Chicken And Vegetable Pasta One Pot

A super simple, rustic, budget friendly and flavoursome pasta dish. The simplicity of this recipe makes it a good midweek meal, add a little extra fluid, and a bit of spice, and it makes an excellent winter warmer.

You will need:

400g fusilli/penne or similar pasta

1 tbs vegetable oil

1 large onion

2 medium carrots, roughly chopped

2 sticks celery, roughly chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, roughly chopped

1 tin of tomatoes

A small handful of fresh sage, finely chopped

160g good quality cheese, grated

100g spinach

Pinch of salt and pepper

Method:

1. Cook the pasta in boiling water for 1 to 2 minutes less than the recommended cooking time.

2. Drain the pasta, retaining some of the cooking liquid, in case you need to thin the sauce later, and set aside.

3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan with a lid, add the onions and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes.

4. Add the carrots, celery, garlic and chicken to the pan, cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring regularly.

5. Add the tomatoes and sage, stir thoroughly, bring the boil and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.

6. Add the pasta, spinach and cheese, stir until the spinach wilts, season to taste, put the lid on the pan, remove from the heat and allow it to stand for about 5 minutes.

Notes:

I wrote this recipe whilst locked down, due to covid-19, so my access to fresh veg etc. was slightly limited. To really ramp up the veg content, and give it a little more flavour, add a green pepper and a head of broccoli. 

I Am Definitely Not Green Fingered

I’m home, sat in my scruffs and just about comfortable, though thoroughly disappointed.

I’ve just checked my garden and something certainly liked my courgette and pumpkin seedlings. They were getting fairly sizable just two days ago, now there’s nothing but a few straggly, yellowing leaves left. Ten plants gone in 48 hours, my netting wasn’t as effective as I’d hoped.

This sad image of a half ruined veg patch just about sums up my feelings in general.

Lockdown Life 2

My plan for yesterdays post was an update on some of the stuff I've been getting up to in lockdown. I had a few pictures that I wanted to post, a message about how we should all use the free time to work on our own mental wellbeing and a brief overview of what I've been doing to try and improve my physical fitness. Unfortunately I watched last nights announcements prior to posting this and it entirely ruined my frame of mind.

Bojo The Clown

After Boris Johnson’s most recent announcement, it’s looking very likely that I’ll be going back to work at some point over the next few days.

Last week Britain surpassed 30,000 deaths, meaning we have the highest death rate in Europe. Given that at the beginning of all this the government suggested 20,000 deaths would be a good number, the fact that we’re already 50% higher and our prime minister is suggesting people should be “actively encouraged” to return to work, from tomorrow, is absolutely baffling.

What’s more baffling is that we’re going back to work, but outside of work we’re still supposed to isolate from friends, family and other people outside of our household. It’s a completely ridiculous, and quite frankly backwards, policy clearly designed to protect the financial interests of the wealthy rather than the health of general population. What would make more sense is to continue with restrictions on businesses whilst easing those on people visiting family members, and potentially friends, outside of the household. It is far easier for someone to ascertain whether or not a family member is experiencing covid-like symptoms, and if so continue to isolate from them, than it is someone they work with. My thoughts are that we’re now on course for another surge in cases, a second peak and potentially a much higher cost to the economy in the long run, however, given our governments track record with sharing accurate figures on Covid-19 cases, it may not be reported this way.

Whilst ultimately I am aware that protecting our economy is important, and I do want to return to work, I only want to return to work when it is genuinely safe to do so. For me being in lockdown has been great for both my mental and physical health and, thanks to being furloughed, hasn’t even been that hard on me financially. Not having to commute has greatly decreased my outgoings and having plenty of free time has allowed me to plan my meals, put together a thorough and thought out shopping list and left me with plenty of time, and energy, to push myself to exercise on a daily basis.

Knowing that this is all about to change, and it being before I feel it is safe for it to do so, my mood is at the lowest it’s been in weeks and I can only see it getting worse from here on out.