this week

No mud, no lotus.

Another week closer to Christmas, friends! Work shows no signs of slowing down for Tom and I, but we like being kept busy. Lots of cool projects on the go, which is great!

Favourite experience of the week

I really enjoyed the “work in progress” day run by the multidisciplinary research group I’m part of at uni. I didn’t have to present for a change so I just got to sit back, enjoy a vegan brownie and a soy chai latte and hear about what other people are researching, what bliss! The highlight of the day was an afternoon podcasting masterclass from Dr Siobhan McHugh, who has produced some of the country’s most interesting and awarded narrative podcasts in recent years. Podcasting has changed so much from when I was doing mine 10 years ago. I hope I might start that up again one day, it was one of the highlights of my career so far.

Reading

Books I picked up from the library today….to add to the every growing pile!

I finally finished Olivia Yallop’s Break the Internet, which really cemented the decision to step away from social media for me. The more I read, the more I realised that social media and the wider internet, once fascinating portals for connection and unique experiences, have become increasingly problematic, bloated by clickbait, “patrolled by brands and policed by algorithms” (p.247). I found this quote particularly resonant: “2020 just proved that social media platforms aren’t engineered for action, but for advertising, promoting call-out culture over community and individualism over solidarity.”

Yallop herself reaches a breaking point similar to my own in January, finding the world of social media, junklords and influencers too triggering, too vacuous, too caustic and fraught. If you are thinking about stepping away yourself, this book will probably make the decision for you. I also found the glossary, as an elder millennial not entirely au fait with all the latest internet lingo, very helpful!

Sydney Review of Books: Only Feelings - Catriona Menzies-Pike on Gina Rushton - really enjoyed this, especially this quote: “What’s unusual about this book is that it is nothing like a manifesto. It makes no firm case for any woman to decide to want to have a child or not — not even Rushton. There’s plenty of anger — about climate change, access to health care, and the shadow of patriarchy — but if there is a call to action, it’s a very quiet and highly caveated appeal to reflect and listen, to make space for the varieties and complexities of human lives.” [emphasis added by me]

To All the Recipes I’ve Loved Before - I discovered this wonderful foodie newsletter and indulged in reading the archives and fantasising about recreating some of the dishes Sonya writes so evocatively about. I was even more delighted to find she lives in Tassie too.  

I also started diving back in to this wonderful biography of my beloved Sylvia Plath who I’ve got back into in a big way this year. This doorstop of a book spares no detail and while I’m deeply familiar with Plath’s life story, I’m so enjoying the deep dive particularly of episodes I haven’t read much about before.

Listening to

I overheard Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” playing in the Reject Shop (UK readers, it’s Hobart’s equivalent of Poundland, perhaps?) when I was there earlier (more about that in the Picking section!) which was quite the earworm so I have had some 2010s electro pop playing on repeat while cooking. So many of them used to be on my running playlist! I have started listening to podcasts when I run now, which is interesting. I don’t run as fast as I do when I run to music, but the run itself goes faster, if that makes sense?! I don’t know which I prefer!

I was inspired by Tuesday’s podcasting masterclass to get into some new narrative podcasts so I checked out Stuff the British Stole, which Siobhan played us an excerpt of - loved it!

The Imperfects: Josh, Hugh and Ryan are awesome and I so enjoy listening to this podcast. This week I listened to their interview with Oliver Burkeman which was great entertainment for me while gardening and on my run I listened to Josh’s episode on how to defeat envy, which was so very interesting and relatable.

Eating

It’s been a funny week for cooking and eating - I had a list of new things to try but didn’t quite get round to them and instead relied on leftovers and the freezer as it turned into a rather busy week. We had pasta with lentil ragu which I cooked up and froze a few weeks ago, dhal from the freezer with basmati rice and flatbreads, a noodle stir fry (not unlike this one) with vegetables I was given from the work in progress day, and the mushroom and pumpkin crispy gnocchi from The Green Roasting Tin. The Full Vegan made an appearance on the weekend (we ate outside, in 30 degree heat! That feels like a dream as it’s freezing again now!) and the Tom of Hummus (see last week’s post) has also been made again!

