Making Pasta With Exeter Cookery School

In the space of six months, I've gone from never having been on a cookery course to doing two. That's one of the reasons being a blogger is - despite its sometimes icky connotations - a good thing: it presents you with opportunities that might not have otherwise come your way. I'd often thought that doing a cookery course would be nice but there'd always been some barrier to actually making it happen: time, money, or simply plain old inertia.

So when the opportunity came up to create a recipe and blog post in return for the chance of winning a cookery course, I decided to be a little more proactive than normal...and I only bloomin' won the competition. It was this serendipitous course of events that led me to Exeter Cookery School a couple weeks back, to take up my prize of an afternoon learning the craft of pasta making.

I've always been intrigued by the idea of making pasta. It conjures up romantic notions of black-clad Italian nonnas sitting in sun-soaked piazzas, trays resting on laps, fingers nonchalantly rolling up delicious-looking tortellini and ravioli. The idea of making pasta ties in with the whole concept of 'slow eating', a wonderfully life-affirming approach to preparing and enjoying food which offers an important counterpoint to our busy, 24/7 lifestyles where food is often seen as nothing more than fuel. 

I love anything that calls for a truly manual approach to making food - for kneading and rolling, pinching and crimping. Making pasta is all of these things, and, as I found out on my course, not as tricky as you might imagine.

The school is located on Exeter's quayside, a lovely corner of the city close to the centre where you can have an amble along the waterfront and enjoy a Devon cream tea before your course. It's run by chef Jim Fisher (a Masterchef semi-finalist) and his wife Lucy who ran a cookery school in the Dordogne for 16 years before returning to the UK and opening their new venture in Devon. With experience of working alongside Rick Stein and Alistair Little, I'll admit Jim's credentials did make me worry he might be in the scary chef mold and that if my pasta failed to make the grade I might find myself expelled. 

Thankfully, nothing could have been further from the truth. Our small group was assured that we'd all go home with a box of successful ravioli and no cross words were spoken during the two and a half hour course (even when I couldn't work the pasta machine in a logical fashion.) 

In between demonstrations on making dough and kneading, as well as using the aforementioned pasta machine, we were let into a few tricks of the trade and shown that the key to a good ravioli is making sure there are no air bubbles in your parcel. I was also interested to hear that it's definitely worth the effort to drain your spinach properly - you need around an hour, not the hasty few seconds I though sufficed - when making a spinach and ricotta filling.

After a quick cuppa and a chat, Jim added our pasta to the pan and offered us some delicious fresh basil dressing to drizzle over our cooked ravioli. They were, I'm pleased to report, exceptional. There's something very, very satisfying about eating pasta made from just a few ingredients by your own fair hands - you simply don't get the same feeling from ripping open a packet 0f pasta from Tesco.

But the thing that I enjoyed most about the course was finding myself completely absorbed in the simple process of mixing ingredients, kneading and feeding the dough through the machine. It's pleasingly tactile, repetitive work you can really lose yourself in, the kind of activity that really does help to ease away stresses and calm an over-active mind like mine.

The school runs all sorts of courses so if pasta doesn't appeal there are plenty of other options to choose from - how about trying your hand at spun sugar, butchery, or French boulangerie? There are course for all abilities, whether you fancy learning the art of Indian cookery or just want to learn some kitchen basics.

Great fun, sociable and a really different way to pass an afternoon, my course here was everything I wanted it to be: friendly, absorbing and informative. The fact I could justifiably stuff my face with pasta at 3pm on a Sunday afternoon was just an added bonus... 

Find out full details about Exeter Cookery School here.

Creating Recipes with Exeter Cookery School

I've started 2017 with a culinary first - I've devised my very own recipe. Thanks to an exciting opportunity with Exeter Cookery School, I've channelled my inner Nigella (I knew she was in there somewhere!) and turned my mind to coming up with a recipe for the sort of comfort food I crave at this time of the year. It's actually quite daunting devising a recipe - it's one thing to love food and have an appreciation for different flavour combinations but quite a different proposition to come up with something that's a) edible and b)actually enjoyable for your dining companions. 

After thinking about the flavours I love and the sort of food that I naturally gravitate towards, my recipe was always going to look towards the Med for inspiration. And having recently been inspired by Nigella Lawson's programme on the legendary food writer Anna del Conte, I've been craving a taste of Italy as an antidote to all that turkey and Christmas buffet food. 

So, my recipe blends classic Italian flavours with a nod to Spain - I just love chorizo and sherry so I wanted to find a way to include these in my idea. The result uses Orzo, a rice-shaped pasta that creates dishes that look more like risotto. It's perfect when you're craving carbs but want something a bit different to more ubiquitous pasta varieties. 

I've used a picante chorizo but standard chorizo will do - you need it in a ring rather than thin slices. Be generous with the sherry - white wine might also work but sherry gives the dish a particularly special flavour. And you need good quality tomatoes that are really juicy - I used delicious cherry tomatoes from Waitrose. 

