"What have you eaten" Parallel Chat

Back home after a slightly delayed journey on an overly hot and very full plane, sat next to a 2 year old who hated every minute of it.
. So @shelley262 yes I'm expecting repercussions.!
I'm already getting some as my ears really "popped" hard and painfully and I haven't been able to hear out of left one since. Streaming from nose so something has been triggered or released.
lots of fellow passengers were coughing, and everyone at home I've talked to had some respiratory thing or other.

Sorry to hear about your son @shelley262. I think hes similar to my nephew and they don't cope with illness or pain well do they?

However, apart from the odd illness, the river cruise was very good. We've seen a variety of places across 4 countries, 7 Christmas markets (but the stalls are similar, its just the location that changes so 3 or 4 would have been plenty. ) we also did history, cathedrals and local culture.
Didn't get much local food as the cruise supplied 3 filling meals a day. They tried to do "local " nights but with a majority American clientele they played it safe.

@sueh21 we did Strasbourg too, but it was so crowded and I got a migraine so we left promptly saying we'll go back independently sometime.

Overall the cruise gave us a good introduction to a part of the world we hadn't been to before. It was 5* in lots of areas so I feel pampered. We'd do another somewhere else, we liked the social aspect, very easy to get talking to fellow travellers. However we hadn't expected every market to be so overwhelmingly packed. Seems to the places to go with no limit on numbers. Apparently earlier in the week or earlier in the day are easier but Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays are jam packed and much more about drinking and eating than selling items.

We bought a couple of ornaments, a fridge magnet and various biscuits and chocolate...that was it. Oh and an extra hat and scarf as it was biting cold the first few days.

Dress was casual, lots of people didn't change in the evening and it wasn't a problem. Good warm boots are a necessity, cobbles everywhere.

It has got us more into a Christmassy mood.

My libre fell off so dreading next bg results, and stepping on the scales!!

Forgot today's food!
B: Mushroom omelette with cheese. Smoked salmon on the side
No lunch, but that meant I over ate on nuts and profiteroles when home midafternoon.
D: a ready made chicken bake from the reduced section in Tesco (nothing to write home about and had hidden breadcrumbs in). Served with cabbage.
Another 2 profiteroles (tesco reduced section again, only popped Inn for milk!)

No wine tonight, having a break before next social event .... on Friday!

shelley262 said:

@RosemaryJackson take care there seem to be so many nasty viruses around atm and unfortunately they seem to take a long time to recover from.
@MrsA2 hope you don't arrive home with a virus -_sounds like a lot of germ sharing happening on your river cruise - sounds like a lovely trip around the Christmas markets and we'll done on resisting the naughty temptations.
@sueh21 welcome back from your lovely hols in Strasbourg and enjoy your doggy time - I find my steps double when Cooper stays over but he gone home now. Probably good as our autistic son who we care for hadn't been well with an infected and perforated ear. One issue we are having is sourcing some specialist ear drops Dr feels would help it dry out and heal but getting run around from his chemists why is it so difficult to get certain drugs!
Talking of Drs we at long last after 13 weeks got back a certificate signed by Gp to support our travel insurance claim - I wouldn't mind but we even had to pay £58 for the GPs two word reason for cancellation - Skin Cancer - and a signature! Now I've posted the claim to travel insurance company I wonder how long that will take to decide on! . Still good news is that husband is recovering well and we may be able to plan another holiday when he gets the all clear - crossing fingers we get our cash back to enable us to go
@Annb the beef you've ordered sounds delicious.
@jpscloud hope you've had a good day today.
@Antje77 well done on keeping up the swimming very impressive in winter!

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So sorry to hear about your son's ear infection and difficulties with travel insurance - great news that your husband is recovering well though. I haven't had a great day food wise, well I enjoyed it all but it wasn't the best for me! I'll keep trying of course.

Chicken and chayote curry for brunch (it was well after noon so it must be brunch). The chayote squash added bulk to the curry, but nothing much else. I bought 3, gave one to Alistair (he agrees it's not worth bothering with) and now have to use up the last one. Have to put my thinking cap on to think of something that is worth wasting other ingredients on to go with it.

2nd meal will be shredded Brussels sprouts with peanuts and those red Christmassy berries, of which I can't remember the name at this moment. I do that - forget the names of things. It bothers me, but it's not a recent phenomenon so probably not dementia creeping up on me. Neil just reminded me - cranberries.

