A mother of five has shown how struggling parents can feed their families healthy meals for just 20.21 pounds (approx. US$27.74) a week.
Lorna Cooper, from Paisley near Glasgow, Scotland, has shared her budgeted shopping list, along with a weekly meal plan, in a bid to help low-income families feed their children nutritious meals during the pandemic.
The budget-friendly recipes cover breakfast, lunch, and dinner for seven days a week and include tasty instant-cook dishes as well as some traditional meals.
The plan is designed for a family of two adults and two children.
Lorna, who is a mother of three and stepmother of two, learned how to shop smart, batch cook, and minimize waste after losing her own mom when she was just 11 years old.
The 44-year-old also suffered a back injury six years ago which forced her to start cooking on a budget.
As a result, she set up a Facebook page sharing home-cooked meal ideas and has also written a book called “Feed Your Family For £20 A Week.”
Lorna said: “Some of the photos I have seen on social media of the food packages some families have received are unacceptable.
“I wanted to show people how they can get much more on a small budget with my weekly meal plan.
“Hopefully this helps some families who are struggling financially as a result of the COVID pandemic and not being able to have access to free school meals.
“Most of the products in the shopping list can be found at Tesco, the eggs from Farmfoods and stock cubes from Aldi.”
She added: “Sometimes it is best to shop around, it may be less convenient, but it makes a huge difference to your budget.
“If you don’t have access to a lot of supermarkets nearby, it is good to have a look at your local supermarket’s ‘basic’ range as they are often just as good as some branded products.
“It is also good to check the price per kg of items to make sure you are getting the best value for your money.”
Check out some of her meal plans below: