The Great Supermarket Scandal

                                                           Shopping in Waitrose

Here's the thing, there are over 500,000 people in the UK reliant on food parcels. 1 in 6 parents have gone without food so they could feed their children, and a fifth of the population are battling food poverty!

Everyday, supermarkets throw away tonnes of food which (although still perfectly edible) has reached it's 'sell by date'. Today I shopped in my local Waitrose and put a member of staff through his paces regarding Waitrose policy on reducing perishable goods. My first question was did they have a reduced section? The answer was no, food was reduced at source, I was taken to the fresh chicken section and sure enough several items had been reduced and were at the front of the shelf.

Most supermarkets have realised that the quickest way to get rid of reduced items is to put them all in one place. Shopper's like myself will head to the reduced section first, to trail around the store seeking out reduced items is time consuming!

I pointed out to the member of staff that although it was past midday several packets of chicken breasts had only been reduced by 50p yet they were at their sell by date. Most people would rather pay an extra 50p and have a few days leeway. Why not reduce the chicken by half?

I appreciate that supermarkets want to avoid a 'feeding time' scenario, whereby shoppers congregate for a half-price happy hour, however, to only slightly reduce items that have reached their sell by date and wait until nearly closing time to vastly reduce them is a risk governed purely by greed.

Waitrose, along with other supermarkets, need never throw food away if they drastically discounted it early enough in the day. Having walked up and down the aisles of Waitrose I found many items reduced but only by pence. To know that people are living with food poverty how can these supermarket chains account for throwing away tonnes of chicken, meat and fish (most of which could be frozen). How does society condone the waste, purely because of a sell by date, of fruit and vegetables when we buy them loose from a greengrocer!

I think it is absolute sacrilege to throw food away! Yet again though we are in profit making, political territory. Every year we have the celebrity friendly fun-fest, comic relief which adresses food poverty. Gestures of helping the impoverished are seen as acts of generosity, however, challenging the wider issues of poverty are seen as an act of politics!

I feel it's time these issues were adressed and I feel so strongly I might start a food waste revolution! I'll keep you posted.

My local co op has a reduced section and although there is no set time for reductions I can normally pick up bargains by early afternoon. Last week I bought an outdoor bred half shoulder of pork, reduced from £15 to under a fiver! I found a recipe online which had lots of good reviews several saying they would always cook this cut of pork by this method in future. I was a little wary as most recipes suggested covering the meat until the last 30 minutes. In this recipe the marinade helps the meat retain its moisture, incredibly so, it also adds wonderful flavour. Apparently this is sometimes called Boston blade roast.

Boston blade roast pork

Recipe
Half shoulder of outdoor reared pork
1 tablespoon crushed red peppers
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt

Make a paste with all of the ingredients
Score skin on pork and smear marinade all over
Heat oven 230c/gas 8
Place pork on greaseproof paper and put in a baking tray, place in hot oven

Cook for 20 minutes, lower heat to 180c/gas 4 cook for 2 hours

Remove from oven and leave to rest for 15 minutes
Lift skin and meat should be soft and easy to pull apart

'Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor than by the well housed, well warmed and well fed,'
-Herman Melville

Join me in my food waste revolution!
Love Donna xxxxx

Jack Monroe: A Step Too Far? Debacle Re Cameron's Disabled Son.

Well, issue 2 of Shorelines is out, which includes two articles written by yours truly, seeing my name in print makes me feel like a bona fide writer. Now, I'll forewarn you, todays post isn't a recipe, however, it is about a fellow food blogger and writer so I feel it's a relevant post for this blog.

Jack Monroe, food writer and blogger, who describes herself as a lefty, liberal, lezzer (lesbian) has caused uproar, contributing to a thread on a site called 'cameronmustgo' she wrote: 'Because he uses stories about his dead son as misty eyed rhetoric to legitimise selling our NHS to his friends.'

