9 Belfast Bites

[jmcbn]

29 minutes ago, MeadowLily said:

Have I ever told you about my roommate from Kentucky.  Oooo, mercy my. Carloads of relatives would come out and we had bluegrass, large BBQ's.  They would dig a huge pit in the ground with hot coals and they partied for days.  Scotch-Irish peoples sleeping on the lawn, in tents. Good times.

Funnily enough the festival has been on since Friday (it's the 25th anniversary this year) and BBQ is listed as one of the food options and there's a whole special rate for campers!!

[MeadowLily]

Oooooo,  sounds like so much frickity frick frick fun. Hope your booch is back in biz. Tart, fizzy and delish. I would swill all of it when you weren't looking, you'd be bone dry.    

[littleg]

On September 3, 2016 at 0:57 PM, jmcbn said:

Yesterday was a study day and I really feel like I'm making good ground now. I'm currently looking at treating mental & physical disorders with food, and I've been banging on here in the forums like forever about the importance of Omega 3s and how they impact mood - this is not just IMHO; this is fact - Omega 3's have actually been shown to have anti-depressant properties, possibly because the brain is made up mostly of lipids, or fatty acids, and it's estimated that around a third of those are Omega 3s.

I know I also bang on and on about nuts being an inferior fat source due to their poor omega 6:3 ratios, but for those of you who still like to go nuts with the nuts you should be aware that an imbalance of EFAs in the diet (that's Omega 6 [pro-inflammatory] & Omega 3 [anti-inflammatory] fatty acids to you guys) may be responsible for heightened depressive symptoms associated with low plasma cholesterol. Ideally you should be aiming for a ratio of around 4:1 (lower would be better) - so four times as many Omega 6s than Omega 3s. The typical SAD/UKD is closer to 16:1 and can be as high in 25:1 in some cases. Yes, seriously.

So don't go nuts with the nuts.

And if you want a taste of the Tiger Blood eat the fish. Or the Tiger Prawns. Or both.

I just listened to a podcast on Robb Wolf's site with a psychiatrist who always tries to treat with food.  Of course, he has written a book about it (and a cookbook too)  His name was Drew Ramsey.  It made me eat smoked oysters for breakfast yesterday!

 

[jmcbn]

Yep, those bad boys pack a fine punch - they're quite the nutritional power house are oysters, and I think they often get over-looked.

Sadly the tinned ones here are usually in sunflower oil (bleugh!!), and I'm never convinced of their source. On the up-side we have quite a number of Oyster Bars here so I like to indulge with friends every now & again - although those outings usually involve Guinness..... In my defence though (and in keeping with the whole food is medicine theme) Guinness is actually good for you - it can help reduce blood clots and the risk of heart attacks and, just like red wine and dark chocolate, it contains immune-boosting antioxidants. It's also thought to help improve memory but regular Guinness drinkers may argue with that one 

[jmcbn]

The Bluegrass Festival last week was pretty good - there were all kinds of people of varying ages & attire there enjoying the unexpected sunshine, the great music & the good food. My first born thought it was all a bit 'Hill Billy-ish' which as I explained to him, was pretty much to be expected  - Hill Billies were Irish migrants after all, so called because many of them were called William (shortened to Billy) and they lived in the hills..... Still he said he prefers more traditional Irish music without the country twist. The feral child loves music of any kind, and since he also loves exploring he was in his element going in and out of the various houses/cottages in the outdoor museum - some of which have been brought to Ireland from the Prairies and rebuilt brick by brick.

Food-wise the two boys got Buffalo Burgers and I settled for a Baked Potato with chicken curry, we found ourselves a seat in the sun and soaked in the atmosphere before doing a quick run round the indoor exhibition of the Museum & heading home.

