed when I saw children eating sausages or chicken nuggets and chips in restaurants. Oh no, my little darlings, should I be blessed with offspring, would enjoy a varied and adventurous diet.

Now I actually have children, I'm acutely aware that if you are shelling out for a family meal, the last thing you want is to see untouched plates and to have to head home to prepare a second meal. If your children are sure to eat and enjoy sausages and chips then you will gladly let them order that. In fact you will make sure it, or a similar fail safe choice (Macaroni and Cheese, anyone?) is on the menu before you darken the doors of the restaurant.

Green Tomato Chutney

I'm no domestic goddess but it certainly sounds like I am when I say I made my own Green Tomato Chutney from tomatoes grown in my garden. 

As I wrote earlier, (see here), My six tomato plants planted out in early June bore lots of fruit but lots of it was inedible. Either it sort of rotted on the way to turning red, or it didn't ripen from green at all. I picked what I could eat and waited until the end of the season when I felt it was too late any green tomatoes left on the plant to ripen. I can't say the effort, time and space I gave over to growing tomatoes was worth it for the few tomatoes I got. I owed it to myself to use up those green tomatoes and make that chutney.

The Bounty

I used a recipe from the the Internet which looked easy, cheap to make and according to the comments section was delicious. 

Ingredients

• 2.5kg green tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 0.5kg onions, finely sliced
• 4 tsp / 30g salt
• 1L malt vinegar
• 0.5kg soft light brown sugar
• 250g sultanas, roughly chopped
• 3 tsp / 20g ground pepper

Equipment

• Preserving pan or other large lidless pan (I used my biggest saucepan which I use when making stocks or soups or boiling ham.)
• 7 - 10 jars with lids
• Food wrap / cling film
• Sticky labels

Method

1. Chop the chopped tomatoes and onion and mix together in a non metallic bowl. Mix through the salt and leave overnight covered with cling film or a large plate.

   

   Shoulda chopped finer. Look at those chunky onions. Tut tut.

    The little tomatoes took ages to chop.  I was half tempted to take out the Magimix and use one of the slicing disks but I couldn't be assed taking the time to figure out which disk to use and wasn't sure the Magimix would slice the small tomatoes without me having to chop them in half anyway so I persevered. I think my chutney would have broken down better if I had chopped the tomatoes and onions finer so I would say chop it the finer the better.According to the recipe, salting the mix overnight draws out the water from the tomatoes which allows the chutney to cook faster. It also enhances the flavour. If you wish to skip waiting overnight then just add half the salt and continue with step 2. Personally, I was glad to have the excuse to break overnight after all that fiddly chopping.
2. Heat the vinegar and sugar in a large pan. 
3. Roughly chop the sultanas and add them to the vinegar and sugar. Continue to simmer. 
4. Drain the tomatoes and salt but do not rinse. Add to the pot and stir well. Add the white pepper. I used ground black pepper instead.

   

   Adding the tomatoes and onions

5. Boil the chutney for One and a half to two hours. Stir occasionally and make sure the mixture doesn't burn (as I nearly did!)

   

   D'uh! Chutney stuck to pan on the right hand side. Caught it just in time and transferred it to another pot. 

6. Dry and sterilise the jars by washing them in warm soapy water and placing them rim down in an oven preheated to 140 degrees Celcius for twenty minutes. 
7. The chutney will thicken and reduce by half. When you draw your wooden spoon against the bottom of the pot and a space clears for short time, the chutney is ready.
8. Fill the jars with chutney tapping each at the bottom when full to remove air. If your chutney has cooled, make sure your jars have cooled and vice versa.
9. Place a double layer of cling film over the top of each jar and trim. Put the lid for the jar on. 
   
10. Label the jars. The chutney should last for six months. Once opened I would refrigerate.
    

The chutney turned out well and was straight forward to make. We are already onto our second jar. It goes well on sandwiches and with cheese.

Reflections on a Season of Vegetable Growing.

I remember seeing vegetable plots in some people’s back gardens as a child, rows of potatoes or cabbages. The tomatoes  I tasted as a child bear no resemblance to the watery, hard, pale tomatoes that are sold in many supermarkets these days. And don't talk to me about Strawberries. For years and years, I’ve wanted to grow vegetables. I didn't have the space and time. Doubt also held me back.

A few years ago, I grew some herbs, potatoes and salad leaves in pots on our deck. I learnt a lot and made a few mistakes, the main one was not watering enough.

This year, thanks to a house move, I finally had my very own vegetable plot ("the patch") this spring and summer. I didn’t spend a long time planning what to grow. By the time I got it cleared of weeds and crap, it was well into spring so I launched into it with the help of a few library books and the internet.