Slow cooker stew

It is winter on my side of the world, and I don't know about you, but I love a hearty stew or a soup! So with this in mind I bought a slow cooker the other day, and I can't think why I didn't do this earlier.

On Sunday I made lamb a stew, as a sort of maiden voyage, and I was very pleased with the result. The recipe is as follows:

One medium onion, chopped
about 600g of stewing lamb, with little fat and little bones
3 leeks, chopped into rings
3 carrots, cleaned and chopped into rings
6 baby marrows, chopped into rings
1 medium potato in smallish chunks
1 small head of cauliflower, broken into florets
1 small head of broccoli, broken into florets
2 cups of cherry tomatoes, halved
3 cups of veg stock
Salt, Pepper, Garlic flakes, Coriander to taste

I left it on the high setting for 4 hours and on low for another 2 hours. Before serving I stirred in some Miso, my favourite additive for savoury flavour and goodness.

This made enough for 3 people, and to pack lunch for 2. Will definitely make more of these.
 
Do you have a favourite slow cooker recipes?

B+

Yes, its cheesy, but it is so important to BE POSITIVE! Do not underestimate the power of the human spirit, mind and body. Whatever you think might be holding you back, can be overcome. If it can't be overcome, get around it.

When I was 10 years old, I could only speak Afrikaans. We moved to an area of the country where the main language was English, and my first swimming lesson went like this:

Coach:                   Are you new? What is your name?

Little Me:                Yes. Charlotte.

Coach:                   And your surname?

Little Me:                Charlotte.

Coach:                   Nevermind. Just swim 20 laps.

Around the same period, this conversation took place in English Class

Teacher:                Write this sentence in the past tense?

Little Me:                What is a tense?

Class:                     Hahahahahahaha

But circumstances is the best teacher and 2 years later I joined the English First language class, and by the time I finished school I did well enough in both languages that sometimes I don't really notice which one I am busy reading or writing.

I had a point... The point was that your attitude about something makes a huge difference about the outcome. To quote Captain Jack Sparrow:

"The problem is not the problem. Your problem is your attitude about the problem. Do you understand?"

Health Buzz

For the last few years, I have been trying to live a healthier life. Some days more seriously, than others. I have however decided to intensify efforts in order to become a fitter, leaner, stronger version of me, by signing up for a 3 month program, called 360XBT. I have done 2 previous "seasons" of this program, and while I will be the first to admit I didn’t completely give my full attention lately, I have seen amazing results from acquaintances and friends, no photo shop was required. For myself I have discovered my own strength and limits. I have also had a change to discover how I let life get in the way of life and hopefully that can help me to overcome it. I do know that it has completely changed my way of thinking about “healthy”. So welcome to the new and improved Health Buzz!

The basic principle on how I want to live my healthy life is about eating whole, natural food that is good for you, while focusing on a functional training program that makes you strong for the daily tasks of life. Since doing the program I could do things that previously seemed like the realm of fitness fanatics.

So my training plan now includes full body resistance training workouts, as well as some cardio workouts. In my case I prefer spinning and I want to try some boxing related fitness workouts. Weekends I intend to do some outdoor fitness things, perhaps a trail run, mountain bike excursion, trying some rock climbing (that can be indoors as well) and some group workouts.

A regular reader of this blog may find that I gush on about this every now and then. I might post a recipe that I enjoyed, or one or two of my good habits might be health buzz related, but not all, I promise. I might even get into a long inspirational pep talk vibe, so be warned. At the same time I am equally interested in all the other things that make up my life. Please keep telling me what you would like to read about, and let’s make it happen!

Good Habit #1 Drink your water

There is a lot of research that tells us it is good to drink enough water. Some people even suggest that when you crave sweet things, you are actually thirsty. I have heard various sources cite different numbers, but I am pretty sure it is more than the few sips I drink on some winters days. I guess there is a perfect number for every person, but this number will depend on whatever your daily activity, the weather conditions and all sorts of other factors. 

In summer drinking lots of water is not a problem for me. On days where I count, I have noted that I can drink more than 8 glasses quite easily. The problem comes in when it is cold outside and all I really want to drink is coffee and hot chocolate.

So the first good habit I want to nurture is to drink lots of fresh water, in spite of it being winter outside. My strategy is this:
Every time I drink a glass of water, I will draw a smiley face in my diary. Hopefully by the time I leave work, I will have at least 5 smileys in the diary.

I can follow this up with one glass when I get home, and one before bed time. If I have one as I wake up as well, that brings me to 8.  Quite easily done, right? Right?

Drink up! And let me know how this goes for you!

Good habit idea bank

Its a new dawn, its a new day, its a new life, and I'm feeling good.... ~ Feeling Good: Nina Simone

Every year there's a host of new years resolutions, all of us want to turn over a new leaf, and be the person deep down we want to be. This differs from losing that excess 50kg, stopping smoking, being nice to the narfy guy at work, or remembering to take a grocery bag to the shop. One year I resolved to learn to walk properly in high heeled shoes, and succeeded! But this is not always the case.

Still the human brain is an amazing thing, and we are capable of learning new skills, habits and tricks. We just need to find a way to unlock this. Teaching an old dog new tricks and all that.

So the idea is this:

It takes approximately 3 weeks create a good habit. So we will tackle them one by one. But since we are amazing human beings who are capable of doing more than one thing at a time, I am going to suggest a new idea as often as every week every week. If you already do this, super well done. If not, and you feel up to it, you can try it with me for the first week. The second week we carry on doing it while staring something new. By week 3, we should be able to do it a bit easier than at the start, so we can start something new again. After 3 weeks the first one is a habit already, so we have freed up enough space for another good habit.

Because lets face it, if we didn't have something we wish we had done better, we might as well award ourselves a gold medal and stop living.