Positivity Post #2

Hello! It's been a while since my last positivity post. This time, I'd like to share a few words of wisdom that I personally find helpful when going through hard times. I hope that this brings some positivity into your life! :)

Always remember that you know who you are better than anyone else. Nobody can decide for you how you feel.

On dark, cloudy days, you can't see the sun because it's covered. That doesn't mean that the sun's no longer there. Eventually you'll see the sun again. Remember this when you feel hopeless. It may seem like things aren't going to get better and you'll never be happy again, but you will be. Just because you can't see a way for things to get better, that doesn't mean that there isn't a way for things to get better.

Do you feel broken? When you are 'broken' the parts of you can be put back together, in a different way than before. You are constantly changing and growing. When you feel broken, remember that this makes room for change and growth.

If you feel like a bad person and you don't like being this way, then you're probably not a bad person. A bad person wouldn't feel bad for not being a 'good' person.

You may feel weak, but considering all you've been through and survived, you're actually very strong!

That's all for this post, but there's more on the way soon. I'm going to make positivity posts regularly from now on, as I think these kinds of posts are important for those going through tough times. It makes me happy to know that this post could help someone feel a little better. Thank you for reading this post. Goodbye until next time! ~Jay

Rhubarb 5-Spice Chicken Recipe

Rhubarb is a wonderful and underrated plant with such a unique flavour. The past few years, my rhubarb plant has been growing progressively more out of control. It's so big this year that the leaves are all packed in together. I can't even see the stalks! Two of the stalks are as long as my legs and I don't even think they're the longest stalks!

If all I made with it was crumbles, pies and preserves, I'd get sick of rhubarb pretty quickly. Realising that I didn't actually know many uses for rhubarb besides desserts, I decided to research the savoury uses of rhubarb. It seems that rhubarb goes well with meats such as chicken and pork, so I decided to come up with this marinade for chicken. The tartness of the rhubarb, the sweetness of the spices and warmth from the ginger work perfectly together with the chicken.

Note: I haven't tried making a vegan version of this recipe yet, so if anyone does, please leave a comment to let me know how it turns out! I think this would complement tofu 'chicken' perfectly.

Servings: 2
Preparation: 25-40 mins, plus roughly 24 hours to marinate
Cooking: 45-60 mins

Equipment:

• Small saucepan
• Wooden spoon (or something to stir the sauce with)
• Glass dish

Ingredients:

• 1 stalk rhubarb (½ if the stalk is extra large like mine was) thinly sliced (between 1-2cm, roughly - this means that the rhubarb won't be stringy)
• ½ large red onion, diced
• 1 heaped tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
• 1½ tsp Chinese five spice
• 2 heaped tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp muscovado sugar
• 1 tsp butter (I used a dairy free butter)
• 2 cloves finely chopped garlic
• 2 medium sized chicken breasts

Method:

1. Add the butter to the saucepan on low-medium heat. Once it begins to melt, add the onion and sugar and carefully stir. Let the onion begin to caramelise.
2. Add the ginger, spices and garlic. Stir in then leave to further caramelise.
3. Put the rhubarb in the pan with just enough water to cover it. Simmer on medium heat until the rhubarb has fallen apart, stirring occasionally. The consistency should be thick but still easily pourable. If it's too watery, simply simmer for longer.
4. Place the chicken breasts in a glass dish. The chicken should fit fairly snugly, leaving enough space for the sauce of course. Don't worry about defrosting them first if they're frozen as they are going to be marinating overnight.
5. Let the marinade cool a little before pouring over the chicken. When completely cooled (as to not damage your refrigerator) cover the dish and place in the fridge for roughly 24 hours.
6. Preheat the oven to 165

   °C (Gas Mark 3/325

   °

   F)

7. Remove the covering, then place the dish in the oven for 45 mins to 1 hr, or until the chicken is cooked completely (you don't want to get food poisoning!)
8. Serve the chicken with a few spoonfuls of sauce, or alternatively pull the chicken apart with a fork and mix until thoroughly coated in marinade.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do! If you make this recipe, please let me know in the comments or, alternatively, email me. If you post a picture on instagram make sure to tag me! Knowing that other people like my recipes fills me with joy. Thank you ever so much for reading and goodbye until next time :) ~Jay

Concerts I've Been To

In my life I've been to three concerts; I went to a McFly concert when I was very young, Summer's End Lincoln music festival in September 2016 and a Skillet concert in Camden, London in December 2016.

