Thursday: 30-12-21

Good morning!

I took a couple of hours yesterday to have a good trawl through the latest Pinch of Nom book that arrived before Christmas.  This one is subtitled 'Comfort Food' and the intro states that their definition of comfort food is 'Satisfying, homely dishes' that ' remind so many of us of childhood and give us a sense of nostalgia'
This suggests that there's nothing particularly new but, while there are a lot of familiar sounds recipes, there are also some clever tweaks and some 'sideways thinking' that make an awful lot of the recipes very inviting and 'must make'.

There's a lot of useful information at the beginning of the book under headings such as batch cooking, key ingredients and essential kit which are worth reading through before starting in on the recipes.
What is a bit different about this one is around half of the recipes are vegetarian and, with a bit of ingredient subbing, most of the others could also become vegetarian.

The other thing I like is that this time they have explored alternative ways of making many of the recipes so there are instructions for hob-top, pressure cooked, slow cooker or air fryer as appropriate.  Not Thermomix - I guess that is too niche still.

To be fair, all of the above are first impressions.  I haven't tried any of the recipes yet but am really looking forward to doing so.  The ingredients seem to be easily accessible; I felt that I could have gone straight into the kitchen and started making and, more importantly, wanted to

I will try my first recipe today.  

Yesterday's meals:

Porridge makes a great start to the day, especially with the little burst of sweetness you et from easy peeler segments.

The Stilton in the soup was absolutely delicious.  I also added a small splash of milk for a bit more creaminess.

I didn't bother with the planned egg on the ham.  The ham looks a bit scraggy because it's the last few slices.  The rest is now in the freezer, wrapped in four individual portions.  Very useful.

The fries are parsnips, by the way, not potato.

Today's plans:

B:  marmite mushrooms on toast
The very first recipe is the very first in the Pinch of Nom Comfort Food book.  Fingers crossed!
SW: half a healthy extra B for a slice of toast, three syns for some Philadelphia light

L:  leek, broccoli and potato soup; fruit

The rest of the soup (which I decided not to freeze) with added cooked and mashed potato.  I find that potato goes all gloopy when blended so I make the soup, cook the potatoes separately, mash them as usual and then mix the mash into the soup.  All the potato without any gloop!
SW:  I will add a spash of milk but not enough for it to count

D:  Christmas traybake, veg; yogurt

I know it is post Christmas now but . . .  you know, leftovers!
I have fresh sweet potato, parsnip and carrot and frozen butternut squash.  I have some leftover pigs in blankets (in the freezer as I type).  I won't use potato but I will roast some onion in the mix.  I'm going to sprinkle over some grated cheddar or other leftover cheese for the last five minutes, I think
Best of all, I can make it beforehand if I want and I have left over vegetables from yesterday that just need reheating.  Perfick.
Any leftovers would make a nice soup, I think.  We will see . . .

SW:  one healthy extra A for the cheese, five for the pigs in blankets and half for the dessert

E:  Festive blast (carefully)

Summary:

one to two healthy extra As
half a healthy extra B
nine and a half syns

From the freezer:
bread
butternut squash