A Colourful Spring Salad

The thing I’m liking the most about my new diet is how bright and colourful the inside of my fridge looks. It’s full of greens and purples, yellows and oranges, reds and even more greens. And I like knowing that every bit of that food is going to be eaten. Nothing will go to waste. Because my veg is carefully chosen to go well with both lunches and dinners.

I love raw veg in a salad. A crunchy carrot, and sugarsnap peas that I can’t help but snack on because it’s too hard not to. A new favourite of mine is red cabbage. I love the texture of raw red cabbage, and equally love the colour it brings to a dish.

On Saturday afternoon, I whipped up a salad with something of almost every colour in my fridge. Red cabbage, celery, radishes, apple (don't forget the apple) and carrot, topped with toasted nuts and seeds and dressed in olive oil, lemon and a dash of honey. There was a lot. So much, in fact, that I couldn’t eat a plate of it, but I had a lot of fun in trying.

There is something so satisfying seeing a plate of colours. Particularly when you know that a variety of colours means that it’s very healthy indeed. I can think of nothing worse than a plate of beige food.

It’s deliciously crunchy and full of flavour. I imagine it would be an excellent addition to a summer barbeque – a sort of coleslaw without the mayonnaise.

I’m on the lookout for super healthy and delicious salads that I can take to work. If you know of any, please let me know!

Roasted Butternut Squash & Rocket Salad

I think the thing I'm finding most interesting with my new diet is that for the first time, I'm actively looking in the fridge to see what I can whip up with what is in there.

Since my weekend away, I haven't been shopping and usually that means I end up picking something up from the supermarket on the way home. But that's not really an option now, as they don't have anything I can eat - so it's off to the fridge to find something interesting.

I had a butternut squash and some spinach, rocket & watercress salad leftover from last night's pancake day feast. A quick google and I found some recipes that looked good. Although I didn't have the feta cheese, nor the puy lentils that some asked for (which made me think that I needed to get some in for back-up), I got to work roasting the squash with some chili flakes.

I made a dressing with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey and tamari. I didn't measure - just threw it in to taste. Then lightly toasted some pine nuts and seeds that I had in the cupboard, chopped up some spring onions and popped it all on a plate.

The result was a beautifully light dish. Perfect for me, though Matt did say he needed a bit more to fill him up. We came to the conclusion that next time I made it, he could have a steak on the side. Which is fine by me because even though I do love the taste of a good steak, the thought of one sitting heavily inside me really doesn't fill me with pleasure at the moment.

I will definitely be making this again. Especially for lunch. Mmmmm.

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Pancakes!

Pancake Day. Possibly one of my favourite evenings as a child. Our kitchen table would be full to the brim with jacket potatoes and salad, and my mother would stand by the cooker, handing out pancakes as soon as they had cooked. We’d start with galettes filled with ham, cheese & tomato, and chicken in a white sauce.

Then once we’d eaten about 3 of those each, we’d start on the sweet pancakes. The potatoes and salad would be switched with mountains of sweet treats. Lemon and sugar, toffee sauce, maple syrup, jam, chocolate spread, bananas and ice cream. We’d have to have at least one pancake of each and I vividly remember my brother filling a pancake with huge amounts of chocolate ice cream, pouring out at the sides.

I love traditions like this. Traditions that bring back fond memories and ones which we try to re-create as we get older.

Last year, I held a pancake day party. But it failed miserably because other people aren’t fun. All the girls bailed on me, and all the boys arrived late – having already eaten. Great. This year I wanted it to be just me and Matt having fun in the kitchen. But he got distracted by a film on TV and it wasn’t really as ‘fun’ as I’d have hoped. Instead, I get told that he doesn’t really like savoury pancakes. Why didn’t I know this before I got all the stuff?!

But food wise – the pancakes were a success. This was my first time making them with soya milk and the first time using gluten-free flour. And they were a hit! The sweet pancakes took on a yellow tinge thanks to the milk, but they tasted great. I wasn’t too sure about the ‘cheese’ I bought – but it was alright enough. The Vegan hazelnut chocolate spread was gorgeous, and the dairy free ice cream was incredibly tasty. I moved away from traditional lemon and sugar, and delve into a plate of banana, raspberries and ice-cream.

Despite my shockingly poor effort to plan for this year’s pancake day (instead of having a trial run to make sure I could actually make them properly) they were a success! Proof to me that I don’t need dairy and normal flour to make good pancakes. My next task is now to adapt Nigella’s pancake mix so I can always have some in a container ready to whip up at a moment’s notice on a Sunday morning. Pancake’s aren’t just for one day of the year – we all need a treat every now and again!

Muesli with Rhubarb

I usually eat my breakfast at work. I eat Eat Natural Muesli with Buckwheat with a dollop of natural yoghurt and some honey. And it works for me. Oh, does it work for me. But on Friday night I dropped in at Infinity Foods on the way home from work to pick some up and there was none left! I wasn't very happy.

So this morning I had to improvise (I had some fruit yesterday but there was none left this morning). Initially I was going to go without breakfast - something I never do - but I didn't want to eat anything I shouldn't. Nope - no milk for me this morning! And then I remembered a blog that Cherry Menlove posted the other day and it got me excited. Honey Oat & Rhubarb Breakfast. I had gluten-free oats. And a few nuts and seeds. And rhubarb. I'd initially wanted to just put rhubarb on my breakfast at work, but I could make this from scratch today!