 Cameron's son Ivan passed away aged six and his little life had been a case of round-the -clock care, medication, hospitalisation and everything that goes with complex and severe disabilities. Having worked with children with special needs and their wonderful, brave, tirelessly loving families, I thought her remark was callous and cruel.

I have no political agenda here, personally I don't particularly like Cameron or care much for Monroe, however, what shocks me is that where politics are involved nothing is out of bounds, even the death of a disabled child.

Lets look at Monroe for a moment, born Melissa Monroe, she had a middle class upbringing, was educated at a grammar school, worked for the fire and rescue service, had a child in her early 20s, became a single mother after realising she was attracted to women, gave up her job, claimed benefits and started writing a food poverty blog.

Monroe's blog, A Girl Called Jack, was her story about a single mother, living on the breadline, some of her posts were quite harrowing: 'Poverty is that sinking feeling when your small boy finishes his one weetabix with water and says "more, mummy?"

Nevertheless, it has to be argued that given her educated, middle class background, should Monroe have had a child without first being emotionally and financially stable? In the current climate of political correctness, daring to suggest Monroe could have taken more responsibility would be to tread on her self appointed morally superior toes and cause outrage amongst her comrades.

And that's the thing here, the very people who proclaim they are compassionate seem to only extend that compassion on their own political terms. Monroe, it has to be said, used a lot of 'misty eyed rhetoric' regarding her own situation and her timing was right. Monroe ticked all the boxes, she was a single mum standing up to politicians, hero of the hungry and downtrodden and gay to boot. That her circumstances could arguably have been avoided and that her stance was slightly patronising, given many people are born into poverty, was neither here nor there.

And so, with the pen mightier than the sword, Monroe has struck a vile blow to (regardless of their politics) grieving parents, I can only imagine the furore had the circumstances been reversed!

But it would seem these tribal activists are hell bent on sneering at and mocking anyone who doesn't fit their political criteria. Mrs Thornberry, former shadow attorney general, only last week sent a sneering tweet regarding a Rochester voter, a working father and house owner who had a white van and a England flag outside his house. Her tweet showed utter contempt for ordinary working class citizens, the very people she claimed to represent. Meanwhile Thornberry lives in a £3 millon home and is completely out of touch with working class, ordinary people contributing towards her 'expenses.'

Writers have the moral lexicon quite often of where things go wrong. I am small fry compared with Monroe but like her I have voiced my opinions regarding the things I feel passionate about. But to personalise politics against people who are genuinely suffering takes politics to an inhumane level, the very antithesis of everything Monroe represents and has built her successful career upon!

In an article in the Guardian, whom Monroe writes for, it said: 'Life has changed beyond recognition for Monroe.' I'm pleased that she has overcome her difficulties and is now living with her girlfriend in a nice London pad, appearing on TV and gaining contracts with The Guardian and Sainsburys. I do hope that she shows more compassion in the future towards other peoples hardships and sorrows, whatever their political leanings!

'What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.'
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Love Donna xxxxxx

A Cuddle In A Bowl

My friend Carron and I spent a wet wintry day visiting the glorious south downs, an exhilarating place for walkers (and cow lovers, which we both are.)

There is nothing like a bracing walk in the countryside on a cold day to wet your appetite for a bowl of comforting soup with hot crusty buttered bread, Carron and I stopped at Charleston farmhouse (a post about Charleston to follow) where a delicious pan of potato, squash and carrot soup was simmering on the stove.

This was so delicious we both had second helpings, but we were good girls when it came to the homemade cake, we shared a slice.

The beauty of eating homemade vegetable soup is that it's healthy, comforting, easy to make and economical, on top of which you can treat yourself to a little cake or chocolate afterwards. My mum always used to say homemade soup was a cuddle in a bowl.  This next recipe is a real winter warmer, the curry powder really gives it a tasty kick without making it spicy, I urge you to try it.

