Tuesday 12 February 2019

Boil in the bag omlette - Really!


Boil in the bag cheese omelette

How’s this for a whacky idea?  A quick and easy snack meal – boil in the bag omelette.

It was with a sense of ‘really?’ that we tried this for supper last night – but it works

Taken from Tom Kerridge’s ‘Dopamine Diet’ cook book



Put a large saucepan full of water onto boil

Take about 150 gms grated cheese – we just guessed and put half into each of two sealable plastic bags

Beat 5 eggs (this is for two people) with salt and pepper, some milk and a knob of butter (not quite what Tom suggested – but it works well)

Pour the egg mix equally into each bag

Seal the bags and put in the pan of boiling water

Turn the heat down so that the water simmers nicely

Cook for about 10 mins – its easy to see if they are cooked.  I turned ours over a bit as the bottoms were cooking and the tops were a bit runny

Serve with salad or peas

A little note – make sure you tuck the tops of the bags so that they are over the water – one of mine burnt onto the outside of the pan! 

Thursday 7 February 2019

Just LIVE


This week we are taking the Ikigai concept into reality

Dr Chaterjee suggests the acronym LIVE

·         Love – do something you love

·         Intent – live with a clear intent

·         Vision – develop a long term vision

·         Engaging – with the world about you

Looking in a bit more depth, first of all try to find and do something that you love.  Even a small amount of time every day or even every week will make a difference.  You may have heard that Steve and a small (but growing) group are running the Park Run every week.  It’s a few minutes of something that really matters to them.  Its great fun and there’s a sense of camaraderie.  Now that’s not what I love just at the moment – but doing my degree is just fab.  So once a week I catch the bus and go to uni – I just love it and feel loads better for doing it.  What do you love?

How about living with a clear intent – what does he mean by this?  its about paying attention to the small things – don’t just drift through every day.  Try pausing and noticing.  I often stop on my walk and take a photo of something that catches my eye.  By keeping an eye out for the beauty I can find lots of interesting things to snap.  Try to just enjoy the every day things, not rush through and notice nothing.

Do you have a goal or do you think you will just carry on doing what you are doing now for ever?  We make plans (certainly now that it seems that Steve might have a few more years left in him) – they don’t always work out but it does give us something to look forward to.  If any of you have seen us having lunch in Little Acre at the weekend you will see the notebook and pen – we’re making plans.  Try it, when the day is tough it helps to know that there is something on the horizon.

As for engaging – its really about those Random Acts of Kindness.  It’s the little things.  Chat to someone who looks lonely, say hi to someone who helps you.  Offer a kind hand, a gentle word, a bright smile – try it, I can almost guarantee that you will feel great at the end of the day. 

Just LIVE! 

Friday 1 February 2019

Have you found your Ikigai?


Continuing our series from the book by Dr Chaterjee (‘The Stress Solution’) we are looking this week at Ikigai.  Now I know that I risk losing half of you now – try to hang on !

Ikigai is a Japanese word – Iku means ‘to live’ and gai ‘ reason’. 

Have you found you rikigai?   Does your life meet these four criteria, do you have in your life;

·         Something you love

·         Something that you are good at

·         Something the world needs

·         Something you can make money from



Why am I asking?  The chances are that if you have this then you are happy and healthier.  I realise that we are expecting a lot to tick all four of those boxes and those of us who can are very lucky.  If you are in a job that you don’t particularly like then getting up (especially on these cold dark mornings) can be a struggle.  (I love early mornings).

If you don’t feel particularly good at anything then your feelings of self worth can suffer.  Can you do a course, read a book, do something on line to improve a skill that you have?  I started a master’s degree this week – let’s push the boundaries! 

Do you do something that the world needs?  This is a big challenge, my daughter is an anaesthetist – I think the world needs good doctors – but we can’t all be doctors.  But can we all do something that the world needs?  Your job might not be an imperative for the world – but the way you live your life can be.  The world needs kindness – we can all be kind.

And of course, we do need to make money.  Lucky are those people who can make money out of their hobbies but lucky too are those who do a job they enjoy that pays the bills.  And if you don’t love your job?  Well, is it time for a change?  Would you feel happier, healthier and more fulfilled?
So – if you don’t have these lovely four things in your life what can you do about it?  It might just make a difference to your life and your health.