It wasn't exact. I threw in whatever I had in the cupboards, but my goodness it was lovely. I did use honey, I'll admit - but you could easily substitute with some other form of sweet syrup. I've substituted natural yoghurt with Alpro Soya Plain Yoghurt, and it tastes fantastic - seriously, it's good stuff. The rhubarb was perfectly tangy and delicious and it was a great breakfast.

Check that beauty out!

This vegan thing is easy! If I can eat like this every day then I am happy. And I'm now seriously considering making a huge batch of muesli myself instead of buying it. That will probably be cheaper and I'll know exactly what's going in it and match it to my own personal taste! The huge batch of rhubarb is just staying stored in an airtight container in the fridge. I'm sure that won't last long - not because of shelf life - but because I'll gobble it all up!

Cheap and Easy Green Salad

On the subject of eating healthier I would like to share a wonderful salad that I just made for lunch. It's worth buying a bag of prepared salad to give you less hassle in the mornings (which then makes you not want to bother, so you leave for work without lunch in hand, and have to spend a few pounds on something less healthy and more expensive). As well as other things that are easy to throw together.

This is a 'throw together' salad, and it was delicious.

a handful of salad leaves (I like watercress, spinach and rocket - all in the same bag)
a good large handful of sugar snaps
a handful of other beans or peas (such as edamame, broad beans, runner beans)
half an avocado
half a tin of tuna

Throw it all together on a plate and it's done. No dressing, no nothing. The tuna is the perfect accompaniment to the avocado and the sugar snaps have the best crunch ever. There is no need for anything else.

And there is a fair whack of food on that plate - so by the end of it I felt nicely filled up! And happy with myself as I looked down and saw a plate of green. No beige foods for me there!

I've been snacking on some unsalted nuts, dried fruits and seeds so I'm never starving when it comes to lunch time - definitely a good thing for me as my eyes are far bigger than my stomach and I buy lots if I go out and I'm hungry.

I'm already full of energy and think I can definitely power on through to the end of the day, now. There is really something to this.

Flirting with Veganism

So this weekend I've been sat reading cookery books. There's a bookshop near me that is closing down and all the books are less than half price, so I figured that now would be a good time to stock up on some as I'd be saving a bit of cash (as I'd no doubt by them at some point anyway).

I picked up some Jamie Oliver books, Gizzi's Kitchen Magic (which looks absolutely incredible) and another book which I didn't really look at properly before buying, but it looked good so I bought it anyway.

This book was Skinny Bitch, by Kim Barnouin. I got home and started to flick through it when I realised that all the recipes were vegan. No big deal - I quite like going veggie sometimes as it saves a bit of money - but I've never actually bought a vegan cookbook before. I haven't even got a vegetarian cookbook, so this was quite a new read for me.

The book starts off by explaining the ecological benefits of eating vegan and organic... and I lost interest and put the book down. I hate to say it, but I'm just not drawn in by the whole 'save the environment and save our animals' argument. I'm selfish and if I enjoy eating meat, I won't feel bad because it's an animal. I've known this all my life and haven't felt bad - so why would I change now?

But I picked up the book again. Why? I think it was because I'd been eating a lot of salads that week and fancied reading some light recipes, but I got hooked into the text. This bit wasn't about the environment - this was about health. So I kept reading.

When I found out I would have to eat a gluten-free diet back in September last year, I didn't find it that difficult. Sure, for the first couple of weeks I missed pastries, and I would occasionally indulge in the odd office birthday cake, but then feel my poorly tummy and realise that it was a silly thing to have done. But I got through that and now I don't really miss it. I've had fun experimenting with different brands of gluten-free foods and finding my favourites. Good. Really good. Bad. Awful. There are lots that fall into every category and it's proved to me that by experimenting and trying different things, I could find something both my palate and body agreed with.

Unfortunately, the stomach cramps started again and I spoke to my doctor. Apparently my gut hasn't been working properly for years and it's going to take a rather large diet change to get it working again. My determination to feel better again has seen me eat an incredible amount of fruit and vegetables this past week. Gluten-free muesli with natural yoghurt and honey for breakfast, salad and a portion of fruit for lunch, dried fruit and nuts to snack on, and a home cooked meal for dinner. No alcohol for the latter end of the week (Monday was Valentines, Tuesday was spent finishing off the super expensive champagne...) and only one slice of cake.

I have felt amazing.

So I carried on reading. And I found a page that mentioned Alicia Silverstone, and it had an address for her website, The Kind Life. Naturally, of course, I picked up the laptop and had a bit of a look.. and a bit more of a look.. and a bit more.. and before I knew it, I'd spent the past two hours looking around this site and watching youtube videos of Alicia and her book, The Kind Diet. I also went as far as buying the book from Amazon because I was so impress with what I'd seen.

Skinny Bitch is a little bit more... judgemental than what I've read and watched from Alicia. She suggests 'flirting' with veganism to see how you find it. She doesn't judge those who take on the diet for health benefits, and instead she is happy to see anyone take steps towards any form of vegetarianism as no matter what the reason, it's doing some form of good for the world and the animals that live on it. This is an approach I like.

