Cook book recommendations for novice DH?

[Peregrane]

DH needs to learn to prepare a few meals. (He can do roast chicken, omelettes and pasta with ready made sauce, which for me is not really a meal)

I am pregnant, on bed rest, and love good food. We have a 4yo who is a decent eater for his age but veggies for example he’ll mostly eat cooked rather than raw.

Any recommendations for cookbooks/resources with quick meals that don’t rely on ready-made ingredients and that all of us can eat (child and pregnancy friendly)?

I ALWAYS recommend it, but Jamie Oliver ' s Ministry of Food. It assumes no previous knowledge, and builds' - so a recipe fr mince would then show how it could become bolognese sauce, or shepherd's pie, or chilli etc. It's family food, nothing fancy. But a really good place to start.

I was also going to recommend Jamie’s ministry of food. He’s a bit annoying but his cookbooks are great.

The bbc good food website is really good too.

My BIL learned from scratch from good old Delia Smith's Complete Cookery.

He had a Jamie book too, but found Delia better for teaching him the absolute basics and common techniques, that he could then apply to other recipies.

Jamie was good at teaching how to make particular meals, but less good at making him a confident allround cook.

Mary Berry Complete Cookbook. It's like a more modern Delia in that it has everything and nice pics of everything.

I agree with falaffels, you can't beat Delia for the basics, haunt your local charity shops. I still rely on my 1983 single volume, but you can easily get the later three volume set, you may have to make a few visits to get all three.

St Delia is a perfect reference for the "How do I make xyz?", her Summer and Winter books are great for the "What shall I cook today?" moments, all recipes are bomb proof.

I'd also second Jamie and add the Hairy Bikers. Nigel Slater is also a firm favourite for interesting and simple recipes.

My DH is also keen on Claudia Roden's Mediterranean books.

Again, all charity shop staples, so cheap!!!

Nosh for busy mums & dads.
Less salty than Jamie's Ministry. More likely to be eaten by kids. Totally easy to follow. Good for batch cooking. I haven't found one I can't cook yet (I'm a terrible cook!)

Thank you for all the great tips!!