You all know by now I am a HUGE Jamie Oliver fan. As well as working with the Petits Chefs on a number of Jamie Oliver recipes (from both Meals in Minutes and The Food Revolution Cookbook), I’ve been working my way through Jamie’s Home Cooking Skills website recipes (and others) with my youngest students, the Cooking Basics boys. So when I received the latest cookbook from Save with Jamie (Money Saving Meals), my first thought was to look for recipes the boys could make. I wanted something that I know they love to eat – because Jamie’s versions are always healthy and quick which is perfect for a one-hour class with 12 boys under the age of 12!
As soon as I saw the Mexican Caesar Salad, I knew my choice had been made. One of the most popular stations on the lunch programme is the “build your own” Caesar salad area and I wanted to show the boys how they could make their own even more from scratch (with a healthy avocado/ Greek yoghurt dressing to boot!). We divided the jobs between different groups of boys and they pretty much just got to work…
And then came the fun part – building their salad from the ingredients they had prepared – lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, Parmesan, croutons, bacon, chicken and the avocado/Greek yoghurt dressing….
Yup, a healthy salad that’s easy to make and “tastes like the real thing”. #winning
Prior to this week, I had also made two other Save with Jamie recipes with my younger students – first, his Happy Frumpy Minestrone which was perfect because it kept little hands busy for most of the session, chopping and dicing…
This was a wonderful dish because it contains so many vegetables (and beans) yet the boys seemed willing to try this and they all agreed as we added the frozen spinach and peas that it looked “so pretty”. I think visual appeal is definitely a huge part of getting little people to try dishes they might not otherwise taste so hearing them tell me how they loved the way this looked was music to my ears!
The end result is really appealing, I think – and a perfect vehicle for leftover veggies the next day too!
The younger guys also tried their hand at Chinese Beef and Tofu – another easy dish with lots of veggies, beef and tofu…
The boys thought their bowls looked “just like” the ones in the picture in the book…
And there you have it – better than takeout, made in under an hour by a group of 7 and 8 year old boys.
If they can do this, anyone can!
As well as cooking from the book with the boys, we’re also enjoyed a lot of meals from the book too…
So yeah, I’ve been cooking a LOT from this book in the past 2 months – I’ve made over 13 recipes so far – some of them have been repeats because we’ve enjoyed them so much!
Here’s the list so far…
4. Korean stir fried rice (with leftover brisket)
5. Veggie korma with mock cauliflower pilau
10. Sweet pea and chicken risotto
Are you seeing a pattern here?
Fabulous dishes, none of them super complicated, many of which make use of leftovers from the “Mothership” recipes at the beginning of each chapter…
It’s very much changed the way I think about what I cook for the week – and now I am much more likely to cook a “Mothership” dish so I can enjoy the leftovers!
It’s a wonderful book in that it teaches you all sorts of tips and tricks to do with leftovers, even tiny amounts of them.
11. Mince and onion pie
12. Pork meatloaf with spaghetti sauce
13. Sicilian squash and chickpea stew
and finally, possibly one of my favourites although it’s hard to choose just one –
14. Jewish penicillin chicken soup
Um, yeah. So I got the book on October 7th and it’s now December 12th. That’s not a bad track record for someone who cooks (a lot from other sources too) in just over 2 months… It’s become a bit of a “go to” for me actually and, as Mr Oliver intended, I am sure, it is changing the way I think about what I cook and how I shop.
And because it’s the season of giving, guess what Canadian/ US friends?
Win a copy of Save with Jamie (US/Canada)!
That’s right – thanks to the kind folks at Harper Collins Canada I have a copy of Save with Jamie up for grabs for readers in Canada/ the US (sorry International friends)!
To enter:
1. Leave a comment below telling me which one of the recipes listed in this post you’d like to try and why
2. For a bonus entry, tweet the following message:
Enter to win @jamieoliver #SavewithJamie Cookbook from @eatlivtravwrite + @HarperCollinsCa http://bit.ly/1bxEK6R
Then come back to leave me a comment telling me you did.
Contest closes on Wednesday, December 18th at 6pm EST. Winner will be chosen by random.org and will be notified by email on December 20th 2013 (I’ll be en route to Australia on the 19th!).
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Disclosure: Harper Collins Canada provided me with a review copy of Save with Jamie. I was not required to post about this, nor am I being compensated for doing so. All opinions are my own.
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*** Congrats to Kathryn who won my Butter Baked Goods giveaway – I’ll be in touch to get your shipping details!
Oh, my. There is way more than one recipe I want to try here! I try to eat local and organic as much as I can, and I have the most gorgeous squash in my kitchen these days, but I’m tired of the “bake and stuff” recipes. Aching for something new to do with squash, and the Sicilian squash and chickpea stew looks pretty perfect to me. And mothership meals are where it’s at!
How do I decide? Right now it’s between the mince and onion pie (it’s cold out and I’m just in the mood for a meat pie) or the risotto (I’ve also been hankering for some risotto this week)!
