Pinoy Hubby

When I was just starting out in my career a more senior colleague used to go to Birley’s to buy his lunch most days. That was at least ten years ago and when I went to a Birley’s recently I thought ‘wow, they’ve been going for ten years’. In fact, they have been around for more than 25 years, according to the company’s website – the secret to their longevity is perhaps partly that they do move with the times but aren’t built around trends. If you just want a ham sandwich (that isn’t pre-packaged), you can get a sandwich – but they also do things like Cajun spiced chicken focaccia.   I was on a course near to the chain’s Cannon Street location and didn’t have long for lunch, but didn’t want to take a sandwich back to the windowless basement room the course was in. I didn’t think I had time to eat in a café but tried Birley’s and was pleasantly surprised. I got a table, and had enough time to eat a hot toasted Cubano sandwich containing ham, pulled pork and pickles, and get back to my c

When it comes to giving a gluten-free person a great gift, it can be hard to find something that they will like. Staying clear of some of the most popular type of presents makes it tricky to come up with ideas, especially for those who are not naturally good at shopping for presents for other people. Giving someone a hamper at Christmas is a good way to give them a selection of their favourite things but if that person is gluten free, it is vital to ensure that everything inside the festive basket can be enjoyed. This means that it is important to do a bit of research before buying anything and looking at the ingredients is a good idea, and anything that is gluten free will be advertised as such, so look at the labels before buying. Tasty gluten free hampers for Christmas are fairly easy to put together once a few gluten free items have been identified and while some people will choose to put their own hamper together; others will prefer to use a company that specialises in Christmas

Monday spaghetti Bolognese Tuesday tuna steak and spiralized veg for me, chicken chargrills for him Wednesday prawn stirfry with spiralized veg and creamy quark sauce; my husband will go to his mum's Thursday bubble and squeak patty for me, gammon for him Friday burger and chips Saturday Lunch: hotdogs Dinner: chicken thighs and roast potatoes (cook extra chicken for tomorrow) Sunday Lunch: pizza bagels Dinner: filled Yorkshire puddings using leftover chicken This is a blog hop- join in! An InLinkz Link-up

Where can you hear from Michael Zee, the man behind the Instagram sensation Symmetry Breakfasts, Kate Doran from food blog Little Loaf, Alex Stedman of fashion blog The Frugality, Amali de Alwis, CEO of Code First: Girls, restaurant critic, author and TV pundit Grace Dent, Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, lawyer, cookbook author and wife of former Deputy PM Nick Clegg and Dan Doherty of restaurant Duck and Waffle? Why, at Stylist Live , of course!     I love Stylist magazine - it's distributed free of charge in certain large cities (including London where I work) and at airports, a ground-breaking idea for a 'proper' magazine. It's weekly so smaller than the monthly glossies but in my opinion the same level of quality and a really excellent publication, as its various awards prove. Several months ago I saw an ad in the magazine for Stylist Live - an event in London featuring over 150 inspiring talks and workshops with stalls and demonstrations. I feel like I don't often sp

We had a bake sale for Macmillan at work recently and even though I wasn't going to be in the office that day, I wanted to take part. I decided to make cupcakes as I was going to have to do them mid-week after work, and I don't get home that early thanks to a long commute. When there is a lot of choice in a bake sale, the things that go first tend to be the more indulgent-looking or more unusual. I remembered ages ago seeing some Jammie Dodger cupcakes online and knew there was a recipe in the Hummingbird Bakery book . The recipe in the  book explains how to make your own Jammie Dodger-style biscuits, which might be a fun thing to do one day, but I didn’t have time for that, so I bought a packet of mini Jammie Dodgers to use on top of the cupcakes. I remembered how good my cupcakes were that have an Oreo biscuit base and a Jaffa Cake base and decided to use a full-size Jammie Dodger in the base, before the batter was cooked, and also add a spoonful of jam in the middle of th

This recipe comes from a card picked up in Sainsbury's years ago; I have made it before but never blogged about it so thought I would do so now. It's a good way to get extra vegetables into your diet - I don't like red pepper in large quantities but enjoyed this recipe. To serve 4, you need: 1/2 tbsp. olive oil 4 skinless chicken breasts 2 fresh chillies, deseeded 2 large red peppers, deseeded, cored and chopped 75g sundried tomatoes 2 tsp soft light brown sugar 1 tbsp. white wine vinegar 227g can chopped tomatoes salt, pepper Brush a large frying pan with the oil and cook the chicken breasts over a medium heat for about 15 minutes or until cooked through - it will take longer if they are large. Meanwhile put all the other ingredients in a food processor and whizz until smooth.   Transfer the sauce to a saucepan and heat through for a few minutes, then serve the chicken breasts with the sauce on top.

