askcliff.co.uk

People Power is about objectly discussing topics that matter

Curried Chicken Salad Sandwich

March 10th, 2010 by Cliff No comments »

Why not join me!

I’d like to invite all of you who enjoy chicken to join me and try this beautiful sandwich.

My lovely Wife decided to prepare it to celebrate my total weight loss up to last week of 50 lbs – I’ve only another 53 lbs to go to achieve my target weight loss of 7 stones and 5 lbs (103 lbs).

My target of 17 stones (238 lbs) may still seem like a heavy weight to you but the last time I was 17 Stones I really was super fit, with a 47 inch chest and a 32 inch waist.

I don’t expect to have that waist size again so I’ll settle for 34 inches!

INGREDIENTS

2 teaspoons olive oil
2 chicken breasts, cut into 4 pieces
2 Ounces of finely chopped onion
1 clove squeezed garlic
1 teaspoon grated ginger
Salt and pepper – I recommend ground black pepper
1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar – I’ve used a dry white wine
4 small lettuce leaves
8 tomato slices – or more if your family like tomatoes
4 soft whole meal rolls

CURRIED SALAD DRESSING INGREDIENTS

4 table spoons of mayonnaise, plus extra for spreading on rolls
2 teaspoons lime juice
1 teaspoon curry powder
¼ teaspoons grated fresh ginger
2 Ounces of finely cut onion
2 Ounces of finely cut celery
1 teaspoon minced fresh mint – I use half that amount of dried mint.
2 table spoons of coarsely chopped cashews – expensive but nice

Cooking is a quick and simple 2 step process

Step 1 Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Once heated, add chopped chicken, onion, garlic, ginger and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Stir continuously and cook for 6 minutes. Now reduce the heat and slowly stir in white wine vinegar. When perfectly mixed, transfer chicken on to a plate to cool.

Step 2 Add mayonnaise, lime juice, curry powder, ginger, onion, celery, mint, cashews and chopped chicken to a medium mixing bowl and stir thoroughly. Finish seasoning with salt and pepper, lime juice and hot sauce to your liking.

Spread a thin layer of mayonnaise on to each roll, and spread chicken salad evenly between four rolls. Add a lettuce leaf and a few tomato slices per sandwich and serve with your favourite side salad.

This may sound like a special treat but once you / your family have a taste, it will become a favourite! Nor is it too hot so kids love it and won’t pile on weight if they get to like it too much!

Parents can enjoy it with your favourite white wine.

Incidentally – the average number of calories in a 70 cl bottle of white wine is around 500 calories which isn’t too off putting, is it?

You may need to buy a number of extra dry ingredients you don’t already have so I’ll pass on various other recipes over the next few weeks that you can use them in.

Obviously, if you’re cooking for more than three, just increase the ingredients proportionally.

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Posted in Food, Diet & Nutrition

Tags: Curried Chicken

£55 Price Tag on a Pint of Beer

March 9th, 2010 by Cliff No comments »

In 1980 there were 69,000 Pubs in the UK

By 2006 the number was reduced to 58,200.

Over a period of 26 years this represented the loss of 16% of the total number of Pubs (0.6% per year)

2006 – 2009 was a different Story

During these short 3 years a total of 4,634 Pubs closed increasing the closure rate from 16% in 26 years to over 8% in just 3 years (2.7% per year).

We shouldn’t forget that the Government’s Smoking Ban in Pubs was introduced on 1st July 2007.

Not only are we loosing some of our favourite Local Pubs, but the Government has once again shot itself in the foot to appease a few thousand Wet Liberals and Religious Dickheads who oppose pubs.

The Exchequer is loosing in excess of 250 Million Pounds each year in taxes!

You may argue that the Government are recouping much of this from the increased alcohol sales in Supermarkets but this just isn’t reflected by Government figures.

So how many Pubs will remain by 2050?

Based entirely on the above figures that have been supplied by the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) when the much debated 2050 eventually arrives, the UK will boast fewer than 500 Pubs!

How much will a Pint cost in 2050?

If you believe the forecast figures produced by perfectly reputable organisations on the Internet, you’ll be told that a Pint will cost only an extra 6 Pence – but you don’t seriously believe this – do you?

The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) announced in February 2010 that we could expect the cost of a pint to be 4 POUNDS before the end of this year.

If we’re guestimating the price of a Pint in 40 years from now perhaps it would be logical to go back 40 years and check the cost.

I’m distraught!! A Pint of beer in 1970, the year before decimalisation was a penny less than 2 shillings or 10 Pence as we all know it now. but then the average weekly wage for men was only 28 Pounds a week.

The average weekly wage today is calculated at 440 Pounds a week.

Conclusions

1970 – Pint price (10 Pence) approximately 0.8% of the average wage

2010 – Pint price (4 Pounds) approx., 0.8% of the average wage.

