Brunch: Chickpea, Sweet Potatoes, Kale Scramble (vegan, GF, soy free)

Rocket & Roses HQ Play List:

Audioslave ~ Hypnotize
Gin Blossoms ~ Hold Me Down
Mamas & the Papas ~ Creeque Alley
The Eagles ~ What Do I Do With My Heart
Cyndi Lauper ~ You've Really Got A Hold On Me
Queens of the Stoneage ~ Another Love Song
Pat Benatar ~ You Better Run
Melissa Etheridge ~ Goodnight
Bowie ~ Heroes
Anna Nalick ~ Satellite
Depeche Mode ~ Suffer Well
Soundgarden ~ Non-State Actor
Harry Connick Jr ~ And I Love You So
Sarah McLachlan ~ Fallen

It is Sunday once again...blimey these weeks are flying by eh? I cannot believe we are heading for the end of May. Sunday means Brunch and that is something to always look forward to. This week we decided to try our hand at creating our own chickpea based scramble after the success of the one we tried recently. I adored the Broccoli & Chickpea Scramble and of course found great comfort in the white potatoes in it. But I wanted to change things up a little and that is how today's scramble came to be.

I wanted to try the dish with sweet potato and kale as I love that combination and replaced the broccoli element with cauliflower to keep the textures similar. And it really worked as the flavours suited each other and the spiciness left that almost numb lips sensation. The textures were just as good as the original recipe too. Phew! lol. So if you are fancying something a little spicy and a little different...try this scramble.

Chickpea, Sweet Potato and Kale Scramble

Chickpea, Sweet Potato & Kale Scramble Serves 4

2 onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 med sweet potatoes, cubed
1 small cauliflower, cut into small florets
1/2 bunch kale, stalks removed and chopped
2 tins of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 tsp lemon juice
4 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp oil (of your choice)

In a skillet heat the oil and sauté the onion and garlic until soft. Add the sweet potatoes and sauté for five minutes. Add the cauliflower and stir to combine. Cook until the sweet potato and cauliflower begin to soften. Add the chickpeas and kale and stir to combine and cook for a further 10 minutes. Add the curry powder and lemon juice stirring well to make sure the veggies are coated. Cook for a further three minutes and then serve.

Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your Sunday is as relaxing or energetic as you wish it to be..

~Red~

In Search of Peace and Healing...

Rocket & Roses HQ Play List:

Bon Jovi ~ It's My Life
Lacuna Coil ~ Enjoy The Silence
Halestorm ~ Innocence
Sensible Pets ~ My Way Home
Brandi Carlile ~ Tragedy
Chris Cornell ~ Ghosts
Bob Marley ~ Waiting in Vain
The Cranberries ~ Never Grow Old
Ciara ~ Love Sex Magic
Alisha's Attic ~ Alisha Rules The World
Hootie and the Blowfish ~ Tucker's Town
The Eagles ~ Waiting In The Weeds
Portishead ~ Pedestal
Kid Rock ~ Blue Jeans And A Rosary

Could I find peace here? Hell yeah! lol

Happy Weekend Folks! I am hoping it is being very good to you all. So searching for peace...yes...let's talk about that. As some of you know I have been attempting to deal with some changes. And it has been a royal bitch tough but I do believe I have made the first steps to dealing with it. Now I am left with the overwhelming sense of needing to find some inner peace again. As my friend T said Acknowledge Accept and Evolve..although usually I want to throttle that kind of positivity stuff..lol.

I need to find some peace of mind, peace in my heart and inner peace. This last year has been a rollercoaster of emotions, illness and all the stuff that comes with those two things. I am exhausted...and I still have so much to go through yet. It has become vital that I find that peace that I have lost because I need it to become strong again.

The last few days I have been trying to get my head into a space where I could start to make plans for this to happen. I have realised that I had stopped doing a lot of the things that brought me this kind of peace and I have made a commitment to myself to start changing this. Like...

Although I'm not in a place where I can do full yoga practice..I can start to do a basic practice and meditate again. I have missed the mental and physical peace this brings...so watch this Zen place...*wink*

Yes! Yes...yes...I know. You have already let me know I am strange for loving rain. lol. But I do and wrapped up and walking in the rain is one of my most favourite Zen places. So even if it's standing outside in the rain for now until I am able to walk in it...I shall be doing that.

I am an equal ops weather person lol. We don't live near many beaches..well..at least not as beautiful as this one anyway. But time spent by water...is an essential peaceful time for me. I realise now how badly I have missed this and need this.

