It's no secret that I don't like to exercise. When I had my little farm I was healthy because life was healthy - I didn't exercise, I worked. Looking after goats, which meant repairing fences, looking after the huge vegie garden, riding my horse - it was natural exercise.
Now that I live in the city, getting out and walking is something you have to plan, to think about and - basically - do.
Apparently just planning and thinking about it isn't enough.
The problem is that I have agoraphobia. I have my medical assistance dog, and of course, Zoe, but sometimes it is still impossible for me to leave the house.
Zoe has therefore dragged me to dancing. Line dancing. Surprisingly it's fun, although I'm sure it will be more fun for me (if less entertaining for everyone else) once I have lost some weight!
And yes, walking. Hmmm, well, if I don't make it every day, at least I make it SOME days. That has to count, right?
Monday, May 10, 2010
Half the fridge soup
When the week is dragging on and pay day hasn't turned up yet, we start to get a bit tired of what is left in the fridge.
That's when it's time to make "half the fridge soup".
I pull out every vegetable in there and decide what is, and what isn't going to go into the soup.
Things that usually make it are...
carrots
celery
onion
garlic
sweet potato
pumpkin
tomato
beans (snap and/or dried)
peas
corn
parsnip
If I had my way cabbage, cauliflower and broccili would be added, but as they are "not allowed in the house!" I have to find alternatives, such as spinach which is tolerated as long as I hide it in other things.
I cut everything up small and throw it in the pot, only just covering it with water. Put the lid on and cook until all the vegies are soft.
Season, keeping the salt to a minimum - if you use stock instead of water it's probably seasoned enough. Remember, you can always add more, but you can't take away.
Put 3/4 of it into the blender, then add it back to the remainder.
Serve, sprinkle some shallots or thinly sliced raw beans on top.
That's when it's time to make "half the fridge soup".
I pull out every vegetable in there and decide what is, and what isn't going to go into the soup.
Things that usually make it are...
carrots
celery
onion
garlic
sweet potato
pumpkin
tomato
beans (snap and/or dried)
peas
corn
parsnip
If I had my way cabbage, cauliflower and broccili would be added, but as they are "not allowed in the house!" I have to find alternatives, such as spinach which is tolerated as long as I hide it in other things.
I cut everything up small and throw it in the pot, only just covering it with water. Put the lid on and cook until all the vegies are soft.
Season, keeping the salt to a minimum - if you use stock instead of water it's probably seasoned enough. Remember, you can always add more, but you can't take away.
Put 3/4 of it into the blender, then add it back to the remainder.
Serve, sprinkle some shallots or thinly sliced raw beans on top.
Healthy Eating - Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Soup with Mint
Trying to get more vegetables into my family means trying to hide them in different ways.
Butternut pumpkin has been accepted roasted, so I decided to try a sweet soup with it.
I cooked sweet potato and butternut pumpkin in as little water as possible until soft. Then I blended one cup of soy milk with a handful of fresh mint, then added the pumpkin and potato and blended until smooth.
I grated some fresh nutmeg on top before serving.
It was DELICIOUS!!! However, it wasn't well received by everyone. I have a feeling that "soup" and "sweet" threw them and they couldn't get past the thought that soup should have salt in it!
So I ate two bowl fulls and they had a sandwich.
:)
Butternut pumpkin has been accepted roasted, so I decided to try a sweet soup with it.
I cooked sweet potato and butternut pumpkin in as little water as possible until soft. Then I blended one cup of soy milk with a handful of fresh mint, then added the pumpkin and potato and blended until smooth.
I grated some fresh nutmeg on top before serving.
It was DELICIOUS!!! However, it wasn't well received by everyone. I have a feeling that "soup" and "sweet" threw them and they couldn't get past the thought that soup should have salt in it!
So I ate two bowl fulls and they had a sandwich.
:)
Healthy cooking - with puff pastry!
I've discovered that you can turn a meal from "oh yeah" to "WOW!" by simply wrapping it up in puff pastry.
It's also a wonderful way to hide healthy ingredients from those who might otherwise refuse to eat them.
