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Do you find it difficult to budget for your weekly shop? Are you tempted by impulse buys and special deals? Do you make the same meals week in, week out? Eat Well for Less shows you how to create more nutritious dishes for your family while spending less on your supermarket shop.

As well as 80 delicious recipes, you will find a meal-planning guide, help on freezing and storing food, a family budget planner and lots of ideas to get kids cooking. Learn how to use your leftovers, make savvy swaps and add more fruit and veg to your diet without spending extra time in the kitchen. With tasty food, sample shopping lists and practical tips from Gregg, Chris and the experts from the hit BBC show, this is your essential guide to eating well for less.

Foreword by Gregg Wallace and Chris Bavin

They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, well this might be the exception, because this book will do exactly what it says on the cover! We want to show you how you can save money on your food bill without compromising on quality or enjoyment – and this book is full of tasty, simple recipes that will do just that. As we travel around the country making the series, we realise that none of the issues are unique. We all waste food, don’t always make lists, are reluctant to try cheaper alternatives and spend far too much money on things we don’t need to. We want to help you to change, and hope this book will inspire you to start making those simple changes that, in the long run, will mean the savings really add up.

If you received your food bill once a year, you’d be horrified and would do everything in your power to reduce it. But as we’re making lots of small purchases, the total value doesn’t really register. So one of the most important things you can do is shop around – not just by visiting high street grocers, fishmongers and butchers – who are a great source of information as well as often great value for money – but also shop around within the supermarket. Don’t automatically pick up your usual brand week after week, try different ones. And if you don’t like it, try a different one the week later. Open your eyes and challenge your tastebuds! Be aware that sometimes you really are just paying for fancy packaging – or convenience – and that it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s better, healthier or tastier…just more expensive!

One easy thing you need to do when looking to reduce your bill, is PLAN. Follow these simple rules below and you’re well on your way to eating well for less.

Cooking from scratch can be daunting, either because you feel you don’t have the confidence or the time. We hope this book will show you that cooking simple meals can be quick and easy and something you might even enjoy doing together as a family. And as an added bonus you’ll be saving money too!

Tips and techniques

If you’re new to cooking and feeling a bit nervous, here are a few tips to get you started.

✔ Read the recipe before you start and get everything you need in front of you. There’s nothing worse than having your hands covered in food and trying to dig out a teaspoon. If you are missing an ingredient, see if it’s something you can easily substitute with something you do have.

✔ Remember to defrost any frozen ingredients in good time – particularly meat, chicken or fish. Vegetables will defrost quickly during cooking. Remove any butter, eggs, etc. from the fridge to soften or warm up to room temperature if the recipe recommends it.

✔ If the recipe tells you to preheat the oven at the beginning, turn it on now. Grease and line any tins at the start, too.

✔ Wash your hands, put on a pinny, tie back long hair and make sure your work surface and equipment are clean. It’s basic hygiene but it’s so important with food preparation.

Get stuck in!

✔ Follow the recipe carefully – particularly if you are baking.

✔ Check the instructions on the packaging. For example, if it asks you to rinse rice before cooking, put it in a sieve and set it under cold running water. For rice, pasta, noodles, etc., check the cooking time – it can vary.

✔ Wash knives, other utensils and your chopping boards if they have been used for raw meat, poultry, fish, eggs or vegetables – or better still, have a few colour-coded boards for each ingredient to prevent any cross-contamination.

✔ Keep raw and cooked foods separate during preparation to prevent the spread of bacteria.

✗ Don’t wash raw meat, chicken or fish, but do wash fruit and vegetables.

How do you know if it’s cooked?

Undercooking in particular is a worry, but equally you don’t want your hard work to go to waste by overcooking food.

• Pasta

Cook until al dente – if you scoop out a piece of pasta it should be just firm to the bite, not chewy and definitely not soggy.

• Chicken

When roasting a whole bird, pierce the thigh of the chicken with a sharp knife – slide the knife in, then out again. Any juices coming out should be clear and the tip of the knife should be very hot. If not, return to the oven for another 5 minutes and check again. For chicken breasts or drumsticks, cut into the thickest part of the meat and see if there is any pink meat; if there is, it needs cooking longer.

• Meat

For roasts, arm yourself with a meat thermometer – the food should be 70˚C in the middle when it is ready. Pork, burgers and sausages should all be cooked through until there is no pink meat, but it is ok to eat beef and lamb rare if you like it that way.

• Fish

The flesh should flake away and be opaque all the way through.

• Other foods

Any other foods should be hot in the middle when ready.

Clearing up

✔ Clear up as much as you can as you go along and then you won’t be faced with a mess when you’ve finished eating.

✔ If there are any leftovers, cool them as quickly as possible at room temperature (ideally within 1 to 2 hours), then store in the fridge or freeze for another day. Remember, when you reheat the food make sure it is steaming hot all the way through, and don’t reheat it more than once. Particular instructions are relevant to reheating rice – see here.

✔ If you are storing food, use plastic freezerproof containers. Don’t use aluminium to store food as it is highly acidic and will affect the flavour of the foods. If you have only used half a tin of an ingredient, tip out the remainder into another container to store.