Yesterday my friend A came over for the afternoon and we laughed. God it felt so good to just laugh with someone. And after she has gone I realised how buoyed I was by this experience. The poster above really did sum up how I feel about laughter...and I certainly felt it at work with A.

I had forgotten this. The illness takes over..and you become the illness. When you can't get your head off of the pillow you can get very lost. And now I need to do this...remind myself who I am...not who I could've been...who I was...but who I am now in this moment. And make peace with who I am.

Another simple thing I have not been able to do in the last year or two. Forest/Woods walking. I love getting lost in the trees...breathing it all in. Feeling my batteries recharging and my heart and mind relax. I am starting small..but I am going to start this again. Although I hope it doesn't kill ML who will probably need to wear an all over body mask to not react to the nature. lol.

I also hope to find the peace spending time with my friends and family (well select members of my family!) brings. But I do feel I need to enjoy my alone time again as I have always believed it to be an essential life need for me and I had lost sight of that. So it's all a work in progress but I am beginning to make sense of all the things that have happened recently. Slowly....

I am away to get ready for a my sister and her little ones visiting this afternoon..

Thank you for coming back even when food posts are not happening but I do believe there will be a new brunch recipe coming up tomorrow. I hope your weekend is a great one..

~Red~

Friday Bits and Pieces...

Rocket & Roses HQ Play List:

Eric Clapton ~ Wonderful Tonight
Evanescence ~ Made of Stone
Live ~ Lightning Crashes
Sufjan Stevens ~ I Want To Be Well
Suzi Quatro ~ The Race Is On
Harry Connick Jr ~ Wink And A Smile
Lady Antebellum ~ Perfect Day
T-Rex ~ I Love To Boogie
Missy Higgins ~ Set Me On Fire
Jacqueline Du Pre ~ Fantasiestucke
The Cranberries ~ When You're Gone (Live)
Airbourne ~ Stand Up For Rock n Roll
Chopin ~ Nocturne #7 in C sharp minor
Shakira ~ Illegal!

Because it's Friday and because I have no real words today...

......because I want to start with something positive

...because I get tired of answering this question sometimes

And FYI I'm not worried...lol

...because I finally found a reason to watch Legend of the Seeker

Kahlan ~ The Mother Confessor.

...because I will get this tattoo done one day

...because it's truly beautiful

Chris Cornell ~ I Will Always Love You
(Live Cover)

...because it made me laugh

...because I need a new mantra

...because I thought it was lovely

Sadly I don't know you the artist is
but THANK YOU to them anyway.

...because I love him and he always make me smile...

Eddie on Army

lolololol sorry still laughing with Eddie. OK thanks for stopping by and I hope your Friday is a very good one.

~Red~

Natural Beauty: Purple/Black Tulips

Rocket & Roses HQ Play List:

Depeche Mode ~ Master and servant
Chely Wright ~ Not As In Love
Meredith Brooks ~ Stop
Bing Crosby ~ The Day You Came Along
Chris Cornell ~ Thank You (Live)
Dinah Shore ~ My Funny Valentine
P!nk ~ U & Ur Hand
Dixie Chicks ~ You Were Mine
Nickelback ~ Lullaby
Santana ~ Wishing It Was
Texas ~ When We Are Together
Joan Jett ~ Baby Blue
Sensible Pets ~ Backstabber
VAST ~ She Visits Me

I think summer has decided to take a holiday. Well the sun is doing it's best to warm our cold bodies but the temperatures are still chilly. People are still burning their coal fires in the evenings and others are clicking on their central heating. So as I type this I'm looking out at blinding sunshine...but sat almost shivering. English weather...

However, some things are beginning to give us hope that some warmth is on its way. ML has been working some long hours lately and has been down in London for meetings...and took the photo below for me..these beauties were outside Parliament house.

Natural beauty growing amongst the muck that is
our government!

Now I know there are two camps of opinion for this beautiful flower...some insist it's purple and others black. To be honest I don't really care. Its nature and its glorious. So whilst they battle it out I shall take the time to sit and enjoy the flowers. lol.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your Thursday is a great one....

~Red~

Wordless Wednesday: Charcoal Art of Patrick Palmer

Rocket & Roses HQ Play List:

Dixie Chicks ~ Everybody Knows
Tina Dico ~ Welcome Back Colour
Audioslave ~ Broken City
Enrique Iglesias ~ Maybe
Nirvana ~ Lithium
Dixie Chicks ~ I Like It
Sting ~ Seven Days
Natalie Cole ~ Smile
Jack Johnson ~ Wasting Time
Depeche Mode ~ Enjoy The Silence
KWS ~ Shame, Shame, Shame
Halestorm ~ Takes My Life
Melissa Etheridge ~ If I Wanted To
Shakira ~ La Tortura

For more about the talented artist Patrick Palmer simply visit his website...

