Welcome to the Hearty Bar and Cafe. This virtual venue is open 24 X 7. Drop in to enjoy a coffee or something stronger. Snacks are available (but only healthy ones). However, if you bring in virtual fish 'n' chips you will not get into trouble. Well behaved dogs, and cats, are allowed.
Chat about anything you want that may be too off-topic or left-field for the general forum.
I have just had a couple of oatcakes with smoked salmon, and cucumber and tomato slices. Now for a large, single shot, Americano to wash it down.
See you soon...
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MichaelJH
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Ooooh, olives - I remember those! So high in sodium I can have one only and since that's not possible (seriously, who can eat just one!) I try to not think about them. I miss them so much!
I love olives and yes very high in salt. I Iimit myself to 5/6 & justify it by telling myself I have low BP and we don't use salt for a anything else, though I've just used it for the bread! 😂
Will power, you definitely have it! I know myself too well - pop open the container and there is no way I can stop until every last one is in me instead of the container.
Didn`t know olives were bad guys.Love `em but like you,low bp and never use salt in cooking so I`m allowed and I`m afraid I don`t have your will power!!
I used to, I wasn't kidding when I said I would eat the entire container (and the bigger the better). Olives were my nibble of choice and if I had a nice extra-extra mature chunk of cheddar I was very very happy! I used to pack that combination as my work lunch thinking I was having a sensible healthy mid-day meal.
Then I developed recurrent pericarditis and was told too much sodium/salt was causing my damaged pericardium to retain fluid (which leads to constrictive pericarditis and a blue-light ride resulting in an emergency pericardiocentesis - been there-done that and they don't give a tee-shirt, they give a hospital bracelet).
If I keep the sodium/salt to a daily maximum of 1500-1600mg/3-4g, I do well. I can 'indulge' on occasion but if my intake rises to 5+ for too many days I find myself back in A&E. I can still get away with a bit of cheddar but olives have to be completely off my menu for the rest of my life.
Excellent! We had a family birthday lunch last week at a carvery. I was looking forward to it but the beef was overcooked and tough! Will not be going back!
I've just made heart healthy batches of apple, blueberry, apple and cinnamon muffins. They will be residing in the freezer when they cool down in bags of 4 - I used to freeze in 6s but discovered i was so weak willed once the bag was opened.....
Would you mind sharing the recipe with me too please. I really miss my cakes and biscuits and anything healthy in this line helps me to feel I am not being deprived 😊
I've had a busy day - up at 7.00 (went to bed on BST and got up to it, so 8.00 by my body clock). Went out for a paper, finished painting the living room ceiling I'd started yesterday, watched the Wales v South Africa rugby game. Did 30 on my treadmill. had a bite to eat then went out for a walk - lovely day dry sunny bit on the cool side.
My meal today is going to be a very lean joint of beef with some veg, haven't had any beef since my HA last December and thought that as a treat I'd have a roast dinner for a once in a while change!
That sounds great, I had roast beef today as a treat it was gorgeous. I don’t buy beef for home we live on chicken and fish and of course veg. It makes it all the more special when you do have it.
Yes I live on chicken and fish these days, been promising myself a roast dinner for a while, have been resisting during the nicer weather but a roast dinner really is the feel good food for the autumn/winter time
I've rationed turkey for that reason. I did start eating it quite a bit earlier this year then took it off the menu otherwise Christmas would be difficult. I suspect that it's only people with a heart condition that eat turkey outside the Christmas period.
of course the other way to look at it is that every time you eat turkey it's a special meal (at least that's what I tell my husband and he;s falling for it so far....)
Mine as well. Does mean Christmas Lunch menus are a bit difficult but I've solved that - now we have huge stuffed pork medallions, he's come to think of that as a special meal as owing to both our health problems pork is not a regular menu item at our house.
Maybe next time you could yomp in full rad haz & Gasmark, especially if you started running aswell that would put the cat amongst the pigeons 😅
Borscht - cold in the summer, warm-hot in the winter. Nothing like it, nothing! My favourite recipe is from a Russian family friend who taught me to serve it over a steaming hot jacket potato in the winter for the ultimate comfort food feast.
I think it was, but it was awfully dark when I was eating it due to a power cut, so I couldn’t be 100% sure. Anyway, do you have the recipe for this super healthy homemade bread by any chance?
I was serving in Germany in the 60s. We had decontamination practice at the hospital involving many yards of heavy duty polythene and hosepipes!! ( well as far as I can remember) . Also our respirators were kept safely several miles away which I always thought an interesting logistical challenge.
I was in the USCG 1973-1986 - we had drills focussing on getting to kit and shelter within 60 seconds of where ever we were on base when the sirens went off.
Where I worked every day, NBC kit was usually kept 70 seconds one direction and shelter 120 seconds the other. I did manage to make it one time in 12 years to kit and shelter owing only to having been at DHQ when the sirens sounded.
As a nurse I got of lightly with practice alerts but do remember being invited to the pictures at a flying station and the guy concerned had omitted to tell me they were on practice alert!! Guards in NBC suits let him know I'd arrived and off we went to cinema on base. You couldn't make it up!
Michael I’ve only read a few posts but I love it already - just downloaded the receipt for apple and blackberry crumble! That will do nicely For me today!
