Philip (Phil) England

 Recipe: Chinese Style Pork Strips Slice and dice a red onion and a pepper, also cut up a bunch of spring onions, and thinly cut up a few cloves of garlic. Add to a large sauce pan and fry off, along with some salt and pepper, also some paprika. Add to the pan some strips of pork. After about 15 mins add an egg cup full of red wine vinegar, soy sauce and apple juice. Bring to the boil and then simmer for a further 15 minutes, then turn the heat off, leave covered. As with all one pan dishes, time is your friend. Leave for around 4 hours to a day. When ready to eat, bring to the boil again and simmer for 20 minutes. To serve cook some microwave rice or maybe even some rice noodles. Enjoy your meal 😊 Here is the full recipe list 1 red onion 1 bunch spring onions 1 pepper 1 pack pork strips 3 cloves of garlic Egg cup full soy sauce Egg cup full red wine vinegar Egg cup full apple sauce To season add salt, pepper and paprika Serve with rice or rice noodles

SPICY & FRUITY CHICKEN CURRY I was inspired to do this after watching a Rick Stein series on BBC iPlayer. This recipe is for a rather nice chicken curry. To start with diced chicken in to a bowl with coconut milk and a little turmeric. In to a frying pan goes some fennel seeds, cumin seeds and cardamom pods lightly toast these, the cardamom pods pop open and smell devine!. Once this has been done grind the fennel, cumin and cardamom (minus their pods) ready for the next step, take some time to smell the spices... it's magic! In to your chosen pan put some oil (I use either sesame or ground nut oil) and gently fry some chopped onion and grated garlic. Add the just ground spices along with Garam Masala ,  Salt, a little  Cayenne  Pepper (by the way, the heat should be low, don't burn it!), also put in your chopped pepper. After about 10 minutes throw in the chicken, minus the coconut milk it was bathing in. Once the chicken has browned put in the coconut milk and add the sult

Minced Beef & Tomato In this one I have used a double helping of tomato  First of all I gently fry my herbs and spices Salt Pepper Chives Fennel seeds  Cumin seeds Herbs De Provencal You can use whatever ones you wish to use. Once lightly fried, add some chopped onion and thinly sliced garlic. Make sure you mix these well with your herbs and spices. Add about a coffee cup (third of a mug) of water, then throw in your sweet potato and carrot. Stir in and bring to the boil, then turn heat down and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes. Chopped Onion Thinly Sliced Garlic Diced Sweet Potato Diced Carrott Minced Beef Chopped cherry tomatoes Tin chopped tomatoes The next thing to do as soon as your veg starts to soften is add in your minced beef, stir this in well, keep turning until the beef has browned and then add your chopped cherry tomatoes and a tin of chopped tomatoes. Serve with either wholegrain rice or maybe wholewheat pasta or whatever you desire. Let me know how yours turns out.

My first ever book is out! MY LIFE IN BLOG FORM Welcome to my first ever book, it contains a number of my blogs, and some added extra bits from other social media outlets of mine. It follows my life since the first lockdown and focuses on my life. I do like cooking, and enjoy watching Saturday Kitchen as well as other shows! A cut of profits from the sale of each book will go to a Fibromyalgia charity, so please do buy a copy, either physical or electronic. It's on Amazon right now at this address https://amzn.eu/d/7C9NgbS It's in paperback or for kindle

October 2023   This is the month of my holiday to Austria & Slovenia! Wednesday 3rd October: Damn it, fibromyalgia strikes in the night again. My whole body is in agony, feeling extremely tingly and achy. Not even sure I can remember a warning sign of its impending visit yesterday 🥺 Not a way to be woken up in the night that's for sure. Think I may have forgotten my gabapentin though, so that could be why it's dropped by 😔 Thursday 5th October: Well, a sluggish day so far today, got Nero later (he always cheers me up big time, bless him) Doctor will be phoning later to discuss my diabetic readings of the last few days. Also today am waiting on Amazon delivery, and I think one other parcel too. My mind is going... I thought I had Amazon order coming today... guess who forgot to check out his order? never mind, will come tomorrow now. Had Nero today, he’s a fantastic dog, he looks after me, he’s like my shadow! Friday 6th October: Just gone 5am What the.... my lower back,

