Perpetual Home Movers

So we are now the proud new owners of two houses in our beloved Sneem, county Kerry, Ireland.
My life feels quite surreal right now. Who would have thought that after leaving 9 years ago we would ever go back.
I remember when we left, Bert saying, "You do realise that we will never be able to buy a similar house in  similar surroundings around Sneem for the price we got from the sale of the house."
He was right - for a while.  House prices went up and up and up, until the bubble burst...
Being the restless souls that we are and, not forgetting, perpetual home and country movers (gosh ! life would be simpler if we were just to get rid of all our tat and bought ourselves a gypsy waggon and a horse), we decided to go back to Ireland. 
It took us 2 years to plan and  to get things in order.

The timeline of the big move is as follows.

• Friday, 12th April

- Arrival of shipping container (we bought a second hand one, that way we can make use of  it in Sneem as storage - we're gonna need it !)

- Cats go to  my cousin, Nancy's cat hotel , which is just on the other side of town.  Easy peasy.
The dogs will stay with us, hoping we'll be able to manage them as we load the container.

• Saturday, 13th & Sunday, 14th April

- Load container with the help of friends.  Neatly loaded, to make good use of the 20 ft space.

• Monday, 15th April

- Container gets picked up in the morning.
- Stuff 2 cars full of dogs and other belongings
- Get cats from cat hotel, stuff them in car too
- Pick up my mother (who will have made picnic parcels), she is coming for the ride and will get a suitable space in my car.
- Ready to roll by 12 noon
- Drive to Calais to get to the Channel Tunnel
- Hopefully all goes smoothly with importing the pets.
- Arrive in Ashford
- Drive through England and Wales towards Fishgard to catch the ferry....

• Thuesday, 16th April

- Ferry Fishgard - Rosslare at 2.45 am
- Arrival in Rosslare at 6.30 am (or thereabouts)
- Drive to Sneem with estimated arrival at 12 noon
- Brass band, cheerleaders, flags will be welcoming us back (haha)

The shipping container will leave the docks in Antwerp on Wednesday and arrive in Cork on Friday morning, so we will not be seeing our worldly goods till the next Monday at the earliest.

At this point the pets have had their shots, micro chips for the ones that didn't have one yet, passports have been updated, etc etc.  The dogs need a treatment for tapeworm between 1 and 5 days before arrival in the UK.

Boxes have been filled and many more still need filling. The weeks ahead are going to be hectic, to say the least.

Thank you for reading
Patricia xxx...x

A Neglected Blog

Well, dear readers, I have neglected my blog good and proper !
There are reasons and a thousand excuses for that, but I'm not going to bother you with the latter.
The fact is that my head space didn't let me get onto the Blogger World.
We will be moving house and country soon. I wrote about that in October 2012 . I'll leave the developements of that subject for the next instalment on this blog.

Unfortunately when we got back from Sneem last October our dog Sam became ill. A bit of a dry cough at first, so a coughing syrup was prescribed by the vet. No sign of improvents made the vet give him antibiotics. Again, no improvement.
On the contrary, he became very weak and in a matter of days he lost his eyesight and lots of wheight.  In the meantime blood tests were done and the results showed absolutely nothing conclusive.  An ultrasound showed an enlarged spleen. Biopsy. Nothing conclusive.

Our next step was drive all the way to the Universitary Animal Hospital in Ghent. Obviously they repeated all the tests and were stumped, just like our vet. They advised a drip and cortisone treatment in the hospital, but we opted for that to happen at our vet's, which is nearer to us.

He got stronger and his eyesight came back.  He could come home, but has been on cortisone ever since.  Sometimes he gets a bit weaker still and then the cortisone dose gets upped.
It gets upped because he gets fatter, so he can have more.  He gets fatter, because he eats loads.  He eats loads because of the cortisone.  You got it, a vicious circel.

The vet now believes it to be a neurological problem.  Like a brain tumour.  Why not get a scan, I hear you ask.  1300€ is why.  They might find a tumour, but they might not.  And then ? We will know it's a tumour.  His treatment would still be the same.  Keep him comfortable till the day comes when we have to make this damn awful decision. 