With all this talk of food I fell prey to temptation this afternoon. I was passing a coffee shop this afternoon and saw an apple pie in a chilled cabinet. The pastry looked quite thin and feeling sorry for myself (cold hanging on) decided to have a piece. There was lots of fruit and next to no sugar - in fact I suspect quite a few would have found it too tart! Good news is a few hours on my BG (predictive text thinks I mean Bag) is good! 😀
Simple soak a bag of dried mixed fruit in tea overnight add two eggs and two tea cups of flour self raising stir to make a batter pour into dish then bake on 160 until when tested in middle fork comes out clean. 😊👍
Thank-you! I'm going to give that a go - I'm having a baking weekend (Calliope's muffins and Lezzer's bread) and will now add your recipe. My husband loves a good fruit cake but he's coeliac and finding a recipe I can adapt isn't that easy. Our favourite is Dundee cake and I think your recipe will be the perfect one for making a gluten-free Dundee Cake, thank-you again!
Personally I like a good brandy infusion - but my husband (owing to the coeliac and another condition) is tee-total. So I club in with one of my walking partners here in town - I buy the ingredients and she makes the 'real' cake and I nip over...for a nip
As a youngster whenever I had a cold or was otherwise unwell my mother made chicken soup. It was a real pick-me-up. However, the recipe was never written down and died with her like a number of other ones. I recall that the main ingredients included chicken (obviously), carrots, onions and celery. Sometimes she made soft noodles (main ingredient egg as I recall) to add body. Has any cook in the bar got a similar recipe? Thank you...
There are as many recipes for the best chicken soup as there are mothers. But here’s mine.
1 Chicken
4 solid carrots cut into slices 1 cm or upto 4 cm thick
1 large onion peeled
1 leek trim just the very top, take off the outer layer. and cut in half lengthwise ( wash carefully)
I don’t use celery but you can add it in chop up in slices
Remove all the packaging around the chicken
Boil a kettle and pour over the chicken in the sink
Rinse with cold water
Pop it in a very large soup pan
Turn on on the heat til it thinks about simmering. Not do it boils in 10 minutes.
Here’s where the soup is won or lost and you need to be patient.
Have a big spoon and bowl or jug to hand.
As the water heats up bits of stuff, known as scum in my house, come off the chicken soup and need to be skimmed - remove with the spoon from the surface. This might take upto 30 minutes.
Don’t let the soup boil.
When no more bits come to the surface add in the onion, carrot and leek. You do need to add in some salt otherwise it has no taste. You could also pop in 5 whole black peppercorns.
I tend to start to cook the soup at about 7pm
I cook the soup on a low light for a few hours. I then turn off the heat and leave it to cool overnight and then it goes in the fridge at breakfast time.
For the soft noodles, go to the kosher section of your supermarket if there is one and buy “locshen”. This is like vermicelli. These are the soft noodles.
When the soup comes out of the fridge there can be bits of fat on the top just remove them with a spoon.
I will post some pictures in the next new post.
I am available for any questions which may arise before or whilst cooking.
I am drooling all over my keyboard, thank-you for this delicious sounding recipe (and the snap on the other discussion, whole chook, wowsa, and I can't wait to give it a go!).
Just got back... It is getting cold out there (angina sufferers remember scarf over mouth). A few of the ladies are trying the latest infused gin. What's that - somebody has put "Match of the Mods" on the jukebox. Painful to the ears of an old Rocker...
You must have SkySports! We thought about it but in the end like Coulthard so much more than the Sky presenters we watch the highlights programmes on C4 FreeView.
I usually try to avoid news sources on a race weekend. Last night I knew I wasn't going to make it through qualie highlights on from 1240am to 0210 so I did check the online sports page - glad I did as I fell asleep on the sofa during Q1 highlights!
Ten minutes (or so) to race highlights - hoping I make it through that but I'll probably fall asleep again (love what Bisoprolol does for my heart, hate it makes late nights next to impossible!) - so, erm, yes, well, I know the results already.
Oh right, steam as in 'steampunk', then? Here's where I admit I long for Father Christmas to bring me one of those steampunk laptops. Yes, I still believe in Father Christmas, and wow are those steampunk laptops gorgeous! I love antiques and 1930s-40s vintage (not so keen on retro, the 1960s and 70s weren't my fav decades ) and steampunk style hits my funny bone as it does marry modern tech and antique-vintage nicely.
To some The only good things I recall about the 1970s is the wedding (which we almost didn't make it to owing to a tornado coming through and taking down trees over the very roads we needed to use to get to the venue), and our eldest (born 1977 after 21 1/2 hours hard labour, going into eclampsia and ending up having a C-section with two weeks recovery in hospital on blood drips...).
Too, maybe my memories are clouded by the endless slog through uni for my husband and me, and oh my word, mini-skirts I couldn't wear owing to my unsightly legs!
Nice pot of breakfast tea this morning whilst I do a Christmas card and present list. I want to sort it out early as the Christmas shoppers were already out yesterday. The crowds do my head in!
Enough of these lists - time for lunch. Going to be two free range poached eggs with asparagus and a few new potatoes. Going to try a "skinny" Hollandaise sauce recipe with it - low fat yogurt replacing the butter for less fat and calories.
A new member Tracesteele62 has asked for a chat. Some light hearted chat is good for all of us in these difficult times so I have reopened the virtual bar and cafe.
I will be back later for a cuppa as I am off coffee today as I have a migraine. ☹️
Hi and thank you for the invite. I am not used to going out alone lol but I'm sure a virtual cup of tea and cake with a chat or two will go down well. I used to be on a lot stronger until I fell apart. They put my heart back together again now I think I am the bionic woman, good to be here. I think I am going to enjoy the company. Thank you for directing me as I'm not a great Internet user .
And another bump - Michael, quick use the HU home link (not the red BHF one) - unless someone types faster than I do, you should see this at the top or at least close to the top.
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Completed Lands End to John O Groats
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