* Vegetable Macaroni Cheese Bake {Meatless Mondays}

Just recently I tried the 5:2 fasting diet, where I could eat normally (hah...) for five days and only eat 500 calories for two days... in each week. My brain took it upon itself to totally ignore the word "normally" and proceeded to use my hands to stuff my face with anything that wasn't nailed down and was even vaguely edible... on the five days, and then it cried itself to sleep on the two days.

My bum and my brain are in cahoots, apparently they both want to be bigger and one is aiding the other. This is not a good thing.

So... having grounded my brain and forbidden it to associate with my bum... I've joined Weight Watchers... again. Fourth time might be the charm... might. I've already lost 5.5lbs in one week, but this could just be the whole "This is new and we're making an effort this week" thing that I do. I know I do this. It's a personality defect that I have grown to accept, if not love.

This Vegetable and Macaroni Cheese Bake is one of my better efforts at cutting out the cr@p and adding in loads of veggies. It is adapted from a Weight Watchers recipe, but I've opted to use butter and flour to thicken the sauce, rather than cornflour. Butter adds a smidgen of flavour that makes me feel like I'm not depriving myself. I also use my microwave in this recipe - but you can go all *holier than thou* if you choose and soften your veggies in a more traditional manner. This way worked for me.

It was a hugely filling meal and even if I don't stick to Weight Watchers, I will definitely be making it again. It was great straight from the pan, scattered with cheese, and just as nice baked in the oven for a few minutes.

Of course, I saved a few Weight Watchers pro-points for rather a large glass of wine to go with it. Made my brain very happy... if not my bum.

* Spicy Mexican Cheddar Scones

I bought some Spicy Mexican Cheddar a few days back, with the the full intention of grating it over the top of some enchiladas and somehow... I forgot.

It's hardly a surprise, considering the fact that firstly.. well.. I'm me.. and secondly - I have a variety of cheese on the go at all times, and I can never use it up quickly enough. Currently I have Gouda, Soft Goats Cheese, Feta, Parmesan, Mozzarella, Mascarpone, Full fat Cheddar, Half fat Cheddar... uuummmm... Philadelphia Light with Grilled Peppers... and a chunk of Gruyere.

I don't know why I have all of this cheese. I don't know why I have to have all of this cheese. I just know that if I see cheese... I buy cheese. Unless I have that cheese already, in which case I pick it up and put it down a billion times, trying to convince myself that I really don't need this cheese. Doesn't always work though.

I no longer have any Spicy Mexican Cheddar Cheese left, because I used it up in these scones. They were lush, straight from the oven, cracked open and spread with four inches of the buttery stuff. I'd made another batch of Broccoli Cheddar Soup (I bought a cr@p ton of broccoli) and they were lovely dipped in that.

Looking at that list of cheeses - I have no idea why I bought the Feta. I don't even like Feta.

However... there are tongue marks in the Mascarpone. 

They're mine.

* Creamy Broccoli Cheddar Soup {Meatless Mondays} + "Eggs" Winner

I have another new favourite soup, and it's this one. This Creamy Broccoli Cheddar Soup is getting it's own bank account, it's so good.

Really. Even Neil enjoyed it, and he doesn't like broccoli.

I probably wouldn't have offered him a bowl of it, if he hadn't asked what smelled so good when it was bubbling away on the stove. When I told him what it was, he said he wouldn't mind trying some.

So when it was cooked, I pushed the spoon into his face with a whole "Choo-choo here comes the food train." pantomime, to which he responded with "Please don't ever do that again." and "I'll eat that." A huuuuuuge compliment from my man of few words.

Neither of us are fans of soups that use flour as a thickener (though I do make them), so I used a carrot to thicken this soup, and to add a slightly golden colour - which makes this a gluten free soup. Also, this recipe uses the whole broccoli - both florets and stems.

I'm now trying to think of more ways to get him to eat broccoli because I love it, and it's far easier to cook one meal for both of us than two separate ones. Though this doesn't happen too often because although he's a man of simple tastes - Neil will try virtually anything (that isn't a flapjack), that I put in front of him.

It's that or starve.