A decision we recently had to make already with one of our cats, Squirrel. My little darling. Fourteen she was and was slowly getting  to the end.  Every day I think about her with pain in my heart.  I feel guilty, still.  But apparently it was for the best.

It is something you don't really think about too much when you get a pet. They just don't get as old as we do and there will be a point in our lives when we have to say goodbye.  It is hard.
On the positive side, they give us so much while they are with us. Unconditional love, great companionship. They make us laugh with their antics and sometimes they make us want to strangle them when they have pooped in an unreachable (for us) corner !

So you see, I have been preoccupied with  all sorts.
My next blog instalment will not be far off and possibly of a more positive nature.


Thanks for reading
Patricia xxx...x

Puppet Theatre Makeover

 

I have a nephew - Mathias (5) and niece - Sarah (1.5) who are both cute as pie and misschievious in equal measures. 

My dilemma is what to give them on special presents days, like birthdays or christmas.  They have so many toys that I don't want to add to the pile unless it's educational, something that releases their creativity or something that they will treasure forever.
So I came accross this puppet theatre in a Recycle Shop. Bought it for peanuts and gathered up a load of second hand hand puppets at the same time.  We still had some hand puppets at home that once belonged to Bert from when he was a wee little lad.
I revamped the puppet theatre with a lick (or two) of paint and new curtains.  Some of the puppets got new clothes that I made with pieces of fabric that I had lying about (read : had been hoarding) and got their faces washed thoroughly with soap and water. The other puppets will be given to them in dribs and drabs over the coming couple of years - hopefully before they have outgrown the theatre (blushes)
So here are the pictures of the project.

 

A rather insipid and tired looking puppet theatre.

 

 

Transformed.

 

 

Meet the puppets.

Grandma & Granddad

 

Granddad & his dog

 

Granddad's dog.

 

The Twins (they were Little Red Ridinghoods, but I changed their profiles, seeing I have a whole tribe of them)

 

King and Queen

 

My guess ? Winnetou who got a real suede outfit.

 

We gave it as their Christmas present and boy did they enjoy it !

 

 Look at his litlle face

Granddad's dog has the most success

 

Not always used as was meant but fun nonetheless.



Their parents were going to leave it at ours till the next day, but Mathias insisted it traveled home with them that evening and he started lifting the theatre himself to bring it to the car.

 

Mission accomplished ! Could not have hoped for a better reaction.



Thanks for visiting.
Patricia xxx...x

Overview of 5:2 Recipes

I thought that as an interludium in my blog I would put the low calorie and low carb recipe links in one post. Making it easier for you if you to find if you needed them. 
Oh, I've got plenty more recipes written down on paper. The problem is getting them on this blog (I could do with a secretary ;-) )Sometimes life just gets in the way of the things we really want.


Halloumi Salad - 255 cal

Tofu Stir Fry - 235 cal

Grilled Nectarine with Quark - 50 cal

 

 

Chicken Cacciatore - 265 cal

 

 

Celeriac Salad and Smoked Salmon - 245 cal

 

 

Stuffed Courgette or Marrow - 310 cal

 

The Quickest Lamb Tagine - 400 cal

 

Celeriac Mash, Beetroot Salad with Quorn Steak - 397 cal

 



 

Ratatouille with Grilled Prawns - 366 cal

 

 

Low Carb Pizza

 

 

Roast Vegetable Stack, Served with Smoked Trout - 373 cal

 

 

Cauliflower 'Rice' - 45 cal

 

 

Spiced Chicken Meatballs with North African Aromas - 295 cal

 

 

 



 

Thanks for stopping by.

