WIAW: Early shift edition
Would you believe me if I said that I had grand blogging plans for this weekend gone by?
It’s true. On Friday I returned home from work, looking forward to having the whole weekend off, catching up with blogs, and my fave TV shows. But it wasn’t meant to be. A Virgin Media engineer had severed our TV and internet connections, and Virgin couldn’t send an engineer to sort it until Monday. That’s right, friends, a whole weekend without TV and internet. If analogue TV was still happening I could have at least watched some of the original channels before Murdoch and Branson took over the world. Friday night I was out for the evening at a work reunion so that was no biggie. But Saturday morning I sulked in bed, reading my rubbish book. I did finish my book though. And it transpires that I can, in fact, survive a whole weekend living in the 1950s since my only connection to the outside world was via radio. I even got in touch with my cultural side, albeit briefly, and read The Times newspaper’s Saturday and Sunday editions.
Luckily Monday night all was well again, and my shift’s plus the technology gods have allowed me back here to blog on this fine miserable Hump Day.
Since it’s a Wednesday, I may as well join the WIAW peops and show you most of my eats for a day.
Exhibit 1: A light pre-early shift breakfast of GF toast & sunflower seed butter, with grapes and kiwi.
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Exhibit 2: Packed lunch of some kind of lentil and rice stew, raw carrots, afal.
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Exhibit 3: Snack on return home from work. Corn thins w. PB&J. (Obvo more than this was consumed in one sitting).
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Exhibit 4: Stir-fried kale and carrots with rice (somewhere underneath there), tofu and cashews.
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Exhibit 5: Dessert. The whole bag.
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Finally, Exhibit 6: One of these. I always keep a stash in my locker at work, and have one in each bag. So I munched on one of these whilst wandering home after work.
There you have my WIAW: The early shift snack-fest. Vegan style.
Happy hump day!
Food & Films
Well hello there. How goes it?
Fancy it being Tuesday already. Today has flown by. I had a great shift at work; the kind of shift that leaves me smiling to myself as I wander home. On my return I decided to prep the remaining veg from our veg box before our new one arrives on Thursday. Not only do I hate wasting food, espesh fresh produce. preparing food ahead is essential to surviving shift work whilst keeping your healthy living mantra alive.
For the cabbage and squash, I just veganised a recipe I found in this month’s BBC Good Food magazine and replaced the carrots with the squash. And roasted some potatoes with paprika, fresh thyme, S & P, and EVOO.
As a result I can just chuck these together,
To make this:
Topped off with ketchup (I have a sophisticated palate). Now, I know that this dish is missing some protein but I fancied a light dinner and this hit the spot. I figure that as long as I’m getting protein through out the day then one meal without any obvious sources is no biggie. Plus, there is some protein in the veg and potatoes…
The other day, as I was munching on my salad for breakfast (shift work does funny things to your appetite and body),
the husband tweeted about this gem:
It’s the new Wes Anderson film (!), and I cannot wait for it to come out. Anderson never fails to entertain me. Plus, I am such a big Bill Murray fan. It all began when I watched him in Ghostbusters all those years ago… Anyone else with me?
I’m off now to make a hot chocolate (using cocoa, almond milk and a little maple syrup) to sip on whilst watching Ocean’s Thirteen.
Hope you guys are having a great week thus far 
Muffin-eating, Stew-a-making
Today I was going to share with you a recipe for these:
Which can also be served, like this:
And which I am munching on as I type.
But then I remembered that I hadn’t shared the recipe for this:
And since I said last week that I would share it this week then I am staying true to my word. The sugary, chocolately goodness will have to wait.
This recipe is super easy. I made it in my new year’s day hungover state so if I can make it under such circumstance then you can defo make it when feeling more normal and less intoxicated. The ingredients list looks a little long and off-putting but really it’s no biggie. Trust me. And most of the ingredients you’ll probably have lurking in your cupboards and fridges.
