i'm back!

Hey there bloggy friends - i'm back, i've been poorly this last few days, i've had AWFUL sickness and D, it hit me like a train on thursday morning and didnt let up much till last nyt! i feel really tired, weak and dehydrated now, but otherwise i'm well! it seems like quite a few of my "online friends" have been struck down this week with illness, but as sickness bugs arent catching through the screen and i dont know anyone who's sick, or been sick, and me n MrNeen ate all the same things on wednesday i cant understand where it came from - i have a sneaky suspiscion (i might be clutching at straws here) that perhaps i made a booboo in the kitchen on wednesday nyt, i made chicken and maybe i touched it raw and then touched something i nibbled on, i'm bad for having a little pick here or there of raw veg as i'm prepping it, i'm usually pretty good at the washing hands after being near raw meat, and i usually wear disposable gloves to touch/cut raw meat (CANT STAND the feeling of raw meat haha), but maybe i touched it by mistakes and didnt notice. it certainly felt like food poisoning - anywhoo's i'm on the mend now thats all that matters, heres a recap of the last few days - nasty bits edited out!

wednesday nyts dinner (the prime suspect for the sickness!) - lemon and red wine vinegar and garlic marinated chicken thighs BP, and veg. the Bp wasnt nice, was soft and slightly brownish inside - only ate half. the chicken also not that nice! so maybe it was the meal after all and MrNeen just has yorkshire born and bred guts of steel! who knows!!




heres some goodies i bought at the health food shop last week (well actually needed a mortgage to buy would be a better description!)

some kallo rice cakes - i had these for lunch every day last week - they were deelish - i'm converted!

and a large selection of dried fruit, nuts and seeds all the ingredients in fact to make home made Goddess Granola from http://thesmartkitchen.blogspot.com/2010/04/just-call-me-granola-goddess.html and home made Nut Butter from http://thesmartkitchen.blogspot.com/2010/04/goin-nutty.html i'm going to make both for my dad for fathers day and well i'll keep some of each for me too!! heh heh! nice thinking eh! i'm pretty excited about trying both out! but as Fathers day isnt till 20th June, i'll hold off just yet on making it, i'll be sure to report back once i've made them!



after having nothing to eat on thursday - yup thats right, nothing, nada not a bean! i've never done that before but my poor wee tummy said no to just water so i figured it didnt want to be thinking about food!

yesterday was a bit of a touch and go day, i had podge for breakfast, didnt agree with me, i had bread and butter for lunch, didnt agree with me, but by tea time i was feeling a little better so my mammie cut me up some chicken and threaded it onto skewers for me and prepped some veg so all i had to do was cook it later.

so i steamed my carrots and broccoli for just a few mins they were almost still raw, just the way i like them with no salt or butter, and grilled my chicken just plain with a splash of extra virgin olive oil, i pinched a spoonful of MrNeens mash too. It was perfect plain, and natural tasting, fresh and easy on my little tummy!



i love my steamer - do you steam your veg? i cant remember what life was like before i got my steamer! my mum gave it to me, it was the last thing my granny ever bought my mum before she passed away, i didnt know this and i was talking about wanting a steamer a couple of years ago and my mum gave me this! so generous of her to give me something that meant alot to her, my mums kinda like that though, she'd walk on hot coals round the earth and back for me, so now it means alot to me and it cooks me lots of healthy fresh steamed veg nearly every nyt! yay for my wee granny!



and my grill! i LOVE my grill - another present from my mammie (she's good to me isnt she!) i'd like a HUGE hob top grill maybe a le-cruset one, that i could grill meats and veggies on at the same time, but as i've jsut got a lil kitchen this does the job just grand just now! i love how things taste cooked in this, so different from being cooked any other way - i recently saw on the fitnessista's blog she had ordered grilled veggies from a restaurant and it was grilled bok choy and peppers etc, i've not tried that so i think i'll give it a go this month.

i lost my grill like a year ago down the back of my pan cupboard - dont even ask!! - and MrNeen kept promising to fish it out, its a big job, as he would have to take the cupboard apart and the one next to it and the kickboards and all sorts, he kept putting it off and putting it off - i begged, pleaded, used my flirtatious ways but he kept putting it off, well i came home from my run on wednesday nyt and there was MrNeen all hot and bothered (hmmm hmmmm) surrounded by tools and pots and pans and all sorts from my kitchen cupboards taking them apart and rescuing my poor little grill! we're so happy to be reunited! so he got a little airing last nyt for my chicken!....happy days! it'll be grill central round here for a while!

we had a little excursion this morning to tesco - its in a town about 35 miles away so i usually use the small co-op in my village, the bigger co-op in the town i work in and the health food shop for my weekly shopping, grabbing every opportunity to go to a big supermarket - we were off to Campbeltown this morning anyway so i dragged MrN to tesco's, and got some goodies! these two lovely big water melons, i cant wait to crack these babies open! i think watermelon is my favourite fruit in the world!

a ton of fruit! including the most perfect looking grapes!

i got 3 nakd bars to try, berry cheeky, cocoa loco, and the apple pie one (cant remember the name)

it tasted JUST like my cherry bakewell babies i made last wknd after finding a recipe on "keeping slim and getting stylish" blog. so i was pleased i'd bought the nakd bar to try but i wont be getting the berry one again as i know i can make that one at home no probs!

what are your kitchen essentials - what could you not live with out? or what do you treasure above all other kitchen equipment/gadgets?