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Do you struggle to think of new and creative ways to feed the whole family? Are you stuck for ideas when scanning the shelves? Eat Well For Less: Family Feasts on a Budget shows you how to cook delicious meals without breaking the bank.

Alongside 80 brand new recipes from the hit BBC show, you’ll find practical advice from Gregg and Chris and suggested menus to help you plan your weekly shop. Get confident in the kitchen with tips on batch cooking, stocking up on store-cupboard essentials and using up leftovers. From tasty snacks to simple but hearty dinners, this easy-to-follow cookbook will mean you’re never short of ideas for nutritious food that everyone will love.

About the Author

Jo Scarratt-Jones started her career in television in 1997 when she joined LWT. She spent 15 years at ITV working on a varied output from Trinny and Susannah to I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! and joined RDF Television in February 2011 as an Executive Producer and became Head of Popular Factual in 2012. Jo recently relocated to Bristol with her family and works from RDF West.

Foreword

We love being part of Eat Well for Less because with every family we meet we face a new set of challenges to resolve, and we never quite know how it’s all going to unfold! Saving money is brilliant, but what we really love is seeing a family cook and eat together. There’s something magical about everyone sitting around a table, and it puts a smile on all their faces. So, what are you waiting for…?!

We’ve looked back through the series and pulled together a great selection of quick and easy recipes, all of which deliver tasty and nutritious meals that won’t break the bank. It’s time to eat well for less!

So many families we meet have fallen out of love with cooking, either because they can’t find a meal that everyone will eat or because they feel there simply isn’t enough time to cook from scratch. We hope this book will bring family mealtimes to life again and show that cooking can be fun, especially if you work together.

Some of the recipes here will show you how you can take a main dish and tweak it for those family members who are a bit ‘fussy’ because, believe us, you’re not alone! Nearly everyone has a ‘fussy eater’ in their family and it’s our job to help you get everyone sitting down together. Cooking different meals for different family members needs to stop!

As we always say, a little planning goes a long way, especially when it comes to getting the family eating together, but it does mean you need to plan together, too. Use this book as the inspiration to sit down as a group and work out what recipes you might be able to tweak to make everybody happy.

Another area that really works with family eating is getting some batch cooking done. If you find you have some spare time, over the weekend perhaps, have a look at some of our recipes that freeze well and save yourself some valuable time in the long run. Serve that chilli with rice today, then leftovers can be a tasty baked potato topping another day when you’re short of time. Remember, cook once, eat twice… or three times, or even four…!

One last word from us… when you’re doing your supermarket shop, just imagine we’re watching you make all your purchases – what would we be saying?! And once you’re home, why not try playing along and swap out some of your usual top branded products for better value alternatives? Just pop them into plain containers and see if the family notice – you might be pleasantly surprised at just how much you can get away with!

Getting kitchen confident

We all know that cooking from scratch is cheaper than buying ready prepared food, but putting this into practice when you’re new to cooking can feel a little daunting. Fear not though, it’s not difficult if you keep it simple to start with and build your confidence before you move on to trickier dishes. Remember, at this stage what you dish up doesn’t have to look perfect. As long as it tastes ok and is edible, it’s a success, not a disaster!

First up, what are you going to cook? Start with simple, tried-and-tested recipes from trusted websites – and this book! – and, more importantly, pick something that looks appealing and that you think you will all want to eat. Don’t attempt recipes that use unusual ingredients until you have developed your skills and feel confident to step outside your comfort zone. It’s also a good idea to choose recipes that use only a few ingredients, as long lists of ingredients can be off-putting and send you straight to the ready-made jars and sauces in a panic.

Before you hit the shops, check your cupboards/fridge/freezer, then make a list of what you need and the relevant quantities of each ingredient. Remember all the planning advice – think about what you’re cooking and when, and don’t attempt to cook something new or tricky when you’re short of time, otherwise you may get flustered.

Get everything ready

Right, so are you armed with ingredients and a trusty recipe? You’re almost ready to get started, just have a quick look at this list first…

• Organise your kitchen cupboards so you know where everything is, and try to keep them this way as it will make your cooking in a hurry really easy.

