Foods glorious food

Any other 'Oliver!' fans out there?  When I was little I loved that film and learnt the words to the soundtrack which I listened to over and over and over again.  My family must have loved it when I found a new film to like!
So before we all start up in a rousing verse of 'Hot sausage and mustard, while we're in the mood, cold jelly and custard ...' let me share the kind of things are dished up around here at the moment.
Now it's just Paul and me at home we are able to choose our meals according to what we both really like and not take into consideration other family members' likes and dislikes.  I didn't realise how Rachel and Jon's food preferences changed our menu plans!
We love Italy.  We also love Italian food!  So there is a wide variety of pasta shapes in my cupboards and there is often a ragu bubbling away on the stove.  So many different meals you can make by adapting a good, authentic tomato base.

We try to eat fish at least once a week.   Salmon is the most usual but Paul makes a pretty good fish pie and it's real comfort food.  Soft fish in a creamy sauce with a topping of mashed potato just going crispy on the top.  Lovely!I am a keen cook so I tend to make things from scratch, one of the luxuries of working part time. I'm also trying to get in the habit of buying my meat from the local butcher rather than relying on the supermarkets.  It is a bit more expensive but there really is a difference in flavour.
The meal that drives poor Coco mad is roast chicken.  She practically sits at the oven door watching it cook!  The smell must really do something to her taste buds - and as soon as it is out on the carving board, she is there standing as tall as she can, balancing on her back legs and desperate for little bits of meat while you are carving.
We're not huge takeaway fans but probably eat an Indian takeaway about once a month.  We had a phase of having one nearly every Friday and I think it took the edge off it so now it's more of a treat again!

I wish I could menu plan, I bet it would take £s off my food bills but the most I manage is two days in advance.
I've mentioned in previous posts that I am a member of Slimming World and without wishing to sound like an advert for them, it really is an effective system.  I don't really think of it as a 'diet' just a different way of cooking the same foods.  So I've just adapted my favourite recipes and my days of using cubes of butter have gone, I substitute quark for my creamy sauces and there are many more veggies on the table.
When I was little, you could tell which day of the week it was by what we had for dinner.  Leftovers from Sunday lunch on a Monday, chops on a Tuesday, always fish on a Friday.  Now it's very much a matter of what I fancy cooking when I get home from work!  All this talk of food is making me hungry - what' times dinner?