"What have you eaten" Parallel Chat

[Antje77]

I go into hibernation mode so fast when the weather turns rainy! It's amazing how it affects my mood and motivation. I wonder if I should look into light therapy or some such thing.

Yes, please look into it!
It's one of the few treatments without side effects, definitely worth trying.
From personal experience I can recommend an almost daily open water swim, I think that's what drove my very long time depression off, but I can understand this is not for everyone...

I didn't - my betachek cassette had run out and I was too lazy to go upstairs to fetch a new one! It's also typical of me to avoid testing when I'm off the rails It wasn't so bad this morning so maybe I got away with it!

I'm really not sure you went off the rails with mainly the toppings of a pizza.
And I definitely get not going upstairs to fetch a new one.
My BP pills come in blisters of 10 and I usually miss one or two a month. I take them in bed with my long acting insulin, and I'm too lazy to get out of bed to get a new blister strip when I only remember when I want to take them, even though they're in the same room...

 

[Annb]

I go into hibernation mode so fast when the weather turns rainy! It's amazing how it affects my mood and motivation. I wonder if I should look into light therapy or some such thing.

I had a friend who used to become seriously depressed in the winter - especially here where light levels are low in winter. I had read about "light boxes" and told his wife about them. She bought a very big light and it improved his mood massively. If you feel that low light levels depress you, it is well worth considering something of the kind.

 

[debs248]

Hello, I'm back after a week in Scotland, exhausted but it was well worth it! Loads of "tasty scran" even though we didn't visit Lidl after all, turns out Morrisons had all the products we wanted and lots more besides, so we visited the ones in Dumfries (twice), Falkirk and Aberdeen!

Food highlights of the trip included haggis pakora (not as good as I'd anticipated), steak and haggis pies, battered puddings (red, white and haggis), and amazingly, katsu cauliflower from a fish and chip shop in Aberdeen. Why can't they sell it in England, it's so gorgeous?

Interesting reading about the walnuts, they're probably my least favourite nut and I have given up eating nuts anyway as I choke too easily. Thinking of trying macadamias as they're not very scratchy.

My food good luck streak continues - we arrived home to a small pile of post including some vouchers for Ocado, who, it turns out, sell my favourite cottage cheese (which Morrisons and Asda seem to have discontinued).

@jpscloud I'm also going to start Mounjaro next week. The nurse said they can only prescribe up to 5mg but I'm hoping that'll be enough. Weight loss isn't my primary goal, just to get my BG down out of double figures every day. Will be sad if I lose my already dwindling appetite though.

I decided against the ragout in favour of a Scottish dish called Stovies - again out of the freezer. It defrosted faster. Should have potato in it, but my version didn't; just vegetables and Lorne (beef sliced sausage).

Wish we could have had some Lorne sausage but we had no cooking facilities. Perhaps one day...

I did see a mention by Monty Don about how he successfully freezes them whole to roast from frozen later so may try a few this way too.

I'm going to try freezing half a dozen shop-bought tomatoes now! I love a roast tomato anyway, and hubby who does the shopping isn't very good at stocking up on them as he eats very few himself (the skins aggravate his diverticular disease).

Today bears the promise of a fried tomato, to accompany a piece of aged sirloin steak that is nearly 50% fat (my holiday indulgence in place of the sweet treats the rest of the family enjoyed), together with sautéed tenderstem broccoli and mushrooms.

 

[jpscloud]

From personal experience I can recommend an almost daily open water swim, I think that's what drove my very long time depression off, but I can understand this is not for everyone...

I take my hat off to you but it definitely isn't for me! I love swimming but I'm not up for showing myself in public even in the most demure of swimwear!

 

[debs248]

I take my hat off to you but it definitely isn't for me! I love swimming but I'm not up for showing myself in public even in the most demure of swimwear!

I'd love to give it a try sometime, not sure the water round here is clean enough unfortunately. As a child my brother and I would spend so long in the sea we'd turn blue!

 

[jpscloud]

I'd love to give it a try sometime, not sure the water round here is clean enough unfortunately. As a child my brother and I would spend so long in the sea we'd turn blue!

As a child my mum called me a water baby - if we came across water on holiday (in the uk, we didn't have holidays abroad) I had to get in it, even freezing cold streams and rivers!

