Is there such thing as a healthy Chocolate Brownie?

I'm not sure there is, but sometimes you need to spoil yourself. Here are two recipes for chocolate brownies that could possible considered "healthier" than some other recipes in that they have little fat in them.

Ingredients:

150-200g Demerara sugar

120g organic wholemeal self-raising flour

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

100g quality dark chocolate (at least 70%)

5g baking powder

5ml vanilla extract

Method: I make this with my 3.5yo, so I do a lot of pre-preparation before hand.

1. Preheat oven to 170°C/160°C (fan)
2. Line the bottom of a square 20cm tin with greaseproof paper and spray all over with a tasteless oil such as rape seed oil.
3. Over a saucepan of simmering water, melt half the chocolate in a heat proof bowl until melted.
4. Chop the remaining chocolate into chunks, reserve the chunks for later and scrape the dust in with the rest of the melting chocolate (no, we're not wasting a crumb). Stir occasionally until all melted.
5. Into a clean mixing bowl, combine the sugar and eggs until neither ingredient is discernible.
6. Sift the flour into the bowl and mix.
7. Add the baking powder and vanilla extract.
8. Once all the chocolate is melted, add to the mix and stir in.
9. Pour half the batter into the tin and sprinkle the chocolate chunks evenly across the mixture. Pour the remaining batter over the top.
10. Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes. Test with a skewer. If it comes out clean - just - they're done.
11. Remove tin from the oven and leave it alone for at least 10 minutes. This is important because the brownies will continue to cook for a little time and this allows them to form their signature gooeyness.
12. Once the tin is cool enough to touch, turn the cake slab out onto a board and leave to cool completely. Cut into 16 pieces. They seem small but they're packed full of flavour.

Calories per slice: 202

Now, the observant amongst you will note that 200g of Demerara sugar might not be considered by some as "healthy". Particularly if you're diabetic. Yeah, I know, chocolate in itself isn't exactly great for diabetics, but read my first sentence about spoiling yourself. The sugar version is what I give my family as sugar is better for growing brains than artificial sweeteners. My artificial sweetener of choice is Stevia, sold as Truvia. I use the granulated version designed for adding to your tea or coffee rather than the "for baking" stuff which is half sugar/half stevia. However, I add a small amount of Demerara sugar because Truvia has a slightly bitter aftertaste.

25g Demerara sugar

60g Truvia (see notes above)

120g organic wholemeal self-raising flour

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

100g quality dark chocolate (at least 70%)

5g baking powder

5ml vanilla extract

Small quantity of water

Method:

Follow the method as for the sugar version above. But, you'll find the batter is quite a lot stiffer than the sugar version. So, just before pouring into the tin, add tiny amounts of water until the batter is pourable.

Cook for between 15-20 minutes. This mixture goes from sloppy to over cooked very quickly, so test frequently after the 15 minute mark. Cool as above and cut into 16 squares.

Calories per slice: 80

How to buy a Computer

September has arrived and lots of people I know are looking to buy new computers, either for their kids for the new academic year, or for themselves (maybe because they want to congratulate themselves for surviving summer without committing infanticide). Here are my guidelines for buying a new computer. When considering a new purchase there are a number of things to weigh up to get the perfect machine.

 

1. Think firstly about how you are going to use this computer. Are you going to be travelling around with it, or will you mostly be using it in your study at home? A desktop model is always better value for money. Things don't have to be miniaturised, so components are cheaper and easier to buy and you will always get more bang for your buck. But unless you are likely to be the sort who enjoys going to LAN parties, you won't want to lug your desktop around. If you like your computing on the move, then a laptop will be best for you.
2. If you've decided on a laptop, think about how often you'll travel with it. The more you lug it around, the more grateful your back will be for a small, light laptop. But, the disadvantage of small is that capacity and power are lessened.
3. What are you going to be doing with this computer? If you're mostly about emails, surfing the 'Net and writing the occasional document, then you probably don't need the top of the range, latest Alienware gaming computer. If you want it to be able to play a specific game, get the minimum specs for that game and make sure you buy something that meets at least that minimum spec.
4. How long do you want this computer to last? The average life of a desktop these days is about 5 years, laptops 3. The better the machine you buy now, the longer it will last you.

The tech explained (as simply as I can):

The speed of a computer is made up of a number of items. The one most advertised is processor speed (in GHz). Generally, the higher the number, the faster the processor. BUT you'll also see Dual Core and Quad Core mentioned. A Dual Core processor has two cores and a Quad has four. Therefore, a lower numbered Quad will be faster than a higher numbered Dual. Intel has a range of processors out at the moment named i5 and i7. Again, a higher numbered i5 will be about the same as a low numbered i7.

 

But the processor doesn't act alone. How fast the hard drive spins will impact. Most hard drives (referred to as the HDD) run either at 5400 or 7400 RPM. The faster drives are generally found in desktops and the slower in laptops (unless you're talking the high end of laptops). There are new solid state drives (SSDs) which don't spin at all, therefore they have the fastest access times.

 

Next is the speed of the bus on the motherboard. You don't generally see the Bus Speed advertised and you really have no control over it. However, the more expensive the computer, generally the faster the bus.

 

Finally, the final thing that impacts the speed of a computer is the amount of Random Access Memory (RAM). The more RAM a computer has, the more it can process before having to save to the drive. Let me explain. When you start up a program on your computer, it reads the HDD and loads the program into RAM. As you work with the program, the computer saves information out of RAM back to the HDD (in what is called the swap file). The more that it can hold in RAM, the less often it has to save to the swap file, thus making your experience faster.

 

So, you can see that when people say "I want a fast computer", the issue is complex. It gets further complicated when you start to talk about the graphics card, which usually has its own processor, RAM and Bus to worry about. Again, generally, the faster the processor, the more amount of RAM and the faster the Bus of the graphics card, the better your experience will be. If you're getting into that much detail, then this blog probably isn't for you.

 

What Operating System?

 

"Woah, step back" I hear you cry! What's an Operating System? The OS is what allows you to run your computer. In general terms, if you buy a Mac, the OS is OSx (named, Mountain Lion, Tiger, Mandrake, or whatever name they want to give it at the moment), if you buy a PC, the OS sold with it will be a version of Windows (at the time of writing, either Windows 7 or Windows 8). To complicate things further, Macs can now run Windows and PCs can run versions of Linux, like Ubuntu. A computer boots up the OS to the desktop and you then run your programs, or applications, for there.

 

For the majority of the readers here, we'll be talking about Windows. Whether or not you choose to go for Windows 7 or 8 will depend on what the computer ships with. It will probably be Windows 8 but you may have the option to take a "downgrade" to Windows 7. If you are a Windows Vista or current 7 user, staying with 7 might be the best choice. But Windows 8 has some features built into it that you might find useful. Don't be afraid of it. Whatever version you go for, ask if it is the 64-bit version. This is important. Remember the discussion about RAM and how the more there was, the better? Well, a 32-bit version of Windows cannot use more than 4Gb RAM. Therefore, if you buy a computer that has the capability of holding 16Gb RAM, but it only runs a 32-bit version of Windows, your upgrade options are limited.