'Absence' Artist Patrick Palmer

'Crying Lightly' Artist ~ Patrick Palmer

'Sorrow' ~ Artist Patrick Palmer

Charcoal is one of my favourite mediums and these sketches are harrowingly beautiful.

Thanks for stopping by and to Patrick Palmer for his art. I hope your week is going well out there...

~Red~

Savoury Crepes with Broccoli/Garlic filling...(vegan & GF)

Rocket & Roses HQ Play List:

VAST ~ Japanese Fantasy
Chris Cornell ~ Finally Forever
Madonna ~ Survival
Eve ft Stefani ~ Let Me Blow Ya Mind
Siouxsie & The Banshees ~ Hong Kong Garden
Brandi Carlile ~ If There Was No You
Audioslave ~ The Curse
Alanis Morrisette ~ Ironic
Bach: Ave Maria
Prince ~ I Wanna Be Your Lover
Slowly Moving Millie ~ Don't Go
Seasick Steve ~ Prospect Lane
Live ~ All Over You
George Michael ~ A Different Corner

I have very little appetite at the moment so ML has been trying to get me to eat enough to get by. It has to be fresh and as light as possible. So this morning I was woken by the smell of our broccoli garlic filling being cooked. I wasn't sure I'd be able to eat what was being lovingly cooked for me but I knew I had to try if only for ML's sake. When the meal finally arrived it wasn't the tofu omelette I was expecting but a very thin chickpea flour crepe. The crepe was feather light (sorry not the best description for a vegan recipe eh?) and the filling was 'never lets you down' tasty.

Savoury Crepes with Broccoli Garlic filling

Savoury Crepes with Broccoli Garlic filling Serves 1

Quantity of filling is decided upon your own personal requirements:

Broccoli, chopped down into small florets and chunks of stalk
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
Drizzle of oil of choice

2 tbsp chickpea flour
2 tbsp. water
(or double the amount as the first crepe always goes screwy lol)

In a small skillet heat the oil and then gently sauté the garlic until it has gone a golden brown colour. Do not let it burn..stay with it. Then add the broccoli and stir to combine and coat the broccoli in the garlic and oil. Cover and leave to cook for a few minutes whilst you heat the crepe pan or something similar. With a small whisk mix the chickpea flour and water together until its a smooth batter. Wipe the pan over with a little oil and then pour on the batter and spread out as soon as possible. (This does take practice..it just seems to be one of ML's superpowers lol) Give the broccoli a quick stir and make sure nothing is getting burnt and replace the lid. Once the crepe edges as starting to lift...slide a large spatula underneath and carefully but quickly flip the crepe and cook for a couple minutes longer. At this point the broccoli should be tender crisp so turn off the heat.

Slide the crepe onto the plate and place filling on one half and then fold the remaining crepe over the filling and eat...

Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your day is a great one...

~Red~

Monday Catch Up and the Missing Days...

Rocket & Roses HQ Play List:

The Fun Boy Three ~ Our Lips Are Sealed
The Smiths ~ Vicar In A Tutu
Halestorm ~ Bet Ya Wish Ya Had Me Back
Bowie ~ Sound and Vision
Natalie Merchant ~ Frozen Charlotte
Garbage ~ Happy Home
Lenny Kravitz ~ Just Be A Woman
Brandi Carlile ~ Again Today
Alison Moyet ~ Love Resurrection
Natalie Imbruglia ~ I Won't Be Lost
Kylie Minogue ~ Confide In Me
Audioslave ~ Slave Of The Summertime
VAST ~ Somewhere Else To Be
Anna Nalick ~ Breathe

Hello folks..I apologise for being away these last 5 days...where to start? OK put simply I suffered a massive loss from my life on Wednesday. Nobody died but the personal loss to me was as great. So I just needed a few days to...well...to try and hold it together. And as you can imagine after 5 days I am still raw...still blindsided...but I am dealing a little more every day. And out of respect for myself I will say no more on this matter. But felt I needed to explain my absence and wanted to be as honest as possible.

So from Friday it was all about distraction and comfort. ML is working hellish long hours at the moment but as soon as the working week was done we jumped into our car and took a ride out to escape the torment of the house.

Let the healing begin...by the sea..as always..

We ended up at the sea and spent some serious healing time watching those waves, smelling the salt air and just breathing. Deep healing breaths. And then we took a slow scenic drive back home.

