My weekly food bill

Hi friends,

Good news. I am improving!

It is Monday today, so lovely RB and I did our weekly health check. The result was not bad at all.  If I could improve body fat percentage by 0.5%, I would be in the healthy green zone.  It is so pathetic but I want to be perfectly fit by my birthday. After all, who will look after me apart from myself?

We will go out for curry with other 7 colleagues this Thursday.  Strictly no pudding!

My breakfast cum lunch today. You must be fed up with the sight of these rolls. The feeling is mutual. I had enough of them but these burgers were very tasty.

After work, I went to Sainsbury’s, as the fridge is getting close to empty. The bill was just over £14 including this plastic jar (£2.75, so the actual food bill was £11.35.) 

I wanted to take homemade soup to work but the proper air-tight soup containers are quite expensive and it is against my style to spend nearly £10 for an ugly plastic thing. This jar will be just fine. 

I shall live on these foods until Friday. (I've just noticed they look all high carb...)

The total of my food bill is around £21 so far.  My budget is normally £30 for foods including my addiction to Costa Coffee (as we have a subsidised shop within the company, I don't need to pay for the high street price), £20 for other domestic things such as washing up liquid, kitchen towels etc. As long as I can live under £50 per week, I would say I am doing rather well.

Unfortunately, I spend more than £50 on petrol every week. This is the sad reality of the life in the UK, isn’t it?

BB Cream - Jane Iredale

Hi friends,

I was with a lovely young lady in her early 30s yesterday. She thought I was about her age. What a lovely girl!

After she heard my age, she screamed and started complaining about wrinkles and dark circles around her eyes.

Here we go, darling. As promised, this is the BB cream I use.

Jane Iredale’s BB cream is not available in high street shops. You can get it from beauty therapists or online, depends on stockists and postage but it is normally priced between  £35 and £40. Yes, it is bit pricey but it lasts for more than 2 months, quite easily 3 months, as you only need a pea size.

Every woman’s aging process is different. I don’t have any wrinkles or dark circles around my eyes. However, I get puffiness under my eyes, saggy cheeks, hyper pigmentation etc. No one can escape from aging no matter how young and beautiful you look now.   

Ladies, you don’t need to cover your face with make-up but please don’t forget sun screen  – minimum SPF25. I use this BB cream instead of sun screen.  

Breakfast and Oriental Style Dinner

Hi friends,

We had hailstones yesterday and it is still cold and very windy.

As I am going out for few days this coming week and also next week, I had to do some reading today to prepare for the exams. What a boring day!

Anyway, my usual happy breakfast…..Almost same as yesterday but there is one difference. Can you spot it?

Yesterday, I added nutmeg in the first plate and ginger in the rest to enjoy completely different flavours today.

Oriental Style Dinner.

Lessons learnt. Sweet chili sauce doesn’t work well with the taste of ginger. These corn balls are better with citrus soy sauce and soy sauce with mustard. Must be quite nice with Ra-yu. I should search for it online.

I normally skip desert at home, as it is a dangerous thing to eat sweets alone. However, look at this.

This is a present from my fellow CIPS candidate LP. Truly amazing woman, very intelligent and beautiful. I love her sense of humour, too.

Hummm…..these chocolates are soooo bad. Once you open a box, you cannot stop eating them!!

Should I or shouldn’t I?

Off course I cannot possibly say no to the good will from the lovely lady, can I? ;-P

Oh dear, It is my weekly health check day with RB tomorrow…..

Thanks for reading. Wishing you good fun for the rest of the weekend. xxx

Anti-Aging Dinner

Hi friends,

One of my anti-aging secrets is, TOFU.

If you are not familiar with its unique texture, it is a horrible thing but trust me, if you know how to cook, it is a great product for men and women around my age & plus and those who want to lose weight.

According to the following article, this great food was hugely misunderstood in the western world.

Until recently, soy wasn’t recommended for women with breast cancer or those at high risk of the disease, because of the estrogen-like effect of isoflavones. But Bauer points to the Shanghai Breast Cancer Survival Study, which found that soy food consumption significantly decreased the risk of death and cancer recurrence among women with breast cancer. Bauer stresses that it’s important to eat whole soy foods (such as tofu and soy milk) rather than isolated soy foods, like soy snack bars.

Extracted from ;

http://www.womansday.com/food-recipes/cooking-tips-shortcuts/the-truth-about-tofu-top-5-myths-dispelled-104586

I would never say it miraculously cures all of our aging issues but soya isoflavone is now commonly used to ease menopause symptoms. If you have a problem such as hair loss, it is worth adopting in your diet rather than taking dodgy pills. (Better to avoid those genetically modified soya beans and related products, though.)

Anyway, this is my soya anti-aging dinner. Tofu-burger stake as in hamburger stake.