 

What size hard drive?

 

Again, think about what you are using this for. The new SSDs are fast, but small for the price. The older HDDs are slower, but if you're working with large photo or video files, you might find that the SSDs that ship with your computer are too small for your needs. Think of your hard drive as the filing cabinet. This is where everything is filed away when not in use. If you'd like to play a lot of games, then you might consider a more customised machine with the primary drives being solid state and a bigger traditional HDD.

 

So, armed with all this information, you should be able to write a list of requirements:

• Desktop or laptop. If laptop, lightweight or not?
• Gaming and heavy graphics use or documents, emails and surfing?
• How long are you expecting it to last?
• Windows or MacOS?
• HDD or SSD?

Research - educate yourself

I'm often asked "what specific model should I buy?" Unfortunately, models change too frequently for me to say that. Chances are, by the time you shop for the model I recommend, it'll have been superseded or be out of stock.

 

But, don't despair. Google Is Your Friend. Go online a search "buy a computer". You'll be inundated with hits. So, look through the list of computers presented to you. Think about your budget. Look at computers at the top end of your budget. Make a note of the specifications. Based on your reading above, will they do what you need them to do? If the answer is no, then you'll need to rethink your budget. If you think they'll exceed your needs, then you might want to look at the specs for cheaper machines. A low-cost machine is not going to run that high-end game no matter how much you wish, but will be perfect for general stuff. I'm currently looking into a new machine for myself and have determined that while I'd like to have the speed an SSD will give me, I would have to spend far too much to get the space I need and a 7400RPM HDD will do the job.

 

Look around for packages and cash back offers. Some places offer the same machine as another, but will throw in extra RAM, or a case for a laptop. But, be careful. Make a note of the exact model number. A site will list what looks like the same computer for cheaper, but if you look at the model number, it's different, which means that something under the bonnet will be vastly different - usually a lower spec motherboard (refer to the section about Buses on Motherboards above).

 

Now, at this point, I find it easiest to go into my friendly nearest computer superstore. It is likely, however, that now that you've read this far, you know more about computers than the spotty youth who comes to serve you. Be nice to them as they'll be able unlock the computer and let you have a go - useful if you've not seen a computer since XP. It's a great place to do a comparison shop. Make a note of what you liked and didn't like. This will also be where you determine if you'd like a new monitor and whether you'd prefer a wireless mouse and keyboard. Don't buy anything at this point.

 

I suggest you go home again and get back on the Internet. Now that you've seen the boxes up front and made a note of specific models you liked, search for those specific things and see what is being offered. Most of the big box companies now offer a "find it sold locally for cheaper and we'll match (or better) that price" deal. It usually has to be an actual shop, not online, to qualify.

 

How's your budget holding up? Yeah, thought so. Once you've added monitor etc, you budget starts to look a little shakey, doesn't it? That's why you never buy on the first visit. Stop for a minute and think about what you need. Do you really need that five-button wireless rechargable mouse? Most of us don't know what to do with three buttons, let alone five, and a battery operated mouse will last for about 6 months between battery changes if kept properly. Do you need the 12-speaker surround system that looked really good in the shop or is the sound of an incoming mail message coming from all around you really overkill?

 

Now that you've determined what you need and what you can afford, it is time to actually shop. Where you buy it from is entirely up to you. You will probably get a better price online, but taking it back if something goes wrong in the warranty period might be more complex. If you deal with someone face to face, you might be able to negotiate with the sales person for those extras I mentioned above. But, if you're buying from a store, go in armed with model numbers and prices you gathered doing your research so that you know up front what to expect.

 

Some stores will offer a service to deliver and install your new PC for you. Most of them won't transfer data from your old machine, so make sure you're confident on how to do that.

 

Or, call me!

 

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The Cheap Domestic Goddess - things to do with red sauce

Since my last posting about cooking bulk red sauce, I've been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and so large amounts of pasta and cheese sauce have gone the way of the Dodo. But I still make bulk red sauce because it allows me to control the sugar levels and vegetable content. These days I make it in the slow cooker because that allows me to make it without using any oil. I get about 4.5ltrs and freeze it in 500g batches. To use I simply zap it for 7 minutes in the microwave.

 

But, variety is the spice of live, they say and there are so many times in one week one can eat pasta with red sauce. So here are the things I now do with my red sauce:

 

1. Pasta bolognese. In a non-stic frying pan with a pump spray of olive oil, fry off an onion. Add 100g turkey breast mince and one defrosted portion of red sauce. Serve with 75g of your favourite pasta.
2. Tortillas. In a non-stick fry pan with a pump of olive oil, fry off an onion. Add 100g of turkey mince and one defrosted ports of red sauce. Add two teaspoons of smoked paprika, one teaspoon of chilli flakes and one of dried oregano. Slice up a pepper. Warm through some wholemeal tortillas. Put two desert spoons of the meat mixture into a tortilla, plus some of the peppers. Sprinkle a small amount of low-fat cheese and roll up. Serve with a green salad and a dollop of low-fat creme fraiche. People who like it hot can splodge some Tabasco sauce to pep things up.
3. Baked chicken. Take two chicken breasts and butterfly. Lay them in a small oil-sprayed casserole dish. In a small bowl mix up two teaspoons each of garlic granules (some might call this garlic salt), smoked paprika, ground cumin and ground cinnamon. Spoon a couple of teaspoons on the top of each breast and rub in. Turn them over and rub the remaining mix into the other side. Pour one defrosted portion of red sauce over the chicken and bake in an oven at 190°c (180°c for fan) for 30 minutes. Serve with either couscous or brown rice and some steamed green vegetables.
4. Cauliflower pizza base. Take a medium head of cauliflower and remove the leaves and stem. Blitz in a food processor until it resembles short grain rice, then cook in a microwave on high for about 5 minutes. Leave to cool. In a large bowl, combine the cauliflower, 1 large egg and 150g low-fat cream cheese. Pepper to taste. Kneed into a dough and divide into four roll each piece into a round until it is about 1cm thick. Cook at 200°c (190°c for fan) for about 30 minutes until it is firm and golden brown. Spread the surface with some defrosted red sauce and add your favourite toppings, finishing with a small amount of low-fat mature cheddar. Cook for another 10-12 minutes.

I hoped you enjoy these dishes. You could also use this in a moussaka (my Greek friend, Kat might dispute this), but I've never tried. Please feel free to comment below and add your favourite uses for red sauce.

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How to sell a house

For about 2 years now, on and off, I've been helping a friend's Mother-in-law look for a house to buy. She's relocating to Reading from Cambridgeshire and given how long her working day is, she's been unable to spend large amounts of time house hunting.

