Just Humans Being...

The day we were travelling back from Stoke, my thyroid - out of the blue - decided it was time to have another storm... My heart beat had been sitting around 90, which is just about ok & I was taking my herbal remedies, but I started having palpitations & on the way home. My heart just got faster (180 bpm), which made me feel really anxious. As soon as we arrived home, I called the surgery & was told to get to A & E. And so began the nightmare... I was taken into the resus room, wired up to a monitor & the staff tried to persuade me to have an adenosine injection to drastically slow down my heart, I refused - as I know that it can stop the heart altogether. The doctor told me that he was not sure if it would work, because they had no evidence of use with Graves Disease & the procedure could cause a permanent heart defect... Why would I want this? My heart was healthy, just running fast as a result of my thyroid problem & I really didn't...

Yesterday was our first Saturday off in a long time, so what better way to celebrate than with a late brunch... Home made toast covered with baked beans, baked tomatoes, mushrooms & tofu scramble. For this scramble, we fried red onions & garlic in a little water & soy sauce. Then added half a teaspoon each of turmeric & cumin, about 150g firm tofu & a handful of rocket. We finished off by whizzing it with our hand blender & added some black pepper. We also like adding smoked paprika & fresh parsley to the tofu, leftover potatoes & mushrooms are delicious with it too! We're off up to Stoke now & when we get back I'll be sharing some dessert recipes. Tonight we're eating at a pub next to the hotel - Sime phoned ahead & spoke to the chef, so we shall see what he comes up with... Have a lovely Sunday! Kay & Sime xx   

One of the things most people seem to think is that vegans don't get enough protein, but what lots of folks don't realise is eating vegetables can provide even more protein than meat... Dr Michael Klaper explains more... Hope you all have a great weekend! Kay & Sime xx

If you consume a lot of processed foods then please watch this film:  Hungry For Change   It's only available to watch for just over 24 hours, so don't miss it. Jason Vale is in the film, he is the author of several juicing books... I first came across this book in St Austell library & the juices are fantastic. We go through phases of juicing lots & then not at all, but we love drinking fresh vegetable juices - though we hate the waste... We do compost it & have tried simmering the pulp & using the liquid as stock, but it tastes odd to us. I've been very interested in raw foods since the 90s, when I came across a  Leslie Kenton  book in a charity shop. We started drinking juices with either spirulina or wheatgrass twice a day, but we've never fully embraced a raw diet - we love our cooked food too much! Though I do believe that raw organic vegan food is the best way to heal the body.   From the same cha...

We're not really auditioning for a vampire film... Or preparing for the Zombie Walk in St Austell... It's just easy to get into a mess... When drinking a dark juice... We juiced 5 small beetroot, 4 carrots, a bunch of celery, 3 apples, a whole lime & a knob of ginger! Which made nearly 2 pints - a delicious quick lunch between jobs. We've been really busy today, catching up with work now our car is back on the road. We were hoping to go away for a couple of weeks in November or December & had been looking at cottages in the Scottish Highlands, but the car has cost us the holiday money, so looks like we'll be having a staycation instead, a very local one...  Perhaps we'll stay in our guest room & just pretend we're away! Kay & Sime xx

Tuesday meals are usually made up of whatever we have left, as our organic veg box arrives every Wednesday. We buy our grains & pulses in bulk from a wholefood warehouse, so we just add any vegetables left in the box... This is a spicy mixed bean stew served with basmati rice cooked with turmeric. There's onions, garlic, mushrooms, red pepper & courgette all fried in a little water, then herbs & spices added, as well as a tin of tomatoes & soy sauce. Simple, delicious & filling. Kay & Sime xx

It's that time of year when comfort food is needed & this is one of our favourites... Brown Lentil & Mushroom Cottage Pie Brown lentils & mushrooms are really good together in such a savoury dish.  You can also add a few chopped walnuts & more vegetables, green lentils work well too. You'll need :  2 large onions, chopped 4 cloves garlic, crushed 2 sticks celery, sliced 8oz (225g) brown lentils 6oz mushrooms, sliced 1 teaspoon each of cumin, sage & thyme Approx 1 1/4 pints (650mls) boiling water or stock 2 heaped teaspoons miso paste or 1 teaspoon yeast extract 1 tablespoon tomato  purée salt & pepper to taste Topping 2 lb (900g) potatoes, washed & chopped A sprinkle each of seasme seeds & nutritional yeast (Engevita) Method Boil & mash the potatoes, we put soya or oat milk, a teaspoon of mustard & some chopped mint in our mash. Simmer the onions, garlic & celery in a large sau...