Cows...beef...steak...dinner :-)

This group of cows live on a farm en-route to my house from the M4 motorway that runs from Wales to London. They are what I would like t think a landmark on the journey though when I told my girlfriend to look out for the cows as a sign that she was on track and getting close; she mocked me saying that a cow cant be a landmark! Well I beg to differ! :-) 


The inner African within me see cows in only one way...dinner! One of the traditions we have in my culture is to kill a cow (to feed people) during key family gathering, e.g. a funeral. The men would go out, to track down the cow that had been chosen and kill it, then bring it back, very often in pieces for cooking and some was given away. I remember  my brother who comes before me; at a funeral once when he was about 11 or 12...maybe younger; went along with my eldest brother, father and uncles / cousins to track down the cow and my father returned within the hour with my brother whaling uncontrollably at what he described was the injustice of an animal losing its life so we could eat! He immediately became a vegetarian and probably didn't talk to anyone for ages thereafter, still makes me laugh today :-) As a girl child I was never allowed to go along when the men killed the cow for dinner which really used to frustrate me as I was eager to be involved in the process as I was not squeamish at all and totally believed in the process. My complaint then was that I was not allowed to go along when my wimpy brother couldn't hack it! But alas they would not let us swap places...I am pleased to report that the afore mentioned brother, grew up, acquired chest hair and is now more than capable of not only attending such an event but doing the killing himself :-) The experience of getting close to live cows in the process of taking the following images did not do anything at all by way of affecting my sensibilities...steak anyone????

Horses for courses!

This is a collection of images taken in the lovely Berkshire countryside of some lovely horses I happened upon whilst driving down a country lane near my new home :-)

Fly away with me...

One thing I would love to do is go up in a hot air balloon...so when I saw one flying over the city, I could not resist to capture it and dream that I was flying away with it! :-)

The quest to find Low fat, Low carb & low sugar ice cream...

One thing that I personally associate summer with is the indulgence of ice cream! (occasionally on a snowy day too!!!). I am sure this is one of the reasons people are encouraged to diet FOR summer not IN summer. So the pressure is on and temptation is raging for one to indulge in summer's guilty pleasure! 

The more I think about it the more I have been asking myself, 'Why does ice cream have to be a guilty pleasure?' Surely with all the modern technologies and food science there must be a way to enjoy ice cream without piling on the pounds!?! So I went online and had a look to see if somebody, anybody could help me out here!!!! What I found was D'Lite. D'Lite's core product offering of 'D'Lites Emporium' is a low calorie, low carbohydrate, low fat, low sugar soft serve ice cream which contains no artificial sweeteners and no cholesterol. It is said to be a premium light ice cream that has been designed for a healthy lifestyle, though I am not sure how healthy ice cream can be... They say that the proprietary mix is made with skimmed milk, utilizing the natural sugar from the milk, to create a smooth and creamy product without sacrificing flavor or quality. Unfortunately this product is only available in parts of the US and so I am unable to test drive it and let you know if it does taste the same or if it is indeed as 'healthy' as they say.

          

Karen Collins in her article 'Light' foods may not be best choice for dieters'  says that newlow-carb products are drawing more dieters back into the dessert and beverage aisles of grocery stores, but can they actually help people lose weight? She went on to say that, 'since dropping pounds ultimately comes down to burning more calories than you consume, these products may not provide much benefit.' Karen certainly has a point in that consuming these products as part of your regular diet can be totally counter productive as the bottom line is that calories are calories, whether low fat or full fat, 'every little adds up'.

The reality is that ice cream labeled "for use with low carb diets" uses sugar substitutes for sweetness and gums and cellulose gel for thickness. The brand most widely available right now produces an ice cream containing 130 to 140 calories in a half-cup serving, which is the same as regular ice cream. The total and saturated fat content of the products is about equal, too. The best way to handle the ice cream urge is moderation, pure and simple! Eating ice cream occasionally when you really want to treat yourself and not as a dessert after every meal and hey, you don't even need to have the low everything alternative, you can have the good stuff! :-)