 

I've seen a lot of houses, good and bad and here are my tips for selling your home successfully.

 

1. Go through your house and throw out all the rubbish. If there's a lot, get friendly with a skip hire company. If you've only got a small amount of stuff to throw, a small skip will set you back about £85 and a good company will make sure that whatever is recyclable will be recycled. Go out into the garden and get rid of the broken toys, pots etc. Be ruthless. If it can't be repaired, or you won't repair it, there's no point in keeping it.
2. Go through all your own personal possessions. Think carefully about each item. Do you still use it? Does it hold huge sentimental value? If it isn't used and it isn't of either monetary or sentimental value, ask yourself why you're holding onto it. Work out what you can get rid of and donate it to charity, to a friend or sell it on an auction site or offer it up on Freecycle.
3. If you have children, go through the process outlined in No. 2 with them. Get them thinking about their own stuff. Help them part from the clothes that no longer fit them and the toys they no longer use. Talk to them about giving them away to friends or relatives, or if that's not possible, about giving them to charity and helping people who don't have as much as you. And if they don't co-operate, offer them up on Freecycle.
4. Repeat the whole decluttering process by covering the garden sheds and your loft space and do the same actions with everything you have in there.
5. Be ruthless. By now you should only be left with the things that you truly use and are precious to you. Having done this, you'll find that your removal bill will be significantly lower.
6. Go an buy yourself a number of new moving boxes and some packing tape. Box up everything that you don't use on a daily basis into the boxes and label them NEATLY on both the top and the sides and don't forget to write which room the box will go back into.
7. Again, do this same process with the kids. Restrict them to maybe 10-20 toys that they use regularly and pack up the rest. Once you've accepted an offer and the sale has progressed to the point of no return, they can have some of them back and it'll be like Christmas when you get to the new home and they rediscover all their valued items.
8. I suggest that you also box up lots of your books, DVDs and CDs. Full bookcases make a room look smaller, so make sure that you can see to the back of bookcases in about 50% of your shelves. Put a few decorative items in some of the gaps to pull the eye to the back of the bookcase.
9. Clear the tops of your cupboards. Everywhere. Kitchen, bathroom, dining room, bedroom wardrobes. Seriously. If its being stored on top of a cupboard, you're not using it every day. You can afford to be without it until you move into your new home. Potential buyers will look up. If you've packed everything in up to the ceiling, your rooms will feel smaller.
10. Reduce the number of knick knacks you have out by at least half. Put away personal photos unless they're attached to the wall (because you'll have to either replace them with something else or remove the hooks and make the walls good).
11. Box up all your bed linen and towels etc except for one set for each bed and a spare set to wash, and one towel to use per person and a spare to wash. Keep the bed linen neat by putting the sets together and put them into the pillow case. Buy a set of new, white or cream fluffy towels for your bathroom/s. only put them out for viewings and threaten your family within an inch of their lives if they use them. This will cost you maybe £25 but will freshen up your bathroom considerably.
12. Box up most of your crockery, cutlery, glassware etc. Keep out only what you need. Firstly, your cupboards will look neater and you'll have less to wash up before viewings.
13. Now, where to store this stuff: your removers may be prepared to store this for you for an additional charge. This is the best solution as you don't have the hassle of getting the stuff out of the house and they'll arrange secure storage. However, if this is out of your budget, ask friends and family if they are able to store it for you temporarily. Just make sure you're able to get it all back before Removal Day. If that is not possible, then either store in a garage, loft, or a little-used room. Stack the boxes neatly and make sure they are not stacked too high so that the room doesn't feel closed in. Don't disguise them - buyers will understand that you're preparing to move and it will actually make you appear keen and organised.
14. Go through your kitchen cupboards and throw out all your out of date food.
15. Now clean everything. Everything. All your kitchen cupboards, the cupboard under the stairs, the garage, the loft, the bathroom. Wipe down all your doors, surfaces, windows. Everything. Clean out your fridge and wipe it all down - even if you plan to take it with you. Clear cobwebs off the ceiling and take down all lampshades and dust them. Dust the extractor fans in the bathrooms and kitchen.
16. Make your beds. Believe me, people do not want to see your unmade bed.
17. Vacuum. Everywhere. Mop floors that need mopping.
18. Go through the house and make a note of every little thing that needs fixing. You might like to ask a friend or neighbour to go through the house and point out all the flaws. You will probably have stopped noticing that patch of flaking paint on the ceiling in the hallway. They won't.
19. Fix all the things on that list that you possibly can. If its a patch of wall where you patched a hole, painting over the patch shouldn't be rocket science. Tighten the screws on the light switch panels. Scrape the paint off the tiles where it was left when you repainted the bathroom. If you've got a damp patch on the ceiling, have someone investigate why it's there. You might decide not to fix it, but a potential buyer will be relieved to hear that you know what the cause of it is. If you can't afford to fix it, at least be aware of what the problem is.
20. If you have coloured toilet seats, or wood ones that are a little scruffy, replace them with white ones (or ones that match the toilet if it is coloured). A new toilet seat goes a long way to making the entire bathroom work.
21. That's your house sorted. But having a badly kept house next door can harm your sale. An unkempt garden is nothing, but a garden filled with rubbish that stinks will stop dead any purchase. If you can't find the owner and ask them to clean up, contact the council for help.

Now, you can invite an estate agent. Remember that in the UK, estate agents are not required to have any qualifications, nor are they registered with any authority. This doesn't mean that all agents are bad, it just means that they might not have the knowledge you expect them to. Also remember that they are competing with other agents for your business, so they are likely to tell you what they think you want to hear in order to win your business. Estate agents have a really bad rep that isn't always justified. Be nice to them. Ask your friends if they've heard of good agents in your area. Ask at least three firms to come in and quote.

The Internet has a lot to answer for. In my experience over the last two years, because most people start their search through the various house selling websites, agents have become used to people pulling all the information from the Internet instead of using printed brochures. Choose an agent who appears to be proactive and enthusiastic about your property. Here is what I think an agent should do for you as a minimum:

• Arrange to take photos of ALL of your house and make sure that they take different angles of each of the rooms to show off each room at its best. And they should use something above a basic point and shoot camera. I'm not asking them to have a Hasselblad, but it should be better than an entry-level digital.
• Publish a brochure which includes the full EPC (energy performance certificate) and your council tax band, includes a floor plan and uses the best photos. They are only required to publish the graph section of the EPC which grades the energy efficiency of your house, but the full certificate includes estimates energy costs and that can really help some assess whether or not they can afford your house over someone else's.
• Put all the photos they took up on the Internet listing, put on a floor plan and include the size of your garden. They should also do a description of the features of the house.
• Do as many of the viewings as possible. Buyers will be more comfortable to poke around if you're not there.
• Market your house to their customer base, but only send you the ones who aren't time wasters. Depending on the market at the time, you might wish to state that only buyers in a position to move are sent around.
• That they take all offers and prospective buyers do not negotiate with you.
• They should "interview" you about your house. They represent you when showing people around, so in my opinion, they should learn as much as they can about the house. Whoever does the interview should write up a potted history that is available to all the agents to that they can appear knowledgable about your house
• They do all the chasing of prospective buyers. You should not have buyers contact details at all.

