Coconut Thai Curry and Throwing out the Clocks

I was thinking this morning as I was rushing around and looking at the clock how wonderful it would be not to have to live by the clock.  To get up when it is light, go to bed when I am tired, eat when I am hungry and get things done in my own time.  I read about a couple who refuse to change the clocks when we move over to British Summer time, they just keep their usual routine They were retired so that made it easier, I don't think my clients would appreciate me working to a different time!  Have I said all of this before?  I seem to be repeating myself a lot lately!  I guess what I am looking for is a simpler less frazzled life, yet I continue to take on too much.  Instead of concentrating on getting the house sorted to put on the market, I decide to grow my own veg, not just a few of course, but everything from sweetcorn to squashes all from scratch. Learning basketry is wonderful, but did I have to do it now?  I have trips planned and a foraging course booked.  What is driving me?  Well I guess it is my 'live life to the full, you never know what is around the corner' attitude to life.  But it can be exhausting!

After yesterdays meltdown over the on-line training which still hasn't been sorted, a computer glitch apparently.  The assessment time should start when you press the 'take assessment' button not when you are doing the training!  It makes me nostalgic for the days of sitting in a hall when the invigilator would say 'turn your papers over, you may begin'.

As promised I have another 'Cooking the Books' recipe for you, a lovely Thai Curry, the recipe came from Deliciously Ella by Ella Woodward.  Here it is:

COCONUT THAI CURRY WITH CHICKPEAS

2 x 400 ml tins coconut milk
2 x 400 g tins tomatoes
2 - 3 cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 - 2 tsp chilli flakes
1 large butternut squash (1kg)
2 medium aubergines (600g)
handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 x 400 g tin chickpeas drained
3 teaspoons brown miso paste
brown rice to serve
salt and pepper

*A word of warning, because this is a gluten free cookbook I assumed the miso was gf.  I have not used it before and didn't read the ingredients until after I ate the curry.  Luckily there was not enough gluten in it to affect me but if you are celiac make sure you pick up a gf version.

I also didn't weight the aubergine or squash so I had to dig out the biggest pot I had to fit it all in!

Preheat the oven to 200 C (fan 180 C)

Put the coconut milk, tinned toms, grated ginger and chilli into a large pan with a sprinkling of salt and pepper and allow it to heat until boiling.

As it heats up, peel the squash and cut both the squash and the aubergines into bite sized pieces.  Add these to the coconut and tomato in the pan.

Allow the mixture to cook for about 30 mins in the oven, at which point add the coriander and chickpeas to the pan with the miso and place the pan back in the oven for 30 mins.  It's ready when the squash is soft.

Serve with brown rice.

It can be frozen, leave out the chickpeas if you don't like them and replace any other veg with cauliflower etc if you prefer.

It is a lovely healthy recipe but even though I used a reduced fat coconut milk I'm not sure that it will help with my goal to shed the weight I gained after my various operations.  I eat very healthy food, but they are not always low fat/low calorie.  Snacking on dried fruits and nuts needs to be done in moderation, a word that doesn't apply to anything I do!!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, we have glorious weather here so I am bailing out the greenhouse (it floods every year) in preparation for the tomatoes and cucumber.  It was lovely to be out in the fresh air, listening to the birds singing and spotting first signs of life on my cherry trees, I love seeing them burst into flower.

I found these little beauties hiding under a tree

I will leave you with a photo of my veg plot....... no I haven't lost the plot :).  My son visited with his dogs last weekend.  They spend all their time careering around my garden with total disregard for flower beds and veg plots.  I had visions of my newly growing spinach being squashed so I took drastic action.  I have decided that it would be a good cat deterrent as well so have left them there for now.  Growing my own garden chairs :)

Welcome to Undomestic Diva and Lynda :)

Chickpea xx

Solar Eclipse and Getting Frazzled

I remember the build up to the eclipse in 1999, for months ahead the local news was full of it.  This time it crept up on me without me realising it was happening until a few days ago.  Anyway not one to miss out on such events I climbed up into my attic and found the solar glasses from the last eclipse, yes I am a hoarder but it does come in useful sometimes.  I decided to view from a local high point so trudged up to the top of St Agnes Beacon with my flask of tea and blanket to sit on.  As it turned out I was the only one with the proper glasses, there was an assortment of bowls of water, colanders, c.d.'s, and many other weird and wonderful attempts at viewing the eclipse.  Luckily I had taken a couple of extra pairs so the crowd passed these around.  If I had known there was difficulty getting hold of them I would have taken the 'viewing boxes' I had as well.

 By putting the glasses over the lens of the camera I managed to get some shots without damaging my eyes.  It wasn't as dramatic as the full eclipse but worth the effort.  The photos look more like the moon taken through the glasses.

