I don't know how you feel about reality TV. For my part reality TV gives us the same soap opera drama that's been around for decades. Ok, it's a bit more voyeuristic but society has come to believe that fame and celebrity is the ultimate achievement, look no further than: X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and The Voice, contenders want to accomplish a feat which will transform their lives into the magnificent lifestyles we see lived by celebrities.
As a society we are distractible, novelty seeking, numb, over stimulated, high tech individuals. Reality TV fulfills our fantasies and takes us away from the drudgery of everyday life.
The Only Way Is Essex, known as TOWIE, is a BAFTA award winning scripted reality show, based in Essex it shows real people in modified situations. Along with thousands of other viewers I'm hooked!
However, I do have a vested interest. The Wright family are amongst the main characters in the show, Elliott is the newest member from the Wright family to join the TOWIE cast. Elliott's parents own Eduardo's restaurant in the Villa Martin plaza in Spain which is renowned as the premier restaurant on the Orihuela costa. Over the years we have spent many an evening in Eduardo's enjoying a first class fine dining experience and have come to know Eddie the proprietor (Elliott's father) and would often see Elliott and other members of the Wright family in the restaurant.
Another great character in the show is Gemma Collins. Gemma has long battled with her weight and was tipping the scales at 19 stone, however, this week she appeared on Good Morning Britain having shed 1st 8lbs in six weeks!
Gemma said of her drastic weight loss: 'All my life I've tried every diet, from the maple syrup diet, diet pills, shakes, the cabbage soup diet, the egg diet and the grapefruit diet. The only thing that works is cutting out all processed foods! There is so much food out there laden with sugar and fats, it's about taking it back to basics and preparing your food from scratch. '
Gemma's message will reach hundreds of young girls and women who are struggling with their weight due to her reality TV fame, the message I am so passionate about, taking it back to basics, cutting down on processed food and ready meals and eschewing all those faddy diets which will only work on a temporary basis.
It's often tempting to eat fast food, I came home from a day out without having given any thought to our evening meal. At a loss I looked in my vegetable rack and found a few potatoes and carrots that were past their best, I didn't want to faff about, it was getting late and I was tired so I made this very simple dish and it was delicious.
Quick and easy vegetable hotchpotch
Recipe
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 onions
6 potatoes, par boiled and cut into chunks
4 carrots, par boiled and cut into chunks
4 tomatoes, cores removed and flesh diced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon chilli powder (optional)
1 knob fresh ginger, peeled and grated
Salt and pepper
Heat oil and gently fry onions until they start to colour
In a food processor blend 2 tomatoes with spices and ginger, top up with water to loosen paste, add to onions
Add potatoes, carrots and remaining tomatoes and coat in spice mixture
Simmer gently for 15 minutes
This dish was extremely tasty, you can play around with spice combinations, this wasn't particularly spicy although I did add chilli. So, a healthy and nutritious meal that took me as long to make as cooking a frozen pizza and oven chips, and a good way of using up my tired old vegetables!
'In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.'
-Andy Warhol
Love Donna xxxxxx
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