Jingle I always thought you were Mrs Grumbly.

kitchencanny.wordpress.com/2012/03/23/sweet-potato-spinach-and-lentil-dahl-serves-2/

Here's healthy. I make mine differently. I don't put it all into one pot, but roughly in those guideline proportions.
Make a red lentil dahl, it cooks quickly. Season it as hot and spicy as you choose. Add turmeric and other spices into the oil with the onion and garlic (these spices don't work properly unless in oil).
You can make the dahl differently each time. I make a huge batch of this at and freeze it in portions.
I gently cook sweet potatoes like roast pots. They are very healthy things and at the last minute I sear them in a pan so the sides caramelise.
I use "enough" fresh or frozen spinach, squeeze out the excess water and season with salt butter and a bit of nutmeg.

Put a portion of each part, lentils spinach and sweet potaoes on the plate and enjoy. It one of my really favourite comfort food meals. And it is very cheap to make.

Wilma , I was quite shocked to see that your MUM is my age ! Like her, I too have a tummy, but I think I'm stuck with it. From the front I look ok, just not side-on please! You must be pretty young yourself methinks if you are a gran. My girls are both early 40s with tots and we do lots of thing together. I never think of myself as old, the same as your Mum, and don't call myself elderly. Most people think I'm a lot younger. Attitude plays a part there too obviously but I think old age has definitely moved up a bit and doesn't begin till you're over 80. At least. No, your Mum doesn't need to diet, just to eat ' properly'. I do try hard but can then eat a handful of Belgian chocs and scoff a mince pie or two. The resultant guilt is very short-lived!
Some of those veggie recipes look delicious don't they?

Nellie, I love lentils and spinach. I might even try that today. I never plan meals and use spur-of-moment ideas or suggestions. I might not use sweet potatoes as he doesn't like them.

I have a Weightwatchers veggie cook book. Many of the recipes are delicious - Moroccan stew is one of my favourites - and each one has a calorie count at the end. WW points are also given, but on their new programme, these are probably out of date. Two ingredients I dislike - sweet potatoes (sorry Nellie) and beetroot.

No, I don't think it is hard, though it does require thought, planning and effort.
We buy food that is as local as possible and the vast majority of what we eat is organically raised or grown. We have a large vegetable garden and freeze our own produce for the rest of the year. We eat meat which is organic or "lable rouge" and fish from local fishermen. We don't eat much bread now, but we make our own from spelt flour. We eat butter and olive oil.
We avoid pretty much all processed food. We are lucky enough to have a large organic supermarket in our local town.

Why did you think that Nelliemoser? I don't remember grumbling on here.

(The writer's name has an 'e' in it. We should get it right btw)

For my lunch today I had a bag of frozen white rice (trying to clear out freezer) It would have been ok-ish if I hadn't added blackberry and apple jam to it. It was delicious though! I ❤ rice.

I read somewhere that avocados are good for memory jingl

Oh nice.

I'm out of here.

Jingle No of course you do not ever grumble. How could I possibly have thought that about Little Miss Jingle Sunshine. xx

I wonder if you have read some of my posts whilst being without your sense of humour? That's the only explanation I can think of.

Again. I'm off.

Thank you. I need to get moving.

Bellanonna sorry to give you a shock! My Mum had me at 20, so I'm 55. . She would describe herself like you did - good from the front, but not from the side because of her tummy. She's always kept herself fit, so I suspect her tummy is mainly down to having 3 children. Women didn't use to do exercises to get a flat tummy after children the way they do now, did they?

Mamie how lovely to have a whole supermarket for organic products. Is that quite common in France and how do the prices compare with other supermarkets?

I am also your mum's age, Wilma. More tum than bum, but would like to have less of both! I have given in and ordered a smoothie maker which I hope will soon be delivered. I'm wondering how extravagant it's going to be to make use of lots of fruit and veg. Just been in Waitrose and stocked up on frozen fruit, but am looking forward to the opening of Aldi, just down the road.

