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Yummm. It might seem like an unusual dinner but I had some pineapple, carrot and sweet potato that I wanted to use up before picking up my Food Connect box tomorrow.

Pineapples are very juicy. I had enjoyed half of the pineapple chopped up with my lunch and as a mid-afternoon snack. The remainder formed the basis of a chunky souped up salad comprising just three ingredients: 320g pineapple, 210g carrot with 120g sweet potato. I processed these items on speed 6 in the Thermomix for 6 seconds.

Naturally there was some chewing involved but the sweetness and liquid nature of the pineapple made it very easy to eat. I added some chick peas just to make sure I was getting enough calories.

After having eaten almost a whole pineapple over two consecutive meals I could not finish off the last of the mix as the amount of pineapple I had eaten was affecting my tongue and gums. So the remainder will make it on to my lunch plate tomorrow.

Trying this combination reinforced in my mind that I can mix just about anything together into a soup, salad or combined meal. This combination would make a great side salad option in a buffet. Photo is here.

I visited the Thermomix Forum and noticed a comment about the Cream of Cauliflower soup recipe in the Rawlicious recipe booklet. I had been thinking about steaming some cauliflower for my dinner but decided instead to make a raw cauliflower and carrot soup with avocado.

The following ingredients were processed in the Thermomix bowl for 20 seconds on speed 8:-

160g cauliflower

100g carrot

20g olive oil

20g lemon juice ndash; half a lemon

375g water

Dash or two of shoyu sauce

Dribble of honey

The mix was warmed to 37 degs C for 4 minutes on speed 1 and then poured over some avocado chunks with some shallots added on top.

I tasted the mix before adding the shoyu sauce and honey and felt that the lemon had contributed too much, but after adding these extra ingredients enjoyed this soup enough to eat the second bowl that the quantities provided. I might leave out the lemon juice next time. Since carrot has a sweet taste perhaps I do not need to add the shoyu sauce and honey to compensate for the lemon juice. It turned out to be a slightly chunky soup as I had processed the mix on speed 8 rather than 10 which I was happy with.

I am pleased that I made this soup as I have been mulling about eating more of my food raw. After trawling through the Rawlicious recipe booklet and moving on to playing with aspects of the 80/10/10 diet, I had gone back to cooking my dinners while including a cooked grain in my breakfast and a cooked legume in my lunch.

I recently watched the FoodMatters dvd which includes a focus on raw food. One of the speakers recommends 51% or more raw food each day saying that this quantity of raw food will mean that the body will not react to the remaining amount of cooked food. I might already be at or above this percentage as I eat a fair amount of fruit earlier in the day. However the final comment that I noted from the dvd was that an 80% raw food diet is healthy.

Another comment that I was interested to hear was that two handfuls of raw cashews would give me the therapeutic equivalent of a dose of Prozac. I have never considered taking Prozac and prefer to stay away from taking heavy duty drugs. But the next time I am a little stressed, I will dig into the cashew supply to check out this theory. Much better to eat nuts than go nuts!

Postscript:

Again I have difficulties in loading a photo. A picture of the soup is here.

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The spring cleaning has continued and for a few days it was justified, as we enjoyed temperatures 11 degrees C higher than the average which generally occurs during spring. In my culling I came across a magnetic bracelet that I had bought I cannot remember how many years ago. I put it on and have been wearing it on and off over the past few weeks.

I slept well some nights and not so well others, which led to me wondering what the difference was. I realised that the nights when I had not slept so well were nights when I did not wear the bracelet during the night, while I enjoyed refreshing nights sleep when the bracelet remained as if glued to my wrist.

So the scientific part of me wanted to know if this was what really happened. I left the bracelet off and was then awake for at least an hour during the night. I kept the bracelet on and barely stirred during the night. I have found a web site that confirms that these bracelets provide more restful sleep.