Now it's time to announce the winner of the Michel Roux "Eggs" Cook Book Give Away from last Monday.... drum roll please...

and... the winner iiiiiiissssss.....

Katrina Pearce (comment number 2) - congratulation Katrina, your book is on it's way!

Thanks to everyone who entered xx

* Ham and Cheese Croissants {Because I Can}

These ham and cheese croissants are a quick and simple snack idea for lunch or supper. They take 10 minutes to throw together - if that - and even less time to consume.

I've had them sitting in my photographs folder for a while - whilst I considered whether or not they were blog worthy enough NOT to make my repeat readers feel ripped off...

... I'm bored. I have a spare ten minutes. So here we are.

If you do feel ripped off, you may leave... (Pleeeeease don't go!!!) I for one, hope you stay long enough to realise that although this is a glorified ham and cheese sandwich that you need no recipe for - it's actually a pretty neat idea that isn't a ham and cheese sandwich and is so easy it may not have crossed your mind to give it a whirl.

Neil loves them.

I'm not going to give you a specific recipe, but here's what you do...

* Red Pepper Frittata + Michel Roux Cook Book Give Away! {Meatless Mondays}

I have a beautiful brand new hard back copy of Michel Roux's Cook Book - Eggs, to give away to one lucky reader. And by beautiful... I mean.... beeeeeeautiful - the recipes and photographs are to die for.

Of course, because I have a book on eggs to give away, I could hardly post a recipe for something that did not have at least one egg in it.

This Red Pepper Frittata has six. Six whole eggs. I was very tempted to use eight and that was in fact "The plan". But you should all know by now that me and plans... we don't get along too well. I only had six eggs, so an eight egg frittata was gonna be a bust unless I went to the shops. I wasn't getting the car out for  two eggs. I had wine, or I could have gone for wine and inadvertently purchased eggs as well, and maybe some chocolate.

I would have made an omelet but this is one dish (among many) whose perfection defeats me. I like omelettes a little soft in the middle, but I'm never sure if I want to fold it, or have it flat like a frittata and half way through deciding I end up with scrambled. If you want to know How To Make an Omelette... click on the link I've just given you!

Back to THE GIVE AWAY... dun, dun, duuunnnnnnnn....

Just answer me this and you’re entered to win:

What popular kids TV show theme music started with the words... "Up above the streets and houses..."

(Not related to the cookbook at all, I know.... if you don't know the answer just say "Captain Caveman, who cares, just give me the book!" or whatever else you fancy (keep it clean though), to be in with a chance of winning.)

You can also follow me here, here, here, here and here and come let me know in individual comments below.

This giveaway is limited to UK residents only and is sponsored by Media Agency London.

I'll be picking the winner at random and announcing them on November 25th.

Good Luck!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

* Winter Minestrone

This is my absolute new favourite soup.

I know I shouldn't favour one recipe over any other... they are all my babies (kinda), but this one would get more pocket money than the others, for definite. I wish I could claim it as all my own idea with a touch of aren't I a complete genius thrown in, just to keep everything on the me, me, me.... but this Winter Minestrone Recipe is one I adapted from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa - to suit my own cooking style and recipe ingredients.

In otherwords, I made it as easy and lazy as possible. I really can't be bothered to cook pasta separately (as per Ina's recipe) then throw it in the pot when it's cooked - it cooks just as easily in the soup itself, as it does in a pot of boiling water - and there's less washing up to do. Win win.

I know it's on a Monday that I'm posting this, but it's NOT a Meatless Monday Recipe - it has bacon in it and chicken stock. I'm still no good at planning ahead when it comes to bandwagons I could jump upon. The fact that I've managed a few Meatless Mondays posts in recent months is pure coincidence and nothing to do with planning whatsover - I don't cook for my blog as much as I cook for me and Neil... especially in the cold, dark months at the end of one year and beginning of the next, because I have a hard time taking decent photographs in the light.

Which leads me to a favour I need to ask - Neil has mentioned buying me a decent digital camera for Christmas (I currently have a little point and shoot) and I was wondering what any of you might suggest I should look at? Our budget would be in the region of £300 (just under 500 American dollars). Any advice would be truly appreciated!

