Penguin Michael Joseph acquires Instagrammer Mogford’s cookbook

Penguin Michael Joseph has acquired Cardiff.Mum’s Thrifty Feasts: Deliciously Affordable One-Pot, Air-Fryer and Slow-Cooker Meals for Every Home and Budget by social media content creator Ashleigh Mogford, who shares her weekly meal plans and hacks for savvy shopping and cooking through her Cardiff.Mum Instagram account.

Editorial director Dan Hurst bought world rights from Megan Johnston at The Influencer PA, with publication scheduled for 18th January 2024.

The publisher says: “Ashleigh is a food-obsessed mum of two who inspires millions online by sharing her savvy food shops and flavoursome meal ideas via her Instagram account Cardiff.Mum. Ashleigh started her account while on maternity leave with her first child; she found herself getting creative in the kitchen trying to make her maternity pay stretch and decided she wanted to share her tips and tricks online. She became an Instagram viral sensation because of her feel-good, money-saving feasts and now has over 370,000 followers, with many of her reels being watched over three million times.

“With chapters covering £5 family meals, speedy air-fryer feasts, set-and-forget slow-cooker classics, one-pot wonders and Friday-night fakeaways, Ashleigh is determined to banish the bland and demonstrate just how joyful and delicious thrifty cooking can be. The book shows you how, with a little bit of planning, you can shave the pounds off your weekly shop and eat mouth-watering food that your family and friends will love."

Mogford said: “I’m unbelievably excited for the release of Thrifty Feasts and couldn’t be more thrilled to do it in the wonderful hands of Dan and the team at Penguin Michael Joseph. Helping people to make vibrant and truly delicious meals for a small cost is something that I’m really passionate about, so writing a whole book full of tasty, thrifty recipes that people can keep in their kitchen to help them plan ahead and shop well has made me so happy. Since starting Cardiff.Mum three years ago, I’ve shared my love of shopping savvy to make flavour-loaded and vibrant meals, Thrifty Feasts is a collection of exactly that: budget friendly recipes that you’ll keep going back to over and again.”

Hurst said: “Ashleigh’s food is so full of colour and flavour that every meal feels like a celebration, which is such a contrast to most people’s idea of what budget food is. So many of us are feeling the pinch at the moment, especially when it comes to the cost of food, and Ash has used every trick in the book, from meal planning and savvy shopping to using energy-saving appliances such as slow-cookers and air-fryers, to put this collection of thrifty feasts together. This is joyful, flavour-packed food that you would be proud to serve to your friends and family.”