It's that time of year where lost loved ones are close for me.
First Sinterklaas on 5 December, coming with lots of memories of previous poems and surprises, written and made for or by my parents and other family members.
Additionally this year there was this amazing lunch at my aunt's place, and I highly doubt she'll be here in another year.
And tomorrow will be the 10th anniversary of losing my father, and the 5th of losing my old dog.
Add multiple unexpected deaths and funerals this year, some close, some a bit farther away.

With all this reminiscing it felt really good to get the happy fishes plate I was gifted by Goonergal over two years ago from the bottom of the stack, she's another one still missed but happily remembered.

Not a meal she'd ever put on her plate but I found it very enjoyable.
Brussels sprouts with melted sharp blue cheese and some cream cheese, and a not very low carb but not very high carb either 'gehakt cordon bleu' from Lidl: minced meat filled with cheese and a slice of ham, for which I somehow managed to dose perfectly, I've sat straight between 4.9 and 5.2 for the last 5 hours, this must be my lucky plate!

Antje77 said:

It's that time of year where lost loved ones are close for me.
First Sinterklaas on 5 December, coming with lots of memories of previous poems and surprises, written and made for or by my parents and other family members.
Additionally this year there was this amazing lunch at my aunt's place, and I highly doubt she'll be here in another year.
And tomorrow will be the 10th anniversary of losing my father, and the 5th of losing my old dog.
Add multiple unexpected deaths and funerals this year, some close, some a bit farther away.

With all this reminiscing it felt really good to get the happy fishes plate I was gifted by Goonergal over two years ago from the bottom of the stack, she's another one still missed but happily remembered.

Not a meal she'd ever put on her plate but I found it very enjoyable.
Brussels sprouts with melted sharp blue cheese and some cream cheese, and a not very low carb but not very high carb either 'gehakt cordon bleu' from Lidl: minced meat filled with cheese and a slice of ham, for which I somehow managed to dose perfectly, I've sat straght between 4.9 and 5.2 for the last 5 hours, this must be my lucky plate!

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I hope you enjoyed your Brussels sprouts. I enjoyed mine.

Annb said:

I hope you enjoyed your Brussels sprouts. I enjoyed mine.

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I definitely did!

I'll use the rest of the Brussels sprouts in an experimental dish tomorrow.

Antje77 said:

It's that time of year where lost loved ones are close for me.
First Sinterklaas on 5 December, coming with lots of memories of previous poems and surprises, written and made for or by my parents and other family members.
Additionally this year there was this amazing lunch at my aunt's place, and I highly doubt she'll be here in another year.
And tomorrow will be the 10th anniversary of losing my father, and the 5th of losing my old dog.
Add multiple unexpected deaths and funerals this year, some close, some a bit farther away.

With all this reminiscing it felt really good to get the happy fishes plate I was gifted by Goonergal over two years ago from the bottom of the stack, she's another one still missed but happily remembered.

Not a meal she'd ever put on her plate but I found it very enjoyable.
Brussels sprouts with melted sharp blue cheese and some cream cheese, and a not very low carb but not very high carb either 'gehakt cordon bleu' from Lidl: minced meat filled with cheese and a slice of ham, for which I somehow managed to dose perfectly, I've sat straight between 4.9 and 5.2 for the last 5 hours, this must be my lucky plate!

View attachment 70975

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Lucky, special, plate indeed.

We lost one of my husband's aunts last week. She was 103, the last of 6 siblings.
An emotional time of year for many

B: full fat greek with blackberries and seeds. Seemed to raise my bg way too much. Must monitor that meal, though it was new libre still bedding in as the last fell off 3 days early. Free replacement is on way

Late lunch: cold chicken and a bite of cheese

D: chicken and mushrooms. Added smoked paprika and yoghurt, called it stroganoff.
1 chocolate. Hubby and are having 1 expensive Swiss one each night as a Christmas treat. He has them under lock and key so I can't have more too soon.

Emotional time indeed. It will be my fourth Christmas without my beautiful daughter and my 13th without my husband of 41 years. But I will be spending it with my wonderful son and his in-laws who I get on with very well. We are going to Brighton to family for a few days and I am really looking forward to that. I said I would list yeasterdays meals. No bf. Cottage pie with carrots and peas. Later A rollmop in a sandwich. I love rollmops! I first had them in Holland over 60 years ago and have never lost my love for them. In case you don't know, they are raw herrings marinated in a slightly sweetened vinegar with onions. The vinegar 'cooks' the herring and they are delicious. Am I right @Antje77 and @JoKalsbeek?

