Ms Fifikins

April edibles

Originally uploaded by fifikins

An interesting month. Some good food memories and also a lot of reminders that I’m not eating very well at times. This is affecting both my health and my hip pocket! Let’s see what May brings…

January

Originally uploaded by fifikins

Yes, this year’s project! I have eaten very well this month!

I am finding the difference between this project and the twitter365 project of last year is that this year I am taking more photos and finding it hard to choose which one to post at times!

Remember a bit over 12 months ago… Yeah, I know, I was more prolific then. And wittier. And funnier. And… no wait, was I? Now I am confused. Anyway, I took part in the Bloggest Loser Challenge. And hey, I didn’t do too badly. Well I lost a few kilos.

Then this year my weight has steadily crept up. If I am being honest, if I had lost as much weight as I have found since January I would be a happy camper indeed and would have reached a few of my mini goals.

Don’t get me wrong, I have been going hard at it at the gym. 3-4 times a week I visit doing at least an hour of weights with MIML™ on a Tuesday, half an hour of weights/circuit on a Thursday, an hour of boxing with MIML™ on Friday and an hour and a half class of circuit/boxing on Saturday.

In Hong Kong I invested in a Polar Heart Rate Monitor and have been using this at the gym all the time. And it would tell you that most weeks I burn over 2000 calories.

And my body has changed. Even through the fat I can see muscles and I can definitely feel them! My stamina is increasing. And I enjoy the exercise.

But my eating is another story. I had a bit of a meltdown on Saturday when I had a mental look back through what I had eaten- KFC, creamy laksa, Neenish Tarts, chocolate, chips, pie, cake and I could go on.

My anxiety levels on Saturday were so high that I was even scared to eat. I knew I wanted to eat (I was hungry) but didn’t know what to eat. Part of me wanted the comfort of the fat sliding down my throat, yet another part of me realised that the scales (and to a lesser extent my clothing) were saying that enough was enough.

Then I had another panic attack at the gym and couldn’t do the boxing class. I couldn’t face it. Part of it was extreme tiredness. Part of it was a sugar thing (I hadn’t eaten) and I just felt like crap. MIML™ came straight over after gym and we chatted. And he listened. And he didn’t judge. And he offered the most practical advice and helped me find solutions.

And we went and grabbed a smoked salmon and salad bagel and went out to have a steak for dinner (mine with baked spud!) and I even skipped dessert- well I did have a spoon and tried MIML™s Toblerone gelato!

And yesterday I made an omelette for breakfast with spinach and fetta in it. And I went to the market with MIML™ and didn’t have a samosa. Or any cake. Or a pork bun. Or anything else except for a coffee. And lunch and dinner were sensible choices. And last night I made up a large tub of bircher muesli and cut up a large bowl of fruit salad.

And this morning I got up earlier and had breakfast. And had a cup of tea. And didn’t rush. So I organised a massage for this evening which was the most sublime torture I have had in a long time! But a heap of the tension and tightness in my muscles has dissipated.

And I have looked at food as comfort. I actually started a blog post on the subject a few weeks ago and it is sitting in my drafts box. The kids had had a rough afternoon on the bus so I made a banana custard for dessert. And I never make dessert unless we have visitors. But they needed comfort. And I equated comfort with food and thus perpetuated this to another generation. Well kind of. Except I have discovered that I am doing this.

I helped out at a breastfeeding education class a few weeks back. One of the things we look at in the class is the role of dads in breastfeeding. A lot of women report they feel pressure to give their baby artificial food because it means that Dad can feed the baby. One of the messages was that we have to remember that comfort can be given in many more ways than with food.

And now I am rambling! But I am trying to get my eating back on track. I did not enjoy the way I felt on Saturday afternoon. I know that part of anxiety disorder means that panic attacks will happen and I will have anxious periods, but I need to also recognise that I can do my bit to help alleviate the frequency of these events. I can exercise and I can eat properly and I can practice CBT.

And I can take part in the latest Bloggest Loser challenge. I am not setting out to win the competition or to even weigh myself each week, but I am changing the way I eat and attempting to change my lifestyle.

Remember The Omnivore’s 100? Well here is the festive version! Again from Very Good Taste. Yes, they haz it!

Here’s what to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve tasted.
3) Place an asterisk after all the items you’ve cooked/prepared.
4) Optional: Cross out anything you never want to try, or add an exclamation mark after anything your really want to try.
You’re also welcome to post a link to your version of the list here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk.

The VGT Christmas Fifty

1. Crystallised or candied fruits
2. Egg nog
3. Bûche de Noël, or Yule log*
4. Rum balls*
5. Bebinca
6. Roasted chestnuts*
7. Cavallucci
8. Tourtière
9. Uszka
10. Port & Stilton
11. Hallaca
12. Roast goose
13. Lefse
14. Sugar plums
15. Romeritos
16. Pinnekjøtt
17. Hot toddy*
18. Christmas cake*
19. Tamales
20. Sorpotel
21. Panettone
22. Candy canes
23. Pasteles
24. Speculaas
25. Makowiec
26. Christmas pudding*
27. Stollen
28. Figgy pudding
29. Lebkuchen
30. Turrón
31. Mince pies*
32. Wassail bowls
33. Buñuelos
34. Pio Quinto
35. Marzipan fruits
36. Mulled wine*
37. King cake
38. Christmas beach barbecue (no!- and I don’t know if I ever will as it is too hot!)
39. Cola de mono
40. Lutefisk
41. Kutia
42. Pizzelle
43. Dominostein
44. Cranberry sauce*
45. Pfeffernüsse
46. Satsumas or clementines
47. Pumpkin pie
48. Smalahove
49. Nut roast
50. Brandy butter*

Giving me a score of… drum roll… 28… Seems I have some eating to do!

