Sunday

Unusually, we got up before 8:30am both mornings this weekend. It was an effort, but worthwhile. Yesterday we went over to Glasgow to sell the small load of junk we have gathered over the past few weeks. We made £29 in total, not a fortune over a 6 hour period, but fun nevertheless, especially the banter with the tight-arse buying public.

Before we left to go out today, we had a banana, mango, blueberry and papaya smoothie followed by a bowl of 3 mueslis for breakfast. We drove to Kinross to visit the Sunday market. S got a new watch battery fitted, which’ll last for 3+ years, I got some leeks, an onion and a set of five aluminium dishes for a pie I’m just about to make. On the way back, we drove round Loch Leven and stopped of at the RSPB wetlands project. After a walk up to the top of a hill offering amazing views of the Loch below and the glider planes circling the paragliders over by the next nearest hilltop, S and I had a small bite of lunch at the cafe, consisting of a egg mayo with cress sandwich for myself and a tomato and cheese toastie for S.

As soon as we arrived back at home, S took the lamb from the fridge that had been marinating in reduced kiwi overnight, and roasted the meat in the oven for 20 minutes. We ate the meat with chopped salad and pitta bread, with a bit of chilli sauce and creme fraiche. It was yummy! Now we’re eating scones with bramble jelly and rasberry jam.

Packed lunch, new job

I started a new job today, the first since graduating from university. I haven’t had a full time, 9 to 5 since 1999. That’s nearly seven years! The morning was set aside for form filling, health and safety procedures, tours around the building (an old bank), a peer into the old bank safe, and familiarising myself with the Employee Handbook and the intranet.

I made S and myself a packed lunch from last night’s leftover veggie burgers accompanied by a bit of rocket & spinach and a slice of cheese. I sandwiched the burger with a rustic white roll. I went for a walk around the block and was still hungry so I bought a ‘new recipe’ Lion bar.

Chicken Ciabatta with Frites for lunch

I own a Seat Ibiza and the nearest reputable Seat garage is close to Glasgow. Arnold Clark, the ubiquitous car dealer, was my nearest option, but from what I hear, their service, both mechanical and customer, is of poor quality.

Instead of waiting at the mechanics for 3 hours, a friend picked me up and we went for lunch in Glasgow, to a great pub / restaurant. I did not plan on eating much for lunch but I couldn’t resist the Chicken Ciabatta with Smoked Applewood Cheddar. I shared a bowl of chips too.

No more big lunches for me. I start my new job tomorrow and plan to take packed lunches. If S and I get up earlier, we can fit in a 15 minute stretch / fitness session, make our packed lunches, and walk to work.

Muesli for breakfast

Both S and I ate muesli for breakfast, after our half-hearted attempt at some exercise this morning. I mainly stretched for 10 minutes and S did some sit ups. Also, I found out that S will only eat breakfast after she has showered. Weird!

3 types of muesli in one bowl

I just ate three different types of mueslis, all mixed together in one bowl. They were:

• Alpen Original
• Sainsbury’s 12 fruit & nut muesli
• Sainsbury’s ‘Taste the Difference’ Caramelised Nut & Raisin Crunch

I put about 15 grams of each muesli into a bowl and added 1/3 of a pint of skimmed milk. All three mixed together certainly complement each other, increasing the number of different oats, nuts, fruits and seeds one eats in a day. Surprisingly, all three mueslis add sugar, and by simply comparing the ingredients, Alpen seems to be the most unhealthy out of the three healthy cereals. Anyway, here’s the list of healthy sounding stuff I ate in my bowl of muesli.

Oats

• Oat Flakes
• Wheat Flakes
• Toasted Wheatflakes
• Barley Flakes

Nuts

• Hazlenuts
• Almonds
• Cashew Nuts
• Brazil Nuts
• Pecan Nuts

Fruits

• Raisins
• Flame Raisins
• Sultanas
• Golden Raisins
• Chopped Dates
• Chopped Apricots
• Sweetened Dried Banana
• Dried Diced Papaya
• Dried Diced Pineapple

Seeds

• Sunflower Seeds
• Sesame Seeds

Flavourings

• Sugar
• Honey
• Salt

Misc

• Dried Skimmed Milk Powder
• Dried Milk Whey Powder
• Malted Barley Extract
• Vegetable Oil (Rapeseed Oil & Palm Oil)

Sweet, sweet potato

After seeing the Sainsbury advert for mashed sweet potato last night on TV, the powers that be set the wheels in motion for S and myself to happen upon the overpriced supermarket today. We took a walk around Cramond despite the gusty weather, and, on our return drive, came upon a Sainsbury’s supermarket. This was only the second time I’d driven around this part of town and we did need to get some food shopping and Sainsbury’s would have usually been out of the question because as far back as I can remember, my experiences of shopping at Sainsbury’s have always been expensive.

Anyway, we’re back home now, and spent £79 on 55 items. All good items, healthy and in minimal packaging.

Sweet Potato Mash with Kofta Meatballs
And here’s what we ate this Easter Monday evening: Boiled sweet potatoes, mashed up with sour cream and some garlic. The potatoes were ever so tasty and sweet as the name would suggest, and went perfectly with the “kofta” meatballs, also sweet for some reason, and the rustic (?) fresh spinach and watercress, plum tomato and cucumber salad. Felt healthy, was perfectly adequately filling, and easy-on-the-conscience food.