First Foods

Yesterday was a very special day. Arthur had his first ever solid meal. Until yesterday he was happily feasting on milk alone, morning, afternoon, evening and at times night. But now he has entered the wonderful world of food. It slightly sad; he's growing up fast - five months have gone in a flash.But ultimately I am really excited for him! In preparation for the big food event, I steamed and pureed carrot (organic of course!) for him the previou night, packing the orange mush into some ice-cube trays. It seems only yesterday I was doing the same for Lily. I'm looking forward to gradually introducing other vegetables and fruit to his diet and once he is six months there are all the other foods for him to try such as bread, cheese, fish, cereal, eggs, yoghurt, pasta and rice ..the list goes on. I hope that he will grow up to have a healthy relationship with food and that, like me, he will grow up to love food and will have many happy food memories.
Bon Appetite Arthur! x

The Last of the Veg Box

Today I collect my weekly organic vegetable box. I got back onto the weekly scheme last week owing to the results of a neglected allotment this summer, due to the birth of baby Arthur. Last weeks' box was great value for money. Every evening something from the box formed the foundation for dinner, plus I made a couple of soups, dinners for the freezer and even a (courgette) cake. One thing I really don't like is food waste. So yesterday, I took at look at what was left from my box. Lurking in the bottom of my fridge, counting down the days till it found a new home in the form of the compost bin were the best part of a bunch of limp carrots and half a yellow courgette. In under 20 minutes I gave them a new lease of life by cooking them in some garlic oil with a red onion, some spices, a can of chickpeas and some stock. Once the carrots and courgette were tender I served this aromatic 'stew' with a good dollop of plain yoghurt, a liberal sprinkling of fresh coriander and a wedge of lemon. There was even some left over for Mr G's packed lunch today.

Inspiration No.1 from a box of seasonal vegetables

This week I (re)started the purchasing of a weekly organic vegetable box . I stopped a while back as the allotment was providing us with a plentiful enough harvest, but with a new born baby and our 'silly-season' at work (My husband David and I run a PR company that specialises in contemporary furniture, lighting and homewares - www.pr-girl.com) the allotment has been temporarily abandoned, hence the arrival of the weekly veg box until we get the allotment going again next month. We get our box from Russell's Sussex Farm Food Store & Deli (www.russellsdeli.co.uk), who in turn receives the boxes from a farm in Plumpton, 10 miles away. This week we received a true box of delights - including spaghetti squash, carrots, cucumbers, leeks, courgettes, sweetcorn, runner beans, cherry tomatoes and chard. This afternoon I used the bigger of my two yellow courgettes to make this tasty Courgette and Walnut Loaf Cake. Perfect as it is or toasted with butter.