Spud you like?

This week I got some rather exciting news - I finally have a date for a full knee replacement on my right leg in just over 4 weeks.

 This is brilliant news. I've been struggling with knee pain for 20 years, and have been literally crippled by it over the last two or three. For 10 years I hated my life because the pain levels were dreadful and there was never any respite, day or night. My knee gives way several times a day and it hurts like a bugger. Now there's a possibility of a relatively pain free life - and able to go for walks again! 

Dreaming of exploring all of Bempton Cliffs, not just the near bit!

This is also a bit scary. Partly because of the pain of the operation, which sounds rough. Partly for being laid up just before Christmas. Partly because I'll have to depend on Mark and the kids, and I hate depending on people.

To get surgery-ready, I'm keeping up with my exercises and continuing to lose weight (slowly, so very slowly. Urgh) I am also making a lot of food for the freezer.

Today is all about potatoes. For tonight, tomorrow and for December. I have been peeling for ages.

Evidence of endless peeling 

First up is the leek and potato soup I blogged about last time - plenty of chickpeas in to add nutrition, and whizzed in the blender for far longer than you'd think. Incidentally, a 1 pint plastic milk carton is a great receptacle for freezing soup. It holds a couple of decent portions and doesn't take up much room. I pull them out the day before to defrost them. This will be easy lunches when I'm laid up.

All those lovely portions of soup

Then it's the baby potatoes. Usually we buy Charlotte spuds for this but they were out of stock so they are some generic waxy ones. They have been cut in half or quarters and boiled in salted water for about 12-15 minutes. I let them steam dry in the colander for a few minutes, then divide them into two bowls.

The first is for Muddled Spuds. That's what Mark calls it when he dresses hot waxy potatoes with plenty of olive oil, a bit of white wine vinegar and finely chopped spring onions and maybe parsley, then crushes them a bit.  They are really delicious, especially with a steak (tuna in my case, beef in Mark's). They are Miss B's favourites (except roasters, obviously).

Muddled spuds

The second half is going to be Dishoom's Gunpowder Potatoes. I've toasted the spices and ground them, chopped the chillies and spring onion and mixed up (sort of) the Kabab Masala. However, I don't have fenugreek leaves and to be frank I'm not crazy about it so I ditched that bit. Tomorrow I'll toss the cooked spuds in oil and roast them in the air fryer, then add the spices and all the rest to go alongside a curry I made the other week and froze.

Quick side note - the spices included fresh chilies . Whenever I handle chilies I 'wash' my hands in oil afterwards. Chili is oil soluble, not water soluble. If you want to avoid burning your eyes when you absentmindedly rub them, just pour a bit of vegetable oil in the palm of your hands and wash them well. Then use soap to wash the oil off. The chili will be gone. It's magic. 

The final bag of spuds are Maris Pipers. I've turned them into mashed potato. I've shaped the mash into balls and frozen them on a tray; later they'll go into a ziplock as an easy carb for dinners while I'm laid up. This will make Mark very happy - once summer is over he reverts to a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy. It's a source of frustration for me because I'm the antithesis of that, but life is about compromise. 

Tray of mash for the freezer 

It's won't please Zach, though - he doesn't like mashed potatoes at all. Spuds are his least favourite carb, which practically makes him un-British in my late father in law's view. Colin is who Mark got his meat-and-potatoes fixation from. Zach's all about rice and pasta and bread.

 I did most of this food prep sitting on a stool but I'm still knackered from too much standing. 

Nevermind - maybe that will be a thing of the past by spring!

(Except for my left knee, obviously)