Manuka honey

I've heard a lot about manuka honey recently, most of it very positive so I thought it was about time I tried it. Millie Mackintosh from made in Chelsea talks about the skin care range a lot on her blog but it is quite expensive. The honey can start at around £8 for a small jar. You can get manuka honey from Holland and Barrett and it's currently in their penny sale however the honey I have was given to me. It also contains ginger which is known to settle the stomach. Its a known anti inflammatory which is why is has been linked to crohns disease.

It wasn't the consistency I was expecting, it is more solid than regular honey and has quite large pieces of ginger in. I had mine with some Greek yoghurt and to be honest it wasn't very nice but think that was the ginger! I did finish it and will be trying it again but maybe in a different way such as on toast or just by eating a spoonful. Tonight I've eaten tomatoes which normally make my stomach hurt but tonight it feels fine, whether I'm getting better or it's the honey I'm not sure but I will keep eating the stuff and get back to you!

Food shopping

I get asked a lot about what foods I can eat with Crohns and what I can't so I thought I might share my first food shop since being at uni. I am not a vegetarian so my diet includes lots of meat but I do try and avoid too much dairy (although I love cheese) and the only other things I really avoid are leafy greens, fibrous food and tomatoes. My IBD nurse has told me to avoid fibrous food like brown breads and rices which means that my cupboards are usually stocked with lots of starchy white carbs like spaghetti, pasta, rice and noodles. I can't live without chicken soup at the moment. It's great for when I feel like I need to eat but I'm not particularly hungry for anything. I've also bought some honey which I've had last week with Greek yoghurt and it seems to settle my stomach after a meal and reduce bloating. I may try manuka honey as its in the penny sale at Holland and Barrett. This food shop I also tried to buy more fish, this included tuna, haddock, smoked salmon and cod, most of which was reduced which I have put in the freezer to eat when it's needed. I enjoy fish with noodles and some soy sauce which is a simple meal that doesn't put any pressure on my stomach. I always buy eggs for breakfast and white bread to have with peanut butter if I'm in a rush. I have read that smooth peanut butter is good for Crohns as crunchy is hard to digest but they both include the nutrients from nuts. My freezer also contains some frozen veg like broccoli and sweet corn that I can add to any meals. I'm still unsure if they are good for me but I will still eat them! The most essential part of my shopping has to be the bottle of gin! It's just a shame it's value!

Christmas Curry!

This year to get all the girls together I decided to cook a meal for them all, I did plan on doing a Christmas dinner but then thought everyone would be sick of that so we had a Christmas curry! At the moment I cant eat tomatoes as they hurt my ulcers so I had to be careful what sauce I used which is why we chose a korma. The group is split 50/50 meat eaters and vegetarians so I made a turkey curry and a veggie one and a big bowl of rice! We had an Indian selection to start and cheesecake and a cheese board for desert. We all had some drinks and I was careful to let the lemonade go a bit flat as I've been told to avoid fizzy drinks.I did a 2012 quiz from an app on my iPad and a picture board which you have to have at every party! It was really nice to see everyone and I shocked myself that I could manage a meal for 8 people that wasn't affected by Crohns!