I have worn necklaces sporting a hematite stone in the past as I wanted the grounding energy from the crystal. I have read on the internet that it also enhances inner peace which I am more than happy to welcome more of into my life. The more I read about this crystal, the more impressed I become as hematite can also benefit our blood vessels.

My Mum has also had difficulties sleeping during the night and I found another magnetic hematite bracelet for her. It was only $5 which was a bargain, but with it being so economical I could not help wondering whether it would do the same job. So naturally I had to test out this new bracelet.

I made sure it was magnetic by placing it near a small piece of metal and found all was well in that area. Since the bracelet is made of the crystal hematite, I sat it on an amethyst bed for a few hours to clear it of any energy it had taken on. Then I wore it during the afternoon and left it on during the night. I am pleased to report that I had a good nights sleep.

My Mum has been wearing her new bracelet for the past few nights and slept soundly each night. She was amazed at the difference a bracelet can make.

I am an eternal seeker of insomnia cures. I felt like I had found the Holy Grail when eating protein free dinners led to sound sleep, but this has not stood the test of time. I have slept more soundly for more than a week now simply by wearing this bracelet. The solution to an age-old problem has become crystal clear. Well, to me at any rate.

Postscript

I have had problems loading a photo of the bracelet. If you would like to see what it looks like, then you can view it here.

I bought a slow cooker some years ago and then promptly ordered two cookbooks from Amazon. One of the cookbooks has since been passed onto Lifeline for their next Book Fest while over time I have developed some preferences from the other.

Of course, having become a Thermomix advocate means that I’ll do my best to convert any recipes I find in a competitive cookbook to work even better by using the Thermomix. And that’s exactly what happened when I decided to cook a modified version of a recipe for Spicy Vegetable-Lentil Soup from the cookbook “America’s Best Slow Cooker Recipes”.

I started out thinking I’d make this lentil soup in the slow cooker, but as I perused the ingredients and instructions, I realised this was a perfect candidate for a conversion. Naturally I replaced some ingredients that I didn’t have on hand.

I washed half a cup of red lentils and set them aside. Then I processed 1 inch ginger and 1 clove garlic for 5 seconds on speed 7. I pushed the ginger and garlic down into the lower section of the bowl and then added a chopped onion along with ½ teaspoon cumin seeds, 1 Granny Smith apple peeled cored and diced(90g), 2 medium carrots peeled (370g – well maybe they were large!) and a chinese bok choy chopped (50g). The mix was again processed for 5 seconds on speed 7. Half a tablespoon of Thermomix stock concentrate, ½ teaspoon curry powder and 600ml water were added along with the soaked red lentils, and then I set the Thermomix onto 20 minutes at 100 degrees C on speed 1, after which the mix was blended at speed 6 for 10 seconds.

Hmmm... to be honest, what I’m really thinking is ... Yummm...  It’s been a while since I’ve made this soup and when I have in the past, it has always been in the slow cooker. From what I remember, I previously blended the soup at a higher speed which gave it a creamy consistency. This time around, I’ve deliberately blended it at a lower speed so that the consistency of the lentils will show through. I really enjoyed eating this soup. It tasted delicious and I promptly went back for some more.     

This made a lovely dinner after which I promptly set a new resolution to troll through this cookbook to see if there are any other recipes that I’d like to convert to the Thermomix.  

I used Drive laundry powder for decades. Gosh, you can probably guess how saying that makes me feel! As I became more environmentally aware, I changed over to Planet Ark’s Aware laundry concentrate which is an environmentally friendly choice, and have happily used this option for a few years.

But I kept reading about soapnuts in Grass Roots magazines and finally saw a packet at the Biome shop in Paddington. I bought it and put it on a shelf for many months, as you do, and then when I finished the latest Aware packet, decided to be brave and try the soapnuts.

I placed two soapnut cases into the small muslin case provided which was then placed into the washing machine basin along with my first load of sheets and pillow cases. It’s hard to judge the difference between soapnuts and washing powder as you hang the sheets out but if I sniff the sheets and also the towels from the second load after they’ve dried, they smell just fine.

