Cooking up budget-friendly recipes for £20 per week
A savvy mum reveals how you can cook budget-friendly family meals during the pandemic for only £20 per week.
Mum-of-five, Lorna Cooper, 44, set up a Facebook page called “Feed your Family” six years ago to share home-cooked, nutritious meals after a back injury forced her to cook on a budget.
Since then, Feed your Family has become a part of the Seaham-based Redu Group, with Lorna amassing around half-a-million followers on social media and she has even launched a best-selling cookbook – ‘Feed Your Family For £20 A Week’.
Recently, she has shared a meal plan, shopping list and a range of recipes that comes to just over £20 per week after being inspired by an image of a food parcel which was circulating on social media.
The food parcel, which was also criticised by Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford, has prompted the Government to reintroduce vouchers for parents who have children who are entitled to free school meals.
Lorna said: “Some of the photos I have seen on social media of the food packages some families have received are unacceptable. I wanted to show people how they can get much more on a small budget with my weekly meal plan.
“Most of the products in the shopping list can be found at Tesco, the eggs from Farmfoods and stock cubes from Aldi.
"Sometimes it is best to shop around, it may be less convenient, but it makes a huge difference to your budget.
"If you don't have access to a lot of supermarkets nearby, it is good to have a look at your local supermarket’s ‘basic’ range as they are often just as good as some branded products.”
Lorna also advises to check price tags carefully to
make sure you are getting a good deal.
She said: "It is also good to check the price per kg of items to make sure you are getting the best value for your money.”
One of Lorna’s recipes shows families how they can make two home-made pizzas on a budget, here are the ingredients and instructions so you can give it a try:
List of ingredients
*200g of plain flour *100g of warm water *1/4 teaspoon of salt
*2 tablespoons of oil *4 tablespoons of tomato puree
*6 cherry tomatoes *100g of grated cheese
Cooking method
Put the flour and salt into a bowl and mix together before gradually mixing in the water.
Bring the mix together with your hand, add the oil and knead to a soft dough before leaving it to rest for 30minutes.
Divide the dough into two parts, roll out each part until they are 1cm thick and fry in a hot pan for two minutes on each side.
Transfer them to an ovenproof tray and add two tablespoons of tomato sauce, cheese and tomatoes.
Bake for 15minutes at 200°C or gas mark six.
If you wish to view more of Lorna’s recipes, along with her money-saving tips and meal plans, you can do so by visiting the Feed your Family Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ fyf20quid