Wordy Wednesday with Josh Sutton - The Guy Rope Gourmet!

This week's Wordy Wednesday has a foodie theme (and a camping one! well it is me who chooses the authors!!) So let me introduce the delicious (see what I did there?) Josh Sutton, author of The Guy Rope Gourmet - A Camping Cook Book.

Josh thinks (and who could argue) that being in a tent is no reason to only eat rubbish food, but he also realises that we are not all genius chefs, so he has set out to help us all eat well while camping. He is a member of The Guild of Food Writers, with a degree in Arabic with Middle Eastern  Islamic Studies and he also has a Masters in Professional Housing Studies.

Josh writes and illustrates a monthly column as the Guy Rope Gourmet in Camping magazine, as well as writing the odd feature every now and again. He likes to illustrate his work with drawings. 
He is currently writing his second book

And so I quizzed him. Starting at the beginning..

Why did you start writing?
I came to writing relatively late in life, having attended further education and then my first degree as a mature student I discovered that I thoroughly enjoy the process of research and writing. The food and travel writing that I do is just an extension of that really.

What 3 things (not including paper, computer, pens) would you like to facilitate a good days writing?
Coffee, a clear head and a looming deadline always seem to get the words flowing.

Do you write to a schedule, eg every day or three times a week, set times, etc or do you write as and when the mood strikes?
I have a study at the top of the house with an amazing view over the surrounding countryside. I usually park myself up there after the school run in the morning and after an hour or so of messing around on social media, I get down to the project at hand, unless of course I’m on a research trip. In which case I will find a local library to sit down in. ~~ I'm slightly disappointed to hear you don't pitch a tent in the garden and write there to be honest ;-)

What are your favourite biscuits?
I rather think I ate my fair share of biscuits in my, let's say, more hedonistic days. Boasters were a favourite back then, but nowadays I’ll settle for a Rich Tea. ~~ back to the simple life eh?


What book are you reading at the moment?
I’m reading ‘Common Ground’ by Rob Cowen. I caught him reading from it and talking about the book at The Good Life Experience this summer. I was captivated. It’s a wonderful read.

Do you use social media (facebook, twitter, instagram etc) to engage with your readers, do you think it helps sales and do you find it fun or a chore?
I spend a great deal of time on social media, twitter in particular and I do enjoy engaging with my readers. I has most certainly helped with gaining commissions and getting my name about. I was a long time in coming to Twitter, and I frequently wonder whether everyone has moved on to a new cooler social media site that I don’t yet know about. (Follow Josh on twitter at GuyRopeGourmet )

What was your last dream about?
I turned fifty very recently and organised a huge party for all my friends. I fed seventy six people over a weekend. Just a few days before the do, I dreamed that one of my pals organised a separate party in another location and no-one came to mine! ~~ooh the old anxiety dream, mine have become increasingly surreal as I approach 50 I have to confess!

If reading and writing were banned, what would you do instead?
Play guitar and tell stories ~~ round the camp fire?

If you could cross a fruit or a vegetable with an animal what would you pick and why? I am going with an ant/chestnut this week, annoying to find you pitched a tent on a nest but at least you could make nice soup with them.
I would cross a lemming with a hot potato, in the hope that it would kill and cook itself. ~~yummy


Where is your ideal holiday?
Camping in North Wales. It’s a magical place and I never get bored. Spain is also pretty close contender. I would love to spend two or three months driving around Spain with my family in the camper van. If only I could get someone to pay me for that gig. ~~ food in Spain is amazing, I'm just back from a holiday in Wales and having put on 2lbs in a week I can vouch for the fact the food there is pretty good too!

Do you prefer eating or cooking?
I prefer cooking. I love the idea of looking after guests and feeding them well. Guests will constantly approach me in the kitchen saying "can I do anything to help?” and my answer is always, “yes pour yourself another drink and see if anyone else needs one!"

