Food shopping at certain shops can come with an expensive price tag when there are no deals available and catering for a large family. Savvy shoppers have shared their tips and tricks online on how they cook healthy delicious meals that don’t break the bank. One Mum shared her life changing hacks online to help other Mum’s who are struggling.

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A mum of three known as Laura El, shared her top tips on making your food shop stretch further.

She told the money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: “I have a family of five on a low income and we spend around £50 a week on our food shopping because that’s all we can just about afford.

“It might seem impossible to feed five mouths for seven days and still eat healthily, but here’s how I do.”

She explained how her partner was self-employed and she works alongside him in her own little printing business.

Laura said: “Unfortunately both our businesses fall under the not ‘necessary or vital’ category, so we have had to close down until things have settles and restrictions lifted.

“This has been devastating for us as we only just took on our new work premises at the beginning of February.”

The 36-year-old explained how they have to shop on an extremely tight budget and spend between £50 to £70 and manage to feed all five of them comfortably.

She continued: “With regards to veggies, the best thing to do to make them ‘keep’ and also save time on a daily basis, is to peel, chop, blanche if needed and freeze!

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“It’s so easy – yes, it takes a little bit of time, which is difficult when you have a toddler constantly around your ankles and need eyes in the back of your head! – but if and when you can spare that hour or half to quickly peel, then later chop, and part coil, then it’s well worth doing!”

Laura saves a lot of money each week by picking up fresh vegetables each week as a bag of peppers can be as little as £1.

She said: “You can pick up bags of potatoes for £1, carrots for 40p, onions for £1 per bag, peppers for £1 for a mixed bag. I don’t tend to buy much branded as the cheaper stuff is just as good, and some things even taste better – plus you always seem to get more value for money so why spend more than needed?

“The ideas are endless for saving food and money. It just takes a small amount of imagination, inspiration and time and effort.”

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The initial time to prepare food and thinking about what dishes you can make is the strenuous job, everything after that will be easy and you will have easy healthy meals planned.

The savvy shopper also explained how she prepares potatoes by cutting them into different shapes and sizes and then she freezes them so she can use then as and when needed.

This not only saves money but also saves a lot of time when it comes to preparing evening meals.

She said: “For potatoes, cook them like you would oven chips from the supermarket, but just add a small amount of oil in the pan.”

Laura explains how one of her go to foods is ready made puff pastry as it’s easy, cheap and you can use it to make many different things.

She says: “Another product I think is amazing is ready-made roll out puff pastry.

“You simply roll out, cut to any shape, full with any filling you have in the cupboards and fridge for a meal or a dessert. It works great for either freezing raw or cooking and freezing.”

Laura explains how she makes cooking a family affair and gets her two year old involved who loves making jam tarts using the roll-out puff pastry.

The savvy shopper explains how all of the above tips help her out so much when it comes to saving money as the food is also fresh and nutritious.

Many people think that eating freshly cooked healthy meals comes with a price tag but processed ready meals can actually work out to be a lot more expensive.

These tips and tricks aren’t tailored to a specific supermarket as fresh food and vegetables generally costs around the same price at most UK supermarkets.

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