Most supermarkets, and especially smaller shops, just haven't been designed to accommodate social distancing. I guess no-one ever thought they'd have to be...
As I was standing in the (well-spaced) queue for a local shop this morning, the man ahead of me crossed the road to berate another (elderly) man getting into his car as 'selfish' - presumably for driving? The woman behind me approved of this, but I said loudly that I disagreed, and did not see the point of social shaming.
What do we know of other people's lives? Would he have scolded me if he knew my reason for being there was to buy beer and chocolate (inessential!)?
Some people live 10+ miles from their nearest supermarket! It all depends on the local situation, but here I've found that the very small neighbourhood shops are very quiet and have most of what I need. Which is a relief, as I don't think I could face long queues.
Well, that was an unexpected surprise.
My veg box contained a head of celery - not my favourite at the best of times, usually I only have it if a recipe explicitly calls for it as I'm not really that keen. Being reluctant to waste it however, I made celery soup today, and it was surprisingly good. I may have solved the "leftovers-once-you've-used-the-stick-or-two-for-the-recipe" problem....
You can de-string celery by applying a knife to the ridges and pulling. I like it raw with a dip or two. Or diced with raw fennel, apple, walnuts and a crumble of blue cheese.
Alas! A combination of celery and blue cheese once landed me in A & E at St Thomas' Hospital, London, with a Peculiar Allergic Reaction - swollen lips, swollen finger-tips (!), but, happily, no swollen airways.
A couple of anti-histamine pills, and 24 hours' seclusion, did the trick, but I've avoided the combination ever since - a good 50 years ago!
Oddly, celery, in the various guises mentioned, has no ill-effect, and neither does blue cheese, when taken on its own (well, with biscuits, and red WINE, of course).
Whenever I buy celery, I chop the leaves off the top and put them in a polythene bag in the freezer for adding to stock (or soup), and store the celery in a jar of water in the fridge, where it keeps well.
I love celery, raw, in soups or with peanut butter - but do be aware it can have a diuretic effect.
When this lockdown ends I'm firing my cook, We have all cafés and restaurants closed and no take-aways. I am so tired of cooking. I think it will be chickpea soup tomorrow if I have the right spices.
I tend to add celery to most things, it's a useful veg to bulk things out which is part of my intent to reduce the amount of meat in my diet - plus, the children will eat it however it comes so that's a bonus (though they never turn down veggies anyway). So, my take on bolognese sauce (or, indeed the meat in a lasagne) will include a couple of stalks of celery and a couple of carrots; similarly for many pasta sauces or rice dishes; also on the occasions I stir fry veg, it always contains celery.
So, my take on bolognese sauce (or, indeed the meat in a lasagne) will include a couple of stalks of celery and a couple of carrots; similarly for many pasta sauces or rice dishes; also on the occasions I stir fry veg, it always contains celery.
My late-night patrol of the supermarket sites has paid off, and I have an Asda slot for Friday week.
It takes a little calculation to work out what we will be running out of in eight days time, but I am getting practised at this. I will end up like a calendar - a month at a view.
So, my take on bolognese sauce (or, indeed the meat in a lasagne) will include a couple of stalks of celery and a couple of carrots; similarly for many pasta sauces or rice dishes; also on the occasions I stir fry veg, it always contains celery.
Mirepoix ftw!
Well, there you go. I find that my improvised cooking method is actually a recognised culinary technique. With an odd name too.
Cardinal David Beaton, Archbishop of St Andrews in Scotland, shortly before the time of the Scottish Reformation, was Bishop of Mirepoix, one of the many French bishoprics which were suppressed during Napoleonic times.
I tend to add celery to most things, it's a useful veg to bulk things out which is part of my intent to reduce the amount of meat in my diet - plus, the children will eat it however it comes so that's a bonus (though they never turn down veggies anyway). So, my take on bolognese sauce (or, indeed the meat in a lasagne) will include a couple of stalks of celery and a couple of carrots; similarly for many pasta sauces or rice dishes; also on the occasions I stir fry veg, it always contains celery.
I've been known to do that too (though not in stir fry) if I've got carrot/celery to use up. However, dishes over the last couple of weeks have not involved Bolognese (or anything similar). A bean chilli may however be calling, which will take care of some of that. I also suspect spicy carrot and lentil soup may be making an appearance as I appear to be collecting carrots!
Hmmm, cumin and chilli version, or whack in a dose of harissa paste....
ETA allegedly I get fennel this week. Yippee, love the stuff!
Today’s dilemma.
Thursday is cauliflower cheese day. We have all the ingredients, but in recent weeks it has severely aggravated my IBS. I think it must be the cooked cheese? So it is better for me to avoid it.
