There are only four posts under Simply Fitter. (See under Categories.)

That tells you something..

I'm still a wimp I'm afraid, in spite of brave words and good intentions!

Don't miss the brilliant little video here.

I've just come across a book called I Quit Sugar by Sarah Wilson. Hmm - could maybe tackle my two failures in one fell swoop - cutting out sugar would also make a person fitter, don't you think? I did it once (for about seven years) so I could do it again.

Have any of you tried cutting out sugar?

Well, not literally!

Here are the books which influenced me most as I reasearched eating simply:

No 1, and one we use all the time, is Zoe Harcombe Stop Counting Calories and Start Losing Weight - The Harcombe Diet. Also the recipe book that goes with this. Many of the recipes have become standards for us.

No 2 is David Servan Servan Schreiber's Anti Cancer - A New Way of Life. Made me rethink and adopt some new eating habits.

No 3 is Michael Pollans In Defence of Food . Both shocking and inspiring.

No 4 Potatoes Not Prozac by Kathleen DesMaisons helped me understand the nature of sugar cravings (still a problem from time to time! Work to do here!)

I read many more (mentioned in Simply Eat posts) but these are the ones I will keep.

Tomorrow I'll list the cookbooks I love....

                     Should you find yourself in the West End of Glasgow do check them out - www.kemberandjones.co.uk 
                            (They are not just about cakes! I had a huge pear, blue cheese and walnut salad - delicious.)

Forget all this waiting for spring! Let's just go straight to summer. Gosh, eating outside in warm sunshine seems such a long time ago..

No, I know we can't. So click here for a recipe to put a spring in your step....or here for a post written at the height of the recent horsemeat scandal here in UK which has more links to Simply Eat posts.

Meanwhile, I'll start a list of all the books about eating which I found most helpful.

If you did not watch the added extra on yesterday's post do check it out now - with the volume turned high!

Doesn't that just nourish your soul?

I've watched it about five times. There is the generosity of the players, the reactions of the audience (it is well edited), the thrill of the music which sends shivers up your spine, and the joy of being so fortunate to live in a part of the world where this can happen....

Back to nourishing the body. Here and here are posts where I share things I have learned about simple food - I would love to hear what you think.

Bon appetit!

It's a long time since I wrote under the category Simply Eat, but with the current meat scandal here in UK and Europe about the horse content in processed foods labelled 'beef' it looks like a good time to revisit the subject.

Sadly we are being lied to and cheated on a huge scale.

What can we do about it?

My blog began in 2010 with a post under Simply Eat as I tried to think my way through the ethical minefiled that is food shopping. If you have time do scroll down and browse my Simply Eat posts (you will find them under Categories in the right hand column).

The 'Great Grandma Rule' (here) might make you smile. You might enjoy the food manifesto I found (click here), or my view of shopping in a supermarket might resonate with you (click here).

What do you think of the latest food scandal?


On another note - yes, James Joyce was the author of the last line in yesterday's post Cath! It is from the short story The Dead in The Dubliners - a book I could never tire of.

I have had enough of rich food!

Please don't even show me another chocolate, cake, or anything with cream in it! Or fatty meat or rich gravy, or fried vegetables, or anything with a sauce, or cooked in wine....

I am making a big dish of Red Onion and Pomegranate salad and eating it with a couple of crisp oatcakes.

Ironically, it comes from Nigella, Queen of over-rich food:

Slice a red onion very thinly and steep for half an hour in the juice from a large pomegranate and half a lime, then drain off the marinade and add the seeds from the pomegranate and a good handful of chopped coriander.

Raw, fresh and utterly delicious.

It looks beautiful too..

Inspired by my new cookery book Polpo, but too lazy to make pizza dough from scratch, I've invented a new quick-quick pizzetta. Very lightly toast one side of a small tortilla wrap. Flip it over and scatter with some mozzarella, grapes cut in half, halved walnuts and a couple of slices of prosciutto, drizzle with a little olive oil and place under a hot grill for a couple of minutes till the walnuts are browning. Garnish with some rocket, pour a glass of nice red wine....lovely little lunch..

What a difference a day makes! The cold east wind changed to a warm westerly, and I sat outside in hot sunshine to eat this yesterday.

..and Keep Calm and Carry On!

A test of my resolve not to eat sugar will come this evening when I bake the cakes I promised for the teas at Open Garden weekend.

Did you watch The Men Who Made Us Fat?  (See Jill's comment on 18 June.)

Short post today -
Garden looks great.
House is a tip.
Weather forecast AWFUL.
But I did get a long overdue haircut yesterday - hurrah.
Signs and balloons to put up....before or after the 29mph winds arrive....?