Massive thanks for taking part Josh. And thank you reader (yes you) for reading. I hope you enjoyed it an if it's given you an appetite why not pop out and grab a copy of the book, you could try recipes like Smokey Bonfire Pasta - appropriate for this week!

You can buy Josh's Book from Amazon : Guy Rope Gourmet a Camping Cook Book

Feel free to grab this badge code for your blog and share the Wordy Wednesday love.

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.tattooedmummy.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" title="Tattooed Mummy's Wordy Wednesday"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmgok5oWh4Lqptim4GBc0H_dQ-PeT0Z-kg5P-TQdGFpjb5xPJW6ZX78tdeK4DpP2yyvQ5pDo_fla9iQCtSvnSP_m07YCH66PmmTlxynqwnwc02UBS8ihmtfxxZWN3bhbLU7tv5/s1600/rsz_wordywedmesday2.jpg" alt="Tattooed Mummy's Wordy Wednesday" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Generate your button code

My ten dieting secrets for successful weightloss

It finally happened. I have reached and actually fallen slightly under, my goal weight of 140lb (I’m currently 139.9lb). I weighed 155lb in January, when I weighed myself to see if giving up alcohol would make any difference to my weight over Dry January.

Tuna and egg salad with extra light mayonnaise

Using FatSecret a free diet app, which records calorie (also fat, carbs etc) and sets goals etc I have managed a simple diet since then and now am planning to just stay around this weight.

Several people have asked my my ‘dieting secret’ and sadly I’m not sure there is one. The secret is that well known one, you have to eat less calories than you need…then you lose weight. If you eat more than you need you gain weight, and if you eat the right amount you stay the same.

That said I do have some tips to sticking to your set limit. And some ideas for meals and snacks to keep the calories down.

1. Don’t ban any food. If there is a food you like and want to eat just include it in your plan. This might mean you have to eat a smaller portion, maybe half a pizza with a green salad rather than a whole pizza! or a small chocolate bar rather than a 1lb one, or it may mean missing out something else, so why not just have dessert for dinner? If you have a sweet tooth and crave lemon meringue just go for it, but you can’t have everything.
2. You will need willpower. There are lots of foods that taste much much better than skinny feels but if you want to lose weight you may have to say no, not every time (see point 1 above) but some of the time. Be prepared to feel like a holy martyr. Feel good about saying no and if you feel hungry and your stomach grumbles ensure you know how many calories you’ve had that day and then mentally tell your body to ‘suck it up and use some of the fat you have  already!’  (don’t do this out loud though, it’s considered odd)
3. Plan some snacks. If, like me, you are always hungry and fancying a nibble on something, plan some snacks. I have found that there are great low calorie options such as savoury popcorns, fruit, and even low calorie crisps that can be included in your diet.
4. To start with just record what you eat and when, I found using a dieting app was great for showing me where I was going wrong! When you see what you are eating and a pattern you can look at how to change it. If you always snack at 10.30 it’s silly to just stop – but you can change what you snack on (see above) Like wise if you tend to eat a larger meal at a certain time of the day, tailor your calories toward that. I like to eat a medium breakfast, snack at 10.30 and then have  a light lunch with a bigger evening meal for example. The FatSecret app is free and available on Android, Apple products and on the web. The website allows you to buddy up with people similar to you too, which can be a great boost.
5. Top examples of low calorie foods and meals I discovered are : Tuna fish, spookily low in calories and eaten with a salad (eg salad niciose) can be really filling for a tiny percentage of your daily allowance). Quorn, another high protein, low fat, low calorie food, great in a tomato sauce (homemade with no added sugars etc) with rice or green beans. Sushi, I found that a small pack of Yumie sushi at lunch was only 200 calories, perfect with a bottle of water, feels exotic and special full of flavour and very few calories. I’ve already mentioned popcorn, brands like Propercorn are great. 
6. Bulk up your plate with more vegetables (not root veg) and try to cut down on fat and carbohydrates. Lots of people will swear by a low fat or a low carb diet – in my opinion these work because fat and carbs have the most calories! I’ve used calorie counting only and have found adding extra lower calorie vegetables to meals has worked well.
7. Drinks are easy to consume and can hide an alarming calorie content. Alcohol really is an empty calorie (add Costa Chai Lattes to that list of hugely calorific drinks too!!) and alcohol is a poison, so I have given it up completely in the week. I now drink non alcoholic beer and wine after work instead, double health gain! Since finding out how many calories are in those yummy flavoured Frappes and Lattes in coffee shops I also tend to avoid them unless it’s a treat. Saving big money and numerous calories.
8. Be honest with yourself, if you don’t record everything you eat you might gain weight and will feel defeated. Better to see where you are going wrong on food intake so you can change it. It’s not easy to diet. You will need to change habbits. There is no magic trick. You just need to eat less. If you mess up a day, don't panic, just go back to doing it right the next day. I went to a couple of events where food was on offer so I just gave myself a diet holiday! That way I didn't feel bad, I enjoyed myself and went back to the diet afterwards. (oddly you do find as time passes you automatically make better choices anyway) 
9. I haven’t talked about exercise and that’s deliberate. I don’t exercise much and I didn’t step it up when I started this diet. The extra calories burned via exercise are surprisingly low.(you need an hour of fast cycling to burn off a single donut). Exercise will change some of your shape and convert fat to muscle and muscle is denser than fat and can weigh more. Most scientists agree that diet is much more important to lose weight than exercise (I’m not talking about over all health – exercise is obviously good for health, but losing weight is what I’m focusing on)
10. Drink more water. Everyone says this, but it's true and it helps. It stops you eating when really you are just thirsty. It fills your stomach if you drink water with a meal. It helps your body work and it's zero calories. And it's something to swallow!