Damn the DVLA in Swansea dragging their feet over removing code 78 from my driving license. It's stressing me out and affecting, possibly, my holiday, affecting me getting a new Motability car AND me moving on in life in aiming to drive a coach as a job.  I've rediscovered my love of driving, and at.the moment the DVLA risk wrecking that for me. I discovered the code while at J&J Motors in Skewen while starting an application for my new Motability car. I got in touch with the DVLA that same hour, and was told an investigation would be started. It was a whole week before I discovered what had happened after I had phoned them. Now I know I messed up by ticking a wrong box. As soon as I discovered what I had done I tried to rectify the issue. I wrote a letter pointing out my mistake, putting that letter in an envelope along with my licence. I took it to the DVLA in Swansea myself and was pointed in the direction of a silver postbox by security. I dropped the letter in there.

Not long got in from doing few things.  Been to chemist to pick up my meds, always friendly in there and all the staff know me by name. Been to Morrisons, as know my way around it more than any other shop. Friendly staff, had to ask for help twice, but always feel safe in there. Got home, put things away, poured a glass of Lucozade, sat down, did my bi-weekly injection, looked at the meds I just got from the chemist and burst out crying. Yes every bone in my body is aching and I feel drained, but the crying seems more mental than physical sided. My morning stats today were as follows: Blood sugar first thing 8.9 BP & Oxygen first thing 124 / 81 - 96

June 2023 Another month, same ol' stuff going on. At the start of the month I managed a walk, only a gentle walk, but a walk nether the less, my body didn't thank me for it, day after the walk I was in agony.  Couldn't do anything around the flat at all. The dry weather although nice, is really not agreeing with me. As the humid weather kicked in around about the 9th of June my breathing became difficult. Waking up in bed full of sweat wasn't pleasant, combine that with chronic pain and Fibromyalgia amplifying it ... Not good. On Wednesday 14th I've got another laser eye zapping to get through... not looking forward to it though. As I get ready to head to the hospital, Wednesday 14th June, I am hoping it's the last of the laser zapping, I just want my vision properly back in my left eye.  Bit on the achy side again this morning which is making getting ready difficult, but as normal, I struggle on. Well, the laser eye zapping went ok, can see a bit clearer, but n

  Oh damn, fibro flare up, can hear the pain in my head, painful tingle all over... welcome to the new month 😓 Well, 1 st of the month, and after being woken up in the early hours, I got some cleaning bits done! Then I was looking in the hall cupboard for a trowel which I thought I had, as was going to go outside and take out dead growth from my tubs, and came over sick and seemed to have made my pain levels rise again.... damn it! I had such good intentions for this afternoon.   2 nd day of the month, its update time! Eyes: got more laser zapping tomorrow on my good eye to keep it good, will chase my bad eye appointment at the same time! Health: feeling better today than yesterday, I didn't really pace myself yesterday, as soon as I felt better, I threw myself into doing things, will I ever learn? Friday 3rd Feb: at the diabetic eye clinic for more laser zapping on my right eye, the good one to keep it good, but also had a scan of my left eye. It seems something

  Looking back 2022, Looking forward 2023 As 2022 comes to a close, a quick look back and forward. I'm thankful for having my friends and making new ones, Carl and his two dogs, Cosmo and Harley. Dog sitting at home for Hannah's dog Nero, and looking after Gilby for Del, also looking after Cosmo & Harley for Carl. There are loads of people I've not seen this year due to various reasons, mostly down to eye sensitivity to bright lights and being unable to drive safely. I want to and must rectify that in 2023. Online, new friends include Wozzey, Steve and Jake. I've reconnected with a childhood friend from Ipswich, Jason. On Twitter with the star of BBC sitcom No Place Like Home, Dee Sadler; also former BBC news reader and star of the BBC's The Real Marigold Hotel series, Jan Leaming. I feel so proud to have connected with them and be in their universe. My health isn't good, but one thing has changed for the good, I'm no longer on insulin 😊. Going down to

