Trying A Bit Of Sobreity

Alcohol has always been a big part of my life for as long as I can (hazily) remember. It’s always been there, lurking in the background, at every family event, every BBQ, every nightclub, every wedding. A night out wouldn’t be complete without a drink in my hand. I can remember various booze related things growing up. I remember having sips of my dad’s beer when I was little, and sips of wine on holidays, I remember one Xmas Eve with family friends when I was about fourteen or fifteen, my siblings and friends children got me rather drunk, my dad had to help me walk home and I had my first hangover the next day – it was horrific, but clearly didn’t put me off. I remember my mum picking me up from a pub where I’d been with older friends and had promised not to drink. My wobbly bambi legs gave me away, that and the fact that I fell through the open front door. My teenage years meant underage drinking – always cider round the friends house whose parents would let us drink. Then there was drinking in the pubs we got served in and there was the raiding of drinks cabinets to take concoctions out in plastic bottles. Then there was university and my twenties, boxes of punch, shots, wrestling – but that’s another story altogether. It’s all been a rather wonderful, boozy cycle.

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Vegetarian Lentil Ragu

Something I’m really aware of these days, is the amount of meat and fish that we eat as a family. Trying to cut back has been on my radar for a while now, it’s something that I tend to dip in and out of rather than commit to fully. However, recently I’ve re-connected with an old acquaintance on Instagram and have been following her and her family’s’ conversion to veganism with real interest. Antonia’s posts are a reminder to me to really think about what I eat. Whilst I don’t think veganism is for me right at this minute, it’s core values are things that I really would like to recognise and follow fully at some point in time. I do think it’s wrong the way animals are treated, I do believe mass farming animals contributes to our destruction of this planet, I do feel that drinking dairy milk (as adults) is a bit odd, I do feel that it’s been indoctrinated into us that we need meat in our diet, I do believe that we eat too much meat as a nation and that plant based foods are better for us. And I do believe that it would be better for our bodies all round if we cut back on our meat consumption.

Lentil Ragu

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Power Balls Recipe

No, I’m not talking about the lottery balls or any other kind of, erm, ball, I’m talking about the kind you pop in your mouth (stop it right now) Power balls are a cool little concoction, made up of dates, nuts, coconut, whatever really, and I caught onto the craze about four years ago when I discovered a recipe on an Australian blog. I made them on and off as it was only me who’d eat them as the Mr remained suspicious. To be fair, it wasn’t the best recipe that I’d found. But now these balls (LOL, sorry) are pretty much a fridge staple, mainly because at the moment I’m trying to eat well and avoid sugary snacks before we start IVF (I wont become an IVF bore, I promise). The kid even eats these too which is pretty cool although occasionally yes, she tells me they’re disgusting so you know, work in progress. Here are two really easy recipes for you to try that literally take less than twenty minutes to put together. I make a batch every other week, so I have a box full in the fridge ready to go.

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