Life is a Minestrone!!!

Good taste, short cuts, simplicity and variety: recipes here are easy to shop for; easy to cook and varied in flavour and type.

I eat what makes me feel well and what I enjoy. I'm influenced by what I think are healthy combinations - but who knows?  Advice fluctuates.  I am walking evidence that following a good diet is no guarantee for good health; I'm convinced that eating healthily can help you make the best of the genes you have been given - but that you can't change the basics.

This is a recipe store, of favourite flavour combinations and methods. Fashions come and go;  I like to move with the times as its easy to get stuck in a rut.  But I'm not one to jump on to bandwagons. I'm not into coconut fat but won't harp on about why I think it's suddenly so popular; and I won't lecture anyone about butter or sugar.  We have to just do our best, eat our veggies and try to stay lean - not mean. And while we're at it - I am not into that idea of 'clean eating'. Don't be silly.


Fishiness & Saltiness

I don't tend to add salt to my cooking - I forget it as a seasoning - I have avoided salt for many years as I think I get enough naturally without adding it. I have been advised against it for my heart health.

It's an odd thing... My daughter needs a LOT of salt in her diet as amongst other things,  she suffers from POTS and Ehlers Danlos syndrome.  Consuming a lot of salt is strongly advised by the medics - while the rest of us are told to cut down.

It feels quite counter-intuitive for me to add loads of salt to my cooking - so my dear daughter adds it after I  have served her portion and  she also takes salt tablets. Funnily enough vegan cook Ella had the same two conditions and her diet luckily cured these two incurable illnesses - POTS and Ehlers Danlos.  Amazing. Ella shares the kind of recipes that helped her get well; unfortunately I don't know anyone else who has been cured of POTS by eating a low salt vegan diet like the ones in her recipes.  Many of her recipes are delicious, it's just very weird that the plant based diet which my daughter has followed for over 20 years, has not had the same effects for her and very odd that there is no salt in the recipes in Ella's books or website. It's fascinating.

So... I will make no claims about how these recipes may or may not make you healthy. Everyone is different and I'm thinking we just do what we gotta do. 50 years of vegetarianism did not escape me from heart attacks or breast cancer and more. And I do keep recovering from the nasty beasts. (Hence fish now appears on my menu from time to time) . We weave our way and hope for the best while having fun.
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Finally ...

And because I am a bit of a culture vulture and we can't be cooking all the time, we'll see some good taste films, art, and photography on here too ... and to be honest .... I am learning to use photoshop, iMovie, ComicLife and all sorts of other software along the way ...