I’m a mum & I feed my family of four for £1 per person – here’s how you can do it too
A MUM-of-two has found a way to feed her family for only £1 per person and wants to share her tips to help others.
As food costs spiral and energy bills drain bank accounts, Zoe Chamberlain has managed to work out the best way to get bang for one's buck at supermarkets.
Standard household foods, including break, milk and butter have suffered some of the worst price surges, but this nifty mum has found the most cost-effective ingredients to buy.
Zoe has shared all her tips and recipes for sticking the weekly shop budget below £30, which equates to around £1 per person in her family.
"When Jamie Oliver suggested you could feed the family for £1 a day, I decided to give it a go,"
The mum-of-two does her weekly shopping at Aldi, and despite the uninspiring ingredient list, she manages to cook up a storm in the kitchen.
The key to the money-saving was finding adaptable, cheap but fresh ingredients and using planning hearty meals that produced plenty of leftovers.
"This is not fancy food, just everyday dinners that kids love to eat and that fill them up!"
Here's how she did it:
Sunday: Roast Chicken
Zoe said she pulled together a spread of roast chicken with potatoes, carrots, broccoli, peas and gravy.
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To make it go further, each family member had a thigh or drumstick to save some of the breast for another day. The bones were also used to make a stock.
Monday: Cottage Pie
The proud mum used half of the mince meat to cook up the British staple, Cottage Pie, and added onions, carrots and peas to the braised meat topped with cheesy mashed potato.
The other half of the meat went into a sauce being used for a Bolognese another night.
Tuesday: Chicken Curry
Zoe cut a few timely corners by using a pre-made Aldi curry sauce and added ingredients to improve the flavour alongside cooked chicken. A tin of tomatoes also went in to stretch the meal further and it was served with rice.
Wednesday: Spaghetti Bolognese
The Bolognese sauce made from the leftover meat on Monday was heated back up and added to spaghetti and then sprinkled with grated cheese - "a dinner that's ready to go".
Thursday: Sausage Casserole
The humble but hearty casserole was made using defrosted sausages cut into chunks and chucked together with onions, garlic, peppers, mushrooms, tinned tomatoes and cannellini beans with some herbs and spices.
"Always a winner with the kids," Zoe exclaimed.
Friday: Pasta Carbonara
After frying bacon, Zoe added it to spaghetti already coated in eggs, cheese, peas and herbs.
Saturday: Chilli Con Carne
The leftover Bolognese sauce returns. This time it was added to red kidney beans, plenty of chilli powder, grated cheese and steamed rice to make a wholesome chilli.
Zoe's full shopping list
The complete Aldi ingredient list that kept the mum-of-two's weekly food shop below £30:
- Whole chicken - £4.79
- Potatoes - £1.25
- Mushrooms - 85p
- Carrots - 28p
- Onions - 55p
- Garlic - 89p
- Broccoli - 69p
- Gravy granules - 99p
- Red pepper - 43p
- Frozen sausages - £1.99
- Frozen peas - 85p
- Basmati rice - 89p
- Curry jar - £1.19
- Minced beef - £4.19
- 2 passata cartons - 49p each
- 2 tinned tomatoes - 38p each
- Mixed herbs - 49p
- Chilli powder - 59p
- Bacon - £1.35
- 2 packs of spaghetti - 28p each
- Eggs - £1.55 for 6 free-range
- Mature cheddar - £2.69
- Red kidney beans - 33p
- Cannellini beans - 59p
The total for the week = £29.72
(£4.29 each day, or £1.06 per person)