We had planned on heading up to the North Coast today, but the winds are pretty strong here today, the sun has disappeared, and since that part of the coast is very exposed we decided to leave it for another day. Instead we've stayed indoors and I've got caught up with the ironing I'd neglected over the past two weeks, got a bunch of food prep out of the way to re-stock the freezer supplies I've been digging into, and I've even managed a little bit of study while the feral child was doing a practice paper. I was out for a meal with two friends on Friday night (a new Indian restaurant has opened in town and it was pretty good, and all compliant - bonus!) and since Friday is usually my main study night I really felt the need to get caught up.

Last night was our usual movie night and we opted for Dead Poet's Society - the youngest fell asleep on the sofa about 10mins in, but the first born LOVED it. He watched all the bonus scenes on the DVD, the Director's commentary, interview with a few of the actors, and has asked if we can watch it again next week. I'm delighted it struck a chord with him because it's one of my all time favourites...

Looking now at the wind blowing a gale outside, and the fast moving clouds in the sky I'm wishing I'd made some spiced pumpkin soup this week. Instead I made a kind  of a layered veg/ground beef dish I make every now & then - it didn't really turn out the way I'd like presentation wise (I think the oven wasn't quite hot enough when I put it in) but it's got a good flavour (it's chock full of peppers, carrots, tomato, zucchini & olives), and that along with some fresh mackerel & salmon, a slow cooked chicken, and some beef liver will provide our protein for this week. I'll make the soup next week - unless the sunshine makes a welcome return!

[jmcbn]

Tonight on BBC3

Cut the Fat.

I'm guessing it'll be available on iPlayer for anyone interested.....................

[littleg]

I looked for a streaming version and couldn't find one (the BBC site that seemed promising on my Google search was "down for the day").  If you find a link will you post it?

Spiced pumpkin soup sounds good...  I haven't found one I like though.  The few I've tried are savory (via curry, which I don't love - sorry, can I say that to you?)  in combo with pumpkin pie spice.  Do you have a recipe you like?

It *finally* cooled off a little here.  Lows at night have been in the 50s (12-13 degrees for the rest of the world that is smart enough not to use the US measurement system...).  But they aren't forecasted to stay

[jmcbn]

Is this the site you tried?

http://bbc.in/2cSCh4N

If it is I'll have a search later once it's been screened on TV and try and find you an alternative - I think it'll be interesting viewing...!!

LOLing at the curry - yes I *am* a self-professed curry fan, but I appreciate that we all have different tastes...

I actually don't generally curry this one, but I don't have a recipe either - I tend to read a lot of recipes online and then take from them what I like, and make the rest up as I go along. I like parsnip & pumpkin together and generally chop my veg up, saute in some fat of my choice (this varies according to mood!), add a selection of spices (usually ground cloves, cinnamon, ginger, garam masala or all spice, and some coriander - although I also like to add in some chopped fresh coriander when serving - and maybe some turmeric, salt & freshly ground black pepper), add some broth & top up with water (or if I've just used the slow cooker I'll dump the contents of that in), bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer until all the veg is cooked, and then blend. Sometimes I add in some white potatoes, sometimes I don't... Sometimes I use less broth/water and add in some coconut milk at the end, sometimes I don't... They do these cute little mini pumpkins in the Farm Shop for a few weeks each year - they're all different colours on the outside, but look identical on the inside, and they have an amazing flavour - these are the ones I like to make my soup from when I can 

I have the heater on in my office today - it kicks in when the temp drops a bit - it's coming on for a min or two every hour or so, just enough to take the chill off the air... Meanwhile in parts of mainland UK they're having the hottest day of the year!! And it's dark here by 8pm now. Almost time to batten down the hatches - Winter is coming...!!

[littleg]

Watch out for the White Walkers

Thanks for the sort-of-a-recipe-but-not-really-a-recipe.  I made some soup last year (carrot I think - from Nomnompaleo) with cardamom in it... that was good.  Maybe you should add that to the list of spices to tinker with.  I can't wait for soup season!  I have some ground pork in the fridge for a Thai curry butternut squash soup (Thai curry - which I like better than Indian curry) - that is on  the menu for tomorrow!