The first concert I went to was my sister's birthday present - a McFly concert. My Granddad bought three tickets to see them live at Lincoln Castle. I can't remember much of it, but I remember that my sister was very happy. My granddad got us both matching t-shirts and I think I may still have that t-shirt somewhere!

The second time I went to a concert, it was a music festival! My mum bought two tickets to go to Summer's End Lincoln 2016 as a 4-month-late birthday present for me. Some of the bands playing there included Shed Seven, Ocean Colour Scene and Dodgy. We got there fairly early, so we managed to get a front row view the entire 10 hours!

The latest concert I went to was Skillet on the 9th of December 2016. They were playing in Koko in Camden. We spent the day looking around Camden and found a delicious vegan buffet. None of us were vegan at the time, but it was the best priced food around and it tasted amazing! At the concert, the atmosphere was so positive. I had a brilliant time, despite being stuck behind a pillar at the back of the room! I'd definitely recommend seeing Skillet live.

I'm going to another concert soon, too. I have a ticket to see Bon Jovi and Manic Street Preachers play live in June this year. It will be amazing to see Manics live for the first time ever. They're my favourite band! My blog is even named after one of their songs. Seeing Bon Jovi will also be great.

Why Have I Been Away?

I haven't written on this blog in quite a few months now. I'm currently writing a post on what happened. I'd been in the middle of writing something in October 2018 but then I had a bit of an accident! Since then I've been recovering. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me (or comment below!) and I can answer them in my next post. I'm hoping to return to writing blog posts soon and hopefully will upload 1 to 3 posts per month!

Thank you for reading and goodbye until next time! ~Jay

Mind-blowing Thoughts

Content Warning: This post is designed to make you think about normal things in not-so-normal ways. It could bring about existential thoughts for some.

I've become quite interested in mind-blowing thoughts recently. I thought it would be fun to share some with you! These are all from the top of my head, but you will probably have seen a few around in some form.

1.  There's no reason the alphabet needs to be in the order it is. The order could have been B, K, S, P, M...etc. without making any difference to our spelling.                                                                              
2. One of my Chemistry teachers once told us; "There are more stars in our Universe than there are grains of sand in the whole world, but there are more atoms in one grain of sand than there are stars in our Universe."                                                                                                                                                    
3. You know how dogs can't see as many colours as we can? What if different shades of grey are just colours we can't see?                                                                                                                                                  
4. Following on from the last one, if greys are colours we can't see, we can't imagine what they'd look like. Try it for yourself.                                                                                                                                                                                    
5. Subatomic particles (what makes up atoms) technically can't be destroyed or created, so the subatomic particles making up the atoms that make up you have been part of something else before. You could even have particles within you that were part of famous historical figures or artefacts.                                                                                                                                                                                    
6. You'll never truly know when you do something, like seeing someone or going somewhere, for the last time.                                                                                                                                                                
7. You never remember falling asleep. You may remember trying to sleep (like laying in bed with your eyes closed) but you can't remember the change from consciousness to sleeping.                                  
8. If you believe that there's an infinite number of realities, then technically fiction doesn't exist seeing as fiction means something that's imaginary.                                                                       

That's all the ones I have for now! Did these blow your mind? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading and goodbye until next time :) ~Jay

Oops!

Once again forgot to post! Sorry about that! I've been busy with many things, including A-Level mock exams! I'm going to get back into posting fairly regularly again so please stay tuned for that! Thank you for reading :) ~Jay

Positivity Post #1

I'm going to start a new series of posts with positive messages, for anyone who might need them. I feel it's important to spread positivity, especially when life can get pretty rough!

If you're someone who struggles with 'ordinary' things such as taking showers regularly, eating regular meals, brushing your hair, etc, you're not weird. You're not 'just lazy'. You're not the only one struggling with this - you're not alone!

If you managed to make yourself do the things you normally struggle with, I'm so proud of you! I know how difficult it can be to do that. Well done :)

If you tried to make yourself do something you usually struggle with but didn't succeed, I'm still proud of you! You tried and that's what matters! Trying is the first step towards doing the thing! You're making progress, which is wonderful.

If you had managed to start brushing your teeth/hair regularly, getting better sleep, showering regularly, etc, but have now relapsed, don't feel bad about it! I'm in the same position myself right now with sleeping, so you're not alone! It doesn't mean you've failed. If you can do it once, you can do it again! :)

Please remember to make sure you've eaten enough, that you've drank enough water and that you've taken any medications you need :) Thank you for reading and goodbye until next time! ~Jay