It's been awhile, and I'm sorry.

I'm becoming one of those unreliable bloggers, whose blogs I check every day, and for nothing.  It's really annoying, and I'm sorry.

Life has finally returned to normal, and really not much has happened since Jon & Sarah left, as we've just been relaxing and taking it easy.  We have reverted back to our crazy food ways, carbs just one day a week, and eating clean the rest of the time.  Google has created a monster, and I'm even trying weird foods to see what they're like.  No seafood, though, I'm not that crazy.

The first thing we tried this week was cauliflower rice.  Believe it or not, this actually works.  Unlike some people, I refuse to claim that it actually tastes like rice - it doesn't, it's cauliflower, not rice.  However, well blended in a food processor or even grated, and then fried for a couple of minutes to help reduce the moisture levels, it makes a pretty good alternative.  The recipe?  Well, just take however much cauliflower you want, fry it for three or four minutes, and add salt and pepper to taste.  It worked incredibly well with chicken curry, so I think this is going to become a staple food.  The texture is quite similar to rice.

Today, I am baking kale chips.  I have purple curly kale, the leaves of which I have torn into bite-size pieces.  I then tossed them with a very small amount of olive oil, sprinkled on salt, and then baked for eight minutes.

Some people claim that this makes them taste "just like crisps".  It doesn't.   They taste like crispy (not crunchy) kale, with salt sprinkles.  They are not offensive in taste, so I may do them again.  Apparently they can become addictive - we shall see.

I have also decided to grow a mango tree.

Originally, I was going to take what looked like a healthy mango seedling from the neighbour's rubbish pile.  However, it appears that what I thought was a mango seedling was actually a young branch off a larger seedling growing from right at the bottom of the heap - so it is impossible to get.  So, I have resolved to start from seed.

Google suggests that I clean the pit, dry it overnight in a dark place, then take the pit husk off the seed, and plant the seed concave side down about an inch under soil, and it should germinate in one to three weeks.  Easy, right?

Well… the mango pulp does not like to come off the pit, the pit does not like to dry out, and the pit husk really does not like to come off the seed.  And to add to that, having fought with the pit husk until my fingers are sore and I very nearly cut myself several times with the gardening shears which are the only thing strong enough to cut the husk… I find that the majority of the seeds are infested with mango stone weevils.

SO ANNOYING.  Excuse the capitals, I can't help it.

Twelve seeds down, and nine are destroyed by mango stone weevils.  You can google them if you want to know more about them.  Now, the mango stone weevils are destroyed by me, but that won't bring my seeds back *sobs*.  Revenge is still sweet.

I want ten good seeds, so that hopefully a few will germinate, and I can choose two healthy seedlings.  I will then give them six months, after which I will choose which of the two seedlings to keep as my own.  Awwww.

Assuming any survive at all.

Now I must go back to processing mango flesh, and cleaning pulp off the pits…

TTFN !!!