Apart from wanting to try a truly natural option for washing my clothes, I also liked the idea of just putting two soapnut cases into the muslin bag and being able to use the contents in the muslin bag for the next few or more washes. This compared favourably to the slight cough that developed if I breathed in while scooping laundry powder into my washing machine. The laundry powder was so fine that it tended to float near enough for me to have a reaction.

I really like these soapnuts. According to the website, soapnuts are a 100% natural cleaner which grows wild in the Himalayas and has been used for centuries in India, China and Nepal.

Well, even though it’s taken me some time to test this out, I’m a believer after just one washing day. What’s even better is that these soapnuts are incredibly versatile. They can be used to make up a liquid concentrate for cleaning, shampoo, glass cleaner if vinegar and extra water is added, and the list goes on. The liquid concentrate can even repel ants by spraying it where the ants enter the home.

This is a great find. I’m going to have a lot of fun finding other uses for these intriguing nuts.

I wish I could say that I grow all the vegetables and fruit that I need, but I can’t as I live in a townhouse in an inner city suburb with limited space both inside and out. However, I am fortunate in having two balconies that face north which enable me to grow greens and tomatoes throughout most months of the year.

There is also a backyard which is covered mostly by grass along with an area at the very back covered by black plastic and bark. I keep looking at both wondering when will I do something more productive with them, but accept that there are time and wildlife issues, along with other issues that I need to either deal with or work around.  

By wildlife issues I mean the brush turkeys that have taken to visiting my backyard in the past year, along with a neighbourhood possum that has often emitted its guttural sound just to let us know it’s around. That’s not to mention the birds that insist on ripping off young tomatoes from the plants on my balcony at least once a year, only to chuck half-eaten green tomatoes over the railing.

I think I’m getting the measure of the birds as I’ve started using my mini green bags to hide and protect these new tomatoes and for the past week it has worked. I’m hoping that all I need to do is be vigilant when fostering these new charges.

I know I can’t do much about the possum except to remove temptation as much as possible. I’m just grateful that it hasn’t worked out there is anything worthwhile on my patios, so please don’t mention it! I’ve even shushed myself when I’m out on one of my patios late at night.

The brush turkeys have tested me over the past year.  I’d like to say that I didn’t mind the male brush turkey redistributing my bark last year when he thought he could move most of it out of my backyard (protected on all sides by a 1.5 metre fence), or else from the front garden bed on the opposite side of the driveway across 15 metres of concrete driveway in front of three townhouses. Yes, I’d like to say that I was okay with this, but &**#%#^$*&%* unfortunately I can’t! While trying to deal with this, my mother was cooing about visiting after the baby brush turkeys had arrived. She even nicknamed him “Hugh” after, well, I can’t imagine who…

So I was somewhat amused when a few of Hugh’s girlfriends visited to inspect his progress. He ended up with a miniature pile at a corner that my fences provided which turned out to be a very brief prospect for him.

I genuinely wish I could report a happy ending here as I soon worked out that it wasn’t my backyard that Hugh wanted to establish a nest in. It was actually my neighbours’ yard. There was a lovely pile of soil and other stuff and Hugh even visited regularly to test the temperature. But as there was no way of knowing whether there really were any young ones, my neighbours brought in earthmoving equipment and started major development changes to their block. Part of those changes that I had agreed to meant that sections of the fence surrounding my backyard came down and both the nest that Hugh had built in my neighbours’ yard along with the miniature nest in my backyard disappeared. I noticed him visiting along with occasional forays from his girlfriends for a while later, but I thought they had given up on my backyard.

