Book Review: Eat Well for Less

I got this book for Christmas so while I try out some of the recipes for our family, I'll also share some here and show you how they went. We really enjoy the TV show this book accompanies so it'll be nice to try some of the meals we've seen them have on there.

First up we tried Pork Lollipops with couscous salad. It was a nice easy recipe to make.

For the lollipops:

1 package minced pork
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
2 garlic cloves
1 grated carrot
salt & pepper

Mix everything up together and form into small sausages. Fry in a little oil until browned and then transfer to the oven to finish them off.

Blurry pork lollipops being cooked.

For the couscous salad:

1 vegetable stock cube
200g couscous
1 onion
1 red pepper
1/2 cucumber
3 tomatoes

You can adapt this to make it how you like with whatever veg or salad items you like. Chop them all up small and mix through cooked couscous. Add a tablespoon of oil to moisten it along with some herbs, salt & pepper if you like.

When the pork lollipops are cooked thread them onto skewers and serve with the couscous and a dollop of yoghurt to dip.

JD and I enjoyed this meal but Leigh and Erin didn't want to try the couscous. It's a nice cheap meal which was really easy to make following the recipe.

Next we tried the Chicken Dhansak recipe. We're all curry fans and we often make a chicken coconut curry at home. We were all keen to try this one, even Leigh and Erin who I told beforehand to expect lentils in it.

Chicken Dhansak Recipe

It was another easy dish to make, all done in one pot which is nice. We had ours with rice and added potato and carrot to bulk it out a bit.

Everyone liked it, even the kids ate the lentils in it. We found it a little bland compared to our usual curry so if we had it again we'd adjust the spices to make it hotter for us. But apart from that it was a nice meal with the lentils adding a thickness to the sauce that we enjoyed.

Next we tried the Homemade Doner Kebabs. I'm quite partial to a kebab so I was wondering how this would measure up to the real thing.

Homemade Doner Kebab Recipe

Lamb mince is seasoned and formed into a log shape in a loaf tin, then baked in the oven.

The meat is spot on, the seasonings make it taste like a bought doner kebab. It's delicious! We served ours with fried chips and garlic mayo (just like the kebab shop). You can pretty much add whatever salad you want to your kebab, we had cucumber because everyone likes it.

Erin wasn't keen but Leigh loved it. The kebab meat was a bit crumbly which made it difficult to slice but the taste made up for that easily. I love a good fakeaway recipe and this one is great.

Overall it's a pretty good recipe book. The recipes are easy to follow and turn out well. Some of the portion sizings seem small but that's the same in many books.There's lots more recipes to try and we're looking forward to trying them.