Hugs a plenty

There have been many sad moments over the weekend and thankfully ML has been generous with hugs and an understanding ear.

Artist in Isolation ~ Katherine Howard

As usual I always seem to find pieces of art that seem to capture my current state of mind and this piece by Katherine Howard did just that.

Saturday was the major distraction day because I had to be once again away from the house and the reminders. So ML saw this as the perfect chance to use some Christmas movie vouchers and we saw the morning viewing of the new Star Trek movie...Into Darkness.

So very good...

Now you folks know I am no Geek but I certainly got in touch with my inner geek watching this movie. The special effects are awesome, the humour was top class (didn't think anything could make me smile or laugh at that moment but it did!) and the story was great. Personal favourites....Spock..loving Zachary Quinto's take on him...Khan..Benedict Cumberbatch was one seriously cruel bad ass. lol. Oh and Simon Pegg was his usual comedic genius..lol.

After a quick lunch..to keep ML's energy levels up, poor thing. We pootled around the area of the city we are hoping to move to and was happy to find more properties up for Let. Then we visited the wholefood shop Grain and I went into the Hippy Dippy (actually called Zebra) shop as we call it. ML stayed outside because of the incense that was burning. This little shop was where I found my new purchase.

Silver Tree Ring...sorry about the photo..shaking is a bitch right now.
 

I was in need of a new thumb ring and as I was leaving the shop I noticed this little thing sat alone in a box under the glass counter. And instantly knew this was the one. It's very symbolic...right now I am a felled tree..missing the strength but I am strongly rooted and I will grow back into the strong feisty woman I am. Eventually. But it will take time...

From the walk around the little shops we were then friends bound. B's birthday presents had finally arrived (Urgh Amazon) and we wanted to visit and give them to her. And I did have a slightly selfish motive. I find I am calm around D & B and I needed some time with them.

Zen time with pals is a must

We enjoyed catching up...listening to Beethoven piano sonatas and B loved her presents..phew! lol. And from there we headed home...and I really didn't want to go back there. I am most definitely done with living in that house and that town and just need to be in the city amongst our friends now. The big push for packing up everything starts this week. And I cannot be happier about that...I need the fresh start...escaping what could have been for what is to be.

Music has been difficult to listen to the last few days..too many memory attachments so if I have listened to music it has been classical. However I did find a new band..or obsession..lol.
I had watched a movie called We Are The Night..and one particular song from the soundtrack hit me hard and from a search for it I began to feel some deep attachment to the lyrics and the accompanying tunes. The band are called VAST and so far I've listened to three of their albums and haven't been disappointed yet. Two more to go..lol. 

The song that started the addiction...Pretty When You Cry

If you haven't experienced them yet I urge you to give them a try. ML was surprised I liked them so much. Jon Crosby is a seriously talented muso. I couldn't adequately describe their music so I shall leave it to the Wiki quote that follows..lol

"VAST's sound is identifiable as ambient electro-rock with considerable industrial and acoustic influences, usually made with Crosby's traditional acoustic guitar, electronic instruments and processing, drum-driven tracks, and heavy bass"

Sunday....now Sunday was a tough day. The morning I was in bad place but ML was right there and helped me into the afternoon activities which was celebrating another good pals birthday..this time it was the lovely Dog Guru A's turn and Archie was invited along too. However I'm sure in his head...we were allowed to tag along with him on his invite. Cheek! lol. It was supposed to be a BBQ but in true English weather style the heavens opened on us. We did have enough time to cook off vegan and veggie sausages and veggies. And those strange meat eaters even managed to get their food cooked too. And then the gathering stayed in doors..lol. It was a lovely afternoon with the gang...and A enjoyed herself and loved her pressies.

Lots of laughter was had and the fourlegged family were only too
happy to help A open her pressies.

Lady Ella pictured above stayed around for the opening of the luxury bath salts....but then when A picked up the wrapped luxury chocolates suddenly Archie was right there!

Yes Archie thank you for the help..but NO! No chocolates for dogs!
Just realised I'm in this shot..well my baseball boots at least lol.
 

There was great food and I drank so much..but the most important part was time spent together. Personally I needed that more than anything. So thank you A for having a perfectly timed birthday celebration.

So that was my missing days. In all honesty I am hurting and will be for some time to come. There maybe be periods where I disappear again but I will come back. And thank you loyally coming back every day.

I will be back with food related postings as soon as I can.

I hope your week is sunny enough to make you smile and peaceful on the heart.

~Red~