I hope you enjoy my idea - if you get a chance to try it, I'd love to hear what you thought of it! 

Orzo with Spicy Chorizo, Tomato & Basil

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 tsp regular olive oil
120g chorizo picante, cubed (regular will do but I used an extra spicy version from Waitrose)
75ml dry fino sherry 
250g orzo pasta
625ml boiling water
Knob of butter
1 heaped tablespoon grated parmesan (and a little more to serve)
Generous handful of ripe cherry tomatoes, quartered
Generous handful of fresh basil

Method:

Gently heat the oil in a large heavy-based pan - I used my regular pasta pan. Throw in your cubed chorizo and gently cook without burning. Add the sherry to the pan and let it bubble and absorb. 

Then add the orzo and toss it in the juicy oil from the chorizo, making sure each grain is coated. Add the water and and turn down the heat to a simmer. 

Let the pasta cook for around 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure the pasta doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. You may need to add a little more water from the kettle; a bit like making risotto, you want the water to absorb but the pasta to be cooked properly.

Once the pasta is cooked and all the water is absorbed, beat in a knob of butter. Then beat in a good tablespoon of grated parmesan so your orzo becomes a little creamy. Then thrown in your tomatoes and basil.

Plate up your orzo and add a scattering of basil and perhaps a little more parmesan and black pepper to serve. 

Find out about Exeter Cookery School and the courses it runs here.

Hemsley + Hemsley (and me...)

You're probably really over people banging on about things like eating clean, going sugar free, juicing, cold-pressing, spiralizing, etc, etc. But I'm afraid I'm going to add to the seemingly never-ending stream of articles, blogs and TV programmes on healthy eating with this post, sharing my love for the Hemsley and Hemsley girls, or rather their book 'The Art of Eating Well'.

My healthy eating bible

Slightly annoying title aside, this book isn't a pretentious foray into faddish food habits or the latest health obsession. It's written in a helpful, supportive way with a common sense philosophy at its core -  the 'better than' rule - which suggests that striving to eat the best, most nutrient-rich food wherever possible is the way forward. Many of the recipes are re-interpretations of old standards - shepherd's pie, beef ragu, sausage casserole - and the book relies heavily on something that was a mainstay in the cooking habits of our grandmothers: the bone broth, which is integrated into many of the books soups and sauces as a way of getting a good dose of nutrients, as well as keeping your gut in good nick(being mindful of one's gut health is another guiding principle of the book.) If you were given bone broth as a child (or in my case the Italian version - 'Brodo' - a comforting broth swimming with tiny pasta shapes), you'll no doubt remember its amazing capacity to make you feel instantly better when you were run down and poorly.

Can you tell I make this recipe a lot?

Aside from the recipes, the book is actually very interesting to read, shedding light on the science behind the buzzwords. If you've ever been dismissive about the power of that most middle-class of foodstuffs - quinoa - you might change your mind when you find out it's one of nature's most 'complete' plant foods, and a veritable powerhouse of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. And if you've ever tried cooking it only to end up with a bowl of flavourless, unappetising mush, this book explains how to 'do' quinoa properly - turns out it can actually be quite nice when you combine it with the right ingredients. I can personally vouch for the Quinoa and Roasted Vegetable Salad with Brazil Nut Pesto, which helped me to finally 'get' quinoa.

If you're thinking a recipe book written by two sisters who also run a bespoke food service, catering to dietary whims of the rich and famous, equals expensive recipes featuring a myriad of weirdly named ingredients you've never heard of, I'm pleased to report that the recipes are - on the whole - pretty accessible (though I've yet to track down dried arame seaweed or furikake so I can have a crack at the Superfood Salad...). While some dishes do call for expensive ingredients - raw honey don't come cheap, unfortunately - I haven't noticed that following a healthier philosophy has had much impact on the weekly food spend. Places like Lidl and Aldi are great for stocking up on your fruit and veg, plus you'll pay much less here for what can be expensive items in the usual supermarkets (think pecans, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, for example.) You will need to spend some extra time sourcing some of the less obvious items, however, but even Tesco is waking up to the fact that quite a few people want the odd pseudocereal in their lives. 

Broccoli, Pea & Basil Soup

Having tried to stick to a low-sugar diet in recent years, I have to admit that it can get a little boring sometimes, and while I've turned my tastebuds against processed sweet stuff, I don't think I'll ever completely lose my sweet tooth. However, I don't want to fall off the wagon, which is where the pudding and sweet treat recipes in this book have been most helpful. Who knew mousse made from raw cacao and avocado could be so nice (and so quick to whip up) and that amaranth makes a delicious alternative to rice pudding, satisfying a sweet tooth thanks to the use of maple syrup as a sweetener. Even my kids ate the no sugar, no flour banana bread for breakfast - a much better alternative to the standard toast 'n' jam or bowl of cereal. 

So, yes, buy the book. Everything I've made from it has been a success, and I'm using it more than any of the other books on my shelf at the moment. I feel pretty good on it and am finally getting my blood sugar issues under control, helping me feel a tad more energised, a little less stressy and generally more healthy.