All the Oreo brownies have been eaten so naturally another baked good was needed - the usual vegan banana bread was made yesterday with the blackened fruit in the bowl I had left there especially for the purpose. As bananas are so cheap at the moment, and frozen fruit is not, I’ve taken to buying a generous bunch or two of bananas and freezing them for smoothies (I also do this with other seasonal fruit in the summer like apricots and berries). The peels get made into fertiliser for my garden and two or three get left in the fruit bowl deliberately for banana bread. It’s a most satisfying arrangement!

I’ve also stocked up on apples and pears for Christmas chutney, which I think will be made this weekend, if we’re in for more rain…sigh!

Drinking

I discovered this alcohol-free Prosecco while in Melbourne and was delighted to see it in our local Woolworths! A really lovely alternative to sparkling wine, perfect for the silly season.

Watching

Honestly? 30 Rock and a few how-to YouTube videos (mostly to do with CSS and cleaning fountain pens!). Nothing exciting.

Wearing

A mask, everywhere! Hobart’s COVID risk level has gone from low to moderate, and I’ve noticed a lot more people wearing them. I can’t remember the last time I went into the supermarket or the library without one.

Something else I’ve been wearing, despite the mask…makeup! I bought some while I was in Melbourne from, of all places, The Body Shop and it’s amazing! I used to wear Body Shop makeup a lot when I was younger (in fact, my first ever lipgloss and mascara were from there, circa 1994) but hadn’t used them for many years, as I worked my way through the loot I was given from the Cosmo beauty cupboard (which surprisingly lasted a very long time!). I was delighted to find the Body Shop still works on my slightly more mature skin! My standard routine is now their Fresh Nude foundation applied with a sponge, concealer and powder (still using my Hourglass and Laura Mercier ones respectively for now), this gorgeous Shimmer Waves blush palette (which, while I was travelling, doubled as eyeshadow), and their Super Volume Mascara. Everything is so easy to apply and stays in place pretty much all day. I love how The Body Shop is slowly working towards having a fully vegan range too. I highly recommend them!

PICKING

Strawberries! Well, just about. I’ll pick all the ripe ones this weekend, as I’ve been fending off the greedy birds all week. I had to go to the Reject Shop to get some pinwheels to keep them off. As shown here:

When the wind gets up (and boy does it down here!), those pinwheels spin like mad and scare the birds off a treat. They have been a very handy addition to the garden these past few years!

I also picked two giant bags of spinach and silverbeet when I gave the side garden a haircut. The zucchini are coming along beautifully now that the sun can get to them. I also noted with delight the green shoot of the potatoes poking through in the tyre tower. I don’t know what kind of summer we’ll have, but I am hopeful.

I also picked MY FIRST LEMON!

Tom got me a lemon tree for Christmas in 2020 and fruit only started appearing this year - I was worried I’d killed it for the longest time! Today I needed lemon for the Tom of hummus, so I picked my first one off my very own tree. It was a proud moment. I grated some zest in as well as juice. It’s a very lemony hummus as a result, but I like that.

Morning routine - coffee and Morning Pages…

Proud of

A very satisfying work project being almost at completion, and the client being delighted, with only some minor changes left to do. I’ve so loved working on this and am very excited to share it (so is the client)!

Sticking to my morning routine of meditation for 2,048 days straight (that’s 5.5 years) and doing Morning Pages for 1,085 days (nearly 3 years to the day). Not that I’m counting, the apps do that for me! I started a new journal this week, my sixth for the year. They fill up very quickly these days!

I’ve got a huge post in drafts about journaling, as it’s one of the things I’m asked about the most. Stay tuned for that very soon, hopefully I’ll have it ready for you to read over the holidays!

Quote of the week

“Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.” - Mary Oliver

If you’d like to share your thoughts on this post, or anything else, with me, please do! I hope you’re also finding things to savour at the moment, that make you think and that make you smile. Have a happy and safe weekend xx

Please note: this blog post has affiliate links with Booktopia which means I may receive a commission for a sale that I refer, at no extra cost to you.

this week

It’s always fun to spot The Latte Years out in the wild! I don’t think seeing my book on a library shelf will ever get old. I also love how our State Library puts a little Tassie sticker on the spine if you’re a local author.

Sometimes I’m glad I just went with This Week as the title of these weekly updates - something simple, rather than anything clever or exciting. I got trained out of that some years ago when the Elders of the Internet suddenly told us that blog post titles that were too clever, a pun or a play on words, where the reader might have to work for the meaning, were bad for SEO, or led to lower engagement and higher bounce rates. I get the rationale for it, I do.

