Join us on the 'Cook through a whole cookbook' challenge!

angeltreats

Loving all the photos!

I want to join in but can't decide which book to use. I'm on weight watchers and most cookbooks are't terribly WW friendly, and I don't fancy cooking my way through any of the WW cookbooks I have as not all the recipes appeal.

Might have a crack at Jamie's 15 Minute Meals but make a few adaptations. Like drastically reducing the olive oil or maybe Hairy Bikers Curries.

lilian1977

Hi all

I made A Girl Called Jack's Tomato and Haricot soup this morning, I have made it before but am reporting here as part of the challenge.

Unfortunately I didn't take a picture but it does look really yummy especially if you blend about 3/4 of it, leaving some beans whole.

Instead of buying haricot beans, I used a moneysaving tip I've picked up which is to use value baked beans with the cheap sauce rinsed off, they're just haricot beans under all that sludge, and much cheaper.

I also added chilli flakes as we both have colds so I wanted to feisty it up a bit!

My last amendment was to add some red lentils because when I've made it before I've found it a bit watery. It thickened up nicely this time.

Really tasty and unbelievably cheap. I'd price it at about 30p a portion (Jack has it as 15p but I only managed 3 portions out of it whereas she says 4-6, also the prices are a bit out of date). Lovely with balsamic swirled through it at the end.

jap200

angeltreats wrote: »

Loving all the photos!

I want to join in but can't decide which book to use. I'm on weight watchers and most cookbooks are't terribly WW friendly, and I don't fancy cooking my way through any of the WW cookbooks I have as not all the recipes appeal.

Might have a crack at Jamie's 15 Minute Meals but make a few adaptations. Like drastically reducing the olive oil or maybe Hairy Bikers Curries.

Several people here are doing the Hairy Dieters book so how about that? Also, do reconsider one of the WW books - the point is to push the boundaries of what you would normally cook and try some new things.

RedLass

Everything is looking fantastic, especially those pies...! I'm looking forward to seeing how the Nigella recipes from other books turn out, I've not bought a new book in ages and this thread might help steer my purse...

I'm starting with a fun one.

Apple and Blackberry Vodka (pg. 292)

Nigella in action:



My brew:



We went blackberry picking a few days ago so I made an apple and blackberry crumble and had some leftover. Not enough for the whole recipe so I subbed half the blackberry requirement for cooking apples. Now I need to employ an obscene amount of patience as this won't be ready for weeks and weeks. Might make a good new year tipple though! :beer:

The recipe itself was super easy, I spent more time sterilising the jar than I did actually throwing the mix together. Can't wait.

dumpling

Hi, I've decided to join in too as it seems like a brilliant idea. I will be working my way through the second Hairy Dieters cookbook and will try for at least 2 recipes a week.

Today is going to be Sticky Chicken with coleslaw (p.139) I've made the coleslaw already today which was a first for me. I'm going to serve it with new potatoes and a green salad. For dessert I will be making Apple and Blackberry Cornflake Crumble (p.172). I'm following the Weightwatchers plan at the moment and these recipes really suit me.

I'm a bit scared of some ingredients like olives....yuck.... but I will try them again to keep to the spirit of this challenge. I don't know how to add photos yet but that will be something I will hopefully learn to do.

I've loved reading about everybody's successes and failures. Keep up the good work! :T

So to recap: Cookbook - The Hairy Dieters Eat For Life
Family - 2 adults, 3 children
Aim - 2 recipes a week

jap200

Welcome onboard dumpling and everyone else who has recently joined!

Please do try and post photos - it's a bit of a fiddle, but adds a lot to the challenge.

I have put some instructions for adding photos to your posts on the first post of this thread - have a go and see how you get on.

dumpling

Well this is the results of the Hairy Dieters Sticky Chicken and HM coleslaw. We voted it a 9/10 and it was very quick and easy to make. I am ridiculously pleased at getting a photo on here thanks to the very clear tutorial (thanks jap200). I fear I may have created a monster out of myself and I will be taking lots of photos now . :rotfl::rotfl:

jap200

Excellent job dumpling - on the delicious looking dinner and the photo!

I have just finished eating the fishcakes that I made out of the 'recycled' yucky kipper pate - the fail from Sunday's Save with Jamie recipe. I just mixed the yucky pate in with some mashed potato and an egg, formed them into patties and fried in a little oil. I served 2 per person with cheesy parsley sauce and veg. I must say that they were really surprisingly nice - every scrap got eaten up, which is always nice too.

Was going to take a photo, but forgot as I was so hungry! It didn't really count as one of the recipes anyway.

emg

Hairy Dieters - How to Love Food and Lose Weight Recipe 2/79
Cranberry and Almond Museli

Theirs...



Mine...




Another one that can hardly be called a recipe really. The only cooking required was to toast the almonds. In fact, the biggest challenges were finding some 'unsweetened puffed rice' (although it turns out that this is basically value rice krispies) and finding something big enough to mix all the ingredients in.Having said that, I will definitely make my own museli mixes again, it tastes pretty good and i have a lot of left over ingredients.I made it look pretty for the photo with yoghurt and berries (left over from the crumpets) but really it is too dry for this and I have been having it with milk in the mornings and it fills me up nicely.

Several more breakfasts to go - looking forward to getting to some 'real' recipes soon! (only 10 recipes away from the dreaded mussels :eek:)

JayneC

Hello,

Please can I join? I need to get away from spag bol syndrome;) There's me and 2 teenage boys who aren't exactly adventurous so it will defo be a challenge. I think I would like to try the Girl called Jack recipes too. I don't follow the blog but have looked at it a couple of times after seeing it recommended on here and the recipes look interesting, not stuff I would usually make but does appeal.
I will probably do just 1 or 2 a week.
DD2 visits with her 2 little ones at weekend so might try some then too. Practice on a larger audience:D