Category: food and Drink

crafts & knitting · food and Drink · general stuff

three-quarter year resolutions

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)23 Comments

The new school year is always eagerly anticipated here. Not only does it bring a welcome return to comfortable routines but it also seems like a second chance in the year for new resolutions and plans.

Toby is settling in well with a new teacher and class assistants (happily his classmates are all the same) and Amy is enjoying being in the top year, her last year of school ever. I’ve spent the last few days clearing up summer holiday mess, tidying things away and getting myself in a sorted frame of mind (or at least trying to) and I’ve at last had the chance to sit down and properly go through a couple of new cookery books that I bought over summer.

Back in July I started intermittent fasting – the 16/8 kind where you fast for 16 hours each day (in my case 7pm until 11am the next day) and then eat normally during the 8 hours in between. When I get up I drink lots of hibiscus tea to keep the hunger pangs at bay – it’s quite compelling to watch as it brews with streams of dark red pouring out from the teabags to turn a bottle of water as red as a robust red wine in just minutes. Most days I do make it to 11am before eating anything, though I’m not letting myself feel guilty about the days when I cave in and have a bit of buttered toast at 10am.

The idea is that a longer fasting time between eating gives the body time to process the food and burn away extra fat stores and there are suggestions that it has health benefits too, including helping balance insulin levels. The health aspects are those that most interest me but I’m also loosing weight on it, so far 11lbs in 10 weeks so I’m very happy about that. I’m trying to make sure that what I eat in my 8 hour window is mostly healthy (though I still have cake and chocolate and sugar in my tea) and so I’ve been looking for new inspiration and have found it in 2 books by Anna Jones.  Now I’ve got a long list of new recipes to try and one of my favourites so far is ‘overnight bircher with peaches’. It’s delicious with any fresh fruit and is a nice 11am breakfast or fits the bill perfectly for a pudding when I fancy one. I think it tastes even better when eaten from the beautiful tactile cup that I bought from Rachelle Blondel – her wonderful ceramics are organically formed and lovely to hold.

Along with healthier eating I’m trying to get back into the swing of pattern writing so I’m structuring my day into chunks of ‘work’ knitting and ‘play knitting’ time. The knitting pictured above is what I’m currently working on in my play time (along with various odd socks) and will be a lovely big, soft wrap for when the colder weather arrives. The pattern I’m using is ‘Void’ by Melanie Berg and I’m knitting it in The Uncommon Thread’s Lush Worsted yarn, a heavenly mix of merino and cashmere with a little nylon for strength, my project details are here.

As soon as I have something concrete to share on the work knitting front I’ll be back with news. I will also be having a giveaway to celebrate my just passed 11th blogging anniversary (on September 3rd) but first I need to get myself organised properly, so that will happen later in the autumn.

Thank you so very much to everyone who commented on the previous post. Such wise, compassionate and heart-felt words deserve a proper reply and I feel a bit bad that I’ve not yet had the time to do that. Until I get the chance to I just wanted you to know how deeply I appreciate your kind comments, thank you xxxx

 

autism · food and Drink · summer

The great pudding crisis

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)19 Comments


Being autistic, Toby’s life is governed by a requirement for routine, especially when it comes to food. In his mind certain foods go together and can never be eaten alone, for instance crisps must always come in a bowl with a chaser bowl of marshmallows and petit filous yogurts must be eaten in pairs, first a raspberry one and then a strawberry one. He likes the same tea every day after school (or for lunch at weekends and school hols); first a crispy baked potato with the potato flesh scooped out and mashed with tuna and mayo to a consistency that is crumbly and not too wet. The mash is always eaten first and then before he eats the skins his plate must be cleared from the table. Next comes a slice of chocolate fudge cake on a pink plate and after a drink comes pudding eaten with a well worn blue spoon.

Now when I say pudding you’ve probably guessed that it has to be a particular kind and you’d be absolutely right. Pudding to Toby has always been Hipp Organic apple and blueberry baby food and he has eaten a jar of it every single day since he was around 5 months old. Now to my reckoning that means he will have consumed around 5,475 jars of this baby food over the last 15 years and that will be a conservative estimate as some days he has one after his evening meal too! Though not any longer it seems. In fact Hipp organic are about to wonder why sales of their apple and blueberry puds have fallen off a cliff because unfortunately for Toby they have changed not just the packaging (which has always caused him temporary consternation in the past) but also the fundamental taste with a brand new recipe. Poor Toby is bewildered to say the least and mealtimes look like being difficult for him until I can find a replacement pudding that fits the bill. Still it is an opportunity to introduce something a little more age-appropriate and I won’t miss the funny looks I get in the supermarket when I have a basket full of baby food!

Anyway, apart from pudding catastrophes (and a distinct lack of summery weather) we’ve been having a good summer so far, busy with the usual summer activities of plum jam making, garden time, wood walks and visits to the local garden centre for rides on the miniature steam train and then an ice-cream. All in all Toby is coping with the change in routine, hopefully that will continue for the other half of the school hols and hopefully there is a perfect pud for him out there somewhere, please keep your fingers crossed 🙂

 

food and Drink · general stuff · winter

Cake helps :)

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)41 Comments

The New year hasn’t got off to a very healthy start here in our household. We’ve each had at least 2 colds to date and poor Toby has suffered the most with a nasty bout of flu this week. It’s so worrying when he is really ill as it’s very hard to gauge exactly what is wrong because he can’t tell us anything about how he’s feeling. His temperature peaked at 104 F during Monday night and I’ve been sleeping downstairs with him on the sofa bed since Sunday so I can keep an eye on him and keep him drinking. Happily he wanted to get up and dressed today rather than stay in bed and I have my fingers crossed that he’ll be wanting baked potato and chocolate cake for his tea, as that will be proof that he’s beginning to feel better again.

January hasn’t been all bad though. We’ve had some beautifully frosty mornings and some amazing sunrises and sunsets. I’ve been knitting away as usual and have been baking lots too because cake really does help when the mood is a little low, especially if it’s as good as these little treats made from Nigel Slater’s marzipan berry cakes recipe. It’s also good that they have blueberries in because we’re clearly in need of their superfood powers – hopefully they’ll help us avoid catching more colds this winter but even if they don’t manage that they are wonderfully good to eat.

Hope you’re keeping well where you are x