To think jack Monroes recipe book is pretty shit

[Itsgonnabeacoldone]

Secret santa present and i was interested to have a quick look through, but after 10 mins I've decided it's a waste of space and will be going to the charity shop tomorrow.

She often speaks as if she's doing charity work and helping the poorest people with these. But really who would buy it if you were that poor.

She talks about it being inexpensive as you just need a small amount of this and that but you cant just buy half a teaspoon of a spice. It might be useful if you already have the spices and end up broke, but honestly if you already have a collection of spices you are going to know how to use them.

Lots of the ingredients she says you can't buy from the local corner shop and this is where many poor people have to shop.

Some of her sage advice is to just have one type of oil and vinegar. If you are poor that's exactly what you wouldn't do - your not going to be stocking up on half a dozen different types of vinegar if you are skint. If you are not skint then why on earth would you limit the number of oils or vinegars - they are all used for different things.

I can't see who this book would help, if you have access to cheap ingredients you can make cheap food. It just comes all of as very middle class faux help.

FFS, how many self-employed parents work whilst their children are at school, with friends, and after they have gone to bed, without people implying that that somehow devalues them as parents? And why is that any of our business?

Jack's first book is much better than the second in terms of cheap cooking. And I know they're not 100% happy with the second. I'm hoping the latest will be more like the original. I have nothing but admiration for Jack. We've been skint and you dont have to be to enjoy the meals. The aubergine curry and mixed bean goulash is always a veggie winner.

And the double standards on here would make you weep. Loads of threads about how if people on low incomes could cook, they'd make their money go much further. Yet the second someone like Jack Monroe tries to help this situation, she gets pulled to shreds for it

^^ This

I must say, as a result of this thread I now want to get her books. Well done, OP, you've increased her readership!

What;s that saying, bad publicity is better than no publicity?
You really should get her books, I've got the first one and I love it. The recipes are basic, but great as they're so easy and cheap to make.
I've made a banana bread recipe of hers before and it was lovely and so easy and cheap to make.

And the double standards on here would make you weep. Loads of threads about how if people on low incomes could cook, they'd make their money go much further. Yet the second someone like Jack Monroe tries to help this situation, she gets pulled to shreds for it

EXACTLY!! You just can't win with some, can you?!

Doesn't Jack share custody with ex? If so, I presume she does what many people on 50/50s or similar who have flexibility do- work flat out when the child is away and less when they're with them. Plus, kid is at school. If she does 80 hours a week and the kid isn't there for eg 3 days, she probably does like 50 hours of her working week in that time. Additionally, I would imagine she counts posting on twitter as work.

I am Neagan.

That peach and chick pea curry is great.

I have always been too scared to try the peach curry, OVienna, is it really, honestly nice??

The tinned peaches curry is really nice. I was a bit scared of it and then made it out of curiousity. It's lush.

This has made me want to try her recipes!

I am probably considered 'middle class' and not skint but the last 3 weekly shops have gone £94 (Lidl), £104 (sainsbos) and a shocking £166 in tesco last Friday, with a £13 box of lego for DS's Xmas present being the only extra in there. Also, booze - 4 cans of bud for DH which were £4.10.

I honestly don't know how anyone on a lower income than ours would manage, and I think a book like JM's is commendable and really needed at the moment.

If anyone's interested, that £166 shop provided a family of 4 with...

Friday: steak and chips (rump - cheap cut), Saturday lunch:Bacon sandwiches
Saturday dinner: sweet potato and black bean burritos
Monday: chicken and chorizo paella.
Not loads of meals.
Everything else was fruit/bread/milk/butter/cheese/laundry stuff etc. Store cupboard stuff. But anyway.

That's the one, the peach and chickpea recipe. Very nice it was.

I had her first book but was disappointed with the blandness of the recipes and tbh was already cooking this way. Like a pp I was annoyed with it and threw it away although I normally donate books to the library or a charity shop. Felt a bit conned. Far prefer this book; Use it so much I need a new copy.

www.amazon.co.uk/Whole-Family-Healthy-Balanced-Little-ebook/dp/B00C1CTLTQ?tag=mumsnetforum-21

I think Jack's recipes are very useful. I admire her work. I wonder how much anti-poverty work the OP has done? She has done a lot to help those in poverty in the UK

So people who have to worry about budgeting don't have spices now, is that it, OP?

Hmm. Where do you get these ideas from?

Op doesn't even make sense:
Some of her sage advice is to just have one type of oil and vinegar. If you are poor that's exactly what you wouldn't do - your not going to be stocking up on half a dozen different types of vinegar if you are skint

You're agreeing with her you ninny! Shes saying you don't need different vinegars, just have one.

166 pounds for a family of FOUR? That is insanity. We are six plus a cat and spend a third less, and we drink lots of wine and eat salmon. How much organic hummus are you buying?

Oh, this thread just reminded me of something years back.

When I was young, my ex and I went through a period where we were properly skint, this was at least 20 years ago.

Every week when we went shopping we stole a spice jar. We didn't ever steal anything else - but we created a tradition to steal a new spice each shop. I wonder if my ex still does that. (I don't!). We never got caught.

So, when I was at my most skint I had a very good spice collection indeed!

I'm not saying I justify or advocate stealing spices! But I was young, this was a very long time ago and the memory makes me smile.

The Gill Holcombe book is good, but I agree with the average amazon reviewer - Jack's book is half a star better.

I really like Jack, have followed her online for a few years now. Her recipes are online for all to see. She is trying to help people to be able to eat better even if they have a low budget like she has experience of. I dont know if spices have an expiry date but I've had some spices for years that I still use and as far as I know no one has got Ill yet. . She inspired me to make a chickpea curry for the first time which I really enjoyed and kids like it too. She seems to have had a lot of abuse online, she was brave to take a certain person to court, glad she won

She's achieved a great deal for someone who is still in her 20s. How many of us have had a career in the uniformed services, written and published books, had a child, and sued Katie Hopkins by the age of 30?

I have that Gill Holcombe book, having checked. I think it's quite good, and I've made a few of the recipes, including some sort of fridge cake involving treacle and digestive biscuit. Though I think there might be something slightly old fashioned (not necessarily a bad thing) and less simplistic than Jack's recipe book.

@cheerios everywhere

No organic houmous in my trolley last Friday. No wine or salmon either, hence my dismay. Where do you shop, out of interest?

Mostly Aldi, a bit of Tesco, local market, asian supermarket and the eastern european shop.

We were maybe spending £100 a week absolute max including a few tops ups for milk/bread etc up until 3 weeks ago when it seems prices have really hiked, on everything!

I am someone who is of the waste-not-want-not mentality and will stretch/bulk a meal out as far as it goes and try to cook as much as possible from scratch so I have been really shocked at the cost of my food shops recently. Been doing one big supermarket shop as hard to shop around working FT at 35 weeks preg with 2 DC... But perhaps that's the key!