Mum of THIRTEEN feeds her family for just 66p per head by buying meat in bulk and grocery shopping online
A SAVVY mum has revealed that she manages to cook for her large family of 13 kids for just 66p per head.
Emma and Roy Hann, both 49, from Dundee, manage to keep costs down by shopping online, bulk buying and using cupboard staples.
They currently have 10 kids at home, and spend around £200 on the 12 of them each week, which works out at £2.30 a day per person.
Some of their favourite meals to cook in bulk include Cajun pasta and fajitas, and they can rustle up a BBQ for 40 friends and family for 79p a head.
Café owner Emma said: “As our family got bigger, naturally it became more expensive to feed everyone, but doing one big supermarket shop every week was actually driving the cost up even more.
“By doing this, you're tempted to throw in deals and special offers that you don't really want or need.”
As their family grew, they realised that they were buying numerous pricey items they didn’t need, like expensive yoghurts and sugary fruit drinks.
Emma and Roy decided to ditch their traditional weekly shop about five years ago, and said the change has resulted in them saving around £200 each month.
They now do one bulk shop a month and freeze the meat, although they do nip to the supermarket to stock up on fresh vegetables.
As our family got bigger, naturally it became more expensive to feed everyone, but doing one big supermarket shop every week was actually driving the cost up even more.
Emma Hann
The family say their trick to keeping costs down is to usually spending around £150 worth of meat at the likes of Musclefood, and making it the base of each meal.
From this they can make chicken breasts, steak mince, sausages and diced beef and add vegetables and cupboard items.
They say they can make around 112 meals by spending just £88 for their family, who are aged from four to 27.
EMMA'S CHEAP MENU OPTIONS
CAJUN PASTA (serves 12)
- 6 Musclefood chicken breasts, £4.20
- 500g penne pasta, 80p
- 3 tins chopped tomatoes , £1.00
- 3 garlic cloves and 2 tbsp of Dried Italian herds/ salt/ pepper, 30p
- 125g grated cheese,
- Salad - half bag spinach, one red onion, one pepper, 10 small tomatoes, dressing, £1.20
Total: £8.00
Price per head: 66p
BEEF ROGAN JOSH (SERVES 12)
For the curry:
- 3 packets of Musclefood diced beef, £5.85
- 8 potatoes, 50p
- 4 Carrots, 20p
- 2 peppers, 50p
- 1 jar of paste, £1.25
- 1/3 of a pot Greek yoghurt, 20p
- Garlic/ginger 3 cloves/small arm, 20p
- 1 tin Chickpeas, 40p
- For the homemade chapatis
- Flour, salt and water, 40p total
For the salad:
- Half bag spinach, one red onion, one pepper, 10 small tomatoes, dressing, £1.20 total
Total: £10.70
Price per head: 89p
TOAD IN THE HOLE (serves 12)
- 24 Musclefood sausages, £3.90
- Homemade batter - 200g flour/ 4 eggs/2pints milk salt pepper, £1.00
- Mash potatoes - 7kg potatoes / little bit butter/milk/ salt/pepper seasoning, £2.80
- 1kg carrots, £1.00
- Gravy - 30g flour / 10 stock cubes/ dash of milk and butter and seasoning, 30p
Total: £8.90
Price per head: 74p
Popular dishes for the large family are spaghetti and meatballs, mac and cheese, and lasagne, and they typically make a range of sides so everyone has something they like.
Thankfully none of the kids are “fussy eaters” so there are typically no complaints at the dinner table.
She added: “We also try to do a roast at least fortnightly, but this can be quite expensive when you're cooking for all 13 kids, plus their partners.
“What we tend to do now is get some of the older ones who've moved out to bring the mashed potatoes or Yorkshire puddings, so everyone chips in.”
Nurse practitioner Roy is in charge of all the cooking, and took over eight years ago as they had three little kids under the age of four at the time.
The Hanns say they get through 50 pints of milk, 21 loaves of bread and five large cereal boxes a week - and their washing machine is seldom turned off.
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