In the name of progress a lot of our training for work is done on line.  So after returning from watching the eclipse I spent all morning online reading the training programme, making notes and watching the videos.  Then I clicked proceed to assessment, only for it to immediately tell me I had failed with 0% as I had taken to long to do the test.  WHAT??!!! You can try again in 3 days it told me, but I will have forgotten it all by then!  Damn technology.  I rang them and explained what happened and hopefully they will be able to reset it.  I've lost interest now!

I have some more photos from Eden and I will be cooking from a new recipe book this evening so if it turns out well I will share it soon hopefully.  Working, lots of online training, decluttering, veg growing, decluttering, decorating, decluttering and general housework has me all very frazzled at the moment.  It seems I'm not wonder woman after all.

Off to see if I can do this damn assessment (just how many years until retirement is it?!)

Chickpea xx

Taking pride in your work

It was the last day of the basket weaving course yesterday.  I will really miss it.  I have made three shopping baskets and a large platter which will look fabulous on the table filled with bread or fruit.  I love working with my hands but basket weaving is very hard on the hands.  It starting me thinking about the many people in the past who made their living from making baskets  Whole families would often be involved in growing and processing the willow and making the baskets. They would have taken great pride in their craft, but it would have been a hard way to make a living especially as you got older.   It would take me many years to be as skilled as them and I don't think my hands would be able to cope with it for many years.    Today there are few people who make their living from making baskets, cheap imports have taken over.  They will not last anywhere near as long as a proper willow basket made by a skilled person with care and pride.   I feel it is worth paying extra for something that will last, and help to keep the skills alive.

Work on the creaky floors and stairs continues, you probably think I live in an old house with all the creaking, but it is in fact 15 years old.  The problem has been the shoddy work by the builders.  There seems to be no pride in the work, it was all done in a hurry.  We are now having to take it all up and redo it properly before we put the house on the market.  It is the latest in a long list of jobs that we have done to bring the house up to scratch.  It baffles me how so called professionals can do such poor standard work without any feelings of guilt.  We fought the company who built our house and got compensation, but I just don't understand why they didn't do it right in the first place. Cutting corners didn't save them any money in the end.

We have been thinking about moving for many years but it has never been the right time for various reasons, including my health.  News that 800  houses and a supermarket are going to be built near us has spurred me on.  When we moved here we were on the outskirts of the city, now we are being engulfed by it.  I really don't know how the roads will cope with the extra traffic, there are huge queues in and out of the city now.  The houses will no doubt be thrown up in a hurry by a national company like ours was, causing problems for the owners for many years to come.

It seems a shame that now we have got the house up to scratch we are looking to sell it, also the whole process of buying and selling is incredibly stressful but I yearn to move back out into the countryside, preferably to an old house.

What do you prefer, old or new houses?

Chickpea xx

Driving to the Med

Hello lovely blog readers and fellow bloggers.    It's been busy here in the Chickpea household what with all the stair fixing and general running around like a headless chicken. (that's not a nice saying is it?)  Our camping in the lounge was an interesting experience.  The bearded one was on the sofa grumpy cat usually sleeps on, so she was prowling around all night.  Jumping on the sofa I was sleeping on and trying to push me off.  When this was unsuccessful she decided to cough up a fir ball very loudly at silly o'clock in the morning.  Having a strip wash in the very small sink in the downstairs cloakroom before work was not an experience I want to repeat too soon!  As for the stairs.....they are still creaking, which means we have to rip out the under stairs cupboard to get to them.  More upheaval, but at least we can use the stairs at the moment, and the smell of the glue is gradually clearing.   Our previous home was a very old miners cottage that needed a lot of work.  We moved to a new house as we were both working and didn't have the time for lots of D.I.Y.,  we seem to have spent a lot of time putting things right that were done shoddily by the builders.  I think we will be moving back to an old house again, at least we know what to expect.

I have been busy planting seeds, squashes, sweetcorn, cucumber and chillies indoors and kale outdoors, but looking at other blogs I seem to be way behind everyone else.  All but one of the tomato plants has germinated so I am please with my first attempt at growing them from seed, and the sweetcorn is already growing!  I'm not sure where I'm going to plant everything.

It was a cold and blustery day here today so I decided to head off to the Med for a bit of warmth, luckily it is only about 30 minutes drive.  It was wonderful to strip off our coats and hats and wander through the lush greenery of the Mediterranean Biome at the Eden Project.  Come along and have a look around with me, the colours are beautiful, especially the show-stopping tulips.

Some of the lucky birds who have found their way into the warmth of the biome

The storytellers wonderful coat made from ties

Citrus fruit growing in Cornwall in March!

Don't ask me what this is, but it was beautiful

Weird and wonderful statues

There were even pigs snuffling around the undergrowth

Hey parsnip, these reminded me of the square dogs!



