Friday 20 January 2012

Fine tuning my diet

Yet another healthy lunch. I'm definately going to keep making these smoothies, it's a brilliant way to get fresh fruit and veg down you. I think it's doing me good psychologically as well, knowing it's best for my body, and I can eat loads of it without feeling crap afterwards. You don't get the guilt like you do when you have scoffed a load of chocolate or cake.

I am in the early stages of experimentation, at the moment I use whatever I have in. They needn't cost the earth either. I am astounded by how much those small bottles of Innocents Smoothies are. Who in their right mind would pay that when ingredients can cost so little. As usual I make up my own recipes, most of them are mixed with water or a splash of fruit juice out of a cheap carton, just enough to start the mushing process so the blender is not struggling to break down the hard pieces.

Here I have a carrot out of a 2kg Value bag, an apple my neighbour gave me, she gave me loads. Reduced price spinach. Reduced price melon, and a few grapes, bought on special offer, I would never pay full price for them.

Delicious, all gone. Have I tempted anyone else to start blending and eating raw? It's a lot easier than cooking, ha ha.

I've been on the phone to the YHA this morning and booked myself in at Whitby Youth Hostel for a couple of nights next week. My bank balance has taken a bit of a battering in the last few weeks with bills for car insurance, road tax, MOT, income tax, and utilities, now it looks as if I can afford the £20 for a bed, and the petrol to get there. As usual I shall be taking my own food to keep costs down. It was a toss up between Crowden near Glossop, or Whitby. As it isn't that long since I was in Derbyshire I thought it would be a change to go to the seaside. Looking forward to it :o)

Right, who has been commenting and who has asked me questions.
Lee from Australia has been lurking, welcome Lee, I do a bit of lurking myself, ha ha. Yes, it's good that I have access to quite a few shops, there are a few more that I sometimes visit, only to buy things I need you understand, I didn't photograph them all.
Practical Parsimony asks about cat litter boxes. I have six boxes in my house. because elderly Lily gets a litle befuddled and needs one close at hand. I use clumping cat litter and scoop out the solids as soon as they have appeared and the widdle once a day, then top up. If you don't it soon gets smelly. Lily is a little bit erm loose, and it stinks. Even if he uses the box downstairs the smell soon drifts up to my nostrils and wakes me up. I have to remove it or I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep.

Several people have advised on the green tea topic. I don't like drinking plain water, I like a little flavour of something. Just a hint of fruit will do. I will try again and only leave the teabag in for 30 seconds as Eeek suggests. The reason I chose plain green tea is that it was the cheapest, and the packet has 60 tea bags in it for the same price as 40.

Sometimes it is the not so nice tasting foods and drinks that are the best for you. I do believe that giving yourself too many sweet quick fixes is not good for the long term. There is a balance to be struck, I can put up with the tea. I think I am doing quite well with it actually, being as I don't like normal tea. I have had fruit tea in the past and I like it, so I thought I would experiment with this green stuff, adding a bit of this and that, and see how I go on. It is an ongoing experiment, it won't kill me.

Wean of the Woods, I don't know what kombuch is, I will have to google that. Thank you for mentioning it.

gz thank you for the suggestion of Rooibosh, will look for it in the supermarket.
Right, I'm off out, got things to do. Have a nice drizzly day. Toodle pip.

19 comments:

  1. Have a lovely time in Whitby Ilona it's my favourite place . I can highly recommend the avalanche at the hot chocolate shop .....mmmmm ...yummy . Have fun ! Jules

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  2. Whitby is lovely but with very tempting shops.
    Jasmine tea is nice and delicate.

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  3. Your fruit/veg cocktails are looking good, I should do the same but I crave carbohydrates at this time of year.

    I have been told that if you just dip the green tea bag for a short time, you can then use it up to five times in total. That's a saving and the flavour isn't too bad. I shall be trying that tomorrow as I have a little milk to use up today in Yorkshire tea.

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  4. That must have made a very delicious smoothie, lol, now I want one.

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  5. Ilona, on the Green Tea front I have some suggestions. Why not make a mug of the tea and mix it with your smoothie makings. You could also try a `Morrocan Tea'. Just use 2times as much mint tea as the green tea when you make it.
    Mixing this together might be more to your liking. Sweeten with honey afterwards.

