Sunday 6 January 2013

Some Cooking Failures! (Experiments?)

So I managed to get out of my 'negative funk' and I'm back to eating 'normally' (whatever that is) and aiming for health. Thanks for the supportive comments, they really do help. Sometimes I need a reality check and good dose of common sense.

With that in mind, and also with it being the last 'free' day before I go back to work, I decided to cook something a little different for breakfast. Over the Christmas period I purchased a veggie cookbook from M&S, so I thought I'd try out a recipe from there. The recipe I went for was museli pancakes. Which leads me on to cooking failure of the day #1. 

 This is what the pancakes were supposed to look like:

This is what mine looked like:

Nowhere near as pretty! I made a few adaptations...for example, I used spelt flour instead of plain and I didn't actually have any muesli so I used some oats and raisins. I'm sure following the actual recipe would have resulted in better tasting pancakes, because let me tell you, mine were not nice. They were a bit too doughy and plain for my liking (and I am a lover of most things plain). Maybe next time I'll try to follow the recipe or not choose one where I am missing the main ingredient!

Cooking failure of the day #2: 

A bit later on I decided to make some kale chips/crisps. I had a quick browse on the internet and it seemed simple enough: place kale on baking parchment, drizzle in olive oil and cook on 180 for 10 minutes. Simple..

Before:
After:

...or maybe not so simple. I think the problem here is that they were in the oven for too long, and these 'crisps' tasted of burnt. Not a good taste, I'll admit. I ate the not-so-nice pancakes this morning, but I couldn't be so forgiving of these. Oh well, I'll try again another time. Luckily I don't mind 'failing' when it comes to preparing food for myself, so I can experiment as many times as I like!

I decided to try to run again, and luckily it was ok, though my ankle/calf is still hurting. I just adapted my running style and I now resemble the Hunchback of Notre Dame, in a treadmill special. I'm just glad that I managed to run at all. I did 6.3 miles in 1 hour, which again isn't great, but it was an enjoyable run. I'll work on my speed when this blasted leg improves.

In the spirit of enjoying the last day off work, I dragged S along to the cinema and we watched 'Life of Pi'.I really enjoyed the film and got so emotionally involved in the story (anything to do with animals and I'm sucked in. I hardly cry when a human dies in a film, but the moment and animal is even injured, I'm in floods of tears). In the story, one of the characters says that the events told will make you believe in God. My short synopsis won't do it justice, plus I'm feeling lazy, but you can find out more about the film here. (It's also a book by Yann Martell. I read it when it first came out, which feels like a million years ago). It is about a boy who is caught in a shipwreck and ends up in a little boat in the middle of the Pacific with a tiger. He has to learn how to survive the threats of the ocean and of the tiger. Eventually, he 'tames' the tiger and relies on his company to get him through. One of the lines in the film struck a chord with me. Pi's father says to him ''animals aren't emotional. When we look into their eyes and see their souls, we are just looking at our own emotion reflected'' (or something along those lines). When I was younger I had my own little tiger, a cat called Puss Puss. When I hated the world and everyone in it, Puss would come into my room and snuggle with me. I felt that she knew when I was sad, that she could sense it in some way...either way, believing that my cat could 'understand' me in some way provided a lot of comfort in the 'darkness' that I was going through. 

*the next part may contain spoilers*

Towards the end of the story, when he is saved, Pi has to explain his story to some officials who want to find out what happened in the shipwreck. They didn't believe the story he gave, seeing it as a little far fetched. So Pi told them a different story, basically replacing the animals with humans, which was more believable. He asked which story was better, the one with the animals or the one without. The obvious answer is the one with (the previous 2 hours of the film had been devoted to that one, ensuring that we were emotionally invested!) Which one is 'true'...we can't know, the film suggested. Just like religion. We can't 'know' that something is real or true, but some people prefer to believe that there is an afterlife, that they are here for a reason...it's a 'nicer story'. Personally, I don't believe in a God. I was brought up as a Catholic, went to a convent school, became an altar server, studied Theology. I tried to believe in God, but there's always been a cynical voice in my head telling me 'you can't really believe that, can you?' I respect other people's religions, but I can't believe. I tried for a while, but now I've settled on trying-to-get-on-with-my-life-and-be-a-nice-person.

Phew, that was long and a bit heavy for a Sunday evening.

After the film we went to Starbucks (I was supposed to be limiting myself to 1 per month to save money, but...oops).

I had a tall caramel frappuccino light, because I felt like having one (and it felt good to just be able to get it without thinking too much about calories etc). 