• Clear the work surface of any unnecessary clutter and give it a good wipe clean.

• Sharpen your kitchen knives, and check them regularly. Blunt tools make food preparation much harder, plus they are potentially more dangerous to use.

• 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.

• If you’re using frozen ingredients, check with the recipe if they should be defrosted first. If so, you might need to build in time for this, or carefully defrost them in a microwave oven, if you have one. This is particularly important for meat, chicken or fish, however, vegetables will defrost quickly during cooking.

• Read the recipe properly and get out all the ingredients and equipment you are going to need, to save you digging around in the fridge or cupboards halfway through cooking. If you are missing an ingredient, see if it’s something you can easily substitute with something you do have.

• If your kitchen bin isn’t right by your work surface, keep a large bowl to one side to chuck in waste wrappers and peelings, etc., as you cook. This makes it much easier to clear up at the end.

Cook’s note

• Unless otherwise specified, all milk used in the recipes is semi-skimmed.

• When using salt for seasoning, the maximum amount should be ¼ tsp.

Get cooking

So, it’s time to get cooking. Wash your hands and tie back long hair, then put on a clean apron to protect your clothes – this could get messy!

First tip is to follow the recipe carefully. This is most important if you are baking – the ingredient quantities listed are important here and it’s not recommended to swap things in or out until you really know how to bake – it could mean the difference between a towering fluffy sponge layer cake and a sad-looking pile of flat biscuit-like sponges. You have been warned!

However, tweaking non-baking recipes is usually quite straightforward and you can pretty safely ring the changes. If you find you’ve forgotten an ingredient, don’t panic, swap it out for something you do have. For example, if your kids don’t like French beans, use broccoli instead. With practice and a lot of tasting you’ll find these decisions really easy and you won’t worry about going off-recipe!

When you’re cooking rice, pasta, pulses, etc., check the instructions on the packaging. Some types of rice should be rinsed before cooking to remove the starch that makes grains stick together when cooked; if so, tip the rice into a sieve and set it under cold running water. Some dried beans may need soaking before use – sometimes overnight – so check the packet and build in time. Tinned beans are good to go! Check the cooking times on all packets, too, as these vary depending on type and brand. If in doubt, test the ingredient just before the end of the cooking time by scooping a little out.

Tip

Keep a record of all the recipes that worked well or were popular with the family. Having a good stash of staple recipes will make life easier and give you kitchen confidence.

Portion sizes

Healthy eating is all about eating well, but not overeating. If you’re new to cooking, it can be tricky to know what constitutes a portion, particularly if you aren’t following a recipe to the letter or are adding sides and extras. To make this easier, a few of the more popular ingredients are listed here to give you an idea of how much to use per person, per day. These are the recommended measurements for people maintaining their current weight, but bear in mind if you want to lose weight you will need to eat fewer or smaller portions.

Don’t forget, weighing out food is an economical way of cooking as it reduces food waste – so those extra couple of minutes measuring can save you money!

✔ 30g breakfast cereal

✔ 5 × 80g servings of different fruit or veg (each about the size of your fist)

✔ 2 slices of bread

✔ 2 eggs

✔ 3 tsp butter, oil or other fat (max)

✔ 200ml milk

✔ 125g yoghurt

✔ 30g cheese (the size of two thumbs)

✔ 100g meat (the size of the palm of your hand and thickness of a deck of cards)

✔ 150g white fish (the size of your full hand)

✔ 100g oily fish

✔ 80g uncooked dried pasta/rice/noodles (the size of your fist)

✔ 180g potato (the size of your fist)

✔ 80g small fruits (as much as can fit in your cupped hands)

✔ 20g chocolate (about 3–4 squares)

Healthy hygienic cooking

One of the great things about cooking from scratch is that you know exactly how the food has been prepared. Bearing that in mind, it’s really important to follow good kitchen hygiene at all times to reduce any risk of transferring bacteria from raw foods to other ingredients.

