Wednesday - Quick Pasta and Mum Update

Wednesday's cooking was down to me....I was expecting Jo to be home by the time I got back from my run home - but she wasn't as she had to work late. So by the time she got back I had managed to cobble together vegetable pasta with a tomato sauce which was actually quite nice - go me!

Quite nice pasta

In more important news, Mum is in good spirits and is waiting to have the date for her chemo to start. We are hoping that it will be a week next Monday as she is quite rightly keen to get things moving - Brother Dave was home with her on Wednesday and below is a picture of them both....obviously it is not as nice as the one of me and Mum from a week or so ago, as I sure you can see he is the ugly duckling of the family.

Mum and Dave

Sunday night

Joe is back on the Wirral at the moment so I'm hibernating in Leeds, reading books and watching trash tv (well you've got to sometimes, haven't you?)  I'm not usually one to say personal things in public, but I'm taking the opportunity of him being a hundred miles away to say that I'm the luckiest girl in the world.  There are rare people who have total dedication to their family and loved ones and will be there for them, through all the good times and the bad.  This has been a bit of a nervous week and  Joe is a real superstar. I'm super happy to have him and his family in my life.

Anyway, promise not to embarrass myself (or anyone else) further, so here's my lonely dinner from Sunday!  Pasta with smoked mackerel...probably a good thing no one else was here!!

Pasta with mackerel and salad

Sunday to Thursday - a round up of treats

Apologies for the slight sabbatical from the blog this week - we've been engaged with other things so this is a round up of Sunday to Thursday this week!  We're still trying to be relatively healthy, although I was making the most of finally being able to eat a full meal so you'll have to excuse Monday's fish and chips, but here it is...

On Sunday we had Joe's stir fried udon noodles with teriyaki salmon, and very nice it was too!  I love it when Joe cooks, and bless it seems to have fallen to him a bit more this week.

Teriyaki salmon and udon noodles

Monday was the naughty fish and chips.  Joe and I didn't really celebrate the bank holiday this year - whilst I had some work to do, Joe went home for the day to spend some time with the family.  By the time he came home the last thing we were in the mood for was cooking (how very unlike us!) so it was straight to the freezer for fish and chips.  At some point I'll cave and let him go the chippy for some real fish and chips, as the freezer version is always a bit disappointing, but that'll only be after A LOT of running and a very healthy week!

Fish, chips and peas

On Tuesday I was back in the kitchen, knocking up stir fried noodles with spicy black bean prawns with yellow pepper and spring onions.  It was pretty healthy and went down very well, especially with a nice glass of chenin blanc...woops.  I think the booze ban may be delayed until May after all!

Spicy black bean prawns

On Wednesday Joe was back in the kitchen.  Bless, he had run home after a long day at work so was already pretty tired, and then received a call from me saying I was going to be working late so dinner was up to him!  He did surprise me though, making a pasta bake with broccoli and cauliflower, which was very tasty.

Pasta baked with broccoli and cauliflower

And finally on Thursday we headed to the Adelphi for @homage2fromage's latest cheese night - challenging cheese!  I've been telling Nick for a while that I thought they should do some really filthy cheese.  My favourite cheeses tend towards the face-melting, walking off the plate variety, which is often difficult to locate in the UK.

Well Nick and Vickie certainly came up with some pretty challenging cheeses - there were 8 to try and I liked all but 2 of them.  My least favourites were the Stinking Bishop and the Oxford Isis, which had something of an air of cabbage/fish about it...gross!  The best one by far was the Epoisses, which is washed in brandy and is banned on public transport in France for being so whiffy and the Reblechon was also very nice (I can see a trend with the French cheeses here).  There were some superb varieties on offer and it was a great evening all round.

Just some of the rind washed cheeses

Sunday night ragu

It's rare I cook pasta - usually I require some serious persuasion from Joe before I will break and cook the Italian beast.  However, after a few months of not being able to eat any carbohydrates without feeling like death, I'm enjoying a period where I can eat what I want.  So tonight it was a celebratory meal of ragu with whole wheat penne.  My ragu is not so traditional - it is seasoned with chorizo, smoked paprika and cayenne pepper and topped with rocket - but it tastes mighty fine and that's all that matters.  And that celebration, you ask?  Well, a 6-1 super win over Brighton in the FA cup.  We might just make two finals this year..........!