2050 – Guestimated average wage will be an astonishing 6,908 Pounds.

2050 – Pint price (55 Pounds) approx., 0.8% of the average wage.

Before you burst out laughing, what reaction would you have received in 1970 if you’d told anyone that their average weekly wage of 28 Pounds would be 440 Pounds in 2010?

AND that instead of 10 Pence, they’d pay 4 Pounds for a much inferior Pint in 40 years time!!

The real reason Pubs are closing so quickly

Supermarkets have, over the past 40 years successfully put the majority of small shopkeepers out of business and made the UK Government’s own Milk Marketing Board defunct.

They then turned on the British Beef Industry that decided to export their produce rather than sell at a loss to the Supermarket chains.

Channel Island Tomato Growers were next with 200 of them being forced out of business – the supermarkets now buy from Spain and Portugal.

What makes you think that our Pubs weren’t next in line because I can assure you they have been for the past 4 years.

This was highlighted when the Government kicked up about the low cost of beer and lager sold in Supermarkets but did nothing about it other than make a deal with these huge Corporations that they would knock the Pubs’ “Happy Hour” on the head to damage the pub trade further.

Of course the ridiculous smoking ban also helped a great deal.

Supermarkets have everything you want under one roof – you buy your food, booze and tobacco and consume everything at home – these vast Corporations have the ear of each Government because they pay Billions in taxes every year and employ hundreds of thousands.

Does this sound like a Conspiracy?

Let me assure you – this doesn’t sound like any conspiracy – IT IS ONE!

You are the Public – You need to be controlled – You are slowly but surely being conditioned to conform.

Pubs and corner shops are places you meet / or have met to talk about stuff that matters to you – you soon won’t – which means fewer of you will be able to listen to different opinions other than what you’re spoon fed by the media that’s owned by large Corporations

Think about this because you really are being slowly conditioned to think how Government and large Corporations want you to – in fact Tony Blair and G.W. Bush spoke quite openly about this to close friends during 2001.

Incidentally, if you think I’m talking a load of crap – PROVE ME WRONG!

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Posted in Pubs & Clubs

Tags: A £55 Pint Pub Conspiracy

Penniless and begging a Cup of Coffee

March 9th, 2010 by Cliff No comments »

Penniless

I driving home from a meeting a few days ago when I had a sudden urge for a cup of coffee.

I pulled into the car park of the Yorkshire Outlet on the outskirts of Doncaster where I live and headed for Thornton’s Coffee Shop, a favourite stop of mine.

Quite a number of shoppers had taken advantage of the first sunny day in weeks and were sitting outside happily enjoying their drinks.

When I slipped my hand into my back pocket for my wallet, I stopped short – it wasn’t there – I checked my trouser pocket – empty – I’d walked out without a penny to my name!

I had two choices – drive the 8 miles home or……… – it had been a long time since, as kids we used to go into the City Centre and bum pennies from innocent passers by.

I thought: “Can I still do it?” – What the hell – why not – and found myself addressing a dozen or so people sitting at the outside tables.

“Look folks, my name’s Cliff Hagen and I’ve walked out this morning without any money and I really fancy a cup of coffee. Is there one of you good people willing to buy a beggar a coffee?”

To my surprise – 3 people at different tables immediately offered – one Lady was obviously a pensioner, another was a young Mum with a young child in a push chair and the third, a middle aged bloke with, I presumed, his Wife.

I accepted the middle aged guy’s offer – he gave me a fiver and said: “Get a bun as well, fella.”

I didn’t buy the bun, returned his change, thanked him and enjoyed the best cup of coffee I’ve had for months.

Thanks Geoff – you’re a Star!

The attitude of these three people just confirmed that even during a recession, Yorkshire people are fantastic!

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Posted in Food, Diet & Nutrition

Tags: A beggar

What exactly is Motivation?

March 9th, 2010 by Cliff No comments »

I’ve just sat with 23 youngsters age 15 to 17, who’ve all spent time in Young Offenders’ Institutions, served periods of Probation or been obliged to do Community Service and listened to a well known Motivational Speaker who came along especially to speak to them.

These kids are all, without exception extremely bright and very “Street Wise” from whom I learn much more than I’m certain they do from me.

This Guy spent an hour Talking at them

When he finished he invited questions – there were none and I wasn’t interested in massaging his already over-inflated ego so he made a rather fast exit.

When I asked my young friends for their comments, I found myself agreeing with what they were saying:

He didn’t even ask what we were interested in – how did he expect to motivate us if he hadn’t a clue what we wanted to do?
He was talking a load of crap about Positive Mental Attitudes and wanting us to talk with a smile in our voices – if we acted like that with our mates they’d think we were taking the piss!
If I started talking to men making eye contact with a smile in my voice, I’d get arrested again for being back “on the game.”
One youngster hit the nail on the head when he commented: I bet he says exactly the same thing everywhere he goes – he didn’t even look interested – he made me feel as if he was doing us a favour by just coming.

