Yes, it's October
Tier Four suggestion
I was at the end of my tether with frustrations and quite desperate, I found myself saying to myself in thought "you haven't stopped drinking, youve just been busy". True, I never said I had stopped drinking and even with quitting smoking which thankfully I stopped a few years ago, one of, or,an initial step certainly is to 'set a stop date'. Once of course you have decided that you want to. Yes, I actually thought I was dying, it wasn't until the following day after I'd been out, I realised that I was possibly dying for a drink and didn't realise that. What a dum dum. Illness and isolation too, are not the best things to deal with.
I did drink some small glasses of alcohol 175m.
Of course it was lovely to see some of the staff at the places and some of the locals, so lovely really.
Then came the eating habit changes from apples and odd small things, to more intensely substantial.
On the fifth or sixth day, I got some chilli oil from a chinese restaurant.
Chop some potatoes, added them to a large saucepan of cold water.
Chop a lovely onion and a red chilli, add
Add garlic (4 large cloves)
Ginger
Whole dried chillies (one) / long red chilli.
Turmeric (one teaspoon)
4 tomatoes
2 or 3 tablespoons tomato puree
A level teapoonful of chilli oil, and two of honey.
A quarter bag of red lentils (approximately 125 g)
A quarter teaspoon mustard powder
Remember: If asking at a restaurant for chilli sauce and if nut intolerant, ask!
Depending on where you get the chilli oils, sometimes they have a vague nut taste. Ask.
Please understand that it may seem as if i used quite a few ingredients, but some of them were truly almost past it datewise, not something I recommend at all but neither do I like wasting food. Another day and it would have been too late to use some of the things, it's only where I hadn't cooked for ages.
I was very appreciative to be doing it really. Once cooked, leave lid on and let it rest for a few hours. You could add one chopped apple too (optional), the dish could handle it. Delicious hot or cold (4 -6 servings easily).Store food safely. Store the remainder overnight covered in the refrigerator.
I did think that some plum tomatoes would have been nicer in this dish because of their distinctive flavour. Some button mushrooms would suit well too. You can kind of mix and match on this a little, really. The next day, why not put in one portion of cauliflower cheese, (it will push portion sizes up so be mindful of that, share it or spread it with smaller portions throughout day) and add some wholemeal noodles if you like them, don't allow it to burn and don't burn yourself. If non vegetarian, you can add a packet of chicken cup soup. Bon apetit. Try to check on the novel if you can, details on front page. Be safe!