Penne with ragu

Tuesday's Faux Italiano Treats

Today Joe Jedi-mind tricked me and somehow I ended up having a pork pie for lunch.  Not just any pork pie (cue Dervla Kirwan voice over...) these were Wilson's Butchers pork pies, aka the best pork pies in the world (as far as we've tasted anyway).  Joe is a little obsessed with pork pies to the extent that he knows the delivery schedule: every Tuesday and Thursday at Brill sandwich shop near the courts in Leeds.

Having scoffed down a fat (and admittedly very, very tasty) pork pie for lunch, I spent the rest of the day in a hot water pastry induced guilt fest.  Ah, the perils of being so food obsessed.  So when I got home all treats were off the menu and lots of vegetables were in: I was going to get my week's worth of vegetables in one day.  This is perhaps a slightly delusional and illogical way of dealing with it, but things worked out fairly well in the end.  Joe got to savour one of @gustoitaliano's pastas, with a rich tomato sauce and tons of roasted Mediterranean vegetables, and I ate, well, tons of vegetables.  And no biscuits.  I might have lost the plot.

Penne pasta

Rich tomato sauce with basil and mozzarella

Roasted Mediterranean vegetables with bacon

And Joe's bowl, which also looks rather healthy!  Perhaps I'm brain washing him too...

Friday - another weekend already?

We've had a good, but busy week this week, so we rounded it off by an evening at home with comfort food, wine and movies. 

Since Joe is running so much at the weekends, he informed me that he needs to fill up on pasta.  I'm not usually a huge fan, but luckily back in December we were given some nice pastas by @gustoitalianouk in our hamper of goodies. 

I made a slight fusion dish of pasta with chorizo, grilled peppers, broccoli and prawns in a tomato sauce.  It was seasoned with smoked paprika and everything came together really well - livened up with a squeeze of lemon, it was light and tasty - no stodge in sight.

Pasta with chorizo, grilled peppers, broccoli and prawns

Pasta, topped off with some fresh parmesan. 

Thursday and Joe's pasta

Joe does not handle illness quite as well as I do (ha!), and has got in a huff about having a runny nose and a sore throat, bless, so is making me do today's blog post even though it is definitely his turn!  Typical men hey?

In his infinite logic however, he did insist on cooking dinner tonight, and rustled up pasta with pesto, spinach, chicken and mushrooms.  It was a pretty good effort, which would have been well accompanied by a glass of wine, but we resisted the booze again - hurrah! 

Pasta with pesto, spinach, chicken and mushrooms

Wednesday - Pasta with Curry Sauce and a Sausage....EH!?

I have a spare half an hour while the scotch eggs are in the freezer (don't ask....or you can if you want!) so I thought I'd do my blogging duties with Jo out on a trainee lawyer do - she has asked me to pick her up and has promised that she won't be too late....we will see!

Being in a sales job, it's a little tough keeping the motivation up to pick up the phone in the week or so up to Christmas so I left on time (6pm) which doesn't happen too often. After getting changed into the trackies it was straight to the kitchen where I danced around to the Smooth Radio Christmas channel, before flipping to hits of the 70's.....a little sad I know but I'd much rather that than listen to some of the shit the kids like now-days!!

It wasn't all dancing! I finished off a booze delight for a couple of our hampers, made dinner (more on that below) and also put into action Operation Scotch Egg which I am making for our work Christmas lunch....I have done them before and have tweaked the recipe a little so more on them tomorrow.

Dinner was a bit weird but tasted good! I remembered that Jo had put some left over sauce in a box in the fridge from Sunday which I though would be ok with pasta. It turned out to be a curry sauce that I had with the pasta and a chopped up sausage that was left over from the Scotch Eggs - you see, sounds weird but I had 2 helpings so I can't complain!!!

Saturday - Local Delights and Pasta Power!

Yesterday was a fun day.....after a slightly too lengthy laze in bed we headed out for a whistle stop walking tour through Chapel Allerton and back to Roundhay via Moortown Corner. First stop was Crust and Crumb Bakery where we had a really good lunch.....

