Generous mum uses lockdown to make 26 meals for £20 for grandparents
- Cheryl Anderson, 39, wanted to make meals for her partner’s grandparents
- She spent £20 at Aldi to make them 26 meals
- Cheryl’s batch cooking tips will save families a fortune
If your main expense during lockdown is food bills, and the weekly shop seems to skyrocket, take a leaf out of this savvy mum’s book.
Cheryl Anderson, 39, a mum-of-three from Huddersfield, decided to batch cook meals for her partner Darren’s grandparents - and she managed to make 26 meals for just £20, giving us all a masterclass in lockdown money-saving.
Cheryl, who works in homeless hostels for young people, told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: "I decided to batch cook for Darren’s grandparents because I heard through his sister that his grandad was going to their local Tesco Express and buying ready meals.
"They are quite independent and active and used to have day trips to the markets and with Covid-19 they obviously haven’t been.
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"I have been with my partner for seven years and have three children with my previous partner.
"My current partner's grandparents have never missed their birthday or Christmas and included them straight away - no questions, we all became part of their family.
"His grandma is 83 and his grandad is 81 and still drives, so this lockdown is hard for them.
"I cook a lot for family gatherings and I wanted to make sure that they knew I valued them, so decided to make them some food they could freeze.”
Cheryl headed to Aldi to stock up on ingredients for the batch cooking session.
"I bought frozen chicken breasts, fresh mince, sausages and then ‘wonky’ veg that takes a bit more time to prepare, but is still decent quality," Cheryl explains. "I bought the tubs from Home Bargains cheaply too.
"I made shepherds pie, spaghetti bolognese, sausage and mash, stew and dumplings, chicken casserole and chicken curry.
"I know they like those things, and they are easy dishes to make and can be bulked out to make cheaply.
"I shop at Aldi and bulk my meals out with plenty of vegetables.
"They were very happy - my partner dropped them off and we stayed in the car and they both came to the front door to shout thank you!
"I spent around £20 and it was all for my partner's grandparents so I imagine it saved them a fortune.
"I think they were buying two meals for £5 and I made 26 for £20.
“My main advice to those looking to do the same is to plan and look at what’s on offer and what’s cheap.
"Buy the ‘wonky’ veg, it might take longer to prep, but it’s all good food.
"We were coping really well in lockdown as I was still going to work every day, however we are now in two weeks of isolation as my youngest daughter is showing symptoms.
"Food shopping isn’t an issue though, as I have lots of meals prepped and well stocked freezers!”
Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, comments: “Many of us are struggling to keep the price of our weekly shop down.
“Cheryl’s 26 meals for £20 is really inspiring and shows that as long as you plan meals carefully and shop for only the ingredients you need, you can feed the whole family for less.”
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