Thanks Rose. Will experiment further and report back! I tried the chickpea chilli last night and can confirm that it is “super-easy” to make and is also quick. Super-easy is not always timely! i topped it with a spoon of creme fraiche. Delicious and very filling! Corkie

Smoked mackerel and mushroom frittata is yummy as is the Spanish chickpea and chorizo soup. Only on day 2 but I’m surprised how filling and tasty some of the recipes are.

Great to find this thread Corkie.
Last night I made the Spicy Spinach & Lentil dahl. Yummo – I’ll be making that again, maybe increasing the quantities of spices a bit for me, and the family yummed it up too ( with rice for them). Lots of great recipes for me to try!

Just eaten the gammon and red cabbage meal from the book. Absolutely lovely.
This week have also eaten Thai red curry….also yummy although I think I put more fish sauce in than I should(bottle slipped)
I must say the meals I have done have been lovely. Spanish Chicken and Chorizo is on the have again list and so is the Lamb Tagine.

Hi all. Just to say that I am still using the book, just repeating some recipes as time requires some speed. Courgetti with peas, pesto and goats cheese remains one of our family favourites… Enjoying reading results of your own experiments!
Corkie

Having the chicken and mushroom pie again tonight, loved it so hope it turns out as well as before.

sunshine girl I cooked the chicken and mushroom pie last week. Two portions in the freezer for one day next week. Hope they are okay being frozen.

Fairy, have you put the creme fraiche in, it might curdle when you reheat. If it does it will still taste good.

I did sunshine-girl! But when i do it again I will portion it out and leave the cabbage leaves and then assemble when I take it out of the freezer. I really don’t want to make up loads of food as I only have a small freezer! Going to make the squash soup today and freeze it as I find lunchtimes we just want something quick and soup hits the spot. Also its low enough in calories for my husband to ‘snack on’ if he wants something in the evening. He does not have so much weight to loose as I do.

I’ve just had a 2nd attempt at the Parmesan Crisps – first batch was very tasty but more crumbly than crisp & I wondered if the quantities/cooking times were entirely accurate.
Anyway, for this 2nd batch I reduced the amount of ground almonds (to about 70g), keeping the cheeses as in the recipe. I used a temp of 170C, and still increased the cooking time (5-7mins, until they had a good colour). These ones seem to have held together better, more crisp, less crumble.
But I ended up with 17 (rather than the 8 indicated in the original recipe) – for me on my own, this is probably too many (as well as being VERY moreish, they tend to soften even if kept in a tin). So I think I will reduce quantities even further next time I bake them.

Whenever I go to the RSA, they usually have Parmesan lollipops as a canape.
I’d always assumed it was just melted cheese, baked with a stick in and allowed to cool.

When I worked there we used to joke about them a lot – I shall never forget the look on a colleague’s face when she finally tried one. They are a bit of a marmite food – you either love them or hate them.

Perfect low carb canape – I was circulating amongst different tables at an event last week
– hopefully no-one noticed that I ate four of them! (they are more-ish!)

Sunshine Girl you were right, we had the chicken and mushroom pie last night out of the freezer. It was better than when I cooked it:-)
I did stir fry cabbage with it. Fantastic.

Made the lamb tagine the other day, found a very similar recipe online in the bbc website just by googling lamb tagine, apricots and butternut squash. Good job i did too, as i misread the recipe and didn’t have enough time to cook it for the 4 hrs the recipe says, the bbc recipe was cooked at higher temp but for a shorter time so i did that. Very tasty and better the next time we had it as the flavours had married more. Found that with the cottage pie too, better the next day.

Anyone made the almond pancakes from the book, don’t know whether it was just me that day but they were a total disaster – what is the batter supposed to be like as it was so thick, like creme pat, added more milk to thin it down but then it all just went wrong so abandoned it as a bad job! Any advice gratefully received as they look nice in the book.

Need to try the chicken pie, do those of who have made it put the cabbage leaves on top etc or do something else?

Have made the cauliflower cheese a couple of times, first time did it as the recipe says, but as a side dish portion. Was a bit hard and not very well cooked but edible. Tonight boiled it for about 7 minutes before putting in the oven at about 180 for 20 mins and the texture of the cauli was much better, tender but not soggy. Very tasty with the added jalepenos, made mine with extra mature cheddar and was strong and tasty enough. Will have it again.

Anyone any advice for tweaks required for the chicken pie and can you freeze it?

Apologies if this has been raised before.
I made the spicy lentils and spinach recipe yesterday and it was delicious. However, the recipe stated for 2 as a main meal, or 4 as a side. The calories etc are for when divided into 4, not for 2, if that makes any sense. So eating half the recipe, I ended up with over 600 calories and 60g plus of carbs!
Just be aware!