Teatime is a bit like Ready, Steady, Cook in our house - check the veg basket, see what's in the fridge, grab an essential storecupboard ingredient, conjure up a meal.

I actually quite enjoy it; there's a therapy to be had in playing with food. It's also cheaper than buying processed food or ready meals and, more to the point, I like to know where my food has come from.

Over the years I have amassed a huge collection of cookbooks but I don't always refer to a recipe, instead drawing on different ideas from the various tomes I've devoured during many hours of bedtime reading.

While weekends are a time for experimenting when I have more time on my hands, key to anything I make during the week is simplicity - I don't have the time (or the inclination at the end of a long, hard day) to spend the rest of the evening slaving over a hot stove.

However, half-an-hour here or there can produce some quite surprising results.

As I am only an amateur, this recipe selection merely lists ingredients, and a rough idea of what to do with them. Apologies for timings ... temperatures and amounts are also fairly fluid - I go on gut instinct and how hungry I am.

Enthusiastic amateurs - like me - will, I hope, be able to follow these simple guidelines.

Black pudding hotpot.

In an ovenproof pot combine black pudding sausages (cut in half), made by Kitridding Farm - check out their sausage-making video on this site - with chunks of carrot and potato, sliced onions, seasoning and fresh rosemary leaves and bake in a medium hot oven for about 90 minutes.

I served this with spicy red cabbage and apple made to a Delia Smith recipe. Because red cabbage is such a messy vegetable to deal with, I usually make a mountain of it and then freeze several portions. It can be reheated either in the microwave or in a dish covered with foil in the oven alongside the hotpot.

A spoonful of mushy peas wouldn't go amiss with this hotpot either. I use Whitworths no soak' peas, again making up the full amount, freezing portions for another time.

Smoked mackerel & apple parcels.

On a slice of ready-roll puff pastry, layer flaked smoked mackerel, sliced dessert apple, and cooked (and drained) shredded leek. Either bake open or top with another slice of pastry, seal the edges and snip to create three or four air vents.

Cook in the oven on high until the pastry is golden brown and serve with a cider sauce made with a good English cider, into which you have stirred a little honey mustard (I adore Arran Honey Mustard), and a little creme fraiche.

Serve with a steamed seasonal green vegetable.

Mediterranean fish stew.

Coley is great for this dish, a) because it is really good at absorbing flavours and b) because it's incredibly good value. It's not as white as cod or haddock but don't be put off by its colour. Make a tomato sauce by frying some finely sliced onions in olive oil, add a tin of quality tinned tomatoes (it's worth the extra pennies from a flavour point of view), grate in some lemon rind, and the juice of a lemon, season. Allow the tomato sauce to cook thoroughly and then gently stir in some chunky chopped coley, stirring gently so as not to break up the fish. If your sauce is bubbling hot when you add the fish, you could even take it off the heat and the coley will continue cooking.

Serve with new potatoes or crusty bread to mop up all the delicious juices, and a green vegetable or salad.

Bay shrimps in pasta.

Cook some spaghetti and in the same water add some finely shredded leek. Don't overcook and retain two or three tablespoons of the cooking water in the pan when draining. Stir in a tub of potted Morecambe Bay shrimps until the butter has melted.

If you fancy, add some dry-fried snips of good quality bacon to the pasta, with a couple of tablespoons of creme fraiche and serve with a seasonal British vegetable.

Oven ratatouille with home-made lamb burgers.

Fill a roasting tray with sliced sweet peppers, aubergine, and those yummy sun-blushed tomatoes in oil, some of your favourite fresh herbs and a little seasoning. Cover with foil and cook on a medium heat in the oven for about 20-30 mins.

Meanwhile, if you have a food processor, remove as much fat as you can from some boneless lamb shoulder chops, process with a little seasoning and shape into burgers.

Grill and serve with the oven veg and a green salad.