So there they are, my diet secrets, which sadly boil down to eating fewer calories. But it is possible! It’s taken me 6 months at 1600 calories a day (1800 in the first 2 months) but I’ve lost 15 lbs. The FatSecret app allows you to choose how fast or slow you want to lose the weight and I chose slowly and it’s worked perfectly. I would suggest after losing 5lbs or so you reassess the calories you should be consuming, as you get smaller you need fewer to stay the same!

Homemade Quorn Chilli

Good Luck - let me know how you get on.

(This in not a sponsored post. Nothing to disclose here, move along)

Safe and clean - a review of Aquaint water based sanitiser

A little gem has appeared and become an instant favourite on my 'things to take when I go out' list.


Small and easy to fit in my bag a bottle of Aquaint has replaced a previously carried bottle of alcohol based hand gel.


Aquaint's claims made me initially think it must be too good to be true! Kills 99.9% of all sorts of horrors, can be used on babies and children (from birth!), isn't dangerous if ingested, can be used to clean 'things' as well as hands, dummies, rattles, (so if anyone throws their toys out of the pram they can go right back in after a quick spray and wipe) plates (perfect when camping as I often leave things to dry in the sun where flies no doubt have a wander!) and even fruit!


So could it really be true? Water based, non toxic safe and yet kills bacteria, fungus, viruses...


Well it turns out yes it can! I had a look through various scientific papers that have looked into using hypochlorous acid as a disinfectant and the results were all positive. It's a naturally occurring acid and not toxic, your own body makes it anyway, and after testing it for a few days I'm hooked! No dry skin as it's water based, no strong smell (great just before you eat a sandwich!) I will be stocking up with a few bottles in preparation for festival season.


I can't imagine why I hadn't heard of this product before.


Disclosure - I was sent a couple of bottles of Aquaint for the purposes of the review - but I'm genuinely happy to recommend this product.

