We’ve lost weight and saved money
Lynne Winwood, 51, a recently retired nurse, became a Pinch of nom devotee 12 months ago when she discovered Kay and Kate’s online blog. Since then, she’s lost three quarters of a stone and says she enjoys more quality time with her family as they now plan, cook and eat more of their Pinch of nom meals together. She lives in Swindon with her husband, Steve, a 52-year-old warehouse manager. Her daughter Jess, 22, lives close by. Lynne says:
OUR dining room table has never seen so much action as in the past 12 months. Jess is cabin crew for an airline and when she’s home she rings up and asks what we’re having for dinner. She’ll then say, ‘that sounds so much nicer than what I was having’, before heading over to join us.
I’ve always cooked, but it never felt a particularly relaxing thing to do, until now. Each weekend, Steve and I go through the cookbooks and plan the menu — sometimes Jess gets involved with that, too.
Cooking no longer feels like another chore to tick off. It’s become something pleasurable that we enjoy doing together — but I’m also happy following the recipes on my own, because they’re so simple, don’t take ages and the results have never let me down.
Where once we’d treat ourselves to a takeaway at least once a week, now we think: ‘What do we fancy, and is there a Pinch of Nom fakeaway that we could make instead?’
If we fancy Chinese, we might make Kate and Kay’s Chicken and Mushroom stir-fry — and their Chicken Balti and Onion Bhajis are as good as anything we might bring home from our local Indian restaurant.
I’ve lost weight, and of course we’ve saved money because we’ve cut takeaways back to just one a month. But we’ve also gained something more valuable in the way meal times have become such a bonding experience.
They’re a time to chat about the day with a strong sense that the kitchen and dining room table are now positioned at the very heart of our home.
We’ve even got our own Pinch of Nom fan club among family and friends. We send each other pictures of who’s cooked what. At a big get-together for a friend’s birthday recently, favourite Pinch of Nom recipes became the main topic of conversation.
Tonight, I’m cooking a first — Pizza Loaded Fries from the new book. I’ll serve it as a side to go with Cuban Beef out of the first cookbook. I love that I can combine old stalwarts with new dishes. I might even find a recipe that trumps my all-time favourite — Cajun Bean soup.