When they finally tell you what they think your house is worth, treat this with a lot of scepticism. Agents have a tendency to over inflate their valuations in order to win your business. A good agent will tell you that they'll market your house at X but you should be prepared to accept Y. There is usually at least £10,000 difference between these figures. Do not tell one agent what another's valuation is. This only gives them fuel to try and win your business. Take some initiative yourself: have a look at Zoopla. This site will compare your house with others in the area that have already sold and give you an estimate of what yours is worth. It's not definitive, but is a good guide.

The onus is on you to make sure that the information included in your description and documentation is correct. Yes, there are laws about estate agents misrepresenting your house, but if they accidentally leave a window off the floor plan, no one in authority will care but the people looking at your listing (and this is a true story) will notice the master bedroom has no windows and may not even bother to view.

Viewings

Inevitably, you will have to do some viewings. Most estate agents don't offer an extended hours service, or a Sunday service. But, if you want to sell quickly, choosing an agent who does offer this will be an advantage. But there may be the odd occasion where they just don't have someone available to do the viewing.

So here are my tips for doing viewings:

• Before the viewing, run around the house with the vacuum and dust down surfaces. Tuck toys away and make sure there are no shoes or coats in the hallway. Clear out your everyday towels and put in your white, fluffy towels (hide the towels folded neatly in the top of a wardrobe, or fold them neatly and put them at the bottom of the person's bed).
• Close all the doors to bedrooms and doors leading to the hallway. You don't want to reveal too much at once. A buyers mind becomes overloaded if they see into several rooms at once.
• Turn on all the lights.
• Make sure the front door is welcoming. If the weather is conducive, a couple of pots of flowers brightens up a door. This holds true regardless of whether you're doing the viewing or the agent is.
• Some people recommend having fresh cut flowers on display. Personally, I hate this. It adds clutter to the house and if you end up having your house on the market for 12 months, that's a LOT of flowers!
• I recommend airing the house about an hour before the viewing, but give enough time before buyers arrive to close the windows and let the house warm up again. Make sure your house is reasonably warm.
• Ask buyers to remove their shoes. Even if you don't normally have this habit, it makes you appear fastidious about your cleaning. Also, you have no idea where they've been.
• Invite them to take off their coats and make themselves comfortable. That's why you cleared to coat rack.
• In UK houses, most showings start with the Living Room, progress to the Dining Room then the kitchen, utility and downstairs loos if the house has them. Go upstairs and you do the bedrooms in order of size then the bathroom. You don't have to open the loft but be prepared to answer questions about it. Finally, collect the buyers shoes for them and exit to the back garden.
• Once you've given them time to ask questions about each space, dissolve into the woodwork as much as you can and leave them to look around the house at their leisure. Don't hover. This will make them nervous. Reassure them that they are free to look inside any cupboards and behind any doors. If the weather is reasonable, find an excuse to go out into the garden and leave them alone. A good initial viewing will take no more than 30 minutes unless your house is huge. Don't engage in casual chat with them, or give them a blow by blow account of last year's BBQ where the next door neighbour got incredibly drunk.
• On a second viewing, they'll probably have a list of questions to ask. This is where if the estate agent has done their homework, they'll earn their fee. They should know the council tax fees and approximately how much your energy bills are (the full EPC has projected costs written on it, but remember they're not required by law to publish that on the documentation). Anything they are not able to answer, they should be prepared to note down and ask you quickly.
• If you're not present during the second or subsequent viewings, make sure that you are contactable immediately after so that the agent can get answers quickly. If that's not possible, make sure they know exactly when you'll be contactable so they can tell the buyers when they'll be talking to you.
• Don't be surprised or annoyed at requests for three or even four, five or six viewings. Buying a house is usually the biggest purchase of our lives and people need time to make up their minds carefully.

My final tip is Be Patient. The whole house buying/selling process in the UK takes time. Governments have tried to streamline the process but until banks stop charging Stupid Money on bridging loans, the chain system of buying will remain in place and I, for one encourage the due diligence that solicitors, surveyors etc all do.

 

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Yes, you can have pie

Today I picked up a recipe book written specifically to give you tasty, filling recipes that are low-fat and low-carb. Their chicken and ham pie is good, coming in at about 430 calories per serve but I felt it could be improved upon.

 

The Filo pastry is tremendous. It gives the feeling that you're having pastry without the extra calories and simple carbohydrates that puff or shortcrust pastry gives. Although it doesn't qualify as frugal cooking as breast meat is quite expensive, at the moment, it is more important for me to lose weight.

 

Ingredients:

500g chicken breasts chopped into bite-sized pieces

300g wafer-thin cooked ham cut into 1cm squares

1-2 onions, chopped finely

1-2 leeks, sliced

2-4 carrots, sliced into circles

300g mushrooms roughly chopped

250ml water

5ml soy sauce

200g low-fat creme fraiche

100g low-fat natural yoghurt

2-4 garlic cloves crushed

1 chicken stock cube

2 tsp plain flour

Olive oil in a pump spray

 

For the pastry:

4 sheets filo pastry

12.5-15ml sunflower oil

 

Method:

Spray a non-stick frying pan with the olive oil and put the onions in to fry, stirring until they're translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken, keep stirring until all the pieces of chicken are cooked on the outside. Add the leeks and carrots and turn the heat up.

 

Add about 200mls of the water and crumble the stock cube and stir to dissolve. Add soy sauce and continue to cook on the high heat until the liquid has reduced by about two thirds. Transfer to a large casserole and sprinkle the flour and disperse the ham evenly over the mixture. Stir in the creme fraiche and yoghurt and season with lots of black pepper. Push the mixture down until it is evenly spread across the dish.

 

Pre-heat the oven to 200°c/Fan 180°c/Gas 6.

 

Stack the sheets of filo pastry on top of each other and cut into nine pieces. Using just the tip of a pastry brush, dip into the sunflower oil and brush both sides of the pasty. Scrunch each piece up until you've done all 36 pieces.

 

Arrange the scrunched pieces of pastry on the top of the mixture. Place the pie in the oven and cook for 30-35 minutes until the filo is golden on top.

 

Serve with green vegetable. The original recipe said to not add potatoes, but I think you need a few new potatoes to keep you fuller for longer - about 100-120g, roasted with just one spray of olive oil.

 

This should serve four at 331 calories per serving (without potatoes or green veg).

