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FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Batch-cooking mum feeds her family for 67p a meal shopping at Aldi – and her recipes have helped her lose weight too

A SAVVY mum has revealed how she feeds her family for just 67p a meal by shopping at Aldi with tasty recipes that help her lose weight too.

Cassie McKay, from Australia, spends just £63.78 on food each week and says batch cooking allows her to keep the food cost down.

Cassie McKay, from Australia, used The Healthy Mummy, a fitness community, to lose weight in 2017 but is now using the programme to save money
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Cassie McKay, from Australia, used The Healthy Mummy, a fitness community, to lose weight in 2017 but is now using the programme to save moneyCredit: The Healthy Mummy

Despite the small weekly budget, Cassie doesn't have to miss out on delicious food as she's able to prepare 44 main meals a week and 51 snacks as well as stock up on pantry stables such as milk, honey, yoghurt and rice.

Some of the meals she makes are Moroccan chickpea stew, Chinese chicken, risotto, pasta salad, lentil cottage pie and chow mien, plus tasty snacks such as banana bread to chocolate muffins and pumpkin hummus.

Cassie told fitness community : "I love nothing more than heading into the kitchen and creating delicious, healthy meals for the family.

“Plus having pre-prepared meals helps when I’m too busy or stressed to cook.”

She prepares 44 main meals a week plus 51 snacks - all for just £63
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She prepares 44 main meals a week plus 51 snacks - all for just £63Credit: The Healthy Mummy

Cassie has two children, aged eight and four, and shops in Aldi for the week which allows her to keep the cost of her groceries down.

She said: "I was really happy with the cost of this prep, as I previously thought I’d have to do a mostly vegetarian prep to keep costs down.

"I wish I could say it took no time at all, but prep like this takes time. This took me 5 hours all up (not including clean-up time – lucky I’ve got an amazing partner who did most of that!)"

When it comes to Cassie’s food shopping, the mum-of-two has a couple of tricks up her sleeve.

I love nothing more than heading into the kitchen and creating delicious, healthy meals for the family.

Cassie McKay

She recommends always looking in your cupboards to see what you have before writing your meal plan.

And buying in bulk tends to work out cheaper per meal so look for recipes that use similar ingredients so you can stock up on the same items.

Her final tip is to freeze pre-cooked meals so nothing goes off, and saves time on cooking every night too.

The mum originally joined the Healthy Mummy community to lose the baby weight from her youngest child, and says she lost 1st 8lb “easily” after joining in 2017.

She's now maintained her weight loss but continues to uses the fitness programme to save money on household groceries, while still providing healthy meals for her family.

We also shared how a single mum keeps the shopping bill down – and she gets so much free food she ends up giving it away.

Plus a mum shares tips for making food last longer including storing jars upside down and wrapping greens in kitchen roll.

Another mum revealed how she feeds her whole family for just £25 a week – and there’s enough for guests too.

Mum-of-19 with 14 grandchildren has five washing machines, three driers – and still can’t believe she had more than two kids