Aquaint is a 100 per cent natural, eco-friendly water-based sanitiser that kills 99.9 percent of bacteria in seconds. Water provides the base for the product to be highly effective as a cleanser and its only other ingredient, Hypochlorous Acid, provides its anti-bacterial properties. Hypochlorous Acid is a harmless, natural acid produced by the human body to kill bacteria.

Aquaint has passed official UK Drinking Water tests and is endorsed by Allergy UK as an ‘Allergy Friendly Product’. It is the safest sanitiser on the market and ideal for the most sensitive and delicate skin from birth. Its lack of chemicals, fragrances and preservatives mean it is completely harmless, even if digested. It can even be used as a mouthwash.

Product Overview

• Suitable for use on the skin, surfaces and even on food
• Safe to use from birth
• Suitable for sensitive skin and endorsed as an ‘Allergy Friendly Product’
• Kills 99.9% of bacteria in seconds
• Multiple uses at home, out and about and while travelling
• Does not dry out or irritate the skin, even after repeated use
• Does not need to be rinsed off
• Gentle, powerful and extremely safe
• Harmless if swallowed
• Safe to be handled unsupervised by infants
• Eco friendly
• Safe as drinking water!

It is available in a 500ml trigger spray bottle (£4.99) for use around the house on kitchen worktops, dining tables or in the car and can even by sprayed onto food. The handy 50ml mini spray bottle (£2.49) is ideal for carrying in your handbag, keeping on your desk or taking on days out, camping trips and festivals as a quick and easy way to cleanse hands or skin.

It can be used to freshen-up and deodorise the body naturally, used as a mouthwash or mouth freshener and sprayed directly on to the skin or surfaces without the need to rinse off as it does not leave behind any residues or toxic chemicals. Aquaint is perfect if you’re worried about exposure to harsh chemicals as it does not contain any alcohol, Parabens, Pthalates etc.

Aquaint is stocked in Boots, Babies R Us, Ocado, Vital Baby, JoJo Maman Bebe, NCT Shop and Amazon and is available to purchase on the website at www.aquaint-uk.com.

They're Changing Guard at Buckingham Palace...

They're changing guard at Buckingham Palace -
Christopher Robin went down with Alice.
Alice is marrying one of the guard.
"A soldier's life is terrible hard,"
                                                                    Says Alice.

We went to London on Saturday, as we live on the coast it's up for us, not down, and we are neither called Christopher, nor Alice..I'm not sure where this is going except I recited this poem to DD when we were at Buckingham Palace, I feel if when you see this

and don't recite that perfect poem by A.A. Milne you are wasting everyone's time.

We were not in London to visit the Queen though, nor a little mouse under her chair. We were there to meet up with the simply marvelous totally barking authors that I met up with back in January but this time DD was coming along too.

First I went to John Lewis with £200 worth of vouchers that I'd won online burning the proverbial hole in my pocket. After an hour of um-ing and ahhh-ing and with help from DD I settled on a lovely chiffon dress in black, with a butterfly motif (£105 !! *faints*) and a White Stuff reversible cotton skirt with a bird patterm (£45) I also stocked up on 'my smell' (as DD calls it) Clarins Dynamisante (£32)

Then it was a rush to the pub, to meet for Lunch. We were late of course. We met at the Mayflower, the pub was charming, and after a brief confusion where I was upstairs and alone with Dd and a bottle of wine while everone one else was downstairs, we settled down to chatting about all sorts of odd things, books, food, women, sex, cats, watches...sometimes several from that list at once.

The food was delicious. The waitress put up with our happy mildly tipsy behaviour. No one danced on the table, or got naked, though Andy and Tony downed shots of Tabasco sauce to impress us. We were suitably impressed...and a little bit worried!

All in all the meet up was lovely (well I enjoyed it - I do hope the others did!) DD has declared all authors (but especially Andy Stanton and Anthony McGowan) 'barking' ... after the Tabasco affair I fear she has a point.

Emily, Tony, TM, DD

Sally, Andy and Jane

Later we walked back from the tube via Green Park and Buckingham Palace.