Last night I made curry puffs. I'm not a fan of curry puffs. I usually find the filling either over spiced, or - to be frank - rancid. However, I have been trying to get sweet potato (yam) and pumpkin into Zoe, and, the sweet soup of the night before being a total disaster, decided that a more spicy alternative might be acceptable.
I cooked some onion and garlic in a little olive oil until clear, added the sweet potato and pumpkin (butternut) both cut very small and stirred for a minute before adding a little chicken stock and pepper. No salt because the stock had salt in it already. I added a very small level teaspoon of curry powder.
When the pumpkin and potato were soft (only a few minutes because I cut them small) I added some lentils and a little more stock. (amounts depend on how many you have to feed). I also put some parsley in it, because I had some.
I kept an eye on it so it wouldn't stick, and when the lentils were almost cooked I added some corn flour to thicken.
Then I took it off the stove.
Puff pastry I buy frozen. I might like to cook, but I don't want to go that far! I took two slices of it out of the freezer and waited until they defrosted. Then I cut each one in 4, to make 4 squares.
I put a few spoonfuls into each square, wiped around the edges with milk, and put another 4 squares on top. Then I pressed down around the edges with my fingers, making a pretty squishy patter, brushed milk over the top, and cooked until the puff pastry was puffy and golden.
They got a 10 out of 10! Best of all, I had more of the filling left over so I could make another two of them for lunch today.
PS. If you don't have lentils, or you don't like them, you could leave them out, or add peas instead. If you need to bulk the dish out you could add carrots and parsnips. Stay away from white potatoes though, they are high GI.
It's also a wonderful way to hide healthy ingredients from those who might otherwise refuse to eat them.
Last night I made curry puffs. I'm not a fan of curry puffs. I usually find the filling either over spiced, or - to be frank - rancid. However, I have been trying to get sweet potato (yam) and pumpkin into Zoe, and, the sweet soup of the night before being a total disaster, decided that a more spicy alternative might be acceptable.
I cooked some onion and garlic in a little olive oil until clear, added the sweet potato and pumpkin (butternut) both cut very small and stirred for a minute before adding a little chicken stock and pepper. No salt because the stock had salt in it already. I added a very small level teaspoon of curry powder.
When the pumpkin and potato were soft (only a few minutes because I cut them small) I added some lentils and a little more stock. (amounts depend on how many you have to feed). I also put some parsley in it, because I had some.
I kept an eye on it so it wouldn't stick, and when the lentils were almost cooked I added some corn flour to thicken.
Then I took it off the stove.
Puff pastry I buy frozen. I might like to cook, but I don't want to go that far! I took two slices of it out of the freezer and waited until they defrosted. Then I cut each one in 4, to make 4 squares.
I put a few spoonfuls into each square, wiped around the edges with milk, and put another 4 squares on top. Then I pressed down around the edges with my fingers, making a pretty squishy patter, brushed milk over the top, and cooked until the puff pastry was puffy and golden.
They got a 10 out of 10! Best of all, I had more of the filling left over so I could make another two of them for lunch today.
PS. If you don't have lentils, or you don't like them, you could leave them out, or add peas instead. If you need to bulk the dish out you could add carrots and parsnips. Stay away from white potatoes though, they are high GI.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
More about dog training
People seem interested in how Gem was trained, and I mentioned the clicker, so I thought I'd do more on that.
In fact, I thought I'd do a whole website on it.
At the moment I have the front page done and the page about clickers. I'll soon be adding the basic house training and household maners, and then basic tricks and advanced tricks. It will be, like this blog, a work in progress, as I don't think that Gem will ever stop learning.
The weather has been against me though. Every time I have the opertunity to take photos, it's overcast. But we need the rain, so it's all good. I'll just add more photos to the site as I get them. At the moment it's full of Gem's baby photos! And that's good too, because she was a cute puppy!
The URL is http://www.dogtrainingteam.com and here is a photo of Gem as a baby being as cute as only puppies can be!
And yes - she did grow into those ears!!!
In fact, I thought I'd do a whole website on it.