Here are the recipes I've made so far and which I recommend trying:

Healthy chocolate mousse

Broccoli, Pea & Basil Soup

Feel justifiably virtuous whipping up a batch of this easy to prepare soup, packed with green goodness and boasting a deliciously tangy basil and lemon flavour. 

Beef Ragu & Courgetti

I nearly choked on my courgetti in amazement at the fact that my kids were happily slurping up their pasta sauce from actual COURGETTES. This ragu recipe is the best I've tried and you don't need to spend out on a spiralizer - I use a julienne peeler to get the same effect. 

Papaya, Halloumi & Watercress Salad

Papaya's never really done it for me, but it's packed with antioxidants and helps to cleanse your digestive tract. Combined with halloumi (one of my favourite cheeses) and peppery watercress, it's so much more palatable.

Hot Buckwheat Noodle Salad

They call it a "15-minute please everyone meal" - and it is. Delicious.

Banana Bread & Instant Chia & Blueberry Jam

Malaysian Lentil & Squash Curry

Not keen on lentils? Me neither, but this dish is so full of creamy flavour you'll forget that lentils have never excited you eating this yummy curry. 

Sausage & Cider Stew

Think swede, think bad memories of school dinners, but this recipe will make you realise that the humble vegetable is perhaps a little misunderstood. This stew combines swede with sausages, cider, leek and carrot to create an absolutely awesome winter dish. Highly recommended!

Chocolate Avocado Mousse

Get a sweet hit without the sugar - this mousse takes moments to make and is full of antioxidant goodness.

Banana Bread

Ground almonds make a great alternative to flour, it turns out, and in this recipe they bulk up a mix of banana, flaxseed, maple syrup and cinnamon to make a filling, tasty bread perfect for breakfast or elevenses. Tastes great slathered with the book's recipe for instant blueberry chia jam.

You can buy 'Hemsley Hemsley: The Art of Eating Well' from all good bookstores and online at The Book Depository. A selection of recipes is also available on the Hemsley Hemsley website.

And if you're trying to cut down on sugar, you can read a post about my experiences here.

Friday Night Pizza at Flour & Ash

Like pizzas? Looking for something along the lines of the much celebrated Acapella but live north of the river? Then you'll be pleased to know that there's a newcomer to the Gloucester Road/Stokes Croft restaurant scene in the shape of Flour & Ash which opened at the beginning of the month, and - judging by the reserved tables when we visited - is already proving a hit with the locals. 

Having seen the place take shape over the previous months on my walk to work, I was looking forward to sampling what sounded like an authentic proposition - proper pizzas from an wood-fired oven, but using sourdough rather than traditional pizza dough. So myself and my 10-year-old son and pizza aficionado took ourselves there for an impromptu Friday supper...and immediately realised that it's getting harder and harder to do 'impromptu' these days. Everywhere seems to get booked up, and as the waiter went off to consult his reservations book I had a feeling we were probably going to end up in Pizza Express after all. As it was, it was early enough for us to get a table though you should obviously bear this in mind if you want to visit on a Friday or Saturday, and eat a bit later than 6pm. 

The restaurant is a smart, compact place with that industrial, functional look that's the style du jour. In a space this small, it works, with the main focus being the cavernous pizza oven at the back of the restaurant. There are few things that excite me as much as the sight of a flame-filled oven...I would love to have a go at sliding a pizza into one of those babies very much. It's also a reassuring sight, honouring a tradition that began in the backstreets of Naples back in the 1800s, meaning that if your pizza has been cooked in a wood-fired oven you're getting something as close to the real thing as possible.

Thankfully the pizzas at Flour & Ash didn't disappoint. What really works about this restaurant is a commitment to keeping the menu concise, with just a handful of enticing-sounding starters (wood roast queen scallops with herb butter or crispy ox tongue with salsa verde, for example, though we didn't have starters) and just pizzas for mains and ice cream and sorbet to finish.  You can choose from imaginative toppings on bases covered with tomato sauce or without. The choice of a sourdough base makes for a nice, light base that crisps up a treat in the oven, plus it's a 'pure' dough, a better choice for those with intolerances, and is made from three simple ingredients: locally milled flour, salt and water. I found it hard to choose from the delicious-sounding options which include a good mix of meat and veggie toppings, and which are a bit different to the ubiquitous Margherita or Pepperoni. My fennel salami with roasted peppers was divine - a great mix of flavoursome meat and sweet peppers - while my son devoured his chorizo, pickled chilies and rocket pizza in moments, not even bothering to painstakingly pick off the 'green stuff' as he would normally do. The fact that Flour & Dough's pizzas managed to get something green inside my child is no mean feat, and on that basis alone we'll be coming back...

My son found room for an ice-cream which, as well as sorbets, are handmade on the premises and include standards such as vanilla and chocolate, as well as more exotic choices such as caramel stracciatella (chocolate chip) and buttermilk and passion fruit ripple. My son opted for a scoop of pistachio which I 'helped' him out with and it was out of this world - proper, Italian-style ice cream, bursting with natural flavours. I would have liked a coffee but our waiter told us the restaurant hadn't procured a machine, though one was on the way. 