 

And just in case you're wondering, I've lost 10.1kg (22.3lbs) in 7.5 weeks.

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Arty blogs

Just to let you know that from now onwards I'm going to post art-related stuff over on my other blog Inkingly Mine and save this blog for the other stuff.

 

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More recipes to share

I'm back on the whole "losing weight" thing again. I refuse to call it a diet because a diet sounds temporary. This is a permanent change. I'm not following any particular plan but I'm going to a low-fat, low-simple-carbohydrates food regime. Previously, I used to allow myself larger quantities of carbohydrate but only if it were complex - wholemeal flour, wholemeal pasta etc. Now, I'm not limiting it, just applying portion control on everything I eat. I've mentioned some of the things I've been cooking to friends and they expressed interest in having the recipes.

 

These three recipes rely on cauliflower. It sounds strange, but trust me, the cauliflower is essential for moistness and to reduce the total carbohydrate significantly.

 

To prepare the cauliflower for these recipes, cut the stem out of the cauliflower and cut into florets. Place a quarter at a time into a food processor and blitz with the blade until about the consistency of short-grain rice. Put into an airtight container and freeze. When you need to use it, take it out of the freezer and place back in the food processor with the blade and blitz until crumbly again.

 

Pizza muffins

 

Ingredients:

80g finely chopped onion

80g finely chopped peppers

80g wholemeal self-raising flour

10g baking powder

80g cauliflower rice as prepared above

10g chopped fresh oregano or 5g dried

5g sugar (I use Truvia to reduce the calories further)

40ml skimmed milk

40g crumbled low-fat feta

30g tomato paste

1 large egg, beaten

30g chopped black olives

2.5g garlic granules

Olive oil in a pump spray

 

Method:

Spray a non-stick frying pan with a little oil and fry off the onions until tender. Add the peppers. When cooked transfer to a small bowl to cool.

Heat the oven to 200°C and spray a muffin pan with oil.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, cauliflower rice, baking powder, oregano, sugar and garlic granules together.

Stir milk, feta, egg, tomato paste and olives into the onion mixture.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients and combined until just mixed.

Split the mixture between the 12 muffin cups and bake until golden for about 15-18 minutes. Leave in the pan to cool for 5 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack.

 

60 calories for muffin. These make very shallow muffins. You can push the boat out and double the recipe for more of a meal rather than a snack. Or, use the standard quantity and use a 24-piece muffin pan for a party muffin.

 

Banana bread

 

The banana and sugar (sweetener) mask all taste of the cauliflower. But, with the addition of cauliflower the cooking time is extended and varies from oven to oven and depends heavily on the shape of the tin.

 

Ingredients:

120g lightest spreadable butter (my preference is Lurpak).

65g Truvia or other stevia-based sweetener.

120g wholemeal self-raising flour.

120g cauliflower rice as prepared above.

10g baking soda.

2 eggs.

Between 2-4 bananas (depends on the size and ripeness of the bananas, better to have a little more than you think).

 

Method:

Put the butter and sweetener into the mixer and mix using the plastic blade. Lift the lid and scrape the sides until the butter and sweetener are creamed.

Peel the bananas and rip into chunks and add to the mix while blending.

Stop the mixer and add the flour half at a time until everything is thoroughly mixed.

Pour the batter into a non-stick 2lb loaf tin and place in a pre-heated oven at 180°c (170°c for fan) for 40 minutes. Reduce temperature to 150°c (140°c) and cook for a further 40 minutes.

 

124 calories per slice.

 

Pizza base:

 

All the cauliflower does in this is reduce the carbohydrate by about half and makes a wholemeal pizza base a little lighter.

 

Ingredients:

250g wholemeal self-raising flour.

375g cups of cauliflower rice

80ml cup skimmed milk

65ml sunflower oil

Pump spray filled with oil

 

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 190° c.

Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix until mixture leaves the side of the bowl. Gather the dough into a ball and knead 10 times to make smooth. Divide the ball into two.

On a lightly-floured board roll each half into a 30cm circle.

Turn up the edges 1cm and pinch.

Spray surface with oil.

Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

Cover with chosen toppings and bake for a further 10-12 minutes.

 

Makes 2 pizzas. Half a pizza per serving is 367 calories. Load the toppings with lots of vegetables, lean meat and a very sharp cheese.

 

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Granny's Shortbread

Shhh. You're not allowed to share this recipe with anyone. Nah, not really. This is the recipe for shortbread that my granny taught to my mum and she to her children. I'm sure granny learned it from her mum and she from her mum etc. and so this is the most authentic shortbread I've ever come across. What is really good about it is that it is simple to remember:

• 4 parts plain flour
  
• 2 parts butter
• 1 part sugar

This means you can scale the recipe up and down as you need it.Method:

Rub the butter and flour together until the butter has disappeared into the flour. Add the sugar and continue to mix and it will eventually start to clump together. Put a handful onto a clean surface and then press the mixture together until you have a circle of shortbread with no clumps falling off. Pinch around the edges, prick the surface with a fork to decorate and sprinkle a small amount of white sugar on the top. Cut the circles into quarters and place on a greased baking tray and cook in a low oven for about 35 minutes, just until they start to go golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before allowing people to tuck in.

Now, that's what mum taught me. It was all done by hand and since I had an accident falling down a flight of stairs and badly damaged my left hand, I find the manual combining of the ingredients and the pressing it into disks very hard to do. So, here's my new variation.

• 250g soft butter - really soft
  
• 125g Demerara sugar (I find it gives a nuttier taste)
• 450g sifted plain flour

Using a food processor, blend the butter and sugar together until thoroughly mixed. Add the butter/flour mixture to the sifted flour. Combine with your hands until it all starts to clump together.Now, you'll need one of those hamburger presses. Mine is from Tupperware. Dust a tiny amount of flour in the hamburger form and a little on the underside of the press. Take a fistful of mixture (about halfway between a golfball and a tennis ball in size) and form it into a loose sphere. Place in the hamburger press and push down hard to spread the ball out into the hamburger form. Once the mixture is spread evenly over the form and you've pressed far harder than you think you need to, turn the pressed shortbread out onto a clean surface. Cut the circles carefully into quarters, prick the surface and dust with white sugar as before. Transfer to a baking sheet covered with non-stick baking paper or equivalent and bake in a low oven (160°c) for about 35 minutes. Much easier on the hands.

 

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Studio Organistion - May

I'm sorry everyone, but there will be no challenge for May. April has been a very full month and I've been unable to do any work in the studio.

Come back in June for the next installment.

Judi


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Eastercon - Olympus 2012

Oh, it's so nice to be home!

Just about every year, Zandy and I (and now with G) go to this strange thing called Eastercon. It sounds like a really strange thing to go to, but with its own context it is a wondrous thing.

