Chicken and potato bake

Tonight's dinner was inspired by my love of Mediterranean style cooking and my desperate need for carbs after spending all night and day breastfeeding a very hungry baby. This little one is a big feeder who is piling on the weight (a whole lb in 5 days!) and as a result I find myself constantly hungry and thirsty. Lots of water being guzzled here as well as making sure I keep up my iron and energy levels with lots of fruit and veg and delicious filling meals.

This chicken and potato bake is easy to do even with two small bubas crying for your attention. Serves 4 with a side of spinach or salad.
Peel and chop potatoes into smallish chunks and boil in a pint of stock (veg or chicken).
Meanwhile grill or oven bake 2 chicken breasts.
In a frying pan soften 1 clove of garlic and 1 red onion in a little oil. Add a teaspoon of tomato purée, a generous squeeze of lemon juice. 2 tbs of white wine vinegar and some ground ginger. Stir until well combined and put all in an oven proof dish. Pour over a can of chopped tomatoes and stir through a teaspoon of paprika and a teaspoon of cumin (alternatively add cumin seeds to the frying pan with the onion).

Once the potatoes are soft and the chicken is cooked dice these and add to the oven dish with a few tablespoons of the veg stock leftover from the potato pan, season to taste and place in a preheated oven at 220 degrees for 15 minutes or until piping hot. Serve with a side salad or some spinach leaves.  Delicious.

Optional add in include any veg you have that needs using up. This time I added carrots and leftover butternut squash from yesterday's risotto and a green pepper that needed to be used. This meal works equally well and can be made less carb heavy by substituting sweet potatoes. Chicken can also be swapped for a white fish such as cod or sea bass for a tasty alternative.

Pasta sauce from scratch

I love pasta. It got my through my skint student days when the budget was tight and the food had to be quick, cheap and satisfying. But white pasta and sauce from a jar is not the healthiest meal. I switched to wholemeal pasta about 8 years ago and now I don't like white pasta and the bloated feeling it gives me after, and I've swapped jars of sauce for homemade. Much less sugar, much more veg! Here are my favourite 'red' sauces;

My go to;

Mince 2 cloves of garlic, 1 large onion, 3 carrots and 3 sticks of celery (I usually chuck it all in the food processor!). Soften the garlic and onion in a little oil (coconut is great, olive is good) and then add in the other veg. When it's all softened up add in some tomatoes- you can either blend up dine fresh ones or add in some passata. Simmer and season to taste.

And the one I made today;

Blanch and peel approx 1kg of tomatoes and then blend or mash to a pulp. Mince 2
cloves of garlic and 1 small onion and soften in a little oil. Add in your tomatoes and bring to the boil. Turn down to a simmer and add 1 teaspoon of brown sugar, salt and pepper to taste,
A teaspoon of paprika, a generous amount of fresh or dried basil and the same of oregano. Turn the heat right down and stir frequently until the sauce has thickened. Depending on the time of year, if your tomatoes aren't very rich in flavour you add an optional blob of tomato purée.

Both sauces keep in the fridge for up to 3 days in a sealed container and freeze really well.

New addition! 😊

Well I've been on a 2 week cooking strike as I just had a baby boy, Jonathan! I was so glad that I stocked our freezer with delicious meals before I went into labour as its meant life with a newborn isn't quite as stressful as it could be! Although we have also had quite a few bbqs since the weather has been so warm. I ended my cooking strike yesterday with a healthier take on cauliflower cheese that I served up with a babyleaf salad and some French bread.

For this simple delicious meal chop cauliflower and broccoli into florets and boil or steam until tender. Meanwhile cook some red lentils and in a separate bowl combine 2 good sized eggs with 200ml of milk and season to taste. Add a little water from your pan of veg (1-2 tbs) to stop the egg from scrambling. Drain the veg and put it in an oven proof dish, pour oven your egg mixture and stir through the lentils. Top with your favourite cheese (grated) and bake in the oven for 15mins at 200 degrees or until the cheese is nicely browned. Great as a main with a salad or a healthy side with some fish or other grilled meat.