How time flies.

...And not always when you're having fun. Ken is finally on the mend, but it took three lots of antibiotics and three weeks of being housebound (two of them in bed for most of the time). The weather prediction for the coming week is cold and wet, so I don't think he will be going anywhere soon. I've been up to Pussy's Bow in craft projects - mostly patchwork, and enjoying myself immensely. I've been posting all about that on my other blog Patra's Place, if you want to know more. I've been reading too, but it got to the point where I was reading one book after another and doing nothing else, so that's when I decided to do some sewing instead.

As a consequence of attending the cardio-rehab courses and learning what foods contain certain fats, salt, and other unhealthy-for-hearts ingredients, we have been gradually changing our diet somewhat, eliminating saturated fats and salt in cooking, and not buying cakes, biscuits, chips, etc. It's been a bit hard, as we both have a sweet tooth, but I've found a number of recipes for cakes and desserts which substitute oils or other ingredients for butter. But I've discovered that you cannot make biscuits (cookies to the American readers) without butter. They just don't work with oil! So, we're living without sweet biscuits; but still nibble on Cruskits and the other few that are recommended by the Heart Foundation. Trouble with savoury biscuits is that most of them have too much salt, so we have to avoid those too. A friend came over to visit last Sunday and brought of all things a cream sponge!! It was kind of her, and I didn't like to say anything, so we had a slice each, and I gave the rest back to her to take home. But boy, did I feel sick later! After not having anything rich and creamy like that for a while, my tummy rebelled!

Eliminating salt from my cooking is no hardship, as I don't add salt to anything I cook anyway. But I do read the labels on supermarket foods more carefully, and it is shocking to see the amount of sodium in some items that you wouldn't think would need salt. But it is a preservative, so it has to be used in a lot of processed foods, and I've been selecting the low-salt varieties where they are available.

Why am I writing all that on this blog? I can't imagine that anyone is really interested. That's how dull life is around here at the moment! Ken is very bored with his life at the moment. I'm not bored, but I do miss getting out and about as much as I do in the warmer weather. I hate the cold. I don't know how people can live in places where it snows...brrrrr.