  1st November 2022: Not much changes with the month, aches and pains continue. My eye is still a blur, no real sign of improvement, which is really pissing me off now big time. I'm supposed to be driving down to Surrey on 20th December to dog sit, at this moment in time I fear I won't be doing that. EDIT: I've been passed for driving, given the all clear by a field vision test So fed up with life, fed up of not being able to go places driving my self.  22nd November: For a while now, a number of years, I've been sick at least once a day. Not sure why, but there is no pattern to it, no set time of day. It's annoying, and a bit worrying, I also hear my stomach and intestines making noises. On top of this my left eye is still all a blur. 29th November: So as another month comes to an end, I am due to start more zapping of laser this time on my right eye (when my left one isn't clear to see out of yet!). On the plus side I am no longer on insulin and the doctor

  Blog Entry: Tuesday 12 th July 2022 Yesterday I went to Singleton Hospital to have my bloods done, I have got a doctor’s appointment on the 21 st to see the Diabetic Nurse, will find out the results of those then. Been to dentist today, had three fillings. No other planned dental work to be done right now.   Blog Entry: Saturday 16 th July 2022 Been dropping things a lot the last few days, not really too sure why. Messiest mess was pasta and sauce with cheese on top…. what a mess, not sure how but it ended up all over my landline phone, the side of the sofa, the phones USB charging cable and even found a bit of pasta in a pot plant! It was lucky that I had a friend’s two dogs here this weekend to look after (they looked after me, more than me look after them!), they are really good at cleaning up dropped food!

  The mind is a strange thing, a few days ago a name popped in to my head, that name was Jason Campbell. I did a search on LinkedIn and found him, dropped him a message and we started chatting. Another name entered my mind then, Andrew Sampson, he was a strange kid, he had a strange family set up, he used to sit in the passenger seat of the family car and change gears, he was a strange kid. Sadly found out from Jason that Andrew was getting off a bus, slipped, hit his head and sadly died. RIP Andrew Now , why can I remember things from the past, yet can't remember what I have to do or what medications I have to take? We are currently in a bit of a heatwave, its too hot to move or do anything. Trying to stay cool and keep hydrated. I'm a fragile flower in the heat, I will probably wilt! Got a bit of a tingle at the moment, its kind of a sign a flareup is on the way, just what I need extreme heat and pain... not good. EDIT 18 th July 2022: I was right about the flare up, in gre

  Blog Entry: 23 rd June 2022 Since the last entry, my pain has been between 3 and 6 out of 10 . I did have a flare up on the 17 th June , that came on in the afternoon, which my friend’s dog, Nero, picked up on, he stayed by my side all afternoon until he went home. On the 18 th June my left knee decided to give way, and was weak for most of the weekend. I dog sat a friend’s 2 dogs, the biggest of the two, Cosmo (pictured), really looked after me, my following me around the flat and standing right by my left knee, I think he was trying to hold me up! I had a dentist appointment on the 22 nd June, a check-up. I have to go back on the 13 th July for three fillings. Say hello to Cosmo!

Phil's Video Blog 188 Recorded over two days, a look at what I am going to be doing in the communal garden area of the block I live in thanks to Family Housing. Also life must continue after the passing of a dear friend, read my blog at https://www.itsmyblog.me.uk/2021/04/in-memoriam-debra-bowring.html PLUS someone is to start up a food blog on YouTube, if I am correct in thinking, visit and subscribe https://youtube.com/channel/UCJbWVvPQfb09-M31gOdiCEA Check me out on the socials: www,philengland.com/socials has the full links www.facebook.com/philengland www.twitter.com/philengland1 Skype @philengland1 Instagram @england_phil Special pages: Hear past shows I have done on radio - www.philengland.co.uk/catch-up Offers - www.philengland.com/offers Health Fundraiser - www.philengland.com/health and online at: www.philengland.com www.itsmyvoice.me.uk www.itsmyblog.me.uk www.grumpyoldgitsguide.co.uk #StaySafe,  #FilmoraX, #TravelAnyWhere, #MadeWithFilmora #Swansea, #Abertawe, #staycati