Feeding a Family of 4 for a Week on 8 Bucks
We're all looking for bang for buck when it comes to food shopping.
Typically, Aussies spend $200 a week on food groceries. But Today set me the challenge of feeding a family of four dinner for a week for under $100. It was a challenge I was happy to accept — and with a few nifty tricks up your sleeve, it's something we can all do. That $100 can actually go a very long way.
Check out the clip above to see how to make your groceries go further and read on to see what we cooked up.
Jane's biggest budget saving tips
Look for specials — You'll often find these located at the end of the aisles or listed in the store catalogue, so take the time to have a look.
Choose items that are versatile — This way you can take advantage of bulk buying specials and choose items that can be turned into a whole lot of different meals.
Don't be afraid of frozen — Frozen veggies last longer and are often cheaper. They're great to bulk out other items like meat, and because you keep them in the freezer, you potentially won't end up with as much waste.
Frozen seafood is also often cheaper than fresh and is less impacted by moves in market price, so you can often get good bargains.
Check the fridge/pantry before you shop — This will help you avoid double-up purchases or spending money on items you already have. It's particularly helpful when it comes to spices and sauces.
Have a look at what you already have and what needs using up. If you have everything for a Mexican spice mix, don't bother buying taco spice because you can mix it yourself. You can also use these spices and sauces to vary up any dishes that you plan to make out of one bulk purchase (i.e. chicken can be spiced a whole lot of different ways).
Buy in bulk where you can — This will often mean your money will go further and you'll have things that stretch over into the following week's shop (think rice, dried beans, noodles).
Make meat purchases go further with legumes — Tins of beans and lentils are cheap, full of fibre and carry any flavours that are added to them. It's a great way to make your meat go further without spending extra dollars.
Our major purchases for $98.75 (under $100)
I was able to make eight dinners for a family of four, as well as some to spare. Each meal was about $12 and around $3 per serve. Not a bad way to get $100 to go a long way.
What we purchased
- 1/2 pumpkin, fresh
- mixed frozen veggies
- peas, frozen
- chicken thigh fillets - bulk pack
- beef sausages - bulk pack
- pasta
- rice
- grated cheese
- tinned tomatoes
- tinned black beans
- tinned lentils
- curry paste
- Greek yoghurt
- silverbeet/spinach, fresh
- noodles
- cucumber, fresh
- avocados
- tinned chickpeas
- tinned butter beans
- carrots, fresh
- limes
- onions
How to divide it up
Take a look at what you were able to purchase and divide everything up into groups that work together. If you have a bulk pack of chicken or sausages, like we did, split them up into portions that work for each meal and then figure out what other items can bulk it out. Will beans, rice, lentils or veggies make your meat purchases go further? Then group them together to make a meal plan.
We made that into:
1. Bolognese with pasta — For this, I broke down some sausages to use as mince and bulked the dish out with lentils and veggies to make it go further.
Try a recipe like these meatballs or bolognese style with the sausage mince .
2. Chilli con carne with rice — Again, I used some of the sausage mince for this dish and then bulked it out with beans. I used spices that were already in the cupboard to make a Mexican spice mix and served it with rice to make it all go further.
Try a recipe like this for your base inspiration .
3. Butter chicken with veggies and rice — This was part of our bulk chicken purchase along with a jar sauce. I added a whole lot of the veggies to make it all go further.
This easy butter chicken is a great starting point .
4. Chickpea soup with caramelised onions — This is a great vegetarian option. The flavour comes from cooking down onions low and slow, and then adding a whole lot of beans and vegetables.
This pantry soup is a great starting point.
5. Honey soy chicken and noodles — This was another part of the bulk chicken thigh purchase. A few fillets go a long way and a honey soy marinade can be made with items you likely already have in the pantry, or something similar. It's also super quick and the noodles bulk out the chicken.
Simply make a mix of soy sauce, honey, ginger and garlic with a little vegetable oil and chili, if you like it. Marinade the chicken for 20 minutes or more, then fry it off in a hot pan. Toss the leftover marinade in at the end and then stir through some pre-cooked noodles. Serve it all with some sliced onion on top.
6. Meatball sausage soup — This is that nifty sausages-into-meatball trick again. Mix it all in with a whole lot of veggies and some pantry stock (if you have it), and just a few meatballs can flavour a lot of soup. It's one of the greatest-ever pantry tricks.
Use this recipe as a guide , but go with what you have.
7. Chicken, pumpkin and pea pasta — This was where we started to make offcuts and leftovers into creative combinations. I roasted some of the pumpkin that didn't go into the curry, then tossed it in a hot pan with a little bit of chicken and some peas. Add a knob of butter or a splash of milk and you have a wonderful pasta sauce.
8. Spiced sausages with black bean dip — Turns out that bulk pack of sausages can go a very long way indeed. We cooked up the last of them with a combination of pantry spices and turned the leftover black beans into a spiced dip to match. Roast the last of the carrots and you have a dip dinner fit for a hungry family.
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Wholesome soups you can prep now, enjoy later
Source: https://kitchen.nine.com.au/how-to/feed-family-for-a-week-on-100-dollars-jane-de-graaff-today-show/da762e16-2218-4033-8f90-8743aabf2116
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