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"What have you eaten" Parallel Chat

jpscloud said:
I have a complicated relationship with tomatoes! I haven't yet been very successful with them, so I'm trying some in the house and some in the mini polytunnel this year, and I might try a couple of different varieties. So far I have sungold and bloody butcher (such weird names they come up with! I chose that one because it's supposed be very early fruiting and very good flavour) and I've just got brandy boy germinating. Are yours all outdoor ones?
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My tomatoes will be interesting as I sowed them into trays with lids ( propagators) I carefully wrote on the plastic seed labels each of the 10 varieties as I sowed them but just noticed that I didn't use a waterproof pen and the condensation in the propagators has caused the ink to dissolve! So I know the 10 varieties I'm growing but not which are which! May be clearer as they crop but I'm not convinced. They are all outdoor varieties - once frost risk has gone. They will be indoors for at least a month I'd imagine.
To keep to thread I had some wonderful early English asparagus again today for dinner with salmon. So good but very pricey!
 
Breakfast: chicken and leek soup - made yesterday with about a litre left to go in the freezer. (Cullen Skink currently being made - had to wait for fish stock yesterday so didn't get it done until this morning).
2nd meal will be a mixed vegetable curry with chickpea "rice".

Sitting at the table to cut up vegetables does ease things with my legs but doesn't do my back any favours. Perhaps shorter sessions of vegetable chopping will have to be considered. I did end up with 3 bowls full of vegetables. Only one used so far so that's another job for today - maybe make another leeky soup for the freezer and that will just leave a bowl of shredded cabbage to think about. Probably I'll do something with cabbage and bacon.
 
shelley262 said:
So I know the 10 varieties I'm growing but not which are which!
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Oh no, every gardener's nightmare! But it'll be fun identifying them as they start fruiting :joyful:

I had porridge for breakfast again, lunch will be tuna salad and I'm going to make another thai green curry for tea.

I'm tackling the understairs cupboard now, it's a big area - these houses were originally designed with an understairs cubby and 8ft by 6ft storage area as sort of an outhouse, it's a really strange layout but it means I effectively have an indoor shed. Which of course is full of stuff I haven't seen or used in 20 years :hilarious: So this will take a few days I think.

I struggle to keep my little kitchen pantry organised because I tend to overstock a bit to take advantage of cheaper deals, and this is one thing I do right - I overstock only on things I actually use, and I rotate to make sure dates are good. Who would have thought someone as disorganised as me would be able to do that?! But the overstock means there's much less room in the pantry and my kitchen is small so storage is limited. Clearing out and organising my indoor shed will mean I have so much more storage room!

This is quite a big step forward for me, I'd normally be quickly overwhelmed and give up - but I'm quite happy to keep plodding away at it, filling the car with tip/recycle/give away as I go.

Sunny spells with showers today, and we just had a sharp hail shower!
 
Breakfast: smashed avocado with Jacob's crackers. Tea.

2nd meal will be smoked mackerel salad.

Made 2 lots of soup yesterday for the freezer but there are still lots of chopped leeks to use so I'll make a leek and potato soup to put in the freezer as well. - Freezing should reduce the impact of the carbs a bit.
 
Porridge for breakfast, bacon and eggs for lunch and the last of the thai green curry for tea. Another quite lazy day today, I must get cracking tomorrow and do a bit more decluttering and organising!
 
Breakfast was going to be some lamb's liver pate that I found in the freezer, plus a few crackers, but it tasted a bit odd, so it went into the bin and I had some soft cheese with the crackers instead. Tea.
It wasn't very satisfying and I'm hungry now.

2nd meal will be a little bit of chicken and some mixed vegetables in gravy. I would normally have my 2nd meal about 6.30 but I may have to make it a late lunch. If a late breakfast is called brunch, is a late lunch called linner or lupper?

EDIT: OK - got that wrong too. The chicken that I was defrosting turned out to be bones that I had frozen to make stock with. I made the stock anyway but lunner will be more defrosted roasted pork with the mixed vegetables.
 
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Porridge for breakfast, then I got a bit of spring fever and decided to plant my container potatoes - 3 containers each of Nicola and Caledonian Pearl. I also gave my onions and elephant garlic a good feed, they're doing really well.

I got a bit carried away and didn't stop for lunch so had some cheesy beans around 3pm. I'm not sure I will want any tea but I'll see how I feel after my shower.

Disaster has struck! I found aphids on my indoor plants! I'm going to get some biological control for them, a bit expensive but it's either that or give up, I think. They completely devastated the chillies and coriander I grew indoors last year and I ended up throwing them outside. After all the effort and expense I'm not ready to give up on indoor growing yet :mad:
 
jpscloud said:
Porridge for breakfast, then I got a bit of spring fever and decided to plant my container potatoes - 3 containers each of Nicola and Caledonian Pearl. I also gave my onions and elephant garlic a good feed, they're doing really well.