I want to save my body. Of course saving the environment and being kinder to animals is a definite bonus, but ultimately I want to save me. I want to be healthy again. I want to consciously think about each item I put in my body. I already do this to an extent as I hate cheap meat, processed foods and any kinds of crap already so I can't imagine it'll be difficult for me.

I am so excited to get this book next week, and I definitely see that I'll be taking a step forward to a healthier me.

(please take a look at the video of Alicia talking about the book and the health benefits of changing your diet)

Sausages, Mash & Chili Burst Tomatoes

Every now and then, we need a good old plate of comfort food. Especially in winter where the cold is just outside the door. We want to feel warm and cosy and curl up in front of the TV with a good film and something to munch on.

'Bangers and Mash' - a firm British favourite. And it's good, of course it's good, but it's just sausage and potato. It needs something more. Gravy - too common. Beans - too student. Burst cherry tomatoes with dried chili and garlic - that's more like it!

It's all the comfort of the traditional meal with all the flavour of something more fancy. Plus it's only 3 ingredients and bits from the store cupboard - which also makes it incredibly cheap.

Debbie & Andrew's sausages are the best sausages I have ever come across in a supermarket. 98% pork shoulder from British farms, zero rusk so it's perfect for all those avoiding gluten, and so little fat that none seeps out whilst cooking. Ah-may-zing.

So whilst your potatoes are softening, and the sausages are cooking, heat a little oil in a small frying pan, add a clove of crushed garlic and a teaspoon of dried chili flakes, then follow with a small packet of cherry tomatoes (or more of you're cooking for more - this serves 2 generously) and let them sit there for 15 minutes, or until they start to burst and bubble in their own juices. You may want to give them a bit of a prod to make them burst if you start to get impatient (as I always do).

The chili takes away most of the sweetness of the tomatoes, and it makes a beautiful sauce as it swims in the tomato juice. Plus, it adds a teeny tiny bit of goodness to an otherwise meat and carb filled plate.

I served this to a friend who came to stay for the weekend and she loved it. Simple enough to put together whilst spending as little time in the kitchen as possible, and different enough to impress a guest.

Absolute winner.

A Cheap and Healthy Sunday Dinner

Occasionally I get a recipe that I adore. Courgette Carbonara is definitely one of them. Salmon with brown rice and baby veg is another. And these are meals I probably cook every other week. Not every week, as that gets a bit boring, but every other weeks means I'm sure I get a meal I really like, and also means I get the spend other evenings trying new things.

But I'm a bit choosy picky fussy particular about the quality of the food that I eat. I do not like junk food, but I cannot afford organic. Matt needs his carbs, but I am now gluten-free. So when I find something that's healthy, filling and cheap - it's by all means going to be a winner. Providing it tastes good, of course.

I first tried Nigella's Praised Chicken recipe back when Nigella Kitchen first aired in September and I got the book for my birthday back in September. It was okay. But it ticked all the right boxes so I had to stick with it.

This week, however, I cracked it. I'll be the first to admit that I had to leave out some of the ingredients because I just couldn't justify it. No wine is going into my food (I prefer to drink it) and it said I could use dried herbs - so I did - but they just didn't do it for me. I also do not own garlic oil and I am certainly not going to go out and buy it especially for this dish so I just didn't bother. And as you would expect when you don't follow a recipe correctly it turned out just okay.


So this time, I added some minced garlic (thanks to the amazing Garlic Twist that my mother bought me for Christmas) to the oil before adding the chicken. I also added a bay leaf and used some fresh herbs that I had recently bought, not used all of, and chucked them in the freezer. The fresh parsley to garnish was also a really good touch and something I will do again.

This result was much much better than my previous efforts. Matt really enjoyed it, as did I, and I had enough chicken and celery leftover to create a chicken salad thanks to a handful of salad leaves and a dollop of greek yoghurt! The chicken literally falls off the bones with this recipe and you seem to get so much more out of it than when you roast it - totally worth it for the sake of crispy skin!

A cheap, healthy Sunday dinner with enough leftovers to make a chicken salad, chicken soup or some chicken fried rice for the following day. Yum.

Chocolate Florentines Recipe

Possibly one of the easiest things to make! Tastes delicious, and makes quite a lot. They also last a fair while, so a good treat to have in the fridge in case you have visitors! (like you really need an excuse)

You will need:
50g margarine
100g soft brown sugar
1 egg
55g desiccated coconut
100g chopped nuts
70g chopped glace cherries
70g sultanas
300g plain chocolate cake covering
(this is more ideal than chocolate, as it doesn’t set as hard – making it super easy to cut into squares)

Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees C. Line a tray with foil (mine is a deep rectangular roasting tray, which is slightly larger than an A4 piece of paper – I don’t know the exact measurements) and break up your chocolate cake covering into pieces. Spread evenly around the tin and place in the oven for a few minutes until it melts. Of course, you can melt the chocolate over a pan of boiling water – but this is so much easier and makes for less washing up.

While the chocolate is melting, beat together the margarine and sugar, then add the egg and beat again.

