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  I don't know about you, but I find that it's getting harder and harder to stretch my food budget these days.  Food just seems to be costing more and more and sizes are getting smaller.  (Don't get me started on that scam!!) I am always looking for ways to make a little bit go further, but at the same time keeping things to the same standard of deliciousness and nutritiousness that we are used to.   Pasta is a great meal stretcher.  I know it's not Todd's favourite thing to eat, but he does like the idea of saving money, and so he tolerates it.  Myself . . . I adore pasta, and so these types of meals are my absolute favourites! Meals which take a little bit of protein, some vegetable and some pasta, combined in a tasteful way.   Simple recipes which make good use of simple ingredients in a delicious way. I have no idea why this is called Irish Supper.  I am not even sure if this is actually Irish!  Certainly there would be cabbages and sausa...

We had company for supper on Saturday night and I prepared a hearty wholesome meal for us all, Beef Stew and Dumplings .  I served it with fluffy and buttery mashed potatoes and it went down a real treat.  I made extra so that I could have leftovers, because .  .  . as everyone knows things like Beef Stew always taste even better a day or two later on.  Not sure why that is, I only know it is.   Trust me on this. I am a person that has never minded eating leftovers.   I love them.  I do know that some people are not too fussed on having leftovers however, but it seems such a waste to throw good food away so I am going to give you some really great ideas today to use a leftover such as Beef Stew.  Bear in mind that this would work with any type of leftover stew really, chicken, lamb, etc.  They are both really easy. If you always have a sheet of puff pastry in the freezer, ready to roll and use, you have the makings of a very e...

In Canada they have these really tasty candy bars names Sweet Marie's.  They were always my favourite candy bars when I was a child.  Not only were they stogged full of caramel, peanut butter, crispy cereal and salted peanuts . . . not to mention covered in chocolate . . . but they actually named the bars after ME!  (Don't ever tell me any different!) All in all a very irresistable combination don't you think?   I don't know if they have anything similar over here, but I suspect they do . . . and I suspect that it is probably the Picnic or the Lion Bars.   Or a cross between the two. It's funny how things go . . . how when you can't get something anymore, you kind of crave it.   Things like Kraft Macaroni and Cheese . . . or Velveeta . . . All Dressed Potato Chips . . . Coffee Crisp Candy Bars . . . Lucky Charms Cereal . . . Captain Crunch . . . Sweet Marie's . . . And the longer you have to live without them . . . the more you want them.   The...

I just love cinnamon.   It has to be my favourite of the warm spices.  It comes from the inner bark of a few different trees, and is great in both sweet and savory dishes.  I think the smell of cinnamon in the air makes a house smell like a home. I was on Pinterest the other day and I found a recipe that looked fabulous.   (Don't you just love Pinterest?)  It came from a blog called Lauren's Latest .   They looked to good that I had to print it out and I could hardly wait for the weekend so that I could make them for us to enjoy. You will want to use the small pretzel twists for these.  You know the ones.  They are about 1 1/2 inch in size.  Lightly salted.   Don't use any that are flavoured with anything else.  That would just be ucky.   Make sure you mix all of the ingredients together really well when you are mixing in the cinnamon sugar so that they all get coated evenly.  I found that  the cinnamon suar d...

I think the British love sandwiches more than anyone else in the world.  Walk into any shop, and I do mean any . . . and you are sure to find a variety of them, ready made, wrapped and for sale to anyone who feels in the need for some potable and portable sustenance of the this kind.   AND, they come in varities which are suitable for any meal of the day . . . breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack!   I recently treated myself to Nigel Slater's latest cookbook, eat.  You all know how I love Nigel and his way of cooking and eating.  That man could make anything look and sound tasty and he is the master as creating delicious and fast food out of just about anything you can get your hands on.   He has one whole chapter in this book devoted to sandwiches and the like.  My kind of guy.  My kind of cooking. One in particular intrigued me and set my tastebuds to tingling.  This was a sandwich he created using crusty bread, beef drippings and...

     If any of you have been reading my blog for very long you will know by now that I am rather lazy when it comes to cooking.  Not that I am not capable of doing complicated and labor intensive recipes.  I am more than capable . . . but if I can find a quick and easy way of doing something and have it come out top delish, then I am all for it!     I was watching food tv the other day  while I was dusting, as you do (doesn't everyone??) and I just caught the end of this recipe that a guy (don't even know his hame) was making and it looked simple and easy.  I kind of caught the grasp of what he was/had done and I could remember certain elements and so I kind of threw them together and this is what I came up with.   I love brioche . . . those sweet, soft butter buns . . . so good with a nice hot drink, or warmed and spread with butter and ham . . . or nutella.   (Don't judge me!)  This recipe used those love...

  These are busy days when there never seems to be enough hours in the day to get the things done that you really want to get done and this is only the beginning of the Holiday Season!  Just wait a week or two and everything is going to be really crazy! Busy days like this are when it's nice to have something quick and easy up your sleeve that you can rustle up at the drop of a hat for lunch or supper.  Something quick like these Quick Pizza Rolls.  If you have a tin of croissant dough in the fridge, you have a meal, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner! I don't know about your kids, but mine were always crazy about pizza or anything that even remotely  resembled a pizza, and things like this were high on their list of favourites.   Back home you could buy frozen pizza pockets and pizza rolls, and they liked them, but I think it's even better if you can rustle up something similar yourself. Something which they will still like but isn't loaded with too muc...