 

[jmcbn]

On 9/16/2016 at 10:43 AM, littleg said:

cardamom

I go through phases of using cardamom in my curries. What happens is I'll forget to remove the pods before serving, I bite into one, and it puts me off them for a while. Funnily enough one of the local Kombucha brewers sent out a recipe for (GF) carrot & cardamom cake with kombucha icing to me yesterday. Maybe it's a sign and I should add them to my shopping list

So the plan for this weekend was to go to the Harvest Festival being held at the Public Gardens in the City yesterday and today. Yesterday was a glorious day, perfect for such an event, but the first born was asked to play football with a bunch of his friends and since he's not the sportiest of kids I always encourage him to take part in these things when the invites come along so he went off to do that while the Feral Child and I went for a walk along the pier in a neighbouring seaside town and then home so I could do food prep and he could go out to play with his friends.

That was all fine and dandy until we woke up to rain today.... I hoped it would clear up as the day progressed, packed us all into the car and drove in the direction of the Festival, but when we were 10mins or so away I made the executive decision to find a parking space in the centre of this side of the city and go to the covered craft/food/antique market that's on each weekend. There is always live music there, food stalls from around the world, local produce (meat, fruit, veg, fish, spices, teas, coffee beans. olives etc), local arts & crafts and an eclectic mix of people milling around soaking up the atmosphere - and the best damned coffee in the land. I really don't drink much in the way of coffee these days, but I never pass up coffee when I go here.

So the first born opted for a Belfast Bap (a local recipe filled with local dry cured ham, mature cheese & slaw), the second born opted for a paella dish, and I opted for a coffee - smooth, rich, dark, strong, and oh so very pleasureable on this dank, wet day.

I'd every intention of making my spiced pumpkin soup this week but when I went to the farm shop on Friday there was not a pumpkin in sight. Not a single one of those cute little multi coloured ones I saw there last week, so instead I went for carrot & parsnip, with a 'little' courgette thrown in for good measure. I say 'little' and 'for good measure', but really it was because I had SO MUCH COURGETTE I didn't know what else to do with it. Philip (my trusty farm shop sales assistant) had kept me a courgette (or maybe it was a marrow? Is there a way to tell the difference?) which was about the size of my spin instructor's thigh right after a hard leg session, so I've roasted some, sauteed some, souped some & frozen some - I'll be eating that bad boy for weeks!!

Along with the soup I will mostly be eating chicken - one slow cooked in coconut oil, turmeric, ginger & cinnamon - and jerk chicken thighs which I haven't made in ages and had forgotten just how good they are. My mum also got me some scallops from the fishmongers on Friday so I've cooked those up with ginger, lemongrass, scallions & chorizo, and I've a few servings of beef liver to use too, plus one portion of shepherd's pie I'd to remove from the freezer to make room for some chicken tenders for the kids.

Had a bit of a rude awakening this morning when I went to pour myself a glass of Booch to have with breakfast.... Lifted a fresh litre bottle out of the fridge, popped the swing top on it and it fizzed up & started frothing, and frothing, and frothing....... until literally half of the bottle had fizzed & frothed out all over my kitchen floor!!

One thing that can be said for home made booch - it'll not only put hairs on your chest, but also a shine on your chinese slate kitchen floor that anyone would be proud of!!!

[MeadowLily]

So your booch blew a gasket. Fizz bombs.  That happens with the GT brand I buy, too. Some explode when you open the bottle and go everywhere without shaking the bottle whatsoever. 

[jmcbn]

On 9/19/2016 at 10:01 PM, MeadowLily said:

Fizz bombs

Bloomin' nora - that takes me back...!! I used to get these in my 10p candy mix as a kid!!