So close to a year on, I have noticed a female brush turkey coming in to peruse the state of my backyard. While I have sometimes felt sympathetic to their plight, and even considered bringing in mulch to assist them in their endeavours (which was before I read on the internet that the nest they need to build is much larger than anything I could handle in the limited space in my backyard), I can’t see my way clear to provide them with a nest. My mum accepted this last year and after initially wanting me to help them, then discouraged me. But I can’t help wondering who will be there to help them? I live opposite a park and you would think they could find everything they need there, but obviously not. My mum has been involved in the environmental movement for some time and has often bemoaned the displacement of wildlife by the explosion of us. Goodness knows where this will lead us.

I’m short. I realise the politically correct term is vertically challenged but I’m sure it’s okay for me to use the word “short” about myself.

I noticed this aspect of my body at a fairly young age which wasn’t from comparing me to my brother and sister. Since they were both older than me I thought it was fair enough that they were both taller than me. I got the hint when I lined up with my class mates according to height for school photos each year as I was always close to if not at the end of the line.

Things didn’t change after I finished school with my adult height being 5 foot 2.5 inches which is just over 158 centimetres.  Not that any of this has ever been a big problem for me, if you’ll pardon the pun. But I have noticed over the years that a slight crick develops in my neck when I’m standing chatting in a group as I generally need to look up.

My limited stature seems to be reflected in my feet. I have small feet and Google hasn’t helped me by finding the politically correct term for this, which is a first. The closest I could find was “hard to fit feet challenged” which sounds like a mouthful.

I have had a lot of fun finding shoes to fit my sizeably challenged feet which is the best term I can come up with. Most shops stock women’s shoes from size 6 and above while I need size 4. There are a few shops around Brisbane that sell shoes for my size but I can’t always find the colour or style I’m looking for. Fortunately I found a shoe factory called Trambas at Capalaba who make a variety of styles of shoes at my size which helps a lot. I’ve also cottoned onto replacing the soles of shoes if that’s the only part that is breaking down. I pay a fraction of the cost of similar new shoes and my old shoes come out looking brand new.

I know the easiest solution would be to shop in the children’s section and I was given a startling reminder of this recently. Somehow I entered into a conversation about being short with small feet and ended up measuring my feet against those of my friend’s granddaughter who turns 9 soon. If only out of ego I have to mention that my feet are wider than hers but we have the same length foot. At this stage I am taller than her but I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before she shoots above me as all of my nieces and nephews did some years ago.  

While googling I found a Yahoo question that clearly resonates with where I’m at: “Is it true that if you have small feet you’ll be short?” My personal experience along with the answers seem to indicate yes, with one person saying that it is to do with nutrition or lack of it – but please don’t mention this to my Mum as she would strenuously deny it – and another person suggesting that it can be related to ethnic origins and the sizes of our immediate family. I prefer the second thought not just because I don’t wish to offend my Mum but also because I can see from looking around my family that this explanation fits better. While my Mum has been a similar height to me, my sister and brother are both some inches taller.

I have accepted being short mainly because there’s no point fighting an inherent characteristic of my body. However I sometimes rail against it particularly when I want to change a light bulb hanging from a high ceiling. But then I remember the quaint little saying ‘good things come in small packages’ and all is well in the world.

I’m obviously out of sync with the seasons as at the start of winter I seem to have a yen for spring cleaning.

First cab off the rank has been the plethora of books I have scattered around my home. I love to read books and in years gone by I have often bought a book, read part of it and then placed it on one of my bookshelves after my attention diverted to a new topic.

With my increasing interest in “greening” my lifestyle I have discovered the joys of my local library and now always check to see if a book that I want to read can be borrowed which for the most part it can. The need to return it by the due date means that I generally read it all rather than thinking that I can finish it off later which I never do. Sometimes I’ve even donated books to the library particularly if they don’t currently have the book that I’ve just bought and read. I also have a local secondhand book store that I acquire books from and have accumulated a small balance by supplying books I’ve bought previously.

