9 Belfast Bites

[MeadowLily]

Hahaha....!!

W30 & WD40 - who knew?!   

Funnily enough my folks mentioned it today.........   

I can only imagine but I bet your folks are a real hoot and a holla.  It would be fun to ask them about you.   The inside story.    

[jmcbn]

Last night I went out with my folks and my boys for a belated family Easter Dinner. On Easter Sunday my youngest had gymnastics training for much of the day & with various other things going on we made the decision to postpone our usual dinner and have a meal out while we were on this trip. Turns out it was an awesome decision.

Last night I had THE most amazing 12hr slow cooked pork belly, with colcannon, clonakilty black pudding, and apple sauce  

Oh. My. Word.

It was an absoute taste sensation  and one I'd be perfectly happy to repeat, and will most likely attempt to recreate at home. The fat on that pork was crisped to perfection on the outside, and the meat itself was so succulent..... and the contrast in flavours between the black pudding & the apple sauce - I know apple works well with pork, but with black pudding? I'd never have put the two together, but I will now...

There was a tremendous selection of desserts on the menu but we were all so satisfied with our mains that we felt that indulging in a sweet would have pushed us over the edge, so we settled for [so worth it] coffees, and the boys ate the chocolate mints.

This morning I had those smoked kippers & poached eggs that had been on my mind and again, they didn't disappoint. But now that THAT itch has been scratched it'll be back to bacon, egg, mushrooms & tomato tomorrow...

My folks joined us on one last brief excursion this morning before heading on the long drive home. We're here for one more night so we set off in the opposite direction exploring more of the burial/passage tombs in the area - one of which was on the highest hill in the County - perfect for getting the heart rate up, although the views from the top would have done that anyway... Breathtaking.

We had a couple of stop offs at various ruins & monastic sites along the way & then headed back to the Hotel, ditched the car & set off on foot for a little retail therapy. Our destination for dinner this evening has been chosen by the boys, and it looks like I'll be eating some kind of burger (sans bun) & fries as they've opted for an American style diner at the top of the town. 

We'll finish off our trip tomorrow with a little stop off at a Country Estate for a stroll around the grounds before heading back home to prepare for the return to school/work on Monday.

We try to take a trip like this every Easter & Hallowe'en when my work holidays coincide with the school ones and whilst they are always jam packed full of adventure they are also completely chilled.... Last night I slept through the night without wakening a single time (VERY rare for me) and roused just before the alarm this morning - with Stress being the Whole9 focus for April I'll be starting off on the right foot - stress free and ready to face the world.

[kirkor]

@jmcbn you should start a blog --- with your descriptive writing and pretty pictures, I bet you'd get decent subscribers and could generate a bit of ad revenue.

[Carlaccini]

@jmcbn you should start a blog --- with your descriptive writing and pretty pictures, I bet you'd get decent subscribers and could generate a bit of ad revenue.

 

Great minds think alike!  I was thinking the exact same thing when I was reading it!

[jmcbn]

So in other news a fellow foodie in my hometown has set up a Food Assembly and this Sunday is the first collection day. I've been meaning to register on the site all week but only just got the opportunity, so have only just had a look at what will be available, and I have to say I'm impressed.

I often trail my boys round craft fairs & markets the country over because those are always the best places to pick up quality, hand made/organic/ethically sourced foods. Generally though there is only a small selection (& generally a different selection) everywhere you go.

This Food Assembly will bring together ALL of those local small producers to one place, the idea being that you place your order on the website before Friday @ 5pm and then you go to the collection point on the following Sunday between 12 & 2pm to pick up your goods & meet the producers, maybe put in any personal requests etc & support local business whilst eating exceedingly good food.

There is everything from meat (venison, rabbit, beef, free range chickens, pork, lamb, pheasant...) to vegetables (all locally grown, in season) to kombucha (YES! after all that searching I did before brewing my own I've now discovered a small brewer in the same county!!), locally made cheeses, wines, craft beers, gluten/vegan baked goods, eggs, chutneys, jams (even a local gin one!), butter, salt, dulse (seaweed), pate, chorizo, salami, pork terrines, salmon, pesto, cordials, raw honey & cacao products..... and this is just the first week!!!

Mucho excited!!!

 

[jmcbn]

@jmcbn you should start a blog --- with your descriptive writing and pretty pictures, I bet you'd get decent subscribers and could generate a bit of ad revenue.

 

 

Great minds think alike!  I was thinking the exact same thing when I was reading it!

 

Aw, thanks guys.... (where's the blushing smiley?)   

Funnily enough at one point a lot of my friends said the same thing back when I was posting a lot on FB and they were gunning for me to work for the NI Tourist Board because there is very little of this island that I'm not familiar with.... Sadly the job I'd applied for (which would have involved me officially rating tourist accomodation across the country) was ultimately filled by an internal applicant   

I think it's easy to write about something you're passionate for....