At the moment I have the front page done and the page about clickers. I'll soon be adding the basic house training and household maners, and then basic tricks and advanced tricks. It will be, like this blog, a work in progress, as I don't think that Gem will ever stop learning.
The weather has been against me though. Every time I have the opertunity to take photos, it's overcast. But we need the rain, so it's all good. I'll just add more photos to the site as I get them. At the moment it's full of Gem's baby photos! And that's good too, because she was a cute puppy!
The URL is http://www.dogtrainingteam.com and here is a photo of Gem as a baby being as cute as only puppies can be!
And yes - she did grow into those ears!!!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Vision in Voice
Ooops! Almost forgot!
You HAVE to see this!
http://www.visioninvoice.com
It's a new choir for people who are visually impaired, started by my choir leader, Jane. Josh is a member of my choir who is visually impaired and Jane was so impressed by his ability to quickly memorise words and music, including some pretty complicated harmonies, she came up with the idea of Vision in Voice.
Staying on the topic of singing, but moving away from VIV for a moment, I'm performing with two choirs over Christmas. One of them, my usual choir, MorningSong (http://www.morningsong.com.au) has been asked to sing in Queen Street Mall in the centre of Brisbane - and we are being paid for it, which is a new concept for me. I'm use to paying to be IN choirs, not being paid to sing!
I kind of like the idea...
You HAVE to see this!
http://www.visioninvoice.com
It's a new choir for people who are visually impaired, started by my choir leader, Jane. Josh is a member of my choir who is visually impaired and Jane was so impressed by his ability to quickly memorise words and music, including some pretty complicated harmonies, she came up with the idea of Vision in Voice.
Staying on the topic of singing, but moving away from VIV for a moment, I'm performing with two choirs over Christmas. One of them, my usual choir, MorningSong (http://www.morningsong.com.au) has been asked to sing in Queen Street Mall in the centre of Brisbane - and we are being paid for it, which is a new concept for me. I'm use to paying to be IN choirs, not being paid to sing!
I kind of like the idea...
Clicker Training
I thought that since this blog is about bits and pieces I should talk a bit about one of the biggest bits of my life.
My dog, Gem.
Gem is a Papillon, and is my Medical Alert Dog.
As I was a dog trainer, back in another life (in my twenties, when I was young, fit and healthy) I trained her myself. Mostly I use the clicker method.
A clicker is a little box with a metal side that you press and it makes a click sound. You click at exactly the moment the dog does the "right" thing and then give them a treat. They associate the noise with "AH! THAT'S what is wanted!" and it imprints what they are doing in that exact moment in their minds.
It's incredible how quickly they can learn once they undersand the concept - and it's amazing how quickly a puppy (or dog) picks up the concept when food is involved!
At a recent talk to Life Line about Medical Assistance Dogs I gave a demonstration of clicker training, teaching Gem a new trick in less then 5 minutes while I talked to the audience. People were standing to see and there were gasps of amazment when, without any verbal communication between me and the dog at all, she was, in seconds, returning to the spot I had picked at random between clicks.
So, I think a series of articles about clicker training are probably on their way!
My dog, Gem.
Gem is a Papillon, and is my Medical Alert Dog.
As I was a dog trainer, back in another life (in my twenties, when I was young, fit and healthy) I trained her myself. Mostly I use the clicker method.
A clicker is a little box with a metal side that you press and it makes a click sound. You click at exactly the moment the dog does the "right" thing and then give them a treat. They associate the noise with "AH! THAT'S what is wanted!" and it imprints what they are doing in that exact moment in their minds.
It's incredible how quickly they can learn once they undersand the concept - and it's amazing how quickly a puppy (or dog) picks up the concept when food is involved!
At a recent talk to Life Line about Medical Assistance Dogs I gave a demonstration of clicker training, teaching Gem a new trick in less then 5 minutes while I talked to the audience. People were standing to see and there were gasps of amazment when, without any verbal communication between me and the dog at all, she was, in seconds, returning to the spot I had picked at random between clicks.
So, I think a series of articles about clicker training are probably on their way!
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