Spicy sweet potato and squash soup

Recipe
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 teaspoon hot curry powder
2 tablespoons torn basil leaves
300g sweet potato, peeled and diced
250g butternut squash,  peeled and diced
250g carrots, peeled and diced
750ml vegetable stock
250ml milk

Heat oil in a large saucepan, add onion and garlic and sweat for 2 minutes
Add curry powder, sweet potato, carrots and squash, give everything a good stir
Add basil leaves, stock and milk

Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes

Blend or process until smooth, you can add other fresh herbs and croutons

'A first rate soup is more creative than a second rate painting.'
Abraham Maslou

Love Donna xxxxxxxx

Christmas Starts Here

Stir-up Sunday is a tradition dating back to Victorian times in Britain, on the last Sunday before the season of advent, families would gather together in the kitchen to mix the Christmas pudding.

Traditionally, everyone would take a turn to stir the pudding mix and make a secret wish which was supposed to bring good luck. Many households would also put a silver sixpence or threepenny bit in the pudding mix, it was believed that finding the coin brought health, wealth and happiness for the coming year. The pudding was traditionally made using 13 ingredients to represent christ and his disciples.

Stir-up Sunday evokes wonderful childhood memories for me, our kitchen would be full of the heady scents of Christmas: cinnamon, nutmeg, citrus peel and general liqueur laden fruity loveliness. My mother used an Italian liqueur, Tuaca, a combination of brandy and essence of orange and vanilla, now available in most supermarkets, this nectar is a Christmas must have!

Nowadays 90 per cent of us buy pre-made Christmas puddings. Each year amongst much fanfare puddings are put to the taste test with surprising results. Last year Aldi's Christmas pudding which cost less than £4, trumped Fortnum and Mason's pudding costing £24.95. We saw the must have culinary craze for Heston Blumenthal's hidden clementine pudding (I was really disappointed with it) and this year I've bought a pudding finished with edible gold glitter.

Having eaten my way from Fortnum's and Harrods Christmas puddings right through to Aldi's, I can honestly say not one has come close to my mum's! Sadly, two thirds of British children have never stirred, or been bound up in the excitement of making a Christmas pudding.

One of my favourite Christmas treats is stollen, a rich and sticky fruit bread anointed with rum or brandy, laced with marzipan and doused in icing sugar. Having worked my way through one box of mini stollens in the space of 2 days, I thought I had better share the second box with my family. I decided to make a stollen (bread) and butter pudding, it was so simple as the fruit and sugar are already included, although I did add extra fruit, and the marzipan takes it to a whole new level!

Stollen bread and butter pudding

Recipe
1 box of mini stollen or a loaf of stollen
Butter
500ml milk
2 free range eggs
Cinnamon (optional)

Slice the stollen and spread with a little butter

You can add extra dried fruit or citrus zest at this stage
Combine eggs and milk and pour over stollen, sprinkle with cinnamon (optional) and set aside for 10 minutes

Heat oven 190c/gas mark 4
Place stollen in oven for 25 minutes or until risen and slightly crispy on top

Serve immediately with single cream........delicious!

'Stir up we beseech thee, the pudding in the pot;
And when we get home we'll eat the lot.'
- traditional rhyme

Love Donna xxxxxxxxxx

The Proof Is In The Pudding

Vintage tearooms are very en vogue at the moment and there are half a dozen within close proximity to my home. It would seem that in the wake of The Great British Bake Off we want the old fashioned, familial warmth of pots of tea with scones, Victoria sponge, rich fruit cake and macaroons.

The Great British Bake Off started in 2010 and has become a cultural phenomenon with an estimated 8 million viewers. It's family friendly, easy-watching appeal is that in these modern times of skin-of-the-teeth, briskness in the kitchen, we take comfort in watching ordinary women and men with an extraordinary passion for baking.

I must admit it has been many years since I baked cakes, although I love cooking my blog is mainly focused on everyday food and trying to encourage readers who feel overstretched and have become alienated from their kitchens, to reclaim a love of cooking for their families.

Baker's are a different audience altogether, they will already have a love of cooking and will be wafting around in their warm, sweet smelling kitchens needing no encouragement from me!