Patricia xxx...x



 



 

 

Spiced Chicken Meatballs with North African Aromas - (295 cal) - 5:2

Very odd quantities,agreed, but that's just how the cookie crumbled.
serves 6 on the IF diet - 295 calories per person - 4 meatballs per person

Chicken Meatballs
ingredients
24 meatballs

• 692 grs chicken mince (174 cal/100 grs)
• 350 grs grated courgettes (30 cal/100 grs)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander seeds
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp ginger powder
• 1 tbsp paprika
• fresh coriander leaves, chopped

preparation

• Put the grated courgettes in a colander, in the sink, sprinkle with some salt and cover with a plate and a weight on it on top. This is to extract as much water from the courgette as possible.
• Leave for 10 minutes and squeeze the bejayses out of the courgettes.
• In a bowl, mix all the ingredients together well. 
• I would not add any salt to the mince mix as the salt used for the courgettes will still be there to some extent.
• Divide and shape into 24 balls.
• Set aside (fridge preferably)

North African spiced sauce

ingredients

• 130 grs onion, chopped (44 cal / 100 grs)
• 290 grs carrots, cut into rustic chunks ( 43 cal / 100 grs)
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated (15 cal / clove)
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 5 crushed cardamom pods
• 1 cinnamon stick
• chillies, fresh and chopped or chilli powder (to taste)
• 2 tbsp tomato concentrate (77 cal /100 grs)
• 1 tin (400 grs) peeled tomatoes (19 cal /100 grs)
• 1 chicken stock cube) (15 cal /100 grs)
• 1 tbsp olive oil (100 cal / tbsp)

preparation

• Heat oil in the pan and add onion, garlic and carrots.
• Sweat down for a couple of minutes before adding the spices and tomato concentrate.
• Cook out the tomato a little before adding the tinned tomatoes and stock cube.
• You may want to add some water if the sauce gets too tick.
• In any case put the lid on and simmer for 20 minutes, till carrots are pre-al dente.
• Place the meatballs and place on top op the sauce and cover up again with lid.
• Simmer for a further 15 minutes. The meatballs should be cooked through by this time, but you might want to open one up to check.
• Serve with rice or cauliflower 'rice' (recipe to follow).

Thanks for visiting.
Patricia xxx...x

Trip to Sneem and Intermittent Fasting - 5:2 - Part ???

I really am not the most consistent blogger in the world, I know that.  And I assume you were all thinking that I had given up on  my low carb - IF diet.  Right and wrong !
Dieting is hard. Dieting when on holiday is nigh on impossible.
But I had semi prepared myself and had 3 fast days before we left for Ireland.  Still, in the weeks before our trip I've kept myself busy with baking my mother's (who turned 75) birthday cake, I obviously had to 'taste' it.

I cleaned the house, did a pile of laundry and ironing, cooked some chicken and rice for the cats and dogs as a 'haute cuisine' treat for when we were away, got 'some' food in for our pet/house sitter (my mum - it was her birthday present, the house sitting ;) ).
How I love going on hols, NOT.  It's all the prep that I have to do beforehand, not to speak of emptying the suitcases when coming back home.  Blergh!
That's why we (I) just prefer to move house to another country, at least then you have all your furniture and stuff with you. Ha !

Yes, our holiday to Sneem wasn't just a social visit to all our friends and acquaintances. We also went house hunting.  Some of you may know that we have accepted the offer on our house in Belgium and we now needed to start looking for something in our beloved Sneem.
We have put an offer in on two properties and they have both been accepted, so we are on the right track.

Two properties ? Well, yes. One in Sneem village as an investment and one near the Sneem estuary right at the water's edge, to live in.
I just adore the place on South Square, the building has a lot of charm (and a lot of work too) and has sitting tennants (comercial) who will stay. It has a small garden (full of Japanese knotweed, 5 old mattresses, rotten  wooden dressers and all the other stuff we haven't seen yet). But it also boasts a stone barn with a beautiful arched gateway.  We heard it used to be a butter factory, but I can't seem to find any information about it on the net.

It is ripe for restauration and I cannot wait till we can get the whole place spruced up. To make it the gem of Sneem village.

The house near the water is a 'new build'. From the outside it looks okay-ish, the interior is far, far too modern (think Kelly Hoppen-esq ) with near white wall to wall carpet in all the bedrooms and living room, highly polished white floor in the kitchen that give me the feeling of walking over ice cubes, black kitchen.  The windows are uPVC, wood imitation with 'fake' crossbars between the double glazed window panes. They'll have to go !