But if I were giving each weekly update post its own title, this week I might have gone with The Physics of Failure.

A supremely clever and dear friend of mine is an engineer and that is her specialty. But I also think it’s a fantastic summation of trying to write the first draft of a complicated novel.

Take this equation from my most recent work day - write 500 words, delete 5000. What kind of algorithm is that? How is it possible to estimate or predict anything about the creative process? “Honestly, who would do this?” my colleague wrote back in solidarity when we exchanged emails about our writing progress that day.

But I do want to do this, as excruciating as it is. Putting a book together, as Annie Dillard writes, is “interesting and exhilarating. It is sufficiently difficult and complex that is engages all your intelligence. It is life at its most free.”

So, there is nothing to do but keep buggering on, as Winston Churchill said. I steel myself as I prepare for the week ahead, but also I’m rather excited as I wonder whether the draft might be completely different this time next week. What might happen? What might I discover?

Favourite experience/s of the week

Coffee with my parents at a cafe for the first time in about a year (in a cafe, that is, I have seen my parents often in that time!). I’m grateful that hanging out with them regularly is now the norm, no longer a biennial event, though I still savour spending time with them, all the same.

A visit to the hairdresser for the first time since February! My last hairdresser sadly moved away so I had to find a replacement - the lovely lady who did my hair on Tuesday recognised me once I pulled my mask down to take a sip of water. It turned out she did my sister’s hair for her wedding, many years ago. Hashtag Hobart!

Reading

Again mostly PhD stuff but I also managed to read Karen Hitchcock’s The Medicine: A Doctor’s Notes, a collection of her essays about what it’s like to work in the Australian public health system today - interestingly, published in February 2020 and therefore some of her warnings about the dire state of things proved to be correct. Her writing is so insightful and sharp and quite haunting. Karen has been one of my favourite writers for years, ever since I listened to a highly entertaining and engaging interview with her on the ABC in 2010, which I also very much recommend as well as her book of short stories.

I’m also spending some time with Annie Dillard in her restorative and elemental The Writing Life.

Listening to

The First Time: Masters Series - Christos Tsolkias. I managed Part One, which was great, and Part Two is even more insightful but I’ve still got some of that to go, so that’s first on the list for my next walk. Such a talented, humble man and so passionate. I particularly loved this bit from Part Two:

I get told that people want to write revolutionary stuff; they want to write radical stuff; they want to burn the world; [where] their writing is “talking back to the man”…and then, it’s the most timid writing. Everyone I speak to seems to be terrified of what someone’s going to say about them on Twitter so they will not risk an opinion that is challenging. And, more vilely, they won’t defend a friend who gets attacked because they’re scared of the damage that will come their way.

Christos was referring to the mindset and viewpoint of his characters Christo and Andrea in his latest novel 7 1/2 but these are thoughts he, like anyone writing a contemporary novel, has as well. I think it holds a lot of truth!

I also discovered that the Dandy Warhols released an extremely interesting album, that’s about four hours long, in 2020 called Tafelmuzik Means More When You’re Alone - I’ve not yet listened to the whole thing as it’s not quite writing music, though the first two tracks could be. It takes the concept of Tafelmuzik, which was designed to be played to accompany banquets in the 16th century, and turns it on its head a bit. It’s meditative and weird and I kind of love it.

I’ve also had Nils Frahm’s Lemon Day on repeat this week, and while writing this post!

Seriously sensational mashed potato flatbreads.

Eating

The week’s eats were:

Sunday: All-in-one sweet potato Thai curry from The Green Roasting Tin by Rukmini Iyer - this was luscious and so easy to make when we’d got in late from watching the football with the family. It was lovely and soupy, a bit like a laksa.

Monday: Jerk-spiced lentils with rice and mashed potato flatbreads. The flatbreads were seriously out of this world and totally worth having to have all the windows and doors open because of how smoky the kitchen got! Next time I’ll do them on the barbecue but WOW, they tasted like the naan from the Indian street food stall at Spitalfields Market, where I used to prowl around on a Thursday lunchtime back in the day. I can write up the recipe if you like but it was very simple - equal parts leftover mashed potato and self-raising flour, with a bit of soy milk to bind it all together. Spread each flatbread with butter or vegan equivalent while you keep them warm. We had the leftover flatbread (I’m amazed there was any left) with soup the next day for lunch.

