Former catering manager creates cost of living cookbook to help families eat well and save money

Dishes include chicken curry – one of the most popular recipes – spaghetti bolognese, chicken lasagne, and more.

A former catering manager who worked with Warrington Food Bank to come up with food parcel recipe ideas has created a cost of living cookery book to help more families eat well on a budget.

Barbara Freeman first put together ideas for breakfast, lunch and dinners using canned and non-perishable foods which were put into weekly parcels to help people cook their own nutritious meals.

“I then decided to match the recipes with fresh ingredients too and included tips about how to get more confident in the kitchen,” says Barbara, 65, from Sandymoor in Runcorn, “and before I knew it, I had a cookery book.

“I wanted to help families cook good, wholesome meals which will save them money on takeaways and ready meals – and encourage them to batch cook to save both time AND money.”

She adds: “In the light of the cost of living crisis and high utility bills I hope the book, You Can Cook, will be more valuable than ever, and that people will find it particularly useful.

“But it’s a guide not just for those who are struggling, but for people who perhaps can’t cook or university students too, one that will give them confidence.”

It’s a first for Barbara and brings together a wealth of experience which includes managing hotels and restaurants, management roles in the catering industry for which she trained as a chef – ‘I would never want to ask anyone to do anything that I couldn’t do myself’ – and in social care. (Latterly Barbara worked for Turning Point charity which offers integrated care in communities and specialises in helping those suffering with substance misuse, mental health issues, or who have learning disabilities).

And it came not from choice initially, but after she lost her job.

“I was made redundant and despite all my qualifications and years of experience, I couldn’t get a new one,” says Barbara, who has two grown up children, Nicola and Matthew.

“At 61, I was too young to hang up my boots – and I couldn’t afford to either – so I decided to start my own business, because I love to work and I love to help people, and I have a passion for food.”

In 2019, Barbara set up Fresh Beginnings, a community interest company, with the aim of helping people in the community learn more about healthy lifestyles through good home cooking.

She started of giving cookery lessons directly to people in her local community, in particular to those with special needs and then, when covid hit, she moved her lessons online.

Barbara Freeman has created You Can Cook to help families during the cost of living crisis

And they were really popular: “More and more people were doing the courses and then following the online sessions.”

Barbara also began working with Warrington Food Bank to come up with recipe leaflets which could be put into people’s weekly food parcels. “The idea was to give people the means and the resources to be able to cook their own nutritious meals,” she adds.

“So, for instance, if they had pasta and tinned chicken in the parcel, I’d do a recipe for chicken carbonara. The idea was to show people how to use what they were being given, to make better use of a limited food range, and to remove the stigma.

“After that I realised not everybody sees those, so I wondered about putting them in a brochure. It was never my intention to write an actual cookery book but it just took on a life of its own.”

Barbara’s book is called You Can Cook and is a compilation of simple yet healthy recipes that anyone, however good – or not – they are in the kitchen, can cook with different versions of recipes, one using tinned food, and another fresh, along with handy hints like how to sharpen your knives if you haven’t got a knife sharpener.

Dishes include chicken curry – one of the most popular recipes – spaghetti bolognese, chicken lasagne, and more.

And no-one has been more surprised at how popular the book is than the author herself.

“It couldn’t have come at a better time,” she explains, “as the current cost of living crisis has got everyone searching for dishes that are cost-effective yet still nutritious and tasty.

“I include the book in my cookery courses but people can get it for £7.99 from my website. The idea was never to make a lot of money but to help people understand and make mealtimes a better experience for them.”