By this time the chocolate should be melted. Spread it around the base of the tin with the back of a spoon to create a thin layer of chocolate. Pop the tray into the freezer for 5 minutes or so to let the chocolate set.

Meanwhile, add the nuts, cherries, coconut and sultanas to the sugar, marg and egg mixture and combine. Take the cold tin of chocolate out of the freezer and cover it with the topping. Spread it thinly over the top – mine really was thin – almost to the point where I thought I needed more mixture, but I didn’t. Phew!

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until slightly golden on the top. You might need a little longer if your tray is smaller and the mixture thicker.

Once cooked, remove and set in either the fridge or freezer. Then tip out and cut into squares!

These are super cheap, quick and easy to make. And the best thing about them is that once you’ve bought the ingredients, you could easily make another 2-3 batches with everything you have in stock! (Clearly a great thing if you need to whip up something fast with no time to go to the shops! So buy extra packets of cake covering – at 62p for 300g it’s a third of the price of the really cheap value chocolate!)

Another thing I like about Florentines is that they’re naturally gluten-free so there is no substitution of flour. This, I think, is the best way to cook gluten free as there is no compromise. Half an hour (ish) to whip up a treat? Beauty.

Nigella's Christmas Puddini BonBons

My plan this weekend is to make these.

Oh my lord aren't they beautiful? This is a picture I took last year and looking back at it makes me a bit excited about what lies ahead this weekend. I also thought I'd post the recipe before the weekend so if anyone wants to make them, they can give it a go.

I shall be making these to hand out as little presents for everyone in the office on Monday. I have a lovely wicker basket which will contain little bags of 5, decorated with ribbon.

Now in the picture there are roughly 70 bonbons and I cannot remember how many batches I made. Probably 2.

For a batch you will need:
125g plain or dark chocolate
350g christmas pudding (either leftover, or cooked and cooled)
60ml sherry
2tbsp golden syrup
100g white chocolate (though I'm pretty sure I used 1 100g bar to cover all of those babies)
tub of glacé cherries
tub of angelica

The only expensive thing in this is the sherry, and I will be using the bottle I bought last year - so it really is a good investment. I only wish I'd bought brandy last year as well as I could have done with some of that in my cupboard! (Please don't skip the sherry, it really does make all the difference). I used cheap christmas pudding (80p for 454g!) because lets face it, you're not eating it on its own.

First of all, line a tray (or plates) with baking paper, foil or cling film. Ensure it can fit in the fridge.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. As this is gently melting, crumble the pudding in a large bowl and mix in the sherry and golden syrup. (I learnt a tip of Kirstie & Phil's Perfect Christmas - lightly grease a measuring spoon with a little oil and the syrup should just pour off). Add the chocolate once it has melted, and stir again so all the pudding is covered.

Now take out small amounts of mixture and roll into a ball. Keep a cold tap running and once you feel your hands getting warm and the mixture is sticking, run your hands under the cold water. This should cool your hands down enough to get a few more done without melting all the chocolate (a tip I learnt when learning how to make the perfect crumble at Jamie Oliver's Recipease).

You'll need to make sure you keep the ball the same size. About the size of an average chocolate. These things are seriously rich, so don't make them any bigger or you'll struggle to eat them!

Arrange on the lined tray or plate and pop in the fridge while you sort out the decoration. Melt the white chocolate and keep on a low heat whilst you prepare the cherries and angelica. Count the bonbons and cut the cherries into enough pieces to pop one on each. Cut double the amount of angelica.

The next bit is the tricky bit and requires some patience, but it's oh so worth it and really is the wow factor about these beauties.

With a teaspoon, drizzle the melted white chocolate on the top of the bonbons. The key is to not make this too perfect - the dribbles of chocolate down the side make the 'sauce' look more 'realistic'. Whilst the chocolate is still liquid, add one bit of cherry and two bits of angelica on either side. Unfortunately, you really do have to do one bonbon at a time or the white chocolate hardens and the cherry and angelica don't stick. This will take a long time - so I recommend popping on the radio and enjoying it.

Once you've finished - keep the chocolates in the fridge. They are absolutely ideal as gifts, wrapped in a clear bag and tied with ribbon, or put in a little box. I think that out of everything I've ever made - these have gotten the best response. I really wish I could hand them out as gifts every year to the same people, but I would rather not be predictable.

If you have the time this weekend - make these. You will not be disappointed - I promise you!

(Note: I will be making my own gluten-free version using gluten-free pudding so all you avoiding gluten can do the same and not miss out!)

Light Christmas Lunch - Courgette (Zucchini) and Watercress Soup

I find (like many others out there) that during the festive season, I tend to eat a lot. Lots of chocolates and nuts, crisps and dips, 3 course meals and plenty of tipple.

My parents and sister came to visit last weekend and I ate so much that as soon as they left, I clutched my tummy and fell to the sofa and couldn't even think about food... until an hour later when I dipped into the Quality Street.

So while it's all very well to indulge a little over the Christmas period, you may want to settle down with something light for lunch (or indeed, later on in the evening after scoffing away most of the day).