[MeadowLily]

You're right.   Passion is your middle name.

[jmcbn]

Well, after the Sun Gods shining on us yesterday the Rain Gods rained on us today and we had to take a rain check on our planned walk through the Estate on our way home.

Last night's dinner went down well with the boys, but was *okay* to me. I'm kind of a snob when it comes to food, and whilst I was able to eat my fill without getting accidentally glutened I felt the quality of the food was sub par - not somewhere I'd eat again - but the boys liked it, and the retro decor and music was entertaining, and the service couldn't be faulted so I guess it wasn't ALL bad...

This morning I was back to mushrooms with breakfast and so far (now 6.5hrs later) have no symptoms to report. I'm wondering now if the second serving of mushrooms didn't actually cause the mild cramping and it was in fact more due to the fact that we were almost immediately into the car to drive to our first destination of the day and that I didn't fully have the time to digest my food.... For that reason the mushroom trials will run on into next week when I'll be back to my usual routine and will be in a better position to monitor symptoms.

Having dropped the boys off at their dad's a little earlier than planned the plan for this evening is to catch up with my studies.... First up though there's unpacking to be done, and after I'll look at uploading some photos... Then tomorrow I'll pick up the boys a little earlier than usual and we'll do something nice together to finish off the week on a high.

It was a great little trip, but as always it's good to be home.

[jmcbn]

Ireland has around two thirds of the worlds megalithic passage tombs spread across the Island, most of which can be found in the Boyne Valley. The passage tomb at Knowth (and the two other main ones at Newgrange & Loughcrew) were built around 5000 years ago. Knowth has 124 of it's 127 original carved kerbstones still in place. Each stone, weighing around 2 tonnes, is intricately carved with geometric designs similar to those used by the Native Americans, the Mexicans & other countries such as Spain and Malta.

One of the carvings at Knowth is thought to be the oldest known clock in Ireland.

 

 

 

 

[jmcbn]

The three main megalithic passage tombs in Boyne are:

~ Newgrange - here the archeolgist has lifted the quartz that was found during excavation and replaced it in the way it is believed it would have looked when originally built. He also removed a section at the entrance & faced it with the granite stone so as to create an entrance that would preserve the main kerbstone as climbing over it was the only way to get in. The wooden stairways & rails are obviously also a modern addition. The passage chamber inside is as it was, except for what was looted over the years before the tombs became protected. The roof light visible above the main stone allows the sunrise to light up the entire chamber when it rises on and around the winter solstice.



~ Knowth - here the archeologists left the fallen quartz stones as they were. Three of the original 127 kerbstones are missing, and the top of the tomb has subsided a little but preservation works have been carried out in places since the tomb became protected. The internal chamber is inaccessible to the public but they can see a recreation which gives access to the 40 foot passage which leads to the main chamber. There are a number of smaller tombs (17 IIRC) aurrounding the main tomb at Knowth.



~ Loughcrew - a much more unsanitized tomb, Loughcrew is on the highest hill in the county with a steep climb which leads to breathtaking views of the surrounding countryside. The public can access the inner chamber when accompanied by a guide although the site is open to the public at all times; whereas Newgrange & Knowth can ONLY be accessed on a guided tour. Again, there are a number of smaller tombs surrounding the main one.

 

 

[jmcbn]

I woke up this morning feeling uber-refreshed having slept a little over 9hrs. I'd set my alarm for a time much later than I knew I'd waken so as to still get the sleep data and I'm pleased to say my sleep quality was 100% - and this was my THIRD night of not wakening through the night AT ALL - for me this is huge progress, and a trend I really hope to see continue.

I had originally planned on training this morning, but took the decision late yesterday evening to cancel my session. I have some chores to catch up on, some batch cooking to do, I have some groceries to pick up seeing as I didn't do my usual 'farm shop runs' yesterday, and I want to pick the boys up from their dad's earlier than usual today. I could have squeezed everything in, but it'd have been tight, and right now I'm feeling so relaxed and de-stressed that I didn't want to push myself out of that zone until it was really necessary - that is right as I switch off my alarm on Monday morning.

The gym will still be there in a few days - right now I'm enjoying the feeling of calm.

[jmcbn]

Four nights in a row on uninterrupted sleep - FOUR NIGHTS IN A ROW!!!! This hasn't happened for years! And when I say years I'm talking at least 30 but in all honesty I don't ever remember NOT wakening through the night.

This is HUGE.

In other news I've had a HUGE serving of mushrooms with breakfast - eggs over easy, smoked peppered mackerel, mushrooms sauteed in garlic infused oil, some  spinach & some cherry tomatoes with mayo. All washed down with a glass of Booch and a mug of green tea. I'll be paying attention to any arising symptoms as I set about my remaining chores.