So after scanning through my bookshelves I did pretty well ending up with four green bags of books that I took to my secondhand book store. They kindly accepted half of the books and then the rest were delivered to the Lifeline store. Lifeline puts on a huge book fest each year and I felt pretty good being able to return some books that I had bought early last year. I’ve just noticed that the book fest is being held in Brisbane next weekend and it would be nice to think that my contributions were provided in time for this upcoming show.

It was great fun trolling through my bookshelves to see which books to keep and which to pass on. I really felt like I was being ruthless even though I haven’t yet pined for a book that I gave away. Perhaps I reached the perfect point of only giving away those books that I don’t need to see again.

It’s a great feeling knowing that books can be recycled in this way. It’s almost as if they have multiple lives as they move from person to person inspiring, informing or entertaining as they go.

Perhaps this is why I don’t like the idea of digital books even though it’s a far more sustainable option which matches my background in computing. I have sometimes read ebooks on my Palm hand-held computer, but I found the Palm screen way too small for reading and the rechargeable battery in the Palm too limited with my having to recharge the battery after 30 minutes of reading. I much prefer the feel of a book in my hands. But I do realise that later versions of book readers such as the IPad just released would be far superior.

The best part of passing on so many books is that I was then able to shuffle the remaining books around to new locations in order to empty out some shelves in my second bedroom. Letting go of things, be they books or other possessions, is a cathartic process which feels amazing as the level of “stuff” reduces. I’m enjoying this process.

I’ve just had a raw meal in the form of a beetroot, corn and pumpkin raw soup. It feels like such a long time since I’ve dabbled with raw soups but I’m so pleased I have.

I know I’ve pretty much discussed raw soups in the past but I couldn’t help putting up my prescription for a pleasant tasting raw soup. It’s so simple that it could well be my shortest post.

300g veggies/fruit plus 200g orange juice and/or water blended in the Thermomix for 30 seconds on speed 8. Or for non-Thermomix speak, blend just under high speed for 30 seconds.

I think I’m right! It is my shortest post even including my non-Thermomix conversion – well, up to this point at least! I’ve often thought that a quick meeting is a good meeting and I know my brother influenced me in this thought so I’m all for providing a post that is a quick read!

But wait! I’m sure you won’t mind if I post the photo of my dinner tonight. I made it just as I mentioned above with a couple of variations...

Just to be really precise which I suspect is embedded in my nature, I blended 60g beetroot, 110g corn niblets and 170g pumpkin with 190g orange juice and 30g water in the Thermomix bowl on speed 8 for 20 seconds. I added 60g water as the soup was too thick for me and blended again on speed 8 for 10 seconds and the consistency felt right. After plating up, I added some chopped shallots for taste as well as aesthetics.

Naturally the beetroot made its presence visually felt and past experience indicates that this presence will be kinaesthetically felt over the next day or two as it moves through my body. But I don’t mind as beetroot has long been recommended to me as a good source of iron which I was sometimes lacking during my earlier years.

This soup had a lovely light taste and I really enjoyed eating it, and I certainly plan on returning to raw soups in the not too distant future.

So much for the short post! I do try to write short and sweet to reduce writing and reading time. After all, reducing is the first step in that all important mantra – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Over the past few years, I’ve been reading about what we are meant to eat. The 80/10/10 diet book first looks at what we would eat in nature without the use of fire, containers, tools or refrigeration and reaches the conclusion that we would be frugivores, living primarily on fruits with the addition of tender greens. Another book that I’ve had on my shelf for years is “The Yeast Connection” which mentions the “cave man diet” as a basic elimination diet that avoids any and every food eaten more than once a week.

An interesting take on the question of what we eat has been to compare us with our next closest living relatives being two chimpanzee species and gorillas, with the DNA of gorillas being 98% to 99% identical to that of a human.  After writing the international bestseller “Easy Way to Stop Smoking”, Allen Carr later followed up with his book “Easyweigh to Lose Weight” in which he considers what wild animals including gorillas eat.