They agreed to define what they, as a Group thought motivation actually is – I haven’t messed around with their words because I don’t consider I have the right:

Motivation is about caring enough for something we want to achieve.
No matter how many times we fall on our ass, it’s about getting back up and then finding out why we fell in the first place.
We’ll regularly become the subject of amusement to others who will think we’re mad and want us to fail so they can say: “I told you so.”
Once we become strongly motivated we can, very quickly learn to choose our friends and those we associate with wisely because we’re fed up mixing with Losers who want to drag us down to their level.
Motivation is about setting one goal at a time – the first thing we think about when we wake – the last thing on our mind before we finally sleep.
It’s also about knowing when and who to ask for help or advice when we think we’re about to fall down and assessing whether that person is worth going back to for more help or advice.
Motivation is about cautiously surrounding ourselves with a small number of like minded people each of whom are also striving to change their lives.
Once we have these people around us, by just meeting together regularly we will learn so much by filtering and feeding from each others thoughts and ideas.
We all have a choice: to at least try this motivation thing and repeat Cliff’s favourite saying as often as we can – “Actions speak louder than Words.”

This exercise took us almost an hour during which time I witnessed 23 of tomorrow’s adults unconsciously sub-dividing into Team Leaders, Thinkers and Doers yet forming a bond that would eventually enable some of them to walk away from the a life style that had brought only trouble.

Conclusion

Look, I’m the farthest thing you’ll ever meet from a goody two shoes – I’m from the streets and these youngsters know that no matter how successful I am, I’ll always think like a back street boy – fast, on my feet but with a lot more logic than I used to apply.

If only a couple of these kids can turn their lives around and eventually motivate themselves to get their shit together – they are more than capable of achieving – providing they set their initial goals in small steps.

Only they’ll know when it’s time to take longer strides!

Time, patience and dedication are 3 things that few young and older people have now-a-days which is why when so many of them fall, they discover they’ve never actually learned how to get back up again and wallow in self pity.

I don’t profess to be an expert on this subject and look forward to your positive and / or negative comments.

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Posted in Family & Relationships

Tags: Motivation

The Real Reason why 270,000 Civil Servants are on Strike

March 8th, 2010 by Cliff No comments »

The Facts

Any Civil Servant who is made redundant, if they’re earning in excess of 30,000 Pounds a year will now only receive a payment of 2 years salary instead of a 2-3 years salary redundancy payment..

A Civil Servant earning less than 30,000 Pounds a year (80% of all Civil Servants) will continue to receive up to 3 years salary.

This change will bring Civil Servants into line with the rest of the Public Sector and will still leave them better off than many in the Private Sector AND save the Tax Payer half a Billion Pounds over three years.

Who has called the Strike?

The Public and Commercial Services Union’s General Secretary, Mark Serwotka called on his members to strike although 80% of all Civil servants earn less than 30,000 Pounds a year.

Only 31.6% of his members bothered to vote.

What does worry me is this strike has been decided by only 10% of Civil Servants.

I’m also puzzled why the PCS website has made it appear that all Civil Servants and not just 20% of the highest paid are about to loose out:

“The dispute is over changes to the civil service compensation scheme which will see staff robbed of up to a third of their entitlements and see loyal civil and public servants lose tens of thousands of pounds if they are forced out of a job. The union fears that the government wants to make it easier for whoever wins the general election to cut low paid civil and public servants on the cheap.”

This is a downright misrepresentation of the facts that he continued to repeat during TV and press interviews.

Don’t you also find it strange that the 5 other Unions, although representing fewer numbers of Civil Servants have agreed to this deal to help save British Tax Payers 500 million Pounds?

Perhaps like you, I hadn’t heard of Mr Serwotka until now – could it be he’s using decent Civil servants to make a name for himself?

What a shame that thousands of 999 calls also affected may cost lives.

I can never be accused of not supporting Trade Unions that are prepared to fight tooth and nail on behalf of their Members, I do however question the timing of this piece of self marketing just before a General Election.

The fact that the other 5 Unions have been willing to help and one hasn’t, speaks volumes!

They’re vitally aware that 100,000’s of thousands of their members have lost their jobs and are now living on or in many cases below the bread line.

Perhaps they have the experience and foresight to realise that once our economy improves, they can once again negotiate better terms.

Mr Serwotka is also responsible for a delay in Benefit payments to hundreds of thousands of perfectly decent people who, if they don’t receive their pittance on time won’t be able to feed their families!

He has made idiots of the majority of the 270,000 (allegedly) civil servants, repeatedly misrepresented the facts and succeeded in creating chaos in essential services provided by our public sector.

Yes we need FIRE BRANDS: Providing they passionately believe in a Just Cause and we’re confident that they have no alternative motives of self interest lurking in the nearest dark corner.