After all, can you imagine any profession where a conference is held once a year that both people within the profession and ordinary people can go to and mingle freely, meeting and discussing a huge variety of subjects of interest to the profession, garnering opinions from the people who use the profession, that people can network (or not, if they want to) and freely share information, where the professionals eat and drink in the same spaces as the consumer, for four days, in one hotel?

Well, if you're an aspiring science fiction/fantasy writer, Eastercon is a good place to be. As well as having the opportunity to meet very well successful writers like George R R Martin (I've also met Anne McCaffrey, Robin Hobb, Iain Banks and Charles Stross) you can rub shoulders with editors and publishers from the major Science Fiction/Fantasy labels and genre magazines and meet others in the same boat as you. Buy them a drink and compare notes of how to cope with rejection. You can go to panels to discuss how to avoid the biggest potholes in your plot (one panel discussion was on how to get published) and others on tips to improve your craft.

If All Things Literary Isn't for you, you might go into the games room and play a myriad of games. You might join the costumers and create something marvellous for the masquerade or costume ball. You might wander through the art show and see work from some of the most successful artists hanging alongside art from new people. You might have the opportunity to see Mitch Benn live (and for free), or knit a Clanger or Dalek. And there's so much more to do and see.

This is Eastercon.

The Guardian has written an excellent article here about the community of SF and how there is something for everyone, to coin a phrase.

But at the end of the weekend, you pack up your room and leave the cocooned space where fairies magically appear and make your bed and clean your dishes, and you return to harsh reality where your house is 11.9°C and the nappies need folding.


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Location:Radisson Edwardian, Heathrow

Studio Organisation Challenge - April

So now you know how you want your craft space to look, now we need to start moving towards that goal.
Challenge for April:
Tools you will need:
Garbage bags
Empty cardboard boxes
One or two empty plastic boxes with lids
A few large shopping bags (bags for life are ideal)
Labels
Pens
If like me, your craft area is full. Hopefully, full of craft stuff, but mine has also been used as a dumping ground for all sorts of odds and sods. We need to clear some space so that we have room to put away our stash. Your room might also be a place where activities other than crafting happens.
1. Take out your plan that we made last month of your space as it currently looks. Divide your space up into four chunks. You will work on each chunk each week. Your chunks may not be uniform in size as some areas will have more stuff in them than others. Divide them up by the amount of stuff you have in each area. Draw this on your plan and letter each section A, B, C and D.
2. Take a garbage bag, a cardboard box, one plastic box and a shopping bag. The garbage bag is for rubbish. The cardboard box is for things to go to charity, the plastic box is for items to keep and the shopping bag is for items you'll PIF (Pass It Forward) or sell.
3. Now, working on one section (doesn't matter where you start), remove items and sort into the various boxes. Don't be too precious about things at this point and only throw, PIF or put for charity the things you really don't want. Once you've cleared a section, take the plastic box and put the items in it back. Use your labels to label any containers where you can't see the contents, but don't try to sort into categories, just get it off the floor. At the end of each week, put the garbage bag into the garbage, take the box to the charity shop and put the items you want to PIF/sell up on some list or a selling website. Do it immediately or it will just fester. If you list something and it doesn't sell, don't put it back on the shelf. PIF it if you can, or give it to charity. By the end of this month, you should have more space. And maybe a little more money.

This is my studio divided into the four areas.
Now, I have a confession to make. March was taken up by some urgent paperwork that needed to be done, so I'm a little behind schedule at this stage, but I have started and a couple of play groups in my local area have benefitted from the decluttering and I've gained back the use of some of the wire cubes that will eventually go up to the studio. I've also removed a lot of paperwork that should be in the house. But I'm not posting any photos as it currently looks worse than it did before (this was to be expected). My goal for the end of this month is to not have anything sitting in boxes on the floor.
Send me your plans and I'll post them up here for us all to compare. Email them to judihodgkin at gmail dot com.
See you in May!
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Organisation Challenge - March

For those of you who missed it, I blogged about why I need to get my studio organised here. Please watch the video to see how chaotic it can get. It wasn't always like this. You can see that it was once a tranquil, creative space.

This challenge has been devised to help us all get our craft spaces organised and sorted. It is an individual challenge. Because I'm based in the UK and living on an extremely low budget, I've tried to set this up so that a) I'm spending little, if no money and b) the things I do buy or have bought are available most places in the UK. Ikea is over an hour's drive from me, so I'll only get stuff from there if I can not get it (or something similar elsewhere). Most of my suggestions are about repurposing and reusing.
And I cannot emphasise how much these are all suggestions. If you don't like an idea, or think you have a better one, please feel free to post it as a comment.

I'll also be working through the exercises a month ahead of you, so if you have any questions, please feel free to ask them in a comment and I'll answer as best as I can.

So here's my challenge for March:

Size up what you've got.

You'll need:
A piece of paper
Some cardboard scraps (the small sides of cereal boxes are ideal)
Some clear plastic or transparencies
Permanent pen
Sticky tape
Measuring tape
Scissors or knife, cutting mat and ruler
Eraser
Calculator

1. Measure your space. No matter how big or small the space is you've got to create in, you need to know how big it is. Let's face it, unless you remodel your house (which goes against the low-budget philosophy of this challenge), it's not going to get any bigger. And, you may want to reduce the amount of space you're taking up at the moment, so it will be useful to know exactly how big this space is. Be accurate in your measurements. I've done mine in millimetres.

2. Draw your space to scale on a piece of paper. You can determine what that scale is, but it is important that you remember what the scale is. Mark on your drawing where windows and doors are and any fitted things that can't be removed (fireplaces, fixed shelves, etc) or won't be removed (like benches and cupboards). Don't forget to mark if the doors and windows open inwards or outwards and where the latches are. You'll need to plan the placement of your furniture so that you can still open windows. As you'll see on my drawing, I've drawn in some of my benches, but I'm open to the suggestion that at least one of the benches might need to be removed, so I've drawn the fixed ones plain but left out the one that might be coming out. Make a few copies.

3. Measure every single piece of furniture you have, or plan to have. You need to measure the obvious things like width and depth, but I also want you to measure height and floor clearance. Measure how much door or drawer clearance each piece of furniture needs. For example, if you have a 60cm wide cabinet, you'll need 60 cm in front of it to open the door. Try to allow at least a metre clearance for your chair/s.

4. Draw the width and depth outlines to scale (the same scale as your room drawing) in cardboard and cut out (you can cover the cardboard in white paper before starting so that you have a writable surface). I've made mine out of mount board scraps so that they're robust. Mark on each piece the height and the floor clearance. In my case, I've also drawn the piece of the bench that I'm open to moving so that I can see if I can use it somewhere else. I've also draw the shapes of some wire cubes that I have in the house that I might be using.

5. Draw out the door/drawer clearance allowance on the clear plastic or transparency, cut out and stick to the shape it corresponds with.

