Cassie McKay (pictured) has revealed how she feeds her family for just $1.22 per serve after spending five hours preparing 95 meals for the week
A super organised mother-of-two has revealed how she feeds her family of four for just $1.22 per serve after spending five hours preparing 95 meals for the week.
Cassie McKay, from Victoria, credits her incredible body transformation to meal prepping a huge selection of healthy foods so she doesn’t have to eat the same lunch or dinner twice in a row.
Her most recent weekly grocery bill came to a total of $116, which included 44 main meals such as Moroccan chickpea stew, risotto and shepherds pie, and 51 snacks like banana bread, pumpkin hummus, and cheesy broccoli bites.
‘I love nothing more than heading into the kitchen and creating delicious, healthy meals for the family,’ Cassie told The Healthy Mummy.
The mother-of-two credits her incredible body transformation to meal prepping. She managed to lose 10 kilos from following a healthy meal plan
Her most recent cook included 44 main meals such as Moroccan chickpea stew, risotto and shepherds pie, and 51 snacks like banana bread, pumpkin hummus, and cheesy broccoli bites
Cassie’s tips on meal prepping on a budget
Cassie spent a total of $116 at Aldi, which included 95 meals
Write a shopping list: Check your fridge and pantry, write a list of items you can use without spending any extra money
Find recipes your family will love: There isn’t much point cooking food that nobody wants to eat
Look for meals with similar ingredients: I used a lot of carrots, zucchini, pumpkin, peas and sweet potato across the recipes I chose.
Prepare containers: Check your drawer to make sure you’ve got enough containers to store the food once you’ve prepped it
Make freezer friendly meals: If you’re planning on doing a big prep, think about which meals will freeze well. I cook a few meals to eat in the following days and the rest gets frozen to be defrosted and eaten later in the week or following weeks.
Before her body transformation, Cassie whose weight fluctuated over the years had gained 26 kilos during her second pregnancy but managed to work hard to shed 14 kilos on her own.
But after struggling to lose the stubborn fat, Cassie turned to meal prepping in January 2017 after she signed up to The Healthy Mummy 28-day weight loss challenge.
‘I was sick of cooking the same small selection of meals… But through following the meal plans and walking I was able to lose 10 kilos, and it felt easy,’ she revealed.
The mother said meal prepping has helped her get through difficult times in her life after her four-year-old son was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition.
‘Having pre-prepared meals helps when I’m too busy or stressed to cook, or I can get someone to bring them to me if my son is unexpectedly admitted to hospital,’ she said.
Cassie – who also has an eight-year-old daughter – said during her last meal prep, she made 95 serves, costing just $1.22 each, after spending a total of $116 at Aldi
The super organised mother spent five hours preparing delicious meals, including this slow cooked Chinese spiced chicken with vegetables and rice
Cassie – who also has an eight-year-old daughter – said during her last meal prep, she made 95 serves, costing just $1.22 each, after spending a total of $116 at Aldi.
‘I was really happy with the cost of this prep, as I previously thought I’d have to do a mostly vegetarian prep to keep costs down,’ she said.
‘I wish I could say it took no time at all, but prep like this takes time. This took me five hours all up, it ended up taking a little bit longer. If I had a bigger cooktop and more muffin trays it would have been a bit quicker.’
The mother said she used a few ingredients such as garlic, ginger, soy sauce, chia seeds and dried chickpeas, in which she already had at home in her recent cook.
Following her long cook, Cassie had a ‘decent amount’ of milk, yoghurt, rice, quinoa and honey leftover so she will use for her next meal prep.
For snacks, she prepared carrot and zucchini cake, mocha banana bread, beetroot and walnut dip, pumpkin hummus, mini ham, cheese and quinoa muffins, cheese broccoli bites, and choc chip muffins
The 95 meals she prepared from scratched included six servings of beef chow mein (pictured)
All up, she made lentil shepherds pie, beef chow mein, fried rice, Moroccan chickpea stew, slow cooked Chinese spiced chicken with vegetables and rice, zucchini and bacon slice, peanut butter chicken curry, pasta salad and risotto.
For snacks, she prepared carrot and zucchini cake, mocha banana bread, beetroot and walnut dip, pumpkin hummus, mini ham, cheese and quinoa muffins, cheese broccoli bites, and choc chip muffins.
Anyone keen to meal prep, Cassie suggested labelling every food you’ve cooked with a date so you know how long it’s been sitting in the freezer for.
Before starting the cook, she said it was best to chop and grate the vegetables that you use for all of the recipes.
‘There is nothing worse than having to chop onions five times,’ she said.
She added: ‘Plan your day so that you have all of your appliances cooking something at all times – I had three pots, a full oven, the slow cooker, NutriBullet and my Thermomix busy all-day.’