Glossary of cooking terms

Beat: Stir rapidly to make a mixture smooth using a whisk, spoon or mixer.

Blanch: Cook vegetables or fruit briefly in boiling water to seal in flavour and colour – to prepare for freezing or to make removing skin easier.

Blend: To thoroughly combine 2 or more ingredients, either by hand with a whisk or spoon, or with a mixer.

Boil: Heat a liquid until it is rapidly bubbling.

Caramelize: To heat sugar until it liquefies and becomes a golden brown syrup.

Cream: To beat ingredients, usually sugar and butter or margarine, until smooth, blended and fluffy.

Fold in: To spoon lighter ingredients, such as egg whites or flour, into heavier ones. The heavier ingredients are gently lifted over the lighter ones to encase them and keep as much air in as possible.

Marinate: To coat meat, fish or poultry in a sauce or paste so that the food takes on its flavours.

Parboil: To partially cook an ingredient by boiling – this is usually done before roasting to reduce the cooking time of that ingredient in the final dish.

Purée: To mash or blend food until completely smooth, usually in a food processor, blender or sieve.

Reduce: To thicken a liquid and concentrate its flavour by boiling it.

Roast: To cook a large piece of meat or poultry in an oven.

Rub in: To break down butter into smaller pieces so that it resembles breadcrumbs. Lift your hands up out of the mixture as you are doing this, so that you are not just squishing the ingredients together.

Sauté or pan-fry: To cook food in a little oil or fat in a frying pan over a relatively high heat.

Simmer: To cook a liquid just below the boiling point; there will be lots of little bubbles.

Steam: To cook food on a rack or in a steamer set over boiling or simmering water in a covered pan.

Stew: To cook food in a sauce or liquid in a covered pan over a low heat.

Stir-fry: To cook chopped ingredients quickly over a high heat whilst constantly stirring.

Whisk: To beat ingredients (such as cream, eggs or salad dressings) with a fork or whisk to mix, blend or incorporate air.

What kind of shopper are you?

Do you know what you want before you head to the shops? Or are you buying on impulse? Are you shopping when you’re easily persuadable? If you want to Eat Well for Less, the first steps are looking at how you shop, how much you spend each time you visit the shops, and how you can get into new, healthier habits.

So, what kind of shopper are you?

1 Bargain hunter

Oooh you love a bargain! Those offers at the end of aisles, 3 for 2s, buy one get one free, buy one get one half price, they just jump out at you above all the noise and colour in the store. You can’t help yourself. Sadly, a lot of these end up in the bin, as you can’t fit them into your weekly meals. But that won’t stop you next time, those deals are just too good to resist…

2 Throwaway shopper

You don’t think too much about your shopping trips, you just buy it and think about it later. It’s a bit of a supermarket sweep; take the nearest item, don’t check the dates or the prices and you don’t think about whether it will last the week. Often the best-before date creeps up quicker than you think and you won’t eat it then. Into the bin it goes and back to the supermarket you go…

From Series One, the Stanton family threw away lots of food, and had a fear of the freezer!

3 Impulse buyer

Even with the best-laid plans you can’t resist sticking something extra into the trolley. You can always convince yourself that you need that item, or perhaps just that you deserve it. It might get eaten, or it might take the place of a healthier option. Funny how fruit and veg doesn’t have quite the same allure as those cakes or biscuits?

4 Convenience shopper

Time is precious, you’d rather spend more on ready meals for the sheer convenience of not having to prepare it when you get home. Or you nip out for sandwiches because you just didn’t get time to think last night what you’d have for lunch at work. Life’s too short to spend hours in the kitchen, isn’t it?

5 Stuck in a rut shopper

Shopping is a chore – you’ve lost the love for food. You buy the same things each week and prepare the same foods. It works for you because it’s easy, but it’s dull. You’d like to change things up a bit but you don’t know how. That sweet potato looks really tempting and unusual, but you don’t know what to do with it, so the Maris Pipers it is. Maybe next week?

Did you recognize yourself? The behaviours of each type of shopper have a significant impact on how you shop and how much you spend! A few small changes could make a big difference to your bank balance.

Remember that supermarkets are businesses first and foremost and they invest millions in working out how to get you to spend more in their stores. Walking into a supermarket you will be greeted with rows and rows of aisles packed with carefully selected products strategically placed for maximum appeal. Fruit and veg are often placed near the front of the shop – their freshness and rainbow of colours will entice you in, then once you’ve packed a few in your trolley, those cream cakes placed further back don’t feel such a naughty purchase. You’ve got your five-a-day, why not have a treat too?!

Of course, sometimes you’ve just popped in for a pint of milk and you’ll find yourself coming out loaded with shopping bags. That’s because in tracking down the milk tucked somewhere at the back of the shop you’ll have passed hundreds of other products that suddenly you think you need!

Even if you can pass along the aisles with blinkers on, the end-of-aisle promotions will often entice you over – people are 30% more likely to buy items at the end of the aisle than in the middle, because of their high visibility. So when you’ve navigated the shop and finally reach the till, you think you are safe. Not so. Here, just as you are almost home free, you are often treated to an array of magazines, easily pick-upable sweets and snacks that just scream ‘pop me in your bag!’ If you have children with you, often your fate is sealed.

