If January had a face it would be that of a wizened old
crone. After the brightness of December,
the anticipation of the Christmas festivities, the jollity, the excesses and
the bright twinkly Christmas lights, the world retreats to a dreary gloom. We can’t even cheer ourselves up with a food
treat because parsimony is the byword for January as we attempt to make up for
December’s gluttony. The only bright
spot on the horizon is that the afternoons will start slowly drawing out by the
end of the month. There’s always the
hope of a little snowfall to change the palette of grey – lying snow will throw
up a bit of welcome light at night and make a change of scene for the days.
The Christmas decorations have gone away, the last of the
pine needles have been vacuumed up and the last of the mince pies, Christmas
cake and turkey have been consumed.
January’s kitchen treats are going to have to be light and low
calorie.
Since we have to be careful what we eat this month, we need
food that’s both low on calories but full of flavour and satisfying. While it’s far too cold and dreary to be
thinking about salads proper, a spelt (or barley) salad will bring a reminder
of the summer to come, serve while the grains are still warm to keep the chill
off and bring out the flavours. 
Soups too are a handy fall-back this month. Fill up on veggie-thick, fat free soups and
it won’t seem such a dreary chore. Soups
are such a lovely way to warm up on cold days.
This lovely minestrone soup can be prepared the night before working
days and just re-heated with the pasta when you come home from work.
Fish is a useful meal when we’re watching the calories too. This lovely Venetian baked fish is really full
of flavour and very satisfying, the drizzle of olive oil won’t break the diet,
but you can leave it out if you prefer.
Puddings are going to have to be light too, or hard
earned! Soft fruit compotes are a handy
fall-back, and lovely if you can make them with fruit frozen from last summer. Serve them with fat free yoghurt for a guilt-free
treat. A rice pudding is a nice treat,
but make it with skimmed milk rather than full fat, and cut down on the amount
of butter and sugar too.
Good walks every day will blow away the cobwebs and bring
some much needed daylight onto our skin.
Of course, the icy pavements, salt and antifreeze are a hazard to be
aware of this month, especially for those of us with dogs. Being towed along an icy pavement by a four
legged companion intent on getting as much distance under her feet in as short
a time as possible is always entertaining!
I escape danger at every turn this month.
By the end of this month the days will at last start to show
the earliest signs of drawing out. We’ll
be hanging onto the last dregs of daylight by our fingernails by 5pm – but it’s
a start!
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