Wishing you a Happy Easter (& news of the Giveaway)

Hello dear Friends! It is good to be back. We had a lovely time away in the UK, but now we are home again I am happy to be wishing you a Blessed Easter Time.

Needless to say, we ate very well while we were in the UK, and brought all manner of delicacies back home with us - baked beans, leaf tea, hot cross buns, Eccles cakes, naan breads, mango chutney (oh, bother! I forgot the curry sauces!!), chocolate, boiled sweets, stilton cheese, bacon, sausages... the list goes on!!

We ate in some lovely restaurants. The Ambrette in Margate was superb!

Modern British food with an Indian twist. And very good value. I had: 

Mushroom samosa, and chargrilled portobello mushroom, with Sweetened yogurt, chutneys and red onion salad, followed by  

Loin of Kentish pork with Spiced apple, tossed chickori, sauce of malt vinegar and garlic wine

 I can't remember my dessert  (I know it was a tad disappointing) but MiL's Lemon Posset was delicious 

We went to Vinea wine bar on the Albert Dock in Liverpool before the Elbow concert

 and enjoyed a lovely glass of wine, and a couple of platters of meze and bread-and-cheese.

We met up with my family in a charming pub in the Derbyshire Peak District, where I had delicious duck with jerusalem artichokes and oven roasted potatoes. Mr FD enjoyed a pint of lovely English beer while I shared a bottle of wine with my mum & my sister

 And we managed to squeeze in a trip to Wagamamas too, in Canterbury

 I may have been squeezing into my "aspirational jeans" before I went away, but I fear it will take a few fast days before I can fit into them again!!!

The Elbow concert was great - we had good seats: right in the centre opposite the stage. Admittedly there was an entire arena floor between us and lovely Mr Guy Garvey and the crew, but the stage and projections were well set up. Here is a review of the concert, should you wish to read it 

 Source

Now we are back home  and back to work (though tomorrow is a bank holiday). Mr FD is settling into his job, after a difficult start; although he's not certain yet I think he will probably stay there, at least while looking for another job, but I think that it will be okay. I've got more work at ILS, my language school in Clermont, and generally things are going well.

Because of the extra work, we're going to be eating out of the freezer a bit more; Mr FD will be charged with heating stuff up, as I'll be getting home between 7.00 and 7.30 most evenings. That means my weekends might include more batch cooking - which, of course, is no more than many other people do! 

Menu plans for this week are as follows (You can click on the links to find the recipes):

SUNDAY (Today)

Cider-and-honey roast lamb, roast potatoes, parsnips, purple sprouting broccoli.

MONDAY

(semi fasting)

Spicy bean & vegetable stew (in the freezer)

TUESDAY

(My not-working late day)

Mediterranean Aubergines + cold lamb 

WEDNESDAY

Manchego & chorizo quesadillas, salad and tabbouleh (except we'll be having cheddar-cheese-and-chorizo quesadillas!) Mr FD will - I hope - be preparing these.

THURSDAY

Hairy Dieter's Beef Goulash (which I'm planning on preparing on Tuesday) with rice & green vegetables.

FRIDAY

(semi fasting)

Vegetarian balls (made from spicy bean burger mix which is lurking somewhere in the freezer - I think!!), with pasta and tomato sauce.

SATURDAY:

Hairy Dieter's Meatloaf (can't find a recipe online) with baked potato & baked beans. I'm hoping to get 6 portions out of the meatloaf, so I can freeze it for use later on.

As usual, I want to say Thank You for your comments: I love getting comments and reading them. It is one of the great pleasures of blogging.

POMPOM: I've not heard of the TERRA essential oils - I will explore those. I'm glad you liked Peter Rabbit - I thought he was your cup of tea!

KEZZIE: That song is one of my favourite Elbow songs - played at the end of the concert, it was fab. 

And, finally, for Chris at "Retired & Loving It"who is my newest follower we have a big, Fat Dormouse Welcome

 CHRIS: Thank you for your kind comments.I'm glad you like my blog, and I am following you now.

A few weeks ago the lovely Emma from Woman magazine gave me the opportunity to give away 5 free apps to the Woman Fasting Diet book. I was surprised and rather disappointed by the lack of response - maybe it was the fact it was an app, rather than a real, proper book - and I only managed to get 4 people who expressed an interest, despite mentioning it on the 5:2 Fasting website.

The winners are:
Kezzie, PomPom, Chrissie & jeanga6.

I hope you find the app useful - I think the recipe book is really good and have used it loads since I got it. I will send you an email telling you what to do to get your free app.

That's all for now. Happy Easter to you all