Time to clear the decks …

… it's not that long ago that we were “decking the halls”, now it's time to clear the decks – literally. If you ever want to fit into those jeans start the way you mean to go on. Have you still got Christmas food and treats left over?

If you've got boxes of biscuits and chocolates give them away – a Food Bank would be a good shout. If you can't bear to surrender the chocolates then freeze them.

Do a stocktake of your freezer – if you've got frozen party food use it or commit it to the recycling. Your freezer is about to become your best friend – not just a storage unit for all the deals you can't possibly live without. Home-made ready meals here we come!

I hate to be a party pooper but we're all now addicted to sugar, salt and fat and have to set about weaning ourselves off any or all of the above.

I have a plan … it's not rocket science. It's get organised, do some planning and the results will you save time, money and stress and hopefully have you back in those jeans in no time at all!

I'll come back to the organisation and planning – in the meantime, to show you where I'm coming from - do you have leftovers? If you don't you might want to reconsider and create them deliberately as I do.

One of the greatest “leftover” dishes has to be Bubble and Squeak, (Squeak) which began life as leftover cabbage and potato from Sunday lunch. It has since morphed into whatever leftover veggies you might have.

Read on for my version … and a few photos