Mock mash and a furnace...

I've been trying to eat as much superfree food as possible these last few weeks, staying away from heavy carb laden foods such as rice, pasta and potatoes - substituting them for a mock version.

I scoured the web for mock mash recipes,which a lot of people on the Atkins diet use, but I found these to be actually quite fatty! I decided to change it a bit to be more Slimming World friendly and is extremely handy to dollop on a plate as it's completely made of superfree foods.

I particularly like to use it as a topping for my peppered shepherd's pie or as a side dish with the Sunday roast.

The mock mash is really simple so I don't have any pictures. All you will need is a fresh whole cauliflower (or four cups of frozen), a butternut squash and a tub of Tesco healthy living cottage cheese with chives.

If you are using fresh cauliflower, chop it into chunks. If you are using frozen, this will have already been done for you. Place the cauliflower chunks in a casserole dish. Add one tablespoon of water and cover. Bake in the oven on a low heat for 40 minutes until the cauliflower is cooked and soft.

Peel and chop the butternut squash. Place in a pot of boiling water, cover and cook on a medium heat until soft.

Drain the butternut squash and return to pot.

Use a handheld blender to smooth the cottage cheese.

When the cauliflower is ready, add it to the pot with the butternut squash. Add the cottage cheese and mash until smooth. If there are any lumps you can smooth them with the handheld blender or put the mash through a potato press to make it really smooth. You can get these in Ikea for £8.

This is my Peppered Shepherd's Pie topped with the mock mash... which as you can see I've also covered in white pepper, even though it's made with Oh So Lean Low Fat Pepper Sauce - I like it really peppery!

Also J has been working on a new project with his dad. They are building a furnace! This is very exciting as once it is finished, they are going to be melting down aluminum cans and making them into ingots, which in turn will be melted down again and made into some very cool things - the first project is very exciting, but I am not allowed to reveal it!

 This is J putting the fire clay mixed with vermiculite into the lid to heat proof it

 This is the main body of the furnace. The bottom of it is filled with concrete which is still in the process of drying

This is J finishing off the lid, making sure it's level and that the heat proofing is hard-packed

I'm excited to see the finished product, although I think it will take another month or so, but I'll post a photo here once it's completed and put into action!