We'll also need to add a garage/tool shed as there isn't any. Every house needs a tool shed. 
Whatever we paid for the place, it's going to cost us an arm and a leg to get it to work for us in the style we like. But it will be worth it in the end as the land is pituresque with stunning views over the water and the mountains.  Added bonus, it has a stream and a pond too !

From past experience we know that till completion of a sale lots of things can happen, so we prepare ourselves mentally for that and hope for the best.  Fingers crossed.

Now about the diet.
While we were in Ireland we stayed in the  Sneem Hotel.  I kept my cool and didn't over eat on bread, sweets or any other carby fillers.  For breakfast I usually ate yoghurt (lovely and creamy) topped with almonds, walnuts and prunes (that'll keep the bowels moving), then a cooked breaky of sorts : egg (always egg) either poached or fried, tomato, mushrooms and white pudding (which was very tasty indeed).  Right, sometimes I did give in to a slice of toast with a good lump of butter.
For lunch we usually had a filled sandwich on the go or at one of the many coffee shops.
Dinner, either at the hotel, D O'Shea Bar (which serves great food) or at friends (I couldn't resist Jo-Anne's cake or Pam's scones smothered in jam)
So yes, I did sin a bit, but not as much as I did this Saturday when we were already home.  I made some lovely starchy risotto with butternut squash. I also ate a whole (200 gr) bar of chocolate filled with hazelnuts on that day ! It didn't seem to weigh that much to be honest as the nuts felt very very light. ;)

I recovered from this blip on Sunday. No more carbs. I have it out of my system, with a fast day yesterday and today.
Some of my recipes ? I'll try and get them on this blog soon. That's a promise I'm hoping to keep.

Roast Vegetable Stack with Smoked Trout - (374 cal) - 5:2

Opening a packet of smoked trout is easy, but great to accompaniment my roast vegetable stack.
For the vegetable stack I used meager pickings from the fridge and garden. Therefore the quantities of the veg I used may sound odd.  You might want to use different quantities, so I'll give you the calories per 100 grs of each ingredient.
You'll need a ramequin or a chef's ring, but you can use any bowl that can stand the heat of the oven.

Ingredients
serves 1 - 219 calories

• 103 grs fennel - the bulb variety  (36 cal/100 grs)
• 54 grs courgette  (30 cal/100 grs)
• 47 grs aubergine (24 cal/100 grs)
• 38 grs red pepper (48 cal/100 grs)
• 100 grs tomato (16 cal/100 grs)
• 50 grs ricotta (165 cal/100 grs)
• 45 grs spinach (24 cal/100 grs)
• 1 tsp olive oil ( or spray) (33 cal/tsp)
• seasoning, sea salt and black pepper
• a smidgin of nutmeg
• 1 tsp horseradish (if you happen to have some lurking from the deapths of your fridge. I hadn't so didn't use it)

Preparation

• Wilt the spinach and blend or chop fine.
• Mix it with the ricotta, nutmeg, salt, black pepper and horseradish (optional)
• Set aside (easy)
• Slice the vegetables in rings (or something that would fit your ramequin/chef's ring) - half a cm tick (or thereabouts)
• Heat your griddle pan on the hob (alternatively roast in the oven)
• Brush the vegetables with the oil. You'd be surprised how far the oil stretches if you use a brush for this.
• Griddle all the veg, bar the tomatoes, on both sides.
• Preheat you oven to 180°C
• Take a baking sheet and line it with baking paper.
• Put your rings on top and start filling it with layers of each vegetable.
• In between every 3rd layer or so, spread out a spoon of the riccota mixture.
• Start with the courgette and end with a spoon of ricotta before topping with a colourful slice of tomato.  If using a ramequin or bowl you put the tomato at the bottom and courgette at the top.
• Press down firmly and bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Once out of the oven, leave to set for 5 minutes.  Get your plates ready, arrange the trout and capers, if that's what you're having it with.
• Slide a spatula under the vegetable rings and transfer to the plate. Slide of the ring and voilà !
• If you used ramequins, you'll have to turn it over onto the plate. Should be easy enough.

Note my courgette was the size of a marrow, so I used it separately and put my vegetable stack on top a griddled fat slice.

I ate it with 125 grs of smoked trout - 155 cal. 
A great fast day meal.