DH is expecting this meal tonight, and says it is not something he can cook himself ( he has a limited range).
Does he really expect me to make two different meals? Is it even worth discussing?
Actually, does it freeze well? I could make enough for next week too.
I quite often make two meals or adapt things to allow for a carnivore who is GF, dairy free and has stomach issues which means too much fibre is a thing. I hate meat, like fish but otherwise tend to vegetarianism or veganism featuring beans and pulses. So, for example, I'll make a cauliflower and chick pea curry and a spinach curry. For the carnivore I'll serve a sheekh kebab which I batch make and freeze which is added to the spinach and cauliflower picked out of the chickpea curry (not difficult when the cauliflower is broken down into florets bigger than the chickpeas), lime pickle and maybe a GF naan. I'll eat the spinach, cauliflower & chick pea curries with naan and pickle.
Another regular meal is burger and chips, with carrot and bean burger for me, beefburger for the carnivore, salad and whatever root vegetables I have roasted in wedges. Both burgers are batch made and frozen for another day. And a muffin tin keeps them separated in the oven.
Tonight's supper is going to be sweet potato pakora with salad and a sheekh kebab for the carnivore. I'll just eat two pakora instead of one.
I thought that all the brassicas were dodgy for IBS, and other complaints. I remember going on a broccoli binge, and realizing suddenly that my guts were gyrating. But cheese also suspect.
Mirepoix (the word is new to me!) is a lovely base to a soup.
If it is the cheese which is irritant not the cauliflower, I would try making cauliflower cheese with either a tomato or herby white sauce, and add the cheese at the end as an optional extra.
Burgers in brioche buns for lunch, and for tea we will have braised beef and lentils with sliced potato topping. Possibly with a white sauce on top.
Still learning to manage my post-covid postural tachycardia, this morning I introduced a yoga routine of resting and standing poses (I’ve been doing Iyengar yoga for years so familiar exercise) which had a temporary positive effect so this might be a winner in teaching my body how to respond correctly to exercise again (by exercise, I mean any movement; I get tachycardia standing up and walking to the bathroom!). Controlled breathing seems to also slightly improve the symptoms.
Oh, and I discovered this morning that coffee has no effect on my heart rate (I’ve been skipping my morning latte since the tachycardia occurred). I might try alcohol at some point to see if that’s okay!
My fruit/veg box brought me: 2 pears, 2 bananas, 2 satsuma & a lemon, carrots, an onion, a cauliflower, some potatoes, fennel and a bunch or radishes. This a box for one person.
I'm thinking maybe cauli& Potato curry (also including courgettes from a previous week), the carrots will go in soup and/or chilli. I love fennel and like radishes too: there was a recipe for pickling them... can you eat pickled veg with curry...
It seems very odd to have so much veg that I can't quite see how to use it all up! I'd hate to have to cancel a week to catch up with myself!
I'm thinking maybe cauli& Potato curry (also including courgettes from a previous week), the carrots will go in soup and/or chilli. I love fennel and like radishes too: there was a recipe for pickling them... can you eat pickled veg with curry...
A radish salad is nice with a curry, I sprinkle chaat masala on mine. Perhaps you might try a dressing of lemon and herb?
My fruit/veg box brought me: 2 pears, 2 bananas, 2 satsuma & a lemon, carrots, an onion, a cauliflower, some potatoes, fennel and a bunch or radishes. This a box for one person.
I thought you were going to go on to say what a small amount it was! You must have a very small appetite - Mr Nen and I would demolish that in a couple of days, apart from the onion which doesn't agree with him. I haven't used onion or garlic in recipes for some years, but use a spice called Asfoetida which gives something of the flavour without the adverse effects.
We're on the medium veg box without potatoes for two of us and are eating it fairly easily now I've got back into the swing of it. No potatoes as I struggled to get through the potatoes in the standard box when we used to have them. Today's haul was chestnut mushrooms, Swiss chard, lettuce, cucumber, onions, carrots, broccoli, green beans (no fruit in this box, I bought 5 pears, 3 bananas, 6 apples and grapes yesterday, which we will eat easily, the grapes have already gone). I supplemented last week's veg box with similar quantities of fruit, cucumber and new potatoes, which are all eaten.
Because the box selections have been slimmed to deal with the Covid demand we're back on a box with potatoes from next week and I have promised I will freeze potato dishes for the day we can switch back if the potatoes get all too much.