This soup is one of my favourites. It's from Sophie Dahl's Voluptuous Delights and has only 4 ingredients. An onion, courgette (zucchini), watercress (I use a 75g bag), and 1 litre of chicken stock. All of which are incredibly cheap. I think this soup comes in at under 50p per head! (serves 3-4)

In a large pan, gently heat an onion until soft. Cut the courgette into small chunks and add to the onion, along with the stock. Simmer gently for 10 minutes, then add the watercress. Simmer for another 5 minutes, turn off the heat, and puree with a hand blender. Season with black pepper and salt (if you wish - I find it perfect without). Sophie's recipe calls for a tiny amount of single cream but to be honest I can hardly taste the difference without it.

It's deliciously bright green and tastes utterly divine. Perfectly light and full of goodness to help you feel not-so-guilty for munching on treats throughout the day.

Enjoy!

Healthy (gluten-free!) Eating

For 2 weeks I haven't done a food shop. I've been utterly terrible. One week Matthew was working away and I didn't have anyone to help me lug it back to I just didn't bother and last week we were at Matthew's parents for Bonfire Night so I didn't do it then.

Needless to say, we ate our freezer bare and yesterday we found ourselves without any food.

Off to the shops then!

But not before coming up with a shopping list, which I had to squeeze in between tidying up, getting ready, and making my paper baubles.

I'm finding the whole gluten free thing relatively easy to be honest. I can eat meat, veg and dairy - so that's pretty simple. Now I'm trying to introduce new grains into my diet to substitute flour and I've been quite happy with the results. One of my current favourite things is the M&S 'Super Wholefood Shaker Salad' consisting of Quinoa, Wild Rice, Edamame Beans, Butternut Squash and Green Lentils in a olive oil and lemon dressing. Beautiful - and something I am going to try and make myself once I get myself down to Taj to get some edamame beans (they don't stock them in Tesco).

Anyway, this week I have decided to be pretty healthy and have come up with a decent meal plan for the week!

Nigella's Praised Chicken with Brown Rice
Potato and Haloumi Bake
Salmon with Brown Rice & Veg
Quinoa salad (with leftover chicken instead of beetroot and srping onions - I'm using what I've got)
Pork Chops, Mash and Apple Sauce
Chicken Curry with Rice

Which is not bad going really. No pasta, no pastry. I am going to make an Apple Pie with gluten-free flour - but I'll see how that goes.

Sophie Dahl's cookbook is full of lots of recipes that don't contain gluten - she seems to be a bit of a health buff so I'm enjoying the rewards of her good eating habits. And the same can be said of Cook Yourself Thin - so it looks like I will be embracing all my heathy cookbooks to avoid lots of gluten-based recipes.

But for now - off to go and make an Apple Pie (fingers crossed!)

*update: Apple Pie was a success*

My Twist on Lancashire Hotpot

2 years ago I attended Matthew’s family firework party. His large family fill his grandmother’s house and they all come together once a year to catch up and have a good time. It was the kind of gathering I am not familiar with as our family is very small. Instead, on Bonfire Night my family would go to a local pub/park/anywhere with a bonfire and stand outside in the cold with our hats and scarves on and enjoy the flames dance in front of us.
But there was one thing about this family gathering that was even more unfamiliar to me: the food. There was no hotpot in sight. Not a single bowl of mashed carrot and swede or bright purple beetroot and not a single slice of parkin. What kind of fireworks party is this?

Each and every year, these foods were the staple of Bonfire night. Hot and comforting – the perfect food to warm you up whilst you stand in the crisp, cold night. I mentioned the lack of ‘traditional’ food when I stared at the buffet table and saw lasagne and curry and I was laughed at. “You’re in the South now!”

So, as you do, I googled the traditional dishes that Lancashire has to offer and found that these meals were made due to their relatively low cost – perfect for serving at large events. With the North of England being one of the poorer areas of the country, our traditions have been formed by those who had no other choice but to budget.

And I quite like that a meal I associate with Autumn is one that costs next to nothing. A perfect homely pick-me-up that I can serve to the masses and not feel the pinch. And one that I can whip up for an evening meal and freeze the leftovers.

While this is not a traditional Lancashire Hotpot, it is a variation that is even cheaper and can be prepared with minimal effort (giving you time to play with the kids or sit down and watch a bit of telly while it’s cooking).

500g minced beef or lamb
1 large onion
2-3 large carrots (or more smaller ones)
5(ish) large potatoes
Worcestershire Sauce
Tin of baked beans
Peas (just chuck them in)
Beef gravy granules

Fry the onion and meat in a large deep pan (if not using lean meat, drain off most of the fat once it is cooked). Add the vegetables (you can use more veg if you have it – I think it might be nice with parsnips or mushrooms) and pour hot water into the pan until it covers everything. Add enough gravy granules to make a thin gravy (however you prefer), season to taste and turn the heat down to a simmer. It should take 1-2 hours to reduce and the vegetables will be lovely and tender. Once there is not a lot of liquid, add the tin of baked beans and stir to heat through. Splash in as much Worcester sauce as you like (or whatever sauce you wish – if you like a bit of heat add some tobasco) and give it a good stir. Chop up some parsley if you have any fresh stuff lying about (I wouldn’t go running to the shops to buy any especially for this) and add them to the pot.

Serve in pasta-style bowls for a really comfy dinner.

