Local mum Sinead Ferguson and her hus-band, Mark (pictured) are both qualified chefs. Sinead was keen on all things food related from the age of 15 and won a county cookery competition, going on to study professionally. Mark has worked as a senior chef in a number of places over the years. But Mark was furloughed dur-ing the first lockdown and like many the family ended up working from home and home schooling their son. With so many of us combining working from home with home schooling it’s difficult to find the time to properly plan healthy, family friendly meals whilst ensuring nobody is spending unnecessary amounts of time in the kitchen. Like many of us, the couple saw the initial panic buying in supermarkets so set out to create a range of recipes using up all the odds and ends in our cupboard and freezer. At the same time, Mark’s mum had an extended stay in hospital and so the family helped to man-age her allotment plots. From this experi-ence, the couple’s motto soon became ‘Grow It, Cook It, Eat It’.
Sinead and Mark wanted to share their exper-tise with other families, providing hints and tips on how you can get ahead with meal planning by loving your freezer and batch cooking. So they launched a website; www.thymetocook.co.uk. Here you will find practical tips, money saving ideas and inno-vative recipes for the whole family. Whether it is overnight oats, Soda bread or smoothies, to easy to make tray bakes, casseroles and pies to easy and tasty soup (see photo above) to sticky toffee pudding or brownies. There is something for everyone, most of the recipes using ingredients you will have already in the cupboard or freezer.
Get inspiration on recycling and store cup-board essentials and make life easier for your-self.
They also have an Instagram page thymeto-cook2021 and there is a facebook page under the name Sinead Ferguson.
The couple invites you to share any tips or recipes with them too, so this is very much a community affair.