A new venture has begun!
Due to a need to tighten our belts once more I am making more of an effort to make things myself from scratch. We are both fond of things sweet which may not be a good thing but cannot be denied. As a child sweets were rare due to my younger sister being an insulin dependent diabetic from a young age. All four of us were limited with visits to the sweet shop. I remember my sister having horrid little sweets that came from Boots. I always felt sorry for her but it was hard on us too! I recently watched a series on TV about sweet making through the ages which really made me think. sweets used to be made at home! it is another thing the big factories have taken over for profit! The idea came to make a different thing each week that will fill a kilner/parfait jar and live on a pantry shelf. The next problem was sourcing recipes and ingredients. many modern recipes use fancy things like liquid glucose and double cream. I wanted to go back to the basics to be sure of avoiding chemicals. The first thing I made last week was cinder toffee. Just sugar, golden syrup and bicarbonate of soda. Really easy and rather yummy. The next time I make that I will coat it in chocolate like Crunchie which will add another good taste. Today I have made a basic chocolate fudge. A bit more complicated but not beyond me. It is sitting in the tin cooling just now. The recipe I found called for liquid glucose but I used golden syrup feeling it does the same job. It has yet to be tasted so I am unsure how good it is. Him indoors is very good with the things I produce, always giving a it a go and giving his verdict. If this fudge recipe works I plan to change it by adding things like raisins or glace cherries. Next week I plan to make coconut ice. I have found a wonderful you tube site called simply cooking. It is an Australian chap with great ideas. I plan to try making his whipped cream from a bottle of full fat milk. He shows how to make butter and cheese too. Although it does not come under the heading of sweet, cheddar cheese is to be attempted very soon. A few more things to gather and I will follow his instructions. I am finding making things myself to be fairly easy. regular things like bread and cakes are whipped up very quickly now. It give me great pleasure to see my cupboards and fridge filled with home produced stuff. Somewhere I have a copy of Mrs Beeton, I need to dig it out and see what ideas she had! it is also very good for the bank balance!
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At least that is what I read many years ago whilst looking for a way to lose the dreaded pounds.
Throughout my adult life I have eagerly taken up every new way of eating that came up. and there have been many. At the age of 18 I took the decision to become vegetarian. I just did not like the idea of eating meat. As a child I was not allowed to decide for myself. It was not easy avoiding meat at this time and I had rather lot of omlettes and chips. Eventually frozen pasta meals came into being but they were not that good! I spent many years and lots of money on weight watchers but have to say I lost the most weight on this plan. Nearly everything I ate was made by weight watchers. Then I started to think about the quality of what I was eating and reading packaging. I was horrified by what I found. Barely any natural food was in the things I was eating. I stopped following the weightwatchers plan and of course put on weight. Then much more recently I decided to become vegan. It seemed the natural progression from being vegetarian. Living in France made it very difficult but I found sources to make vegan meals. I joined a facebook group but did not stay with it long due to the militant attitude. I firmly feel that we all make our own decisions about our diet. It is not for others to dictate. I realised recently that I was once again eating chemicals even if they were healthy! It is expensive too buying special things to make faux meat for example. I do not want to eat faux meat. So today I have gone back to my vegetarian lifestyle that I am familiar with and can easily manage. The vegan world would be horrified but it is more important to me to eat real natural food. The weight.... so far I have stayed a size 12 which I feel is fine but if it increases it is not a problem. I will no longer be dictated to. |
I have lived in France for almost eight years now. In that time I have gradually simplified my life and worked at improving my carbon footprint. On a world scale there is little I can do but I can make a difference in my corner. I welcome comments but would ask all to maintain the peace that I work hard at promoting.
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