Majority of the content in Tofu is water. Cut them thinly and put them on the layer of kitchen towels to remove water.

Then, cover them with another layers of kitchen towels and leave them for 4 – 5 hours like this. I used a plate and a glass jar as weight. Anything will do.

After that, mix dehydrated tofu with minced pork to make burgers.

Add some vegetables and also Hijiki. Hijiki is a kind of seaweed.Seaweed is also great for your health.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2006/apr/15/healthandwellbeing.features

And divide them into 3. As I live on my own, I cannot use them in 1 day.

Cook the burgers with avocado oil. (My another anti-aging secret.)

Then make sauce with whatever is available on the kitchen shelf – I used ketchup, wine and these amazing things.

Pour the sauce onto the burger………Ta-Dah! This is truly scrumptious.

With rice (mixed with ground sesame – anti-aging), steamed vegetables and miso soup. This soup contains miso, thinly sliced onion, Enoki-mushroom, and off course TOFU!! (normal one- not dehydrated one).

My super healthy anti-aging dinner.

“Come Dine with Me” ;-)

 

Happy Breakfast

Hi friends,

Somebody asked me how I can possibly say my grocery bill can be cheap whilst I shop at Waitrose and buy Duchy’s organic meat. I have never said cheap but I would say that the cost performance of my food bills are pretty good.

Come on, you know what I am doing for living. Off course I think about “investment vs performance” when it comes to money, especially when it is my money. ;-)

This is the shopping on Friday.

And the receipt. It came as £9.78.

OK, the minced meat from Duchy’s could be diabolically priced but it is cost “performance” I am after, not just cheap stuff. 

Talking of cost, this is one of my star buys. These baby leaves come with soil in a planter and lasts for days. It is only £1. Far fresher than the pre-packed salad leaves which don’t last long once you open a bag.

Breakfast this morning.

If rolls are relatively fresh, cut it half and toast them with a frying pan for few minutes. They will be crispy and warm but still soft. Very nice for burger bans. (If you use a toaster or an oven, they will be dry.)

Then spread some mayonnaise and French mustard. Yummy.

The soup was made of chicken stock cube, thinly sliced onion and egg. I know it sounds weird, but trust me it was tasty, extremely easy and quick to make (I even hesitate to use the word “cook” as it was hardly cooking.). I should have taken some photos, but forgot…. Put everything in a soup cup and cook in a microwave oven.

With soya yoghurt & my usual rose & pomegranate cordial. Happy breakfast. Thanks for reading.

All's right with the world

Hi friends,

What a hectic week! I kept traveling between West Midlands and Warwickshire.

On Tuesday, there was a professional training course jointly organised by my company and one of the big four accounting firms, E. It was held here.

In these days, lots of country hotels are converting them to conference venuse and host corporate training and seminars. It normally comes with unlimited supply of coffee and biscuits. Hurrah!

It was a beautiful day. Daffodils are still with us, even though it is approaching May. 

It is evident that we are having coldest spring this year. I was planning to visit my ex-colleagues in Oxfordshire and see blue bells together this weekend but we had to postpone it due to the delay of the flowers. It looks like all flowers are late by 1 month and in fact, I am typing this in front of a convector heater on 27th April! Still very cold in the morning here.

However, it is getting brighter and we occasionally get sunny days. When the spring sun shines, English countryside becomes just glorious.

The year's at the spring,
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hill-side's dew-pearl'd;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn;
God's in His heaven--
All's right with the world!

(Robert Browning)

  

The Bottom Line Issue

Hi friends

You know I take eco bags to super markets. It doesn’t mean I am fighting for the planet.  I just don’t want to be seen walking with those cheapie plastic bags.

Also, I use lots of bio products such as washing up liquid and cleaning stuff.  I choose those products simply because they make less harm to my skin. I always buy free range chickens and eggs. I am not an animal rights activist or such but God knows what those squashed chickens have become in a horrible cage before they end up in my shopping basket!

After all, I am a selfish shallow so-and-so, but I believe that looking after ourselves creates responsible attitudes towards what we buy and ultimately towards the society and the environment.

Anyway, this is the pack of toilet rolls I always buy.

I once bought “Eco Andrex” – it is the recycled paper version of them.

It was cheaper than other Andrex toilet rolls. Cheap products don’t always win my heart, but when they come with the words such as “new” and “limited edition”, suddenly they look so attractive. I am such an easy target for marketers.

Off course I bought those eco rolls as they were new but did not like them at all. They were coarse.

As I was due to fly to Germany and spend 5 days there, I was busy with some preparation at that time. Certainly no time to go shopping only for toilet rolls. I had to bear with eco rolls for days, then, went to Germany.

In Germany, the hotel was comfortable and pleasant but their toilet rolls must have been those bloody eco rolls. They were coarse.

