Mahoosive Shepherds Pie

If you want to feed a large group of people then shepherds pie is the way to go.....
It is easy to cook, delicious, cheap and full of healthy vegetables. 
Plus, you can always add your own twist with extra herbs, veg and spices. 

Last week we had a family feast. There was 9 of us in total. Our menu was shepherds pie, kiddie friendly cabbage and brussel sprouts cooked with bacon.

Normally I would....Heat a little oil, fry onions, brown the mince, add some veg and water, leave it to simmer, then add gravy granules to thicken, spoon on mash, grate a little cheese on top and plonk in the oven for 20 mins- easy quick and tasty. 

Chicken Paprika Stew

Chicken Stew was first on our list of 'Norfolk Veg Box' dishes. 

The beauty of stew is that you can add as much veg as you like - making an ultra healthy meal and a brilliant winter warmer!

Before now I haven't ever made a Chicken Stew, it has almost always been a beef stews. 

I did a little research, well Googerling (I wonder if Googerling will be added to the English dictionary soon) and then I created my own.

Excuses, excuses

Crikey - its been alittle too long since I last wrote...

I am full of excuses. 

I'm finding it hard to juggle full time work, four beautiful children and blogging! 

Having said that I see blogging as a helping hand in our change - a diary of our journey and a very public way of keeping us on course - breaking habits is hard! 

So excuses aside I MUST make more time for blogging. It's soooo important that we eat healthy and if I can share our experiences, tips and help others do the same then that's awesome too! 

How to make Carbonara sauce..

What is Carbonara sauce?

Carbonara is a beautiful creamy Italian dish.
Carbonara sauce is the signature sauce, comprising of primarily eggs, cream and cheese.

It is scrumptious and perfect for sprucing up leftovers.

Eating Healthy? Saving Money? Wasting Less?

Our weeks review

OK, we are on week 2 and I should really give you an update as to our family resolution of eating healthy, wasting less and saving money on food.  

To be honest I haven't been keeping track,  not as closely as I would like.... an update is a little hazy. It is true to say I need to focus on this task much more, being back at work I have dropped the ball on cooking.

Pancake update!

I know, I know, I know - I promised pancake pictures and to let you know how the they went! But this week has been crazy... proper crazy. Getting back to school and work and routine has been 100% stressful. Juggling four children - that's four uniforms, 4 pairs of school shoes, 4 coats, 4 school bags packed, 4 snacks, 4 water bottles and 3 lunch boxes (Dylan only goes mornings) and all before 8:20! 
You can guarantee at the last minute someone has lost a shoe,  or someone else has suddenly remembered they have not done their homework and then -  oh no - I need PE Kit!
I hope your reading this fast - I'm typing fast - it's like a mini rant through my fingers - to be honest I hate school mornings. I'm not the best at organisation and even when I'm organised it doesn't go to plan.

Back to school Pancakes

Today is Blue Monday - apparently the most depressing day of the year. 

The decorations have gone back in the attic, everyone is back at work/school and the Christmas cheer has faded away.

To be honest, I don't feel like it is a blue day. Especially, as we now have all our 2014 plans and goals to look forward too (We are getting married!) I am not blue - not one little bit and I really hope you are not too. 

The Mothership Roast Pork....

I woke up this morning and thought - why wait til the new Year to change?

I got out the laptop and checked tesco.com to see what meat they had on offer. Pork joints were reduced and I decided to do a lovely roast pork.
It was a little ambitious, seeing as I have never cooked roast pork and we invited Giz's mum, dad and brother to join us, making 9 in total.

Armed with my ingredient list from the 'Saving with Jamie' recipe I headed off to our local Tesco. I decided to pop into Morrisons on the way so I could check their offers. 

I am glad I did - they had lots of beautiful joints half price. I picked up a 3Kg Pork leg for a tenner - Brilliant!

Time to change....

So here it is - our first post for our family eating blog...

Last Sunday I cooked for 16 (in my tiny oven it was a Crazy idea!). For the children (7 of them) we cooked a Spaghetti Bolognese. For the adults I did a big pot of Goulash and served it up with new potatoes, hot rolls and carrots. 

The Goulash turned out yummy!

The Goulash I cooked from scratch and spent ages perfecting the flavors, I used the BBC Good Food recipe and added extra everything, I amended the spices, herbs and peppers as I went along  - to make the dish suit us. I  enjoyed cooking it up and was I really thrilled when everyone had an empty plate.

Inspired by this experience and a new cook book I got for Christmas I intend to cook properly much more, waste less and teach the children as I learn too. This is going to be a lifestyle change for us - much more of the healthy goodness.