Last night was white wine and gossip time again, and this time we deserted our usual Soho haunts and went on a hunt for somewhere around the Kings Cross area where we may be able to drink substantial amounts of wine without bankrupting ourselves (tricky at the moment. See also: Skint Suppers) and ideally with the option of snacking on some small plates. Kings Cross is well on the way to regeneration and there is a long list of places on my hitlist (Shrimpy's, Grain Store, Cam

Recently, me and three pals found ourselves hankering for a night of gossip and white wine but sadly the state of our bank accounts meant that this would only afford us a night at Zebrano's whereby we'd have to order three (ok, four) bottles of the happy hour sauvignon blanc before 7pm and drink them swiftly whilst hating ourselves. For once, we decided against this course of action and instead pooled our respective tenners to purchase a round of ingredients each (one person

Those of you who know me IRL may be surprised at this post, as I'm not exactly a lover of the Colonel's wares. However, recently I have had a serious craving for southern fried chicken (am not pregnant!) and it has been persistent enough for me to want to try and make it myself seeing as I do not have the means to get to the fancy places like Wishbone and Chicken Shop at the mo. Anyone who is a fan of the real dirty stuff, you should also give this a go as it delivers all of

Now, I'm not about to pretend that this is some amazing culinary wizardy; it is after all a cheese toastie. But from the fracas on twitter the other night, I gather Lord Jamie Oliver managed to make almost an entire TV programme on how to do his No. 1 Toasted Cheese Sandwich in his Comfort Food series, so a short post from me is definitely ok. Healthy food fans, you know I am usually the ultimate cheerleader for no-carb, dairy-swapping, cauliflower-bothering paleo virtuosity

I appreciate the irony of including the world's most expensive spice as the key ingredient in today's Skint Suppers, but in my defence it was a store cupboard find and I got it very cheap in Lidl. I love Lidl and have no shame in saying so. The other ingredients for this recipe are far more budget friendly, and cooking this in large quantities does mean that a little saffron goes a long way. Using chicken on the bone is the trick to this dish, and the bigger cuts you can find

The inevitable has happened; months of having to survive on statutory maternity pay (an absolute pittance), combined with some horrendously timed bills and going on a pretty expensive holiday means I officially have no money. Very sad. But I still have hungry mouths to feed, and I need it to be healthy as I want to lose another stone before my wedding in Feb. And so, this mini series entitled Skint Suppers was born. I want to cook food that is tasty, low calorie and as cheap