Thanks guys xx

* Sweet Potato and Caramelised Onion Quiche {Meatless Mondays}

I know I keep saying that I'm surprised when a recipe works, but I genuinely am. This Sweet Potato and Caramelised Onion Quiche was an experiment because I used my favourite Parmesan and polenta pastry with it. I thought I might have gone for overkill with the flavour combinations and ended up with a dish that was all over the shot.

Happily I was wrong.

I made the quiche to take to mum's on Sunday as my brother and his clan were donning their life jackets and coming to Cornwall to visit. So.... an "occasion" was at hand. An "occasion" always requires copious amounts of food in my family, so you're guaranteed to have at least one individual who likes what you've put in front of them.

Both Neil and my brother, demolished my quiche. I've no idea if Josh ate any. Josh is a Ninja at family gatherings. He appears from nowhere with a plate. The plate is suddenly full to brimming. Then both Josh and his plate disappear... as if they had never been there to begin with!!! There's not even a throwing star lodged in a wall somewhere. It's like the air is displaced with his image, and a plate... then *piff paff poof*... gone.

I wish I could do that.

Especially just after I've farted.

* Sausage Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

I love it when a recipe works better than expected. These Sausage Meatballs in Tomato Sauce were absolutely scrumptious in a non *in yer face* way. They were so easy to put together that I expected to be bowled over with blandness.... plus I haven't had much in the way of taste in the past couple of weeks because of my VERY BAD COLD.

There.

I will never mention it again.

The sauce was slightly sweet and light due to the use of a carrot. I've not done that before, but they needed using up (doesn't everything?!?) and it was worth a shot. I know it's not a new idea - people have been sticking carrots into tomato sauce since time immemorial (whatever that means), but I haven't - so I wasn't sure that we... I... would like it.

But we did. Well, of course we did. I could hardly write a recipe up and say "Don't do this, it's dis-GUS-tin'!", could I?!?

Well I suppose I could, but then you'd hardly come back for more.

* Mexican Cornbread Muffins {Meatless Mondays}

I absolutely LOVE cornbread, but Neil isn't usually a huge fan. Possibly because most of the time I use a medium grain polenta to make it, and he finds it a tad too gnarly. In which case I usually end up eating the whole lot - not in one sitting... but it's too close to call.

I managed to get hold of some fine polenta in Tesco's the other day, and seeing as I'm always trying to conquer my oven's urge to C-4 small cakes and muffins - I thought I'd have a go at making mini cornbreads... because I am determined to win this particular battle (with the oven) and selling Neil a Mexican Cornbread Muffin was going to be a damn sight easier than saying "I made cornbread". 

I was keeping my fingers crossed that he wouldn't connect the dots.

He didn't. Or maybe he did and decided to play along. He does that A LOT. It's part of his charm.

"Oooh look what my mum bought me!"

"Your mum bought you a new desktop for £600?"

"Ummm... yes?"

"With our debit card?"

"Ummmmmm...mmm... yessss???"

....... "That was nice of her."

What's not to love?!?!!!

He actually enjoyed the muffin that I let him taste test, warm from the oven. I taste tested two. One of them was eaten very quietly in the kitchen, away from all eyes but the dog's. Her eyes said "If you don't give me some of that I'm telling." 

So I shared.

* Easy Cheesy Bubble and Squeak

I need to make more food with Easy Cheesy in the title. I like that title. I like anything even vaguely childish at the moment because I've got a rotten cold, which seems to go hand in hand with a more juvenile sense of humour.... my dreams are pretty freaky too - in a fun way!!! You are so rude!

I dreamt I had magic, the other night (stop groaning, you knew this is where I was heading), and that I was the most powerful magician/sorcerer in the entire world but I hadn't been challenged and therefore didn't know how powerful I was - then the dream jumped a little bit to me saving a load of people by letting them in my front door (apparently this dream could not afford much in the way of special effects)... then this *being* appeared in the sky - now don't laugh - it was Adam Ant. Moving swiftly on... I yelled out of my half open front door (that I was hiding behind - magicians get scared too apparently) at the Adam Ant cloud in the sky..."You don't want to take me on..." then imbued the last two words with a huge majestic power reminiscent of Charlton Heston in various movies "DOOOO YOOOOU?"....

