Ratatouille-Style Mince

I'm in the thick of exams still and realised yesterday that I've barely seen a vegetable this week, except at church supper on Sunday night. So I decided to use up the remaining third of a courgette and the aubergine which have been languishing in Lakeland Stayfresh Bags (which are seriously brilliant, I think I bought this veg two weeks ago at least and it's still totally fine, it looks no more than two days old). I chopped them up, and threw them into my slow cooker with a bag of meatfree mince and a carton of creamed tomatoes.

Once it's cooked, I'll eat it with a serving of easy cheesy lentils to get plenty of protein in. I'm planning a run later this evening, so lots of veg and protein is the order of the day.

One of the fellows at my college tells us every exam season "don't eat beige meals". It's a simple rule of thumb, but an excellent one. I fear my diet has indeed been rather beige this week, but things will change the day after tomorrow when I'm finally free! I'm envisaging a mountain of spinach, I've been hankering for spinach all week.

Potato and Courgette Pancakes

This year has been a good one for courgettes, and I've been looking for recipes which use them. I'm not really a fan of stuffed marrow and although I have tried roasting and frying, both those methods produce more of a side dish than a main meal.

However, I get the Everyday Cheapskate newsletter from Mary Hunt's Debt-Proof Living and every week it features a selection of recipes. One week the theme was courgettes, and I scribbled down a couple of recipes.

A delicious way to eat your vegetables