 

[Antje77]

I'd love to give it a try sometime, not sure the water round here is clean enough unfortunately. As a child my brother and I would spend so long in the sea we'd turn blue!

There are lots of open water swimmers in the UK, and there is sound information to find online on where you can and cannot swim!
Have a look here if you're interested: https://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/uk-wild-swimming-groups/

I take my hat off to you but it definitely isn't for me! I love swimming but I'm not up for showing myself in public even in the most demure of swimwear!

As a child my mum called me a water baby - if we came across water on holiday (in the uk, we didn't have holidays abroad) I had to get in it, even freezing cold streams and rivers!

I'm sorry you feel that way, and I hope you'll be able to enjoy swimming again in the future.
The past years I've done weekly aqua stuff with people mostly 20+ years my senior, and the swimming pool is filled with happy people with scars, lipedema, ostomy bags, varicose veins, and BMIs well over 40.
At my open water swims I hardly ever encounter anyone so I don't bother with swimwear even though sometimes people see me. And I do not have a body that looks very good for my age.

Still, if it doesn't feel right no amount of sensible arguments can change how you'd feel in swimwear, and swimming is only enjoyable if you feel at least somewhat comfortable. But maybe in the future?

 

[debs248]

I've had a look online and the nearest sea swimming is about 20 miles away, so it's a choice of two lakes. The nearest one is only open until the end of September but the year-round one is only 5-10 miles away and looks attractive. Trying to persuade family to help make it happen for my birthday in Feb. It's not their thing at all so I'm not optimistic.

There's a lot of possibly wasted expense though if I have to buy a hat and tow float, which are required if the water goes below 15°C or it's after sunset.

 

[Antje77]

I've had a look online and the nearest sea swimming is about 20 miles away, so it's a choice of two lakes. The nearest one is only open until the end of September but the year-round one is only 5-10 miles away and looks attractive. Trying to persuade family to help make it happen for my birthday in Feb. It's not their thing at all so I'm not optimistic.

There's a lot of possibly wasted expense though if I have to buy a hat and tow float, which are required if the water goes below 15°C or it's after sunset.

How do they close a lake? Lakes are quite big, can nobody get close to the lake all winter?

I bought a tow float when I started regular swims almost two years ago. I haven't used it for about a year now. Still happy I have one for visibility in case I want to swim where ships are, or in case I want to do a longer swim and I need to take some stuff for my diabetes with me.

Why is the hat required? I've never in my life wore a hat when swimming.

And why wait for your birthday in february? If you want to swim, do so!
If you need someone to go with you, ask a friend or a single family member to go with you tomorrow or next week, no need for them to get into the water if they don't want to.

 

[Antje77]

I had a very enjoyable evening wih my date!

He had invited me for dinner at a restaurant, and I had razor clams, very hard to find and I love them!
They came in a creamy garlic sauce with some bread, nothing else.

Very interesting conversation too, and after dinner we went to my place and closed the curtains for some much needed privacy, all in all a very good evening!

 

[Annb]

The walnut experiment was good in a way. I could almost use walnuts like insulin. It did require a lot of walnuts, but taking them would almost immediately drop my BG and keep it low - unless I ate a significant quantity of carbs (ie more than 2 crackers). That was the good bit.

The not so good bit was the effect walnuts, in those quantities, had on my gut. It has taken me a few days to get over it (if I have) plus a few Lopiramide tablets.

Now, though, my BG is in the 9's for no apparent reason and doesn't seem to want to go down into even the 7's. Haven't even had breakfast yet.

I will try walnut oil to see if that works as well as walnuts themselves, without the regrettable side effects. At least, I will when I can get hold of some - none in Stornoway or at the wholefood shop on the mainland that we order stuff from. I'll try Amazon.

Eggs will be the safest option for breakfast. Scrambled, I should think.

2nd meal will be chicken breast - Chinese style with some cauliflower and coconut rice.

 

[jpscloud]

I think eggs and a sausage will feature for my breakfast, and maybe sausages, gravy, vegetables and a potato or two for tea. It's better weather today @shelley262, so I hope we both have a good garden day!

