About ME!

HELLO!!

I'm Christine. I'm a busy mum to 5 year old twins, Robin and Evie and wife to Ian. I also run a property management company. We live in a small village in beautiful, rural Northumberland. I love spending time at home with my family, running and exercising and socialising with my fabulous friends.

When I'm not busy with work, family or friends, my favourite pastimes are cooking and eating (often a combination of family/friends and food). I particularly get so much (too much?!) pleasure from making healthy, nutritious meals from nothing (well, whatever I've got in the house!), making leftovers exciting and not wasting a thing. I HATE waste. I've wanted to start a blog for a few years but time just hasn't allowed it. But I'm very excited about getting it going now and sharing my passion for food with the world!!

I'm very health conscious and want to feed my family good food, on a budget. As you can imagine, time is not something that I have a lot of so my cooking has to fit in with my busy life. Weekday cooking has to be fuss-free and speedy but I still want it to feel indulgent.

I am also a keen vegetable gardener. There is little better than creating a whole meal from produce that you raised with your own fair hands. And in the British weather, it's not always easy. It makes you appreciate it even more though! I would urge anyone to have a go at growing their own. Even if it's just a few of your favourites in pots or some herbs on the windowsill. Do it!

I'm going to try and share some of the recipes that I create and any tips that I have along with general ramblings about food and the good life!

Don't expect fine dining, just homemade, tasty, healthy and wholesome food. Always on a budget! Maybe with the odd flashy, entertaining number thrown in for good measure. The budget won't go out the window though.

I'm very new to this so please bear with me until I find my feet!!

I hope you enjoy it. All feedback very much appreciated!!

Thanks y'all!

Tuesday, 1 April 2014

My week of meals

Weekday breakfasts are cereal, bread/ toast and eggs

Monday
L: leek and potato soup
S: Ian and I had a full-on leftover meal. Yorkshire pudds, sausages, roasted veg and gravy. The kids were at Lucy's (their amazing childminder) for tea. 

Tuesday 
L: Ian had sandwiches (with homemade bread, of course!) with ham and my speedy coleslaw. I ate out. 
S: kids had mince and mash. I couldn't face it after eating too much for lunch (out with my family).  So i had wild garlic and mushroom soup, topped with toasted seeds and breadcrumbs and crumbled feta and served with homemade bread. 
Tip: I made a large pan of mince from 500g beef mince. I made it with garlic, finely chopped onion, celery, mushrooms and carrots, lots of beef stock (2 cubes), 2 tbsp flour and a few tbsps breadcrumbs to bulk it up a bit. 
Split leftovers and make half of it into bolognese sauce, bulked up with lots of tinned tomatoes and have as Spag Bol or lasagne (make loads of cheese sauce to bulk it up further) and make the other half into cottage pie, covered in lots of cheesy, garlicky (i add my wild garlic butter) mash and topped with crunchy breadcrumbs. 

Wednesday
L: me - toasted sandwich. Ian - ham, cheese and coleslaw sandwich 
S: lasagne with baked potatoes and wild garlic focaccia 
Tip: when the oven's on for the lasagne (or for the homemade bread) chuck in a few potatoes to have for lunches or as a healthy side at supper. 

Thursday
L: Ian and I - baked potato with cheese and coleslaw 
S: cottage pie with garlicky, crispy crumbed grated turnip, cheesy leeks and carrots. 
Tip: make extra (buttery 😄) mash and use it for fish cakes 

Friday
L: Ian and I - soup from freezer 
S: leftover lasagne with salad. 

Saturday
B: poached eggs on toast
L: tuna fish cakes. 
Sauté a chopped onion and garlic. Combine with a drained tin of tuna, the mashed potato, a beaten egg, a good grating of cheese, 2 tbsps breadcrumbs, a tbsp mayo and salt and pepper. Shape and cover in more crumbs. Fry or bake. Serve with peas! I'm going to cook them with some mint from the garden and crush them slightly. 
S: homemade sweet and sour chicken with rice. 
Tip: use chicken thighs. They're much cheaper, won't dry out and have loads more flavour. I very rarely buy chicken breast. 
Make stock out of the bones. Freeze them if you can't make it straight away.

Sunday
B: bacon croissants (both from freezer)
L: fried rice (leftovers from sweet and sour) with ham, peas, mushrooms and leeks and a beaten egg. 
S: tomatoey pasta 
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