Abel and Cole

Fondantfitness asked a little while back, on a post of a recipe where almost everything was from Abel and Cole, if I use Abel and Cole much.  Well.

In November last year, I decided it'd be nice to give their organic veg box a try on a special offer where if you bought 3 boxes, one per week, they'd give you the fourth one for free.  I'd heard good things about the quality of their fruit and veg and although the perception was that they might be a bit expensive, I wanted to get good quality, tasty food where I have some idea of what's been used to grow it, where it's come from etc.  The fact that we throw away, on average, pretty much no food at all (and I really mean that, it's a bad month if I've had to throw even one item of food away), means that we can afford to buy better quality, more expensive ingredients as there's no waste compared with a lot of people.  Buuuuut, Abel and Cole aren't more expensive.  Not really.

So we had a couple of boxes.  And with the 3rd box, we got a free half dozen of eggs.  Which were really tasty.  So a few weeks later I added eggs in to the regular veg box order.  And I set the preferences to "I don't like potatoes" as we rarely eat potatoes.  And then we got some free bread.  Which was OK, but we eat very little bread, so.  I think there was some fish on special offer one week shortly after that, so I bought some.  And it was glorious!  So I bought some more.  Now we get all of our fish from Abel and Cole.  It is more expensive than Ocado, but it's tasty and, even better, where in a normal supermarket 2-pack of fish, the portions will be different sizes even by a little bit the Abel and Cole ones are -identical- every single time.

From there, with the odd other freebie here and there exposing us to new things, including the best ever one where we got the Abel and Cole Cookbook (which is almost my bible these days),  we got more and more meat and fish from Abel and Cole, culminating in an unforgettably good bone-in sirloin roast for the Christmas period.  We now get 80% of our vegetables from them (not lettuce as we need it to be iceberg and long lasting, with a once-weekly delivery that doesn't work for us), all of our fish, meat and eggs and the occasional herbs, cupboard goods etc.  It's all really good stuff, sometimes more expensive, sometimes not, but always worth it.  Always flavoursome.  And it's got me out of boring, habitual cookery, educated us to new and delicious vegetables (jerusalem artichoke is -amazing-!  kohlrabi... interesting and makes a good coleslaw.  black salsify - it's a black stick, but fabulous texture and flavour).  We're getting buffalo quite easily now and game is easily available.  We're eating better, more varied, more exciting food that's in season; getting more creative in the kitchen without huge amounts of extra effort.

Yes.  I use Abel and Cole a lot.  A -lot-.  And they're great.  Check out the recipes I've been through.

Contrasts #2 - Boots vs. Superdrug

For First Aid supplies, I was kinda assuming that Boots would be a better place to go to get that sort of thing.  Superdrug markets itself as a budget health and beauty supplier - get your vitamins and shampoo cheaper here!  OK, so Boots does the same in their TV adverts, but as a more 'old school' high street chemist the impression is that it's more geared towards proper First Aid supplies.

So when I went looking for ice/heat packs yesterday, I went to Boots first.  Well, they have a few one-time use heat packs and cold packs, heat strips and cold strips and sprays and lotions and creams.  Actual ice packs to go in the freezer or hot water bottles... none.  Not one.  Nothing.  Given I'm pretty short-tempered, irritable and cranky with the whiplash type injury, I spent a lot of time swearing and cursing.  To be honest, the whole first aid section was pretty poor; a few plasters, bandages, thermometers, blister treatments... Then I went to Superdrug.  Not expecting to find much in there at all.

Superdrug had the same range of one-time use heat/cold packs, strips and sprays etc.  But!  They also had re-usable heat/cold packs!  Yay!  Ones that can go in the freezer and the microwave!  Well, thank you very much Superdrug.  Sorry I had it wrong.  You rock right now.

Trying to take it easy

It's not easy to take it easy.