Thing is.... I BOOMED the last two words out loud. In my sleep. As the Adam Ant cloud dissipated into vapour  - I heard a voice beside me snigger and say "Well I suppose this is going to be as interesting as "I'm a giraffe"...".

*sigh*

I'd woken Neil up.

12 hours later when he walked in the back door after work...

... he was still sniggering.

NOTE: There is no one real recipe for bubble and squeak - it's traditionally made up of left over vegetables from a Sunday Roast, all mashed together and fried in a pan on the stove in butter. Sometimes as a mash up, sometimes as a large cake and sometimes as patties. I find a general rule of thumb to follow is whatever weight of potatoes you use, use half that weight of vegetables (or thereabouts) - also, if you do happen to have creamed the mash together with butter and/or milk - you're best bet is to make a mash up and fry it as is, as the wetter the bubble and squeak mix, the less likely that it will be able to hold its shape and make decent patties (or cakes). Dry frying (no fat) also helps the patties to keep their shape and not take on extra moisture and become sloppy (but that might be just me!).

* Pesto Chicken with Spaghetti (and fresh cherry tomatoes)

I bought a jar of pesto in Aldi the other day, and it's been sitting in the fridge waiting for me to pop it's top and put it into to something ever since. So I made this Pesto Chicken with Spaghetti.

I was hoping it would be a much more vibrant green, but then I suppose you get what you pay for.

You can make your own pesto - I'm sure - and although I am a complete snob when it comes to convenience food as a general rule, when it comes to this sort of thing I currently don't have the inclination to blitz a bunch of basil with the other necessary ingredients to make my own fresh pesto... as soon as I do, you can be sure I'll let you know in the form of a recipe.

You can almost guarantee that I'll be a complete convert to fresh pesto only, but until then - the jarred variety will do.

I'm afraid I will never, ever, ever... ever... be a fresh mayonnaise convert. It takes too long and I never like the end result anywhere near as much as I like the stuff from a jar... preferably Hellmanns and LOTS OF IT. If there were two food stuffs that I would rather die than live without, mayonnaise would be one of them. The other would be cheese. All and any variety. Cheese. Life without cheese would not be life at all.

There's cheese in/on this pasta (of course) and some fresh Tumbling Tom cherry tomatoes from my garden. I fancied something quick and tasty that would use up the tomatoes, some creme fraiche (I KNOW!) and let me pop my pesto top. 

I have popped my pesto top, and it was good.

The end.

* Chicken Mozzarella with Tomatoes

OhMyGod this recipe was LUSH! I didn't know what to call it.... Chicken Mozzarella With Tomatoes... Smothered Mediterranean Chicken... Pizza Pepper Chicken Bake. Seriously, food naming is almost more complicated than baby naming. At least it is for me.

All the while I was pregnant, my baby was going to be called Thomas (even if it was a girl)... but when they plonked him in my arms I took one look at his strawberry blonde hair and ginger side burns and realised he was actually called Joshua. See... simples.

Not so simple when naming a recipe... When I look at food - the possibilities are endless. You want to tell everyone what's in it without giving them a list of ingredients. Which is really hard... especially when you're like me and stick bell peppers into virtually everything. It all starts to sound a bit "samey" after a while... so... I stuck three different titles into a hat... and... well... lets just say I put the first two I pulled out, back in...

This was another of those "hate food waste" recipes, that involved using up a couple of fresh chicken breasts, and some mozzarella - I very nearly made a pasta bake (stop groaning) - but I'm getting a bit bored with those (stop clapping), and whilst I'm doing the 5:2 diet I feel as though everything that I can eat on a normal day has to be worth eating.

I rather desperately wanted carrot pancakes for breakfast this morning. I have never made nor eaten a carrot pancake in my life. I have no idea if they are awful, if they are gawjus or if they even work as a recipe. I have not yet delved into google to find out... but you know I'm gonna... and you know I'm gonna share when I do...

... Oooooohhhhh I feel a Meatless Monday post coming on...

... unless they're sh*t.

