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, 3 June 2014

Frugal dieting - super scrummy spicy soup

I just made such a scrummy lunch, I had to share it! It was SO tasty! So tasty, in fact, that I forgot to take a photo! I'll be making it again this week so I'll try and remember then!

Ok, you could definitely serve this to 2 people. Especially if you serve bread with it. I'm greedy though and am calorie counting and knew I was allowed all of it!

Total calorie count is approx 355 so you can indulge yourself and scoff the lot or share it (grudgingly) and only use 177 calories! 

I chopped the veg in the food processor so it was super speedy. 

Ingredients 

A little olive oil
1 onion, slices
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1/2 a yellow pepper, finely chopped
1 tsp of each: ground cumin, ground coriander, mild chilli powder, mild curry powder, dried thyme 
1/2 a tsp ground cinnamon, turmeric, crushed chillies
400g tin of tomatoes
Salt and pepper
1 heaped tsp coconut milk powder 
100g mixed bean salad 
1 tsp balsamic vinegar 

Method 

Fry the onion in the oil until softened. Add the chopped veg and all the herbs and spices. Cook over a medium heat for a couple of minutes, keeping it moving. Add the tomatoes and about half a tin of water. Add the salt and pepper and the coconut milk powder and stir. Add the bean salad and balsamic, bring to the boil and reduced to a simmer for about 5 mins. 
Scoff!


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