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Doing pretty good. Stores still look good. I dried out the vegetable drawer in the fridge and put in fresh newspaper every other day. The veggies are looking ok. A half bunch of celery is looking a bit droopy. Will need to think up a use for that.

I soaked a couple of cupfuls of dried Pinto beans for 24 hours. cahnged the water a few times.

Simply boiled them. No salt. No veggies. They took a while longer than I thought – probably 2 hours to soften. When they did I simmered them doen until they were a thickish beany sludge. about the consitency of mashed potatoes.  Salt and pepper and they are deliscious. Creamy and rich.

Had about half a smoked short rib left from the weekend. Took the fat off and sliced the meat into bit sized chunks.

I used the fat I had removed from the ribs and rendered it in a frying pan. Threw away the crispy fatty “scratchings” that were left (they are delicious but wont assits with the January weight loss …)

Fried up the rib pieces and served up on top of the beans. Scattered a chopped red jalapeno (still got a few on my plants), a few home pickled jalapenos and some finely chopped red onion.

A sprinkle of chilli salt and a great dish from very little.

(I reckon the calories are about 400kCal – boiled pinto beans are good!)

 

 

Busy working day – 16:8 then Sardines picante and a couple of Ryvita for lunch. Three tangerines.

Grilled chicken thigh, half a leek and sweet potato wedges. Apple to finish off with.

Trying to lose weight as well as making my rations last. (got a couple of cups of pinto beans soaking for tomorrow,…)

I do 16:8 intermittent fasting so not having breakfast. I’ve done 16:8 for a while. I’ve never been a big breakfast eater and usually just a cup of tea then get hungry mid-morning.

Interestingly with 16:8 as a discipline I tend not to start being aware of feeling hungry until it is getting close to 16 hours. Discipline and routine are pretty important. It interests me that in the comfortable western world where we have food at arm’s reach we get hungry, tired and grumpy within hours of eating yet much of the world works hard labour on maybe two meals a day if they are lucky.

Well its Sunday and one of my favourite things to do on a Sunday is to indulge in a bit of foodie creativity. Maybe get some cook books out. Come up with a plan. Create a culinary masterpiece or at least practice a new dish, cuisine or technique. This would involve heading to the shops and searching for some new or exotic ingredients.

Today I am in the mood for getting my Kamado Joe Smoker going and cooking up some beef short ribs.

I had four in the freezer and took two out yesterday. On a normal weekend I might have gone and bought some other meat and “saved” these for a bigger BBQ with guests. These are nice ribs. Bought them at the wonderful farmshop on the Gloucester services on the M5. If you’ve not been try either Gloucester or its sister Tebay high up the m6. Great local produce.

So how should I do these ribs?

I have traditionally smoked slow and low. Simple. i will write this as I go along.

Smoked Beef Short Ribs

Ingredients

Beef short ribs

Salt (I use Maldon)

Black pepper or a dry rub of your choice (I use Salt Lick’s rub from Texas)

Method

Liberally salt the ribs all over on a plate  in the fridge let your meat get some air.

This is important to allow the meat /salt interaction that will subsequently become magic with the smoke and heat.

Get the smoker to around 250-275degF. I set up with 2 ceramic heat guards and the grills as standard. I use three probes with the EasyBBQ thermometer.

Thats kind of it for a bit. if the Kamado is set up properly it should hold at 250-275F. the meat will gradually heat up and then stall.

As expected the meat hit a stall at about 2-3 hours in. temp about 168degrees F. Sat through it and an hour and a half later crosses the 170 mark and heads to 180degF.

I wrapped and added some beef stock to the foil package.

Gave it another hour and then rested about 40mins (it was getting late).

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Could have ripped of the bone caveman style but trying to stretch things out so served sliced on a sandwich with mustard, pickles and a leaf of baby gem lettuce.

Starting the first weekend in January. The 5^th  is the day that the decorations should come down and a great day to start.

I’ve done Dry January from the 1^stand feel better for it. Managed a couple of weeks last year so should be interesting. Today I threw away an open box of mince pies and have a couple of boxes of chocolates and biscuits that I will give to the food bank.

I haven’t done a stock take of my cupboards yet as I think that will be required later.

I know I have pasta and a variety of cans, jars, packets and boxes of non-perishable stuff.

My freezer is full to the point of drawers hardly closing.

I think the focus is on the perishable side of things.  I also don’t want to waste anything. I am intrigued how long I can survive on this stuff that I have.

Recipe today is going to be easy and healthy.

 

Chicken breast with kale, bacon and brussels sprouts

Ingredients

1 defrosted skinless chicken breasts

Handful kale

5-10 brussels’s sprouts roughly chopped

3-4 rashers of bacon chopped into small strips

Method

Grill or Pan-fry the chicken (I use a rapeseed oil).

Steam the kale.

When chicken cooked set aside and then pan fry the bacon and then add the chopped sprouts.

Toss in the drained steamed kale.

Serve in a bowl with the chicken sliced on top.

(can add other stuff you have in store: top the chicken with spice mix, put chestnuts into the sprouts, chilli sauce on the chicken etc)

(I did a quick calc and this is about 600kCal if you are counting).

I live alone so this may be somewhat unique and less applicable to the demands of those that have non-compliant children (although it may be a learning experience) or family members with illness but for couples and single living people the rest is excuses.

As a food enthusiast I may also have more in my stores but I have a small kitchen with a stand-up fridge freezer so I don’t think I am that much an outlier!

There will be rules but these are just mine. I think this can be adapted in many ways.

I will eat out at times. This will be as I would normally and not to string out the challenge. I am in a busy job and also trying to lose some weight with this (starting weight is 210lbs/95.2kg]. I will try to cover all meals from this but occasions may require something to be bought for lunch etc where taking food from home is not practical.

What about beg, borrow and stealing?

I don’t recommend it but its your experience. If you were really in this situation would you turn down offers of help?

Apart from all that I am wondering how long I can go without shopping – 2 weeks? A month? Longer? I doubt it will be more than a month.

I suspect it won’t be long until I am needing or wanting something.

I have looked through what I have and it looks exciting. I have not stocked up beyond what I had in routinely and what was left over from the holidays.

As for fresh stuff I have a vegetable drawer with some basics – a few potatoes, carrots, a leek and some celery. I have onions and apples. A bag of sweet potatoes which are a few weeks old now.

I’ve got half a loaf of bread and few bits of cheese and charcuterie in the fridge.

The freezer is a voyage of discovery. There is lots in there. I use a vac packer so most is identifiable but there are some Tupperware tubs of unlabelled stuff, some bags and boxes of other stuff. I am sure these will become important in the next few weeks!

My cupboards harbour all sorts of non perishables. Cereals, flours, pasta, grains, sauces, pickles and chutneys.

I could plan the whole things and have a scientific method but this is not my usual way. I am a semi-impulsive cook. I cook what I have a taste for. sometimes I have a taste for things days in advance. Sometimes it is simply what I fancy when I get home and a improvised dish comes from the ingredients at hand.

I wonder what the next few weeks will brings about…

I will journal my meals with brief recipes, comments and reflections.