Tuesday: It was meant to be risotto, but I ruined it by adding something that had gone off to it (why didn’t I check it first?!) so we ended up having hot chips in the air fryer and a packet of Digestive biscuits. Plus wine. That might have been why the risotto was ruined.

Wednesday: Jerk spiced lentils with pasta (as an alternative bolognese, it’s very delicious).

Thursday: Vegan curried sausages with rice and greens. Very yummy! I was trying to recreate the dish I remembered from my childhood after a chat with my new hairdresser about comfort food, but it wasn’t quite how I remembered it. I think my parents might have used a milder curry powder as well as extra turmeric and milk instead of stock to get more nutrition into their growing girls. I recall the sauce being neon yellow, and very creamy. More experiments needed.

Friday: Jerk spiced lentils with pasta again - I had no desire to repeat Tuesday’s disaster so went with something safe! After a long day, the most I could handle was boiling water and stirring a sauce through.

Saturday: Burger and chips, which we hadn’t had for quite a while. I put some aged walnut cheese on mine which felt rather decadent.

I also made another stash of Nigella’s vegan gingerbread which happily keeps for weeks, and Rachel Ama’s ginger lime cake from her brilliant One Pot book. One cannot write a book without cake. And tea. There’s been plenty of that too.

Watching

Mission Impossible: Fallout (4K Blu Ray) - a Tom choice, but I have been pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable the Mission Impossible franchise is. A bit like James Bond (up until recently that is!), I relax a lot knowing that Ethan Hunt will never be killed off and will therefore pretty much get out of every situation, however dire and un-winnable it appears. That helps me enjoy an action film a lot more. Though I was genuinely sad and shocked when Alec Baldwin’s character doesn’t make it (sorry for the spoiler!). And the sprightly presence of Simon Pegg makes any film a joy to watch.

Sisters (Blu Ray) - we watched this in 2015 and, being so new to Tina Fey’s work at that point and most of the SNL alumni (I know, what rock had I been living under?), I have to confess I didn’t enjoy it on the first watch. We gave it another try this weekend, having become great fans of Amy Poehler and Paula Pell in the intervening years as well, and on this watch I thought it was fantastic. Perhaps I just get the humour more, or recognised so many of the cast, or perhaps now I’m in my early forties, the same age as the protagonists, everything felt a tad more relatable? Either way, I’m really glad we gave it another go.

The Brittas Empire (DVD) - Tom surprised me with the boxset as an early anniversary present and we’ve been laughing non-stop. A lot of comedies from the 1990s have not aged brilliantly but this one is an exception. I was only a child when this show was originally televised and there is something about revisiting shows that you enjoyed as a kid about workplaces and obnoxious bosses as an adult that just gives it so much more meaning and that rings true so much more. I wonder if my favourite blog Ask A Manager might ever dissect Gordon Brittas’ management style for a laugh?!

Quote of the week

Spotted in London a few months ago….

“Create. Every day. And making excuses does not count.” - Wrdsmith

If you’d like to share your thoughts on this post, or anything else, with me, please do! Let me know what you’ve been up to, and what’s been inspiring you, if you like. I love hearing from you. Stay well, until next week! xx

fennel and butter bean stew

It might be spring during the day here, but it’s still winter at night! With a fat bulb of fennel in one hand and a can of butter beans in the other, I concocted this stew yesterday evening as the temperature dropped and rain lashed at the windows. I was craving warmth, flavour and comfort. A lot to ask from one bowl of food, you might think, but this dish delivered on all fronts! It’s also full of fibre, which is a great bonus.

It’s perfect bowl food in front of the TV but I think it would be snazzy enough to serve to guests too, especially with a lovely glass of wine alongside.

If you think you don’t like fennel, I would urge you to give this a try. It becomes mellow, sweet and juicy and soaks up the nutty and buttery flavours of the sauce beautifully.

Mash is the obvious accompaniment - I made mine with a handful of grated Parmesan in, to give a little extra salty richness, which rounded off everything nicely. You could also serve it with couscous, gnocchi or lightly toasted thick slices of sourdough. Either way, you’ll want something to soak up all that delicious sauce, trust me!

