Pinoy Hubby

I haven't had much time to plan this week's meals as we have been decorating the spare room which has taken up almost every evening- and I do my food shopping on Saturdays so I had to quickly plan some meals in between painting the walls. I did put on a pound last week which is annoying as I was trying to lose weight before going on holiday next week! Monday Breakfast boiled egg - at the moment it looks like I will be working from home, the high winds means all my trains are cancelled! Lunch leftover pasta bake Dinner Steak and potato wedges Tuesday Breakfast yogurt Lunch out for lunch with some colleagues Dinner leftover chicken en croute for me, chicken kiev for the OH Wednesday Breakfast yogurt Lunch sandwich Dinner sausage tikka masala - it's a Slimming World chicken tikka masala recipe but I don't want to have chicken three days in a row, but there aren't many other things my boyfriend will eat. I will have a vegetable curry. Thursday Breakfast ...

Restaurant name: Bea of Bloomsbury Location: St. Paul's, London Description: Tea shop and cafe nestled into the side of the One New Change shopping centre. There is a takeaway counter downstairs and a seating area upstairs. Reason for visit: Lunch with a former work colleague who works nearby. I ate: Roast chicken with some sort of potato salad in a herby dressing. Actually a really good option if you are Food Optimizing on Slimming World! Followed by cheesecake, which is not quite so Slimming World-friendly. My companion ate: Cous cous salad with broccoli - he was on a pre-wedding diet! The food was: Nice but fairly safe - my chicken was quite plain. They don't have a huge amount of choices at lunchtime but there are different types of meal on offer - sandwiches, salads, pasta, soup - but only a couple of flavours of each. The cakes are to die for though - Bea's is the inventor of the townie, a cross between a tart and a brownie! They also do afternoon tea here,...

Monday Breakfast yogurt Lunch chicken risotto Dinner at choir rehearsal - will take sandwich Tuesday Breakfast yogurt Lunch sandwich Dinner Pizza Express pizzas from Tesco (on a special offer and my boyfriend loves them!) Wednesday Breakfast yogurt Lunch meeting with lunch provided Dinner chicken in honey mustard sauce with mashed potato Thursday Breakfast yogurt Lunch sandwich or pasta Dinner tuna burger/beef burger Friday Breakfast yogurt Lunch sandwich or pasta Dinner hopefully out with my boyfriend (hint hint!) Saturday Breakfast yogurt Lunch Greek pasta bake I didn't make last week as we went out Dinner TBA (it was a very busy weekend so I haven't had time to finish planning yet!) Sunday - Breakfast cereal Lunch pissaladiere I didn't make last week Dinner TBA

This may not look like the most appetizing dish but it tastes amazing. When other people are eating a full English, I never know what to have - I don't like baked beans, or mushrooms, or fried eggs, and am not really that fussed about bacon - which usually leaves me with a sausage sandwich. Sometimes if I am making a cooked breakfast for my boyfriend I want something a bit more substantial, but sausage and toast by itself is a bit dry. I recently came across a recipe for buttermilk pancakes with sausage gravy from The No Waste Meal Planner by Becky Thorn and it's now my go-to recipe when other people want a full English. Becky's recipe includes sweetcorn in her pancakes but I don't like sweetcorn (I know you're wondering if there is anything I do like!); you could also serve this with fried potatoes or ready-made potato cakes. The sausage gravy is essentially sausage meat in a milky white sauce; it really reminds me of nursery-style comfort food and is...

Restaurant name : The Old Vine Inn Location : Wadhurst, East Sussex Description : Pretty country pub established in 1515 with a nice restaurant and garden and rooms if you want to stay overnight. Reason for visit: My boyfriend took me llama trekking as a treat - we went to Bluecaps Llama and spent an hour walking through the woods with two very friendly llamas in tow. We went here for lunch afterwards as it was nearby and had been recommended by the owner of Bluecaps. Me and my llama I ate: seafood platter, that was designed for sharing as a (large) starter, but I had it to myself as a main course. It came with crusty bread and butter, mackerel pate, prawn and crayfish cocktail, smoked salmon and prawns in filo pastry, anchovies, capers and salad. I think it cost £15. My companion ate: ham, egg and chips. The food was : Mine was a really nice change from what I would normally order as a main course. I know it was designed for sharing but I thought there was too much smoked...

I've been on holiday for eight days so was really pleased to weigh in at Slimming World when I came back and find I'd lost a pound! It must be all the walking.... I also didn't have particularly big meals while I was in Cambodia, and I was so busy sightseeing in Singapore - and so hot, that I drank lots but never really felt hungry, that one day I skipped both breakfast and dinner, and only had lunch! But it was a good lunch, in the famous Raffles Hotel... I'll have to write a review soon! Anyway I'm trying to catch up on everything now I'm back and am still in the middle of unpacking but thought I had better work out what I'm going to eat over the coming week (and do some food shopping!). Monday Breakfast yogurt Lunch Tuna roll Dinner Out at choir rehearsal so I will take leftover pizza from my weekend treat - the amount I ate the weekend I got back, I will probably have put back on the pound that I lost! Tuesday Breakfast cereal Lunch out on a tea...

I love this cake - it's so girly! Yes, this is indeed a cake - or rather, the bottom half of the doll is cake. Her dress is made of fondant and her skirt is a chocolate cake - a delicious vegan recipe. In this post I'll also explain how to use a Garrett frill cutter, a piece of equipment I bought when I took a cake decorating class last year, and also review a brilliant new product I found at Ikea. So how did this cake come about? Well, my friend Ros - who some of you know as The More Than Occasional Baker - decided she wanted a pink princess theme for her birthday party in September. We might be in our 30s but that's no reason not to embrace our inner child... or our inner princess! I was very honoured when she asked me to make her a birthday cake, as Ros is such an amazing baker herself. As soon as she told me the theme I thought of this cake - I'd seen pictures of them before but never made or eaten one. You basically take a doll, like Barbie or Bratz, bake a dome...