@Heavenlyannie - I get tachycardia which, like yours, is nothing wrong with my heart, but is an autonomic system thing (not post viral in my case, but in some people it is a post viral thing) and I find one coffee a day is fine, and boosts my energy a bit. Similarly with alcohol, I personally find one glass of wine is okay, and can help me sleep better. I was going to say earlier, but everyone is different, and I didn't want to be seeming to give medical advice, but now since you have tried coffee and found it okay, I thought I'd mention it as a 'me too' thing. Mine is postural tachycardia (POTS), and I find in online POTS support groups, lots of people say that one cup of coffee has a positive effect. I hope your tachycardia gets better. It is a tiring thing to have.
Wish I knew what caused my tachycardia.
Last summer I was blue-lighted into hospital in the small hours after an attack following a perfectly routine visit to the loo.
The normal investigations revealed nothing major wrong with my heart, just a bit of mild, age-related deterioration.
They bunged in an ICD, so "if it happens again" my heart will get a shock to kick it back into normal rhythm, but I still don't know what set it off.
Notes from -10°C land.
Fresh fruit and vegetables are not much available here right now. We're into turnips, sweet potatoes, and I'm cooking up the butts of any lettuce heads and bok choy etc. Normally we can get fresh fruit and veggies, but delivery from the south (USA) is a problem. Apples we have aplenty, they store them in cold oxygen free darkness I believe, so they last well.
I have so far baked this week:
-a raisin roll-
-bread made from kitchen-caught yeasts which started to go a little a sourdough after 3rd go (normal)
-molasses and oat bannock
-chocolate cake with added coffee (this is a very good idea!)
-normal yeasted bread but with the shortage of yeast, just ¼ teaspoon of yeast for 3 loaves
I am not allowed to bake again for a week.
The dog is now my office manager. We usually give a "kong" which is a rubber hollow food toy when we leave the house. It has some treats and peanut butter in it normally. Now she goes and sits beside the desk to tell me to get to work. She seems to think that a tea break is another time when she should get treats. Animals have it good don't they? The cat is also issuing instructions but these are mostly to be picked up and for us to let her sleep. She's 23 and the mother of the dog.
@Heavenlyannie - I get tachycardia which, like yours, is nothing wrong with my heart, but is an autonomic system thing (not post viral in my case, but in some people it is a post viral thing) and I find one coffee a day is fine, and boosts my energy a bit. Similarly with alcohol, I personally find one glass of wine is okay, and can help me sleep better. I was going to say earlier, but everyone is different, and I didn't want to be seeming to give medical advice, but now since you have tried coffee and found it okay, I thought I'd mention it as a 'me too' thing. Mine is postural tachycardia (POTS), and I find in online POTS support groups, lots of people say that one cup of coffee has a positive effect. I hope your tachycardia gets better. It is a tiring thing to have.
Thanks for the concern. I’m a nurse and have already self diagnosed myself with the same type of PoTS, the ambulance man suggested it last Saturday. Last weekend I found I couldn’t eat, my nervous system had an aversion to food, but I found controlled breathing meant I could eat a little and now I’m eating fine. I found the yoga helpful this morning so I’m going to work on than.
I have managed (today) to amend my fortnightly veg box to a weekly one. So we always get potatoes and onions, and then whatever else happens to arrive. We are a bit fed up with kale and chard.....but at least I won't worry about MrStE not managing to get veg from the supermarket. (He's the cook, so he is also the shopper - for food at any rate. But I pay for the veg.) Veg box carrots taste just like carrots ought to taste.....
I'm contemplating the purchase of a weighted blanket - to help my spiralling levels of anxiety. At least, that is what the ads for them all say. I don't know whether this would be a good idea, or another daft one...
@St Everild Your veggie box sounds like mine. I agree the carrots are just wonderful. This week we received bonus of blue berries, and a box of organic mac and cheese. A box organic thing is a first and as I do not eat cheese, I will most likely dump the pasta into a pot of soup.
I'm contemplating the purchase of a weighted blanket
Could you not just put a winter dressing-gown or heavy overcoat on top? That's what I do. Hugging a not-too-hot rubber water bottle also helps. Most important is to keep the feet warm with woollen socks.
Weighted blankets are very heavy, having had one in a previous employment for students who needed one. I found lifting it to move it around interesting - you'd pick up a blanket without paying attention and find your arm having to work, hard. I would have hated being tucked under it.
I have a weighted blanket that I bought earlier this year. They come in different weights - the heavier one was uncomfortable for me and caused me pain and tingling, but they swapped it for a lighter one, which I like much better. They aren't helpful for everyone though - people with fibromyalgia can find them painful, for instance. And they are very heavy to carry, as Ck says. It's different when you are lying down and they are on top of you, because the weight is spread, so it doesn't feel overly heavy.
