Day nine - Monday 9th Feb

Oh dear. Today, I had to apologise to Mrs P. And nothing says I'm sorry in this house better than a cream cake, therefore:

Boom, and we're back in the game.

Meanwhile, today was a soup day, the first of a couple of days with the soup lovingly made yesterday with leek and potato blitzed together with a little bit of cooking water, chicken stock and a splash of cream, put a bit of thyme in there if you've got it (I didn't - boo), or even lemon thyme would be really tasty too. A really good use of veg and a decent lunch, even if it did remind my co-worker of the smell of an old peoples home - but don't let that stop you, honestly it was lovely with a bit of bread! 

Oh, and we had poo porridge again for breakfast, I figured you wouldn't want another photo of that.

Tea was a different matter though - we always look forward to fajita night. Punchy, bright and loud flavours are the deal of the day and I am so glad I managed to fit in some spices this week as the combination of salt, cumin and smoked paprika are just enough to wake up the taste buds, squeeze some lime over the top though and we're cooking with gas.

First the veg (peppers and an onion):

Followed by the chicken in the same pan:

Not as much chicken as possible but we wanted to save some of the leftovers for the risotto later on in the week. This was spicy and warming - that was the hot stuff.

Our guacamole recipe has been developed, tried, tested and approved by The Child and although we have a few misses (put in too much garlic and no-one will love you for it), generally it's a sure fire winner. Tonight our avocado just wasn't ripe enough so despite razzing it in the razzer, the chunks remained way too chunky and didn't mush enough by far.  You need a (ripe) avocado, squashed up with a smallish clove of garlic, half a squeezed up lime and a good pinch of salt. Beautiful. Just ignore this one and yours will be so much better.

Finally a tomato salsa with roughly chopped tommys, a decent heft of salt, diced raw red onion and the other half of the lime. I would usually also add a bit of coriander for me (the green here was a bit of left over basil that was hiding in the pot) but that is optional as it tastes great without it too.

A serious bonanza stuffed with veg right on budget, plus make sure you put the tortillas in the oven before you serve and I guarantee you there won't be a single spoonful left at the end and that's what this is all about isn't it?