This dish is amazing on it’s own, but if you want to add a bit more on the veg front, it’s even better with pickled beetroot. Matthew isn’t a fan, but I really am and it’s gorgeous! Or add some carrot and swede mash (you can never get too much carrot in an Autumn dish, I think!)

Hello Autumn

The summer has died and now I have to remember to pick my coat up when I leave the house in the mornings. I wake up and check the weather forecast to see if rain is scheduled for the day – this way I can decide if I need to wear boots or shoes – essential to planning my outfit.

But there is something so cosy about the Autumn and I am glad it has arrived. Our summer has been a mix of hot and cold, rain and sunshine and at least now I can be happy knowing that I am to expect the rain, instead of being out in it wearing a dress and sandals because two hours earlier I had been baking in the heat.

The thing I love the most about Autumn, aside from the clothes I wear, is the food. As a woman trying to stay slim, it can be difficult living with a fella who likes his carbs and would insist on eating curry each and every day – regardless of the temperature outside. In summer, this can be increasingly difficult as the last thing I wish to eat is a hot, carbohydrate filled meal. But in Autumn and Winter, it is so much easier.

Autumn and Winter are cheap. Gone are the salads and vegetables that must be eaten within 3 days before they spoil, the fruits that cost an arm and a leg and are best eaten fresh. Replacing them are soups and stews, batches of cooking that can then be frozen, filled with all the veg you need to keep you going strong. Frozen and tinned fruit still tastes good when cooked in puddings and crumbles. Spending far too much money on drinks in beer gardens is pushed aside for staying at home, curled up watching TV and spending two thirds less on wine from the supermarket.

I’ve been reading my new Nigella Kitchen book and she has an entire chapter dedicated to store cupboard (and freezer) food so I plan to spend some time giving them a try and checking to see how budget friendly they really are (I imagine they are – she has great recipes for leftover meat that can be thrown in the freezer).

I think it is also the time to take up making chutneys, mincemeat, and sloe gin to enjoy both as the days turn into winter, and to give as Christmas presents to unexpected guests who arrive over the festive period. I have a lot of ideas buzzing around my head of how I'm going to make this a decadent but cheap winter and I hope I can pass some inspiration on to you.

Going Gluten Free

For 3 weeks I had been feeling terrible. A very painful abdomen, waves of nausea and general discomfort for the majority of the day. It came on gradually, but after three weeks I was leaving work early because I just didn't feel well enough to be there.

I had seen 3 doctors about the pain and one said it was nothing to worry about, the second mentioned the word 'mass' and scared me quite a lot, and the third told me to go and see another doctor at my surgery - a doctor who takes the time to listen and does her best to diagnose.

After an appointment that lasted well over half an hour, and once I had answered a lot of questions she pointed out that my digestive system didn't feel too good, and the fact that my Dad is Coeliac made her think. "Very interesting" she said, and recommended that I go gluten free for a while and see if it helps.

It's been just over a week since that appointment, and I have cut gluten out of my diet. And how do I feel?... Good. Ach, I hate to say it, but I do. I feel much, much better. Damn my father!

There are two killers for me here. Killer number 1 is that gluten free food can be horribly expensive. Killer number 2 is... cake! Oh cake, and biscuits, how I love you! What am I going to do without you in my life?!

But I have ways around this. Having lived with my Dad's diet for nearly 20 years I have learnt a thing or two and the best tip I learnt is to eat naturally gluten free foods. Such as cornflakes and snack-a-jacks. These are eaten by everyone, regardless of a gluten free diet and so are much cheaper. The only thing I should really have to substitute is pasta and the pasta isn't that awful so I'm sure I'll be fine with that.

But I will also have to learn to bake from scratch again. I shall not be defeated! I will need to learn the science behind baking so I know what I need to do to ensure I can fix any mishaps that may pop up along the way. I will use this to make me a stronger and ignite the passion to bake within me...

... and if I do fail I'll just concentrate more on cratfs. See? Not all bad.

In all honesty, though, I have caught this respectively early and so my reactions won't be half as bad as my dads, who is incredibly poorly after having just a sip of ale. I shan't be so bad that I need to stress out the poor hostess who has invited me to a dinner party, or kindly decline going out for a meal because I can't be sure what has been put in the sauce. No, it won't be that bad. If I am good for 99% of the time, the other 1% won't kill me.

Maybe every now and again indulge in a Krispy Kreme?

As for what I'll be posting on here - I am determined to eat like a normal person and so will be posting cheap recipes that maybe just happen to be gluten free, or if I have substituted anything I shall mark where you normal people don't have to!

I'll be looking forward to finding new blogs to read and I think I have already stumbled across a little gem. Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried runs an event called "Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten Free!" (from which I have taken the image at the top of this post!) so I plan to spend a lot of time reading it.

I would love any recommendations. Have a good weekend!

Banoffee Pie

When guests are coming over, I always like to have a little something ready for them to eat. Sometimes this means I'm up early on a Sunday morning, baking banana bread so it's fresh out of the oven by the time they arrive. Other times it means creating a buffet-style lunch, and in Winter I like to make soups.

But sometimes I don't have the time to get busy in the kitchen. Either because I have too much to do, or it's an almost unexpected arrival and I've not been able to get to the shops to get the ingredients I need. In these cases, I have a very quick and easy Banoffee Pie to make.