Now I’m reading the book “The Paleo Diet” by Loren Cordain which looks at what our Stone Age ancestors ate. The book recommends eating lean meats and fish, fresh fruits and non-starchy vegetables. I like the fruit and vegetable focus of the diet, particularly considering my interest in the 80/10/10 diet which has a high fruit and green salad focus.

I’ve only just started reading this book and already I’ve found information relevant to me. There’s a helpful discussion on osteoporosis. It seems that one of the greatest benefits of fruit and vegetables is their ability to slow or prevent osteoporosis. A group of scientists found that the people who ate the most fruits and vegetables had the greatest bone mineral densities and the strongest bones. This is good news for me as I’m currently eating lots of fruit and vegetables which will help my bones after being diagnosed with marginal osteoporosis in recent years.

The author then makes the point that it is not only how much calcium we take in that is important, but also about how much calcium we excrete. If we take in a low amount of calcium while excreting a low amount of calcium then it is possible that we will be in what is called “calcium balance”. But if we load up on foods or medications high in calcium but lose more calcium than we gain, then we will fall out of calcium balance. From what I’ve heard on a number of occasions, the more acidic our diet is, the more calcium we’ll lose from our bones in order to balance our body.

I can see good points in the Paleo diet, particularly with the focus on vegetables and fruit. But I can’t help wondering about the sustainability of a diet that includes a significant amount of lean meats and fish. Plus overall I feel much more comfortable focusing on fruits and vegetables with a small serving each day of brown rice or quinoa with my breakfast along with some chick peas with my salad while eating an egg or some fish perhaps once or twice a week.

I’m so glad that I continue to examine alternative ways of eating as all of this input helps to finetune how I’ll structure my meals into the future. However I suspect this is an ongoing journey that I’ll be on for a long time to come.

I‘m embarrassed to admit there was a time when I bought bottled water. I used to love the stuff, believing that it tasted better than my tap water. Even worse, I did this for many years.  It would make it better if I could say the yellow recycling bins arrived in the middle of this infatuation, but I can’t say that for sure.

Then, even worse, I moved onto distilling tap water. I thought this was the ultimate. I’d been trying to work out which water to drink and a natural therapist suggested I drink distilled water for a while. Naturally some part of me heard forever, but it’s likely it was never intended to be a permanent fixture.

It probably helped that my Mum was using her own personal distillery, so I bought one as well. My Dad kept asking if I was sure distilled water was so good for me and I kept saying yes, but gradually the doubt crept in.

The final nail in the coffin occurred when I was in a dentist’s waiting room a few years back and I read an issue of Wellbeing. An article discussing water mentioned that sprouts grown in distilled water lose minerals because distilled water attracts it out of them.

So I returned to drinking bottled water, but was circumspect about what I was drinking as I continued to check out other options. What changed my mind was reading that most of the bottled water we drink is just filtered tap water.

Since then I’ve dabbled with a portable reverse osmosis kit which I found a little too cumbersome, plus I didn’t like the idea of the amount of water being wasted. So I continued with the Brita on tap filter that I had been using on my kitchen tap for some years until our government started adding fluoride into our water.  

I realise there are differing opinions about the inclusion of fluoride in town water, and I respect others’ choice in this matter. For me, I prefer to filter out the fluoride and believe that I’ve reached the best position for me by having a ceramic Durand Water Filter system that does just this.

If you’ll excuse me grumbling for a few minutes, I’m disappointed that I need to worry about finding good water to drink. But I realise that I live in an imperfect world.  

Fortunately in the midst of this soliloquy, I remember my dalliance with the 80/10/10 diet. Since I’m still following 80/10/10 at roughly 50%, I am getting a certain amount of water from the high level of fruit that I eat, with the added benefit that most of the fruit is organic. This takes a huge load off my mind as I only need to supplement a small amount from my ceramic system.