In terms of prices, Flour & Ash offers a competitive alternative to the high street chains; a Margherita costs £ 6.75, something more exotic is around the £10 mark and the luxurious-sounding aged beef fillet comes in at £15. You can buy good wines by the glass, and there's a kids menu at £4, including a small pizza, scoop of ice cream and glass of squash. If I had one complaint it would be that perhaps the pizzas could be just an teensy bit bigger...I could have accommodated another inch, I reckon, or perhaps I was just exceptionally hungry that day.

Find out all the details on on the Flour & Ash website. And if you fancy checking out Bristol pizza institution Acapella, read my review here. 

The Health Kick Kicks In

So, as is traditional this time of year (usually coinciding with that first, horrific trip to the shops to purchase swimwear) me and the other half are on a 'health kick'. While the stream of articles that litter women's magazines on making yourself "beach ready" infuriate me (who has time for a 2 week juicing detox, or a spare £200 to splash out on a figure enhancing, designer bikini?) the thought of exposing my pale, middle-aged body on a beach full of gorgeously lithe, olive-skinned beauties when we go on holiday in August doesn't exactly fill me with confidence, either. Don't most of us get that summer feeling of wanting to be just a bit lighter, a bit more energetic and a bit more glowing at around this point in the calendar? And there's nothing like turning 40 to remind you that your face and body need all the help they can get...

Our summer holiday destination

Several months on from trying to reduce my sugar intake (which I blogged about here)  I'm noticing small but significant changes, helping me stay away from the biscuit jar. I feel less sluggish and perhaps a bit less dimply of thigh. There isn't a weight loss motivation behind me doing this, but I was quite ill last year with a long-lasting virus and when a friend suggested giving up sugar as a remedy to the debilitating headaches I'd been getting, it seemed an obvious thing to try. I can't say with conviction what sorted me out in the end, but taking a long hard look at my diet and being more aware of hidden sugars certainly helped.

More recently I've been trying to address my issues with bread. I bloody love the stuff. But it's just not that good for you, is it? I can't say I like rye bread but it helps to satisfy my bread cravings (only just, though.) I can do without toast at breakfast but a sandwich, panini or baguette would be my lunch of choice. So, I'm limiting a bread-based lunch to the two days I work in an office (purely for convenience's sake) and am then avoiding bread on other days. 

I'm eating a lot of spelt crackers at the mo - nice with almond butter as a light lunch or in-between snack (Food Doctor wholegrain spelt crackers are available at most big supermarkets.) Talking of spelt, we tried spelt spaghetti the other day (white pasta is another of my weaknesses) and it was...okay. For me, nothing can replace proper pasta, but as we eat it a lot as a family I wanted to try an alternative. The kids didn't bat an eyelid about this strange new pasta - I was convinced they'd turn their noses up at it - so that was good; less good is the price point, as a 500g packet set me back £2.45. A packet of normal spaghetti is around the £1 mark so you can see the disparity.

Some low-sugar alternatives

Cost is something that is proving the biggest barrier to maintaining my good intentions. I simply can't afford to buy all organic, fill my basket with wholesome goodies from Holland & Barrett or indulge my romantic notions of starting every day with a home-made green juice, courtesy of a shiny Vitamix blender. Plus, life is really too short to be scouring the supermarket shelves searching for buckwheat noodles or raw cacao. But there are some healthy eating tips that I reckon are worth going the extra mile for, and luckily they don't cost the earth. Here are some other things that are working quite well for me at the moment...

Kale salad - not at all unpleasant

1. Shopping for basics at Lidl

Great for stocking up on the fruit and veg shop - so much cheaper than other supermarkets and the quality is pretty consistent. Items like blueberries, avocados, spinach and salad leaves are a significantly cheaper here. Buying basics at Lidl makes buying more expensive items like the aforementioned spelt pasta more viable. 

2. Swapping my morning latte for green tea

Apparently dairy gives you spots. So the morning lattes have been replaced by green tea, a cheap way to get a good dose of antioxidants. I'm getting quite fond of the taste. 

3. Making vat loads of Jamie Oliver's Tomato Sauce

I get why my kids won't eat kale or broccoli but I still want them to eat well, too. Feeding them veg by stealth is my modus operandi, and this sauce (annoyingly the recipe not available online) is a good one for getting them to eat squash, courgette and carrots without even realising. This recipe is similar to the one I've been making.

I also tried Jamie's Veggie Chilli recently and my kids weren't fully convinced but they were also not completely horrified by it. I think I'll convert them in time...here's the recipe. 

If these fail, most kids like pesto but to give it some extra nutritional value I wilt down massive handfuls of spinach in a pan with a little bit of butter, whiz in a blender and then add to the sauce - a quick way to top up your little veggie-phobes with some vitamins.