In other, other news I'll have an update on my mum later.................................. 

[jmcbn]

MUM UPDATE

So some people may be aware that I'm in the throws of qualifying as a nutritionist. And some people may also know that I got a set of all singing, all dancing, bells & whistles, body fat composition measuring scales at Christmas. Now *I* broke up with the scale a long time ago, but my mum, who was wanting to lose some weight, kindly volunteered to let me do a little moonlighting with her to see if I couldn't help her along her way.

Now my mum is NOT doing a Whole30. I tried, lots, but she's retired and enjoying life, and not really interested in giving up some of the things that give her pleasure - like the odd glass of wine of an evening, or some yoghurt over her fruit.

She is NOT counting calories, but I have been advising her on meal composition, and she HAS cut out snacks. She HAS given up bread, but not grains in general. She HAS given up all processed foods, and she HAS given up refined & added sugars, and any chocolate/cookies/cake. Carrageenan, Sulphites & MSG are the next things I'm working on... and then we'll get around to ALL grains & legumes because I know she can feel better.

Our trip last week gave me a good opportunity to actually see how she is eating and I was impressed at how she navigated the menu, choosing healthy options for all meals. At breakfast for instance she ate bacon, eggs, & tomatoes, then followed up with a small bowl of mixed fruit with a couple of spoonfuls of natural yoghurt, a glass of fruit juice & some green tea. Lunch would have been some kind of protein salad, and at dinner she was sticking to plain grilled meat or fish with a good selection of veg to which she was adding butter. There were no puddings, but there were a couple of squares of dark chocolate with a coffee - her first since January.

There have been a couple of issues along the way, like that time she bought a sunflower oil spray on the recommendation of a friend, or the low fat yoghurts which a friend of a friend in the NHS that she was speaking to during my dad's hospital appointment suggested she eat because they'd be better for her, but we've had a few chats, I've printed off some research articles for her to read, and she's finally coming round to my way of thinking. It's just hard for her to ignore the advice of someone in a nurses uniform & heed the advice of her not yet qualified daughter even when I tell her that the nurse HAS to offer advice according to government recommendations, even if they contradict what the more recent research is clearing saying. 

Exercise wise she has been incorporating some body weight stuff - air squats, jumping jacks, lunges, wall push ups, tricep dips, but mostly power walking in the evenings if weather permits it. She also ditches the car any time it's possible, and has been collecting my youngest from school on her bike (they walk down with his bike in the morning, then she cycles down in the afternoon & they cycle home together).
 
We weighed her yesterday and 12 weeks on she has lost 8 pounds and around 2% body fat.

She is still eating a couple of servings of fruit a day, starchy veg daily (this is Ireland after all and for most folk it would be practically blasphemy to not eat potatoes!) still eating dairy, some grains, some legumes, and drinking the odd glass of wine in the evenings, but by removing all processed foods and refined sugars she is making great progress, and she is going to keep on keeping on...

She's living proof that you don't have to abstain - you just have to find what works for you - it's all about balance.

 

[MeadowLily]

My favorite kind of a real success story.

 

 

Will you be posting belly selfies?      

[jmcbn]

My favorite kind of a real success story.

 

 

Will you be posting belly selfies?      

Ha! My mum would have my life! Not that we took any anyway...... She was confident enough that she'd feel & see the results in the fit of her clothes.

Now, let's see if I can't get my Dad involved too - he was certainly keen to chat about the exercise side of things while we were away...!!

[MeadowLily]

Ha! My mum would have my life! Not that we took any anyway.

 My Maw  would 'crown me' as she likes to say.  Too bad we can't all get together for tea.Mother's Day is coming up. I'm going over there shortly and give her a tight hug. We're lucky kids to have great folks. She'll always be the mother and you'll always be the kid.  As it should be.  

 

But if Maw's naughty, I think I'm going to tell her if she doesn't behave I'm going to take belly selfies and post them on the innertube.  

[MeadowLily]

Your improved sleep, is it the booch, vacation or the folks....or a combo of all three. When I'm around my folks, I can really sleep.  There's something about the comforting presence of family that melts the stress away.  The booch, improving your digestion.   The vacation, a much needed time away from everything.  One more thing,  I was driving down the road thinking about your belly. Do you use bone broth, too?  I think the bone broth/booch combo is really part of the belly healing Rx. 

 

What do you think?

[jmcbn]

I've been working towards improved sleep for over a year now, and I'm in a much better place mentally than I was when I started. I think that and the vacation, coupled with the breaking away from pre-sleep social media are the key factors, although I'll be interested to see what happens in the coming days as I make a return to work.

I do make my own broth and drink a little of it, although probably not as much of it as I could/should. I seem to lean towards it more when I'm tired/stressed/run down, but I always add some to the dishes that I cook.

