Pancake Crazy For Vegetarian 'Meat' Meals

Sweetcorn pancakes and broccoli pancakes

How can a vegetarian kitchen serve meat and two veg? (Disclaimer: I say vegetarian kitchen as my kitchen is vegetarian [with tins of tuna] but I am not. I have good reasons which will be in another post... one day.) Of course it can't. However there are reasons why you might want to serve something of similar weight and texture. Here are my reasons:

1. Cook meat, add potatoes or rice, a couple of cooked vegetables and a salad et voila - a dinner party! With meatless food it's somehow never as simple as that. Whatever I serve (vegetable strudel, lasagne, quiche, stuffed vegetables) and whatever I add (kugel, latkes, curried rice with everything) I'm thinking: why am I adding more starch when the main item already has pasta/rice/pastry in it? Ditto for the vegetable sides - more vegetables?

2. I'm always looking for that elusive meaty taste and texture. It's a mindset I have to get past but I'm not there yet.

3. Sometimes I want a burger with all the trimmings.

4. I like the old familiar foods even if they are meat-centric. Hence spaghetti tofunaise and vegetarian cholent.

I know the answer is to get over the traditional meat and two veg as the ideal meal but until I do I've gone a bit mad with pancakes. Make them thick and dense and full of flavour and you have something that can look like a burger, a chicken nugget, a sausage or a shnitzel. We're into nugget size at the moment as DD is 3yo and it suits her for dipping into ketchup.

Make nuggets with teaspoon size portions

Use fried onions, onion soup powder, soy sauce, tomato puree, curry powder, ground cumin or coriander, salt and pepper to experiment for a more meaty taste. Or use these ingredients to make a piquant sauce to serve with your pancakes.

Tuna pancakes (Yes I know!)

For the main pancake ingredient you can use any vegetables. Put them in the processor with eggs, flour and any of the above seasonings. Then spoon the mixture (teaspoons for nuggets, tablespoons for burgers) into hot oil and fry on both sides.

I'm linking this to Recipeshed at Chronicles of a Reluctant Housedad where the theme this week is soups and vegetarian. And I wish you all a flipping good Shrove Tuesday.

#LifeCircle 6 - List Philosophy

Kate, our mentor ( @kateab ) saw that time management was an issue for many of us so she advised writing a list (read how the others did on The Five Fs Blog). Simple. She gave suggestions of course. There's the urgent/non-urgent grid, the list website, prioritising and shifting items accordingly. Me, I just like a straightforward list. I've said it before, I am the List Queen. I write an action list every day (almost). I write a list of things to do from the master list (this may be prioritising). I do it in my Filofax. I love it. I don't always do the things on the list. Some items appear daily for several days weeks. This is called procrastination.

A word about procrastination. Procrastination is very good for lists. While you are avoiding the thing that is paralysing you for whatever reason, you zip through the rest of the list with an efficiency fuelled by dread. Anything not to have to face the dreaded thing that's freaking you out. I had one of these dreaded things to do and was avoiding it at all costs. Consequently my list became a great success. It has an official name: Positive Procrastination. (Btw - the dreaded thing required me to step outside my comfort zone and is the subject of the next LifeCirlce post.)

So here is my list philosophy:

1. I write a list of up to 60 things to do and give myself the whole week to complete them. Obviously some things have to be done on a certain day or at a certain time. Other things are as and when I feel like it. I tend to feel like it more if there is the satisfaction of crossing an item off the list to follow.

2. The items are not all equal. Some are merely making a two minute phone-call or paying a bill online. Some items are big projects like grading all the papers from a course taken by 100 students. This takes several days and many hours. Other items can be lumped together and accomplished on one trip to the shops - deposit a cheque, buy a new kettle, weekly food shop, post a letter, get a spare key cut, etc... It doesn't matter. I tend to do a short task; wash dishes, put on a wash, hang out laundry, etc, during 10 minute breaks in the longer projects.

3. During the course of the week some jobs will become obsolete - I found the spare key so no need to cut a new one, the phone-call phoned me first. Thems the breaks, just cross 'em off the list.

