To prepare just one night of dinners for a family-of-four can be a pricey exercise – especially when there are growing boys involved.
But one mother-of-two has managed to cook up 28 healthy dinners for her family-of-four for only $58.23 – the total including a few extra servings for hungry family members.
Rhian Allen, the founder of Australian health and weight loss program, Healthy Mummy, is known for her incredible meal prep sessions and often shares them to prove that ‘healthy eating doesn’t need to be expensive’.
A mother-of-two has managed to cook up 28 healthy dinners for her family-of-four for only $58.23 – the total including a few extra servings for hungry family members (pictured)
Rhian Allen, the founder of Australian health and weight loss program, Healthy Mummy , is known for her incredible meal prep sessions and often shares them to prove that ‘healthy eating doesn’t need to be expensive’
Ms Allen is pictured with her two little boys
‘I did a little bit of meal prep! Well quite a lot actually! I made five dinners for the weeknights for a family of four for under $60,’ Ms Allen said.
‘This took me three hours to do which means I don’t have to cook again for the week and because I’m cooking in bulk, I’m saving so much money – so although it is hard work it is 100 per cent worth it!’
For $58.23, Ms Allen made 25 servings of dinner (five different recipes) which is enough for a family-of-four for five nights.
The meals included lemongrass chicken with rice, slow cooked chicken jalapeno poppers with avocado cream dip, zucchini and cheese strata, slow cooked fish curry with pappadums and ratatouille lasagne.
The slow cooked chicken jalapeno poppers with avocado cream dip cost $2.22 per serve
The ratatouille lasagna cost $2.15 per serve
Each of the meals were made with fresh, low fat ingredients and were low in calories.
The cheapest of the lot was the zucchini and cheese strata which came in at $1.61 per serve.
Ms Allen said one of her top tips is to make the rice based meals using the same type of rice.
She also bulks up her recipes with any vegetables that are on sale.
This is the shopping list Ms Allen used to cook up the meals for her family
‘Save even more by growing your own basil, parsley and coriander at home in the garden or in a window box instead of buying them by the bunch,’ she added.
‘Also think about switching up some of the proteins to either whatever meat is on sale when you shop, or substitute with tofu or chickpeas instead.
‘I purposely chose recipes with similar ingredients as this helps save money at the checkout.’
This isn’t the first time Ms Allen has meal prepped in bulk, with the thrifty mother recently preparing a month’s worth of dinners for her family for a mere $187.
The lemongrass chicken with rice cost just $2.17 per serve
The cheapest of the lot was the zucchini and cheese strata which came in at $1.61 per serve
Rhian Allen’s top tips for meal prepping on a budget
1. Save even more by making the three rice based meals with the same type of rice (instead of buying jasmine, brown and basmati)
2. Bulk out your recipes with any vegetables that are on sale, as most of our recipes are quite flexible and forgiving
3. Grow your own basil, parsley and coriander at home in the garden or in a window box instead of buying them by the bunch
4. Switch up some of the proteins to either whatever meat is on sale when you shop, or substitute with tofu or chickpeas instead
5. I purposely chose recipes with similar ingredients as this helps save money at the checkout (e.g. many have rice, or pasta)
6. These are all kid friendly recipes too, there’s no need to cook two different meals for adults and kids
7. These meals freeze well, so cook double and enjoy the other portion later (saves on washing up too)
‘This took me around eight hours to do but means I don’t have to cook again for a long time and because I am cooking in bulk I am saving so much money – so although it is hard work – it is 100 per cent worth it,’ Ms Allen said.
The doting mother spent $187 on 120 dinners – enough for a family of four for 30 nights – and an extra $40 on 40 serves of healthy snacks.
While many would expect the meals to be plain and simple, Ms Allen took care to make them as exciting and nutritious as possible.
This isn’t the first time Ms Allen has meal prepped in bulk, with the thrifty mother recently preparing a month’s worth of dinners for her family for a mere $187
‘Today, I did a little bit of meal prep! I made a month’s worth of dinners for a family of four for under $200,’ she said
Using recipes that she created for her 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge and The Busy Mum’s Guide to Weight Loss, Ms Allen said the meals included all food groups
Meals (there were 14 different recipes in total) included creamy chicken and corn soup, Brazilian black beans with with greens and rice, Spanish rice with Chorizo and easy fried rice.
She also made serves of lentil shepherd’s pie, peanut butter chicken curry, sausage and veggie pasta bake, beef and sweet potato lasagne and tuna pasta bake.
Snacks included things like raspberry muffins, cherry choc slices, Weetbix slices and peppermint choc slices.
‘On average the main meals here work out at under $1.60 per serve, so you can lose weight and save money at the same time,’ Ms Allen said.
The recipes that Ms Allen used to meal prep can be found here