Before you start cooking, clean work surfaces with a disinfectant spray and repeat whenever surfaces make contact with raw meats. Use kitchen paper for this and discard it immediately – don’t use kitchen cloths, as you will just transfer the bacteria to somewhere else in the kitchen.

Keep separate chopping boards for preparing raw and cooked meat, poultry, fish and fruit and vegetables – getting them in different colours is a really helpful way of identifying them. Keep utensils separate, too, to avoid cross-contamination, and always wash your hands in between touching raw, cooked or ready-to-eat foods.

When preparing chicken, don’t wash it first; any water splashing off the bird contains bacteria, which may splatter around the kitchen.

Of course, an important part of preparing food for your family or friends is making sure the meal is properly cooked! This is easily done once you know a few tricks of the trade. It is particularly important to check that meat, poultry and fish are properly cooked through.

Kitchen hygiene aside, to get the best texture and flavour you don’t want to undercook or overcook, so here are a few tips to get it perfect every time.

Meat

(approximate timings for grilling meat)

Sirloin or rump steak – 1½–2 minutes on each side for rare; 3 minutes on each side for medium; about 4 minutes on each side for well done.

Fillet steak – 4 minutes on each side for rare; 5 minutes on each side for medium; about 6 minutes on each side for well done.

If in doubt, prod the cooked steak with your fingers – when rare it will feel soft, medium-rare will be a little bouncy and well done should be much firmer.

Pork chops – 10 minutes on each side; pork steaks slightly less.

Lamb chops – 10 minutes on each side; cutlets about 5 minutes on each side.

Chicken

When cooking a whole bird, pierce the thickest part – the thigh – with a sharp knife. Once cooked, 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, then check again. For chicken breasts or drumsticks, cut into the thickest part of the meat and see if it is pink; if it is, it needs cooking for longer.

Fish

Test the thickest part of the fillet 2 minutes before the end of the suggested cooking time by carefully poking through it with the point of a sharp knife. Uncooked fish has a translucent colour and spongy texture, but when cooked it should be opaque and firm, flaking easily.

Seafood

Cooked prawns should be pink all the way through. Before cooking mussels, sharply tap any that are open on the worktop to see if they close shut. Discard any that remain open or are damaged. Once cooked, discard any mussels that are still shut as they are not safe to eat.

Tip

Give it a rest – set aside meat at room temperature for at least 5 minutes after cooking. It will stay hot for anything up to 10 minutes covered with foil. Giving it a rest allows the fibres of the meat to absorb its juices, making it wonderfully moist and tender.

Stock up your store cupboard

If you’re short of time or money, a well-stocked kitchen can be a godsend. A simple supper can be transformed with just a few dried herbs and spices, or stretched to feed extra mouths with the addition of a tin of beans or lentils, or it means you can just throw something together quicker than a pizza delivery!

It only takes a little planning to ensure that you have a fantastic back-up for a busy night or a treasure trove of goodies to perk up a few core ingredients. But before you fill your trolley, have a good clear out of your kitchen. See what you’ve got and check the use-by dates on the packets – if it’s out of date, bin it. It’s ok to be ruthless now, because you are about to change your bad habits for good…

Keeping a good selection of core ingredients to hand is also about storing them properly – otherwise you can find yourself wasting money by throwing things out that have gone off, or the flavour has deteriorated.

Essentially, food can be stored in three areas of your kitchen: cupboards and shelves, the fridge or the freezer (see here).

Cupboards and shelves

These are for the foods that should be stored at room temperature to keep them at their best – try to avoid having them near a heat source, though, as they will store longer and better in a cool, dark place. Cupboards are neat and keep contents out of sight, but shelves are also perfectly good if that’s what you have. However, if your shelves are in a sunny spot, put ingredients in containers to keep the contents cool and out of direct light.

Foods that are suitable for room-temperature storage are:

Unopened tins and jars such as pesto, honey, sauces and pickles – once opened, many of these will need to be stored in the fridge, so check the packaging!

Flours, pasta, rice, noodles and dried pulses – once opened, store packets in airtight containers.

