One place we always liked eating at back home were the small mom and pop diners! You always knew you were going to get a decent and tasty meal, as well as good value for your money. 

 

 My ex would always get a club sandwich with chips, and I would either get a BLT or a Western Sandwich.  Or we would both get a hot turkey sandwich, depending on our mood.  These were our favourites!

 

Just because we are on lockdown and unable to get out doesn't mean that our meals have to be boring.  I do have limited fresh vegetables at the moment, consisting mainly of potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions and carrots.  That is all about to change on Friday however!  Yay!

 

Yes, with some diligence and determination I was finally able to get in touch with someone from our city indoor market who is making deliveries, and at a fair price.  

On Friday afternoon I will have cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kiwi, apples, oranges and a few other bits. I am so very grateful for that. And they will deliver it all right to my door and leave it on the step.

 

In the meantime I was able to make my husband and I a sausage and vegetable bake today, using what I do have at the moment.  It was delicious.

 

It is perfectly sized for two people, but you can very easily double the amounts to serve more.  

There are potatoes, sweet potato, carrots and onion, plus two meaty sausages a piece, and a very tasty gravy, which does not use salty gravy powder.  All natural ingredients.

 

My thyme is growing in the garden at the moment. I do wish I had some parsley, but oh well . . . we will live without it.  I wish parsley was one of the herbs that comes back every year like thyme and oregano.

 

Rosemary and sage . . .  but no parsley doesn't and neither does basil.

 

Back to the bake.  This is so simple and easy to do.  You just cut up your vegetables and put them in a baking dish. I used my trusty 7 by 10 inch dish, which is the perfect size.

  

A simple gravy mix is created and then poured in beneath the vegetables.  Its actually probably easier if you put the gravy mix in first and then the vegetables.

 

The sausages are laid on top and then the whole thing just gets baked in a hot oven.  I baked it for half an hour, flipped the sausages over and baked for a further hour.  Easy peasy.

 

The gravy thickens up nicely in that time.  There is no muss or fuss  . . .  no frying involved.

  

This is a meal that basically cooks itself. You really can't get much better than that!

 

If you don't have sausages, I am sure you could use chicken pieces in much the same way.  They would also be very good. How are you all getting along?  

Our weather has been beautiful these last few days so its not been too bad.  We've been able to sit out of doors and enjoy the sunshine and today I even saw butterflies.  Spring is definitely here. 

 

Todd always likes to complain that I have too much food in the house.  I do like to keep the fridge and freezer full and I have a healthy store cupboard.  The last time I went to Canada without him, he made a huge dent in the store cupboard.  He bragged that he didn't have to spend more than £10 a week on groceries. (I seriously doubt that, but you know men!)  In any case I reckon he must have had the strangest meals, made up of whatever tinned food he could get his hands on. I dare not think of it.  I can only tell you that it took me a while to build it back up again, and he broke the can opener when I was away.

 

I can tell you one thing, however  . . .  in these past couple of weeks he has come to appreciate my store cupboard in a way he never has before.  I confess I am a bit worried that we won't be able to make it last.  We are quite lacking in fruits and vegetables.  I have tried to create an online order for some, but you can't get a delivery space at all, and there is no telling if you will even get what's on your list if you did.  I have heard stories of people only getting a fraction of what they needed.  I have also contacted some home delivery vegetable schemes, but again, have had no response. I am afraid we have what we have and that is that.

 

For the moment we do have plenty of frozen protein and I have potatoes and onions, garlic.  Canned tomatoes, beans, mushy peas, corn, apples, peaches, pears, mandarins and pineapple, and I also have tinned fish, chicken and ham, as well as corned beef and some spam. 

 

I am so very grateful for the frozen fish that we have.  We have cod and salmon, haddock and squid rings.  I get all of my fish from Seafresh Quality Foods, which is an online fish monger.  We have always been more than happy with the service and product which we have received from them.

 

Their Cod Loins are exceptional.  Sustainably sourced from the cold waters of the North Atlantic, they are meaty and sweet and beautifully white in colour.

 

They also have much more than fish and seafood available in their online shop. You can also buy chicken and duck, beef and lamb and an assortment of oven ready products.  I love, LOVE their fish fingers! 

 

All of the restaurants and pubs are shut down in the UK now.  Even McDonalds is closed.  Who would have ever thunk that such a day would come.  We are having to get really inventive at home, but really that's no hardship. We have plenty of time on our hands now . . .

 

Today I created a quasi-Fish & Chip supper for us, using some of our precious potatoes and some Cod Loins. I have given quantities for four people but you can easily cut it down to feed two.  I did.

 

You cut the potatoes into fingers and toss them together with some oil and Italian Garlic seasoning.  Spread out on a baking sheet, they go into a hot oven while you prepare your fish.