S went for the rather more healthy option of the lime refresher (or whatever it's called). Water, lime and ice. 
Usually he gets a big ass strawberries and cream frapp (which I always steal a sip from. They are admittedly very good!)

 


I also popped into Holland and Barratt and picked up these:



I chose these over other powders because they were pretty cheap. They were £9.99 each, but because H&B have a bit of a sale on, I got 1/3 off, so they were £6.66 each. I could have picked up just one, but I was feeling extravagant (and they were cheap!) so I got a strawberry and chocolate flavour. Is this powder any good? Maybe I should've done more research before I bought it, but I'm a bit of an impulsive shopper and did I mention how cheap they were?

Ok, so this post is getting long and waffly now, well done if you made it up to here.

I'm off to make dinner and prepare for work tomorrow :(

11 comments:

  1. I love this post because it's progress. Don't give up! If you only knew how many times I fail . . . :P If you do any green smoothies, I want to see them!

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    1. I haven't been put off just yet, I'm definitely going to persist with cooking and trying to be healthy. Anyway, I guess a 'failure' or two makes things interesting! I will let you know the next time I make a green smoothie Xx

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  2. Kale chips are really tricky to get right - personally I don't like them without some kind of cashew-based coating. I've tried numerous recipes without it, and they always taste burnt and dry. I like the recipe on Oh She Glows with a cashew/red pepper coating the best :)

    Never tried Whey protein myself - I use Sun Warrior but it's horribly expensive and I actually end up going without other things to get my 'fix' so probably not a good 'addiction' to have!

    Be careful with running - rich coming from me I know, but you don't want to end up in the same position as me unable to run at all!

    We have lots in common when it comes to films - I'll watch any horror movie I can lay my hands on but I can't face All Dogs Go to Heaven for crying out loud. It's just too sad - any time a real or cartoon animal is hurt/dies I am in floods of tears. I share your views on God - I come from a hardcore atheist background but I'm a bit more tentative. I'll tolerate other people's religious views but I can't stand them being foisted upon me. And my cat Minnie was always 'there' for me in my darkest moments too - you'd think my crying and screaming would scare her off but she always stayed by my side...if anything she clung to me more when I was sad.

    Glad I didn't come off as rude in my comment! I was just trying to clarify that an outsider's perspective is very different to how you see yourself/your diet *hugs*.

    xxx

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    1. It sounds like we do have a lot in common. Along with All Dogs Go to Heaven, I couldn't watch Lady and the Tramp or Bambi! I watched both once, and then placed them in a box and locked them in a cupboard. To this day I can't remember exactly why I found them so upsetting.

      Yay for sensitive cats. Do you have any pets now? I really want to get a cat, but we live in an apartment on the second floor, so unless we got a cat that absolutely detested being outdoors, it'd probably be cruel to keep one inside/lock it outside.

      I've been wanting to try Sun Warrior for a while, but as you mention it is pretty expensive. Despite that, I'd probably buy it if you could get hold of it on the high st. Maybe I will treat myself at some point.

      You definitely didn't come across as rude- I appreciate the directness and honesty!

      Hope you're ok xx

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  3. Hey there!

    I also watched "Life of Pi" yesterday and I LOVED it. Have you read the book? Also reallyreally great and suprisingly it was the first adaption which didn't disappoint me for ages! :D

    I enjoy reading that you focus on health, this is a huge step. For me it was and still is a decision I have to take almost every day, but I hope, that it soon gets easier.

    Take care and hugs! :)

    Xx, Sara.

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    1. Hello lovely :)

      I did read the book a while ago, when it first came out (feel really old now!) and loved it back then. I agree about the adaptation thing...it's pretty difficult to 'get right'. This definitely didn't disappoint, but having said that I read the book a while ago, so I've forgotton a lot of the detail. Either way, it was a good one.

      I am trying really hard to focus on health, but the niggling thoughts are persistent and annoying. I hope that you manage to make the 'right' decision more often than not.

      *hugs*

      Georgia Xxx

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  4. I love Kale Chips, but I can't tell you how many times I've burnt them!

    Good work with the running, I can't run to save my life so I am always in awe of anyone who does :) x

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    1. Glad it's not only me then! I'm not a great runner, but I do love it :) X

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  5. The pancakes look quite nice! At least your making an effort with making stuff :) I think it looks yum :)

    http://Heidi-likes.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. That's what I tell myself...at least I am making the effort, haha. Thanks :) X

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  6. Definitely experiments! I've made kale chips a few times, and I usually end up burning quite a few of them! I went to see Life of Pi on Friday and really enjoyed it, although I'd started reading the book last week, and meant to finish it beforehand, but didn't get the time!

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