4. Trying the easier recipes on the Deliciously Ella website

A lot of healthy recipes not only require you being able to track down hard-to-find items but you also need to have quite a bit of time at your disposal so anything that involves simply dumping ingredients in a food processor is just fine by me. This is why the recipes on the Deliciously Ella site are so convenient as many involve nothing so taxing as a bit of chopping and a bit of whizzing. I have so far enjoyed the marinated kale salad - majorly virtuous and a lot nicer than the recipe suggests - and the cinnamon pecan granola which I'm using as a topper for fat-free natural yogurt in the mornings. It's delicious and a whole lot better for you than the high-sugar manufactured stuff. There are lots of other quick, relatively cost-effective ideas to try on the site.

Granola - not faffy to make at all

5. Finding the right exercise

Turns out I don't mind team sports (despite being pretty dismal at them at school)and it's true what they say - this sort of exercise feels so much less of a punishment. While I still don't fully understand the rules, my footwork sucks and I don't have a competitive bone in by body I've somehow ended up on a netball team. Playing in a proper league and everything! This entails weekly training and a weekly match, providing a much-needed cardio-vascular workout which I'm actually enjoying. Training is free thanks to a great initiative from England Netball (read more here) and match subs are about £3 per match. A total bargain.

Weekly Round-up

It’s been a mad-crazy couple of weeks and we have been away on our latest family adventure (look out for a blog post on our trip to Italy, coming very soon) so blogging has taken a bit of a back seat recently. And I haven't had much of interest to blog about. So, this week's post is a quick round-up of some of the small rays of sunshine in a period that's been a bit hectic, a bit stressful and not hugely interesting (bar our lovely break to Florence, of course. Talking of which...)

1.Half term in Florence

I lived in this lovely city for a year as a student and had been hankering to make a visit back to my old stomping ground for ages. The only question was, would Florence make for a successful family break or would all that art, history and culture make my kids’ heads explode? We decided to risk it, and thanks to relatively cheap EasyJet flights and very family and budget-friendly accommodation, it was a risk that didn’t prove too costly. And the kids’ heads didn’t, thankfully, explode. I think they enjoyed it, though I have a suspicion they liked buying rip-off Italian football shirts from the market more than staring at Giotto frescoes at Santa Croce church….

A full blog post on our trip is coming soon…

2. Cheap 'n' cheerful jewellery

I picked up this little beauty on a recent trip to London, at the Forever 21 store on Oxford Street. If you’ve never ventured into a Forever 21 store before, it’s a pretty manic experience, clearly pitched at the teen age group – I am not their target audience at all. That said, if you’re after cheap, fast fashion and have the time to trawl the rails, I noticed some nice little pieces and the prices are exceptionally wallet-friendly. But as I’m trying to buy less stuff and choose quality over quantity, and resist the false economy (and dubious ethics) of fast fashion, I ignored the racks of hippy-style dresses that looked quite nice and concentrated on the accessories, stumbling on this gem of a necklace that has a hint of the Anthropologie about it – but without the expensive price tag. This beauty cost me £7. Yes, just a little more than a magazine and a bar of choccy.

3. Reading 'Quiet' by Susan Cain

I rarely read non-fiction and have never in my life felt drawn to self-help books, and while this wonderful, fascinating book isn't strictly a self-help book, it does help you understand yourself better if you consider yourself an introvert and reveals the natural reflexes and responses that make some people quiet and anxious, and others confident and gregarious. It's a reminder to yourself that if you like your own company, work best on your own in quiet, familiar surroundings, or shy away from public speaking and 'putting yourself out there' in the workplace there actually isn't anything wrong with you and that your contribution is just as valid as anyone else's. In fact the book is subtitled 'The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking'. If, like me you are a 'quiet' person and fancy understanding yourself a little bit better, READ this book - find out more here.

4. Eating cheese  

My kids don’t ‘do’ shopping. So I knew there’d be no browsing the boutiques of Florence’s enchanting side streets, spending hours picking through vintage knick knacks in the flea markets or searching for the perfect leather sandals (for which Florence is famous)in San Lorenzo, the city’s bustling shopping area. However no trip to Florence is complete without a visit to the Mercato Centrale (an amazing food market) and I knew my kids would be okay with this, given that they love looking at weird cuts of meat and barely dead fish…and this place is full of that sort of stuff. It was while browsing the amazing food stalls at the market that we came across a cheese that sounded just a bit special – pecorino infused with truffle oil.

All I can say is the block we bought was nowhere near big enough. Sublime doesn’t go anywhere near describing just how good this stuff is. You can buy something a little similar here albeit it at quite a price!