I on the other hand could probably do with a bit of encouraging when it comes to baking cakes, in principle I love the idea but my recent attempts have been a bit hit and miss. Take yesterday's scones, my first batch were so hard they were probably bullet proof......don't ask me why. I didn't do anything far different with the second batch, two of my scones were beautifully risen and golden and the rest were edible but a bit flatter.

I was talking cakes with my friend today and we were trying to work out the best position in the oven for them, maybe that's where I'm going wrong? Anyway, not one to be beaten I decided to look in the children's cake section in one of my cookery books and came across snickers and peanut butter muffins. Look, if I'm going to make cake it is going to be of the indulgent, gooey, unctuous variety, it's not something I would eat everyday but they make for a seriously good treat.

Snickers and peanut butter muffins

Recipe
250g plain flour
6 tablespoons golden caster sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
6 tablespoons peanut butter
60g butter, melted
1 large egg beaten
175ml milk
3 x 65g snickers bars, chopped

Preheat oven 200c/gas 6
Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and peanut butter,  mix until you have a bowl of coarse crumbs
Add melted butter and egg to the milk and slowly stir into crumb mix, add snicker pieces

Dollop mix into a 12 bun muffin tray
Cook for 20-25 minutes

Sit muffin tray on a wire rack to cool for 5-10 minutes before removing muffins

As I only have a six bun tray I made two batches, as with the scones my first batch were done to a crisp? Second batch fine? Hey ho I shall persevere, it's easier to walk down a hill than up a hill but the view is better from the top.

'If baking is any labour at all, it's a labour of love, a love that gets passed on from generation to generation.'
-Regina Brett

Love Donna xxxxxxx

I'm A Celebrity.......Get Me Out Of Here

Well, we're back in the jungle, (not literally of course) with I'm A Celebrity.....Get Me Out Of Here, and of all the reality TV shows, I'm A Celebrity seems to have remained popular amongst a lot of people, myself included, and I think we need look no further than its hosts, Ant and Dec.

Ant and Dec are a couple of working class boys made good, they are genuinely good friends and they appeal to us for exactly that reason, a couple of mates having a laugh. They deliver great material, they're cheeky but not crude and they've remained incredibly down to earth. By the laws of showbiz and 'celebrity' one of them should have succumbed to drink and drugs, sexual transgression or monstrous ego, both however have remained scandal free, professional and reliable.

Which brings me to the celebrities taking part, some of whom aren't quite as unostentatious as their hosts. Gemma Collins, star of The Only Way Is Essex reality TV show, has already quit after only 72 hours. Gemma is a large lady who loves her food, so the diet of porridge, beans and rice and witchetty grubs was always going to be a problem for her! However, the extent of her preciousness was quite shocking and a sad indictment of our celebrity society.

Gemma exclaimed she would 'die' if she wasn't given a treat and even when fellow contestant, Craig Charles, explained: 'There are people in the third world that eat less than we are having, people literally starving to death! Three bowls of porridge a day would be a luxury to them.' She still didn't quite get it.

Given that over the past year we have commemorated the centenary of the first world war, one would imagine contestants in reality TV shows would realise that their forgoing a ham sandwich or a packet of quavers, pales into insignificance compared to the horrors millions of men faced in the trenches. Seemingly not.

I recently watched Defiance, a true account of How the Bielski brothers, whose parents were slain by local police under orders from occupying Germans, fled into the forest. They encountered other Jewish escapees and took them under their protection, moving constantly from makeshift camp to makeshift camp, barely surviving winters of sickness and starvation, these people made sanctified work of staying alive. The brothers never sought recognition or praise and faded into obscurity, yet the descendants of the people they saved now number in the tens of thousands.

Counter that with the diva like behaviour of Gemma Collins and we have to ask ourselves where we are going wrong. In one episode of Towie, Gemma was arguing with her mother, apparently Gemma's parents hadn't jumped quickly enough when she had snapped her fingers regarding decorating her new flat. Consequently Gemma had to stay in a hotel which proved very costly. The irony was that Gemma's mother was apologetic and was clearly treading on eggshells.