4. This is the crucial one. Do not expect to do everything on the list. Once you've done say 50/60 and reached the end of the week, cut your losses and start again. Write up a new list for the next week. Some items from the week before will be rolled over - it doesn't matter. Some things like food shopping are repeated weekly. Somethng that started as a big project may be able to be chunked down now that you're into it. For example, grade all the papers that came in on time and grade the late papers as two separate items. Or grade papers on option A, option B, etc... Spring clean my bedroom might become; sort out my clothes and clean wardrobe, sort and clean bookshelf, sort and clean dressing table, wash bedroom window, etc...

I accomplished my 50/60 last week and I'm itching to write the list for next week. Part of the ease of it is that you don't have to finish anything by the end of the day and you aren't aiming for 100% completion so you never get upset.

And here is the most exciting thing for a certified procrastinator like myself - when you have done about 70% of the list and the things left to do seem very little and totally manageable, when you get to that point, the dreaded item that you've been avoiding doesn't seem so daunting. You've got the time and clarity to tackle it as you've already done so many of the other things that were dragging you down. You are feeling virtuous. It makes you strong. You're willing to take the risk and step out of your comfort zone. But more of this next time - I've got a list to go and write :~). 

#Expatblog - Doing Sponja

The Expat Blog prompt from Tales From Windmill Fields (click on it to see the other entries) was to find one thing that you never used back home but that you use all the time in your new country. I couldn't think of anything except food items and that's been done. So I put the question to my fb friends and there were some interesting suggestions.


1. Solar heating panels. In London we had the boiler on water constant and central heating timed for all the years I sat on the downstairs loo and read the metre. Here we all have solar heated water tanks on the roof. About three times in the winter I have to put the immersion heater on  because it's been cloudy all day. It doesn't have to be hot outside, only a clear sky is necessary. I never think about hot water and I certainly don't pay for it.

2. Drip irrigation. It's an Israeli invention and obviously used here and around the world for crops. But here every garden has the thin brown pipes laid over the flower beds dripping drops of water at regular intervals. And many people even have it threaded through the planters and pots on their balcony. We've gone a bit drip irrigation crazy.

3. Most people have tiled floors throughout; ceramic, marble or stone. This is how everyone cleans the floor. Forget squeegee mops or those old fashioned institutional mops with the special bucket attachments to squeeze out the dirty water.

We have a goomy on a stick which you wrap a wet floor cloth (shmatta) around and mop the floor. After a bit, as the cloth becomes dirty, you wash it in a bucket of soapy water and wring it out. There is a Middle-Eastern technique to this that gets the last drip out, leaving you with a perfectly damp cloth. You re-wrap the goomy and continue mopping the floor. It's called doing sponja.

Nowadays some people have their bedrooms carpetted and, as everywhere, the wooden (or faux-wooden) floor is also trendy. But most of us still have tiles and everyone has the goomy and shmatta. I would say sponja is a national pastime enjoyed by all ages on a weekly basis.

#Nameaday - What if we all ate less?

I read Chris Mosler's article on Thinly Spread about Save The Children's campaign to get David Cameron to lead a worldwide push to end world hunger. The facts and statistics are in the article and if you're still not convinced you should watch the short video below. There are ways you can help which are also detailed in the article. So when you've watched the video and read Chris's post, take a few minutes, if you don't mind, to follow me as I wondered, 'What if we all ate less?'



As I write this I have a mug of coffee and a slice of cake on my desk and it's not my first slice. I'm not writing that to try and be funny. It's actually sad and pathetic that we all cry over the starving children whilst filling our supermarket trolleys with snacks and treats that are far in excess of the calories we need. I was partly inspired by Natasha of The 1970s Diet (fascinating experiment) but it is something I've been thinking about for a long time. If we all ate less would it help the starving children in the developing world?

So I googled: If we all ate less would it reduce world hunger? The articles that came up were all about how vegetarianism (veganism even) is the only solution. I'm not telling you all to give up meat but here are the basic arguments so you know what I found.

1. The amount of grain used to feed dairy and beef cattle uses up the supply grown in the Western World. Rich countries like the USA then have to import grain from e.g. African countries to provide for their needs. The money goes to the developing world but the governments there use it for all sorts of things, not necessarily food. The grain that was exported would have fed their country.

2. The carbon and water used to rear dairy and beef cattle is a big part of the problem of diminishing fossil fuels. I read this in an article published by the UN.