But don’t despair, you can resist temptation and reduce those bills (and bulging shopping bags) with a few simple changes.

Stick to the plan

Most overspending in supermarkets is down to poor planning and impulse buying. How often do you go in with a list? Do you stick to it, or do you come out with several items that were not on the list? Write yourself a list and stick to it! Even better, plan your meals for the week so you know exactly what you are going to cook and what you need – this will massively cut down on your wastage. This really is the golden rule – what’s on your list is what you need, what gets added may get wasted. If you can, have a budget in mind, too and take only that amount of cash with you – no cards. You can then only spend as much as you have!

Basketcase

If you’re just popping into the supermarket for a few items, pick up a basket. Psychologically this will help you buy less and, also importantly, to buy only as much as you can carry home. Grab a large trolley and you’ll feel tempted to fill it. Ditto for travelling to the supermarket; if you only need a few things, walk down there and don’t take the car. If you have to lug everything home you won’t buy those heavy, overlarge items or unnecessary extras.

Get in the mood

How often do you pop into the supermarket on your way home from work after a long, tiring day? Or perhaps with small bouncing children after a sleepless night or ridiculously early start, nerves in tatters? Perhaps you haven’t eaten all day and you’re shopping to restock the empty fridge. All these scenarios will change how you feel about food. Shopping when you are tired and hungry is a big no-no – you will be drawn to expensive and unhealthy ready meals or part-prepared foods as they seem the quick, easy option to get you back on track. Or you might stock up on comfort foods, biscuits, cakes and other foods that offer that instant sugar kick and hug on a bad day.

Too good to be true?

Those offers can look amazing, but if you look really closely are they as good as you think? Read the small print carefully. Is it really cheaper to buy 3 rather than 2, or buy one get one free; is £3 for 2 items individually priced at £1.50 a bargain? Are the weights of multibuy offers the same across the board? Sometimes some products show a weight in kilos and others in grams, when you compare the two is it such a good deal? And remember, these deals can only be bargains if you’re actually going to use the goods!

Stay out of the shops

Online shopping is a brilliant modern convenience that allows you to get your shopping done without having to leave the house. Perfect if you can’t make time to get there or don’t want to shop when you’re not in the optimum mood (see above), but it also allows you to stick to a budget and not get distracted by offers and unnecessary items or be pressured into buying unhealthy snacks by persistent children! You have ultimate control of what’s in your basket.

Top tips for shopper types

1 Bargain hunter

✔ Work out if products are good value by comparing prices per 100g.

✔ Walk past promotions, think about them and go back if you really think they are worth it.

✔ Use your bargains. Keep an eye on the dates and cook and freeze them if the use-by date is imminent.

2 Throwaway shopper

✗ Don’t take the oldest stock with the soonest use-by date, reach to the back of the shelf to get the freshest items.

✔ ‘Best before’ is about quality and food at that date can still be safe to eat, but ‘use by’ is about safety and after that date food shouldn’t be eaten.

✔ Store food properly so that it lasts for as long as possible.

✔ Love your leftovers - use them in other recipes to save waste.

3 Impulse buyer

✔ Before you shop, plan your meals and make a list of what you need.

✔ Limit your trips to the supermarket to reduce the temptation to impulse buy there.

✔ Pay attention to your shopping habits. Think before you pick up.

4 Convenience shopper

✔ Add up how much you spend on takeaway sandwiches, snacks and drinks. It could be enough to make you rethink your habits!

✔ Find some quick, easy recipes that you can cook in minutes when you get home instead of buying ready meals.

✔ Look through our recipes for home-cooked versions of your favourite convenience dishes.

5 Stuck in a rut shopper

✔ Get online or into those cookery books and aim to try a new food or ingredient every week.

✔ Add a twist to your favourite meals - look up new recipes or just add another ingredient.

Useful store cupboard ingredients

Having a kitchen well-stocked with a good range of ingredients makes cooking easier on busy weeknights meaning you can better resist the temptation to pick up a ready meal on the way home or phone for a pizza. Save your pennies and plunder your cupboards for something healthy, homemade and inexpensive.

Store-cupboard staples

Often tinned or dried, these are your ingredients that tend to have a long shelf life. This list looks like a lot, but they do last and often a little goes a long way. Whenever you restock your shelves, think like a supermarket and put the newer tins or packets at the back, behind the older ones, so that you don’t waste food by not noticing it reaching its sell-by date.

The Warner family loved brands, and had a lot of bad habits to break!

Rice, pasta, grains and pulses

• Rice

Makes a good base for risottos, paellas or pilafs, or as an accompaniment to stews, curries and stir-fries. Use wholegrain ideally, or have white and perhaps basmati and risotto rice, too.

• Dried pasta

Any size, any shape. Perfect for pasta bakes or with homemade sauces. You can even use leftovers in salads, soups and stews.

• Dried noodles (egg or rice)

CONTENTS

Contents

About the Book