With more and people jumping on the eco-bandwagon and the credit crunch on everybody’s lips, a cookbook that promises to cut back on food waste, saving your pennies and the environment in the process, seems remarkably well-timed. Printed on recycled paper, in the UK (to cut down on its carbon footprint) and using vegetable ink, The Use it All Cookbook should be a preachy piece of eco-waffle, but instead harks back to the “make do and mend” philosophy employed by the author’s mother and grandmother, the inspiration for much of her recipes.

Instead of offering a chef’s ego trip on crafting the perfect “veloute”, Bish Muir goes back to basics and creates a practical guide to cooking delicious, everyday food. This is a cookbook served up Delia Smith style, with no-nonsense recipes that could feed a family of four, whilst using up that mouldy tomato festering in the back of your fridge. We are given the obligatory “Go Green” blurb in the introduction, regurgitating the evils of packaging and food miles, but Muir avoids preachyness by then dispensing practical advice on storing leftovers and planning your shopping. This may all seem a bit obvious for more experienced cooks, but this is an indispensable guide for anyone who needs help planning their meals, from large families to students on a limited budget.

The “guidebook” feel is mirrored in the layout, with a handy A-Z index of leftovers and what to do with them, followed by basic recipes that are easy to adapt to any ingredient, and then finally her own ideas for creating meals out of uneaten or unused food. The book is a visual treat, with a clear, simple layout accompanied by beautiful photos, but as many of the photos are simply stock images, you don’t a sense of what Muir’s creations actually look like, making it hard to drum up enthusiasm for some of her more adventurous recipes, from “Ham and Pineapple Loaf” to the “Chicken Crunch” using stale crisps as the main ingredient! But with a fool-proof format and simple everyday recipes this book is no hard sell, and would be a welcome addition in any eco-conscious or penny-pinching cook’s cupboard. Muir isn’t creating particularly innovative cuisine, but these recipes will sit nicely on any weekday dinner table, she only loses marks for not sharing photos alongside her family favourites.