I know Jamie was in the news last week for his comments about low income families which were twisted by the media but I can actually agree with him. To me it seems that lower income families I know tend to buy food that costs them more. Take a simple Spaghetti Bolognese, even if we bought the same mince, pasta and vegetables I would still save more money as I would use passata or chopped tomatoes and some herbs from my store cupboard where as they would spend at least £1 on a jar of pre-made full of additives sauce.
I loved the meals that Jamie cooked tonight. The Sweet Pea fish pie looked amazing and something we will definitely be making soon and the pizza pie looked amazing but not very slimming world friendly. One tip we will be taking is to use larger cheaper cuts of meat and use for the leftovers for other meals. I know Jamie used a large slab of brisket but a whole large chicken is the same, roast it all and then use the legs for a casserole, breasts for a curry and the carcass and scraps for a great chicken noodle soup.
With a market really close to us which sells a fantastic array of fruit and vegetables at a fraction of the cost of the supermarkets it really does surprise me when I see the majority of people walk into the Tesco next door to pick up a punnet of strawberries at least three times more expensive.
Convenience is never usually the cheapest option and if people spent more time planning and cooking from scratch the more money they would save.
Jamie Oliver has brought out a book to compliment the season and although its rrp is £26 I have found it on sale for less than £10 on both of the first two links I clicked from google.
When I was googling I also came across an article by the Daily Mail and lo and behold it is a load of sensationalised crap. They said that Jamie’s cook book required you to buy over £500 worth of kitchen equipment and store cupboard essentials. Now don’t get me wrong I know that not everyone has the variety of herbs and spices that I have and not everyone will have white wine vinegar or different types of oils in their cupboard but seriously! The Daily Mail is making out that people don’t own graters or saucepans. Saucepans!!! Does anyone not own a saucepan?
I am really looking forward to seeing what meals Jamie shows us over the coming weeks and I have series linked the show so I don’t miss any of them. Hopefully he will help me to plan some cheap but gorgeous penny pinching meals.