RosemaryJackson said:

Emotional time indeed. It will be my fourth Christmas without my beautiful daughter and my 13th without my husband of 41 years. But I will be spending it with my wonderful son and his in-laws who I get on with very well. We are going to Brighton to family for a few days and I am really looking forward to that. I said I would list yeasterdays meals. No bf. Cottage pie with carrots and peas. Later A rollmop in a sandwich. I love rollmops! I first had them in Holland over 60 years ago and have never lost my love for them. In case you don't know, they are raw herrings marinated in a slightly sweetened vinegar with onions. The vinegar 'cooks' the herring and they are delicious. Am I right @Antje77 and @JoKalsbeek?

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Quite right, Rolmops are the bees knees.

And yes, @RosemaryJackson, @MrsA2 and @Antje77, it is a time of year when grief hides on the branch of a bauble-d tree. I found myself looking for my mom's handwriting on the envelopes of this year's Christmas cards, but it won't be there. Bittersweet memories surface indeed, and I wonder if I ever will stop looking for her cards, no matter how old I get to become. The love is still there, we still get to cherish it, and remain grateful that it was returned while they were still with us.

Hang in there eh.
Oh, and for the heck of it:
yesterday's brekkie was two low carb crackers with low carb chocolate sprinkles and coconut oil on one, and veg spread on the other.
Lunch was a bit of coconut yog with coconut shavings and cacao powder, (which spiked me, the little *******!)
And in the evening I had a little bit of a Mexican bean dish (picked out the beans and gave those to my bean-crazed husband), two pieces of salmon and two pecans.

Just had "something" out of the freezer. 2 packs mixed, actually. One looked like some kind of stew, the other was definitely roast pork. Turned out to be more like a soup of callaloo and black beans. It was very good and, being soup didn't have too many beans in one portion.

2nd meal will be the remains of the Brussels sprouts and peanuts from yesterday.

To town today to get my legs bandaged again and for Neil to do some shopping for me. On the way home I will pick up the meat I ordered from the butcher. It's going to be a big lump so I hope it will go into my oven.

With today's insulin dose I will try some canned minestrone soup.
Gums pretty sore so hoping the few pieces aren't too hard. Even though they will be mushy from canned soup!! It has a few shell pasta pieces in it.

Picked up my beef fore rib from the butcher. I think I made a mistake - it's massive. Weighs about 41/2 kg. A lot of that is bone, of course, but even so, I'm the only one who will eat it. Plenty of cold roast beef on the menu in future. I think it will fit into my oven. Just as well I don't have an air fryer for my roasting.

Added to that, I asked Neil to get me a piece of salmon slightly larger than the normal little fillets and he came home with a whole side of salmon. Alistair came in with the post and I cut it in two and gave him the larger bit. He will make a salmon dish for himself for Christmas dinner. Expensive mistakes though.

Hard to choose between the hug and the funny emoji on your post, @Annb . Went with the funny because I could use the laugh.

And as long as nothing goes to waste, it'll spare you buying some meat and fish in the furure, so a less expensive mistake than it looks like right now.

Antje77 said:

It's that time of year where lost loved ones are close for me.
First Sinterklaas on 5 December, coming with lots of memories of previous poems and surprises, written and made for or by my parents and other family members.
Additionally this year there was this amazing lunch at my aunt's place, and I highly doubt she'll be here in another year.
And tomorrow will be the 10th anniversary of losing my father, and the 5th of losing my old dog.
Add multiple unexpected deaths and funerals this year, some close, some a bit farther away.

With all this reminiscing it felt really good to get the happy fishes plate I was gifted by Goonergal over two years ago from the bottom of the stack, she's another one still missed but happily remembered.

Not a meal she'd ever put on her plate but I found it very enjoyable.
Brussels sprouts with melted sharp blue cheese and some cream cheese, and a not very low carb but not very high carb either 'gehakt cordon bleu' from Lidl: minced meat filled with cheese and a slice of ham, for which I somehow managed to dose perfectly, I've sat straight between 4.9 and 5.2 for the last 5 hours, this must be my lucky plate!