I'm not going to chunter on, you already know how I feel about modern parenting, but if anyone epitomises a mollycoddled, over protected, spoilt individual, Gemma's your girl.

The remaining contestants will have to come up with some ingenious ideas regarding the ingredients they are given to make their daily dishes. I am currently studying a book about recipes that were devised during both world wars when rations were scarce, it makes for very interesting reading. Bones and lard feature quite heavily, as does mutton, one recipe for meat patties uses 2 oz of lard to 4 oz mutton! My meatballs (patties) include some rather more wholesome ingredients, however, the dish is still  very economical.

Meatballs are a simple wholesome dinner for all the family, they're versatile, cheap and delicious and most kids love them.

Meatballs

Recipe
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
900g minced beef
2 tablespoons mixed herbs
1 egg, beaten
3 tablespoons olive oil

For the sauce
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
300ml red wine
300ml chicken stock
2 tablespoons tomato puree, loosened up with a drop of water
Salt and pepper

Combine minced beef with garlic, herbs and beaten egg
Divide into approximately 20 round balls, refrigerate until required (I normally prepare them a day in advance)

Heat olive oil in a large pan, cook meatballs for 10 minutes until they have become slightly caramelised

Remove meatballs from pan and set aside
Heat wine in same pan and reduce, add chicken stock and tomato puree

Add crushed garlic, bring to the boil, place meatballs back in the pan, lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes

Serve over spaghetti or mashed potatoes or simply eat with chunks of fresh crusty bread.

'A lot of people measure a man by what he's got. I've decided to measure myself by what I can give up.'
- Geoff Nicholson

Love Donna xxxxxxxxxx

Spice Up Your Life

Curry in its various forms features heavily in my diet, a number of studies have claimed that the reaction of pain receptors to the hotter ingredients in curries leads to the body's release of endorphins. By so doing, a natural high is achieved that causes subsequent cravings, often followed by a desire to move on to spicier food, hence the reference to curry addiction.

I certainly have an addiction to spicy food which is no bad thing given the myriad medicinal qualities and health benefits, and I do enjoy a sensory reaction to a variety of spices and flavours. Studies have also shown a correlation between preferences for spicy food and risk taking personalities, this speaks for itself I think, and I sure as hell aint no korma girl!

Low sensation seeking individuals tend to be wary of spices and spicy food, but our national advancement for anything slightly adventurous has always been slow! Fortunately we aren't all in the death grip of blandness, before curries became popular in Britain we didn't really know about international food, curry helped pave the way for other cuisines and we are now a bit more sophisticated.

Britain's number one restaurant dish has been for many years, chicken tikka masala, not even remotely authentic this sweet, creamy concoction has become the modern day equivalent of prawn cocktail, steak and chips and black forest gateau. However, recent statistics suggest that jalfrezi has become a favourite amongst us Brit's and this dish actually offers fresh chillies and an authentic smack of spice!

Largely we rely on curries to be restaurant or takeaway meals, many people don't have an abundance of spices in their cupboards and fear that it wouldn't be cost effective to do so. There is no right or wrong way to make curry, the best tip, as in all recipes, is to use your taste buds. A curry is a melange of various spices and herbs, you can make it hot or mild, whatever suits your palette, in most curry house kitchens you would normally find a large saucepan of curry sauce simmering on the stove, this is used as a base sauce for most of the various curries.

Basically a curry paste is made with dried spices and fresh herbs which are combined in a processor, it is then transformed into a sauce by adding liquid, normally a combination of vegetable or chicken stock and coconut milk. Some cooks are too purist to use shop bought curry paste but there are some good ones available in most supermarkets. I find combining a few different dried spices more economical and this also offers me the chance to experiment with flavour combinations.

Once a base sauce is made you can add hotter spices to suit individual taste, this sauce will keep for 1 week in a refrigerator or 2 months in a freezer. The sauce can be used with lentils, vegetables (a great way of using up odds and ends) meat, chicken or fish. You never know, you might find you'll want to go bungee jumping next!