5. Shoes, shoes and more shoes

Alongside the cheese I somehow managed to buy TWO pairs of sandals in Italy. Just need to fix the weather so I can actually wear them, now. Florence is renowned for its leather goods so if you’re in the market for a well-made pair of shoes or a new bag, it’s a good place to be. I was most definitely in the market for some new sandals as the Topshop numbers I’d packed decided to break on me midway through the holiday. So I simply HAD to buy some new ones. I opted for some simple, traditional-style leather sandals which I picked up in a teeny shoe store near San Lorenzo, selling proper ‘Made in Italy’ products. They are unbelievably comfortable and made from high quality leather. And at just £34, an absolute steal. And how cute are the raffia slides? A rash purchase from Pisa Airport and a great way to use up the last of our euros (29 of them, to be exact – bargain)

Oh, and then I remembered we have a friend's 40th birthday party coming up, requiring another shoe purchase, hence the lovely heels that found their way into my basket on a recent trip to M&S. I really rate M&S for shoes - their range is often quite 'fashion forward', they are much better made than other high street alternatives, and they come in half sizes and wider widths, perfect for my rather awkwardly-sized hoofs. Go take a look at what's in store now - I saw some really nice, sensibly priced shoes on my last trip. 

Easter Adventures In & Around Bristol

The kids went back to school today after a two week holiday and I'm feeling uncharacteristically calm, relaxed and not at all exhausted. Amazing how having a run of good weather can totally change how you feel at the end of school holidays - why can't it always be like this?! Everything's so much easier - and cheaper - when the sun shines, we all rub along a lot better and it's lovely to see two erstwhile pale, snotty children return to school with a bloom of colour in their cheeks, having had plenty of outdoor activity and a good dose of vitamin D.

Thanks to the clement weather, we were able to visit some old favourites and discover some new places in and around Bristol - here are three highlights from our Easter break...

Outdoor golf at Pirate Bay Adventure Golf

Crazy golf with a pirate theme and some interesting ways of traversing the holes. I sometimes struggle to find things that both my kids will enjoy doing, as my eldest is now 10 and quickly growing out of the standard kid activities, while my six year-old isn't quite ready to hang out at the skate park just yet. Crazy golf is therefore a good one, and this fun course was a hit with both my boys. It's an imaginatively designed, 18-hole course with a pirate theme: think sea shanty soundtrack and various pirate paraphernalia decorating the place. What's especially fun are the pirate boats and rafts that you have to climb onto and then pull across the water to get to the next hole.

There's also a cafe on site and dedicated area for children's parties. Adults cost £7.50, children £5 and under 3s are free. 

You can find out more here.

Stately scenery at Dyrham Park

We'd been here before but on that occasion it was cold and wet, everyone was grumpy and there was a melt down incident over something - can't remember what - that brought out visit to a premature close. But with our National Trust membership about to expire, we decided to give this place another go, plus it was a glorious sunny day. Needless to say, second time around our visit was much more successful. Dyrham is a lovely place to while away a sunny afternoon so if you're a member of the NT and in the Bath area, it's well worth a visit. Set in green, rolling hills there are some nice walks to explore and an impressive 17th-century house to wander round. To be honest, we didn't do much aside from set out a picnic rug and enjoy the sunshine while the kids made dens in the trees. But if you're not going to do very much, this is a nice setting in which to be lazy.

Find out more about Dyrham Park here.

Authentic Japanese food at Yume Kitchen

I've mentioned my kids' slightly random culinary preferences before. They're both the sort of children who view a fish finger with suspicion but are quite happy when presented with a barely dead octopus to tuck into. Now, I have no problem with their culinary precociousness at all - I love the fact they have such adventurous palettes. It can just be a bit annoying and expensive some times. For my eldest son, no motorway journey is complete without a stop at the services for M&S sushi. Doesn't matter that it might only be 9 in the morning - motorways and sushi have become inextricably linked in his brain. Then there is his YO Sushi! obsession. It's a fun place to take kids, what with the conveyor belt and funny Japanese pop music in the background. It's just not that wallet friendly so I was excited to finally give the much praised Yume Kitchen a try over the holidays. 

We had a very nice lunch here, enjoying authentic Japanese food (not limited just to sushi)at a very reasonable price tag.Our bill for four, with a mix of sushi and hot, main dishes came in at just below £40. Everything was super fresh and felt more authentic than you might get a sushi chain. The crispy squid, gyoza and beef teriyaki were particularly good, and our two sushi aficionados rated the sushi 'excellent'.

We visited the Cotham branch but there is now a new restaurant in Clifton Village which also does deliveries - find out more here.

I forgot my phone the day we visited, hence no pics of the amazing spread we enjoyed at Yume, but if you'd like to read a more in depth review, with an array of lovely photos, check out Bristol Eating Adventures here.

Cutting Down on Sugar the Budget-Friendly Way

Inspired by a friend who has pretty much wiped out sugar from her diet, I've decided to make 2014 the year I finally try and crack my sugar habit. While not the worst offender when it comes to the sweet stuff, I probably consume more sugar than I should, and have a niggling suspicion that although I consider myself healthy, if you added up my sugar consumption in any given day it would be way more than I think I'm eating. Furthermore, having been ill from some weird, viral-type illness that wiped me out for the best part of three months last year, I've been looking for ways to feel a little better and more energised for some time now. Armed with some basic insider know-how from my knowledgeable friend, I've started the year off making small, but significant steps to reducing my sugar intake and so far, so good.

