cheap family recipes
feed a family of 4 for less than £200 a month
Houmous
On meal plan 1, there are 9 lunches through the month that use 1 of these houmous sandwiches.
On meal plan 2, there are 3 lunches through the month that use 1 of these houmous sandwiches, plus red pepper hummus x 2, a tomato hummus and an onion hummus
The houmous itself can be frozen, or you could make up some or all of the sandwiches, and freeze them ready to grab and go
What do need to make a hummus sandwich
▢ 140 g chickpeas dry weight chickpeas cooked as per packet instructions, or one tin, drained. (A typical tin has 250g of chickpeas when drained)
▢ 110 ml oil
▢ 15 ml vinegar
▢ ½ lemon, juice only, retain the carcass
▢ ½ tsp garlic powder
▢ 1 tsp salt and pepper
▢ ½ tsp black pepper
▢ ¼ tsp chilli powder
▢ 72 slices home made bread to make sandwiches
How do I make a hummus sandwich
▢ Keep the lemon carcass to use when making lemon cordial
▢ Place all the ingredients except oil in a food processor, then gradually add the oil whilst pulsing the food processor until you have achieved a loose runny consistency a bit like natural yoghurt or double cream.
▢ Season with salt and pepper, taste and adjust if necessary
▢ Make a sandwich each using your homemade bread
▢ If you are following meal plan 1, make once in the month- serve 10g per person per meal, can be frozen. Served 9 times during the month
▢ If you are following meal plan 2, make once in the month – serve 20g per person per meal, can be frozen. Served 4 times during the month
What changes can I make
- I like to soak a whole 500g pack of chickpeas and cook them in one go. Then I package them into one tin sized portions (250g) and freeze. So useful for so many things.
- As I use a lot of them, I’ve taken to getting 5kg of dried chickpeas at a time. Five kilograms will make the equivalent of 40 tins! It takes 125g of dried chickpeas to make the same weight as a drained tin. At the time of writing (11th August 2024) 5kg of chickpeas can be bought from Amazon for £14.08. This means that each tin would cost 35p each, plus a few pence to cook them.
- See the posts for red pepper hummus, tomato hummus and onion hummus
- Hummus typically has tahini in it, but we don’t have any available on this meal plan. You could add a couple of tablespoons of tahini if you have it, or peanut butter has a very similar flavour profile and will substitute quite nicely here
- If you have any, olive oil is lovely in hummus
- Add 100g of any cooked vegetable and whizz it in
- Maybe try some of the 30+ suggested flavour combinations in this roundup post
- Add grated carrot, cucumber slices or lettuce to your sandwich
- Add some curry spices, whatever you have. I particularly like tandoori spice
- whizz in a cooked beetroot, roasted red pepper from a jar, sun dried tomatoes or a dollop of caramelised onions
Other recipes
Ingredients
- 140 g chickpeas dry weight chickpeas cooked as per packet instructions, or one tin, drained
- 110 ml oil
- 15 ml vinegar
- ½ lemon juice only, retain the carcass
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt and pepper
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp chilli powder
- 72 slices home made bread to make sandwiches
Instructions
- keep the lemon carcass to use when making lemon cordial
- Place all the ingredients except oil in a food processor, then gradually add the oil whilst pulsing the food processor until you have achieved a loose runny consistency a bit like natural yoghurt or double cream.140 g chickpeas, 15 ml vinegar, ½ lemon, ½ tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp salt and pepper, ½ tsp black pepper, ¼ tsp chilli powder, 110 ml oil
- Season with salt and pepper, taste and adjust if necessary
- Make a sandwich each using your homemade bread72 slices home made bread
- If you are following meal plan 1, make once in the month- serve 10g per person per meal, can be frozen. Served 9 times during the month
- If you are following meal plan 2, make once in the month - serve 20g per person per meal, can be frozen. Served 4 times during the month
Equipment Needed
Notes
What changes can I make
- I like to soak a whole 500g pack of chickpeas and cook them in one go. Then I package them into one tin sized portions (250g) and freeze. So useful for so many things.
- As I use a lot of them, I've taken to getting 5kg of dried chickpeas at a time. Five kilograms will make the equivalent of 40 tins! It takes 125g of dried chickpeas to make the same weight as a drained tin. At the time of writing (11th August 2024) 5kg of chickpeas can be bought from Amazon for £14.08. This means that each tin would cost 35p each, plus a few pence to cook them.
- See the posts for red pepper hummus, tomato hummus and onion hummus
- Hummus typically has tahini in it, but we don't have any available on this meal plan. You could add a couple of tablespoons of tahini if you have it, or peanut butter has a very similar flavour profile and will substitute quite nicely here
- If you have any, olive oil is lovely in hummus
- Add 100g of any cooked vegetable and whizz it in
- Maybe try some of the 30+ suggested flavour combinations in this roundup post
- Add grated carrot, cucumber slices or lettuce to your sandwich
- Add some curry spices, whatever you have. I particularly like tandoori spice
- whizz in a cooked beetroot, roasted red pepper from a jar, sun dried tomatoes or a dollop of caramelised onions
Nutrition
Why Not Try....?
Pea and Sun-Dried Tomato Risotto
cheap family recipes feed a family of 4 for (just over) £100 a monthPea and Sundried TomatoA delicious vegan risotto. Easier to make than you think? Add parmesan if not vegan Why Not Try....?Before putting together our meal planners we...
Pasta Salad
cheap family recipes feed a family of 4 for (just over) £100 a monthPasta Salad Why Not Try....?Before putting together our meal planners we surveyed over 600 people to ask when faced with a tighter budget, which things they...
Pasta Funghi
cheap family recipes feed a family of 4 for (just over) £100 a monthPasta FunghiYou can either make this and bake it in the oven for a pasta bake, which means that you can make it in advance. Or you can make and eat straight away, skipping the oven bake part ...
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.