6. Lay your furniture cut outs on one of your room plans as things currently stand. Draw around the cut outs. You now have a picture of what your room looks like from above. Over a cup of coffee write down what works and what doesn't. For example, I've found that my computer desk just becomes a dumping ground for things as I walk in the door. I therefore need to think about either correcting my bad habits when I use my studio (unlikely) or find another way of coping with my habit - ie create a drop zone. But I like that I have most things to hand near my craft desk just by wheeling around. At the moment everything is in boxes so I have to move four or five things just to find one item. That isn't working for me at all. I've also just been given the base cabinets from a friends kitchen. Do I have enough or too many for this space?

7. Ok, it is important to not rush the next step. Take your time and get it right. Place the pieces of furniture on another room drawing and move them around and adjust them. Pay attention to how the clearance allowances impact on each other. They're done in clear so that you can see where they'll clash, but that might be okay. The metre allowance behind your desk is essential. Anything less and you'll find it very cramped. Another important thing to remember is that you should allow between 1 and 1.5 metres in any passage ways as fire exits. This is essential if you ever plan to have guests in your craft space.

8. Once you're happy with the placement of your furniture, draw around each piece and annotate what it is (don't forget height and floor clearance). The advantage of this is that you can take your other copies and try out different layouts. As you get something that works, draw the outlines and annotations and then compare against your previous drawings. Which one works best for you? It may help to draw in the width of passage ways as well. Once you have your plan you can put the cardboard shapes and the original measurements and room drawing into an envelope and keep for future changes. Yes, you will probably go through this again in the future because our spaces are constantly changing and evolving. But hopefully, we'll get it right for the moment so that you're not having to change it again soon.
We're going to work to achieving this floor plan. But, you might find as we go through the rest of this challenge, that your floor plan has to change. That's okay. Put the plan somewhere safe so that you don't lose it.

Here is a video showing how I worked through these steps and how my floor plan evolved.


And here are the floor plans as referenced in the video so you can see them up close.

Life Artistry course at Woodbrooke

Along with a very good friend of mine, I will be teaching a weekend course at Woodbrooke Quaker College called Life Artistry.

It is the being held on the extra long Jubilee bank holiday weekend, starting Friday night and finishing Monday afternoon.

Details can be found here:.

The description doesn't really do what happens on the course justice. Over the course of the weekend, Wendrie and I teach you a bunch of techniques and help you to build your own journal. We show you how to use different triggers to help you journal the spiritual and mundane in your life. A journal doesn't have to be all words. It can be completely visual. All we do is give you the tools to help you start and develop your own journal.

There are plenty of gaps in the programme that allow you to retreat and reflect on what you're doing, allowing you to develop and piece of artwork that encompasses you.

If you'd like to do this course, there are currently 10 places left. The facilities at Woodbrooke are very good and the grounds are stunning. Being the beginning of June, the weather should be incredible.

Any questions, please just comment and I'll get back to you.

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Studio Organisation - Preview

 In a couple of days, I'll be offering a free "workshop" here on my blog. You see, I need to get my studio organised and have promised I'll share the challenge with my friends on the AllThingsTim-Euro Yahoo Group. You don't have to be a member of that group to participate, but we'll be sharing photos and ideas through that group. To sign up, you need to be a member of AllThingsTim first, then apply to the AllThingsTim-Euro group once you've been approved on the first group.

However, I will be posting all the videos, photos and files that I create here on my blog. You can put comments up and link back to your photos and share that way too. I'm also pinning all sorts of organisation inspiration on my Pinterest board as I find them. Please feel free to follow me.

In the meantime, here's a tour of my studio as it currently looks. Maybe now you'll understand why I need to do this workshop. It's as much to benefit me as anyone else!

The Cheap Domestic Goddess

For the second instalment in my Austerity cooking, I thought I'd share my Cheat's Cannelloni.

If you've had a hard week and it's only Monday, don't bust yourself up about not making the red sauce from scratch. Just use about 1.5 jars of the pasta sauce of your choice and some passata, but be aware that the cost will be higher.

You will need:
2 Large saucepans
Lasagne dish or roasting tin
Mixing bowl

Ingredients for the red sauce:
4-6 medium onions
2-3 red peppers (capsicum)
2 cans chopped tomatoes
1 large jar passata
Crushed dried chillies (leave out or moderate if serving to kids)
1/2 tube tomato purée
Balsamic vinegar
Worcestershire sauce (optional if you're catering for vegetarians)
2 tsp sugar
Splash soya sauce

For the cannelloni:
8-12 lasagne sheets
500g Ricotta
500g Baby Leaf Spinach
Cracked black pepper
Mint (can be left out)
2 cups grated cheese (the stronger the better)

Method (red sauce)
Dice the onions finely and place in large saucepan in oil and cook until translucent.
Dice the red peppers finely and add to the onion
Add the chopped tomatoes
Add the passata and the purée and stir thoroughly
Add a splash of balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and soya sauce and the sugar. Stir thoroughly and taste. Add more of the sauces if needed.
At the last minute, add about 2 tsp crushed dried chillies
Leave to simmer for about 1/2 and hour stirring occasionally until the flavours have combined.

This is usually enough red sauce that I can make the cannelloni dish, a lasagne and at least one other pasta dish during the week. If you divide it into portions, it freezes well, making other meals easy. Add some kidney beans and some chilli powder, with a bit of mince and you have an easy chilli.

Method (cannelloni):
in the large saucepan, boil some water and add a slosh of oil. Add the lasagne sheets to the boiling water one at a time. Keep the water moving around the sheets until they are soft and pliable. This takes anywhere from 2-5 minutes. Remove the sheets one at a time and place them on a non-stick baking sheet or similar to cook.
Once you've thrown the pasta water away, wilt the spinach down for about a minute - just enough that most of the leaves have lost their shape.
In the mixing bowl, add the Ricotta, spinach, mint (if using) and cracked black pepper and mix until thoroughly combined.
In turn, lay a lasagne sheet out lengthways and spoon about two tablespoons of mixture onto it. Spread from the end of the sheet closest to you up to about 1/3 from the other end.
Starting at the end closest to you, roll the sheet up like a roulade.
Complete the remaining lasagne sheets until all the mixture is used up (this allows you to add or subtract mixture from completed sheets as needed).

The Construction:
Spoon enough red sauce onto the base of the lasagne dish to cover the bottom.
Lay the lasagne rolls in the red sauce
Spoon more red sauce over the top of the rolls.
Sprinkle dried chillies over the top
Sprinkle grated cheese over the top
Dust with dried oregano or Italian seasoning
Bake at 200°C until cheese is golden

Serve it with crusty bread and a robust salad or on its own.


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The Cheap Domestic Goddess

Since G was born, my life has changed drastically - just as I expected it to before some of you start screaming "I told you so"! I've become a bit of a domestic goddess, in a small way. Finally, 22 years beyond my graduation, I no longer live like a student, washing a dish as I run out.

