Simple chicken soup

Every now and then, you crave something simple for lunch. Usually, that would be a cheese sandwich, or maybe a tin of soup. When you exclude both dairy and gluten, suddenly the options seem desperately limited.

Don't despair though!

This week a bought a roasted a whole chicken, and I will eat it for most of the coming week. Cooked chicken a great standby, and roasting your own rather than buying a cooked one means you know exactly what is (and isn't) in it. It's also much cheaper.



Chicken and sweetcorn soup

A handful of cooked chicken pieces
A tin of naturally sweet, sweetcorn
A generous handful of easy cook rice
1 stock cube

Cream sweetcorn with a blender until mushy (I know it looks weird!)
Add hot water to stock cube and stir until dissolved.
Add all other ingredients.
Bring to boil and then simmer until rice is cooked.

This recipe is based on stock cupboard ingredients, but obviously you could use home made stock and fresh corn is you wanted too. I must say I wasn't thrilled with the stock cube I used today, a Kallo veg one, and would use a Knorr one next time. I am a proponant of real chicken stock, but when you're only cooking for one, you don't get through enough chickens to make it regularly.

chocolatey stars

I am a big fan of chocolate breakfast cereal. I know too much sugar is bad for you....blah de blah de blah....but every now and then I really crave kiddy cereal. When I gave up dairy I thought I'd said good bye to it, and pouring wheetos for brekka for the looked after children was strangely hard. But....

(drum roll please)



Hurray!

Dairy free, Egg free, Gluten free, Vegan, Wheat free, Organic CHOCOLATE STARS!!!

And they stay crunchy in the bowl way longer than wheeto's.

a new adventure

I had a lovely visit to my dietitian the other day. She's incredibly lovely, very upbeat and positive. I'm so grateful to the Lord for her; she listens carefully, takes detailed notes, and really involves you in the whole process. She's also down to earth, and very realistic. Her summery at my latest appointment was that I'm doing well with the dairy-free thing, but if I'm still feeling unwell, then I should try cutting out gluten.

What, I hear you say, as well as dairy? Are you sure that's really necessary?


yup, I thought that too.

She then listed all the stuff that contained it, said she'd send me some literature in the post about it, and that I'm to give it a go for three weeks; if it doesn't work, then that's just fine, but I should try. She also told me I'd lost quite a lot of weight, that I mustn't lose anymore, and that I should therefore snack more. The few minutes I spent with her contained a lot of information, and it has taken a while to process it.



I'm trying to think of it as a new adventure, but I confess I've felt a bit overwhelmed for the last few days. I've only just got to grips with avoiding dairy, which is awkward, but avoiding both is going to be very hard. I think I'm secretly hoping it makes no difference. Or lots of difference. If I could regain the energy I had once upon a time, it would be worthwhile. And I'll need it, because eating gluten free means either bankrupting yourself or cooking mainly from scratch. But I do love cooking. The next three weeks will be a challenge, but God is biggest to help me handle it, and he's set the challenge that I might look to him for his help.


I wonder if manna was gluten and dairy free?

Stoppit and Tidyup come to visit

My job is hard work. Work as hard work, I would argue, as I did in the NHS. Which sounds a bit lame for some one who apparently just makes coffee all day. If only all I did was make coffee.

Some thing I have always found hard was keeping my room tidy, and now when I come home from work extremely tired, the last thing I want to do is clear my room. I'm a 'bag dumper', which is exactly what it sounds like: I come in from work/shopping/holiday, and I dump my stuff on the floor. And forget about it.



I just can't face the mess. The immediate feeling I get from mess is overwhelming.

One cannot forget the golden rule, however.

What 'Golden Rule', I hear you say?

The one that states that my room MUST be clear before Tristan my music teacher comes to give me a lesson. The golden rule has been uniquely effective in keeping the chaos in my room under control, as it can't go on for any longer than the two to three weeks between lessons.



There's hope! Even people like me, when threatened with visitors, can turn this:



into this!



Alright, so it isn't a DRAMATIC turn around, but it was considerable better. I made it easier by splitting the job into two parts, doing the floor and ironing table on Tuesdays, and doing the washing and hoovering the floor today.