Curry base sauce

Recipe
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
500g onions, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
400g can chopped tomatoes
Knob root ginger, peeled and finely sliced
500ml water

For the paste
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 tablespoon oil

Combine all the spices with the oil to make a paste
In a large pan gently fry onion, garlic and ginger for 10 minutes or until slightly coloured
Add paste, combine and cook gently for 5 minutes
Add tomatoes and water, simmer on a gentle heat for 30-40 minutes, adding more water if necessary
The sauce can be processed further if you want a smooth sauce

Now you have a base sauce you can add chillies to heat it up or coconut milk to make it milder, it really is a case of using your taste buds!

Lentils can be added to sauce

                                    Cook according to packet instructions and drain

                                   With a little added water blitz in a food processor

                                                          Add to base sauce

This makes for a nutritious, healthy meal on its own

Once the base sauce is made it can be added to other ingredients

                                            Butternut squash and sweet potato

       Mix with base sauce add extra veg, chillies, garlic, which ever flavours you like!

                                    You can cook this in the oven or on the stove

                                     Rice is nice but curry works well with chips!

' When baking follow instructions, when cooking follow your taste'

-proverb

Go on......spice up your life

Love Donna xxxxxxx

Start As You Mean To Go On

Yesterdays post was about the detrimental effects food additives are having on children's behaviour, something I have been giving a lot of thought to lately.

Like, when did we stop relying on a food culture developed over centuries? Why have we readily accepted eating things we were never evolved to eat? When did this myopia descend?

Looking back at Bert's childhood, I have always been quite self congratulatory about how good his diet was, lots of fresh fruit, pasta, fish, (from a very young age he loved tucking into a big bowl of moules mariniere) and he could work his way through a vegetable stir fry, using chopsticks quite proficiently, by the time he was three years old.

However, I did buy all kinds of different cereals including the Frankenstein food cereal-lucky charms. Marketed as a 'nutritious cereal for children' lucky charms were actually packed with additives linked to bad behaviour and hyperactivity! 

Cereals were one of the earliest convenience foods. Heavily marketed, they somehow wormed their way into our confused consciousness as 'healthy.' Today we British are the largest eaters of cereals which, far from being healthy, are notoriously high in salt, sugar and saturated fat.

A century ago simple cereal grains, cooked either as porridge or bread, were the staples of breakfast around the world. Although porridge fell out of favour for several years, its resurgence, about six years ago, was due to the proven health benefits, from hoovering up cholesterol, fending off heart disease, keeping blood-glucose levels low and suppressing the appetite until lunchtime. A report from America has even suggested that the humble oat can increase intelligence in small children! Research has also suggested youngsters who eat oats are 50 per cent less likely to be overweight.

Thankfully, after his brush with Frankenstein cereals, (lucky charms contained tartrazine, sunset yellow, brilliant blue and allura red colourings) Bert has eaten porridge as his staple breakfast for many years. I too love porridge, I see it as a comfort food, especially with a large puddle of cream and sprinkled with crunchy dark muscovado sugar (when I'm feeling really indulgent.)

Porridge is a good vessel for fruit, top with sliced banana or summer berries, stewed apple, apricot or pear, alternatively sprinkle with roasted nuts and a drizzle of honey or maple syrup, whatever your pleasure it's going to be healthier than your average salt/sugar laden cereal. 

Porridge

200ml milk

40g oats

Place milk and oats in a small pan and stir

Bring to the boil, stirring

Remove from the heat, cover and leave to stand for 3-4 minutes

                                                  Porridge with soya milk and honey

I recently bought some persimmons, a fruit of Chinese origin, they are crisp and sweet and the skin can be eaten or peeled, a delicious accompaniment for your morning oats.

