Jamie Oliver; Ministry of Food

Pitlanepiglet

OK, hands up who cried at the end of tonight's episode :T

Bargain_Rzl

I didn't exactly cry, but through this whole series I've loved Natasha and how obviously keen she was to turn things round for herself and her family :j

And the other bit of tonight's programme I really liked was where Jamie called Julie Critchlow a cynical old cow to her face - and made it look like a piece of friendly banter :rotfl: :rotfl:

rosieben

I will 'fess up, I cried! but what a great note to end the series on - well done Natasha!! ...... I want to adopt her

moanymoany

Originally Posted by moanymoany
Single mothers back then were widows or had been divorced. What we see on this programme is a new phenomenon. The idea of making it possible for 'unmarried mothers' to keep their babies was a humanitarian one. What it has created as a by product is this cycle of deprivation and benefit culture.

It's all such a shame - not to mention a waste of people's lives.

Statements like this are more deplorable than shovelling deep fried gizzards into your kids every night. Because it's saying that's an inevitable thing...

I am a single mother. Of one (very little) one. I work full time (privately rented, no housing benefits) and live alone with her, so admittedly, money is tight and time is even tighter.

But she gets a healthy, home cooked dinner every night. She's only 10 months old but eats a hearty meal every night. I either cook something she can eat - a spag bol, unspicy curry/chilli, jacket potatoes, fishcakes, etc. - or raid the freezer. Due to the time constriction, I tend to do a big 'cook' for her every other weekend, freezing baby-sized portions of her favourites so that even if I am rushed off my feet, she can have a mummy-prepared meal.

Yes, she's had a Happy Meal (spat most of it out, put the box on her head). And she'd probably eat pizza every night if she could - but then so would I.

It's not always about money, or your circumstances. It's often about priorities and skills - my mum and nan were both dab hands in the kitchen and so am I. And I think what we eat is important, and try to make it good for us. And it'd be the same whether I was married or single I suppose!

What I said was that this benefit culture of deprivation is a by product. I did not say that every single mother is like this.

I have posted other threads to say that there were always women who couldn't cook - who fed their children a bread and chips diet. That there were children who lived in poverty, with women who either couldn't or were too lazy to prepare basic, good food.

Historically it is correct that there were very few single women who kept children they had. However, I live in an area with a lot of very young mothers. I used to teach special needs and I met many young women who were trying to grab back education they didn't have. Not only were they pregnant at 14, 15 or 16 but they took no interest in education before that and their basic reading and writing was at the level of a seven year old.

These young women and those who they knew all lived on benefits. Often they had a string of boyfriends who moved in with them for a short time.

As the courses went on and I got to know the young women I discovered that - guess what - they had mothers who were not married and lived on benefits - they also had boyfriends who moved in and moved out. That is a cycle and the result was the children having a deprived childhood that they were repeating with their own children.

I know there are many single mums on this board and they work hard to make a good life for their children. They are either trying to break out of the benefit deprivation or not to get sucked into it. It is hard work, but they keep at it and are successful.

My mother was a married mum, but the food I was fed was a result of her being lazy. It was my gran who gave me good food. There were problems in the past - but if an unmarried woman became pregnant there was no housing, no benefits. They married or the vanished and went to a mother and baby home - came home alone. It was only if their parents were prepared to support them that they could keep the baby and that was virtually unknown.

The idea of a 14 year old having the 'right' to keep her baby is a new one - I think that perhaps it should be the 'right' of the baby to have a better life and to be adopted by a family who can give them a life of opportunity that should be considered.

Oh dear! Not very PC that view is it? No, but it is mine. When I was a young woman I thought that the idea of a girl having to give up her baby was horrible and I was glad when things changed. Now, I think things have gone too far the other way. That view is based on my experience as a teacher and what I've seen in the classroom and community work.

trying-very-trying

sooz wrote: »

Last nights programme was filled with swearing. Even I was shocked :eek:
I was watching it with my 2 year old (who was in bed next to me refusing to sleep...but that's a whole other thread....see 'Free 2 year old, collection only' ) and he turned to me & started repeating 'f*cking'!!!

Channel 4 have had so many complaints about the language that they have edited a pre watershed version of the whole series.
It will be available channel4.com/watchonline from Friday 24th October.