But with the cost of living skyrocketing, I have to find imaginative ways of cooking interesting things for G that we are prepared to eat too, so that I'm not cooking twice and that if she decides she doesn't like it, I don't end up throwing it away. I'm also finding ways of hiding vegetables into things - not because she doesn't like vegetables, because she does as long as they're cooked into it, but because as she gets older, we like to be out and about and it's useful to be able to take a healthy lunch with us. Just read the nutritional value of a McDonalds Happy Meal, and you'll never buy one for your kids again!

So, as I've been cooking tonight, I'll share with you my Austerity Sausage Rolls.

Ingredients:
1 pack pre-rolled puff pastry, because life is too short to make puff pastry
500g diced casserole beef - I buy the Basic stuff
2 medium onions
2 or 3 small carrots
Ground black pepper
Italian seasoning, or herbs of your choice
2 large eggs

I have a food processor to do most of my cooking. Again, life is too short to cut up everything as small as it needs to be as far as I am concerned, but you can cut it up by hand if you wish. You can also use a blender, but work in tiny quantities because you want things chopped, not puréed.

Method:
1. Peel the onions and carrots. Using the knife blade in the processor, blitz until finely chopped.
2. Transfer into a mixing bowl and do the same with the carrots and put them in the same bowl as the onions.
3. Set the processor going and drop about half of the beef into the bowl until it is finely minced. Put into the bowl with the onions and carrots and repeat for the other half of the meat. Add it to the bowl when done.
4. Break one egg into the bowl and add the black pepper and herbs. Mix thoroughly.
5. Break the other egg into a mug and beat well.
6. Cut the sheet of pastry in half and set aside. Dust your bench with a little flour and roll the pastry out to about 18x18cm, and cut in half. Repeat for the other half.
7. Take one strip of pastry and visually divide into three sections lengthwise.
8. Scoop 1/4 of the filling out of the bowl bit by bit and lay it down the centre third of the strip.
9. Paint one of the side strips with the beaten egg.
10. Roll the other side of the pastry over the mixture and continue to rollit over the egg washed third so you have a roll.
11. Paint the beaten egg along the top of the sausage roll.
12. Prick the length of the sausage roll with a fork and cut into 6.
13. Repeat for the remaining strips.
14. Place on a greased baking sheet (or use a non-stick baking sheet) and cook at 180°c for 25-30 minutes until the top of the pastry is golden brown.
15. Once cooked, place sausage rolls on a wire rack to cool.

There are a variety of other fillings that you can play with:

Pork shoulder with onion, sage, celery, and peppers
Chicken thighs with tarragon, onion, celery, peppers and mushrooms
Turkey with chicken livers, onions, chestnuts and maybe a little cranberry sauce
And for the vegetarians: Butternut squash, potatoes, onions, carrots, peppers and rosemary, with breadcrumbs (roast the squash and potatoes rather than chopping finely).

Basically, a good filling requires a central ingredient that has enough fat to cope with the mincing process. If it doesn't, the finished roll will taste incredibly dry. Cheaper cuts are better for this as they are usually higher in fat than the better cuts. I had to add butter to the turkey filling, but any fat would have done the job and I had to remove the skin from the chicken for the chicken filling as it just goes stringy rather than mincing.

Secondly, too much raw vegetable will make the filling too liquid when it cooks and the rolls will collapse. For a meat sausage roll, a 60/40 ratio works best. For a vegetable roll, mix in a largish quantity of breadcrumbs so that they absorb that liquid during cooking.

And G's verdict "I love Mummy's sausage rolls". That's enough.

How Time Flies…

G is now 15 months old. Four teeth and more hair. She is crawling everywhere and pushing boundaries to see what she is capable of/can get away with.
This is my current favourite photo, but I've been looking back through all her photos and she has changed so much!

Anniversary

Today is the first anniversary of my wonderful Dad's death. I miss him terribly and it makes living so far away that much harder.

But I can't let that anniversary be the only thing that will mark this day for the rest of my life because that would be not what he would want. For example, the 3rd of August is my best friends birthday and she is a vibrant, wonderful, strong woman who is very much alive. Happy Birthday Sharshi!

Additionally, each day brings new things for me to discover with my new daughter who will be seven months old at the end of this week. Days are so full of her that I don't get a chance to dwell on other things. The lovely thing about babies is they force you to live in the here and now because that is the way they live.

So, Dad. You're missed. Terribly. But I hope you won't mind if I stop missing you to change your granddaughter's nappy.

Preoccupation

Some of you may have been wondering what has happened to me. Well, Genevieve did. I'll post more at another time but here is the new addition in my life.

The joys of coming home

This is the photo of an Australian citizen. I thought that when I came home to Australia, that setting myself back up in the country of my birth (and where I have lived for the majority of my life), would be a relatively easy thing to do.

How wrong I am.

The healthcare system in Australia is a subsidised affair called Medicare. Every citizen is entitled to Medicare. However, if you're a returning citizen there are certain criteria you need to meet to be able to apply. Firstly, they want proof that you are permanently back in Australia - which, effectively I am for the immediate future. So, they want proof of bill of sale of your house in the country you've left or proof that you've closed your foreign bank accounts. Or, they want a rental agreement/bill of purchase on a house in Australia or utility bills or an Australian bank account. Since I have not sold my UK house, closed my bank account, rented/bought a house in Australia, I don't have any of that information. But hey, I have my Australian passport, birth certificate and marriage certificate so if I get the Australian bank account, it should be easy.

Hah!

I applied for an Australian bank account today. No problem. The passport and certificates are enough for me to open the bank account, but they need proof of address in order for me to be able to withdraw from the account. So, the helpful guy at the bank suggested that I apply for an Australian Tax File Number - apparently you can do it online. You can. But not if you're Australian. For some strange reason only known to the Australian Goverment, Australians have to go down to their nearest post office, obtain the correct form, fill it in and post it to the tax office.

The annoying thing about all of this is that the purpose of this is for me to get healthcare while I'm here. If I had come into Australia on my UK passport with a visitor's visa I could have got Medicare assistance without any issue - apply online and everything. Easy. But not if I'm Australian.

Another thing: I've come back to Australia to look after my elderly parents while my father deals with terminal Leukaemia. I cannot work while I'm here because they need my help too much. We've heard about so many people who've obtained help from the government for various things and my family has never needed to ask for help so we're new to this whole system. Because I'm Australian, with a possible exception, I may have to wait until I've been back here two years before I can apply for any allowances. I'm not intending to be here two years, so we'll have to see what happens.

It's just so frustrating to have to go through this: Applying for allowances will be easier if I have Medicare, can't apply for Medicare until I have a bank account. Can't apply for a bank account until I have a Tax Office Number (or ironically, Medicare).

Round and round and round we go...