* Cheesy Leek and Red Onion Toasties {Meatless Mondays}

Guess what I've been doing!?! Go on... just a little guess...

No. I have not been para-gliding.

Try again...

Haven't dyed my hair green either...

Do you give in?

Weelllllllllll... I've been "fasting"... which is why it's been a bit quiet around here this past week.

I started the 5:2 diet/way of eating on Thursday, in a bid to shift some weight and get a bit healthier because I don't reckon this body wants to be hefting this bum around in another 10 years.... and so far so good (the diet). I fasted on Thursday and Saturday and managed with little problem to stick to 500 calories on both days because I knew I could eat normally for the rest of the week.

I'm not gonna bang on about it, other than to say that it's given me a bit to think about from the perspective of what I really want to eat on the 5 days when I'm not fasting. I feel as though I have to have food that I Treally Rooly want, rather than just whatever happens to be available at the time - which means I may have to actually get organised... yeah, I know... nnnnot gonna happen.

I may not have been eating a lot of food, but I've certainly been thinking about it and trawling through my recipe books has actually helped a little - strange but true.

This Cheesy Leek and Red Onion Toasties recipe is a version of one I found in my River Cottage Veg Everyday book. It looked so damn nommy that I swear I left a puddle of drool on the photographs... I may even have chewed the page slightly...

... which might explain why I wasn't particularly hungry on that particular "fast day". Mmmmm.

Anyone know how many calories there are in paper?!?

* Creamy Chicken and Tomato Pasta Bake

I'm becoming the "Queen of Hate Food Waste" just recently, with all the food I'm managing to use up. I think it makes me just slightly more inventive when I cook based on need rather than on want.

I'll try to explain....

I occasionally buy ingredients to cook for a specific recipe that either I have come up with, or I've found whilst trawling through various cook books or across the interwebz. It's really satisfying to cook from a recipe, but I often have half a jar of this or half a tub of that left over when I'm done - because I mostly use fresh ingredients when cooking. I then get left with an ingredient or three that has a shelf life.... like spinach, creme fraiche, harissa paste, cream cheese (never, ever do I have chocolate anything left over... ever) - to name but a few. If you're a repeat reader you already know about the spinach and the creme fraiche - if you're not a repeat reader - go do your homework... links have been supplied!

This Creamy Chicken and Tomato Pasta Bake made use of some cooked left over chicken and the remnants of a tub of Philadelphia, and I honestly don't think I'd have come up with it if Melanie Jean on my facebook page hadn't made a request for a chicken and tomato pasta dish with no basil and only a little garlic. I was just gonna bung the chicken in a sandwich for Neil and eat some cream cheese on crumpets until both were gone. Not overly inventive, eh?

This was one of those meals that you could cut the time in half by simply not baking it in the oven, just dish it out straight from the pot if you're in a hurry and grate some cheese over the top. I baked mine because I had the time.

It was nommy.... and there were left overs.... 

... Be still my beating heart ;-)

* Butternut Squash Lasagne {Meatless Mondays}

I've experimented with this Butternut Squash Lasagne a few of times now. The first time I used a bechamel sauce and cut the butternut rather large. It was too rich and sweet and the butternut wasn't a particularly nice texture to come across whilst eating it... not a good thing when the whole bloody dish is being prepared on the basis of using the butternut to start with... and it was sloppy.

I don't like sloppy lasagne... I like gin... (you have to have a tv and know your Aldi adverts to appreciate the last sentence).

So... I like lasagne that holds it shape when you dish it out - it makes it look like you're an expert at much more than just making lasagne. Truly.

Next time you visit a restaurant or friends house and they serve up a sloppy lasagne - even if it tastes great - you're going to think about the fact that you are judging them on so many more levels than just their ability to cook the lasagne. If you're eating out, at the very least you're going to think you're paying too much. If you're at a friends, you're going to pray that they haven't attempted a trifle for dessert.

Well... that's what my brain does... I don't get invited anywhere but mother's for dinner (JOKING PEOPLE!).

The butternut for this lasagne was diced much smaller than previous versions, so sort of melted into the sauce, aaaaannd I used creme fraiche instead of a bechamel sauce and it cut through some of that sweetness. Plus all I had to do was spoon it out of it's pot, rather than stand stirring and whisking and praying for a lumpless sauce.

