Banana And Ginger Oat Cookies

This cookie recipe goes hand in hand with my Not So Naughty Chocolate Brownies as a sweet little treat without the guilt. I based this on a popular 2 ingredient breakfast cookie recipe, that appeared in a free supermarket magazine. I’ve tweaked it a bit to make it more of a treat by making them a little more moist, adding a bit of sweetness and giving them an extra hit of flavour.

You will need:
2 large ripe bananas, mashed until liquidy
180g porridge oats
1 tbsp sweet freedom fruit syrup
1/2 inch piece of ginger, grated

Method:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 150°C
2. Add all the ingredients to a fairly large bowl and mix until thoroughly incorporated.
3. Set the mixture aside for about 20 minutes for the oats to absorb some of the moisture and soften up.
4. Form the mixture into balls and place on a lined baking sheet.
5. Press the balls into cookie shapes, this mixture doesn’t spread as it cooks, and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, until lightly brown and set.

Notes:
Usually buying better quality ingredients can improve a recipe massively, however, In this case cheaper oats are generally better for this recipe, as they’re often a smaller, broken down, floury oat and will take less time to cook. Dip half of a cookie into melted dark chocolate to make them even more of a treat.

Have A Break, Have A KitKat! (A Review... Kinda)

It's been a long day, and a long week (how is it only Thursday?), I feel like I deserve a post work pick me up.

It really is hard to beat a pot of builders tea and a four finger KitKat. I'm usually a dark chocolate kind of guy, but I'm absolutely loving these ruby chocolate KitKat's. There's a little hit of acidity in the flavour that's reminiscent of slightly tart autumnal berries. It really intrigues me, especially since there's absolutely no fruit or fruit flavouring in there, it's all down to how they've processed the cocoa beans. I could quite easily find myself addicted to these things.

By the way that is/was my favourite teapot and moments after I took this photo a crack opened up down the side of it. It's now completely useless because it leaks terribly, as evidenced by the fresh tea stains all over my room.

Work Toilet Selfie, Just Because I'm Vane As Fuck

Work toilet selfie, just because I'm vane as fuck.

Also on a side note, I had an absolutely terrible weekend diet wise. I went totally off the rails on Saturday, packing away in the region of 6000 calories worth of booze and BBQ. Sunday wasn't much better, I ate left over BBQ for breakfast and devoured an entire 200g bar of chocolate in the evening (there's well over 1000 calories on its own). Consequently this week I've been trying to stick to around 1500 calories a day, it's only Tuesday and I've already let myself down. Why are ham sandwiches and crisps so hard to ignore?

A Little Self Indulgent Moan

I’ve been wanting to move away from the area I grew up in for quite a while now and it’s really starting to wear me down. I currently work full time, although the pay is very poor, the job itself is entirely reliable and for an unskilled worker, in the current economic climate, that is a fairly big draw. Unfortunately my low pay has left me in a pretty shitty situation where my monthly outgoings are basically equal to my income, meaning that I have no real savings to fall back on. Couple this with the fact that I also have financial responsibilities that require me to pay every month or risk forfeiting my claim to them, potentially losing a lot of money and any chance of ever putting together a deposit on a mortgage. What this means to me is that, in a very real sense, I live pay day to pay day and can’t afford to lose even a single months pay.

As it stands it appears as though I’ve been left with two viable options, continue in my current job and commute to work or find another reliable job in the area that I want to live in. Whilst both of these options look fairly simple on paper they’re not as easy as it seems.

Firstly the area that I want to live in is around 35 miles away from where I work and although this isn’t a vast distance I don’t currently drive, though I am working to change that. It’s taken a couple of years, but I’ve finally managed to adjust my budget enough to afford weekly driving lessons rather than waste my time and money buying them in blocks with, sometimes long periods of time between each block. Essentially this means that, for me currently, commuting isn’t really an option.

Secondly, since the Brexit referendum economic growth in Britain has plateaued somewhat, and in certain cases has even recessed slightly, meaning that less jobs are available, competition for jobs has increased and employers are looking to fill the available jobs more cheaply. As a fairly qualified and extremely experienced employee, whilst not being the most expensive, I would not be particularly cheap to employ. I would require to at least match my current wage, but would ideally be looking to achieve closer to the higher end of the average wage for a person of my level of experience. When combined with the fact that I currently don’t drive, I have a very distinctive style and appearance, and that I have a fairly lengthy notice period in my current job, makes me a somewhat less desirable candidate for most companies.

So where does this leave me? This is a question I find that I’m asking myself ever more frequently and unfortunately the answer doesn’t really change, I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. I don’t have the money, or support structure, to simply quit my current job and move. Annoyingly if this was an option it has the potential to make me more employable due to no longer having a notice period and being available for an immediate start. I’m basically left with having to rely on either there being someone out there willing to take a chance on employing me or on my own ability to learn and the hope that I pick up the necessary driving skills quickly. Unfortunately I’m not convinced that either of these options are particularly viable, but they’re all I seem to have.

Remember When Sleep Was A Thing? I Miss Sleep

I miss the kind of sleep that's like slipping into oblivion, the kind where, for a few hours at least, you, your worries, your thoughts and your aches and pains, mental, emotional and physical, no longer exist and your entire universe shrinks down to a point that is just still, calm, comforting darkness. I miss waking up in the morning and feeling genuinely rested. I miss actually feeling comfortable lying in bed. I miss occasionally having a positive outlook.

A Little Saturday Morning Treat

A little Saturday morning treat of butchers sausage, posh baked beans and a toasted bagel. I'd love to say I've behaved this week, but my eating habits have been a little bit all over the place recently. I think I need to get myself back under control, I can already feel my jeans getting tight around the waist.

Hello Darkness... Are We Friends?

Me and the light definitely don't get on well, it hurts my eyes, burns my skin and generally makes me feel uncomfortable. Sometimes it actually feels like it has a grudge against me.

That's not to say me and the dark are the best of friends, we have an odd relationship. I generally like the dark, it usually feels comfortable to me, but not all the time. Sometimes the dark scares me, sometimes it triggers my over active imagination and, when it does, it often feels like something malevolent is watching me.