Jack Monroe is my latest hero.  I discovered her whilst painting the hall..the joy of decorating is having an ipad close to hand listening to  iplayer doing it’s thing.  Radio 4 made a drama from her life, basing it around her love of cooking and her relationship with her Grandmother: Two things that float my boat – it inspired me to seek out her cook book.

Jack started by writing, in her own time, a local political commentary blog.  Then she had to give up her career when she became a single mum and her wage couldn’t extend to childcare.  The only solution was benefits and a mere £10 a week for food for the two of them. Her blog ‘Cooking on a Bootstrap’ was a consequence of that constraint, written to share the recipes she magically managed to produce…which then turned into her own cookbook.

Being a single parent meant lack of time as well as a lack of resources translates into recipes that are both speedy and simple.  There’s no frills or extravagant ingredients, instead she’s re-connected the umbilical cord highlighting that fantastic, nutritious food doesn’t need an overflowing handmade Devol larder and a certificate in corden bleu cookery.

(The vegetarian meals are awesome)

Jack believes that in order to tackle food poverty and a culture of convenience/microwave meals with dubious ingredients then cooking at home needs to be present on a less glossy, less sexy, less intimidating and more accessible way, which then has the rollover benefit of both spending less and reducing waste. Win win.

She makes you think about how you cook, why you cook..and how careless we are. The bottom line is we all need to care more.

I love her and I love her book.

Laters, Kate x