Thanks Alexandra

My friend Alexandra, of the blog Sweet Tempered, attempted to leave this lovely comment and was unsuccessful, so she e-mailed me these wonderful helpful hints, which I thought I would pass on to you too:

Hey Claire! I'm loving your blog and get excited about new posts. For some reason (probably something with my computer) I'm not able to leave a comment although I try frequently. Anyhoo- way to go on losing a stone! Well done indeed:) In response to your latest post I thought as a fellow fresh foods approach eater and cook I would offer some of my favorite things for eating healthy on a budget. First off this lady inspires me all the time, and she has gorgeous cookbooks too (although, I feel like you probably already know about her)

www.101cookbooks.com

and some of my other favorites....

http://veganyumyum.com/

http://veganmenu.blogspot.com/

http://chocolateandzucchini.com/

Also, check out Mark Bittman and his blog on the NYtimes. http://bitten.blogs.nytimes.com/ He's a fucking genius.

Again, you probably already know about these, but if you don't they are great little sites of inspiration. Other things I suggest are:

Homemade soup: you can never go wrong with a big pot of veggies (especially hearty greens), veggie broth, beans and tons of ethnic spices. You can eat on it all week long and soup freezes wonderfully. A good chance to make homemade bread too for dipping:)

Homemade veggie burgers: all that rice and vegetable stuff you make? Make extra sometimes and with the leftovers (best with leftovers because it's more solid) form it into little patties and shallow fry them on the stove. Can throw it in the food processor for a more consistent texture, although I really like the big bits of veggies in the homemade patties. Add a poached egg on top and it's heaven. Kind if like bubbles and squeak?

Breakfast for dinner: Nothing says you can't make a pot of porridge with fresh fruit and a bit of maple syrup and call it dinner.

Try the asian aisle for things like soba and udon noodles toss with them with cabbage, soy sauce and chili garlic sauce....easy and yummy.

I could go on and on about this but I leave it at this. Hope this helps for inspiration. Keep up the great work!