Oils and vinegars
Nuts, seeds and dried fruits – store in airtight containers to keep their texture.

Herbs and spices – keep these in airtight tins or spice jars.

Fresh foods – garlic, onions and shallots, tomatoes, potatoes and winter squash can be kept in a cool, dry place for up to 2 weeks. Don’t put them in the fridge or they will lose a lot of their flavour. Putting onions and potatoes in hessian bags will extend their life, preventing them from growing shoots.

Bananas, citrus fruits and melons – fine on the worktop or kitchen table, but should be moved to the fridge once cut or they will dry out. Bananas emit ethylene, a natural ripening gas, which causes any ingredients around them to ripen faster, so don’t leave these in the fruit bowl, keep them separate.

Foods for the fridge

The fridge is the invaluable invention that has made daily trips to the shops a thing of the past; fresh foods stay fresh in these cold boxes and the low temperature also prevents the growth of dangerous bacteria.

Foods that need to be in your fridge are:

Dairy products – put these on the top shelves where the temperature is most constant. Wrap cheese separately in greaseproof paper or pop into a loose plastic bag. Ensure butter is properly wrapped in foil or clingfilm.

Eggs – can last longer in their box on a shelf inside the fridge than if they are stored at room temperature – up to 3 weeks after the date of laying. However, do check the use-by date on the box, too. (If you’re not sure if your eggs are ok to eat, see here for testing tips.)

Vegetables – store these in perforated plastic bags in the salad drawer.

Fruit – store away from vegetables, particularly those fruits that produce ethylene, a natural ripening gas (this includes apples, bananas, stone fruits, mangoes, passion fruit, pears and kiwi fruit), so the veg keep longer. Wash fruit before use, but not before storing, as excess water speeds up decomposition. Whole lemons are best stored in the fruit bowl, but once zested, wrap them in clingfilm and pop in the fridge.

Herbs – trim a little off the base of sprigs of basil, parsley, coriander and other leafy herbs and pop them into a glass of water, loosely covered with a plastic bag, then put them in the fridge on a shelf where they won’t get knocked over. Stored this way they should stay fresh for at least a week. Wrap herbs like thyme and rosemary in sheets of damp kitchen paper and layer them in plastic bags.

Meat and poultry – keep these at the bottom of the fridge (the coldest section) tightly wrapped so their juices don’t transfer to other foods.

Fish – dry fish completely with kitchen paper and wrap in greaseproof paper before storing in the bottom of the fridge. It should keep for up to 2 days, but sniff it before you cook it; if it smells really fishy, throw it out.

Keeping your fridge happy

✔ To keep your food fresh, you need to keep your fridge happy. A few easy checks will mean less food wastage and lower electricity bills.

✔ Whenever you restock the fridge, move older items towards the front of the shelves so you use them first.

✔ When putting leftovers into the fridge, cool them quickly first and store when cold; hot food warms up the food and air around it, which affects the temperature of the fridge and encourages bacteria to grow.

✔ Keep the fridge at a constant temperature of 5°C or lower – you can buy a fridge thermometer cheaply and pop it inside if your fridge doesn’t display the temperature. Don’t overfill the fridge – air has to circulate to keep the temperature constant, otherwise the fridge uses more electricity to keep the food cool.

✔ Wipe up spills at once and clean drawers and shelves regularly to ensure that the fridge stays hygienic.

It’s all in the planning!

Those of you familiar with Eat Well for Less will know that healthy eating on a budget is all in the planning. But don’t feel intimidated by this – a little forethought will go a long way.

Get organised

Don’t go shopping without a plan. Drifting around a supermarket will cost you – this is when most people waste money, by picking up items they fancy the look of, or appear to be a bargain, without actually thinking about how and when they’ll use them. The same rule applies to shopping when you’re tired or hungry – you’ll find things creep into your basket that you didn’t intend to buy. Shopping with children can also be problematic – by all means get them to help, but ensure that you know what they are putting into the basket, and steer them away from aisles with tempting treats!

So, before you head out, you need to make a list. But before you get to that, there are a couple more steps to take.

Contents

About the Book