This lasagne held it's shape.

I reckon I could tackle a trifle. 

Maybe.

* Buttered Parmesan Chicken Thighs

Sometimes, just a simple change to how you'd normally prepare something for cooking and eating - makes you feel as though you've just discovered that you can't get pregnant simply by kissing a boy.... yup... honestly thought that could happen and had, in fact, planned to have a baby that way. Right up until I was seven and asked a few too many questions one Sunday morning, when lying in bed with my mum, dad and baby bruvver...

...Since then I have lived by the philosophy that if you don't want to know the answer... don't ask the bloody question.

I did want to know whether or not I could use melted butter, instead of eggs and flour as a base/glue to coat these chicken thighs with though (before dipping them in everything else)- so I gave it a shot and I am NEVER going back. I made "MmmmmMMMMMM" noises all the way through  dinner until Neil put his knife and fork down and raised his eyebrows at me. Neil never puts his knife and fork down until he's finished inhaling his food. I shut up. For about a second.

No, it's not overly health conscious of me to have used butter, but I rarely use it in cooking and on this occasion it was worth it. It took a rather familiar and placid meal and added a comforting depth of flavour to it, that it was previously missing.

We ate ours with new potatoes and vegetables, and the leftovers went into a couple of tiger rolls for Neil's packed lunch the following day. 

Just looking at the photographs of this, whilst I'm typing, is making me think we'll be having this again - or something else dipped in butter - pretty soon.

Oh Oh OH... SPINACH DIPPED IN BUTTER... food heaven or what?!?

* Cheddar and Chive Scones {Meatless Mondays}

In a bid to use up a few store cupboard ingredients that I don't use on a regular basis (I don't use any of them on a regular basis, but for the sake of having something to write about.... just go along with it)... ahem...

IN A BID to use up the wholemeal flour that was... ugh.

Okay. I was bored. And hungry.

I really shouldn't have been, because we went our for a humongous English Breakfast yesterday morning, that was not only the equivalent of an entire day's food on one plate - it was also absolutely scrumptious. The only HUGE disappointment HUUUUUUUGE - from my stand point - was that Neil ate his black pudding for the first time in 20 years....

... WE HAVE... AN... AGREEMENT!

Neil gets my egg white and I get his black pudding and grilled tomato. Yes. It is slightly tilted in my favour. However... WE HAVE AN AGREEMENT. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to word this on the divorce papers. Irreconcilable differences, perhaps? Or emotional abuse. Either way - it's over. I've already written a letter to Hugh (Jackman), telling him what time my aeroplane lands... and that we need to stop off at Maureen Shaw's for a roast dinner (she's holding the gravy) before carrying on our way to wherever our love nest is...

... but before I hop on a plane to *Laa-Laa Land* (and I don't mean Australia)... I baked some cheese and chives scones to take with me (to Laa-Laa Land, not to Australia.... Hugh won't be there (in Laa-Laa Land) Get a grip), or to eat with Butternut Squash and Tomato Soup for tea tonight... when I forgive Neil...

... for eating my black pudding. Yeah. Not gonna happen.

I'm curious - do any of you have similar agreements with your partner's when it comes to food? And do you want to stab them in the face with a fork when they renege on the deal? Do tell.

* Butternut, Bacon and Bell Pepper Carbonara

On Tuesday, we decided to open up a cheap bottle of red wine we'd been given as a gift, only to discover that the cork was made of some sort of resin that the cork screw slid into and out of, without bringing the cork with it.

Cue mild panic.

We abandoned the wine in favour of a bottle of Stella, because dinner was about to burn.

On Wednesday morning, Neil's van was robbed and he lost his smart phone, a wad of cash, all his construction cards, his house keys and his car key...

Cue more mild panic.

On Wednesday evening, after dealing with the fallout from Neil's burgled van - we took a hammer to the imprisoned bottle of wine.

I had to sieve the wine through kitchen roll into a jug, to ensure there was no glass in it and we had to drink the entire jugful, because there was no cork big enough to stick in it.