Fennel and butter bean stew with capers

Serves 4

Olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large celery stick (including leaves if you like), finely chopped
1 large fennel bulb, chopped into bite-size pieces (save the fronds for garnish)
4-5 large pieces of silverbeet or chard (chop the stems and leaves, then separate and use the stems in the early part of the cooking and save the leaves for adding last)
8-10 sundried tomato halves, plus a little of their oil
1 x 420 g can butter beans, drained
2 bay leaves, preferably fresh
Needles from 1 large sprig fresh rosemary
50 g unsalted butter
A large splash of sherry (the kind you’d drink in Seville with tapas!), or white or red wine, even red wine vinegar would be OK
2-3 cups stock (I use the vegan Massel ‘chicken’ stock)
2 tablespoons capers
Salt and pepper

Fill your kettle and put it on to boil.

Get a large casserole or saute pan - I use my Le Creuset casserole dish - and add a splash of olive oil and place over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, celery, fennel pieces and chopped silverbeet stalks and cook until they start to soften.

Add the sundried tomatoes halves plus a little drizzle of their oil, the drained butter beans, bay leaves and rosemary needles, and turn the heat up slightly, stirring everything to combine. Add the butter, turn the heat up a little more. Make your stock from the boiling water from the kettle.

Once the butter is melting/melted and the pan is very hot, add a generous splash or two of sherry or whatever alcohol you have to hand. It should sizzle most satisfyingly! Stir quickly to coat everything and make sure nothing is sticking or starting to get too brown - turn the heat down if so.

Otherwise, add your stock, stir everything well and allow the pot to come to the boil, then reduce right down to a simmer. Add salt and pepper if you like (I often do it here and at the end). Stir one more time to ensure nothing is caught at the bottom and then put the lid on and set your timer for 20 minutes.

Make your mash while the stew is cooking.

After 20 minutes, add the capers and chopped silverbeet/chard leaves, and stir well to wilt the leaves. Allow to simmer another minute or two, taste for seasoning and then get your ladle out, ready to serve!

Serve alongside mash or whatever sponge for the delicious sauce you’ve decided on. Prepare to be wowed!

healthy no-waste veggie burgers

I had a favourite brand of vegetarian burgers that I’ve been buying since we moved here - Woolworths’ Macro Vegetable and Chickpea burgers. $4 for a pack of four. A delicious bargain.

Since the COVID-19 chaos kicked off, these burgers have been nowhere to be seen in any of Hobart’s Woolworths. They may well still be available on the mainland - perhaps Tasmania simply doesn’t have the vegetarian population to justify shipping them down! And let’s face it, for the last five months, I’ve just been grateful that most of my preferred items have been available. Veggie burgers are easy enough to make from scratch!

In constant pursuit of my no-waste policy, and Tom’s adoration of our “burger and chips night”, an alternative burger was created from leftover cooked brown rice, vegetables and a can of black beans. They are, I am not exaggerating, the *best* burger I have ever made at home. Add all the fixins, a pile of golden oven-cooked chips and you’ll wonder why you’d ever bother going out for dinner at all. Which, let’s face it, many people cannot at the moment. This burger is for all of you.

No-waste veggie burgers

Makes at least 12, depending on size

350g leftover vegetables (I used frozen mixed vegetables defrosted in a little boiling water then drained)
500g leftover cooked rice
1 x 420g can black beans, drained
100g fresh breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons wholemeal plain flour
2 tablespoons garlic powder
Fresh herbs, as much as you like (I used basil, parsley, mint, rosemary and thyme)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

It couldn’t be simpler. Whack everything in a food processor, blitz until the mixture is pureed and the consistency of mince. You shouldn’t need to add any liquid at all, but you can add a splash of water or the bean liquid if it’s too dry and not coming together.

Wet your hands slightly and scoop out handfuls of the mixture and shape into patties. I use my egg rings to get them a fairly uniform shape and size (just spray the insides with cooking spray first).

You can either grill them straight away (if so, I would dust lightly with a little flour, depending on how wet the mixture is) or do what I do and freeze them in a large container with a layer of baking paper between them. I got 14 out of this mixture - two we ate straight away and I froze the remaining 12.

I cook them from frozen in a super hot oven (about 220 C), with the chips. The first side gets 20 minutes, then I take them out of the oven, flip them over and put them back in for 15 minutes. For the last five minutes, I usually put some cheese on top to melt and put them back in the oven for five minutes, together with the brioche buns (which I’ve usually had defrosting most of the day) to warm up.