It has been ages since we have had a meme around here! And since I have been including many food related posts, this one seems rather apt! It comes from Very Good Taste which is a great blog about food and stuff!

Here’s what I want you to do:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (it was at College, ok!)
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more (but I am willing to accept donations towards achieving this!)
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette (maybe! Not willing to cross it out, but then again…)
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. (This is definitely on my list to do though!)
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

OK! So I am an adventurous eater (58/100), but there are plenty of things on the list I have not eaten but do hope to try! How do you score? Post your results to your blog, link to www.verygoodtaste.co.uk but also let me know here how you go! Oh and yes, there is only one thing on the list I probably won’t try! And I have eaten a Four and Twenty Pie and many people say they contain horse meat…

My grandfather was a Soldier Settler at Dunkeld in Western Victoria. Predominantly he grazed sheep and I have fond memories of a young girl visiting the farm during shearing, mulesing, dipping and other times. I remember riding on the back of a tractor feeding out hay as a 5 or 6 year old and hand feeding the orphan lambs who lived in the chook yard with a milky formula using long teets on long neck beer bottles. I remember Pa finding orphan lambs and placing them in front of the wood stove in the kitchen to warm them up.

I don’t remember seeing a sheep killed, but I do remember the boot being packed out with a side of lamb. Mum even had a butchers saw at home and would saw the chops if it had not been done previously. So yes, we ate a lot of lamb! I never got into the lambs fry like my father did, but I have alwyas adored roast lamb and lamb chops.

One of Mum’s favourite ways of cooking forequarter chops was to make a casserole called ‘Jarred Chops Sweet and Sour.’ I am pretty sure the recipe came from the PWMU Cookbook, or it may have been on a handwritten card from one of the women in the Dunkeld district. Wherever it came from it is so yummy and easy and just brings back so many very happy memories.

Jarred Chops Sweet and Sour

1 1/2 lb. chops, 1 tbl sp flour, 1 tsp sugar, 3 tbl sp tomato sauce, 2 tbl sp Worcester sauce, 1 tbl sp vinegar, 1 large cup water, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp salt

Remove fat from chops, roll in flour with which is mixed sugar, pepper and salt and place in casserole. Mix all liquid ingredients together well and pour over chops. Place in a moderate oven & cook until tender (about 1 3/4 hrs.)

This is comfort food! Perfect with mashed spuds and peas. The kids love it, I love it and it reminds me of my early childhood. I only hope my kids have as many happy memories of holidays visiting grandparents as I do.

I love baking. Always have. Whilst I love cooking and have gained enough confidence to cook from my head with some great results, baking is very structured and ordered and that is what I like.

But… I also like easy recipes! We had a morning tea at work yesterday for Jeans for Genes day. I baked Damp Orange and Almond Cake on Wednesday night (yes, blog post to follow!) and wanted something to just throw together that would have ok results!

I found this recipe from an email from one of the Supermums mentioned in my Friendship blog post. It was sent it to us in 2004 and I have only just gotten around to trying it. I have lots of recipes like this!

One of my habits is that when I ‘damage’ something intentionally I name it. So I throw cardboard boxes in the compactor at work and name them, then squash them. I chop up the used gift cards at work and name them. Well this recipe let me name lots of different people and things as I bashed malt biscuits! I could have done it in the food processor, but I used my trusty rolling pin. I used a bit of force as I bashed through three plastic bags! So I put them in a bowl and kept bashing. So yes, beware if ever you get on my wrong side!

The rest is super easy! Melt butter, choc mint chocolate and a tin of condensed milk together. Condensed milk= instant win!

Finally you mix it together

Spread it into a tin and top with melted chocolate:

After half an hour or so in the fridge you can cut it.

I think everyone who had a taste at work came back for seconds. Lots of nice comments too!

Oh and here is the recipe! Thanks again Myf! And make sure you don’t wait 4 years to try this!

Choc Mint Slice

2 packets 250g malt biscuits
185g butter
1 x 400g tin condensed milk
1 x 250g block peppermint chocolate
185g dark chocolate drops

Melt together the condensed milk, butter and peppermint chocolate over low heat until combined. To crush biscuits, place them in a bag and crush with a rolling pin. Add crushed biscuits to chocolate mixture. Line a large slice tin with gladwarp and press mixture into tin. Melt chocolate drops in the microwave for 1 minute and spread over the top. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before slicing into small squares.

And it must be wholesome as the biscuit packet advertises this nutritional gem: