Marmite with cheese crumbs

This is no Michelin starred dish, but a desperate solution to there being no food in the house. As we wake up to the shock of a dark morning, it worsens as we go downstairs to find there is no fruit and fibre for the boy and not much for the lunchbox. As the mother of all invention after I had squeezed one sandwich out of the cheese there was only the cheesy crumbs left in the bottom of the packet. So this morning for breakfast we have marmite and cheese crumbs on sherston toast and fire porridge, with optional extra fire all to the tune of gangnam style. As for lunch there's jam sandwiches, and for me I'm heading to the shops....

Spiced potatoes

I am currently working on a new project with Foodbank.  We are aiming to produce seven recipes, one for each day of the week, for a main meal using mainly Foodbank ingredients.  With this they can give out a specific box of the right ingredients and recipe to make  a meal. In this we hope to provide a bit more inspiration and help in how to produce a healthy cheap dinner for your family.  I have been experimenting a bit and tonight came up with a spicy potato dish.  We hope that through donations we can provide fresh potatoes and spice mixes to give people a more varied meal. I have a cupboard full of rarely used spices and the more I cook the more I think you can add as much or little variety of them as you have.

Spiced potatoes.

10 small potatoes

2cm fresh ginger sliced finely

1 chilli, deseeded and sliced

2tbs vegetable oil

1tsp black mustard seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp tumeric

1/4 tsp garam masala

Scrub the potatoes and boil until tender in their skins.  When cooled rub the skins off.  Heat the oil and fry your mustard seeds until they pop, add the cumin seeds then the fresh ginger and chilli.  When this has softened add any of the spices you’ve got, then break the potatoes into the spice mix, fry for a couple of minutes then add half a cup of water and cook until it’s absorbed and the potatoes are crisping a bit. Season well and squeeze over some lemon if you like.

We served ours with raita, rice and some green beans, although the temptation was definitely to just eat all the steaming potatoes straight from the pan.