Have yourself a cheaper little Christmas: My Finnish-inspired budget Christmas dinner for The Guardian.

I’ve blogged each of the recipes individually – click the links below! Simple sprat starter: http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/12/10/have-yourself-a-cheaper-little-christmas-simple-sprat-starter-37p/ Honey roasted ham with vegetables: http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/12/10/have-yourself-a-cheaper-little-christmas-honey-roasted-ham-with-veg-1-53/ Liver and sultana casserole: http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/12/10/have-yourself-a-cheaper-little-christmas-liver-and-sultana-casserole-30p/ Christmas pinwheels: http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/12/10/have-yourself-a-cheaper-little-christmas-pinwheel-biscuits-8p/ First published in the Guardian and G2 magazine: Jack Monroe’s budget Christmas. As always, all prices based on Sainsburys and Sainsburys Basics range where available. Similar products available at most […]

Read More →

The Hunger Names: Handing in 130,000-signature petition to the Houses of Parliament (Daily Mirror coverage)

To read the full article, click here: The Hunger Names by Ros Wynne-Jones, Daily Mirror, Monday 9 December Jack Monroe. Twitter: @MxJackMonroe Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/agirlcalledjack   This blog is free to those who need it, and always will be, but it does of course incur costs to run and keep it running. If you use it and benefit, enjoy it, and […]

Read More →

FISH KORMA

The first of my recipes from my charity curry night to make it onto the blog (it’s probably fair to say that it’s been a very busy week) – I half invented this, half recalled a vague korma recipe from the depths of my overcrowded brain, so it’s not really traditional, but I like to surprise myself. And surprised I […]

Read More →

David Cameron forced to debate hunger crisis as our petition reaches 100,000 signatures (Daily Mirror, 5 December)

For the full story, click here: David Cameron forced to debate UK hunger as our petition reaches 100K signatures, Daily Mirror, 5 December 2013 Again, huge thanks to everyone who signed. I will be handing the petition in to the House of Commons on Monday, along with Ros Wynne-Jones from the Daily Mirror, and Chris Mould from the Trussell Trust. […]

Read More →

MUFFIZZAS

It’s sort of a muffin, sort of a pizza, sort of a ridiculously named open topped toasted sandwich bun thing. I don’t care what you call it, it was my late night munchy snack after 12 hours of travelling today, and it occurred to me that it would be a fab lunchbox alternative to sandwiches, a quick snack, or great […]

Read More →

EASY MINCE PIES

These simple mince pies use marmalade in place of orange juice and sugar, to bring the cost down, and meld the fruits together with a spicy sweetness. I’m curious about making traditional ‘mincemeat’ – so expect to see a blog post on that later on! But for now, here’s a mince pie recipe so simple that you won’t even notice […]

Read More →

CHICKPEA & CHORIZO BURGERS

Chorizo is one of those ingredients that I buy rarely, but a little goes a long way. For a cheaper or vegetarian burger, you can omit it completely and just add the garlic and paprika for a similar smoky, spicy taste. Ingredients (makes 4 generous burgers): 3 tbsp oil 1 onion, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 red chilli, […]

Read More →

APPLE CRISPS

I had some finely sliced apple left over from my pancakes this morning, so decided to make some apple crisps for Small Boy to have later in the day as a snack. I only have a mini fridge at the moment, so fridge space is at a premium – thought these were something I could pop in a bag and […]

Read More →

APPLE & SULTANA PANCAKES

Serves around 3, depending on age, appetite, and how much of a pancake fiend you are… Ingredients: 100g flour (SR for light fluffy pancakes, but plain is fine too) 100ml milk 1 egg 1 apple, very finely sliced Handful of sultanas (50g approx) 2 tbsp oil Finely slice the apple, I used a vegetable peeler, and pop to one side. […]

Read More →

Reader Recipes: Charlotte’s Borscht

I was sent this recipe by a lovely reader, Charlotte, so thought I would share it here. If you have a recipe you would like to share, email it to me on jackmonroe@live.co.uk I am trying to be really thrifty at the moment as I’m on a postgraduate student living allowance which is being squeezed from every direction. I was making dinner last night and needed to use up some beetroot so I made a vague approximation of borscht, I don’t know if it’s the sort of thing you or your readers might like. Ingredients: Pack of four cooked (not pickled) beetroot, in small cubes 1 tbsp sunflower oil Diced small onion Vegetable stock cube in about 700mL water Pinch of paprika Tablespoon plain yogurt Black pepper Mixed herbs I browned the onion and then added the beetroot and the juice from the packet. In next was the stock, the pepper and the herbs. I simmered this for about 10 minutes and then mashed the bits of beetroot with a potato masher. Normally I’d use a stick blender to get it really smooth but mine gave up a couple of months back. I then added the yogurt, followed by a pinch of paprika. I served this with cous cous but it would also go well with bread. This served four adults so I think this works out at about 50p a portion (I shop at Aldi). All the very best, […]

Read More →

Quick banana custard

I had two sad little bananas in the fruit bowl this evening and fancied a quick comforting dessert – so here we have it, banana custard! Makes around 3/4s of a pint (served three): Ingredients: 2 bananas 300ml cold water 6 tsp dried skimmed milk 2 tbsp flour 2 egg yolks (the whites can be frozen until needed – don’t […]

Read More →

It’s cheaper to make it: Jack’s Macaroni Cheese, 43p, versus supermarket ready meal, 75p.

So today I decided to set myself a new challenge, to cook a like-for-like replica of a supermarket ready meal, but cheaper. Harder than it looks, as the ready meals are made in bulk using low priced ingredients – and I have to buy those ingredients at ‘retail’ price, not ‘wholesale’. I decided on a basic macaroni cheese meal, 75p […]

Read More →