                                           Rinse the persimmon gently

                                                            Cut off the leaves

Simply slice in the same way you would prepare a tomato

Add to your porridge with soya milk or a little cream and a drizzle of honey

Another delicious combination is dried fruit, raisins, sultanas or apricots, put in the pan whilst cooking the porridge so they become plump and juicy. For added deliciousness add a sprinkling of cinnam

'Remember the days when you let your child have some chocolate if he finished his cereal? Now, chocolate is one of the cereals.'

- Robert Orben

Love Donna xxxxxxxxx

Cooking With Kids, It's Childs Play

                                  My gorgeous godson Paris, looking very Harry Styles

I have several friends with young children who have problems regarding 'bed time'. Quite frankly I find it odd that parents undertake all sorts of rituals to get their children ready for sleep, when Bert was a child, bedtime was a routine, there were no tantrums, no negotiations or 'reverse psychology' techniques.

It could be argued that this problem is a result of liberal parenting where parents are too soft to impose rules or boundaries, however, I recently read about an experiment involving five-year old twins Michael and Christopher.

The twins were identical in every way, even scoring the same results in IQ tests, however,  when the twins were put on different diets, the outcome was astonishing.

Michael was banned from eating any foods containing additives and had to tuck into fresh fruit, nuts and bran based cereals. Christopher was allowed to feast on sweets, fizzy drinks and other foods containing E numbers.

Within two days Michael became calmer, attentive and less aggressive, whilst Christopher continued to have tantrums and behave disruptively. Their mother Lyn, who was sceptical of the experiment to begin with said: 'I cannot believe the changes that Michael has shown in his behaviour, normally we have rows and tantrums at bedtime, but Michael has been conforming a lot, he's develpped more of a sense of humour and is alot more communicative. As a mother it has been quite an eye opener, you don't realise until you start looking at labels just what you're giving to your children.'

The experiment concluded after two weeks in which Michael was outstripping Christopher in IQ and concentration tests by 15 per cent.

When the ban was extended to the twins' class at school, sixty per cent of parents reported an improvement in their children's behaviour, sleep patterns and ability to cooperate.

Like myself, my friend Carron raised her son Paris with discipline and boundaries, it may seem old fashioned to liberal parents who are obsessed with letting their children 'express themselves'. However, the vogue for traducing old fashioned parenting is dishonourable. Cajoling children to go to bed is a relatively new problem but apparently one of the most daunting tasks of parenthood, amongst the reams of advice to be found on the Internet, very little is mentioned in terms of diet. Studies have concluded that a variety of common food dyes, preservatives and E numbers can do as much damage to childrens brains as lead in petrol! This has prompted the British food standards agency to issue advice to parents warning them to limit their childrens intake of additives if they notice an effect on their behaviour.

For many time starved parents feeding their children processed food has become the norm, as Jamie Oliver famously quoted: 'I challenge you, go to any school open fifty lunch boxes and I guarantee you there will be one or two cans of red bull, cold McDonald's, jam sandwiches and several cakes.' The 'easy option' of feeding our children with addictive junk food is clearly having consequences and we must take back the reins of responsibility.  To quote clinical psychologist Dr Wendy Mogel: 'It is our job to prepare our children for the road, not prepare the road for our children.'

Carron has always been very careful with Paris's diet, by choice he became a vegetarian a few years ago and one of his favourite dishes is something his friend Cengiz, who was taught how to make this by his mother, made for all his school friends in a cookery lesson. Paris often makes this (under Carron's supervision) when he gets in from school, far better than crisps, cakes, biscuits or sweets, all filled with those dreaded E numbers!

                                 Holding my darling godson when he was only weeks old

Veggie tortillas

Recipe
2 tortillas per person
A large splodge of homemade or organic shop bought salsa
A handful of cheese, grated
2 spring onions

Spread the salsa over 1 tortilla

Add grated cheese

Snip onions and scatter over tortilla

Place second tortilla on top and put in a hot frying pan for 30 seconds per side
The melted cheese will stick the tortillas together

Remove from pan, slice into quarters and tuck in!

'It is not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings.'
- Ann Landers

Love Donna xxxxxxxx