Leftovers

I lay awake in bed thinking about using up the leftover cooked ham and stock (as you do....well, I've got to think about something when I can't sleep!).  On the one hand, it does seem a bit daft buying a large joint when it's just the two of us.  But larger joints are cheaper per kilo than small ones, and I look at the bigger picture - i.e., lots of meals to be made from the one joint.  

Six pots of stock have gone in the freezer (I simmered the joint first in part cloudy apple juice/part water with a chopped carrot and onion and some herbs, then roasted with a grainy mustard and marmalade glaze).  We'll slice some of the meat and leave in the fridge for sandwiches.  Some will be used in a pasta bake, and some for pea and ham soup using some of the stock.  More will be diced and frozen for future use in risotto or frittatas.  And some I'm going to mince along with a shallot in the food processor, then mix with butter and mustard to make a sort of pate for toast.  So our one gammon joint, which we bought a month or so ago when it was on a good special offer, will do us for probably a dozen meals.

Beef today, another large joint bought around the same time as the gammon, again on a very good offer.  So more leftovers to think about tomorrow!

Husband has generously volunteered to cook the dinner today.....erm, all he has to do is put the beef in the oven, and I worked out all the timings for him, and the veggies and Yorkies I already did on Xmas eve.  So basically he's just got to serve it up!  😂  I'm not complaining, at least I can just sit today crocheting or reading.  Although no doubt I'll have to wash up later....after all, he's cooking the dinner!  😉

After lying awake in bed for a while last night, I came downstairs for an hour.  I've accepted that my pattern at the moment - well, for the last few weeks - is that I sleep for the first couple of hours after going to bed (I have no trouble getting off to sleep initially), but wake up in the early hours and am wide awake then for a couple of hours.  It seems to be the time when my mind is most active, so I may as well give in to it and come downstairs to play on the computer, or read or crochet, or make lists.  I have a hot drink and go back to bed after an hour or two, when I can usually (but not always) go back to sleep for another couple of hours.  So on average I'm getting about 4 or 5 hours actual sleep a night.  Not ideal, and is why I'm permanently tired, but I expect it will sort itself out eventually.

I really don't like the time between Christmas and New Year - it feels like we're just marking time until the new year starts.  Roll on the new year!!