Hi folks,

My name is Kim Standerline, welcome to my cooking from scratch blog.

As a youngster growing up back in the 60’s and 70’s with a single mother, four brothers and 2 sisters, life could be very tough. I often witnessed my mother coppering up pennies to try and buy a loaf of bread.

We had very little money, but somehow my mother could always magic a meal out of thin air despite being down to her last few pennies. Her mantra was ‘if you had a bag of potatoes, a loaf of bread and some eggs, you had a meal’ 

Despite the poverty we sometimes endured, I don’t ever remember us going hungry even if it was only egg n chips for our dinner and a jam butty for tea, mum always managed to scrape something together.

Mum was a huge believer in cooking from scratch (she had to be), and the best gift she gave her seven children was the ability to cook from practically nothing. All of us have been able to magic a meal out of practically anything in cupboards or fridge/freezer since we were very young.

In our early married life, hubby and I were often grateful for my ability to conjure a meal practically out of thin air. (We lived through a vicious British Steel strike back in the early 80’s which was traumatic).  Even now I can go and look in the cupboard/fridge/freezer and just draw inspiration for a meal by the bits n pieces I might have in there.

Sadly, in this day and age of super fast living and busy life, cooking, especially from scratch seems to have become a dying art. So many people now buy processed convenience foods because they think it’s quicker and cheaper. Yet processed food if eaten exclusively is bad for you as it usually contains lots of sugar and/or salt and other nasty preservatives.

I don’t deny processed food can be useful, but eating it continuously via ready meals, fast food etc it can play havoc with your health. You’ve only got to look at the rising epidemic of obesity and related illnesses such as type 2 diabetes etc in the western world to see how bad the problem of processed food has become and continues to do so.

It’s a fallacy that fresh food is more expensive, in fact the opposite is true. Buying fresh fruit, meat and veg is usually a lot cheaper and much more nutritional. It just depends where you source it from. Obviously it’s going to be expensive if you buy everything from your local posh supermarket, (I’m looking at you Marks n Sparks).  You can buy excellently priced fresh veg and fruit from shops such as Asda, Aldi, Lidl and usually your local market. And don’t forget, frozen veg is a good buy as well. The secret to cooking frozen veg is to not over cook it.

This blog isn’t about making fancy or posh meals. I want it to relate to those people who are like me and struggle at times making ends meet. Those folks with a bit too much month left at the end of their money, or even struggling on benefits.

In my pictures and video’s you’ll not see a fancy kitchen or pots and pans. It’s just my old trays, baking dishes etc that I’ve had for years. Plus I use my phone to take my pictures and I don’t have the patience or the skill to edit them so they look posh!

I’m definitely no Delia Smith or Mary Berry, but what I can do is make a little bit of anything edible go a long way and taste really good as well.

So buckle up and join me in making delicious meals from scratch…