Sugar-free food heroes

No doubt you'll have read the flurry of newspaper articles or watched TV documentaries about how excessive sugar consumption is responsible for a whole host of health conditions and will contribute to a crisis that could see 60% of men, 50% of women and 25% of children becoming obese by 2050. Scary stuff. However, initial forays to my local health food shop made me uncomfortably aware of just how much more expensive some sugar-free alternatives can be so I've had to adapt expectations to meet with my personal budget. 

The key thing to remember is that the sugar you are looking to cut out is refined sugar. There are some natural sugars you can eat. But refined sugar equals empty calories that have no nutritional benefit at all. Unfortunately it is these types of sugars that are most commonly used in mass-produced foods. Other baddies that fall into the 'do not eat' category include corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, dextrose, fructose and all artificial sweeteners.

Unfortunately swapping to natural alternatives will cost you more. A commonly available healthy sugar substitute - Xylitol(which you can buy at most bigger supermarkets these days)- will set you back around £2.70 for a 225g bag. Other sugar alternatives which you'll find in specialist health food shops or online (but perhaps not at your local supermarket) include Jaggery, Valdivia and Rapadura. All cost significantly more than standard sugars, but if you'll be cooking with less sugar anyway, the cost should balance out in the end.

Given the expense involved in buying these healthier products I'm taking a more realistic approach to cutting down on sugar, and even by making quite small changes I'm noticing significant improvements to mine and the kids' health. We've swapped lunchbox cereal bars for Nakd bars which, although more costly, count towards one of their five-a-day and are cold-pressed with no added sugar or syrup. I've stopped adding sugar to my coffee and my taste-buds are finally starting to adjust to the change. It's more time consuming but I'm making more in the way of after-school snacks rather than filling the house with shop-bought biscuits and cakes. I'm making low-sugar treats like banana bread and blueberry muffins which get most of their sweetness from the fruit - I like Mary Berry's recipe which has just 3oz of sugar in a recipe that makes 12 muffins, or try Paul Hollywood's version with even less sugar here. Shop-bought soups have been replaced by easy home-made versions - I'll be sharing two particular favourites which are easy and cheap to make on the blog soon.

I'm not quite ready to completely eliminate sugar yet but I figure that by making as much stuff myself I'm going some way to cutting out unnecessary sugars and it's good to see exactly what's going into your food as you make it. We've said goodbye to fruit juice in our house and for our Sunday morning pancake breakfast ritual we've swapped sugar and maple syrup for Agave nectar, a low GI natural sweetener that is delicious and which is readily available at the supermarket, including low-cost shops such as Lidl. Jam is out, nut butter is in - almond butter is one of my favourites and I have it on crackers or Ryvita as a healthy mid-morning snack.

What's proving much more tricky in my quest to lower our sugar intake is analysing food labels as I do my weekly shop, and trying to pick the lowest sugar option wherever possible. This can be a dispiriting experience as even the most benign looking foods - things like soups, breads and table sauces - can be packed with added sugar. The NHS guidelines say that anything more than 22.5g of total sugars per 100g is high, while anything of 5g of total sugars or less per 100g is low. Then you have to bear in mind the various guises sugar may hiding behind in the labelling - a good rule of thumb to remember is that anything ending in 'ose' is a sugar. It's a labourious job drilling down into the small print but when you actually stop and really look at how much sugar is added to manufactured foods, it really is quite a wake-up call.

My next step in the process is to take my friend's advice and start experimenting with sugar-free recipes. She makes her own Nutella by mixing raw cocoa with coconut oil and agave, for example, and recommends making cake icing by mixing cream cheese or quark with agave and raw cocoa. Other sweet treats she recommends for those moments when cravings get the better of you include raw truffles, using a mix of ground almonds, raw cacao, agave and dessicated coconut. I'm going to spend some time looking through her recommended recipe websites for inspiration to seek out some low-cost, healthy ideas for cakes and other treats. The website Natural Sweet Recipes looks particularly inspiring.

I'll be updating you on my quest to go sugar-free on a budget with recipes or tips I come across along the way, but in the meantime I recommend checking out the good sense, easy to understand advice from David Gillespie, author of Sweet Poison: Why Sugar Makes Us Fat, which makes a good starting point, plus checking out his website here.

Eating Cheap, Italian Style

I was really pleased to see Italy Unpacked return to TV screens last week. Showing on BBC2 on Friday evenings, the series follows art critic Andrew Graham-Dixon and chef Giorgio Locatelli as they deviate from the well-trodden tourist trail and seek out some of Italy’s best-kept secrets – hidden art treasures, exquisite buildings and generally beautiful locations that are a little less publicised in the tourist brochures. Along the way they tuck into some fantastic-looking food that is usually simple and cheap to prepare, but that is bursting with fresh and colourful goodness. In short, the programme is a real antidote to any winter blues you may be experiencing right now, whisking you far away from our rain-lashed shores to the Mediterranean sun.

