Mum's 14-day quarantine meal prep - it's cheap and 'not 500 ways with Spam'

One mum has come up with a £70, 14-day meal prep plan in a bid to stop the public panic-buying.

Lorna Rich, started her Instagram account @athriftymum in January to share her cost-cutting lifestyle as a new mum.

Whilst on maternity leave Lorna gave her followers an insight into what she eats with her husband and her five-month old baby Casper.

The trick to Lorna's thrifty meal prep is root veg, the occasional stew and optimising the freezer.

She said: "This isn’t a super scrimpy meal plan – it’s buying sensibly and making higher priced ingredients, such as chicken, go a long way by padding out with veg and healthy grains - it's a fresh, healthy, wholesome set of meals that are going to keep your immune system up.

Lorna started her Instagram account at the start of the year whilst on maternity leave (Lorna Rich / SWNS.COM)

"It’s all about clever batch cooking to enable health, fresh where possible, nutritious food.

"It’s not 500 ways with a tin of Spam – but it’s thrifty and it’s cheap."

She also reminds her followers that whilst she is in no way a nutritionist, she has tried her best to keep her meals as healthy as possible.

Even though a few items on Lorna's shopping list are difficult to pick up in the shops right now - like pasta and frozen vegetables - she says you can easily swap out ingredients to whatever you have in your cupboards.

"It’s not 500 ways with a tin of spam – but it’s thrifty and it’s cheap" (Lorna Rich / SWNS.COM)

She recommends always having frozen vegetables, some kind of dried carbs or pulses, tinned tomatoes, stock cubes and porridge oats in the cupboards as you can easily cook a number of different meals with them.

And in regards to coping with the lockdown Lorna said: "People need to give themselves a bit of a break – just relax and do what you can.

"Try and get the kids involved in cooking if you’re happy to do that, – but if they end up eating pasta with tomato sauce on for five nights a week, it’s not going to kill them!"

She recommends always having any kind of dried carb, frozen vegetables, tinned tomatoes, stock cubes, and porridge in the cupboards (@athriftymum/Instagram)

Here's a look at what Lorna used for her meal prep.

Ingredients

Fruit and veg:

• Bananas – buy green so they can ripen at home!

• Apples – last for ages in the fridge

• Butternut squash

• Suede

• Parsnips

• Carrots

• Celery

• Garlic

• Onions

• Potatoes – baking potatoes are helpful!

• Sweet potatoes

• Celeriac

• Peppers

• Fruit juice

Herbs and spices:

• Mint

• Coriander

• Dill

• Basil

• Thyme – fresh or dried, both work!

• Cumin

• Chilli

• Powder Paprika

Dairy:

• Cheese

• Butter or spread

• Milk

Meat:

• Chicken – whole or Quorn pieces

• Beef – braising steak or veggie sausages work instead

• Mince or Quorn mince

Frozen:

• Peas

• Broccoli

• Spinach

• Fruit for smoothies

Cupboard:

• 12 eggs

• Crumpets

• Bread – two loaves so one can go in the freezer

• Burger buns – freeze these

• Long-life rye bread

• Wraps

• Naan bread

• Crackers

• Pasta – one pack will do

• Rice

• Poppadoms

• Risotto rice

• Cereal – two boxes

• Porridge oats

• Stock cubes – chicken, beef, or veggie

• Chicken gravy granules

• Chickpeas

• Black beans

• Kidney beans

• Baked beans

• Tinned tomatoes

• Tinned sweetcorn

• Tinned salmon or tuna

• Red lentils

• Pesto

• Coconut milk

• UHT milk or any alternative you like

• Tinned fruit

• Honey

• Vegetable oil

Lorna's two week meal plan costs £70 (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Week 1 Meals

Sunday

• Breakfast: Crumpets and fruit juice
• Lunch: Root veg soup – make a big batch for the freezer too
• Dinner: Pot roast chicken stew, roast potatoes, green beans

Monday

• Breakfast: Eggs on toast with tinned tomatoes (or fresh)
• Lunch: Cheesy beans on toast
• Dinner: Chicken or Quorn fajitas with black beans

Tuesday

• Breakfast: Bananas on toast with fruit juice
• Lunch: Quesadillas – butternut squash, chickpeas, cheese, wraps
• Dinner: Chicken noodle soup and homemade soda bread

Wednesday

• Breakfast: Porridge with frozen fruit, fruit juice
• Lunch: Jacket potatoes, tuna and sweetcorn
• Dinner: Dahl, rice, poppadoms

Thursday

• Breakfast: Beans on toast, fruit juice
• Lunch: Dahl soup (blend up last night’s leftovers), naan bread
• Dinner: Tuna pasta bake

Friday

• Breakfast: Cereal, frozen banana smoothie
• Lunch: Pasta with broccoli and pesto
• Dinner: Veggie chilli, sweet potato wedges

Saturday

• Breakfast: Banana pancakes, frozen fruit, fruit juice
• Lunch: Black bean quesadillas, cheese, sweet potato wedges
• Dinner: Tinned salmon, frozen pea and mint risotto

Week 2 Meals

Sunday

• Breakfast: Eggs on toasted rye bread with frozen spinach
• Lunch: Beef or veggie sausage stew with root veg mash
• Dinner: Dahl soup

Monday

• Breakfast: Porridge with frozen fruit and honey
• Lunch: Omelette, frozen spinach, cheese
• Dinner: Beef or Quorn sausage stew, root veg mash, frozen broccoli

Tuesday

• Breakfast: Cereal with frozen banana smoothie
• Lunch: Jacket potato with baked beans
• Dinner: Veggie curry (frozen from week before) with rice

Wednesday

• Breakfast: Porridge with tinned fruit
• Lunch: Soup, crackers, cheese
• Dinner: Pasta with tinned tomatoes, tinned sweetcorn, frozen peas, and cheese

Thursday

• Breakfast: Beans on toast – use your frozen loaf
• Lunch: Jacket potato with tuna and sweetcorn
• Dinner: Homemade salmon fishcakes, frozen broccoli, frozen spinach

Friday

• Breakfast: Cereal with a frozen fruit smoothie
• Lunch: Soup, crackers, cheese
• Dinner: Shepherd’s pie with root veg

Saturday

• Breakfast: Banana pancakes with frozen fruit
• Lunch: Leftover shepherd’s pie with baked beans
• Dinner: Homemade spiced bean burgers with sweet potato wedges