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  6. TicKTock tea if nice and you used to be able to get it in Tescos. I got some great bargins in Julian Graves the last I was in there.
    You could try Jasmine tea, it takes about two weeks of drinking something everyday to get used to it.
    A tiny bead of honey might help.
    You could put a spoonful of peanut or almond butter in your smoothie to up the protein and fat content, or as I do add a cup of kefir (which I make myself).

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  7. Wean of the Woods20 January 2012 at 17:39

    Try : makekombucha.org or just google kombucha - it's a lovely slightly fizzy refreshing drink and apparantly, VERY good for you - if you decide you'd like to give it a go, let me know and I'll gladly send you some of my 'scoby' i.e. 'starter'
    I'm sure you'll love it.

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  8. Oh the chocolate fountain shop in Whitby is fab! We were in there just before Xmas and I had a mocca (coffee and a spoon of melted Belgian chocolate) it was gorgeous. Methinks Ilona will just have her nosed pressed to the window and inhale the aroma cos that is free :0)

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  9. not sure about the smoothie, I don't like mixing fruit and veggies up......

    Gill in Canada

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  10. We had a holiday in Whitby last summer, all the charity shops are helpfully close together, I got some lovely books from the Oxfam shop. Across from Oxfam there is a big Co-op which always seemed to have special offers when we were there.

    I live on rooibos tea, hardly drink anything else, and I just take it with milk like normal tea. It has no caffeine nor tannin, so very good for you.

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  11. Have you tried just squeezing one slice of lemon into a mug and topping up with boiling water? I leave the lemon in the mug and when I want another drink just squeeze in another slice. The lemons keep in the fridge and the drink is refreshing.
    Love from Mum
    xx

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  12. The advice to not brew green tea very long is good advice--it gets astringent when left more than a minute or two. Another way to make it more palatable is to use more water than a cup per bag. It'll make more tea, the taste will be less strong, but you'll get the same health benefit. I find I like green tea iced best. I only drink it hot when I'm having Asian food, and then it's weak strength. I look forward to the pictures from your upcoming trip. I have been reading your previous posts and really enjoy your travels. Also, I am using less tp--toilet paper--because of you. I can't get by with 2 sheets for a wee, 4 sheets is as low as I can go, but it's a lot less than I was using before I started counting. I'd just unroll a bunch and go through scads of it, which is a real waste of money. Some of your ways are spartan, but you seem to be living a rich life and your ways challenge the rest of us to be more savings.

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  13. re Green tea again some brands can be worse than others. for cheapness theres a German brand at Aldi or lidl with either vanilla or lemon.. think it comes in some other kind but i only personally like those 2..

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  14. I love to blend my juices with left over fruits and veggies too. I put them through my juicer but when I want a smoothie with yogurt and hemp or flax seeds, I put them in the blender.

    I like green tea though in the beginning I didn't so persevere, it will grow on you. In the meantime you can add a slice of ginger or lemon to the bottom of your tea cup or perhaps put a cinnamon stick in there to steep with the bag. I do drink rooibos also but that I had to get used to as well. It tastes fine now.

    Good luck!

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  15. I drink smoothies all the time, so there is no need to "start." Homemade yogurt is cheap and full of protein and great in a smoothie instead of water. As for drinking anything, lots of liquid we need is in fruits like you are eating. I would be happy to give you all my tea bags if you lived on this side of the ocean. Why not leave the peel on the apple. Peel is so very good for us.

    Your glass is pretty. But, I put in the yogurt and any juice first, adding a little of the fruits so the blender does not bind. When I put it all in like yours, my blender won't blend either without groaning.

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  16. Hi Ilona, I too like Whitby, but I have to say my favourite is Robin Hoods Bay. Love the new header photograph. Sally

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  17. I love Twinings fruit teas, I don't have them often coz it's kind of expensive. I have some green tea in so I might try it again coz I didn't like it much last time....Have fun in Whitby :)

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  18. Good for you - the smoothie looks lovely. I did a 'raw' three months 18 months ago and found it very hard indeed - keep meaning to have another go, but go more gently. I drink rooibos all the time (I avoid caffeine because I have Meniere's) and Approved Foods have in on offer at £1 at the moment x

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  19. I don't know if they have the same health benefits as green tea but they certainly have some, and that's hawthorn and nettle tea which you can get free from hedgerows (obviously not at this time of year though).

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