Anyway, quick check in as it's my late evening into early morning training day & I need a decent sleep to recover in between... Just to say I was chatting with my spin buddy at the gym this evening - the one who this time last year was purging left, right & centre. Well as some of you may remember she's been on the road to recovery since the little chat we had and she's been making great ground. She's just back from a cycling holiday where she happily expanded her (predominantly plant based) diet to include some fish and around 6-8 eggs a day (protein wise this is a HUGE step for her) and was asking me about supplements to make up for what she's been lacking in her diet - and by supplements we're talking vitamin d3, vitamin b12, omega 3 & magnesium, not the BCAAs she'd have looked to in place of actual food last year.

It's so good to see how much she has turned things around in this past year, and I'm so so pleased to have been able to help her in some small way.

[J9er]

Is such great news about your friend! Wow. Really goes to show, when things are said from a place of caring and in a respectful loving way, how much of an impact they can have. I remember your chat with her. Must be a relief to you to see her doing well.  

[jmcbn]

@J9er - it's amazing - she really is a changed person and it's so good to see. She's smiling, she's animated, and she's engaging in conversation with new people, something she never would have done back then - n fact you were lucky if she would make eye contact with you. And all the chats we've had about diet and nutrition finally seemed to have rubbed off on her - she loves cycling, and she wants to be able to fuel herself effectively for it. She knows she was just burning herself out before. She has a photo of herself on her phone which was taken during her cycling holiday last year when she was probably at her worst - she couldn't see how bad it was back then, but she reached a point where she could see it and she's keeping it as a reminder of how bad things really where as a way of preventing herself from going back there. Her journey isn't over, but she's well on her way....

[jmcbn]

This weekend we had two options for our downtime. A Winterfell Winterfest at a local National Trust property (the location used for all the Winterfell scenes in GoT), or a Chocolatefest in a different Castle not that far away.... Well 'Winter is Coming' and the sun was shining so we decided to skip the Winterfest (Winters here can be long enough) and make the most of the sunshine and the fantastic food on offer. Chocolatefest is an annual event, and it's a great day out for families. There were all kinds of entertainers on hand, streel drums, jugglers, fire eaters, dancers, face painting & balloon sculpting for the little kids, climbing walls & pellet gun ranges for the bigger kids, and some amazing artisan food stalls in between the numerous local chocolate producers. The boys each got a vension burger and we sat in the sun and watched the world go by, the feral child climbed to the top of the climbing wall, shot a few rounds on the range, and then we had a browse around the 'market'..... Foodwise I bought some kimchi made by a Polish girl living locally (who will take my extra SCOBYs in exchange for her natural syrups for flavouring my Booch - she's a brewer too - or fresh kimchi or kraut!!), some posh dill salt all the way from Co Cork, some pork chops from the guy I bought the bacon from at the Auld Lamas fair, a wedge of mature hard cheese produced in the town where I work, and a bar of quality chocolate with sea salt & chill flakes (the only one I could find without soy lecithen), all of which I've yet to try.

As we got into the car the heavens opened and it rained all the way home, all through the night, and right up until around lunch time today, so it looks like we made the right call. I've also had the heating on for an hour or so each day since Saturday as there is a definite chill in the air. Winter is indeed coming...

Food prep this week of course wouldn't have been complete without some Chocolate Chilli, and along side that I've got the pork chops, some salmon fillets, and a slow cooked chicken. There'll be the usual roasted root veg, braised kale/courgette,spinach & salad veg on the side, but in all honesty I'm tiring a little of the salads now as the temperatures start to drop and think it's time to batten down the hatches and make the switch to soups & stews. Those one pot meals are my saviour in winter - the soups are so simple & soothing, and when you're the sole cook in the house it is really good coming home to the smell of a slow cooked stew.

 

[J9er]

Chocolatefest sounds amazing! 

I was so excited to find some amazing quality chocolate at my local grocery store, only 4 ingredients, no soy lecithin, it was on sale this week for $2 a bar..... I bought 4 bars. My favorite is the brown butter and sea salt. 

