Going up
Healthy kiddies
Back to school means its time to think lunchboxes, but what to pack to keep the little darlings happy and healthy? Hovis says the sarnie for savvy mums combines peanut butter with apple. According to nutritionist, Fiona Hunter, who developed the health-boosting butty, it’s a winning combo: “It is cost-effective, very simple to make and has all the nutrients children need – but doesn’t compromise on taste.”

Need more inspiration? Check out these lifestyle lunchboxes

Cheese bomb
Turophiles take note – this season’s hottest cheese is the Lancashire Bomb, a 24 month matured creamy Lancashire coated in black wax. It might look like something from a Road Runner cartoon but the fromage is a favourite with serious cheese lovers. “The Lancashire Bomb is flying at the moment,” says Andrew Harper of BritishFineFoods, who rates the Bomb as his cheese of choice.

Build your own Great British Cheeseboard

Skinny latte lovers
Just a year since its launch, 1 per cent fat milk has become a shopping basket staple for health conscious consumers. Sainsbury’s, who launched the lower-fat milk, says 1 per cent fat milk accounts for 10 per cent of their total milk sales. “It tastes like, and has the same amount of calcium and vitamin B as semi-skimmed milk, but with half the fat content,” explains the supermarket.

Find the hidden fat in your food

Going down

Shop-bought cakes
Have you been baking? There must be some reason why gateaux gurus Sara Lee have announced a 22 per cent drop in their international bakery sales. The company attributes the slump, in part, to customers switching to own-label products to save pennies in the miserable financial climate.

Flour your surfaces and try these baking recipes

Organic food (again)
It has been another challenging month for team organic as a new survey reports shoppers are spending their money elsewhere. The research, carried out by market research company IGD, revealed 10 per cent of UK shoppers opted for cheaper products they perceived to have the same benefits as organic, while eight per cent said they are no longer sure what ‘organic’ stands for.

Find out what organic is all about

Bog off, BOGOF
Buy one, get one free deals (or BOGOFs) could be out the door since the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) decided they contribute to the food waste problem. It believes switching to half-price offers will help reduce the 4.1m tonnes of edible food that is binned in the UK each year.

Tips for fighting food waste

Caramilk
First up, caramel sauce – bought in giddier times to sit atop ice cream, but realistically there’s only so much sugar-and-butter sauce you can justifiably spoon into your mouth before the self-loathing kicks in. In a drink though, it’s a different story. Two generous tablespoons stirred through warm milk looked like a milky tea and tasted like pure heaven. Along the hot chocolate angle, only better.
Perfect for: Curling up on the sofa; kiddies’ sleepovers.

Jam toddy
Jam’s an underrated foodstuff; past elevenses it’s back to the fridge with the fruity little number for another day of neglect. Joke’s on you, kitchen killjoy. I popped a big blob of jam in the bottom of a mug, added enough boiling water to make a paste, then topped up with hot water and lo and behold I’d made myself a berry nice cuppa. If you’re using the good quality stuff that’s packed with fruit, you might have to do a bit of strawberry fishing but if anything that’s a bonus and warm sugary fruit is really quite lovely.
Perfect for: Reviving the spirit after a hearty ramble, especially if you add a glug of whiskey.

Bisto tea
On the face of it Bisto is the most obvious condiment to convert; after all, you’re supposed to add it to hot water. But a quick sip of the beefy beverage put flight to any ambitions the gravy granules might have harboured of challenging Bovril to the meat-in-a-mug crown. Adding milk made it look like strong coffee but didn’t improve the powdery protein flavour.
Perfect for: Pouring down the sink.

Cheesy milk
Cheese sauce – can that be a drink? What about a very milky cheese sauce? There’s only one way to find out. Heat milk, add grated cheese, stir and reheat. There was a bit of cheese sediment but nothing that couldn’t be solved by a quick pass through a sieve leaving behind a strong, satisfying cheesy draught. Is it a drink? Is it a soup? Does it matter? It’s bloody lovely.
Perfect for: Comfort food in a cup.

Caramilk recipe
Serves 1

Ingredients
250ml milk
2½ heaped tbsp caramel sauce

Method: How to make caramilk
Heat the milk in a pan or microwave on full power for 1 minute. Stir the caramel sauce into the hot milk.

Jam toddy recipe
Serves 1

Ingredients
2 heaped tbsp jam
250ml freshly boiled water
25ml whiskey (optional)

Method: How to make jam toddy
Spoon the jam into a mug. Add enough hot water to make into a paste. Add water to taste and stir well. If you’re feeling naughty, pop in a shot of whiskey, but do please drink responsibly.

Cheesy milk recipe
Serves 1

Ingredients
250ml milk
25g Cheddar cheese, grated

Method: How to make cheesy milk
Heat the milk in a pan or microwave on full power for 40 seconds. Take the pan off the heat and add the grated cheese. Return the milk to the heat and stir well. Alternatively, microwave again for 10 seconds. Strain through a sieve to remove any cheesy sediment.

Sup up more drinks recipes from 4Food

A savoury stable
Every good nativity story starts with the stable; something sturdy and warm to keep out the winter chill. My two wise men and I toyed with various building materials to house my holy family but finally decided on the Twiglet. Lumber-like in appearance and texture the salty snack lends itself perfectly to crib construction. And which Saviour wouldn’t be thrilled to enter the world amid the aroma of yeast?

To fill any unsightly cracks I rustled up some edible grout – just like the Bethlehem builders of old – from the flour and water and mixed it with crushed up Twiglets. Then after, popping on a couple of gable ends the stable was ready and fit for a king, or three.

Cheesy characters
Casting the characters was the next port of call and just like the real world, the cheese realm offered a host of possibilities of various talents and depths.

The shepherds and sheep – Goat’s cheese was pretty much a given here as anything made from cow’s milk would be an insult to the trade. The crumbly consistency of Feta also helped conjure up the rough and ready appearance of men in the field. Who’d have thought?

The three kings - I wanted something regal and imposing for the three kings’ capes so the ruby red of Edam rind was an easy choice. A saunter round the supermarket counter threw up a green-rinded goat’s cheese and a flamboyant Mexican morsel that were more than up to the job.

The holey angel Gabriel – I needed something light enough to ‘fly’ but with a holy aura daunting enough to worry a shepherd. A Leerdammer slice fit the bill perfectly – a fact for their marketing team perhaps?

The holy family - The hardest roles of all. For Joseph I wanted something solid and dependable, perhaps with an oak-smoked hue? In the end I opted for Pilgrim’s Choice Extra Mature Cheddar – well, he’d need to be.

Mary was made from blue cheese; an obvious choice for such a highly flavoured lady, and the babe himself was played by a Babybel – the purple-rinded variety for extra regal depth.

A pungent performance
With the cast assembled the performance began and the dairy thespians did themselves proud. Sure, Mary’s head melted and a bit of loose Twiglet timber killed off a couple of Feta sheep but every Christmas play needs a little drama.

As the curtain fell there wasn’t a dry eye in the 4Food team, a fact only partly explained by the pungent lactose fumes. Who needs expensive decorations to ring in the birth of Christ? Beat the credit crunch this Christmas and celebrate with cheese.

Check out the full journey of Mary, Joseph and baby cheese-us