To cut a long story short, I got rash on my butt!!

To make things even sadder, I had to go to a chemist to get babies’ nappy cream for that. Do you know any women in their 40s putting nappy cream on their butts? Here’s one for you.

Although nappy cream completely destroyed the pride of the grown up woman, it worked brilliantly and my butt was nicely restored and became softer again.

Eco toilet rolls were 20 pence cheaper than normal rolls but nappy cream cost me £4.99 and my pride & dignity……

Ladies and gentlemen, there is something I learnt from this.

I shan’t touch those damn eco things ever again!! 

Hard but Happy

Hi friends

One of the hard things about living alone is the cost of living. You cannot share the expense with anyone, but have to support yourself all by yourself.  As well as utility bills, grocery bills could be a headache if we are not careful.

My grocery bill is not too bad as I try not to waste any foods. However, the downside of this is, I have to bear with the same ingredients for days. This is my breakfast cum lunch today.

As my village do not have gas pipes, electricity bill is quite big here. I use this steamer all the time as it will save time and ultimately money.

Also steaming is the best way of healthy cooking as it won’t destroy vitamins in vegetables as badly as boiling.  This steamer was less than £20 from Tesco. When I bought it, I thought it could be broken soon, but it is with me for years. Very good buy.

It is chicken curry with vegetables. Although it is the same ingredients, it is different taste from yesterday. I can live with it…..I think.

I have got the Sunday dinner invitation in the evening.  One meal will do before 15:00 and the fridge is getting nicely empty now. Phew.

Although it is hardly convenient, I love the way I live here…….

Treat in April

Before I say my usual “hi friends”, can I say…

Thank you for viewing this blog.

I just noticed that this blog was viewed by people in UK, US, Russia, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan and Bosnia Herzegovina.

Wow, thank you very much for your visit.

Anyway, hi friends,

Treat in April.

Classic Rose Diffuser from the Royal Horticultural Society. £16 from Boots. (£9.99 for refill from Amazon). This is the only scent I can live with. Absolutely divine.

Happy Pink!

Hi friends,

Jolly good old friend sent this for my birthday although it is 3 weeks away.

Really gorgeous! Thank you. xxx

Breakfast & Lunch

Hi friends

Again, my Saturday starts with washing. Then breakfast.

Then revision! I have no social life until I finish the exams…..how sad is that! :-(

Lunch. This one is super easy and quick to cook. That's what we need when we are busy.

Soak chicken breast in white wine for few minutes.

Then, coating them with potato starch. Normal flour will do, if you don’t have it.

Whilst cooking them in a frying pan….

Make sauce with bit of ketchup, mayonnaise, honey, soy sauce, garlic…..

It will be like this.

When chicken is cooked, cover them with the sauce. Then leave them for 1 – 2 minutes. Voila! Not too bad, is it?

I had them with rice (mixed with shiso herb seasoning and sesame), Miso soup with onion and tofu.  Red drink in the back is Pomegranate and Rose cordial & water.

Miso, Tofu and Onions are strong anti-oxidant, ladies. ;-)

Don't wear black with black!

Hi friends,

I love treating myself. Every month, I give myself something as a treat. It is normally small and relatively inexpensive things such as lip gross, scarves, accessories etc.  

In May and December, I become slightly extravagant and try to get or do something different. Last December, I booked myself for colour analysis. This is the result.

I know you will think, they are the colours I normally wear anyway. Yes, left half are the theme colours in my wardrobe but I did not know that right half would also suit me. Especially, pink. Lots of nice colours are in my pallet, so I am very pleased with the outcome.

During the session, my instructor and I did some experiments using colour samples under the natural light.  Some colours make shadow around my neck and cheeks and as a result, I look old and dull in them.

The instructor told me that it gives her grief when she sees a lady wearing black with black. I told her that majority of ladies are like that especially at work including myself.

“Yes, but the difference is, you can take black and strong colours. Majority of British women can’t. We are not wearing them but worn by those colours. You know what I mean? When you see those ladies, you see the colour, not them. You need to know which colour makes you radiant. What compliments YOU, it has to be YOU to be noticed, not vice versa.”

I think it is true. No matter what fashionable items we are wearing, if colours don’t work, we are hardly stylish. Unfortunately, we look DRAB.

So, I now know I can wear pink and purple, but not orange and yellow. Shame. I like those cheerful colours, but I still can have them as long as they don’t come close to my face……….An orange car, perhaps?

  

Ginseng Tea

Hi friends

I am utterly completely exhausted. I have got a sore throat. This is always the sign when I am going down. Look at what I got today.

Ginseng. (There was an introductory presentation with a Korean supplier.) What timing!

I will take it and go to bed now…..

Divine Timing

“Pay attention to doors that are opening and shutting for you right now.  Walk through doors that open, and learn from the doors that shut.”