I have not had a good week of eating.  To get me back on track I agreed with myself today that I can eat what I like but it has to be healthy i.e. no sugar, cakes, biscuits, crisps etc.  So no weighing, measuring or counting but eat plenty of nutritious foods.

I felt thirsty when I woke up and am aware I have not drunk enough fluid in the past couple of days so I rectified that with a very long smoothie made with coconut water, berries and banana.

I added some extra nutrients with 1 tbsp each of Lucuma, hemp protein and Maca powder.

It was very thirst quenching and tasted of vanilla and berries but was not too sweet which was a good thing.

I have missed my kitchen this week so was kean to cook but I am also very tired.  So lunch was simple; roasted tomato sauce and pasta.

I had lots of tomatoes left over from last weekend to use up so I cut them in half, laid them on a baking tray and drizzled with minced garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil.  I baked them in the oven for about an hour on 180 ° C.

I decided to not faff about removing skins so I slid the lot in to the blender with a large sprig of fresh basil.

I whizzed the tomatoes with the basil until smooth and stirred it in to the pasta.  I cooked spaghetti, a mixture of wholewheat and white.  I would have preferred only wholewheat but did not have enough.  It was simple and full of flavour from roasting the tomatoes.  I had cheese on top, of course.

For supper I made a recipe from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s marvellous book, Veg Every Day.  If you like chilli, then try this wonderful vegetarian version.

The summer version of the recipe uses peppers and courgette but I made the winter alternative which used mushrooms and squash.  I used a Coquina Squash which is like a Butternut.

Pinto Bean Chilli

Ingredients (serves 4 – 6)

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 onions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 – 3 fresh chillies, according to taste, deseeded and finely chopped
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• Approx 12 large mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 a squash, cubed
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 400g tin tomatoes
• 400 g tin pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 100 ml red wine
• Handful of parsley, chopped
• Handful of coriander, chopped
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• salt and pepper

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onions until soft.
2. Add the chillies, garlic, cumin, cayenne and allspice and cook for about a minute.
3. Add the mushrooms and squash and stir to coat in the spices.
4. Add the tomato puree, tinned tomatoes, pinto beans, red wine, parsley, coriander and oregano.
5. Pour over 200 ml water and season to taste.
6. Cover and simmer gently 25-30 minutes.
7. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Hugh F-W suggests serving this with guacamole, shredded lettuce, soured cream and cheese plus rice or flatbreads.  We had ours with brown basmati rice and some soured cream.  It was delicious and I am glad there is plenty left to have during the week.

So the weather outside was chilly, we feasted on chilli and as soon as I have posted this I will be chilling en famille.  Lovely.