Made by Me, August

Initially, I was going to post a weekly round up of the 'made by me' clothes. This proved to be rather boring. The weather is such I have been wearing summer skirts, sun hats, and a headband. Therefore, it has switched to a monthly one instead.

• Paris wrap skirt and navy headband
• Kid-silk shawl
• Blue batik wrap skirt
• Red batik wrap skirt
• Crocheted blanket
• Aquas crocheted sun hat
• Navy crocheted sun hat
• Blue headband

The crocheted blanket was 'worn' on a pyjama day. It spent a great deal of time draped over my knees, keeping me lovely and toasty.

Quorn and Butternut Squash Lasagne

Ingredients
1 butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and thinly sliced
3 tsp ground cumin
olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 courgette
1 tsp ground cinnamon
500g Quorn mince
400g can diced tomatoes
bunch parsley, chopped
500ml béchamel sauce (gluten-free)
Parmesan cheese
cherry tomatoes

Method

Preheat oven to 200C. Line 2 baking trays.

Place the butternut squash slices in the trays, brush lightly with oil, and sprinkle over the cumin. Bake for around 25 minutes, until golden and tender.

Add oil to a skillet, and then sauté the onion. Add the garlic and courgette, and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

Add the cinnamon, Quorn, diced tomatoes, and chickpeas, and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat, and add the chopped parsely.

Layer up the tomato sauce, the butternut squash slices and béchamel sauce. Add a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, and top with a few cherry tomatoes.

Bake for 15 minutes, and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Notes
Serve with a green salad.

Chicken Burgers

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts

1/4 cup of gluten-free oats

1/4tsp curry powder

1/4tsp Italian herbs

1/2 tsp diced garlic

salt & pepper

oil

Method

Add oil to a skillet. Bring to a medium hot temperature. Place all of the ingredients into a blender and pulse until smooth. 

Spoon out the chicken mixture into the oil, making three patties. Smooth over the tops with the back of a spoon.

Take the heat down to low, and cook for 10 minutes. Flip over to the other side and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

Serve with burger bun, coleslaw and onion rings.

Salmon Burgers

Adapted from Healthy Living James' Salmon Burgers

Ingredients
500 g salmon fillet skinned
½ cup gluten-free oats 
juice of ½ lemon
¼ tsp curry powder
¼ teaspoon garlic granules
small handful of parsley or chives
freshly ground black pepper
oil for brushing

Method
Chop the salmon into cubes. Place all of the ingredients into a food processor. Pulse until the mixture starts to hold together.

Shape into burgers. Brush one side with oil, and fry for 5 minutes. Brush the other side, and fill. Again cook for 5 minutes.

Notes

Serve on a brioche burger, or with potato salad and a green salad. 

I need to see a doctor!

Many years ago, Little Miss fell and grazed her knee. I cleaned her up, put cream on the graze, and added a magical plaster. This stopped it all from hurting. 

The following day, on the way to church, the plaster fell off. Little Miss was not impressed, and declared, "I need to see a doctor!" Obviously she didn't, but she was insistent.

When we arrived, I saw a friend. "Hi, Phil. You're a doctor aren't you?"  Phil nodded, and replied 'Yes, but my wife is...' I knew what the end of the sentence and I  did not want Little Miss to hear it, so I stopped him mid-sentence. "Are you a doctor?" Of course, 'Yes' was the answer. "Could you please have a look at Little Miss's leg? She hurt it yesterday, and is a little worried." 

Phil examined the proffered leg. "Ah, yes. This must have been rather sore. However, it looks like it is healing nicely. My prescription is ice cream. Have some ice cream, either after lunch or dinner, and that will help."  Little Miss's eyes grew wide, "Okay!" and she ran off to find her friends.

Phil turned to me and said, "You do realise it's my wife that's a medical doctor. I have PhD in agriculture." Grinning, I replied, "If I had any concerns, I would have taken Little Miss  to see a medical doctor. But, she asked to see a doctor, and  did not specify the type of doctor."

Squat-tastic!

I can't believe the difference a few days has made!  

It started off with five very shallow, supported squats. This was painful, and I definitely needed to hang on to the banister for balance. 

Now, on the fifth day of squatting, I am able to do squats like the ones in the image, 10 in the morning, and 10 in the evening. There's no pain, and there's no stability problems. The difference is huge, and it's rather nice to have no pain. 

Exercising Whilst Under the Weather

Yesterday started with a nasty migraine, most likely weather induced. I was about to say, "All I was able to do was 10 medium-ish squats." Let's re-phrase, despite the migraine, I was able to accomplish 10 standard squats. These were done whilst holding onto the bannister for stability. This morning, I managed another 10 squats whilst using a stabiliser.

I dislocated my knee two years ago, and for 6 months it was partially subluxed. This is not a good thing (TM) for knees. There were lots of problems kneeling, and rising from the floor. With the exercise challenge, I decide it would be the perfect time to work on my knees, and get them back in working order.

My plan is to do 10 medium squats a day this week, and then increase to 10 in the morning, and 10 in the evening. When this become comfortable, I'll move on to the exercises in the 28 Squat Challenge. When the pause squat is easy, I'll start doing the single leg squats off a box, and the lateral squat. By that stage, I hope I will be able to work on really deep squats. 

However, I must, must, must not allow myself to try to do too much too soon. This is about improving my long term health and flexibility, not achieving milestones as quickly as possible.