View attachment 70975

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Really do miss all my special people especially at emotive times like Christmas. My mum's birthday too was a few days after Christmas so particular reminders of my lovely mum, made harder by the almost daily Facebook memories that keep reminding me that for years mum spent time with us over Christmas and her birthday. Like you using Goonergal present of your fishes plate, I put special decorations on my Christmas tree - she often bought us tree decorations on holidays like the Macys decoration from New York and the heart from San Francisco so all lovely memories of time spent together.

MrsA2 said:

B: full fat greek with blackberries and seeds. Seemed to raise my bg way too much. Must monitor that meal, though it was new libre still bedding in as the last fell off 3 days early. Free replacement is on way

Late lunch: cold chicken and a bite of cheese

D: chicken and mushrooms. Added smoked paprika and yoghurt, called it stroganoff.
1 chocolate. Hubby and are having 1 expensive Swiss one each night as a Christmas treat. He has them under lock and key so I can't have more too soon.

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I've got some special dark collection hotel chocolat chocs hidden away for Christmas - once open very difficult to moderate.

JoKalsbeek said:

Quite right, Rolmops are the bees knees.

And yes, @RosemaryJackson, @MrsA2 and @Antje77, it is a time of year when grief hides on the branch of a bauble-d tree. I found myself looking for my mom's handwriting on the envelopes of this year's Christmas cards, but it won't be there. Bittersweet memories surface indeed, and I wonder if I ever will stop looking for her cards, no matter how old I get to become. The love is still there, we still get to cherish it, and remain grateful that it was returned while they were still with us.

Hang in there eh.
Oh, and for the heck of it:
yesterday's brekkie was two low carb crackers with low carb chocolate sprinkles and coconut oil on one, and veg spread on the other.
Lunch was a bit of coconut yog with coconut shavings and cacao powder, (which spiked me, the little *******!)
And in the evening I had a little bit of a Mexican bean dish (picked out the beans and gave those to my bean-crazed husband), two pieces of salmon and two pecans.

Click to expand...

Love your sentence about grief hiding on the branch of a baubled tree. Very appropriate for me hanging baubles which evoke many memories over the years including ones made by my boys as children. You'll guess I don't have a themed tree and my baubles are a lovely multi coloured mixture of Christmas over the years.

Annb said:

Picked up my beef fore rib from the butcher. I think I made a mistake - it's massive. Weighs about 41/2 kg. A lot of that is bone, of course, but even so, I'm the only one who will eat it. Plenty of cold roast beef on the menu in future. I think it will fit into my oven. Just as well I don't have an air fryer for my roasting.

Added to that, I asked Neil to get me a piece of salmon slightly larger than the normal little fillets and he came home with a whole side of salmon. Alistair came in with the post and I cut it in two and gave him the larger bit. He will make a salmon dish for himself for Christmas dinner. Expensive mistakes though.

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At least cooked beef freezes well. You could slice some and freeze in gravy in single portions to pull out for instant meals.

shelley262 said:

Like you using Goonergal present of your fishes plate, I put special decorations on my Christmas tree - she often bought us tree decorations on holidays

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It helps, doesn't it?
Physical reminders of loved ones are things you can see and touch, bringing them a little closer even if the touching is also a bit like picking at a scab.

shelley262 said:

Love your sentence about grief hiding on the branch of a baubled tree. Very appropriate for me hanging baubles which evoke many memories over the years

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Your mum sounds like @JoKalsbeek 's mum, I love how you both find comfort (while picking the scabs of grief, which is part of healing) in the same thing when it comes to missing your mums!

I thought I was doing well this year on the dealing with missing loved ones part, I really did.
My subconscious decided otherwise last night. I'm usually a very good sleeper (once I've convinced myself to go to bed, but that's another story), but last night my brain decided I needed some very harsh reminders by way of dreams, and I've been off kilter all day because of them. Not even a cold swim in rain, hail and harsh winds could wash away the cobwebs and leftovers from the dreams in my head.

I've cooked some very nice slow cooked beef today, with a cauliflower and Brussels sprouts mash to go with it. Not sure if I'll eat it yet, it's 9:30 by now and I don't feel like eating. Doesn't matter. If not, I'll have some chicory and hummus, some nuts, and perhaps a piece of chocolate in bed, tomorrow is a new day!