As I said, I'm not telling you to be vegetarian. I'm not talking about the evils of fast food, for that you can read Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser (Allen Lane, The Penguin Press, 2001). I'm simply talking about the vast amounts of food we consume even in our own homes (and food that we pick up on the go). The snacks we eat in between meals. The portions we serve. The non-stop supply that we graze on continuously throughout the day. As Natasha says - food used to be fuel. There was nothing to eat between meals except a piece of fruit. What we call a snack now is often the size a small meal used to be.

Watch an old TV programme or movie in which a family are sitting down to eat. The main course would be a plate with two slices of cold meat, a couple of small boiled potatoes and a portion of greens or small salad. Add to that a small bowl of soup to start, a bit of pie for pudding, and a cup of tea to wash it all down. Even when I was a child I remember my father carving the chicken into thin slices and one chicken would feed the family of five with leftovers for chicken risotto on Monday night. Nowadays you get your chicken cut into eighths and allow two portions per person.

So what would happen if we all ate less? Would the excess be sent to countries where people are starving? I don't think so. If our demand for food decreased I expect we would start feeding our cattle with our own home-grown grain due to more excess grain and fewer cattle. Eventually we may begin to produce less. At the very least we would not have to import grain from people who don't have enough for themselves.

The lack of waste, the health benefits, the medical resources used to combat obesity related deseases that would be freed up, the moral issues of stuffing our faces whilst children starve... I can only think of good reasons to eat less even if my knowledge of global politics and economics doesn't allow me to give an academic answer or even an educated opinion. I'd be happy to read comments from anyone who 'knows' or even from anyone who just 'feels' like I do.

I'm linking this post to MUMenTUM over at New Mum Online. It's not strictly about my weight loss story and I didn't lose anything this week anyway. However, it is a good post to read if you want some sound reasons to eat less.

Family Day

It started off as Mother's Day, mainly the commercial aspect of it but also to honour the mothers. It was a funny custom for Israel to adopt as Mother's Day in the UK is definitely a Christian based celebration formerly known as Mothering Sunday. I was never entirely sure if it was referring to the young girls in service going back to visit their mothers (with gifts from the big house) or if the Mother referred to Mother Mary. Anyway, strangely enough, it took off in Israel. Or maybe not so strange as mothers tend to be worshipped here.

However, not all families have mothers and what about fathers? What about children living with other relatives for whatever reason? We're a sensitive lot when it comes to family and so Mother's Day evolved into Family Day. And it's sometime next week.

Word came from the nursery that DD was to bring in a photograph of her family. Well it's just the two of us so not difficult to round everyone up. You'd think. But if both of us are in the picture, who going to take it? So we sat together with my arm outstretched in front of us clicking away blindly in the hope of some decent results. This is what we got.

Mugs I Have Loved

This week's Listography from Kate Takes 5 is strangely personal. It's a case of 'I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours'. So here are mine. I dedicate this post to past mugs I have loved. The best loved and most oft used are obviously the ones that don't survive. RIP

1. I was in Los Angeles in 1987 and my friend took me to the most amazing place - no not Disneyland, although we went there too, obviously. It was a Dollar Store. Of course we have Pound Shops now but back then I couldn't believe that this whole vast store sold everything for a dollar. I bought eight of these coffee cups. Two broke in my suitcase on the way home. Another four were faulty in that the handles heated up when the coffee was hot so you couldn't hold them. These two are perfect. $4 each in the Dollar Store. Who's the mug?

2. A good friend from New York stayed with me one summer. During her trip she went on a five day mini break to Turkey and bought me this set of six tea glasses with saucers and tiny teaspoons. Instead of coffee after dinner I love to bring out a pot of delicate herbal or green tea and serve everyone in these beautiful glasses. I try not to hate the guest who says, just as I'm about to pour, "have you got coffee?" And the other two who chime in with, "oh I'd rather have coffee too, if there is any," they will be a long time waiting for another invitation.

3. Two mugs that stack to make a multistorey tableau of roosters roosting. Silly really as they're only ever stacked in the cupboard with the door closed. If I take them out I'm unstacking them to use them. They were a gift but I could be tempted to go out and buy a dresser for several hundred pounds in order to display them. 

