3 March - the Rising Sun

Today we went down to visit my parents at their new place in Somerset. To celebrate the move and my Dad's birthday, we went out for dinner to a pub called The Rising Sun in West Bagborough. Rather annoyingly, I had a horrible dizzy spell just as we arrived (bit of an ear infection, I think, affecting my balance), so I spent most of the meal wishing the room would stop spinning and trying not to move my head too much! Which was a shame, because the food was really good. I had some chicken liver pate to start, then a huge chunk of lovely tender roast pork belly.

2 March - the first asparagus and roast lamb

After the success of my chilli wrap earlier in the week, I went for another wrap today, this time grilled harissa chicken (just a grilled chicken breast brushed with harissa paste) with avocado, grilled red pepper and mayo. I made the mistake of popping the wrap under the grill to warm, because it was already on, but it just went crispy- d'oh! Thus it didn't actually 'wrap' very well, but still a tasty filling nonetheless.

I went into Ruby & White to get some lamb fillet for supper and while I was there spotted the first English asparagus of the season, from the Wye Valley. It was extortionately expensive, but as we were celebrating (a new work contract), I decided to go for it anyway. It was well worth it too ... a simple plate of lightly boiled asparagus with a bit of melted butter to start with a glass of bubbly was about as perfect as it gets! I used a Nigel Slater recipe from the Kitchen Diaries for the lamb, marinating it in a gloop of fresh mint, garlic, anchovy and olive oil, quickly roasting it whole, then slicing it thickly. We had it with some rosemary roast new potatoes, green beans and the rest of the champagne ... great start to the weekend!

1 March - courgette pasta

Sometimes the simplest, made-up dishes are the best and today's lunchtime pasta was one of those. Courgette, bacon and a small blob of cream stirred into some penne pasta ... yum!

This evening, I was out with friends at the Lounge. I went for the chicken and chorizo salad, mainly because it's usually not very salady - chicken, chorizo, peppers and potatoes. It was clearly a different chef on tonight though because it arrived as a huge dish of rocket (which I hate!) with a few bits of chicken and chorizo on the top - very disappointing :(

29 February - veggie curry

Another veggie dish tonight, this time a Southern Indian vegetable curry from Anjum Anand's Indian Food Made Easy . It had lots of yummy veg - potatoes, carrots, courgette, green beans and cabbage - and plenty of spices, but somehow came out a bit disappointingly bland. At least it felt healthy though ...

28 February - a chilli wrap and chicken with mushrooms

For lunch today I used up the leftover mince from the bolognese and some borlotti beans from last night to make a quick chilli:

• I fried up some onion, garlic and yellow pepper.
• Added the beef mince + a pinch of allspice, cumin, chilli and a stub of cinnamon stick
• Once browned, I tipped in some tinned tomatoes, the borlotti beans and a bit of fresh coriander

I made it up into a wrap with a few spinach leaves and a dollop of yoghurt - great lunch!

This evening, I just had a fancy for a basic "meat and two veg" type supper. I pan-fried a couple of chicken breasts and then in the same pan made a creamy mushroom and tarragon sauce to pour over them. Served with some new potatoes and cabbage, it was just what I'd been after.

27 February - shakshouka and stuffed peppers

There was a tasty-looking recipe in yesterday's Independent magazine for shakshouka - fried onions, peppers, chorizo, spinach and tomatoes with an egg broken in the middle, then sprinkled with sumac powder. It was a slight variation on a dish I've cooked before and a really tasty lunch.

After lots of meat and fish while we were away, we were both craving some veg. For supper I cooked a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe of peppers stuffed with beans. For my stuffing I cooked up onions, garlic, tomato, mushrooms and borlotti beans with some spices and dolloped it inside a couple of long red peppers. Served with a bit of garlicky yoghurt and a spinach salad, it really hit the spot.

26 February - resetting our bodyclocks

The last few times I've flown long-haul, I've tried to avoid jetlag by not eating at all on the journey back, then having whatever the appropriate meal is when I get home. Apparently, it's meant to reset your bodyclock. So after an overnight flight back from Miami, then train to Bristol, we arrived home at lunchtime and had some nice simple soup. It was a bit of a lazy afternoon and we managed to hold out until usual dinnertime for some spaghetti bolognese. We both slept really well and seemed to be more-or-less back to normal the next day, so it looks like the food trick worked.