Yes Wilma there are lots of organic supermarkets now. There are Biocoops across France, biocoop.fr/ but ours is an independent one. The fruit and veg used to be pretty poor, but has improved immeasurably now. We can get dairy, some meat (they have deliveries from local organic farmers), a good range of cheeses, flour, muesli, dried fruit and nuts "en vrac", dried foods, teas, coffees, herbs and spices, cleaning products, toiletries, make-up, things for various ailments and a bit of jangly bells, massage oils and candles type stuff. They will always get items in for us if it isn't in the shop already. They encourage and showcase local organic producers. We love it.

Oh and prices a bit more expensive but not hugely so.

annodomini I was just thinking that more and more older people (well, women really) will carry on looking after their bodies because that's what they've always done. We've moved along way from the image of a little old lady who has white hair, a perm three times a year, and a shampoo, rinse and set every week. Not that there's anything wrong with looking like that, just that there's less women who do. My hairdresser and I were talking about this the other week. I've been with the same hairdresser for 15 years and she was saying the number of older women having perms is much smaller than when she first started doing my hair. These days the Thursday pensioners' day is filled more with colours than perms. She also said more of her older customers have a regular blow dry. Sign of the times.

My Mum lives in a small town with a Tesco Metro, a Morrisons and a Lidl. She regularly shops at them all, with only certain things bought from certain stores. She's got amazing willpower and her main weakness is Lidl's vanilla ice cream, which she adores. When I stay with her, it's not what she eats I notice, it's how much she eats. They (my Mum and Step-Dad) never miss breakfast, lunch or tea, which I can understand, but they rarely eat a 'light' version of any meal - tea is always 2 or 3 courses. If they were not so active, I'm sure they'd both have weight problems. I on the other hand, have been overweight all my adult life, have dreadful willpower and easy access to all the major supermarkets.

Isn't that interesting Mamie, especially about the prices? According to Google, we don't have any organic supermarkets in the UK like the ones you describe. There's lots of small independents selling mainly food and I suppose our local farm shops are the closest to what you describe, but in my experience they're usually quite expensive.

I wonder if this is the result of how UK farmers work with the big supermarkets? Perhaps the size of the two countries is a factor? If I thought I could buy most of my shopping in an organic supermarket for say 10%-15% more than I pay now, I think I would do just that. The temptation to eat less unhealthy food would a plus factor for me e.g. no cheap sweets and snacks.

If I win the lottery tonight I will kick start the first UK wide chain of organic supermarkets.

PS I mean if I win the jackpot!

www.organic-supermarket.co.uk

When we came here ten years ago we found the sale of organic food way behind the UK and very much associated with er alternative lifestyles.
Now it has taken off in a big way and the supermarkets have improved their range, especially Carrefour (10% off organic food every Tuesday). I was aware of small organic shops, farm shops and farmer's markets in the UK but haven't found the bigger organic supermarkets that we have here. My DD was hugely impressed by the local one when she came at Christmas and had a ball in the beauty product department.

In Normandy there is an organic chain called Bio-Coop but I rarely go there because, although they have a really good and interesting range of goods, they are very expensive compared with the same organic items in the UK.

Although I always buy organic meat in the UK, I find it difficult to source when we are in France so I go to my local butcher. He has pictures and notices on his wall telling you which local farmer reared the animal slaughtered for the beef currently in the shop and practically shows the field where the animal's life was spent. The same with other meat. All meat products are made on the premises. Since the main reason I buy organic is for animal welfare reasons I find that acceptable.

MOnica Biocoop is across France not just Normandy. As I said upthread our local organic supermarket has bulk-buy meat from local organic farmers on certain dates, but otherwise you have to go to the farm and buy it. I don't know where you are in Normandy (we live in the Suisse Normande) but the Carrefour shops are getting very good and in Caen there are a couple of excellent supermarkets. I find it a bit more expensive but not hugely. We also use local butchers and buy red label in supermarkets.