This is a quick, easy and healthy weekend lunch.  It would also make a great picnic addition, or lunch box snack.

The combination of spinach greens, chickpeas and peanut butter makes this recipe great for getting your calcium quota.

1 cup of spinach has twice as much absorb-able calcium as a cup of milk. Chickpeas are also high in calcium, and peanut butter, which binds these beauties together, is just brimming with magnesium; which you need to insure that calcium is fully utilized. In other words, these Falafels are a perfect source of vitamins for strong healthy bones. Also a wonderfully versatile meal or snack for those of us that like to use our fingers to eat (which lets face it is most of kids and adults too). This recipe is a doddle and the end results are beautifully light fluffy green tasty morsels. Here’s the recipe:

Put 4 tbsp of oats in a blender and whizz until they turn to flour consistency. Add 200g of Spinach with 1 drained and rinsed 400g tin of chickpeas (or to be more frugal soak 120g of dried chickpeas overnight and boil for 1 hour). Squeeze in the juice of a whole lemon, and add 1 tsp of cumin, a pinch of salt, 3 cloves of garlic, 1.5 tbsp peanut butter and a handful of fresh herbs (I used coriander and fresh mint from the garden). Blend until it forms a smooth paste. If your blender is having trouble cutting through all this fibre add a dash of warm water to get things moving. Once your batter is formed roll it into balls and place on a greased baking tray. My mixture ended up a bit wet, so in the end I spooned quinelles (like they do on masterchef) of the mixture onto the baking tray. Bake on a moderate to high oven( Gas mark 6 / 200C / 400F) for 25 minutes until they are crispy on the outside but still gooey in the middle. Serve with lashings of home-made hummus either on their own, or with salad – delicious!

How much do they cost to make?

120g dried chickpeas = 14p
peanut butter = 20p
Oats = 20p
Spinach = 50pHerbs, garlic, salt & pepper = 20p

Total = £1.24 for 12 falafel.

I love the sunshine that pumpkins bring to a Winters day. When I received two beautiful baby Squash in our Westmills Organic Veggie box I couldn’t resist a warming soup.

Squash and pumpkins are a perfect match for the spice cumin. It’s earthiness really complements the slightly sweet plump flesh. Together they create a meal that has a restorative quality. Now that I’ve discovered how easy it is to boil my used bones to make stock, the whole combination is a marriage made in heaven.

Squash are one of the most nutritious and healthiest vegetables you can eat, with a rich array of vitamins, minerals as well as lots of fibre. It has a high content of flavonoid poly-phenolic antioxidants such as leutin, xanthin, and carotenes which have cancer fighting properties and are good for eye health. It is also a good source of B-complex vitamins like folates, niacin, vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), thiamin and pantothenic acid and rich in minerals like copper, calcium, potassium and phosphorus.

There’s nothing complicated about this recipe. Simply slice the squash in half, don’t bother to de-seed. Sprinkle with olive oil and a tbsp of cumin. Roast on a medium oven for 1 hour. The roasting brings out the natural sweetness of the squash as opposed to boiling which can wash away the delicate flavour.

Scoop out the pips and discard. Then scoop out the flesh and add them to your pre-prepared stock. Blitz with the blender and add salt and pepper to season. Best served on a cold day with a dash of cream or natural yoghurt. Hearty and delicious.

If you make your own stock from left over bones, this recipe can cost as little as £1 for 4 portions.

I’m fighting a cold. It’s the first one I’ve had all Winter. I’m winning at the moment but I don’t want things to deteriorate, so I must have an action plan.

I don’t have fancy supplements or expensive Super Foods like acai or blueberries but I do have an Allium Family Army made up of onions, shallots and garlic.

Onions may possibly be one of the healthiest foods on Earth. They contain quercetin, a nutrient that breaks up mucus in your head and chest while boosting your immune system. When the smell of raw onions makes your nose run and your eyes tear up, this stimulates your immune system to fight infection.

Onions and garlic also contain allicin, which slows down and kills a variety of viruses and bacteria. The pungency of onions and garlic increase your blood circulation and make you sweat. This helps to prevent infections and allows you to sweat out a cold or flu. Consuming fresh raw white onion and garlic within a few hours of the first symptoms of a cold or flu is when you’ll get the strongest immune effect.

I’m not into eating a bunch of raw onions and garlic, nor would my husband like the smell on my breathe that much, but I’m quite happy to have a good cry whilst peeling them. When onions are cooked to make soup, their quercetin does not get degraded. It simply gets transferred into the liquid part of the soup. If you allow garlic and onions to simmer slowly in some home-made beef stock they become deliciously sweet and savoury. Here’s the recipe…

French onion soup

I like making my own stock from beef bones boiled in water and seasoned with salt, pepper and bay leaf. Alder’s Butchers on Cowley Road will sell you a huge bag for just £1 with the proceeds going to charity. However, if you prefer you can always buy pre-prepared stock.

Finely slice 4 large onions and 2 cloves of garlic. Place them in a heavy duty sauce pan with 50g of butter and 1/2 tsp of salt. Allow them to cook very gently, stirring occasionally for about 45 minutes. During this time the onions with caramelise at the bottom of the pan. This is what give the sweet taste to the onion soup and should be encouraged, but do not allow them to burn. Once the onions are ready add in about 750ml of beef stock. Gently simmer again for another 30 minutes until everything is infused. If you have any leftover red wine, port or sherry this can also be added but it’s not necessary. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve with a grating of strong cheese and crusty bread. Warming and nutritious!

This is easy on the budget

4 large onions = 40p
Beef stock = £1
Butter, sugar, salt pepper = 25p
cheese = 50p

Total = £2.15 for 4