This method gives the burger a nice crunchy exterior but the inside remains moist. I haven’t tried them on a barbecue yet but summer is just around the corner! I will report back.

“All the fixins?” I usually ask Tom at this point.

“Of course,” he responds.

So our burger fixins are - mayo, whatever relish or chutney I have open (this week it was the fiery apricot chutney I made in February), mustard, sauerkraut, baby spinach or rocket (or any salad leaves), pickled tomatoes, pickled chillies and a bit of basil pesto if there’s any kicking about. All piled on top of the burger in a (storebought) brioche bun. Sounds like a strange mixture but it’s all very delicious!

Enjoy!

no-waste lockdown meal plan, week 2

Glad you enjoyed my lockdown meal planning suggestions! I know it’s a scary time for a lot of us. I say let’s try and find comfort where we can and if that’s in cooking, enjoying your food and learning to make your own sourdough or yoghurt or whatever you fancy, then I say go for it. We’re all coping as best we can.

As promised, here is this week’s plan (subject to change, naturally!) and some encouragement to use this time to nourish yourself and your family, make the most of what you have already, and waste as little as possible.

Have a look at your fridge, freezer and cupboards
We have to minimise trips to the supermarket at the moment, so it makes sense to use what you have at home before venturing out to get more. Scan your fridge, pantry and freezer and see what ingredients you have already. You could even log it all in a spreadsheet and update it as you buy or use things if that’s helpful. That’s what I’m doing, but 1) that’s my project management training and 2) I kind of like taking things to the extreme!

Make a list of meals you can make
Once you know what you have in, make a list of all the meals you can think of using the ingredients you have. This is a lot of fun. You could also write down a list of all your (and partner/family’s, if you’re cooking for others too) favourite meals and see which ones you have the ingredients in for - it might be more than you think, or you could make some substitutes (grate halloumi instead of parmesan, for example).

Make a plan
Once you have your list of dishes, organise them into a week’s worth of lunches and dinners, prioritising using up the perishable items first like fresh vegetables and fruit, already-opened dairy and protein, half-empty jars of pastes/sauces in the fridge, that kind of thing.

Be adaptable and flexible
I anticipate that my meal plan might have a few switches as the week progresses. That’s cool! I think one of the best things we can be right now is flexible and roll with things, day by day.

What about breakfast?
Breakfast is probably the meal that has changed the most for me these past few weeks.

About a month ago, I stopped having a big smoothie for breakfast, which I used to do at least three times a week, if not more. I realised that, while it was a very nutritious breakfast, with the amount of fruit, almond milk, oats, peanut butter, etc I was putting in it, it was far more calorie-dense than I needed. And of course, with everything that has happened, I’m now keen to use oats, fruit, milk and other smoothie ingredients in other ways, to make them stretch further.

So our breakfasts now are pretty simple - porridge (which I make a little extra of, to make porridge bread); toast (mostly aforementioned porridge bread, with butter and Vegemite, butter and jam, ricotta and jam; or pesto and pickled tomatoes for something more substantial); or a small bowl of plain Greek yoghurt, if we want something light. I often swirl in a spoonful of homemade apple butter into the yoghurt, which is sublime.

On with the show!

Here’s this week’s plan for me and Tom. I will update with links to recipes as I make/photograph them!

Sunday 5/4
Lunch: Zucchini and butterbean soup + bread
Dinner: Roast pumpkin pizza

Monday 6/4
Lunch: Zucchini and butterbean soup + avocado toast
Dinner: Shepherd’s pie + broccoli

Tuesday 7/4
Lunch: Pumpkin and feta toasties
Dinner: Chickpea saag + rice

Wednesday 8/4
Lunch: Chickpea saag leftovers made into soup + bread
Dinner: Pumpkin, broccoli and silverbeet risotto

Thursday 9/4
Lunch: Pickled tomato and cheese toasties
Dinner: Pasta with rich chickpea sauce (adapt this recipe)

Friday 10/4
Lunch: Baked potato with beans and spinach
Dinner: Veggie burger, salad + chips

Saturday 11/4
Lunch: Poached eggs on sourdough avocado toast
Dinner: Eggplant, tomato and ricotta bake + green beans

I’m planning a lovely roast for Easter lunch on Sunday - but am not sure which nuts I have in for the traditional nut roast. That should be a fun experiment!

What about you? What’s on your meal plan this week?