Welcome to Liz on Bloglovin :)

Chickpea xx

Punk, Poldark and Baba Ganoush

Sadly I didn't get to see the naughty ladies, my friend was taken ill at the last moment so we didn't go.  Instead I stayed home and watched a really interesting film about Terri Hooley, Belfasts Godfather of Punk,  who opened a record shop in the early days of punk in Northern Ireland during The Troubles.  Young people from both sides came together in their mutual love of punk music, escaping the horror that was going on around them for a few hours.  Among the bands he 'discovered' was The Undertones of 'Teenage Kicks' fame.  It is called Good Vibrations and was on BBC 2 so hopefully you can catch it on iplayer.

I pop into a local veg shop to get our fruit every week on my way home from work, carrying my home made basket of course.  This week they were selling off aubergine,  I love the flavour of them so into my basket they went.  I had also just picked up a new cookery book from work, well it was only £5.  Damn those book people for tempting me, yes I know, I am trying to declutter!  I love mezze type eating and had been wanted to make Baba ganoush for a while, it is so easy I don't know why I haven't got around to it.

So here's the book it came from

and heres the recipe

BABA GANOUSH

Serves 1 - 2

1 large aubergine cut into 2 cm chunks
olive oil for drizzling
1 tablespoon of tahini
1 large clove of garlic crushed
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper


Preheat the oven to 200c/400f/gas 6.
Put the aubergine chunks in a roasting tin, drizzle then with a little olive oil and season.
Roast in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes until soft and beginning to caramelise slightly at the edges.
Remove and allow to cool slightly, then place in a food processor with the tahini, garlic and lemon juice.
Season with salt and pepper.
Process on full power until a creamy humous-like mixture has formed.

I ate mine with toasted gluten free pitta bread.

Simple and delicious!



Well tonight's the night!  I think all of Cornwall will be watching to see how badly they mangle our Cornish accents.  I remember watching  the first Poldark series all those years ago.  I'm looking forward to seeing the beautiful Cornish landscape and of course Aidan Turner .....sigh.

Chickpea xx

Naughty Ladies

Thank you for all your comments on my last post about the spriralizer, I should have taken shares out in them, they seem very popular :)

I have had a man here removing the stair carpet today in preparation for the work on them to stop the squeeking.  It is worse than we thought, it's going to take a lot of work to fix them.  Damn shoddy work by the people who put them in.  He reckons it is going to be a couple of days work, I don't know how we are going to manage if we can't go upstairs, climb in the upstairs window?

I thought I would share my latest basket with you, this one is oval, I am loving making them.  There is only one more workshop sadly, I will hopefully finish the tray I am making.  I love sashaying around the shops with my baskets:)

I planted some more seeds today, squashes and sweetcorn.  They are in the bedroom window.....oh crikey, I will have to bring them down before the stairs is done or I won't be able to water them.  Damn and blast, this is going to be a nightmare!!

I'm off to see Fascinating Aida tomorrow with a friend, that should cheer me up!

Sorry for the short disjointed post, it just about sums me up at the moment.  I have some Cooking the Books posts for you coming up when I have more energy.

Chickpea xx

Mad March and Spiralised Meals.

I can't believe we are into March already, the year seems to be whirling past in a mad rush.  At the moment life seems to be busy busy busy!  Everyday has something marked onto the calendar, lots of fun things, a friends birthday party, another trip to Eden, basketmaking workshops.  Work to be done on the house after at last finding a reliable handyman, and the ongoing decluttering.  Hopefully a trip to London, all fitting in around my job.  I'm not complaining, it is nice to feel fit and healthy enough to do everything.  I have had the all clear from the surgeon, though no gym allowed, and my shoulder is improving thanks to the clacky man, (or should that be cracky man as it felt like he was going to crack some bones at times) though no long drumming sessions allowed just yet.  Crikey, I took my body for granted when I was younger, when it starts playing up you realise how much you rely on everything working in good order.

We are having our creaky stairs sorted next week, but it means we will not be able to use them for 24 hours.  I'm not sure how we are going to manage that one, we don't really want to stay somewhere else, we can sleep on the sofas but showering in the morning will be out if we can't get upstairs.  I spend half the night on the sofa anyway because of the damn insomnia.  I was typing this at 2 a.m. this morning as I got fed up of trying to sleep so came downstairs.

The tomato seeds have been planted, fingers crossed I will get some plants, and I'm hoping to get some more seeds in this week.  This gardening lark is pretty time consuming!  We have had several hail storms so I'm afraid I've not done much outside fair weather gardener that I am.  It has been really interesting reading peoples blogs about their growing plans and picking up tips.  Blog world is just so full of information.

As promised I will show you some of the things I have been making with my spriralizer.  I have been using it often and it is quick to use and easy to clean.

So far I have made:

Several quick raw carrot and courgette salads.

Raw beetroot and carrot salad

and my favourite, spirallised butternut squash gently sauted, I then added grilled mushrooms, tomatoes and pesto, a really quick tasty meal.

I also made some sweet potatoes curly fries, scoffed before photographed.

I'm sure there are lots more you can do with it, I look forward to experimenting.

Chickpea xx