Another option, which for me has the same effect, is to get a duvet for a bigger size of bed than you have, and tuck it in tightly. I can't do this any more because I got a new mattress a couple of years ago, and it's too thick for the duvet to tuck in tightly. I did that for years with my old mattress though.
I should add that for me the effects are sensory. If I am anxious about something, the blanket doesn't stop me being anxious.
I have cotton velvet bedcover - which was a bit pricey, but on sale about the same price as a gravity blanket - that is heavy enough that I can’t have it over my winter duvet. (In the summer I just have a sheet and the bedcover and that works really well for me, because I find a sheet alone too light to get to sleep.)
I’ve never heard of a weighted blanket and would be worried (!) that they would make me feel claustrophobic. That said, I love the feeling of moving to my winter wool duvet so perhaps it would be useful. Also a great believer in bed socks to aid sleep, though obviously not if too hot.
During my recent panicky weeks of ill health I’ve taken Kalms to help me sleep and, placebo or not, my sleep has improved. White wine is terrible for my insomnia, so it’s good I gave up alcohol for Lent. Currently I’m sleeping like a log though due to my increased heart rate during the day.
We’re eating really well during the crisis, both my husband and I are keen cooks and we have a good veg box with a simple meat and fish box. I’m having more lunches than normal though, as usually I have very light lunches when at home by myself and now there are 3 adults and one near adult at home.
I've been sleeping like a log, since the lockdown began. I have no idea why, various ideas spring to mine, e.g., escaping from everything, but I don't care.
I got some good news this morning, just to prove this pandemic isn't all bad. We don't have to waste weeks of our summer preparing our Performance Review. Yay!
I'm contemplating the purchase of a weighted blanket - to help my spiralling levels of anxiety.
I've often wondered why, when the dentist covers my chest with a lead-lined blanket when he takes x-rays, it feels so good. Feeling good is something you don't normally associate with a visit to the dentist. Now I understand.
Well, I'm off to have a covid test tomorrow. I had a sinus infection over easter, did a sleepover wed/thu and now have a sore throat again. No aches or fever. Its extremely unlikely that I have the virus, as there is almost no community transmission here, but because I work with vulnerable people, better safe than sorry.
Comments
Some people live 10+ miles from their nearest supermarket! It all depends on the local situation, but here I've found that the very small neighbourhood shops are very quiet and have most of what I need. Which is a relief, as I don't think I could face long queues.
My veg box contained a head of celery - not my favourite at the best of times, usually I only have it if a recipe explicitly calls for it as I'm not really that keen. Being reluctant to waste it however, I made celery soup today, and it was surprisingly good. I may have solved the "leftovers-once-you've-used-the-stick-or-two-for-the-recipe" problem....
A couple of anti-histamine pills, and 24 hours' seclusion, did the trick, but I've avoided the combination ever since - a good 50 years ago!
Oddly, celery, in the various guises mentioned, has no ill-effect, and neither does blue cheese, when taken on its own (well, with biscuits, and red WINE, of course).
When this lockdown ends I'm firing my cook, We have all cafés and restaurants closed and no take-aways. I am so tired of cooking. I think it will be chickpea soup tomorrow if I have the right spices.
Mirepoix ftw!
It takes a little calculation to work out what we will be running out of in eight days time, but I am getting practised at this. I will end up like a calendar - a month at a view.
I've been known to do that too (though not in stir fry) if I've got carrot/celery to use up. However, dishes over the last couple of weeks have not involved Bolognese (or anything similar). A bean chilli may however be calling, which will take care of some of that. I also suspect spicy carrot and lentil soup may be making an appearance as I appear to be collecting carrots!
Hmmm, cumin and chilli version, or whack in a dose of harissa paste....
ETA allegedly I get fennel this week. Yippee, love the stuff!
Thursday is cauliflower cheese day. We have all the ingredients, but in recent weeks it has severely aggravated my IBS. I think it must be the cooked cheese? So it is better for me to avoid it.
DH is expecting this meal tonight, and says it is not something he can cook himself ( he has a limited range).
Does he really expect me to make two different meals? Is it even worth discussing?
Actually, does it freeze well? I could make enough for next week too.
After all, I am not busy doing anything else.
(Also, you could also have the cauliflower but with a different sauce.)
Another regular meal is burger and chips, with carrot and bean burger for me, beefburger for the carnivore, salad and whatever root vegetables I have roasted in wedges. Both burgers are batch made and frozen for another day. And a muffin tin keeps them separated in the oven.
Tonight's supper is going to be sweet potato pakora with salad and a sheekh kebab for the carnivore. I'll just eat two pakora instead of one.
