The DietChef Thing: Day 6

Hey everyone. Well, glad to say I'm doing a lot better than I was this time last night. I don't know that this is going to be a very long one, as today has really been pretty uneventful, but here goes.

Morning, woke up feeling bouncy, only normally hungry and with last night's miasma lifted, thank heavens. I'm an optimist by nature so it's unusual for dark clouds to last long with me. Noble husband, Karen my morning carer and I are getting the morning routine down pat now, so it wasn't long before I was sitting down with my bowl of bird food in my hands, ready to tuck in. treacle Pecan Granola again today, yummers!

You know, this kind of bird food is fast getting to be my favorite, it really is good! Just sweet enough and the pecans are so tasty! it's a sadly short time before the spoon is scraping against empty corell. Doh! Time for my morning medicine, guess I'd better suck in and swallow it down. I love the smell of coffee. I have a dear friend who can't drink coffee, says it smells wonderful but tastes awful. I'm sure getting to know how that feels, ain't I just! No, that really isn't fair, awful's too strong a word, but when I think of how lovely, rich, creamy and sugary it used to be I want to weep. Still, we shall overcome, as they say, and I purse my nose and wrinkle my mouth, no wait, that doesn't sound right, and take in every drop!

The morning goes on as mornings have a way of doing, I'm really up today, you can tell because I'm being ridiculously silly. This isn't an act, people who don't know me, I don't do acts, it's a rare sighting of me in a rocketing good mood. Make the most of it. Big smiles. So, as I was saying, the morning goes on, I have stuff to do and before we know where we are the witching hour of one O'clock is here.

Soup again. I actually like it, the alternative is one of those lift the kettle pasta jobs I had on day 1 and I'm saving those for the end, to have if I have to, I don't relish that gig, I'm terrified of dropping the kettle. So, soup. Carrot and coriander, or carrot and cilantro, depending on what part of the planet you come from. Now this is one of my favorite flavors and I have great hopes. I tear open the pouch and start to pour. My stars! The pouch is wobblier than usual or my hands are shakier than usual, one or the other. The soup splashes. Clean up on isle 5! Luckily I didn't spill much, but it could have been disastrous if I hadn't been quick enough to catch it. I manage to get some on my finger and, in licking it off, I find that, now I'll let you guess. Yes, the lady with the red hair and the emerald pants suit has it. You're right, madam, it was woefully under seasoned! For heaven's sake, just a pinch of salt makes all the difference! Finally it's ready and I wobble over to the sofa. Splash! oops! What is this stuff, I've never spilt like this before!

First bite: Yikes! It's too thin to stand up! Having said this, the soup is the light, thin kind you might want to eat on a very hot summer's day. But for me, too few carrots, too much broth. It has been blended smoothe but, because there is so much broth, it hasn't gone velvety, the carrots are very fine and bitty, like baby food. You can suck all the broth right away and be left with a mouthful of mush. All in all, it's not the kind of thing a hungry person wants to have for lunch when it's all they have till six in the evening. As for taste, apart from my usual moan about the seasoning, it's good soup. The carrot flavor is deep, and fresh corriander as well as ground has been used here, which is unusual. Even more unusually, the long cooking to preserve this food hasn't killed the flavor of the fresh coriander, which I would have expected it to. For such a pungent herb, it's really easy to completely murder the flavor of fresh coriander as I know to my cost. Well, in a few slurps it's all gone, and that's that.

The afternoon is long and achingly empty, but for some reason I'm on a roll today. Whether my stern little pep talk of last night did some good, or whether it's just that I feel well in myself today I don't know. I'm hungry as hell, but I just put my head down and tough it out. I also got an Email from DietChef today. I had been concerned about what was going to happen when I had to put my next order in, was I going to have to go through all that stress again? I've seen a lot of bad stuff on the net about them, how they're scammers and thieves and the customer service is awful. I have to say not being able to talk to someone on the phone is difficult, but the customer services department could not have been more helpful to me. Obviously I won't know till my new box comes, but I'm hoping, hoping, we have things sorted, and they have sent me out more breakfasts to replace the ones they got wrong and didn't even want the old ones back.

Dinner time seems like an age coming, and when it does it's Paella. Now, if you've been reading my rambles regularly you'll know I had this before once and ruined it by adding chunks of broccoli and cauliflower to it. What it really wants is a nice cucumber salad, something with some moisture to it, but as we all know, I can't stand long enough to prepare that. I could cheat and use some prepared leaves from a bag and some of those long, dill cucumber slices out of a jar, and oh my, would they ever be good, but I don't dare, the stuff those are pickled in is probably riddled with sugar. So instead I have my usual serving of greens. I really do like them and will probably end up having them with everything. Nice dark green leafy stuff is ever so good for you anyway. I'm sitting to table in about five minutes, not too bad at all.

First bite: much better, oh my word yes! I must have way overcooked it last time by accident, the rice is light and fluffy, the chicken is fine, there isn't much of anything else, but it's seasoned well, spicy, tasty and there's a nice plateful with the greens. I just wish it wasn't quite so dry. A large cup of noble husband's matchless earl grey fixes that.

I spend a long and pleasant evening jotting down ideas I'm brainstorming for a very dear friend and trying not to feel what's going on inside me. You see, there might have seemed to be a good bit of dinner, but it didn't fill me up, or perhaps it's because lunch left me so empty, but I'm starved! At nine I have my snack, Salt and pepper soy snacks, never had these ones before. Will they be like ready salted potato chips which I heartily detest?

First bite: nom nom nom! OH my! They're salty and spicy with hot pepper, like, like, oh my! I want another about four packs! But I only get to have one. And a cup of tea. And we're all done for the day.

Good news is, another successful day, no cheating. Bad news is, I'm absolutely ravenous, I mean seriously, it's bad! But I know I can tough this out, I've come too far to fall off this tree now.

When I started these evening letters, it was purely so I could have somewhere to get all the chatter out of my head, I knew there would be plenty. I honestly didn't know if anyone would read them. I rationalised it to myself that hey, if anyone did, and something, some chance little thing among all the zillions of words I squirt out, strikes a chord, makes someone laugh, helps someone, then it's not purely self-indulgence is it, it's worth something. I've since had several messages of different kinds, from people I know and from people I don't, saying amazing and totally blush making things to me. If you were one of them and even if you weren't and are reading this: thanks. You rock.

My word! Or rather, my words! I said this wasn't going to be a long one, but once I get started there's no stopping me! But you'll be glad to know I'm almost done. We can chalk this one up as a good day and hope for more like it, only tomorrow I don't want to go to bed with this rumbling railroad running through the middle of my house, and if you remember that reference, dearie, you're as ancient as I am! Giggling a big giggle. Goodnight everyone.

Food eaten today.

Breakfast: Treacle Pecan Granola, plain no fat yogurt.

Lunch: Carrot and Coriander soup.

Dinner: Paella, serving of microwaved spring greens.

Snack: Salt and Pepper Soya Snacks.

Drinks: Tea, no milk or sugar.

Bad? no.

Are you hungry? Yes, ravenous.

Mood? Rocketingly good.

Music: Jo stafford and Gordon McCray: Dearie.