Christmas left overs to revive you

Post-Christmas bloat is familiar to us all. Even for the nutrition and health conscious, the Christmas binge cannot be avoided. Some indulge more than others but never-the-less, pigs in blankets, tubs of chocolates and boards of cheese get the better of most of us.

I have to admit this past week I have barely touched any form of fruit.

So tonight I packed our dinner with a whole host of nutrient dense foods whilst using up left-over Christmas staples.

I had already made my own stock (known as bone broth these days) by boiling the left-over turkey carcass with some root vegetable for hours, I created my own, incredibly good for you stock. I do this with most left over meat bones, it really is worth it.There are more minerals and vitamins hiding in the bones than in the rest of the animal - so without the broth you would seriously be missing out on a fantastic nutritious hit.

"Bone broth"

Put it in a pan and cover with water, boil and then simmer for however many hours you have spare.

I used this stock to create a Christmas broth medley. Sprouts, herbs and pancetta were left over from the big day, so by adding chicken and some other vegetables that I always have in, I was able to make a delicious hearty tea.

Miscellaneous Veg

I added pearl barley, sage and thyme into the broth and let it cook away. While that cooked I chopped the pancetta, mushrooms and sprouts up and fried them in a little butter and olive oil until crispy. I added sage and thyme to the pan to cook and at the last minute added crushed garlic.

When I was about 4 minutes away from completion I added finely sliced chicken breast to the stock and pearl barley pot and finally, I threw in some spinach at the last minute.

Once everything was cooked and seasoned to taste I dished out the stock concoction and spooned the pancetta, mushroom and sprout medley on the top.

Finished dish

It was deep in flavour and full of goodness. I recommend it to anyone wanting to use up any left over foods from the festive season, or even for a quick evening tea.

Clothes Show Live

Me and mum

I am currently in the midst of the post Clothes Show blues.
Every year it is tradition that my mum and I, (yes monster mum as she has been previously referred to) go to the Clothes Show Live at the NEC.

We make a weekend of it, hotel, gorging on food, shopping literally until we drop and drooling over the models/dancers on the catwalk.

Skinting ourselves right before Christmas is something we treasure and it is something we look forward to all year. As we live in different counties, not only does it give us some real quality time together, just the two of us, but it gives us an excuse to do all the things girls love (as mentioned above.)

Bought a little more than we could carry

But now it is over and it goes way too fast if you ask me! So I am sad, all I am thinking about is the excellent weekend we had, the special mother daughter time and the excitement on Friday knowing we were heading to our favourite little pub The George and Dragon Coleshill  and to the best show of the year.

So here are a few photos and videos just to reminisce with, we think it is fair to say, this year's show was one of the best we have been to, mum - 6 shows, Kirsty - 10 shows.