I had been pondering over what to do with the rhubarb glut that would happen when hubby decided to crop Ruby, our Timperley.

One bagful has definitely got to go to my parents, as we forgot to give them the last one. Other than that, I needed to think of something yummy - and something out of the ordinary (for me!) that would showcase the rhubarb in all its glory.

It was too soon to do Pork & Rhubarb dish again, and I wasn't feeling like anything savoury with it anyway. So a sweet dessert was what was on the cards.

Hence when this last weekend, hubby decided to strip poor Ruby down to all but four leaves (although she has got a whole heap of baby leaves coming along!), I was halfway there with a recipe.

I had seen photographs of a dessert dish that a friend of mine over in the States had done, called Apple Crisp. I couldn't remember the details of how to make it, but that was what provided the inspiration for this.

I'm afraid I have no idea how much rhubarb went into it - "three long sticks and three short sticks" doesn't really describe it terribly accurately for you. However, the important thing with the rhubarb is that it is laid in one flat layer in the bottom of whatever dish you're using - which is why I used a Lasagne dish.

The object of the exercise is that the rhubarb doesn't dissolve into mush, nor does it produce so much juice that the breadcrumb topping dissolves.

Put in one layer like this, the juice can (pretty much) evaporate before it soaks the breadcrumbs. Equally so, it is important not to put too many breadcrumbs on top. You don't want to be ferreting around under breadcrumbs, looking for your rhubarb!

Another point worth mentioning is that the breadcrumb topping is the focus of where the sweetness is. As such, you don't want to over-sugar the rhubarb. Let it retain a lot of its tartness so that the change in texture from soft, tart rhubarb to crisp, sweet breadcrumbs is really apparent.

This is definitely a dessert dish to be eaten hot, straight from the oven. Allow it to cool and you allow the breadcrumbs to soften as they absorb the juice from the rhubarb. Also, it's very good with double cream! You can find the full recipe on my blog. So naughty - but so nice!

In other news, hubby and I had been discussing the issue of Son & heir's break times when at school. Or, more specifically, what he is eating at said break times.

I had found myself falling into a trap of simply getting a cereal biscuit bar from the cupboard and sending him off with that. Now, okay, the cereal biscuit bars I had chosen weren't the worst in the world, being low in fat and sugar, but then they weren't great either.

So I resolved that as I am responsible (for the next few years, anyway) for what goes into him at times such as this, I'd better get my act together and provide something "healthy".

Now I won't claim to have hit upon the answer, but this is a topic upon which I shall be returning to for regular performance reviews. (Oooh, that takes me back to working for the Civil Service and their regular performance reviews. ~shudder~).

The programme I'm working to at the moment, is fairly easy. Well, it has to be really. In the same way as I meal plan for each week, I shall snack plan too.

So, here's how this week is shaping up:

Monday: Spiced Apple Muffin

Tuesday: Peach

Wednesday: small pack of plain savoury crackers

Thursday: Spiced Apple Muffin

Friday: Apple

On the occasions when I haven't been able to bake, I'll probably break out the cereal biscuits. However, we made 12 low sugar spiced apple muffins this weekend and I’ve frozen 6 that I will take out of the freezer individually, the night before they’re required.

This has two benefits in that a) they’re not all eaten up at the rate of two a day, and b) they’re fresh as a daisy when they’re required. I'm also aiming to change the plan to include three items of fruit in a week - but I've got to go slowly, or there'll be complaints!

The plain savoury crackers are one section from a Party Snack Pack. Each section is easily cut away from the rest and as the crackers are baked, not fried, and don't contain cheese, I figure they're not too terrible. The crackers are mainly a selection of wheat, sesame and poppy seeds and at £1 for a pack of eight sections, it's pretty darned economical, too!

Hmmmn, this feels like a New Year’s Resolution – but hopefully unlike those, this won’t be broken within the first three days!