Cooking Easy Food

Buy fresh pasta.
Boil plenty of water in a kettle (because it's faster and cheaper), add pasta and cook for approx 10 minutes but check after 7 minutes - the past should be al denté, which means that it should still have a bite. (Shouldn't be sloppy or watery). Drain in a colander and then pour over one of these delicious sauces:

Ø Fry garlic and chilli in butter, add grated courgette. Toss with grated parmesan cheese.
Ø Fry chopped bacon, chopped tomatoes and a dollop of cream
Ø Fry garlic, ¼ - ½ of a chilli, add a splash of white wine, clams and flat leaf parsley

1. Peel the skin off the mackerel fillets and put the flesh in a bowl. Mash them up with a good squeeze of lemon, black pepper and a generous dollop of creme fraiche and roughly chopped walnuts. Spread generously onto rye bread.

Mix a side salad to have with this and you have a delicious, healthy quick meal.

Although we have all fallen back on processed fast food at different times, there is no substitute for home cooking. You can eat well and you don't have to cook for hours. It's best to stick to delicious home-cooked fast meals in the week and choose the dishes that require a bit more time to excite your family and friends taste buds at the weekend, when you can spend a bit more time cooking - with a glass of wine of course!

CHILL OUT

I don't have much time when I commute home from London but I kick off my shoes, switch the radio on in the kitchen and give myself half an hour (at least) of 'me time' to cook something nutritious and tasty. This half an hour is part of my chill out routine which finishes with me flaked out in front of the television, reading or catching up with friends and family. However we fill our evenings, there should always be 'me time' and space to eat properly.