Notizie per la Nonna: Mastering the Microwave 2: Variations on a theme

So it turns out if you're buying food for yourself, and you buy value packs, you end up eating a lot of the same stuff. I discovered this last week, when i bought a bag of spinach, and it became the main component of every meal. However this isn't to say I'm sick of it, and actually I enjoyed it so much I bought another bag yesterday. Go Popeye. Anyway, the spinach-feta-pitta bread meal sort of came to me in a dream, which really excited me and got me running to the supermarket as soon as I woke up. Although I'm fairly sure it was crepes or tortillas in my dream rather than pittas, I soon discovered that Sainsbury's wholemeal pittas are both healthier, cheaper and easier to cook, so I got these instead.

So I won't lie, the first trial was disappointing. the above picture demonstrates a fatal flaw in warming pittas in the microwave: they get soggy instead of crispy. Also, I should have mixed the spinach and the feta before putting them in the bread, so I tried this the day after, and it was definitely an improvement. First time gets a 4/10 and the second gets a 9/10 (only because 10 would be boasting).

Bingo. Adding cous cous and toasting the pitta before adding heated filling improved this one immensely.

So after the spinach worked well, I decided to experiment a little, and put slightly cooked apples in with the feta and cous cous. This was also delicious.

And to use up the last of my cheese, what better than a nice cheesy pasta?

Last Sunday I went all out on lunch, and satisfied a long-tolerated craving for apple pie with one of the market's 'luxury apple pies'. I can assure you it was delicious, although I don't know that this equates to luxurious...

Spinach leaf salad with cooked carrots, feta and crackers, next to a pitta quesadilla :)

On a non-food related note, the rest of my weekend panned out as such: Huge Vintage Flea Market at the Guildhall, volleyball training (I'm now on the second team), laundering (I hadn't washed anything since I got here, wish is more impressive than disgusting actually), and a social event for Chinese and Japanese students on Saturday evening. I spent Sunday working, and I have also re-done my notice board! I'd say it looks prettier now.