Jue_xx

I thought that Natasha and Mick the Miner were total stars - with Natasha just taking the top spot! I had a lump in my throat at the end and I really hope she takes this opportunity that Jamie has given her with both hands and uses it to change her life for the better. - Good on you, Natasha and best of luck! :T :T :T

As for Julie Critchlow... my opinion of her hasn't changed one bit. She has remained the same pessimist all the way through the series, and to see her being proved wrong at the end of last night's episode (sitting on the kerb saying "it won't work" while all the street parties were in full swing and people were having a brilliant time) was classic. I thought she might have used the series to change her image, but to me she is still the same woman who pushed those hamburgers through the school railings all the months ago.

What a contrast between Julie and Natasha!

tim_n

I've not watched this programme (and I've only read the comments on this page and the first) but as a scout leader the kids are always finding it difficult to cook so we undertook a bit of an experiment!

We've done three nights of cooking. A breakfast, a hot lunch (spag bog) and a dinner (bangers and mash) all done from scratch so no cheating and not complicated.

We bought the ingredients, got them all the equipment and gave them a step by step set of instructions from when to put the water on, how much salt to add and when etc. and we came to the conclusion that kids don't read simple instructions. It's not that they can't, they just don't seem to realise step two follows one and you start from one.

If I want to know how to cook something I check a cookery book, follow the instructions and it turns out perfectly if I do (unless I mess up by missing a step or leaving something too long) so I've never understood how people can't cook.

So we tried it with adults. Same problem - can't read instructions!

I now have fifteen kids who can cook and will be proving it in a few weeks at a cooking competition.

By the way, if you want a good exercise to make kids follow instructions try a test like this: http://www.nerdtests.com/mq/take.php?id=77 where you read all the instructions and the last one tells you to disregard all the previous ones etc. (can be quite fun if you include 'do a hand stand' etc)

Bunny200

Finally got round to watching this weeks episode and I didn't cry, I sobbed. The change in Natashas outlook and future is amazing and this is just because shes been given the opportunity to show herself that she can achieve something. All too often these days people aren't given any expectations, so why should they try anything when they are bound to fail and it doesn't matter because the State will bail them out. Expectation is very important for all of us. I expect things from my children - acceptable behaviour, manners, and attainable achievement. This is how I was raised in a similar area to Rotherham and I achieved things. Many people that I went to school with didn't have expectation and therefore didn't achieve anything. Just by introducing something as 'simple' but liberating as cooking for your family huge changes can occur, not as spectaular as Natasha but health benefits, family cohesion and saving money! Good on you Jamie, I've always admired him for putting himself out there to try to achieve things for people rather than just sitting in his expensive house and raking in the money. He's a self made man and just goes to show what can be achieved when you have support, and hes passing on his support to others, I wish there were more like him, the country might be a better place!

Bargain_Rzl

Right, I bought the JMoF cookbook a couple of weeks ago and have been interested by some of the ingredients he recommends. I see that generally he mentions generic items, but there are the odd one or two items where he names a specific brand. The ones that come to mind are Jacob's Cream Crackers and Patak's curry pastes.

Now I'll give him the benefit of the doubt in trusting that he hasn't had a backhander from these companies or anything, so I'm guessing that he has a genuine, i.e. quality-related reason for mentioning these brands specifically. Will they really make a difference? I can see how the quality and contents of a curry paste could make or break the dish, but as for the cream crackers, Tesco's own cream crackers are half the cost of Jacob's. Is there a noticeable difference in texture or quality? What about some of the other branded products he shows or mentions? (I noticed in the storecupboard picture towards the front of the book shows a jar full of different types of Kallo stock-cube, and that's a product on which I'd definitely agree it makes a difference. I almost always use Kallo unless I've made my own stock.)

(There's also the fact that the storecupboard picture shows Sainsbury's products for everything that isn't a specific brand. Wonder why? :rolleyes: - still, at least he doesn't mention Sainsbury's own products anywhere else in the book.)

thriftlady_2

Bargain, I have the book too. I've been using Patak's pastes for years and can vouch for them. They are really good.

As for cream crackers I would go right ahead and use a supermarket own brand (provided it didn't contain hydrogenated veg oil). JO only recommends using the crackers as it is easier for kitchen novices to bash up crackers than to make breadcrumbs. I would substitute breadcrumbs (once I've found out how much half a packet of crackers weighs.)

I agree with you about the Kallo cubes. I use the beef ones.