Cooking and craft

Hello there, I hope you are well. The Orchid is still alive, such a beauty and amazing as I'm not very good with houseplants. They're either over watered, or forgotten about. My son and his beloved bought it for me last year. It sat in the spare room for a long time before bursting into flower again. The leaves tend to suffer in direct sunlight, so it's been relocated to the lounge which faces North East. 

I found a delicious herbal tea in Morrison's last week, I don't like the fruit teas so was pleased to see a new selection. Most of the time regular tea is a firm favourite but when cooking, herbal teas make a  refreshing change. Many years ago a Herbalife consultant was trying to sell me some tea powder with cardamom. I was doubly pleased when I found this one with cardamom in it.  

Continuing with re-introducing foods that were avoided for so long due to IBS. A nice midweek Chilli Con Carnie, the dish is simple and satisfying to cook and eat. This cookbook is full of simple cooking and baking recipes. My Mum had one of these and the Stork cookery book too. Naturally I chose the same book as I felt if the recipes work for her, they'll work for me.  The recipe says enough for 4 people but we've always used the large tins and 1lb of mince. There's usually plenty leftover for a jacket potato topping with grated cheese, or a bowl full with some crusty bread. When I worked full time for Waitrose in  Hampshire, we ate it after a Friday or Saturday after work.

A well used copy

I used 1 tsp of dried crushed chillies, I didn't have any cayenne pepper but it was still too hot. I made another one the following day without spices and mixture them together... much better. In future I'll use half the chilli. 

I've been following Sophie's blog called life thymes and her Instagram account. She's been writing  about a month long ration project and her husband has recorded some of it on Youtube. She made a similar bun recipe on her blog, this one uses ginger and dates. These ones have sultanas as I didn't have any dates. They are delicious served warm sliced with butter. I highly recommend these for a snack at work.

I ordered the book from ebay. At the moment I'm avoiding eggs, so I used an alternative. It was easy to mix up with water and use, once made it does need using straight away. 

I started reading this series a long time ago, the book was not only large print but a large book too. I'm trying to make use of the mobile library, so order the books through there. I've noticed that since I'm not being so intentional with my reading eg last year I aimed to read a book a week, I'm only managing to read one book a month. 

A bit more progress crocheting the blanket - Attic 24 Coastal Blanket. 

It's the same with the crochet or knitting, if I've not set a goal or target to either finish by or sit down for 30 minutes or so, it just doesn't get done. Time is wasted scrolling or watching a Youtube videos instead of putting the phone aside and spending time creating something. Many years ago I followed a lady and even joined a colouring group on facebook, all the things were lovely and the artwork was beautiful but... I just wasn't getting anything done. 

Now I don't know if it's just me or if any of this resonates with you, so all I'd say is, if this does in any way sound similar, please put some boundaries in and step away from scrolling etc. I've spoken to several different people in knit & natter groups and they've said the same thing... Facebook! no, I'd never do my crafts. Of course it's not the distractions that are necessarily wrong, it's just that they are distracting me from what I really want to do. 

Anyway, it's not meant to be preachy, just an observation for myself. 
Take care, TTFN
Please leave a comment and let me know how you manage to be more disciplined than me x