So for a few weeks I was very conscious of the fact that I wasn’t cooking, I would just grab the quickest thing I could find instead of putting a bit of thought into what I should be eating, what I had already eaten that day or even that week and choosing my meals based on that.

I have already noticed this week that I have really changed the way that I think about what I should be eating. I’m really making sure that I get the vegetables I should, and the fruit as well which I have been eating as a snack. There is something about clementines and similar fruit that should be eaten just at autumn and Christmas, maybe that’s when they are in season? I don’t know, either way I know that I will be regularly buying these fruits in the build up to Christmas to make sure that I get all of the vitamin C that I should be.

Now you all know how much I love cooking and I always have the freezer stocked up with all kinds of food so I am now using what I’ve got and making up recipes with the ingredients that I have, so that I am not spending money which I don’t have!

I start work again in a couple of weeks, in a retail store and I know that this is going to be quite a hard job over Christmas and I need to be able to keep my energy levels up and also not get ill at Christmas! I’m already thinking about the meals that I can make while being in my budget and also things that are quick and easy after a long day at work. As well I need to consider what to have for my lunch so that I don’t go out to Marks and Spencer and spend nearly £5 a day, I know I can make myself a better lunch than that ;)

I’ll come back in a couple of weeks and show you the ideas that I have been making myself. If you have any good ideas that I can use then please send them my way!

Spicy Sweet Potato Wedges

As you probably saw from my previous blog post, I served these with the lemon and garlic chicken I made.

These were beautiful if I may say so myself! It made a change from your standard oil, salt and pepper.

So I’ll get to the point and give you the recipe, which is for one person.

Ingredients:

1 small sweet potato

a glug or two of olive oil

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp paprika

a sprinkle of salt

and maybe a tsp of basil or oregano for good measure

Method:

Chop up the sweet potato into wedges, the thinner the better as they will cook quicker. So if you prefer yours chunky then it would be best to keep them in a bit longer than I did.

Chuck all the ingredients together, evenly coating the sweet potato and put in a baking dish.

Pop them in the oven at 200C for roughly 30 minutes (or a bit longer).

Then eat with lemon and garlic chicken!

Don’t forget your veggies!

Heading to the corner shop?

I can't take 100% credit for all of this as it was originally taken from an article I found in Glamour magazine but I'm going to add in a few ideas of my own. 

This is mainly aimed at the students and the new graduates among my friends but take what you will from it.

We are all guilty of heading to the shop around the corner to get a late night snack of chocolate, crisps or even super noodles. I'm going to write this to give you ideas of what to get as a healthy alternative that you won't feel guilty about I'm the morning. A feeling I know you have all had!

Do you want something quick? Something you can get together in a few minutes?

Go for eggs, you can make them in so many ways that all only take a few minutes to make. Even though it seems like hours when you're cooking them! Scrambled, fried, poached - all good, filling and healthy (except fried obviously) options, just go for wholemeal bread if you're going to have them with toast!

Do you need something filling? Something to keep you going for a while?

There are actually a few options for this, some tinned fish can be put with pretty much anything you want, maybe with pasta? Pulses were also suggested by the article, as a way to bulk up salads and soups to make them go a bit further. I'd also like to add in soups as well, every corner shop has a pretty good variety and they are pretty filling as well, especially if you add those pulses. 

Did you do a bit too much day drinking? Go to the pub at the end of the day and drank more than you should have?

DO NOT get that kebab or those 5 pieces of chicken and chips and all the sides that you are convincing yourself is a really good idea at the time. You will still wake up feeling just as bad or even worse if you eat it. Pick a bowl of cereal instead, it will probably sober you up quicker and you definitely won't wake up with that feeling that there is grease everywhere! And it's definitely more nutritional, so if you have the willpower to resist the please do! You will thank me in the morning :)

Do you just need a snack?

There are plenty of options to go for such as popcorn, fruit bread, crumpets, nuts or seeds. To be honest, there are plenty of things you can grab. If your local corner shop is a chain such as co-op or one stop, you can actually pick up some really good deals and find some great products.

First take this to see if you really are hungry.

The next bit I think I'll take straight from the article as it's pretty good.

So 3 healthy snacks that you might be surprised by:

Cheese strings - yes, they are typically a kids lunch box snack...but they're really high in calcium.

Peanut butter - this contains protein, fibre and B vitamins. Try it on some apple slices.

Beef jerky - personally I think it's an acquired taste, which I don't have! But it's relatively high in protein and low in fat, perfect or what?!