cheap family recipes
feed a family of 4 for less than £200 a month
Frequently asked questions:
I've noticed seasonings are not included in your costings, why is this?
The reason we have not included the cost of seasonings in our £100 per month planner is because the £100 is designed to cover a 31 day month. Since not all months have 31 days, this leaves a remainder of approximately £22.40 over the course of 1 year, which more than pays for the seasonings being used in the planner’s recipes. We are assuming that you will have access to salt, pepper, garam masala and garlic powder, and our testers found that they only used the amount of these seasonings which can be easily purchased for £22.40 in a year.
Does the planner contain enough calcium?
We have assumed an average daily need of 1,000 mg daily, which our research showed had general consensus amongst health care professionals as being sufficient for 97% of individuals.
Really? I can only see a block of cheese and a drop of milk, but it’s for a whole month?
We couldn’t afford to meet your whole family’s calcium need using these more expensive foods, but the calcium is there. The instant oat cereal used in several of our recipes contains 1330 mg of calcium per 100g, whereas cheese contains just 739mg per 100g.
The planners are very dependent on home-made bread, what can I do if I am struggling to make this?
Some testers have found the no knead bread (featured throughout this site) difficult whilst others find it an excellent money and time saver, this can be due to differences in the water, or the temperature of your house. One possibility is to use the ingredients and quantities as specified in our planner bread recipes, but to use the method outlined in Paul Merrett’s bread recipe at BBC Good Food site.
My home-made loaves seem smaller than a shop-bought loaf!
Yes, typically the loaf will seem approximately 3/4 of the size. However, please do persevere! This is because shop-bought loaves tend to be more aerated. You will find the home-made bread just as filling as there is the same energy (kcal) per slice. You will probably find the loaf denser in texture and with more moisture than shop-bought bread. You may also find initially that the taste is different. Typically shop-bought bread has a much higher salt content 8-10 times as much, so the home-made version can take a short time for your palate to adjust. You may also notice that shop-bought is a much brighter white of crumb and a darker crust, whereas home-made bread has a pale buttercream coloured crumb and a honey-brown crust.
Why Not Try....?
Brazil Nut Butter, with Pumpkin Seeds
cheap family recipes feed a family of 4 for less than £200 a monthBrazil Nut and Pumpkin Seed SpreadI love a nut butter, and this Brazil nut and pumpkin seed butter is absolutely delicious. It can be used in all the different ways that the more common peanut butter...
Boodle Biscuits
cheap family recipes feed a family of 4 for less than £200 a monthBoodle BiscuitsThis raisin biscuit recipe is part of monthly meal plan 1. Make this sized batch twice in the month if you are following the plan. What do I need to make Boodle Biscuits for a batch of 41...
Bacon & Onion Pudding
cheap family recipes feed a family of 4 for less than £200 a monthBacon and Onion PuddingWhat you need to make bacon and onion pudding Pastry 200 g self-raising flour 90 g veg oil pinch salt Filling 175 g bacon pieces 300 g onions chopped into dice To Serve 320 g peas...
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.