Now, where's that bottle of vodka?
If it is the cheese which is irritant not the cauliflower, I would try making cauliflower cheese with either a tomato or herby white sauce, and add the cheese at the end as an optional extra.
Burgers in brioche buns for lunch, and for tea we will have braised beef and lentils with sliced potato topping. Possibly with a white sauce on top.
Still learning to manage my post-covid postural tachycardia, this morning I introduced a yoga routine of resting and standing poses (I’ve been doing Iyengar yoga for years so familiar exercise) which had a temporary positive effect so this might be a winner in teaching my body how to respond correctly to exercise again (by exercise, I mean any movement; I get tachycardia standing up and walking to the bathroom!). Controlled breathing seems to also slightly improve the symptoms.
I'm thinking maybe cauli& Potato curry (also including courgettes from a previous week), the carrots will go in soup and/or chilli. I love fennel and like radishes too: there was a recipe for pickling them... can you eat pickled veg with curry...
It seems very odd to have so much veg that I can't quite see how to use it all up! I'd hate to have to cancel a week to catch up with myself!
A kitchen cupboard door has become unhinged probably in sympathy with its owners.
Worse still, the bobbin casing on the sewing machine chose to fall to bits.
It has been mercy-dashed by taxi to the mender's, through an eerily empty city centre. Driver tells me business is down by 60/70%.
A radish salad is nice with a curry, I sprinkle chaat masala on mine. Perhaps you might try a dressing of lemon and herb?
I thought you were going to go on to say what a small amount it was! You must have a very small appetite - Mr Nen and I would demolish that in a couple of days, apart from the onion which doesn't agree with him. I haven't used onion or garlic in recipes for some years, but use a spice called Asfoetida which gives something of the flavour without the adverse effects.
Lemon slices in gin of course.
Because the box selections have been slimmed to deal with the Covid demand we're back on a box with potatoes from next week and I have promised I will freeze potato dishes for the day we can switch back if the potatoes get all too much.
Last summer I was blue-lighted into hospital in the small hours after an attack following a perfectly routine visit to the loo.
The normal investigations revealed nothing major wrong with my heart, just a bit of mild, age-related deterioration.
They bunged in an ICD, so "if it happens again" my heart will get a shock to kick it back into normal rhythm, but I still don't know what set it off.
Fresh fruit and vegetables are not much available here right now. We're into turnips, sweet potatoes, and I'm cooking up the butts of any lettuce heads and bok choy etc. Normally we can get fresh fruit and veggies, but delivery from the south (USA) is a problem. Apples we have aplenty, they store them in cold oxygen free darkness I believe, so they last well.
I have so far baked this week:
-a raisin roll-
-bread made from kitchen-caught yeasts which started to go a little a sourdough after 3rd go (normal)
-molasses and oat bannock
-chocolate cake with added coffee (this is a very good idea!)
-normal yeasted bread but with the shortage of yeast, just ¼ teaspoon of yeast for 3 loaves
I am not allowed to bake again for a week.
The dog is now my office manager. We usually give a "kong" which is a rubber hollow food toy when we leave the house. It has some treats and peanut butter in it normally. Now she goes and sits beside the desk to tell me to get to work. She seems to think that a tea break is another time when she should get treats. Animals have it good don't they? The cat is also issuing instructions but these are mostly to be picked up and for us to let her sleep. She's 23 and the mother of the dog.
I'm contemplating the purchase of a weighted blanket - to help my spiralling levels of anxiety. At least, that is what the ads for them all say. I don't know whether this would be a good idea, or another daft one...
Another option, which for me has the same effect, is to get a duvet for a bigger size of bed than you have, and tuck it in tightly. I can't do this any more because I got a new mattress a couple of years ago, and it's too thick for the duvet to tuck in tightly. I did that for years with my old mattress though.
I should add that for me the effects are sensory. If I am anxious about something, the blanket doesn't stop me being anxious.
This sort of thing.
During my recent panicky weeks of ill health I’ve taken Kalms to help me sleep and, placebo or not, my sleep has improved. White wine is terrible for my insomnia, so it’s good I gave up alcohol for Lent. Currently I’m sleeping like a log though due to my increased heart rate during the day.
We’re eating really well during the crisis, both my husband and I are keen cooks and we have a good veg box with a simple meat and fish box. I’m having more lunches than normal though, as usually I have very light lunches when at home by myself and now there are 3 adults and one near adult at home.
I've often wondered why, when the dentist covers my chest with a lead-lined blanket when he takes x-rays, it feels so good. Feeling good is something you don't normally associate with a visit to the dentist. Now I understand.