I love going to the markets at events like that, the variety is so great. And what a great trade you have for your SCOBYs! That's awesome.  We are buckling down with our money right now for a couple of goals we set and I can't wait to be able to free up some extra dollars to be able to splurge on amazing market goods. 

Hows it going with your older boy's eating and weight? 

 

[jmcbn]

The kimchi maker/kombucha brewer actually has a stall in the Farmer's Market that's held every Friday, Saturday & Sunday in the city. I've never seen them sell fermented foods or Booch there, but she told me on Sunday that they always sell out of those things really quickly so by the time I'm arriving they're down to just fruit, veg, herbs & spices etc. Funnily enough this is the same stall I've been buying my hibiscus flowers from - it really is a small world. We had a long chat about the Booch & about fermenting veggies. Obviously growing up in Poland she's been eating fermented foods all her life, and it was great to speak, in person, with someone who has a passion for similar things. She's encouraged me to try some fresh mint leaves in my next batch of Booch, or some cinnamon bark & cloves.... I'm bottling tomorrow and since I have the cinnamon & cloves at home I'm starting with those.

You're right though, the markets can be pricey, and with a half term break booked for the end of October, Christmas approaching fast after that, and a school trip for the Feral Child's last year in Primary School to pay for I'll have to tighten the purse strings myself. When I go to these markets though I only bring a certain amount of cash - that way I can't go overboard and really have to think about what I'd like to buy in relation to my needs. 

The first born is doing *okay*. It's a little like a cha cha - 3 steps forward, 2 steps back - but even one step forward is progress, right?

We're not making a big thing out of weighing because it's not something I want to encourage, but he had gained 2kg the last time he weighed... The struggle is in finding the right balance with him - I don't want to force him to eat certain foods because I know that will only put him off, and although he's fed up thinking about how to compose his meals (specifically breakfast because I pack his lunch for school, and he gets what he's given for dinner!) he understands that unless he makes consistent changes that there will be no change in his weight/physique. His biggest complaint is one that most people eating this way see as a NSV - he's never hungry between meals. I think as a teen he just likes to snack as he studies/watches a movie etc., but since he's been eating well composed meals the desire to snack has left him, and I guess he feels a little cheated by that 

What I see is more stable moods/energy, no struggle to get out of bed in the morning, and the onset of tiredness at the same time each evening... 

Palpable progress.

[jmcbn]

Spontaneous night out with some friends last night.... I'd gone to my BFF for a haircut straight from work and she mentioned she was heading out to the Cinema later on and asked if I wanted to join her. Friday night is my study night and so at first I said no, but then I thought about it - she was going to watch Bridget Jones Baby with a mutual friend and I really wanted to see it, and knew it wasn't a movie my boys were going to watch with me so I decided to join them. I did a quick freshen up when I got home, grabbed a bite to eat & then went to meet them in a local coffee house (although we all drank green tea!) for a quick catch up before the movie.

Today has been all about the chores. I got up early this morning and sealed some buffalo steak pieces in coconut oil & added them to the slow cooker along with some chopped tomatoes, curry spices & a large sweet potato (yeah, we're kind of not okay, I know,  but I saw them at the farm shop yesterday and they looked better then they have done in a while & they reduce down so nicely when slow cooked - I also added an entire bag of spinach in 3 batches about 15/20mins before switching off the crockpot)  then headed to the gym. Intense weights session followed by a mediocre spin class (stand in instructor), then back home to prep some salmon steaks with veg (daubed in ghee, wrapped in foil pockets & cooked in the oven), chopped some parsnips, carrots, turnip & white potato for roasting, steamed some samphire (great with fish, and I needed a change from kale), sliced some courgette ready for sauteeing, changed the bed linen, dusted down the surfaces & then headed to my sister's for a quick catch up before collecting the boys.

