*(As published in the Spring edition of Link Magazine, April 2017)* There's something about being on holiday that seems to open up kids' minds around trying new foods isn't there? It's like their palates mature instantly once they are checked in to their holiday destination.  Things that are rejected at home (eughh, vegetables, shellfish!) seem... Continue Reading →

'I never wish to offend, but I am so foolishly shy that I often seem negligent, when I am only kept back by my natural awkwardness'. Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility I was incredibly shy as a child, painfully so. I hated having to speak to any adult I didn’t know, and wasn’t particularly happy... Continue Reading →

Did you see in the news the other week that a new study has recommended that we all eat 10 portions of fruit and veg a day, up from the previous recommendation of 5? The study, by University College London, found that up to 7.8 million deaths worldwide could be prevented if people upped their... Continue Reading →

If you were to survey 100 people and ask what their favourite vegetable is, I’m guessing hardly anyone would answer ‘cauliflower’. It’s not top of my list either to be honest. Overcooked school dinners have given the cauliflower a bad reputation – bland, watery, wishy washy, greyish soggy pulp. Yuk! But, in some foodie circles,... Continue Reading →

Time for a rant. It’s been a while! And bear with me, cos this is a long one. Food packaging. More specifically, misleading food packaging. Food packaging that purports to be containing a healthy food choice, and gives consumers the impression that they have made a nutritionally sound choice, when in fact the packaging is... Continue Reading →

What if I told you there was an ingredient which had more protein than eggs, more calcium than milk, more fibre than oats and more omega 3s than salmon? You’d say, “what is this amazing superfood”, right? Well, its this little guy, the chia seed! Packed with fibre, omega fats, potassium and magnesium, chia seeds... Continue Reading →

When I announced over dinner one evening that I was planning a blog post about sweet potatoes, I was met with 4 unimpressed faces. My other half’s reaction was, ‘not more bloody sweet potatoes’. My eldest son raised one eyebrow and declared, ‘boring!’. The middle one said, ‘can I watch Paw Patrol now?’, and the... Continue Reading →

I met up with a good friend the other day. We don’t see each other regularly due to distance, kids, life, you know the drill. But whenever we meet up, we talk non stop, putting away a vat of wine between us, and she sorts me right out, kind of like a mini counselling session.... Continue Reading →