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There’s something quietly satisfying about a fridge that hums with promise. A tray of sausage rolls ready to reheat, a jar of something pickled with love, or even a stack of muffins for weekday munchies. Whether you’re baking for comfort, prepping for chaos, or just trying to avoid that midweek "what’s for tea?" panic—this is your sign to get ahead. This week I’m nudging you (with love and maybe a rolling pin) to set aside an hour or two for a little food prep. Not a military operation, just a bit of British batch-cooking magic. Here’s a few gentle suggestions:
Lets start with comforting, prep-ahead dinners that carry folk through the week without fuss, two hearty recipes that reheat beautifully and are made for leftovers: Recipe 1: Cottage Pie with a Hidden Veg Twist (Warming, freezer-friendly, and perfect for batch cooking) Ingredients (serves 4–6): 500g beef mince 1 onion, finely chopped 2 carrots, grated 1 courgette, grated 2 tbsp tomato purée 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 400ml beef stock 1 tsp dried thyme Salt & pepper 800g potatoes, peeled and chopped 50g butter Splash of milk Quick Instructions: Sauté onion, add mince and brown. Stir in carrots, courgette, purée, Worcestershire sauce, stock, thyme and simmer for 25 mins. Boil spuds, mash with butter and milk. Layer meat in a dish, top with mash, fork the top, bake at 200°C (fan 180°C) for 25 mins. ********************************************************* Recipe 2: Cheesy Vegetable Pasta Bake (Family-friendly, no-fuss, and good for odds and ends in the fridge) Ingredients (serves 4) 250g dried pasta (penne or fusilli) 1 onion, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 red pepper, chopped 1 courgette or handful of mushrooms, sliced 400g tin chopped tomatoes 1 tsp dried oregano 1 tbsp tomato ketchup or paste 100g grated cheddar 2 tbsp cream cheese or a splash of cream (optional) Quick Instructions: Cook pasta. Sauté onion, garlic, and veg. Stir in tomatoes, oregano, and ketchup, simmer 10 mins. Mix with pasta and half the cheese. Tip into baking dish, top with remaining cheese, bake at 180°C (fan 160°C) for 20 mins until golden. Shopping List: Prep-ahead Dinners Fresh: 500g beef mince 1 onion (x2 total)2 carrots 1 courgette (x2 total if using in both meals) 1 red pepper Mushrooms (optional) 800g potatoes Garlic cloves Pantry/Cupboard: Tomato purée Worcestershire sauce Dried thyme Dried oregano Ketchup or tomato paste Tinned chopped tomatoes (400g) Dried pasta (250g) Fridge: Butter (for mash) Milk Grated cheddar (100g) Cream cheese or cream (optional) Show Me Yours! If you’ve batch-cooked this week—or even just got a cheeky cottage pie in the oven—tag me! I love seeing your makes and sharing them in stories. Let’s make batch-cooking British again.
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When I think of a proper tea at home, I picture my dad with a plate of chips and maybe an egg or some leftover chicken. A simple, no nonsense meal that hits the spot. Now, loaded fries might seem a bit of a modern thing, more takeaway style, a little showy perhaps, but really, they're just the natural step in the great British tradition of turning humble chips into something a bit more exciting. Tea time can feel like a race against the clock—kids need feeding, you’re juggling work and life, and somehow dinner has to happen now. If you’re anything like me, you want something proper, filling, and fuss-free. This one's for anyone spinning plates, who want to get a meal on the table (or on the sofa tucked under a cosy blanket) without needing three pans or half an hour of stirring, who need to feed the family something hearty and (dare I say) a teeny bit special, even if it is a Monday night. Grab a hot cooked chicken from Woolies (or your local shop), shred it over a pile of golden oven chips, sprinkle with cheese, and you’re almost there. Add a few simple extras, pop it under the grill, and dinner’s done in 30 minutes or less.
Dinner sorted, fuss minimal, and everyone’s happy. Perfect for busy weeknights when you want something tasty and a bit special, without spending hours in the kitchen. Got a favourite quick tea hack? Share it with me—I’m always up for new ideas! Love, Leigh x Includes recipe for English Muffin Breakfast Stacks It’s the weekend. The sun’s pretending it might show up, the bed’s too warm and cosy, and the dog’s already chomping on its foot.. Which begs the age-old, deeply philosophical question: what are we having for breakfast? It’s not the time for a sad slice of dry toast or last Tuesday’s cereal. No. This is the weekend, and the weekend deserves better. This is when you ceremoniously ignore all adult responsibilities and make the kitchen smell like syrup and smugness. The Good Old Days (Not That We’re Old, Obviously)Back when the kids were little and Saturday mornings weren’t yet hijacked by football boots and dance bags, Carl used to pop to Sainsbury’s early, not quite wearing his slippers, and come back with fresh bagels, cream cheese, and a punnet of berries that wouldn’t survive till lunchtime. The kids would pile into the kitchen like tiny, uncoordinated locusts, still in pyjamas. It was chaos. Beautiful, strawberry-smeared chaos. Let’s Be Honest Though…I hate doing breakfast. There, I said it. No one ever wants to get up at the same time, someone’s always “just finishing a game” or can’t possibly function before a second cup of tea, and I end up stuck on chef duty from 7am till nearly noon. Like a hotel buffet, but without the industrial toaster or polite tipping.