This afternoon I've been down on my hands & knees scrubbing the floors in the bathrooms, wiping down all of the kitchen cupboards, and cleaning the downstairs windows because the days are getting shorter and I wanted to give the house a good clean while the light is still good enough during the day to see what I'm at. Tomorrow I'll tackle the upstairs windows, and (weather permitting) give the grass it's last cut before winter, and then tackle the kitchen floor in the same way. Mopping is good, but a good old fashioned scrub is better.

Tea tonight (or Dinner depending  on where in the world you are!) will be burgers. The first born will have his in a bun, the feral child will not, but they'll both have a side of home-made mixed spicy sweet & white potato wedges. Mine will be an elvis burger - with some of that awesome dry cured bacon I'm rapidy working my way through. Yum!

Other than a trip to our old favourite ice cream store there is no 'outing' planned for this weekend. There are a couple of events we could attend, we've a National Trust membership we could avail of, and I could go to artisan food markets every day of the week, but the deposit is due for the feral child's school trip, the road tax is due for my car, and I have enough food supplies/condiments etc to keep my going for a while so our down time will be mostly spent at home in PJs maybe catching a movie or two.

[jmcbn]

'Winter is coming'

More & more research lately is finding that Northern Europeans are vitamin D deficient. Yes you can get vitamin D from your diet, but around 80% is produced from exposure to the sun so ideally you want to be spending time outdoors. When you live in a country where the winter is long, the days are short, and the skies are often grey it can be hard to get enough. Even in the summer when there is some sunshine the use of sunglasses, and sunscreen prevent the body from absorbing vitamin D (SPF 15 can reduce absorption by around 95%!). Any vitamin D produced during the summer months is stored in our body fat and used when we are no longer producing, however these stores only last around two months - so when your winter is long it's apparent that supplementing is necessary.

Every cell in the human body has a vitamin D receptor, so if you're deficient it can have a negative effect on your overall health - the risks for CVD, cancers, fractures, arthritis, osteoporosis, diabetes (T1 & T2), dementia, auto immune diseases & respiratory illnesses all increase in those with a deficiency.

Interestingly the older we get the less vitamin D we produce. Someone in their twenties for instance will produce around three times more than someone in their seventies, which is why so many elderly folk (sat in the sun rooms of their care homes) are vitamin D deficient & suffer from fractures when they fall. Vitamin D also helps with calcium absorption which is shown to reduce in peri/menopausal/post-menopausal women (see osteoporosis above), and is known to help with other menopausal symptoms like mood swings, anxiety & tearfulness/depression  - just a few more reasons to consider adding this supplement to their daily routine. For those in any doubt bear in mind too that the more you weigh the less vitamin D will end up in your blood stream. Obese people can utilize only around 50% of their stores, and need twice as long in the sun, or higher supplementation. Anyone planning on adding vitamin D into their routine should opt for D3 (cholecalciferol - which is more bioavailable than the D2 usually prescribed by the medical profession), and should take it in the morning (in line with recommendations to spend time outdoors first thing in the morning) so as not to hamper their natural production of melatonin.

I make a point of getting out in the sun at the same time every day. Spending time outdoors on wakening is preferable but not often possible, so this is a good compromise. On week days I have a circular walk from my office that takes around 20mins. This provides me with a long enough daily exposure - if you're fairer skinned 10mins might be enough. There's a good uphill stretch in the loop which gets the heart rate raised a little too, and the fresh air itself washes the cobwebs of the morning away, works up my appetite & sets me up for the afternoon. 

So now that winter is coming and my lunch time walk might not be so regular due to the likely forthcoming adverse weather conditions I've started taking a daily Vitamin D3 supplement which should help see me through the winter months.

In other news on the food rotation this week we have: thai green prawn curry, salmon, smoked mackerel, & slow cooked shin with a few chopped kidneys thrown in near the end for good measure. Veg wise I've the usual roasted mix, and for greens have stuck mainly with the samphire again this week. It's so quick to cook, a good change in texture and works brilliantly with fish. Salads are down to a minimum (the odd portion of heavily mayo-ed slaw) as the weather is on the turn.