Melt 100g butter in a pan. While the butter is melting, put 250g digestive biscuits into a food processor and and blend until finely crushed (note: you can also do this by putting the biscuits into a plastic food bag and crushing them with a rolling pin).

Add the biscuits to the butter and stir until evenly mixed. Put the mixture into a (greased) loose bottomed cake tin and with the back of a spoon, evenly spread out the mixture and create a crust along the sides. Sit in the fridge for about 20 minutes while the mixture firms up, and get started on your whipped cream!

Whip double (or whipping) cream with an electric whisk and fold in some chopped bananas. Once the base is set, remove from the tin, add a 397g tin of carnation caramel (this is for super time saving - for super penny-saving, get a tin of condensed milk and turn to caramel by boiling for 2 hours or so - follow instructions on tin) and top with the whipped cream and banana mixture.

Dust with cocoa powder and leave in the fridge until guests are ready to be treated!

While not the best Banoffee Pie to have ever been made in the history of Banoffee Pies, it's pretty damn tasty! And credit where credit's due, Matthew's friend regularly goes to the restaurant where the Banoffee Pie was created, The Hungry Monk, here in East Sussex, and he said that my pie was very good!

The best thing about this recipe is that it can be made from things already in the house. Biscuits? In the cupboard. Cream? Generally always in the fridge to be used in some form of pasta dish or with cake. Bananas? Yep, nearly always have those, too! And who doesn't have butter?? Just keep some Condensed Milk or Caramel in your store cupboard and you'll be ready to go whenever you hear that guests are popping around to visit.

Who needs to know it barely cost a thing and took you no time at all? Don't let them in on the secret!

Spinach and Goats Cheese Muffins

I do love a good roast chicken, but what do you do with a roast chicken in summer? You do what I did and head on over to sidewalk shoes for some inspiration and whip up a fabulous roast chicken, potato and spinach salad, perfect for a summer Sunday afternoon.

But what do you do with all the left-over spinach? Well that's easy, of course! You go to the delicious magazine website and search 'spinach' and see what lovelies pop up.

Matt has been working all weekend (again) so I've had a lot of free time to get my apron on and dance around in my kitchen whilst cooking up some treats. This gave me plenty of time to make the recipe that caught my eye the most - Spinach and Goats Cheese Muffins. And the even better thing was that I only needed to buy the goats cheese as everything else I had in!

Now, I'm not going to lie here. Goats cheese is one of those cheeses that I keep telling myself I like. And then I eat it, and I don't. So I ask myself why I keep getting goats cheese when I know I don't like it?? The answer to that question is that one day, I will tell myself I like it, and I will!!

This is precisely what happened this time and my god, was it worth it. These muffins ooze cheese when they're hot, and hold deliciously soft stringy cheese when cold. I had 2 straight out of the oven for my lunch and have brought another into work today! For the cost of some cheese... definitely worth it, as it only cost around £2 and will do me for another week of lunches (they can be frozen, too, so no need for anything to go to waste!).

When doing a shopping list, make sure you look out for ingredients that will give you leftovers. It's so much better to spend an extra £1 and use them all up properly than let things go to waste. Plus, you'll get a lot more food for your money and show off the domestic goddess inside of you!

Homemade Basil Pesto

The thing about living on your own, or only with one other person is that a lot of things in the shops are designed for families. Which is great when you can make big portions and freeze the rest for a day when you cannot be bothered, and when it will sit in the fridge quite happily for a month, but when something is perishable and in a huge quantity these items can be a bit annoying.

These items include fresh herbs, salad leaves, fruit, veg and certain condiments.

I am trying to get over my hatred of packet herbs and I’m starting to grow my own. I have a pot of basil and some parsley (which died whilst we were away on holiday) but I would like to have a whole table full of them - including thyme, mint and a little bay tree. These plants need to be picked in order to keep producing more leaves so I decided to put them to good use and make another thing that winds me up whenever I buy it – pesto.

I buy pesto and it sits in my cupboard for a while until I decide I want to use it. I take out a couple of spoonfuls and look at the back of the jar – “once opened keep refrigerated and use within 5 days”. It’s been in my cupboard for weeks and now I have to eat it all in 5 days?? There are only 2 of us! I don’t want pesto every night this week just so that this doesn’t go to waste and I find myself feeling a little bit disgruntled that couples and those who live on their own get cheated on by food designed to feed a whole army.

So last night I decided to go for it and just make my own. Jamie Oliver to the rescue again with his recipe for homemade pesto and my macbook sat happily on the worktop as I followed the instructions bit by bit. I love Jamie’s use of measurements in this recipe - a good handful of this and a pinch of that and the other, chuck it together and add what you want. Brilliant.

He does suggest using a pestle and mortar and I think I will go out and invest in one. As much as you can use a food processor, there just isn’t enough stuff in there to really get it chopped up properly and I had to get out the hand blender too to get it to a consistency that I liked. Never the less, it tasted good and that was what mattered.

Because I’d spent a fair while getting the pesto smooth, I needed something quick to eat it with so took some gnocchi out of the freezer and within 5 minutes it was done.

