This post was written in collaboration with The Saucy Fish Co. I realised this morning with horror that the kids are back at school next week! Where have the summer holidays gone? I imagined long sunny days, with the kids playing in our close and garden. Both of them constantly asking me for ice pops to cool off after bike rides, football and playing spies on secret missions (one of Lewis’ favourite games).
I guess we’ve done quite a lot really - a couple of weeks in Florida, the kids spending close to a week in Wales, sleepovers with friends and family, plus a foodie weekend at the Big Feastival. But I still want more! We’re going for a picnic and a walk up Bosley cloud (I’d like to say it’s a mountain, but it’s more of a big hill really) with friends today. Then that’s it. No more plans in the diary. Back to a more normal way of working on Wednesday, without the sometimes annoying and sometimes perfectly cute distractions (like Gracey serving up little homemade pies yesterday, after picking blackberries in the garden). Back to more normal meals too. Well, as normal as you can get for a food blogger!
Sometimes we need a bit of a helping hand on those busy school-and-work days! Although I cook from scratch a lot, I’m not averse to using really good-quality ready-made stuff - and there’s my rather slick lead to talk about The Saucy Fish Co. ???? I buy Saucy Fish Co. products anyway, because I really do like them. They make delicious sauce-filled fishcakes (and no, the sauce doesn’t leak out whilst they’re cooking), as well as frozen fish that’s cooked in the oven (from frozen) and served with a range of sauces. My particular favourites are the Salmon with Chilli, Lime and Ginger Dressing, and also the Sea Bass with Salsa Verde. I was a little hesitant when I first tried their fish-cooked-from-frozen range at the beginning of this year, but they’re fab! They’re cooked in a special oven bag, which means they come out tender, juicy and flaky - as opposed to other frozen fish I’ve tried which can often be dry and bland. I was so happy when I was sent not one, but two boxes of goodies. The first being lots of fish and fishcakes (yay!) and the second being some kit to make a homemade outdoor bowling game - complete with glow-sticks to play it in the dark! Exactly the kind of fun we were looking for for the summer holidays! The game was created by Katie Pix (you can check it out here - she’s bonkers :-)) I did a few instagram stories on it yesterday - here’s an example of my terrible bowling skills! Yeah, embarrassing! So lets get on with the recipe. The fishcakes are the easy bit, but I decided to serve them with some cheesy mash, garlic butter crispy prawns and green beans - inspired by one of the rather larger meals we had whilst on holiday in Florida. You could also serve these fishcakes with a bacon an pea salad.