cheap family recipes
feed a family of 4 for less than £200 a month
Celebration Week Meal Plan
This nutrition article should also answer some of your questions about your family’s diet.
I’ve just re-priced this weeks meal plan on 20th November 2022, during very volatile grocery pricing, and I’m very glad to report that it still costs up at just over £1 a day. In fact it is coming in at £1.12 per person, per day! Lots of yummy things to eat, with more treats than usual, and still within a teeny tiny budget
There are a couple of bits and pieces not used up completely in this weeks meal plan. Either save them for next week, or use them wherever you want during the week. There is 300g of Buttery for example, so would be nice on toast as a filler if you need it
The menu for the whole of Christmas week
| Celebration Week Meal Plan | |
|---|---|
December 23rd Breakfast  | waffles and cinnamon syrup |
Lunch | french onion soup |
Dinner  | toad in the hole chocolate brownies |
December 24th - Christmas Eve Breakfast | fruity pancakes |
Lunch | tomato houmous |
Dinner  | smoked salmon pasta chocolate yule log |
December 25th - Christmas Day Breakfast | eggy bread and sausage |
Lunch   | mushroom soup roast pork lunch steamed fruit pudding |
| Tea | french onion soup |
| December 26th - Boxing Day Breakfast | waffles and cinnamon syrup |
| Lunch | tomato houmous on toast |
Dinner  | vegetable spanish omelette onion rings chocolate brownies |
| December 27th Breakfast | fruity pancakes |
Lunch  | egg mayonnaise sandwich mayonnaise recipe |
Dinner | spaghetti aglio e pepperoncino Yule log |
| December 28th Breakfast | waffles and cinnamon syrup |
Lunch  | caramelised onion houmous on toast |
Dinner | tortillas stuffed with pork in a mushroom sauce chocolate brownies |
| December 29th Breakfast | fruity pancakes |
| Lunch | french onion soup |
Dinner | sausage and potato salad |
| Alternative ideas for your Christmas week | |
|---|---|
 | cranberry and cashew nut roast |
 | roast chicken and all the trimmings |
 | tomato & basil soup |
 | creamy parsnip soup |
 | chocolate nut cheesecake |
 | lemon cheesecake |
 | truffles |
All the shopping you will need for this gorgeous week, except salt and pepper, and any drinks
| Shopping List for Celebration Week | Priced in Nov 2022 Needed at the till | Leftover at the end of the week |
|---|---|---|
| Fruit & Vegetables | ||
| 330g carrots | 49p for a kg | 670g, 33p |
| 3 loose garlic bulbs | 65p | |
| 5kg onions | £3.25 | 160g, 10p |
| 2.5kg potatoes | £1.25 | |
| 400g mushrooms. Cheapest is 600g bag frozen | £1.20 | 200g, 40p |
| 1 lemon | 30p | |
| 500g mixed dried fruit | £1.10 | |
| Dairy & Eggs | ||
| 410g tin of evaporated milk | 55p | 100ml, 13p |
| 142ml fresh single cream, pot contains 300ml | £1.20 | 158ml, 63p |
| 300ml fresh whipping cream | £1.35 | |
| 500g Brilliantly Buttery | £1.10 | 300g, 66p |
| 30 cooks value medium eggs | £3.00 | 2, 20p |
| Meat, Fish & Poultry | ||
| 1.3Kg ASDA Boneless Pork Leg or Shoulder (depending on which joint is closest to the stated weight or price) | £3.90 | |
| 120g smoked salmon trimmings | £1.90 | |
| Frozen | ||
| 1kg frozen smartprice sausages | £1.50 | |
| 1kg frozen brussels sprouts | £1.25 | |
| Tin, Jars & Cooking | ||
| 1 litre vegetable oil, 240ml leftover | £2.40 | 240ml, 58p |
| tin chick peas | 41p | |
| smartprice malt vinegar | 29p | 553ml, 28p |
| Asda chicken stock cubes | 60p for 12 cubes | 7, 35p |
| 142g tomato puree, 90g leftover | 60p for 200g | 58g, 17p |
| 33g mixed spice | 70p | 35p |
| 2 sachets Easybake yeast | 40p | |
| Packets & Cereals | ||
| 2 x 1.5kg self raising flour | £1.16p | |
| 1.5 kg strong white bread flour | £1.05p | |
| 1kg sugar | £1.00 | 60g, 6p |
| 1kg value spaghetti, 100g leftover | 56p | 100g, 6p |
| Snacks & Sweets | ||
| 5 x 100g plain chocolate | £1.65 | |
| Drinks | ||
| 1 litre value apple juice | 75p | |
| Total | £35.56 | £4.30 |
| Total of food eaten | £31.26 |
Your Christmas Day timing guide
This guide is created assuming you have a standard 55-60cm freestanding oven with 2 shelves and the bottom of the oven usable for baking. If you have a smaller/integrated oven, or one with fewer shelves, you may wish to consider using a slow-cooker, microwave or Remoska, or cooking in advance to help you prepare this larger celebratory meal.
| Time | Task | Oven | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christmas Eve | prepare Christmas pudding | not in use | leave steaming until tomorrow | |
| 7.45am Christmas Day | pork joint prep and into oven | pork joint | ||
| 8.20am | make eggy bread and sausage | pork joint | ||
| 8.40am | serve eggy bread and sausage | pork joint | ||
| 9:00am | make mushroom soup | pork joint | stop just before final simmer | |
| 10:00am | make stuffing, Yorkshire pudding batter and cochons | pork joint | ||
| 12 noon | begin to steam Christmas pudding | pork joint | ||
| 12:20pm | lay the table | pork joint | ||
| 12:40pm | prepare vegetables and baste meat | bottom: pork without foil, middle: carrot/potato/cochon, top: potatoes | ||
| 12:50pm | whip cream for Christmas pudding | bottom: pork without foil, middle: carrot/potato/cochon, top: potatoes | chill this until required | |
| 13:15pm | check Christmas pudding, topping up water levels if required | bottom: pork without foil, middle: carrot/potato/cochon, top: potatoes | ||
| 13:30pm | simmer mushroom soup | bottom: pork without foil, middle: carrot/potato/cochon, top: potatoes | ||
| 13:35pm | remove pork and vegetables, turn oven up for stuffing and Yorkshires, heat Yorkshire tin in oven | top: potatoes, middle: yorkshire tin | ||
| 13:45pm | put Yorkshire pudding into oven | top: potatoes, middle: Yorkshires | ||
| 13:50pm | serve mushroom soup | top: potatoes, middle: yorkshires | ||
| 13:55pm | put stuffing into oven | top: potatoes, middle: yorkshires, bottom: stuffing |
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Take care of your family and your budget
Before putting together our meal planners we surveyed over 600 people to ask when faced with a tighter budget, which things they would struggle to give up.