I got a bit carried away and didn't stop for lunch so had some cheesy beans around 3pm. I'm not sure I will want any tea but I'll see how I feel after my shower.

Disaster has struck! I found aphids on my indoor plants! I'm going to get some biological control for them, a bit expensive but it's either that or give up, I think. They completely devastated the chillies and coriander I grew indoors last year and I ended up throwing them outside. After all the effort and expense I'm not ready to give up on indoor growing yet :mad:
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Really feel for you with the aphid invasion! All that effort you've put in - how dare they! Hope the biological control works - crossing fingers for you.
I'm hoping to do some more potting on tomorrow as my seedlings growing apace -for now at least. Probably another month though before much can go outside so I'm hoping I don't get any insect infiltration.
 
jpscloud said:
:hilarious: Exactly how I feel! I have no idea how they got in but here they are. The biological control is my only play, I won't use sprays or soaps. Fingers crossed!
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What is the biological control that you are using? Some other kind of bug? Ladybirds would do the job, I imagine but where to get them?
 
Breakfast was some fresh pineapple, followed a little later by some tea.

BG dropped to 3.3 so I've just had a Nature Valley oat and honey biscuit (well - a packet which is 2 thin biscuits) and it's dropped to 3.1. Hoping for a quick turn round. Might have to bring out the big guns - a can of sweetened coffee - if it doesn't turn upwards soon.

2nd meal will be more of the pork and veg.

Oh dear -starting to shake. Coffee I think.
 
Annb said:
What is the biological control that you are using? Some other kind of bug? Ladybirds would do the job, I imagine but where to get them?
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You can actually order them online!

I'm back on the bridge, first day was on monday, I have a couple of days off now and back to work on friday, saturday and sunday. :)
 
Annb said:
What is the biological control that you are using? Some other kind of bug? Ladybirds would do the job, I imagine but where to get them?
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I'm going to try a parasitic wasp, bought from Dragonfli. They sell all sorts of things but I want to avoid ladybirds, lacewings and hoverflies as the commercial breeding is very intensive and I don't want to cause any problems in the wild gene pool as particularly ladybirds are under pressure already from invasive species - the thing is, I can't bear watching them die inside the house once the food supply runs out. I know I should feel the same about parasitic wasps but I don't!!
 
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I had porridge for breakfast, and a sausage and egg salad for lunch. It was mainly my home grown leaves of cosberg, rocket, spring onion greens and celery - still just small leaves but plenty of them. Now that the aphids are on them, though, I have to wash all the little leaves which is very fiddly! Aphids are fine to eat I think but I just don't like the idea of eating even tiny creatures alive :hilarious: Not sure the aphids find being washed down the sink any better a fate though!

Tea will be fish fingers I think. Not the healthiest but I am craving them.
 
The coffee worked. BG came up to 6.1 and then dropped down to 5.0 again, but it seems to be fairly stable at that.

Aphids, like other creepy crawlies, are not welcome in my house. They have to leave or die. So far, so good - no aphids but, if they do get in, I, for one, will not be eating them. Maybe wasps, but I'm not so sure I want wasps in my house either.

I have been craving fish and chips - from a proper chippie - for the last few days. Luckily, the nearest chippie is 8 miles away, in Stornoway and I can't get there. Neil could, but he wouldn't buy them for me because he knows I shouldn't have them. I don't really need a conscience.
 
Annb said:
The coffee worked. BG came up to 6.1 and then dropped down to 5.0 again, but it seems to be fairly stable at that.

Aphids, like other creepy crawlies, are not welcome in my house. They have to leave or die. So far, so good - no aphids but, if they do get in, I, for one, will not be eating them. Maybe wasps, but I'm not so sure I want wasps in my house either.

I have been craving fish and chips - from a proper chippie - for the last few days. Luckily, the nearest chippie is 8 miles away, in Stornoway and I can't get there. Neil could, but he wouldn't buy them for me because he knows I shouldn't have them. I don't really need a conscience.
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Oh a chippy tea is just heaven on earth! Surely Neil can be persuaded to let you have a rare treat!

The parasitic wasps are teeny tiny, you can barely see them, so they don't really freak me out. Actual black and yellow wasps absolutely freak me out, they are my wildlife friendly hard no. Well, I try not to kill them but they are not welcome in my house or garden so when a queen inevitably starts building a nest in my garden shed, I disturb it like a demon until it gives up and goes somewhere else!
 
Breakfast: there was a little of the pork and veg left so I added some chickpea rice/noodles and made a kind of biriyani. The meat and veg weren't spiced, of course, but I spiced the rice instead. Still hungry though.

2nd meal will be fish of some sort - depends what Neil can get when he goes to the shops for me. Might add some frozen potato wedges instead of chips.
 
Porridge for breakfast.

It's a beautiful day so I'll leave the indoor shed clearing (I'm halfway through) and do some more outside jobs.

Lunch will be a salad of some sort and I'll probably join @Annb with some fish for tea.
 
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