Cue mellowed out, happy, happy.

Dinner was big pants though. Not even the wine could disguise the fact that I'd grabbed a load of convenience foods out of the freezer, whacked them in the oven, forgot about them whilst trying to emancipate the wine from it's prison, slightly singed everything and then stuck a tin of baked beans with it...

... I would absolutely love to be able to sell you a lifestyle, where everything goes swimmingly and we live in a beautiful bubble of fresh food and vegetables, ikea furniture and, like... totally fab dinner parties. But the reality is that we're living a life, not living a life style.

I don't cook decent, fresh food every single day. I've never been to ikea and even though I do throw like, utterly, totally and completely fab dinner parties... it's usually for just the two us.

On Thursday, I had time to make up for Wednesday's debacle of a dinner and thought I'd experiment with a butternut squash and a bit of bacon. I was going to make a "pasta bake" because you guys tend to love them (my traffic stats said so, so it must be true), but I had half a tub of creme fraiche to use up (no spinach, lucky you), so threw together a carbonara and hoped for the best.

You'll have to judge for yourselves though. I didn't cook enough for all of us.

DISCLAIMER: No wine was severely harmed in the making of this blog post.

* Smoked Sausage, Tomato and Watercress Tart

It's actually a Smoked Sausage, Sun Dried Tomato and Watercress Tart in a Parmesan Polenta Pastry (try saying that once, without tripping up, when completely sober.... now have a glass of wine... and try again... much easier, wasn't it)... which is waaaaay too heavy a title to put on a recipe. It's almost a pedigree, and I'm hardly entering it into Crufts.

Food gets a bit *samey* sometimes, in this house. I don't always have the time or the inclination to cook much more than something that goes in a pot and will sit happily with rice or pasta... but occasionally, my need to use food up and make space in my fridge for another, fresher, culinary rainbow of vegetables - gives me enough incentive to become a bit more inventive, if not adventurous.

It was watercress that needed using up this time. I had been inspired to buy it, by a recent trip to The Finnygook Inn, for dinner. They served it with steak. I liked it enough that I bought a bag. That's how most stuff gets into the fridge. I have a moment of "oooooooh... what a nice idea, I think I can make *this* a part of my everyday diet"... and I really can't. There's a LOT of watercress in one bag. Enough to go with several steak servings, not just one or two.

I didn't buy steak. I only like steak, in any form, when someone else has cooked it. This is a constant disappointment to Neil.

Neil would eat shoe leather if I put it on his plate and told him it was steak. This is most probably because when I have cooked steak, it has resembled shoe leather... I'm really inspiring you with confidence in my cooking right about now, aren't I.

Back to my Tart... it worked a million times better than I had imagined it would. It really was one of those surprising successes (I am always surprised when I have a success). I experimented with the pastry and if I only ever make one pastry again, it'll be this one. Using up the watercress in the tart was also a success...

... Now all I have to do is work out what the hell I'm going to do with a ton of Marshmallow Fluff.

* Chicken Pizza Pasta Bake

I love home made pizza and make it all the time but as yet have never taken the time to photograph and share it. Possibly because I know there will always be another opportunity.... which is good, because I'd fully intended to make and photograph a pizza this time but I was halfway through making the pizza sauce when I realised I didn't have any strong bread flour to make a pizza base, so I had to raid the cupboards for something else to take it's place... which is par for the course in this house.

Thankfully, I've developed a new shopping addiction... it doesn't replace the old one - there will always be spinach in my fridge (well duh!)... I've been on a bit of a pasta purchasing splurge just recently, and have gone from the bog standard macaroni, penne, spaghetti and fusilli sitting in neat rows in glass jars on my shelves... to just about every type of pasta I can lay my hands on that I have never cooked with, including the tortiglioni in this recipe, all wedged into various nooks and crannies throughout the house.

It's a small house.

So.

This is one of those recipes that just sort of 'happened' in a good way. Neil loved it. I loved it. I'll be cooking it again. I have a positive plethora of pasta to use up.

If we have a nuclear war - I'm set. Though it could get a bit dull after the seventh year. Perhaps I should turn my purchasing power to rice and grains as well...

...just in case.