Beautiful Liguria, home of pesto

Watching the first episode in the series last week reminded me just how inventive authentic Italian cooking is and that its contribution to gastronomy reaches far deeper than the watered-down version of Italian food we’re all familiar with. On last week’s programme the two presenters accompanied a spritely old lady as she went foraging in the hills above her village for wild herbs. She was a great example of how Italian cooking remains deeply rooted in the principle of "Cucina Povera" – literally, "Cooking of the Poor" – and that some of the dishes that today are regaled as being regional delicacies were born of out sheer necessity.

My own father was brought up in post-war Italy, a country absolutely ravaged by conflict where food was in much shorter supply than in the UK. When I was growing up one of my favourite things to eat was fennel – something that my own dad, like many other Italians growing up at that time, would have picked wild and eaten raw, served in slices to be dipped into olive oil with a side sprinkling of salt. Simple, quick to prepare and bursting with nutrients, this is raw food at its best and it’s a comfort food from my childhood that I still love to eat today.

In more recent times, Cucina Povera has gained a bit of a fashionable reputation, with top chefs and foodies extolling its virtues and adding their own modern twists to standards such as pesto and polenta. But I think this takes something away from the true essence of this type of cooking – it’s not about fancy gastronomy but about simple dishes prepared with imagination, using whatever is available. And absolutely nothing goes to waste. That’s why it remains relevant for those of us trying to live frugally but eat well today.

 

Here are some Cucina Povera standards that I recommend if you’re looking for recipes that are simple to make, high in nutrition and taste delicious…

Pea Risotto

Or ‘Risi e Bisi’ to give this risotto its Italian name. I follow a Nigella Lawson recipe from her cookbook ‘How to Eat’. It’s packed with pea-y goodness and is creamy and delicious.  Like all risottos it requires a bit of care and attention but don’t be put off – it’s worth the effort.

Ingredients:

60g butter

Approx. 1 litre of vegetable stock

150g frozen peas

2 tbsps freshly grated parmesan (& more for serving)

Grated nutmeg

I small onion, chopped

Olive oil

200g risotto rice (eg. Arborio or Canaroli)

80 ml dry white wine.

Method:

Put about 1/3 of the butter in a large pan, melt and add the peas. Cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes. Remove half of the peas and put to the side. To the peas in the pan add a ladle-ful of hot stock. Put a lid on the pan and let the peas cook gently for about 5 minutes. Puree this mixture with a tablespoon of parmesan, and a pinch of nutmeg and pepper. 

Back in the pan add some more butter, alongside a drop of oil, and add the onion, cooking until soft. Add the risotto rice and stir until the rice is coated in butter. Pour in the wine and let it absorb, before adding the rest of the stock, one ladle-ful at a time. Carry on in this way for 10 minutes, then add the just sauteed peas before adding the rest of your stock, a ladle at a time. In another 8 minutes or so the rice should be cooked and the risotto creamy. If it's still a bit hard add some more liquid - some hot water from the kettle will do. 

Then mix in the pea puree and serve with a sprinkling of pepper, a little swirl of olive oil and a handful of parmesan. 

Polenta

Polenta is a bit of wonder ingredient. Traditionally used in Italy as a cheap ‘filler-upper’, polenta is essentially a ground maize porridge that can be used in a variety of ways.  I use it sprinkled on my pizza bases to give them a bit of authentic crunch and you can make some amazing cakes using polenta as a flour substitute – handy if you or someone you know has a gluten intolerance. I’m going to refer you to Nigella once again and her recipe for lemon polenta cake which is absolutely delicious – take a look at the recipe here

You can eat polenta ‘wet’, as a creamy side to meat dishes,or firm – if you’ve ever eaten the Polenta chips at Jamie’s Italian you’ll know how good it tastes in this form.  You need to make up a firm polenta or use ready cooked polenta which you can then cut into chunks and fry in some olive oil. After resting on some kitchen paper, dust with salt and add to a bowl with some fresh rosemary and parmesan.

Homemade Pesto

So much nicer and authentic than the stuff in the jars. There are lots of recipes for home-made pesto, all of which are super simple and quick to make, but I like to follow Marcella Hazan's recipe which can be made in large quantities in a blender rather than with a pestle and mortar, meaning you can buy a massive bunch of basil and make up a big batch you can eat immediately or freeze. Here it is:

Ingredients (to serve 6)

100g fresh basil leaves

8 tbsps olive oil

25g pine nuts

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

Salt

50g freshly grated parmesan

2 tbsps freshly grated pecorino

40g butter, softened

Method

Put the basil, oil, pine nuts, garlic and salt in a blender and mix on a high speed. When the ingredients are blended pour into a bowl and beat in the grated cheeses by hand. Then beat in the softened butter. 

If you are freezing do not add the butter or cheese at the second step, but add the blender mix to a jar, seal tightly and freeze. When you're ready to use your pesto, defrost and then beat in the cheeses and butter before serving.

Recipes reproduced from 'How to Eat' by Nigella Lawson and 'The Classic Italian Cookbook' by Marcella Hazan.