Morrocan Stew (adapted from Appetite for Reduction) Serves 4-6
Ingredients
1 tsp EVOO
1 small onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger (or more if you love ginger like I do)
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (depending on how much kick you want to it)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
A good pinch of ground cinnamon (probs about 1/4 tsp max)
1/4-1/2 tsp sea salt
500ml bouillion vegetable stock
1 cup of chopped carrots
1 courgette, halved lengthways and chopped (1/4 inch-thick)
Handful each of mushroom & mangetout (or whatever other veg you have lying around)
1 tin good quality chopped tomatoes
1 tin organic chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp tomato puree
Method
Heat the oil in the biggest casserole dish/saucepan you can find (mine was quite possibly too big but it’s better than using a pan that’s too small- that’ll only lead to tantrums, not that I would know…). Add the onions and saute until they are translucent and starting to soften. Then add the garlic, ginger, spices & salt and saute again to release the aromas. Careful not to burn the garlic or ginger (really not good for the overall taste of the dish).
Add the veg stock and use it to deglaze the pan. If the ingredients were sticking to the pan before this point then you can splash a little of the hot stock into the dish to prevent the sticking then. Add the carrots (and other harder veg, if using) and simmer for 10 mins. Then add the rest of the veg, tinned tomatoes, chickpeas & puree. Cover and leave to simmer for 15 minutes. After 15 mins, move the lid to leave a gap to let out steam. Leave for 15 mins again so that the sauce can reduce down a bit.
Serve with any grain you fancy (I guess couscous would be the more traditional choice but we went with brown rice).
Hope you enjoy!
Yay for it being almost the weekend (although I’m working for most of it, again). It’s not all bad- since I am on a late shift tomorrow, I am off to chillax, drink some decaf coffee, eat another chocolate muffin, and browse some of my fave blogs until the small hours of the a.m.
Actively Lazy
I did it. I went for my first run since September 11th 2011. And y’know, I think walking 4+ days a week has helped maintain my fitness level as I ran the same loop and it took the same amount of time as it did in September. It was good.
And now I can be lazy for the rest of the day, and sit on the sofa in front of the box. And eat.
Happy Tuesday!
Greens & Beans
My weekend has finally began! My actual weekend at work was relatively ok and not too busy but I’m so glad that I have today and tomorrow off. I slept for 12 hours last night and it was glorious. Today I’m just going to take it easy, do some exercise, and whatever else I fancy. How I love my days off now that I no longer have to write any essays.
So, how was your weekend?
I made my first green juice of the year yesterday. It was great but I forgot how much fresh produce is needed just to make 250ml of juice!
It tasted so much better than it looks. This one had kale, carrots, celery, apple, ginger and lime in it. The only downside to juicing (other than the amount of fresh produce required to make juice) is that juicers are such a hassle to clean! The sensible option would be to make enough juice to last a couple of days but I think it oxidizes too quickly and loses some of its nutrients in the process. I could be wrong though. Saying that, I may start making my green smoothies the night before my early shifts so that I can have them for breakfast without waking Tom and our neighbours up by using the blender.
Yesterday was tinged with sadness as I said goodbye to my trusty old micra.
(Ahem, excuse the illegal parking).
She rarely gets used since Tom and I walk to work and we have another car. Thus she has now gone to live with Tom’s brother and his girlfriend. It makes sense environmentally, financially etc. The only thing is, I’m not always the best driver so I’m hoping I don’t scratch Tom’s beloved car when I drive it. It’s quite a bit bigger than the micra (not hard) and I tend to lack spatial awareness. Marital problems may ensue.
Back to happier things, i.e. food (naturally). For lunch today I wanted something snacky since I woke up and had breakfast late. What makes the perfect snack?
Yup, a hummus snack plate. Hummus has to be one of the easiest things to make (if you have a blender or food processor). I try to avoid eating raw garlic when I’m working as I don’t want to smell of garlic when looking after my patients who are often feeling nauseous. Also, garlic and beans are a bad FODMAP combo (as they’re both fructans thus tricky for the old IBS) but since I’m not back in work until Wednesday I figured it’d be ok.
Here’s the recipe:
Butter Bean Hummus (slightly adapted from River Cottage Veg Everyday)
Ingredients
400g tin of butter beans, drained and rinsed
1 small garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp sunflower seed butter
2 tbsps good quality walnut oil
Juice of half a lemon
Leaves from sprig of thyme
Sea salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste
Paprika, to serve
Method
Chuck everything in your food processor and blend until pureed. Sprinkle the hummus with paprika when serving.
Tricky, huh. What I do love about this particular recipe though is that not only is it a good source of protein, but it includes super healthy fats from the walnut oil and sunflower seed butter. Go forth, make, consume and enjoy!
I’m off now to listen to The Hurts (my new fave band) and potter around.