I know I’m only just over 50, but I seem to have noticed a few wrinkles that seem to be settling too comfortably on my face. If I pull the skin surrounding my nose and mouth back towards my ears, I can certainly see how cosmetic surgery came about. But I made a decision a while back that I wouldn’t do any unnecessary surgery, so a few nips and tucks around my facial orifices or on my forehead are out of the question.

Under normal circumstances I would decide to be comfortable with who I am no matter what. But the face is the piece of us first presented to others around us, and I suppose I’m the same as everyone else in wanting to present the best me possible, at least most of the time.

So I have dabbled by rubbing Nui coconut oil into the questionable parts and when I felt that wasn’t helping then by using some moisturiser gifted to me by a friend. Application of the coconut oil seemed to soften one particularly deep-set wrinkle while the others just seemed to be sitting on the sidelines watching. The moisturiser made incremental improvement.

I’ve dabbled in various areas over the years, including aromatherapy and growing herbs, so I have a few books on these topics in my bookshelves. When I flicked through “Fragrant Pharmacy” late last year, I found a reference to pawpaw being used as a facial mask. So whenever I have eaten pawpaw since then, I have rubbed the inside flesh of a piece of pawpaw skin all over my face. It certainly felt adequate as a face mask, but the results didn’t eventuate.

When I had a few minutes to spare last week, I flicked through two herb books and found a reference in the first edition of “The Herb Book”, written by John Lust and published in 1974, suggesting that “Egg-white mask, used as is or beaten, tightens and tones skin”...   

Whenever I’ve cracked an egg throughout the past week, I’ve rubbed any remaining egg white onto my face. The first sensation is that my face feels tight which lasts for a little while and then disappears when I smile or move my face. I don’t mind the tight sensation disappearing as I’d rather my face be able to do what it wants to do naturally. But what I’m noticing is that there are small changes in the wrinkles I’m concerned about. 

I know I’m not the first one to notice the benefits of egg white. I’ve googled “egg white face mask” and have found a site supporting its use as a facial mask with some people suggesting that lemon juice or honey be added to the mix.  A second web site supports the use of egg whites as a face mask while commenting that its use for tightening the skin provides a temporary fix.  Even so, the slight changes I see when I use it are enough for me to continue with my experiment.

Now if I can just remember to use the remaining egg white or pawpaw skin on my face every time I have either at hand, then that truly would be a miracle!

I used to be so precious. A tiny little grub in my broccoli would result in the entire broccoli being shunned. Fortunately I’ve moved past that stage.

With my increasing awareness of environmental concerns, lettuce leaves nibbled by little friends make it into my salad all the time. And if I happen to find the little friend then I enjoy a little workout. I’m developing my underarm throw to send such little critters out onto my backyard lawn. My theory is that the many birds that visit my backyard will find and enjoy them in the way they do. Who am I to stand in the way of nature operating as it should? If not then the least I hope for is that it’s too far for them to find their way back onto my patios.

However tonight I was shocked to find a very large caterpillar in the corn cob I’ve kept in my fridge for a few days, even though this isn’t the first time one has sheltered in a cob. Surely the cold temperature would be enough to handle the problem for me, but as it seemed to be alive I enjoyed some further throwing practice.

I’m sorry now that I didn’t take a photo of my temporary friend as it was a pretty impressive specimen. It’s amazing that anything can live in my fridge for days. I’ll have to check my fridge settings as I always thought that the point of refrigerating any produce was to kill off unwanted guests.  

But please don’t tell Buddha. I really relate to Buddhism and am happy to follow as much of their philosophy as possible. I understand that some Buddhist groups do not kill animals and so I’m working towards this aim as much as possible.

However you’ll have to excuse me as I’ve just noticed another little guest crawling near my bookshelf. I really don’t understand how Buddha expects me to turn a blind eye to cockroaches, flies or even pesky ants when the rain is around. I think I’ll plead temporary amnesia.

