Food Minia

Something someone said recently made me think about one of the themes I blog about.  I often write thrifty recipes or give tips on how to make the recipe cheaper to make, cook or ways to use up or prevent waste.  My food is rarely expensive to make.  This is because it's the way I cook.  I care about food, I value it. When I was little, my parents used to grow nearly all of our own fruit and vegetables.  None of it went to waste.  Gluts were frozen, picked, bottled, made into jam or wine. I don't want my childhood to sound like a rural idyll because I didn't grow up in a posh place but it was a place which was very much in touch with food and where it came from.  We used to get eggs from a farm in the village and my best friend lived on a pig farm. I think the distance we have now from food production is part of the reason we don't respect it enough. So does my approach matter?  My approach isn't because 'thrift', for a while became a food trend;...

Unfortunately due to personal circumstances (moving house for the 2nd time in 2 weeks) I won't get to take part in the ' live below the line ' challenge this year but I thought I would tell you about it and tell you why it deserves your attention. 1.2 billion people live in extreme poverty in the world.  1.2 BILLION that's over 15% of the world population.  The live below the line challenge is to try and experience, and raise money for people who live in extreme poverty by only spending £1 a day on food and drink. I appreciate that living in a comfortable home with access to equipment and ingredients is very different to not knowing where your next meal will come from but it is a step, it's an idea and an interesting one. Why £1 a day?  In 2005 the world bank calculated that the extreme poverty line was $1.25 a day, that is, you would be considered to be in extreme poverty if you had the equivalent of $1.25 and what $1.25 can buy in the US.  With inflation this has ...

Today was the last day of my challenge to eat 7 portions of fruit and vegetables in 7 days. Breakfast I started the day with my fruity toast (like I had on day 5).  Delicious. Lunch I was with a visitor at work today so I had a buffet from the canteen.  For all my criticism earlier in the week, they didn't let me down, the fruit platter saved the day.  It was served with orange juice as well on the side and every sandwich had a salad garnish and coleslaw inside.  I easily racked up three portions with the juice (even if that always feels like a cheat.) Tea What the cool kids are eating (maybe) haggis, peas, broccoli and sweetcorn.  I do love haggis!  It is the ultimate rebellion food as well after a week of vegetables! 7 a Day?  Achieved.   Mixed berries (cherries, blackberries, raspberries, black currants, red currants and strawberries), lettuce, cucumber, carrot, cabbage, peppers, pineapple, melon, strawberries, orange juice, peas, broccoli and...

On the home run now...  A few days ago I set myself the challenge to eat 7 portions of different fruits and vegetables over 7 days and see how it impacted me and my wallet. Breakfast I'd had enough of trying to squeeze fruit and vegetables into breakfast for one day.  So it was toast with marmalade and proper butter. Lunch As I said yesterday , I was on a soup drive so as well as my 'eat your greens' soup , I also made a batch of lentil and bacon , only reducing the quantity of lentils and water slightly and including carrots.  That way, I could make it two different servings of vegetables in 1 portion.  (Pulses can count as 1 of your 7 a day but only once per day.)   I also took some watermelon, banana, two satsumas and an apple with me making my lunch 6 portions of fruit and vegetables. It does prove you can get back on track if you start the day with a less than healthy breakfast but it does mean you feel a little bit like a rabbit later! It is making me wo...

I'm trying to eat 7 portions of 7 different fruits and vegetables in 7 days to see how easy or hard it is, how it affects me and how it affects my wallet.  If you want to read more, see my first post on my 7 a Day challenge. Breakfast I started the day today with toast... ha ha ha... no, I didn't miss out the fruits and vegetables!  I remembered I had a bag of mixed berries in the freezer so I took a portion out of there, defrosted it then topped the piece of thick toast I had with butter, jam, then the defrosted berries.  It rocked and was good for the soul. There were cherries, blackberries, strawberries, red currants, black currants and raspberries in there but obviously only one portion in terms of quantity. My son had some reheated banana pancakes for his breakfast from the freezer.  Probably about a third of a banana in the portion he ate (he had 8, yes, he does eat a lot) but a third of a banana is probably about a handful for a 3 year old so I'm taking that ...

Last week I set myself a challenge to have 7 days of eating 7 fruits or vegetables a day in the recommended portion sizes. So I woke up at 4am this morning.  This isn't a massively unusual occurrence for me, especially when I'm busy or stressed and 2am has been known.  I don't think I can put that down to the vegetables. Breakfast As I woke so early and was intending to run, my body was saying to me "GIVE ME FOOD".  Pre running you don't exactly want a fry up in your belly, so going for watermelon (as I did), which is high GI can actually be a great idea. After my run I opted for a simple bowl of cereal.  I was going to have scrambled eggs with mushrooms but I decided against it because after running nearly 6 miles, you don't really feel like whipping up a storm. Lunch I made an adaptation of my mushroom pasta bake recipe  for lunch except adding an extra vegetable in the form of defrosted chopped spinach into the mix.  To up the fruit and vegetable c...