What a super day!

Being Vegetarian

I'm not a vegetarian. I'm a lover of the meat, an eater of the flesh, happy to sink my teeth into a red and oozing steak or crunch a piece of crispy bacon and feel animal fats dribble down my chin. But for lent I'm vegetarian. So, "how is it going?" I hear you ask.

Well pretty well actually, as you can see from my opening sentence I'm hardly thinking about meat at all, chops, sausage, burger, sorry what? yes hardly thinking of meat at all. 

Cooking and eating at home has been easy, Using the wonder new cook book and eating plenty of pasta, lentils and noodles, rice and naan bread, potatoes and cheese, no trouble at all. 

Eating out however is a whole different kettle of fish quorn. I need to change the way I get lunch for a start. At work we have a canteen and until recently it did great food including a nice vege dish of the day but it's been taken over (to save money) and the food there is now just bought in (and not very nice, or very hot) microwaved meals; so I need to look elsewhere.Sometimes I remember and make a sandwich when I make lunch for DD but I'll be honest - I never really fancy the packed lunch I make myself, I don't know why, is that just me? Maybe I need a packed lunch partner - we both make a lunch then exchange it at work for a delightful surprise!? 
Any way, buying a vege lunch (eg sandwich, pasty, salad etc) seems fraught with difficulty. "How hard can it be?" you are thinking (unless you are a vegetarian - then you are nodding and muttering "See! See what we have to put up with!") and I thought the same. A cheese sandwich, an egg sandwich, tomato soup, a cheese and potato pasty, that can't be too tricky surely; but it seems that it is. I'm lucky if I can find anything some days, cheese and ham? why add the ham? egg and bacon? chicken salad? what is this? a meat eaters' charter? Today I gave up and caved in to eat a pot noodle. A POT NOODLE these are the depths I have sunk to, if I was a fish I'd have one of those glowing lights dangling in front of my face I've sunk so low.

So vegetarians, where do you 'grab a snack'? do you ever? is life as a vegetarian only possible if meticulously planned? I dread to think how vegans survive outside the safety of their own homes.

LOCOG - Crushing the Dream, one day at a time

I was really excited about the Sports even that shall not be named. Not at first I admit, but gradually I came round to realising that it was going to be a historic event, something good in a  time of recession. I stopped worrying about how much it would cost and concentrated on what it would achieve. 

Sport would be highlighted in schools. Kids and young athletes would be encouraged. The Paralympics would show disabled people in a positive light, moving them away from the 'benefit scrounger' image they seem to have gained.

The Ticket 'lottery' was horrible. It felt weird, and unfair, to order more tickets than you needed? or to just order what you required and risk disappointment? To order in some kind of 'double guessing' way by selecting sports that you imagine to be 'unpopular' ... but what if everyone did that? To order in the highest price band or the lowest? It was a nightmare and in the end I ordered the cheapest options in what I wanted to see and only what I could afford.

I was one of the lucky few it seems as I got nearly all the tickets I applied for! So the excitement grew again. The thought of seeing top athletes in a massive new arena  or pool, cheering on my country with DD at my side.

Kindly donated by @Kungpofanda at Twitter

The  transport looked like it might be tricky. We live close to London (an hour on the train) but even so the journeys seems long and complicated, we were advised to leave 'extra time' so I did. I booked the tickets on the train even though they cost more than the tickets. I felt smug and organised.

And then the emails started...and the texts telling me to read and observe the rules in the emails ... "or else you may not see your event". That sounded ominous and threatening. 

Suggestions to arrive TWO HOURS earlier than the event, after I had purchased tickets (planning to arrive 30 minutes early) Suddenly an early morning train journey became a dawn/milk train journey - 5.14am for an event that starts at 9am. And then the searches, the rules on 'excessive' food (what is excessive? who decides how many maltesers is acceptable?) the ban on liquids, on large flags, umbrellas, kittens. Where was the fun? Where was the excitement?