Flat white

We both had the chicken & chorizo - 10/10. Coleslaw was a little watery for us

All the bread is made on site - Wow!

It was then to have a quick nose around the Hummingbird Kitchen & Bar and the New Year menus looks seriously awesome. I am unsure if our Wirral to Edinburgh festive period logistics will allow us the time to go but it is highly recommended by us! Next was what was hopefully the last of our Christmas shopping in the lovely shops in Chapel Allerton (it wasn't!) followed by a dart into the retro fayre at St Gemmas Hospice. It was surprisingly brilliant! We bought 2 more Christmas gifts plus a really cook 1970's Thermos Wine Cooler - see below.

Next on the hit list was Haley & Clifford who really helped us out with the final piece of festive jigsaw....thanks alot!!

Across the road from Haley & Clifford is The Deer Park where we spend a decent amount of time at the weekend. We had a quick refreshment stop (me a Black Sheep and Jo a large glass of red) before heading back to the ranch for gift wrapping and dinner which was pasta with prawns as I had entered myself into a 10 mile run in Stockport on Sunday morning and needed the carbs - Idiot!!

Top drawer prawn and vegetables to go with the pasta below!

Tuesday Pasta (Jo Girl)

So it was another day in Manchester for me on Tuesday (my last until next Wednesday, phew!).  Due to the bad weather, there were some delays with the trains, and I got home just after 9pm.  Luckily for me, Joe was at home, firing up the stove and putting together some lovely pasta - definitely one of his best efforts.  Really yummy, sweet and sour tomato sauce with vegetables and perfectly al dente pasta.  I don't eat much pasta normally, but every now and again it is the perfect supper. 

Pasta with veggies and a tomato sauce

And Joe's plate - topped with a cheeky few bits of cheese!

Wednesdsay - Stew and Pasta...eh?? Sounds weird but good!! (Joe)

I am sure we are both getting into work earlier and finishing later....we go in to work together, as we work across a dual carriageway from each other in central Leeds. In the evening it depends on what we have on - I ran home today (I much preferred running when it was lighter....I don't wear headphones now incase a ruffian tries to mug me in the dark!) and Jo took the car - we weren't both back in till after 8 - phew! A long day which is becoming more and more the norm! Lucky we both enjoy what we do!!

With hunger pangs attacking we used what we had available for dinner - left-over stew with pasta and huge pile of  red cabbage on the side....

PS!....HELLO AUNTIE KAREN!!!! SEE YOU AT CHRISTMAS!!!! xx

Saturday night fuel for Joe's Half Marathon for the Seve Ballesteros Foundation

In case we hadn't managed to make it clear enough, Joe is running the Bradford half marathon and the Edinburgh marathon over the next six or seven months.  The Bradford half has sneaked up on us and is tomorrow so a huge GOOD LUCK to him!  He is running both for the Seve Ballesteros foundation, which raises money for the fight against brain cancer.  If you would like to sponsor him and support this great charity click the link here to donate. 

Anyway back to tonight: as he needs fuel, this means pasta.  I'm not a huge fan of pasta though so to try and make it work for both of us, we had Italian roasted chicken legs and a salad to go with it which wasn't too shabby.

Salad

Roast chicken leg and wing with bacon, garlic, parsley and white wine

The obligatory pasta!

Joe's plate - proper marathon prep!

It's Tuesday and Joe is in the Kitchen!

What a treat! After a late evening at work, I arrived home to find Joe in the kitchen making dinner with a glass of wine ready for me.  What a lovely husband to be!  He is even letting me watch Don't Tell the Bride on BBC3.

Dinner was a rather tasty version of Jamie's sausage fusilli, which Joe has been making for years and has perfected.  He even squeezed in some cauliflower at my request.  One day I'll convince him to put his secret recipe on here....

Joe's sausage fusilli

Wednesday - Home Made Pesto, Bacon and Spinach Trottole

For the past few months, I have been growing basil and flat leaf parsley on the kitchen windowsill. I was debating which one to use for to make pesto, and decided on the classic choice - see yesterdays post for the recipe that I used.  As a rule of thumb, I go for simple (easy!) suppers and tonight was no different....Home Made pesto, Bacon and Spinach Trottole.....was good though!