The easiest, quickest, cheapest marinade – goes well with rice, pasta or salad

So with us both not working we are keeping an eye on the finances. So good cheap recipes are brilliant. Having a new baby to care for anything that is quick and easy is an all-round winner. I make this about once a week at the moment as it can be served with rice, pasta or salad. I am still trying to lose the baby weight so the fact that it is healthy is an added bonus. In a baking dish mix natural yogurt, sweet chilli sauce, ground cumin and curry powder. I free pour – the more sauce you want add more yogurt, the hotter more curry etc. Mix it all around and then add chicken breast or chicken thighs. If time permits I refrigerate or if not it goes straight into the oven for 40 minutes. I love the juices that the combined ingredients create and chicken is incredibly flavoursome. The chicken always comes out golden, the chicken always taste succulent. I put the chicken on top of pasta, rice or salad (as said) and drizzle the sauce on top. It could not be easier; it could not be quicker and is easy on the pocket.

So much has happened and I am back. Firstly the biggest news, we have our little ray of sunshine!!! A little boy who is now 2 months old and simply brilliant. He is an absolute joy to be around. We have moved to a cottage in the country and given up our jobs (well I am on maternity leave but took a redundancy before leaving). The Man is currently looking for a new job – it was scary taking the leap into a “sea change” lifestyle but we are loving the time off together. Working out how to best care for a baby, trying new recipes and exploring news pubs in the Cotswolds area. Now I am no longer pregnant we are also rediscovering my love of wine.

Roast Chicken with Yorkshire puddings and new potatoes

I really should make my own Yorkshire pudding, but I don’t. They are just as good purchased. I have heard from friends that they are really easy and in a few more weeks perhaps I will try.
I love Yorkshire puddings, I love hot gravy overflowing and making the crisp pastry soft, I love the taste and I especially love it in Winter. True comfort food.
The man decided to cook with new potatoes with skin on, I have to say I prefer the normal method of crispy roasted in oil after being par boiled. But all in all still really very good, and now I am well into my second trimester I can start enjoying food again rather than feeling sick and tired all the time.

My Favourite Sandwich - its simply but its my favourite

So I have made the Man promise that I can have one of these, once a week while pregnant. If I cannot drink alcohol I can enjoy bacon, cheese and fresh bred combination.

Some more photos from Australia

Here are some more food photos I have found from our trip. I have been too tired to update the weekly roast and spaghetti - but now I am in the second trimester apparently I should be feeling better and have more energy. So watch out for Sunday and Monday night x

Vietnamese Spring Roll - served with lettuce and coriander (amazing)

Prawns Rice Paper Rolls

Freshly Caught Brim - Right out of the river

We are back from Australia and we have some news!!

We have a little ray of sunshine scheduled to arrive on the 2nd of May.
We are both over the moon excited – but promise for this not to turn into any pregnancy/baby blog.
However, any recipes and advice are incredibly welcomed !!

So here are some photos from the trip to Australia

We flew Cathay Pacific who I have to say I was very impressed with. I thought the entertainment system was sensational and the meals were okay too. The service was really friendly and although I wasn’t drinking I noticed that they were stingy on the wine like some other long haul flights. The Man was very happy as I ordered a wine and he could drink it. They also had sandwiches, fruit and nuts available in between meals in case people got hungry – the pregnant lady made good with a fresh sandwich.

Here are some photos and place that we went to dinner at. It’s great to be back

Federation Square Melbourne - Chicken, avocado, bacon focaccia with aioli (mayonnaise)

La Porchetta St. Kilda - Spaghetti/Tortellini Carbonara with garlic bread and greek salad

Southbank - Pasta with chicken, spinach and cream with garlic focaccia

Stoke House St.Kilda - Pizza in the sun

Little River Cafe Swan Valley - Slow cooked beef amazing! This place is a little gem only the locals know about x

Spaghetti Bolognaise – the last one before holiday

The Man cooked again last night – I know he is really going above and beyond at the moment, it’s the last meal to be cooked at home (we plan on eating out the night before) and so we wanted to use up ingredients in the fridge and not buy to much new fresh produce that won’t last. So it was fairly simple but very tasty. Fried onion and garlic with mince, mushrooms and bacon with a pasta sauce last night. We haven’t used one in a while but without the extra fresh herbs I thought we could use a jar just this once.
I have also purchased new pasta bowls to try and cut down our portion sizes as well – I think they look great. However, I did have grated parmesan on top.

So we leave tomorrow – flying Cathay Pacific there and Qantas internally in Australia, I promise photos of the plane food and the meals we have while on holiday. We are also going to try and do a local bolognaise and roast.