In other other news I should have said in my last post that the movie was brilliant - a real 'feel good' movie, with a good amount of eye candy.... Oh my, hasn't Patrick Dempsey aged well...? And, well, Colin Firth........... 

 

 

[J9er]

Gosh, great info about vitamin D! Thank you!

[littleg]

So this summer I walked the dogs 3-4 days a week for ~50 minutes.  I did a decent amount of hiking (8-10 miles so 4-5 hrs) before I was nervous about popping out a preemie on the summit (so this got me through August)... and when I just had my Vit D checked it had dropped from 43 (1.5 years ago - after some intense supplementation to get my levels up from ~20) to 29.  I stopped supplementing when I found out I was pregnant (figuring it was summer - I'd rather get it naturally during first trimester rather than take something synthetic) and was shocked at how low it was given how much I was out this summer...  I've started taking my supplement again (just MCT oil and Vit D).  Any ideas/suggestions about why despite so much sun exposure this can happen?  

[jmcbn]

7 hours ago, littleg said:

Any ideas/suggestions about why despite so much sun exposure this can happen?  

The recommendations for are for exposure between the hours of 10am - 3pm, with sunscreen on your face, but arms & legs exposed. If you have sunscreen on your arms & legs it will prevent absorption. Also, I'm not sure if the rate of absorption might be different in pregnancy, but a deficiency during pregnancy is fairly common. I'm guessing that because vitamin D & calcium are so closely linked that it's maybe something to do with the way the body uses calcium during pregnancy for the development of the babies teeth & bones.

[jmcbn]

Woah! Ten days since I last updated my log....!! Suffice to say I've *kind of* been a little busy with some other stuff I've going on right now with a strong focus on positive mind-set & improving strength, and since my nutrition is in a pretty good place right now my log has gone on the back burner.

The first born son goes today to get braces on which is going to hamper his eating a little over the next week until the pain eases, but we've talked about that and how we can overcome it with blended soups (GREAT way for me to get more veg into him anyway!) and fruit smoothies. Protein might be more of an issue - he should be okay with eggs, although I can't see him wanting to eat those every day of the week - so we'll need to look into some other options. I remember eating a lot of shredded chicken & kahlua pork when mine first went on so maybe that will work for him too.

The second born is on the count down now to his exams, with the first one falling on Nov 12th. He's been doing *so* well with the practice papers, and then the next thing you know his score drops out of the blue so we just have to suck it & see I guess, and keep going over the past papers in the mean time. He hates it, if truth be told, but he knows it's for the greater good.

This weekend sees them both finish school for a week for half term, and so we'll take our usual trip down South for a few days to chill out, spend some time outdoors, and prepare for the winter ahead...

[J9er]

I So hungry after I got my braces in I remember just chewing through the pain lol. 

Does he eat dairy? Would you consider a good quality whey protein for the purpose of getting protein in? 

I stopped wearing my retainers gosh, 6 years ago maybe, but in the last year I have noticed my teeth beginning to shift  it makes me so sad, I really need to get some new retainers made so I can hopefully stop the shifting, if that's even possible. i really wish I would have listened and just continued wearing them for life. My poor husband has terrible teeth. His parents wouldn't get him braces because he was a hockey goalie and most of his friends were missing teeth or had facial injuries, and the plan was to wait until he didn't play anymore...well he played all the way through college and it never happened. So before I ever get my teeth fixed again, he is first for braces. I haven't pushed it too hard because I know he will be a big man baby about it and I need to prepare myself for that! 

[littleg]

Ugh, braces... I remember those days.  

I haven't worn my retainers in 20 years or so... my teeth have shifted (I have a tongue thrust) but not enough that any dentist cares or says its a problem... so don't assume they will just keep moving and moving - they may not!