I would have to try the Mince and Onion pie. My boys will eat any main course that looks like a dessert, especially if it’s filled with meat.
I’d love to try the Mince and Onion Pie! I lived in England for a couple years and it’s been over three years since I’ve had one of those!
I’d love to try the mothership roasted chicken. My family loves chicken and it looks like a super simple recipe for me. win- win.
The mothership roast chicken because, while I’m ashamed to admit it, I’ve never roasted a whole chicken and it’s high time I did.
Jewish penicillin chicken soup hands down. First, of it looks loaded with good stuff. Second, who can turn down medicine that tastes good? Third, chicken soup is one thing everyone in the family can agree upon. And FINALLY it’s another 79,000 years (give or take a year) until Hanukka and American Thanksgiving will be at the same time so we should raise a chicken soup toast to all our friends!
I would love to try the Mothership Roasted Chicken. I love a good roasted chicken and this one looks amazing!
I want to try that Sicilian squash and chickpea stew, looks great!
I want to try the Mexican Chicken Salad, it looks delicious!
Believe it or not just the Oven Roasted carrots because I usual goof them up.
Definitely can’t wait to try the Mince and Onion Pie – I love savoury pies but have yet to attempt making any myself (I think the pastry intimidates me!) 🙂
I tweeted!
https://twitter.com/kitchenfrolic/status/411177453239820288
I think the Korean fried rice, but the risotto looks fab as well!!
https://twitter.com/smmamashack/status/411177438819786753
I love the look of that Caesar salad
That Mince and Onion Pie looks amazing!! I would love to try that recipe.
Also, I tweeted about this giveaway. My handle is @InSearchOfYummy
The Jewish penicillin chicken soup … I need something for this frigid cold weather & to keep the flu bugs away.
I have tweeted:
@dreamflyer100
https://mobile.twitter.com/dreamflyer100/status/411223792984555520?p=v
Definitely the Korean fried rice. I love fried rice.
The Mexican Caesar Salad for two reasons: I love Caesar Salad. It has BACON in it. Anything with bacon is my favorite!
I tweeted
https://twitter.com/cezovski9/status/411341933236068352
Happy frumpy minestrone! I love peas.
All of the dishes you and the class prepared look so hearty and appetizing. I’m a big fan of chicken caesar salad but I’ve never made it with avocado and Greek yoghurt. Sounds intriguing and looks delicious.
It’s hard to choose just one, they all look so delicious but I’d really like to try the Veggie Korma with Mock Cauliflower Pilau. I’m always looking for interesting vegetarian dishes and the treatment of the cauliflower looks very unusual.
I’d love to try the Sweet Pea and Chicken Risotto because I’ve never tried making risotto before.
So here is the truth. I dont want to try any of these recipes I want to give the book to my sister get her to try the recipes and invite me over. She loves to cook and I love to eat
The veggie korma looks delicious and mock cauliflower pilau sounds great too. I cannot believe boys under 12 made that first salad too. I am so impressed! Amazing job. 🙂
It’s a tough choice. For me, it’s a tie between the Korean stir-friend rice (because I always seem to have a leftover chunk of meat in the freezer, and I love Korean flavors) OR the Sicilian squash and chickpea stew (because it looks like ingredients I usually have on hand this time of year AND having to shop for an ingredient can dampen my enthusiasm for trying a new recipe when I don’t feel like going out to the store). Looks like a great book to check out even if I don’t win (which I hope I do).
And, I tweeted!
Hard to decide on only one, but the first I’m going to make is the Happy, Frumpy Minestrone, partly because of its name! It’s also beautiful.
I’d like to try the Chinese Beef and Tofu, because I love Tofu and I am running out of ways to eat it.
I want to make the Mexican Caesar Salad because I love avocados.
I tweeted: https://twitter.com/yyz_talk/status/412042034615046144
I would like to make the Jewish penicillin chicken soup because everyone in my family loves chicken soup.
I’d love to try making the pork meatloaf with spaghetti sauce. I’m a sucker for meatloaf!
Tweeted – @wherejessate
I loved Jamie’s Food Revolution book, so I think I will like his latest too! I’d love to try that Korean fried rice. I love Korean food and would love to make it at home. And I’d also like to try that meat pie. I’ve never made a meat pie before!
Tweeted the giveaway 😉
Tweeted https://twitter.com/carollushka/status/412727978443825152
Veggie korma looks very cool
The Chinese beef and tofu recipe. My husband’s not a big fan of tofu, but that recipe looks and sounds so delicious, I’d like to show my husband that he can enjoy tofu, and incorporate it more into our meals.
I tweeted here: https://twitter.com/Agnes_OfBohemia/status/412821614711951360
I’d love to try the Sicilian squash and chickpea stew. I’m always looking for new and inventive ways to serve squash in my family. It’s not always a favourite but I like to try!