This is a quick, informal card (perhaps in the way that Mary Berry means when she says informal) that is suitable for someone of any age and gender. I used a piece of red and yellow polka dot paper to cover a card blank which I decided to use in landscape orientation. The three pictures mounted onto it are cut from an old birthday card I received - there's nothing wrong with recycling! I added the words 'happy birthday' from a pack of silver outline stickers, mounted onto a piece of red card.

I love salmon and often when I'm planning my week's meals, I put down salmon for one night - it tastes so good I don't really need to do anything, and can quickly cook a piece of salmon and some vegetables for a delicious dinner. Sometimes though it's nice to do something a bit different. I found this recipe in my BBC Saturday Kitchen Cookbook; it's also available on the BBC website. You make a crust from breadcrumbs, cheese and herb, and press it on top of the salmon. I didn't bother with the part where you chill it in the fridge and instead mixed it and pressed it straight onto the fish. The fish is baked in a mixture of fish stock and wine which keeps it light and gives it a lovely flavour. I didn't bother roasting the tomatoes as I don't like them, but didn't think the dish lacked anything for it.

Do you have a favourite local pub? My husband and I aren't really drinkers and when we go out for meals it tends to be after work in central London, or when we are away visiting family or friends, rather than anywhere around where we live. But a few weeks ago I really fancied a Sunday roast. We were visiting my brother-in-law and his family but they had to be somewhere at midday, so I suggested to my mother-in-law, who was also with us, that we go for lunch afterwards. We only decided this at the last minute and I don't know any pubs in the area where we were going to be - around Caterham and Kenley, so resorted to Google Maps to see what was nearby, then went to the establishments' websites and read some reviews. Perhaps not the way most people decide on a pub for Sunday lunch, but it worked for me! I chose the Fox which described itself as a "country pub oozing rural charm and rustic behaviour" with "hearty, seasonal pub food". It's part of the Vin

Last week's meal plan went out the window a bit as I was working late a lot and my husband was off work ill for several days. So there are various things I didn't make that I am going to put on the meal plan for this week, which makes planning a bit quicker! Monday Sticky sausages with carrots and couscous from this Tesco recipe Tuesday chicken curry to use up coconut milk from this recipe Wednesday my husband will probably be at his mum's so I will have some spiralized veg with a creamy sauce and salmon Thursday pesto chicken in tomato sauce with mashed potato Friday chicken kievs and chips Saturday Lunch: I'm out all day on a training course, where lunch is provided Dinner: tacos with potato wedges Sunday Brunch : beignets Dinner : roast vegetable and cashew pie from the new GBBO cookery book (chicken pie for my husband as he won't eat this), served with vegetables and quick herb butter sauce from the same book This is a blog hop - join in! An InLinkz Link-up

  While I was in the middle of Sugar-Free September I wanted to make a cake to take into the design agency I work with as I was spending a day working with them. I always take cake and didn't want them to miss out just because I wasn't eating sweet treats, so I had a good idea: to make a cake I didn't like and wouldn't eat! I had some blueberries in the freezer that I'd been given and I don't really like blueberries (even in muffins). I've got a gorgeous-looking recipe book I've hardly used, called Cox Cookies & Cake - it was a pop-up (or in any case relatively short-lived) bakery in London's Soho that was a collaboration between baker Eric Lanlard and fashion designer Patrick Cox, that had very glamorous, decadent - and sometimes slightly naughty (cupcake toppers of topless men or showgirl legs) treats. I remember fondly going there with a friend while we were shopping in Soho for Halloween party costumes a few years ago. Reminiscing aside, the

When I was at university, my friend Dan made the best late-night post-pub cheese toasties - I've had my own Breville sandwich toaster for several years (the same brand that my parents had when I was a kid, a long time ago) and there is definitely something comforting, if a little greasy, about a toasted cheese sandwich. I usually add a slice of ham and maybe a smear of mustard to mine, but that's as fancy as it goes. I was looking through a recipe book I have reviewed before called Breakfast for Dinner looking for weekend lunch recipes and came across Monte Cristos - which are effectively cheese toasties but posher. Apparently this particular recipe originated in the US - it uses turkey and goat's cheese, with hot red pepper jelly for sweetness and spice, though as I didn't have any and didn't want to make it from scratch, I used cranberry jelly instead. You don't need a dedicated sandwich toaster - you make this in a skillet or frying pan, brushing the bread wi