Waffles If you’ve got a waffle iron, now’s the time to feel superior. If not, borrow one from someone who impulse-bought it during lockdown. Top with fruit, cream, or Nutella and pretend you’re on a weekend break in Bruges. Bagels & Cream Cheese Still a classic. Toasted bagels topped with thick cream cheese and fresh fruit — Carl’s favourite was blueberry, although he’d claim it was ‘for the kids’. Smoked salmon if you’re fancy, peanut butter if you’ve lost the will. Pancakes Stack them high, serve with butter, jam, lemon and sugar, or whatever else you’ve got. Let the kids do the flipping — what could go wrong? (Answer: the dog gets fed early.)
Make It a Thing Lay the table (yes, even if it’s just the two of you), pop the radio on, and let it feel like a small occasion. Put the fruit in a bowl instead of the plastic punnet. Use the nice mugs. Weekend breakfasts are about more than food — they’re little moments stitched into family memory. Sticky fingers, syrup drips, burnt toast and all. So , ask yourself: What’s for breakfast? And answer with something worth getting out of bed for (even if you do grumble the entire time). English Muffin Breakfast Stacks The café classic you can throw together in minutes — rich, cheesy eggs and buttery mushrooms piled onto a toasted muffin. Serves 2 Ingredients: 2 English muffins, split 4 eggs 2 tbsp milk or cream 40g grated cheddar (or more, if you're feeling generous) 1 tbsp butter (for the eggs) 1 tbsp butter or oil (for the mushrooms) 200g mushrooms, sliced 1 garlic clove, finely chopped or crushed Salt and pepper Optional: chopped chives, hot sauce, or crispy bacon Method: 1.Toast the Muffins Split and toast your muffins until golden. Keep warm. 2. Sauté the Mushrooms In a frying pan, heat 1 tbsp butter or oil. Add mushrooms and garlic. Sauté over medium heat for 6–8 minutes, until golden and tender. Season with salt and pepper. 3. Make the Cheesy Scrambled Eggs Beat the eggs with the milk and a pinch of salt and pepper. Melt 1 tbsp butter in a non-stick pan over low heat. Add eggs and stir slowly. When they’re just set but still creamy, fold in the grated cheese and remove from heat. Assemble Place toasted muffin halves on plates. Top each with a generous scoop of cheesy scrambled eggs and a spoonful of sautéed mushrooms. Sprinkle with chives or add extras like crispy bacon or a drizzle of hot sauce if you like.  Image via Pinterest Or have they?
There was a time when dinner planning felt like the final exam of the day. You’d finish work, whether from the office or the kitchen table, and be greeted not by a moment of calm, but by the question: What’s for tea? If the fridge was a sad display of mismatched leftovers and a limp courgette, the evening went from potential wind-down to a frantic dash through a recipe book (or worse, the supermarket). Enter the meal kit revolution. HelloFresh, Gousto, Marley Spoon, whichever banner you fly, they’ve done more than just deliver food to our doors. They’ve delivered time, sanity, and a surprising amount of joy back into the weekday routine. Simplifying the Everyday For many working families and busy individuals, the mental load of meal planning is no small thing. It’s the decision fatigue, the endless grocery lists, and the realisation halfway through cooking that you’re out of cumin. Meal kits have streamlined that entire process into something you can manage in ten minutes flat. You open the box, follow a simple recipe card, and serve a meal that looks like something you’d get in a gastropub, without needing a degree in timing or an emergency dash for coriander. Redefining the ‘Evening Shift’ For those of us balancing work and home (and possibly home as work), this shift has been game-changing. Instead of spending your precious post-work hours shopping, prepping, and faffing, you’re cooking, with ease. That small change ripples into everything else. More time for family chats, walks with the dog, reading an extra chapter before bed. Less stress, less waste, and far fewer takeaways ordered out of desperation. A Gateway to Better Eating There’s also the subtle benefit of variety. Meal kits often sneak in ingredients you might not usually pick up, freekeh, sumac, paneer, and nudge you towards new flavours. They’ve quietly become an entry point into more adventurous cooking for people who used to rotate between spag bol and stir-fry. That kind of confidence in the kitchen builds quickly, and once you’ve got it, you’re more likely to cook from scratch, plan ahead, and feel in control. Not Just for the Time-Poor Even seasoned cooks, those of us who genuinely enjoy cooking, have found a soft spot for these kits. They’re not a replacement for scratch cooking, but a support system for the nights when you’d rather not think too hard. And during busy weeks, holidays, or when hosting guests, having a plan already done for you can feel like magic. Looking Ahead The bigger picture is clear: businesses like HelloFresh haven’t just filled a niche, they’ve shifted the cultural norm. They’ve shown that convenience doesn’t have to mean compromise. That fresh food can still be fast. And that home-cooked meals, even midweek, don’t have to be a hassle. In an age when work often spills into home life and the lines blur more than ever, that’s no small feat. But Is It Cheaper Than Good Old-Fashioned Meal Planning? Now, it’s fair to ask, especially for anyone raised with a mum who could feed five on a fiver, how do meal kits stack up against traditional home meal planning? The short answer: they’re usually more expensive than doing it all yourself, but the