Cooking for one.

It's not as sad as it sounds, I almost never eat alone so this was a great chance to try something that Josh is overly suspicious of, zucchini pasta!
I picked up a few zucchini tips from A Girl Called Jack, a never ending source of ideas.

Start by frying half an onion, then add a large, finely chopped mushroom. Once soft, add half a tin of tomatoes and 1/4 tsp crushed chili. Leave to simmer.

Whilst the sauce is reducing, slice zucchini (courgette!) lengthways and then slice each half lengthways again. Then use a potato peeler to peel thin ribbons. Crush one clove garlic and fry garlic and zucchini slices in a little oil. These will be ready after just a few minutes.  

Add a little s&p to the sauce to taste and ladle over the ribbons.

This pic is actually only half a  zucchini, I struggled getting my portion size right to feed just me, plus I'd been snacking loads! Usually we just hoover up whatever I make unless we make looooads in which case it gets tupperware-d.  Any tips for portion control?

Tofu Scramble

Been a long while since I've posted a proper recipe, this isn't exactly proper but it's what I did to make my lunch so I'm going to say it counts. It's a bit of a throw everything in the pan kinda meal, but it's delish, easy and quick so ticks all my boxes.

Ingredients: (in brackets is what I used today but can be varied to different tastes/fridge contents)
Onion
Garlic (2 cloves, minced)
Peppers (half a red pepper and half a cup of frozen mixed peppers)
Mushrooms (about 3/4 cup)
Broccoli (about a cup)
Frozen peas and sweetcorn (half a cup of each)
Tofu (I used half a pack of Mori-Nu firm)
Soysauce (a heavy handed shake)
Turmeric (a good sprinkling)

1. Fry onion in veg oil in a large fryingpan/wok until translucent.
2. Add approx 1 tbsp soy sauce and all veggies inc. garlic
3. Let sizzle for a couple of minutes until mushrooms have softened.
4. Add tofu. I fork it out of the pack into the pan to get a good scramble consistency.
5. Sprinkle turmeric, salt and pepper into the pan and continue to stir for 5 mins.
6. Enjoy (with extra soy sauce to taste).

Puff pastry Pizza

This is Joshs, he's far better at cheese spreading than me!

We used to make this aallll the time at our old house, since we moved we've just stopped for some reason, possibly because we mainly have the kitchen to ourselves now so I can spend longer 'slaving'. over the hob ;) anyway I was reminded of it by one of @kitsunesuki's recent instagrams and it tasted even better than i remembered.
 This is such a good no brainer meal. Just a pasta sauce/pizza sauce/tomato puree base, whatever veggies you've got in the fridge or freezer and optional cheese. We used the ready rolled puff pastry from Aldi but have also used jus-roll etc before. Equally good.
Today ours included broccoli, onion, mushrooms, frozen peppers and frozen sweetcorn and we topped it with Vegusto melty cheese. Vegusto is the best vegan cheese I've ever tried, unfortunately it's mightily expensive

(like all the good cheeses I guess) at £7.50 for 400g so I don't buy it too much. - And I try to stop the other half buying it all the time too!

(I made it really big to make up for forgetting so far this month!)

P.S. I just snuck to the kitchen for a couple of spoons of late night peanut butter hehehe.

Monday Lunch

This is (don't quote me on this) the easiest of all the packed lunches - a salad comprising solely of chunks of red pepper, carrot and cucumber. With a little pepper and olive oil to boot.
I ate mine in the sunny park this lunchtime with some bread and butter and a library book that I'm whizzing through. Here's a rubbish photo taken with my phone!

Colourful non?

Sorry about the short post today, It's dissertation deadline day meaning there's some celebrating to be doing!

Sausage and Bean Casserole

After another super hectic day I'm just managing to squeeze this in before bed. My garden is looking great but I'm shattered again! My super cutie pie doggie is visiting at the moment too and loves to wake us up just a little too early with a lick to the face. Yum.

When I saw some Linda McCartney sausages on offer in the fridge section of Sainsbury's I knew exactly what I wanted to make. Sausage and bean casserole. I just went with my gut with this, not following any recipe, and used what I had available.

Ingredients (4 big portions):

1 pack (6) Linda McCartney Sausages

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

1 bell pepper

2 handfuls of mushrooms 

1 can chopped tomatos

Half a can of baked beans

Half a can of kidney beans

2 tsp Paprika & 1tsp Cayenne Pepper

(more if you like it spicy)

Cook sausages as per instructions on pack.
Meanwhile fry the onion and garlic until soft.
Add mushroom and pepper. When soft, add 1tsp paprika and 1tsp Cayenne Pepper.
Add all cans. Add more paprika. Leave to simmer for ten mins or until sausages are ready.
Taste test! more paprika needed? a bit of salt perhaps?
Now chop the sausages and add them to the mix. Simmer for a further 5 mins and serve!

This is a really versatile dish. We had it with some toasted wholemeal pittas on day one and in wraps with rice on day two. The ingredients can be altered easily too. A great way to get something a bit different into your weekly menu without needing anything special - I'll be making this again!

5 portions a day

I've been trying to be more healthy recently, more vitamins = less chance of getting an icky cold, but my love of toast and potatoes means I often don't make it to the magic 5 portions of fruit and veg a day.
My solution? Cheat!

Charlotte's cheeky cheats for a champion constitution.

• Dried fruit - just one tablespoon is a full portion according to the NHS.
• Fruit Juice - who doesn't love a glass over cereal?!
• Frozen sweetcorn - In the pan whilst pasta is cooking, too easy.
• Banana & custard - Pudding lovers (Alpro ready made cartons- wonderfully comforting on cold days!)
• Tinned fruit - Sugar on grapefruit or maybe cinnamon on pears.
• Satsumas/Clementines - Can anyone tell the difference?! Their natural outfit means they can go travelling!

The NHS site I linked suggests the fruit and veg in pre-prepared food counts too but we don't need to count that now we have soooo many options!

Despite trying to avoid traditions, I'm hoping that I can stick to a resolution this year to think more about what I eat, what nutrients it contains and what I miss out on when I'm lazy and eat naughty food... we'll see.

yumyumyum