Pocket money cookery book

It is the beginning of the year and although January is nearly over and done with , many of us are still struggling to scrape two pennies together to make a meal for our family and I myself have also had a tight budget on food this month which leads me to believe I am not the only one .

I was sent a book from Oober kids republic and the title basically tells you all you need to know about what is inside 

Pocket Money Cookery

Cost - £7.00

Basically , if you are looking for a small budget meal then this is a great book to find some great ideas.

Who are Ooberkids Republic?

Ooberkids are an online community where every child is unique and they offer Key stage educational learning and cookery and yoga materials also for online and also at home learning.

This book is not only great for budgeting your meals with some new and interesting ideas but also a great idea for kids to get the hands on experience due to them being very easy to make recipes also.

What they say about the book -

Paper back including 10 easy, healthy and value for money MEDITERRANEAN traditional recipes, featuring quirky facts about the food used, health and safety tips and historical insight. The book also includes tips by nutritionist Jessica Scott. To encourage your kids to use this book as much as possible, we have designed it as a colourful handbook. There is also space for your children to write down their own oober recipes!
We call this concept cookery+ and hope you enjoy exploring it.

The great thing about this book is not only does it give you affordable ideas to feed the family but it also shares with you the do's and do nots of the kitchen and also a little lesson on why it is wrong to cheat in life giving you an aim to remember to be hygienic in the kitchen .

For having a small budget after the Christmas season especially, we always seem to have three ingredients in the kitchen that can be stocked up for a small fee and make full meals and that is Eggs and bread and tinned tomatoes.

This is something I would never have mixed together but in the Pocket Money Cookery Book , those three ingredients make a meal and I for one was sure to try it especially as me and my youngest son love a similar meal for our breakfast.

Dawn Scrambled Eggs!

A little helpful fact about Tomatoes

I found out recently that tinned tomatoes are far more better than Fresh tomatoes (especially in the colder months such as January and there abouts) which surprised me and made my jaw drop a little . 
The truth is that 
Canned tomatoes (as opposed to fresh) are an excellent source of the antioxidant lycopene, shown to help lower the risk of heart disease, prostate cancer and macular degeneration (poor eyesight as you get older).
For this reason I prefer to buy plenty of tinned tomatoes as my main source for bolognese, lasagne, curry sauces as apposed to fresh, they are cheaper and last longer so no worry of wasting if not used straight away and no more wasting any more pennies than needed. 
Tinned tomatoes sometimes (depending on the brand) can carry a lot more salt than fresh tomatoes though so if this is a worry of yours , please ensure you check the labels .

Although this recipe asks you to use tomato paste , I went for a more healthy option and chose tinned tomatoes instead.

Anyway , back to the book.
The recipe I chose to show you from the book is one that I make often but seeing that they add that extra ingredient 'Tomatoes', I thought it only fare to give it a try . Especially as youngest son is hard to get tomatoes into .

The cost of this meal is slightly more in the book than what I actually payed for it which to me is better for us penny pinchers (maybe they wanted to add a little more incase of inflation , you know what the cost if food items are like these days , forever going up ).
I got my ingredients for only £2.46 a little less than the price given and this is how -

x6 eggs - 89p
1 tin of tomatoes - 34p
Medium sliced bread - 58p
Orange Juice 65p

Total = £2.46

So in fact my bargain hunting budget meal will not only feed 4 people but in fact 6  .

This only takes 10-15 minutes as instructed in the book , and the time seems correct , but let me share with you a little cheat to my egg cooking .

I have to admit I do not do my scrambled eggs in a pan, I have found a much quicker and convenient, less messy way of doing it which also makes it child friendly and this is how-

1. First ensure your work surface is clean and your hands are washed .
2. Place your eggs into a microwavable bowl and whisk (My children like to do this bit themselves )
3. Drain of the tinned tomatoes and Place Half of them in with the eggs.
4. Mix them both together then place the bowl into the microwave.
5. Cook the mix in your microwave for 5 minutes  (if the mix is still wet then add another minute and keep checking until it is a soft fluffy egg mass).
6. Place the bread into the toaster .
7. Use a fork to mix the cooked eggs and place them onto the toast .
8. Pour the orange juice into a glass and serve.

Doesn't it look delightful ?
To be honest, I don't think it does ,but it tastes lovely !


The instructions in the book were very easy to understand and this was easy enough for my 4 year old son to make himself (with my supervision of course).

This little joy is great for those quick easy to make meals on a budget and if you have little ones it is also a great tool (especially years 6 and plus mostly) to learn about hygiene and tips in the kitchen.

So what do you think about this wonderful little pocket saver?