Come meet a man

Helen pointed out yesterday that major life events, like people getting married, getting a new job or being ill pull us up short and make us think about our own situation. They make us consider our own families, careers and health. Or the lack of them.



It's good to take some time to think, just occasionally, about where we are, where we want to be, and how we might get there.

I find my life still finds it's shape in the academic year: Michaelmas, Lent and Summer. My moods and my attitude to life are also very much influenced by the seasons.



I love all of the seasons in England. And I'm even growing to like the rain.

No, really.

Even though I'm working now, I try and take some time out each 'term' to think about how life is going. I've found it's quite easy for life to go on day to day, without much thought. Which is a shame, because if I only get one crack at being God's child on earth, I had better not squander it.



That's why I and around 50 other adults choose to spend a week of our holiday each year leading a group of 300 young people to think about what God has to say to us through the Bible, and particularly through his son, Jesus. There are so many ways we can serve the Lord, and this is one I have felt led to help with.

Contagious had it's 10th birthday this year, and we celebrated it by announcing that we had effectively run out of room for new people. Next year, there will be a Contagious West in Culford as usual, but a new Contagious East also, in Cardiff. And Contagious nano for 11-13's will begin at Culford too. It's all change. It's all exciting. And just a little bit scary.



To really appreciate what it is that makes following Jesus so worth it, you have to consider what life without him looks like. Contagious this year was titled 'Life without God'. Which is an odd name for a Bible centered youth conference if ever I heard one.

Having spent a full week immersed in what life without God really consists of, I felt very moved. It hurts to think about what people we know, and especially those we love, are choosing to follow instead of Jesus. It is a desperately sad situation, and moved me to tears on more than one occasion. It hurts when you tell others of God's great gift, and they are, at best, dis-interested.

It really hurts.



People say, keep trusting God. And they're right, I must keep trusting my loving Heavenly Father. But even if we trust God with a situation, such as some one being unwell, that doesn't always make the situation less painful. They are still ill, they are still refusing the gift of life. It's okay for you to hurt in that situation. We just have to make sure that the feelings of sadness don't smother what we know of God through Jesus Christ: that He is loving, that He is in control, and that He is powerful. God is bigger than the situations of myself and those I know. His will is best.



Life is a maze, and God is stood above it: He can see the whole layout, the whole picture. And I can't. I am too small. And that's okay. The best part is, I can go to Him and say, 'Daddy, this hurts, this breaks my heart.' He understands. It hurts Him too. The idea that people's relationship with Him was severed hurt so much, he gave His only son so that we could know him. How much more it must hurt Him that they still choose to turn away. How much more it makes me grateful that He chose me to be His child, even though I have no redeeming feature about me. What a joy. I'm so looking forward to meeting my Father in Glory. I have so much to thank Him for, so much to admire in Him. I have am amazing Heavenly Father.



This summer I have come away with a greater longing to meet Him, to know Him, a greater desire to share Him with others. Jesus longs for me tell people about how he gave his life for them, and how they can a have a new life through him, and a new and very real relationship with his Father. Who do I know who desperately needs the hope Jesus offers, the liberation, the freedom that comes from knowing our Creator loves us unconditionally? I know I do.

Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ ?

Crumby flat, great views

Beautiful sunset from the bathroom window this evening. Crumby flat, fantastic views:


Today:

9 hours of work

2 coffees, one with Janin

1 meet up arranged with friends

1 load of laundry (uniform - No purple blotches on my clothes, unlike when I used the colour-catcher sheet-the irony is not lost me)

1 pile of quilt squares - 103 in total now (32 to go)



A decision to paint the hallway and the banisters next weekend - hold me to this one; I really must get on and do it!

Pancake day

Well, sought of. I learnt to make crepes today at the restaurant. And mocha's. The crepes are probably my best achievement, along with mastering the milk frother, in a large part due to the fact I was on a quieter counter.

Aside from that I had cut out a large number of squares. I find the cutting out part of sewing quite dull, and although using a rotary cutter technically makes things quicker, it will be a while before I'm accurate when I use it. I seem to spend a long of time trimming and re-trimming my squares. I have yet to make a star or heart template that I'm happy with, but I'll keep trying. Sorry about the fluorescent colours, the lighting in my room doesn't make for great evening photo's.