The booch I believed to be more of a digestive thing, but then digestion (or lack thereof) could subsequently effect sleep so it's entirely possible that that's helping too.

I was always told that sleep is the best healer so I guess it's kind of a Catch 22 - you can't get the good sleep without good general/mental health, and you can't get the good general/mental health without good sleep.

[jmcbn]

5TH NIGHT OF UNINTERRUPTED SLEEP IN A ROW!!!

Seriously, five nights - FIVE FREAKIN' NIGHTS !! - and even with the prospect of returning to work this morning (ie. stress).

I'm amazed   

In other news mushrooms look to be a no go....

I'm disappointed   

But more on that later.

[jmcbn]

SO LONG SHROOMS....

 

Yesterday I had a generous serving of mushrooms with breakfast, and whilst I thoroughly enjoyed them I felt kind of uncomfortable all day. It was kind of a bloat, kind of indigestion, kind of just general discomfort kind of a thing, but since I was wearing sweats all day, and quite possibly because I was busy all day I didn't really notice *just* how uncomfortable I felt until bed time.

This morning I had a repeat serving of mushrooms (about x7 large button mushrooms sliced & sauteed in garlic infused oil) with some cherry tomatoes, some scrambled eggs and a few slices of smoked salmon. The discomfort started almost immediately, the bloat was pretty severe, and by the time I was arriving at work I was in quite a bit of digestive distress - stomach cramps being the most severe I've had in a while. Without going into too much detail I didn't begin to feel better until the mushrooms had been expelled.

As with the broccoli I weirdly felt kind of hungry throughout all of this in the same way that I often did before cutting out FODMAPs. It's like my body is working so hard on digesting the FODMAPs that it doesn't/can't process anything else until the FODMAPs have been dealt with, and so it doesn't actually register the other food. Or something.

Almost as soon as the mushrooms were gone the hunger was gone too.

Looking back the servings of mushrooms I had at the hotel last week were around a third of what I ate this morning, although even at that the second day was slightly problematic. At home where I'm more generous with my servings than the Chefs at the hotel were the problems were apparent almost immediately - and drastically so on the second day.

I have a handful of mushrooms left for tomorrow's breakfast but I won't be indulging. I'm concluding from today's episode that a small amount of mushrooms chopped up into a portion of chilli won't kill me should I happen to be 'shroomed' when eating out, or at a friends, but that I can't go back to eating an entire pan of them with my eggs in the morning - or in the evening, or any time of day, any time soon.

It very much looks like my initial suspicions about not being able to tolerate polyols were right which means that sweet potatoes & celery will probably also be 'no go' - I just need to decide which I'd like to try next...

[jmcbn]

NIGHT 6 - aaaaaaaaaaaaaand we're back to wakening once   

I had a deep, quality sleep, but when I woke around 1am and realised that it wasn't morning I was gutted it has to be said   

Thankfully I've never had a problem falling back to sleep, so after my bathroom visit I was very quickly once again out for the count with average sleep quality for the night in the low 90's   

 

[Zoe]

The short version is that Avocado and I want different things - one of them for me being a tummy that doesn't look six months pregnant - and so we have decided to go our separate ways. We were both in agreement that should the occasion arise where it might be worth it then a little reunion wouldn't be the worst thing in the world (no gastric distress, no stomach cramps, no gas, just substantial upper intestinal bloating which makes me uncomfortable particularly in business wear) however we have, as of Friday, consciously uncoupled and are free to seek company elsewhere.

 

I used to flirt with avocado myself - but sadly the last date was too much - we too have gone our separate ways - it does get easier with time !! 

[jmcbn]

I used to flirt with avocado myself - but sadly the last date was too much - we too have gone our separate ways - it does get easier with time !! 

Dates are always too much.... 

 

I have quite the collection of SCOBYs going on now by the way. I've switched to my two large (x5 ltr) jars, and this weekend I'll probably start using my spare x3ltr jar with [at least] 3 SCOBYs already in the Hotel. So when you feel like maybe starting a wee brewery of your own let me know - I could give you a couple of small ones in some starter tea to get you going 

[MeadowLily]

Hotel California.  You can check out anytime you like but you can never leave. Sounds like all of the rooms are filling up.

 

I would like to order some of your guests but I don't think they'd make the trip in one piece. We're in the process of ordering Siberian Peashrubs from Tennessee and that's an ordeal to keep them alive.

 

How's everything tasting now?  Lively and fizzy?

[Zoe]

 

I have quite the collection of SCOBYs going on now by the way. I've switched to my two large (x5 ltr) jars, and this weekend I'll probably start using my spare x3ltr jar with [at least] 3 SCOBYs already in the Hotel. So when you feel like maybe starting a wee brewery of your own let me know - I could give you a couple of small ones in some starter tea to get you going 

 

Sounds like an excellent plan

Just when the kids thought their mum was weird enough - she just gets weirder