 

I had thawed my fish out in the refrigerator over night.  I just patted it dry with some paper towel and popped it onto another baking sheet.  I created an herb, garlic and cheese mixture to spread over it and once the chips were about halfway done I popped them into the oven to cook.

  

The end result was perfectly cooked, tender and flavourful cod and chips that we both enjoyed immensely.  I opened a small can of mushy peas to enjoy along with them.  Not quite like the chippy, but probably a whole lot healthier!

  

How are you coping with the restrictions we are having to live with at the moment?  I am a bit worried that what I have will last, but we will see.  In the meantime I think we are very blessed to have what we have.

A few things about Seafresh:

  

We certainly are living in interesting times.   A tad bit scary, but its all pretty much out of our control. So long as we are washing our hands frequently, not touching our faces and isolating or practicing safe social distancing, we should be safe.

We have been self isolating for about a week and a half now, which means that we are not leaving the house and we are relying on our food storage for the most part when it comes to cooking and eating.   The recipe I am sharing with you today is the perfect store cupboard recipe and proof positive that you don't really need a lot of fancy ingredients to provide a delicious meal for your family.

 

In fact this dish only really requires 4 ingredients.  A jar of some really good Italian peeled tomatoes.  A package of pasta. Some butter and an onion.  You might also want some grated Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top of the finished dish.  This is so, so, so simple and I have to tell you it is one of the most delicious pasta dishes you could ever want to eat. 

 

You really want to use good tomatoes with this recipe.  They are the main ingredient so it only makes sense that you would want to use the best that you can find. Today I used Buonassai Pomodoro Pelato, Bio in Salsa.    These are fabulously delicious Italian tomatoes.   This jar was whole peeled plum tomatoes in tomato sauce.  They came from an online source. Cibilia, purveyors of fine Italian foods.

  

The pasta also came from Cibilia..   This is an artisanal Slow Dried Pasta Demetra - Fusilli.  This pasta has been made in Scampitella (AV) 800 meters above the sea and it has been slowly dried with the truly pure mountain air. This is a pasta workshop run by a young couple. I think their pasta is excellent. 

I was sent a nice package of quality Italian ingredients to try a couple of weeks ago, containing several types of pasta, some jars of peeled as well as unpeeled Italian tomatoes, Italian Olive oil, several Italian wines and a variety of Italian Flours.  I am going to enjoy using them over these next few weeks.  This lock down is the perfect opportunity for me to put them through their paces!

 

This was the perfect sauce to use some of those tomatoes in.  As I said it is a very simple sauce and is perfect for showcasing tomatoes to their very best.

  

You can use fresh tomatoes in season if you have them, but in the Winter months, the only way to go is a good bottled or tinned peeled  Italian plum tomato.

 

The tomatoes get dumped into a saucepan along with a peeled and halved onion and some butter.  That's it.

 

You simmer these three things for about 45 to 50  minutes over low heat, until the sauce thickens to your desired thickness. 

 

I like to mash the tomatoes every now and then with the back of a wooden spoon and to make sure that they are not sticking to the bottom of the saucepan.

 

I suppose if you really wanted to you could add some garlic, but really  . . .  that onion gives such a wonderful flavour to the sauce, you don't need anything else.

 

Trust me on this.  Not even any salt and pepper  . . .

 

It is perfect just as it is.  You can of course discard the onion once the sauce has cooked  . . .

 

I like to leave it in however  . . .  it tastes delicious to me.  Its all a matter of preference I think  . . .

 

I left the tomatoes just a bit chunky, and the onion, whole  . . .

 

The pasta al dente . . .  with just a bit of bite.  Again, a personal preference.  I do like a smattering of cheese and coarsely ground black pepper on mine  . . .

  

I adapted the recipe from one I found in the book, Food 52 Genius Recipes, and it was considered delicious enough to put on the cover.  The original recipe is attributed to Chef Marcella Hazen.

 

There's that onion, so sweet  . . .  and delicious.

 

And then there was none  . . .  All I was missing was a good Italian loaf to wipe up all the juices.  Its the simple things really that matter most.  I know I am always saying that, but . . .  its truth.

 

Who would have thought just a few  months ago that we would all be sitting where we are at the moment.  Pandemic. It sounds like something from a "B" movie, but we are all in pretty much the same boat.  Having to take precautions and all sorts.  

Because of my husband's age and both of our underlying health problems, we are have been self-isolating for about a week and a half now and have been told it could be for as much as three months or even longer.  People have been panic-buying in the shops, store shelves have been stripped bare of even the bare essentials.  

What we have in our homes at the moment, is pretty much what we have. It is going to be tough over these next few weeks to keep things interesting as far as food goes to say the least.  I thought I would do a round-up today of some recipes that make good use of store cupboard ingredients and that are delicious and anything but boring.  

My whole blog is filled with recipes quite like this because I have always been a somewhat thrifty cook, and a cook who can turn nothing into a meal.  Here are some of my suggestions, which are really only the tip of the iceberg.