When Nick Coffer lost his restaurant business in 2009 and set up a cookery blog with his toddler son Archie to keep himself sane, he had no idea that four years later it would lead to the release of two cookery books, a daily show on BBC Three Counties Radio and appearances as a parenting and food expert on nationwide TV programmes and in national newspapers and magazines.

And now, the My Daddy Cooks blog and cookery book creator, from Bushey, has been chosen by Sainsbury’s as one of the faces of its latest advertising campaign, Make Your Roast Go Further.

Four ordinary food lovers from around the country were picked for the campaign, which runs on television, online and in-store until February 15, to help people save money by showing how to get up to three meals out of one joint of meat.

“I think what I’m known for is cooking thrifty, lovely, fresh food,“ says 40-year-old Nick, “and that fitted in very well with the message they wanted to send. That’s what I’ve always done – I’m not a chef, I’m just a really passionate home cook, and the campaign is all about getting people to cook nice meals at home and making your food go further.“

Nick was assigned pork and worked with Sainsbury’s to create two recipes to inspire families to make their Sunday roast go further (one of which is reproduced below), which involve using the leftover pork in a noodle dish with vegetables and making a casserole out of the pork with some pearl barley and leftover veg.

“The key was to create recipes that make the meat go further, that were nutritionally balanced and were dead easy to make,“ Nick explains.

“The one that’s used in the TV advert uses barley, which is a really good way of bulking up any leftover meat dish – it’s bulky in consistency and really tasty. I’ll often use barley or lentils or something similar to make a stew or casserole go further.

“And when you’re making a stir-fry, you don’t need a huge amount of meat to make it meaty, you just need a few handfuls because you’ve got the carbohydrate and vegetables in there as well – even better if they’re leftover from Sunday as well.“

Nick’s top tips for budget-friendly family meals are: planning what you’re going to eat for the week, and buying the ingredients for those on your weekly shop; having a lot of leftovers recipes up your sleeve that you can turn to quickly; and if you can’t think of anything, add leftovers to pasta or a stir fry, make a hash out of them, or chuck them on a jacket potato.

Nick started the blog and wrote his first cookbook when he and his wife Jo, a school psychotherapist, were parents to just Archie, who is now six.

Visitors to the blog loved watching Nick and Archie at work – and play – in the kitchen and being inspired by the good, simple and modestly budgeted meals they produced.

Two years ago, Matilda joined the family and the ranks will swell again in two months when their third child arrives.

“Archie in particular is very excited about seeing the adverts,“ says Nick, “and that his schoolmates will see him on telly. He can’t quite understand why it won’t be on during CBeebies though!“

Spiced pork noodles

Serves 4 
Prep: 10 mins Cook: 20 mins
£1.41 per person
2 of your 5-a-day Ingredients
1tbsp sunflower oil by Sainsbury’s
1 red onion, peeled and sliced
1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped
½ 200g pack sliced kale by Sainsbury’s
325g broccoli, broken into small florets, stalk thinly sliced
2tsp five spice paste by Sainsbury’s
2tbsp light soy sauce by Sainsbury’s
300g cooked pork, shredded
410g pack egg noodles by Sainsbury’s
1/2 x 31g pack coriander, roughly chopped by Sainsbury’s 

Method
Heat oil in a large wok and add onion and pepper. Cook for 5 mins until softened slightly. Add kale and broccoli and 2tbsp water, stir fry for 2-3mins until almost tender. Add spice paste, soy sauce and pork. Stir fry for 1-2 mins until hot.

Add noodles and a further 2tbsp water and cook for a further 2-3 mins until heated through. Add coriander and serve.