4. This one comes in three parts. The mug, the tea-strainer insert, and the lid that doubles up as a saucer for the strainer (with soggy teabag inside) when you remove it from the mug. Nice idea and very pretty. It was a present from a student at the end of the year. Did I mention how well it works? No I didn't. Nuff said.

5. I taught these two young boys to read when they were seven year olds. Every week for two years we sat at one of their kitchen tables and had an English lesson. They bought me this mug at the end. That was 18 years ago as they're now 25 year olds. I still see them occasionally in the neighbourhood.

If your appetite for other people's mugs is whetted, pop over to Kate's Listography for more.

Fighting Back Against Winter

I marched into 2012 with with determination and vigour. I had it all sussed out. The year I turned 50 was going to be the best yet. The year I made everything happen - financially, physically, socially, you name it. I was half way through January and blogging every day. I had so much to say and so many memes on the go, I was almost tempted to post more than one a day. Almost - it didn't feel right even with drafts backing up and ready to go. I had plans guided by Kate at the Five Fs Blog as part of the LifeCircle programme. I was losing weight with Liska at New Mum Online through the MUMenTUM group. I was invincible. I was so sure of myself. I was too sure of myself. I was heading for a fall.

Three weeks into January winter attacked in the form of a bad cold, sinusitus and a hacking cough. It could have been flu but there was no fever involved so I think it was the cold. Everything fell apart. I took DD to nursery every day and came home and slept. I cancelled so many lessons and neglected work on the computer that I lost about 1/4 of my expected income for the month. The house went to pot. I ran out of kitchenware, all types, as everything ended up in and around the sink awaiting the washing up that I just couldn't face. DD was getting an apple, a lump of cheese, a yogurt and crisps for supper. Except for the evenings when she chose the other option - a peanutbutter and jam sandwich. I almost made it to the end of the month with  my daily posts but on Saturday 28th January I made the decision to go to bed with DD at 7.30pm rather than blog. It was a surprisingly liberating decision which I don't regret and I finished the month with a 30/31.

After flaking out for two weeks, I gradually re-entered the land of the living. And 'surprise!' I still had that 2012 optimism going on. I did the washing up, tidied the house, put in some extra hours on the computer. And now I'm catching up on a couple of the blog posts I let slip. I'm fighting back against winter.

MUMenTUM. Being sick was great for losing weight. I lost almost 10lbs in January along with my appetite. Then, as I started to get better, I lost nothing during the first week of February. And I've stayed the same this week aswell. Now I'm desperately trying to eat very little today so that I can at least report a loss on Monday. You can go to Liska's to read how the others are doing.

LifeCircle 5. In which we were supposed to report on the SMART tasks chosen in LifeCircle 3: Taking Action.

1. I committed to meal planning for the next two weeks in order to save time and money. DD has breakfast and her main meal (meat, greens and potatoes or rice) at nursery so the picnic suppers she ended up having didn't send her spiralling towards malnutrition. I certainly saved time and money, especially as I wasn't eating. However, the meal plans were forgotten.

2. I committed to getting up at 6.30 every day in order to get DD to nursery an hour earlier. This gives me an extra work hour in the morning and DD goes to sleep earlier in the evening, giving me more evening time as well. I pushed myself to get us out of bed by 8.30 and had a mad rush every morning to get DD to nursery in time for breakfast at 9.15. As I was sick, I'm giving myself an extension and we'll be trying this one again over the next two weeks.

3. I committed to not wasting work-time by blogging only in the evenings. Not difficult as I was sleeping all day. So I blogged in the evenings until, burnt out by my January marathon posting and still feeling s**t, in February I practically gave up blogging altogether for the first 10 days.

4. I committed to joining three employment websites to try to find more work. Obviously I didn't do this and I didn't even follow up leads that friends who are on these websites, sent me. I'm updating my CV and sending it somewhere this week. I'm not sure about the websites anymore as I seem to have enough work to fill the time available even if it doesn't bring in enough money to pay the bills. I need more time to think about this one.

You can go to Kate's to read how the other LifeCirclers did.

So there you have it. I jaunted into the New Year, winter attacked, I was out for a while, then I fought back, and now I'm back in the running. Midlife 1 : Winter 0   :~)