My philosophy on food is that you should enjoy what you eat and eat what you enjoy. Try new flavours and textures, don't dismiss anything - imagine if you'd refused chocolate the first time you'd tried it as a baby - wow! Variety is vital to staying healthy, in my opinion. I don't always practice what I preach there and go through 'greedy' phases when work becomes tough but on the whole, eating a varied diet does not make me put on weight, in fact I lose it steadily. Oh, and read recipes from whatever source you find stimulating but, apart from baking and pastry type dishes, or things which need to set, alter the ingredients as you see fit. No one should tell you what you will enjoy, they can only suggest. Even Jamie Oliver - I'm not a fan, generally, sorry Jamie. On the other hand, I think Nigel Slater is fantastic and the man who inspired me to change things as and when I felt like it - Nigel (and I) just wants you to enjoy food, no matter how simple or complicated.
I'm determined my children will have a healthy attitude to food - that they will enjoy vegetables and all things healthy, but that they will also be happy to try new things. They will not see certain items as food 'sins' - who even invented that word? No food should be a sin, but you just shouldn't eat a cream based meal, a box of chocolates and a fry up all in the same week (or maybe even month, but that's for you to decide!).
Nothing delights me more than seeing my daughter taste all the cheeses - and I mean all the cheeses I try - at Anthony's Fromagerie in Leeds. Wow. And she fights for gherkins or balsamic pickled onions if they happen to be available. Spicy chorizo and all kinds of saucisson pass her lips with joy if ever we have them in - usually for a Saturday night tea, which should always be a bit more special and has extra funding allocated.....My younger daughter is developing into a similar foodie, though she is more inclined to spit out what she doesn't like at the moment!
So I have decided, as a full time working mum, who works long days and late into the evenings, that I will share my ideas about food. Recipes I have been inspired by, openly pinched or devised myself will appear on here, linked to my FB page and Twitter. If even one person makes a healthier, cheaper meal that they've never had before I will be over the moon. I cook many meals in bulk and that is time consuming but during the week, rarely does a meal take longer to make than the time it takes to cook pasta or rice - unless it spends time in the oven, of course, but that doesn't count as I can be working in the meantime!
Friday? It's pizza night, homemade without fail. And here I go back to Jamie and thank him for his recipe. Great dough, but I have altered your tomato topping, yours is way too fussy!
Saturdays are special, as I've already said, and if I can experiment I will. I don't mind spending the whole day cooking for a dinner party - it relaxes me. But then I will also happily serve Ina Garten's Steakhouse Steak and homemade chips. It is Saturday, after all!
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