 

[shelley262]

I think eggs and a sausage will feature for my breakfast, and maybe sausages, gravy, vegetables and a potato or two for tea. It's better weather today @shelley262, so I hope we both have a good garden day!

Enjoy I'm heading out today for gardening too - I'm sure it will do us with good lovely blue skies and excellent natural light.

 

[shelley262]

Really enjoyed getting out in the garden very satisfying managing to mow the lawn which is picking up again and becoming greener. Rain has made a big difference - mind you the weeds are also back in force!
Think I'm going to move my new Magnolia in the huge heavy pot as it's looking a bit unhappy - crossing fingers that our youngest son makes it this weekend he had to rearrange from last week. He lifts weights and has good strong muscles so will be a great asset to moving it! I'm also hoping he takes some tomatoes which keep on ripening in large numbers. We are having them every day but they are huge so not keeping up - wish I could share some with you guys.
My daughter in law did a volunteer stint at a local Welsh vineyard this week harvesting the grapes. They have had the biggest harvest ever a bumper year due to the hot summer in East Wales.

 

[MommaE]

Really enjoyed getting out in the garden very satisfying managing to mow the lawn which is picking up again and becoming greener. Rain has made a big difference - mind you the weeds are also back in force!
Think I'm going to move my new Magnolia in the huge heavy pot as it's looking a bit unhappy - crossing fingers that our youngest son makes it this weekend he had to rearrange from last week. He lifts weights and has good strong muscles so will be a great asset to moving it! I'm also hoping he takes some tomatoes which keep on ripening in large numbers. We are having them every day but they are huge so not keeping up - wish I could share some with you guys.
My daughter in law did a volunteer stint at a local Welsh vineyard this week harvesting the grapes. They have had the biggest harvest ever a bumper year due to the hot summer in East Wales.

Do you have a freezer or jars for water bath canning? I find I have to do that to keep up with a good summer bounty.It’s so lovely in the middle of winter knowing they are from your garden and not half way across the globe.
I’m also busy in the garden but our sunshine is rather obscured by smoke from forest fires. Thankfully nothing too close but still terribly sad for those affected. Seems to be more and more frequent now each summer.

 

[lovinglife]

@shelley262

I may have got this wrong as I can’t find your post but I’m recalling you are freezing tomatoes from your garden? A “recipe” popped up on my social media where someone was finely grating the flesh of frozen tomatoes straight from the freezer onto poached eggs on toast & it looked delicious and I thought of you (or if it wasn’t you & it was someone else still thought of you lol)

I also thought that grating the frozen flesh on a chunkier grate for small batch quick sauces may be a good idea too as it’s a quick way not to have to deseed & it will cook down very quickly

 

[shelley262]

Do you have a freezer or jars for water bath canning? I find I have to do that to keep up with a good summer bounty.It’s so lovely in the middle of winter knowing they are from your garden and not half way across the globe.
I’m also busy in the garden but our sunshine is rather obscured by smoke from forest fires. Thankfully nothing too close but still terribly sad for those affected. Seems to be more and more frequent now each summer.

I'm planning to open freeze a few but never done it in previous years have always roasted them and blitzed into a sauce and then frozen tomato sauce portions.
Take care sounds scary with the forest fires and smoke. Realise you are not too close but must feel worrying - it would make me anxious!

 

[shelley262]

@shelley262

I may have got this wrong as I can’t find your post but I’m recalling you are freezing tomatoes from your garden? A “recipe” popped up on my social media where someone was finely grating the flesh of frozen tomatoes straight from the freezer onto poached eggs on toast & it looked delicious and I thought of you (or if it wasn’t you & it was someone else still thought of you lol)

I also thought that grating the frozen flesh on a chunkier grate for small batch quick sauces may be a good idea too as it’s a quick way not to have to deseed & it will cook down very quickly

Thank you so much what a grate idea! I have grated frozen lemon for flavour and zest but never tomatoes as never frozen whole tomatoes before. I was inspired to have a go at freezing whole ones this year rather than sauces only by an article by Monty Don who it seems freezes them and then roasts them from frozen. So it's good to have more ideas a whole tomatoes freezing experiment is planned for next week once youngest son has taken his pick of my bountiful crop. I have nine outdoor plants and they have been prolific apart from one which struggled earlier in the cold early mid spring.