With just over 3 weeks to the first sprint triathlon of the season, I'm finding it really hard to be propped up on cushions on the sofa, not allowed to go to the gym or a bike ride (my commuter is in the workshop at the moment pending a verdict on whether the frame is gone as well as the front forks and wheels).  I really want to be building strength and power still before the taper the week before race and I'm running out of time.  I'm running out of 'mental' too.  I hate hate hate not being able to get out and -do- stuff.  I hate feeling helpless and pathetic and emotional.

Still, the drugs appear to be actually working today, though I still can't sit upright for long without a big cushion behind my shoulders, neck and head.  The swelling in my knees looks like it's going down a bit now and the lump on the top of my right knee is much less egg-shaped now.

I know a lot of people who've been through sports injuries and found it frustrating to rest and recover... any hints and tips for me?

Vitality Show giveaway #1 - weight loss bundle

I got a lot of stuff at the Vitality Show and I'd like to share some of the love as some of it was absolutely free and I know some people wanted to go to the show and couldn't.  So, I've bundled up a few packages of goodies to give away and here's bundle number 1 - the 'weight loss' bundle:-

• The 'Calorie, Carb, Fat Bible 2011'
• KitKat Caramel snack sample
• Alpen Light snack sample
• Raisin Oats sample
• Oaty Bakes 'caramelised onion' snack sample
• Tropical Wholefoods flyer
• Half Spoon sample

 If you want to be entered into a draw to win this goody bundle, all you have to do is comment on this post, saying why you'd like a copy of the 'Calorie, Carb, Fat Bible 2011' by 10pm (BST) on Friday 8th April.  I'll draw a winner over that weekend and the winner will need to send me their postal address so I can post off the bundle.

Contrasts #1 - Police vs. British Triathlon

Given that I (in my in-shock and adrenaline-fuelled state) refused an ambulance, the Police didn't attend the scene of my accident yesterday.  In hindsight, on two counts, that was Bad.  Bad because it -was- a serious accident - I'd been hit by and went over the bonnet of a car, dammit - and Bad because the Police weren't notified like they're supposed to be.  This also means I didn't get the driver's details.  So, I called the Police information line and was told to go to my local station to fill in the paperwork.  The Police at the local station pretty much told me not to bother filling in the forms as it most likely won't get followed up without the details of the driver, though as there is CCTV coverage of most of that road there's a slim chance something might come of it.  The impression I got there was "if someone bothers to look through the footage".  I did fill in the form and I did hand it in.  Let's see what happens there.

Our renewed membership British Triathlon (BTF) packs came in the post today and I was flicking through the handbook which reminded me that I -am- insured on training rides (which every single trip into town and back again -is- for me) and that I should report the accident to them.  So I gave them a call.  And the nice guy on the phone took all of my details and said I'd get forms in the post from the insurance company within 24 hours.  He wasn't fazed at all by the lack of driver details.  While I was out going to the GP later in the day (about an hour later) I got a call from the BTF solicitors for a chat through the details of the accident.  As I was just heading in to the surgery I asked them to call back in half an hour.  When I got home a couple of hours later, no call.  But then, my phone had been being rubbish; not letting me send (or receive it turns out) SMSs and it turns out not receive calls either.  An hour after I got home, I got two voicemails - one not for me and one from the solicitor calling  back exactly 35 minutes after the original call - and an SMS.

So.  Score two for BTF and zero for the Police so far.  BTF gave a crap, the Police didn't.  BTF bothered to talk to me, sounded like they cared, called me back and progressed my call.  The Police didn't.  I know the Police see a lot worse than the accident I had, but they didn't even bother to find out how bad it was or wasn't and made me feel like my situation was trivial, unimportant and wouldn't actually be attended to.

By the way, the GP was absolutely great, really sympathetic and nice and prescribed me some better painkillers and some muscle relaxants to help my neck and shoulders recover better.  And advised me to continue with the ice/heat treatment, relax and take it easy and chill out with pizza, wine and a film on the sofa.

Next up; Boots vs. Superdrug for First Aid supplies.  Which do you think would be better?