Once again, Food Connect has provided me with a conundrum - pecan nuts in their shell, which again is a first for me…

I immediately thought of a kitchen utensil that I’m pretty sure didn’t have “nutcracker” on its label, but nevertheless rose to the challenge. With a deft touch on the second nut, I managed to reap a perfectly shelled pecan nut – well, almost, after I extracted out a few remaining tough bits.

Third time around, I used my bottle and lid opener (my memory was returning) and again with a gentle touch managed to receive two perfectly edible pecan halves.

I’m so pleased that Food Connect is providing nuts in their shells. I have been reading that it is better for our health if we extract nuts from their shells before eating as we will receive more of the nutrients, and now I’m receiving unshelled nuts in my fruit box.

I have never been a lover of pecan nuts, and not surprisingly I can’t understand why! But in the brief time I’ve been cracking these pecan nuts and nibbling on broken halves, I have developed a taste for these nuts.

Perhaps I’ve been influenced in the past by packs of salted cashews or peanuts. Or maybe I needed to buy a real nutcracker to assist me, which I might still do. Whatever the reason, now I’m finding that I really enjoy these nuts even without the automatic addition of salt.

I believe the 80/10/10 diet plan has influenced me for the better as I’ve reached the point of adding fresh fruit to my salads rather than sugar, honey or molasses, plus I’m now happy to eat nuts as they are, once I shell them.  

You’ll have to excuse me as I have some delicacies to devour, followed very quickly by some nut shells to dispose of…

I always enjoy listening to something as I drive. In recent times I have become an avid 4bc listener but for the most part I prefer to listen to mp3s downloaded from the internet.

Technology has always helped me but it looks like it has taken me an extraordinarily long time to cotton on to the easiest way to listen to mp3s, and more importantly find podcasts that I would be interested in.

In years gone by, I cut many mp3 files on to cd and then somewhat reluctantly graduated to a Sony device that pedantically restricted me to tracks according to criteria that I could never work out.

I noticed that I could access mp3s through ITunes but I decided against it. It’s not that I dislike Apple, but more that having already bought a Sony device, I felt uncomfortable about buying another device when I had one that worked most of the time.

But I finally lost faith in my Sony device when the latest downloaded mp3 file would not play and hence an IPod came into my life.

In the past few months I have subscribed to podcasts and thought that was cool. Whenever the IPod’s battery runs out, I plug it back in to my notebook and the latest offerings from my subscriptions are downloaded at the same time the battery is refreshed. It’s all so easy I wonder why it took me so long!

So of course I became more adventurous. After a month or two of synchronizing Itunes, who wouldn’t be wondering what other delights exist in the depths of its files. A favourite podcast is The Moth, which provides a free Moth story each week involving someone telling a personal story live in front of an audience without notes. These stories are always positive, funny and touch a cord somewhere within me.

I’ve also dabbled with raw food podcasts after my interest was kindled by Thermomix’s Rawlicious booklet, and I continue to search the ITunes store to see what else might be there.

During one such search I found a Canadian podcast that truly resonated with me. I started listening to “Deconstructing Dinner” as a podcast through ITunes which only provided later versions of the radio shows and became so interested that in the past week I’ve downloaded all of the earlier shows as mp3s and have started listening from the first broadcast.

As their website says, “Deconstructing Dinner” has been created to discuss current food issues and allow listeners to make more informed choices when purchasing food for the kitchen or at restaurants.

It feels like there’s no topic that “Deconstructing Dinner” won’t feature. They have roamed from conditions animals are raised in to genetically engineered food, ventured into schools to hear students discussing their interest and concern about foods provided to them, with many more topics in between. The most moving and inspiring episode that I’ve listened to so far is about a farmer who was accused by Monsanto of growing their seeds on his farm and the ensuing legal battle.

I’m hooked on this show because it’s delving into important topics including those that are nearest and dearest to me right now. This show is a keeper.