And now missiles on roofs of ordinary peoples flats ('you are at no danger' they are told - 'so why the missiles and armed guards then?' I would reply) A lack of security from the company PAID and CONTRACTED to provide them. Soldiers brought in from our troops aroud the world to patrol a sporting event! Allegations of free tickets to top events for the great and 'good'...., And finally the crown, we can no longer even mention the games (and possibly the year, the word summer or the metalic colour of the medals) without getting sued..

I admit, I'm losing the love. I want to get the love back. I want the Sports Event that cannot be named to feel like a Sporting Event of a Lifetime, not a War.


Toy Soldier Picture Credit : National Museum of Play Online Collections

edited to add  the no kittens pic

Dear McDonalds

I love you. I want to make this clear from the start, our from the "get go" as you Americans say. We have a dangerous relationship where you are a "feeder" but I'll be honest, I encourage it.

I like your breakfasts best.

Who am I kidding, I love your breakfasts. I love the muffins full of greasy goodness. I love that you serve pancakes with bacon and syrup, because, while it's not very British of me to admit, I adore bacon and syrup.
I love the choices of drink, the orange juice that lets me kid myself I've had a healthy breakfast. The milk that let's me pretend I care about my bone health.

But the coffee...ah the coffee... Now the coffee has improved, I admit that. I like the taste. But you have temperature issues don't you? The hotter the coffee the better? Is that your thought? You are wrong.

Remember the old adage "boiled coffee is spoiled coffee"? You would imagine that having a court case where a woman was scalded would have given you a wake up. But no. this morning I had to wait twenty minutes before I could drink my coffee without losing all the skin on my tongue. Twenty minutes! Imagine how hot it was! Sort it out. You are spoiling an otherwise perfect breakfast.



Lots of love
Me

Why I love camping

I adore camping.I love tents. I'm fairly sure that many of the reasons that I love camping will be the reasons you hate it.

I'll start at the beginning, I love the smell of a canvas tent, I like the anticipation of packing for a camping trip. The look at the list,checking the food and the booze. Packing the car,(I have a Fiat Panda so it's car Tetris every time)

And then the drive, either to a site I know and love or to a new exciting site where who knows what I will discover.

Arriving, unpacking, laying out the tent, pitching, happy in the knowledge I can do it all by myself! Sending DD to fetch water, and other small chores. The sun (or rain) and the knowledge that as soon as we are finished I can cool off with a beer or warm up with a tea.

Sitting in the fresh air,watching the other campers, listening to the sounds of nature, the wind in the trees, bird song, bees. Walking around the area seeing what is going on. Snoozing on a rug, reading  a book, sipping a Pims. Playing Frisbee with DD...

And later cooking outside on a BBQ or my camp stove, eating sausages or stew, more booze, more tea, hot chocolate and then bed...

Snuggled warm (with many layers plus hat) in my mummy style sleeping bag, on the mattress next to DD. Listening to the animals outside, the tent flapping, rain on the canvas, the smell of the tent.So peaceful, sleeping from dark until dawn. Waking to birdsong and the thought of a fully cooked breakfast, with local produce if I'm lucky...

And sometimes all of that is combined with the added fun of a festival. Sitting here now I'm making myself yearn for my tent...

Camping, total relaxation, and always plenty for kids to do, from exploring to chores....what's not to like?

And a Trip to Brighton, that wasn't work

So sunny we went to Brighton as Tourists on my day off last week, We went on the pier, ate seafood, and generally did touristy stuff.

DD and I went on the roller coasters at the end of the pier - I screamed like a girl and it was fabulous. DD was thrilled that one of them had a loop and as she had never been on an inversion coaster before she was beside herself with excitement. We went on, sat at the front and loved it! she wanted to do it again, but at £4 each I called it a day.

Here are some pics from our day. What is Mr Tattooed Mummy looking at?!