difference isn’t always as wide as you’d expect. If you’re the sort of person who plans meals with military precision, shops in bulk, uses your freezer cleverly, and rarely lets anything go to waste, then yes, doing it yourself will almost always come out cheaper. You’ll also have the flexibility to batch-cook, take advantage of supermarket specials, and tailor everything to suit your family’s needs. But that’s a best-case scenario. The reality for many is half-used herbs going slimy in the drawer, forgotten tins gathering dust, and several “Oops, I forgot to defrost that” moments per week. Factor in impulse buys, multiple shops per week, and the odd takeaway when it all goes pear-shaped, and suddenly, meal kits start looking quite sensible. Time vs Money Think of it like this: you’re not just paying for food, you’re paying for someone else to think, plan, portion, and prep for you. For busy households or those in a rough patch (new baby, illness, demanding job, exams), that can be worth its weight in gold. A Middle Ground Many families now use meal kits as a supplement rather than a full-time solution. Maybe you order just three meals a week, and plan the rest yourself. Or save them for extra-busy weeks and stick to home-cooked routines when life’s a bit calmer. It’s not all-or-nothing, and that’s the beauty of it. This week marks 80 years since VE Day, a momentous day in history that signifies the end of World War II in Europe. As we reflect on this day, I can’t help but think of my grandad, who played an important part in that victory. He was stationed on the AA (Anti-Aircraft) guns during the Normandy landings, on the front lines of one of the most pivotal moments in the war.
But his service didn’t end there. My grandad was part of the forces that helped liberate Belsen, a place that still haunts us all with its history. His role, like so many others’, was not just about fighting but about bringing an end to unimaginable suffering and darkness. Mum said it affected him deeply. As we commemorate VE Day (sadly not here in Oz), I remember his strength, courage, and the sacrifices he must have made—not just for his country, but for the future of us all. The war is a part of our shared history, and his legacy is a reminder of the resilience and determination that shaped the world we live in today. And then there were the street parties. Across Britain, as the news broke and the fighting stopped, people poured into the streets. Bunting went up, trestle tables were dragged out, and neighbours who had shared fear and ration books now shared sponge cake and jam sandwiches. It was a time of joy, of relief, and of coming together. Even in times of scarcity, they made it work. Women stretched rations to bake fairy cakes, children waved homemade flags, and every scrap of bread became a sandwich filled with whatever could be found—Spam, fish paste, or even powdered egg. Jelly set in bowls borrowed from next door, and there was always someone playing music from a wireless on a windowsill. Traditional VE Day street party foods included:
So raise a cup of tea, share a scone, and remember-- VE Day isn’t just about the past. It’s about gratitude, community, and the quiet strength of those who came before us. To all those who served and sacrificed—thank you. Your bravery will never be forgotten. Bringing a Taste of Britain Home.
There’s something about food that pulls at the heartstrings, a certain pie, a particular cake, a smell that instantly transports you back to another place, another time. Years ago, I realised just how much we missed the food we grew up with. Not just any food, but proper British baking: pork pies with jelly, Scotch eggs with the perfect crunch, Eccles cakes with their sticky sweetness, and flaky sausage rolls that crumbled in your hand. What started in our own kitchen soon grew into something bigger. We weren’t the only ones craving a slice of home. A community quietly formed around the comforting flavours of childhood memories and Sunday family tables. We baked for the people who knew exactly what a pork pie should taste like. We made Battenberg for those who remembered it from their grandmother’s kitchen, and Victoria sponge that brought back memories of village fêtes and school cake stalls. Each recipe we made was steeped in the traditions that connect us across generations and across the miles. It wasn’t just about the food. It was about belonging. About giving people, expats and locals alike, a little reminder that home is never really that far away. The Spirit Lives On. Though our ovens have long since cooled, the spirit behind every bake has not. It lives on, in the handwritten recipe cards tucked into drawers, the Sunday afternoon tea times still enjoyed, and the shared stories that have become part of so many kitchens. Pork Pies and the Perfect Pickle is the natural continuation of that story. A cookbook, yes, but more than that, it’s a celebration of how food holds us together, even when we’re far from where we started. It’s filled with traditional British recipes, lovingly recreated from both my family's kitchen and the bakery days, foods that comfort, delight, and remind us of who we are. For anyone who still craves a taste of Britain, a memory of a Sunday roast, or the simple joy of a slice of Battenberg with a cup of tea, this book is for you. It’s for the ones who miss home, for the ones teaching the next generation what a real pork pie tastes like, and for those who know that sometimes the smallest things, a crumbling pastry, a dollop of pickle, mean the most. Much Love and Gravy Leigh x |