It made enough for 3, I’d say. So maybe next time I’ll reduce the quantities a little bit. But for a sauce that leaves hardly any waste and a tasty dinner, I think it’s a winner! Let’s hope the basil plant gets more leaves on it now for next time!

Courgette Carbonara

Yesterday my friend Sarah visited with her 5 year old son, Alex. They spent the day with Matt, playing on the Wii and going to the beach to find oddly shaped pebbles. I only get home from work at six and figured the best thing to do would be to make them dinner so we could all sit around the table and chat before they had to head off home.

But as I thought about it I began to get a little bit worried. What do I make a 5 year old boy? I can’t go down the generic chicken nuggets and chips road because 1) I’m not going to feed my friend’s son that and 2) I don’t really want to eat that myself.

So I decided to make one of my all time favourites – Courgette Carbonara. You may have seen on my Weekly Shopping Lists that Courgette Carbonara is on there a lot. And it’s there for a number of reasons.

Reason 1: It is very very tasty
Reason 2: It is very very easy to make
Reason 3: Even though it’s full of cream, the courgettes make you feel less guilty
Reason 4: It’s also pretty cheap

I generally always have eggs in as a staple, and we have a fair bit of pasta so I have parmesan in fairy often (but I do think I will start buying blocks of parmesan, as they last for a very long time)/ Bacon is generally something I always have in the freezer as it can be defrosted in a very short time, and we always have pasta in the cupboard so that leaves only a few ingredients left to buy!

The following recipe serves 2 very generously.

Enough penne for 2 portions
3 or 4 rashers of bacon (or whatever you have in – I’ve made it with just 2 before)
1 large courgette
A good handful of lemon thyme
2 egg yolks
100ml of double cream
2 handfuls of parmesan (again, or as much or as little as you’d like)
Black pepper

While the pasta is cooking, cut the bacon into pieces (cut off the fat) and fry in a wok or wok-styled frying pan (if you don’t have one, don’t worry – you can just pour the bacon mixture into the pasta, instead of the other way around).

While the bacon is browning, slice the courgette in quarters, lengthways, and discard the ends. Cut out the soft bit in the middle so they’re thin, and slice down the middle again. Cut the courgette slices on the diagonal, so they’re roughly the same size and shape as the penne.

To get the leaves off the thyme, hold the sprig at the top and run your thumb and forefinger down the stem – the leaves should fall straight off. Add these to the bacon, along with the courgette and fry until the bacon courgettes get a nice golden colour on them. Don’t worry if the bacon goes a bit crispy – I prefer it that way!

While the courgettes are cooking (keeping an eye on them and stirring them occasionally) add 100ml of milk to a jug. Add the egg yolks and one handful of parmesan. Season with black pepper and whisk together with a fork.

Once the penne is cooked, drain and add to the bacon and courgette mix. Stir together, turn off the heat (so the eggs don’t scramble) and pour in the egg mixture. Ensure all the pasta is covered and add the last bit of parmesan to make it extra cheesy.

Serve immediately.

It’s okay, you can thank me later.

Turkish Menemen

I enjoy Sundays. Sundays are a good time. A bit of a lie-in, a day to spend with Matt, and no urgency to do anything you don't wish to (unless you do your food shopping on a Sunday and have to get there before the shops shut at 4pm).

I'd been flicking through my Delicious Magazine and saw a section dedicated to Brunch. I have little fantasies about sitting at home on a Sunday morning with my family - everyone around a big kitchen table or out in the garden, surrounded by pitchers of orange juice, baskets of muffins and little jars of freshly picked flowers, chatting away or reading the paper and tucking in to lots of good food. So really, it's no surprise that this article caught my eye.

Smoked Salmon fishcakes with lemon hollandaise sauce. Mmm. Cheddar, pancetta and spring onion muffins. Even more mmm. Lychee, raspberry and rose smoothie, ricotta pancakes with roast grapes and pomegranate molasses. Mmm but why does fruit have to be so expensive?! And I don't have any smoked salmon. Or cheese. or pancetta. Dammit.

But I realised I had missed a page. I flicked back one and saw the Turkish Menemen. A large frying pan full of tomatoes and friend egg and I flicked through the list of ingredients.

2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp fennel seeds
½ tsp cumin
¼ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp chilli flakes
3cm piece fresh ginger, finely grated
1 red onion
2 garlic cloves
1 large red pepper
8 tomatoes or 1 400g can tomatoes
4 medium eggs
olive oil to serve
small bunch flatleaf parsley, chopped

I looked at the list again. I had all that. With the exception of the red pepper that was in my fridge, I had all of that in my cupboard! I always keep onions and garlic because you always need them. I have a parsley plant (and basil - very handy to keep in pots as they are not much more to buy and last much, much longer if you look after them) and everything else is an essential stock cupboard ingredient!

My lust of brunch was starting to linger.. but we'd already had cereal early this morning so I thought *sod it* we'll just have it for lunch instead. And it was lovely! I must remember next time to make bigger holes for the egg so they fry quicker, but all in all it was a great store cupboard success. Something I will definitely make again. And definitely something to make for breakfast if guests stay for the night. Very good hosting brownie points would be earned with a dish like that whipped up first thing in the morning!