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Daily Mirror

Business

James Andrews

Super-savvy mum reveals the secrets of her healthy, 24p family meals

Jeni Dearing cares about her family's food. But the savvy mum-of-one isn't willing to pay over the odds or particularly keen on spending hours a day preparing healthy meals for her husband and son.

But she has become a bit of an expert at turning out tasty, nutritious food on a budget.

In her latest effort the 44-year-old cooked an incredible 132 healthy meals for less than £100 - with some costing just 24p a portion.

“I started batch cooking around the time my son was born. At the time, we lived in Cornwall, and I found that I just didn’t have the time to go food shopping in the evenings like I used to," Jeni, who now lives in Bromley, said.

“Instead, I’d pop to the fruit and veg market once a fortnight and then stock up on other essentials when needed."

But there are other benefits too.

“Batch cooking also means we’re not as tempted to have a takeaway because there’s always a few curries ready and waiting in the freezer – meaning we save more that way, too.”

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Jeni's menus

Most recently Jeni prepared 25 different recipes to spread over over six weeks by batch cooking every few days - and storing spare portions in the freezer.

“I’m not one to plan meals weeks in advance, I just buy whatever veg is on offer and great value, then base meals around the veg and grab the meat from the freezer to go with them," she said.

“For example, if I picked up lots of cheap peppers, courgettes and aubergines from the market, I’ll couple them with chicken breasts or pork from the freezer to make a rogan josh, stir fried pork or Spanish chicken."

Her menus go from traditional favourites like roast chicken or toad in the hole through to more exotic dishes like chicken bao buns or a beef, barley and veg soup - but they have some things in common.

“I tend to prefer to cook healthy, low-calorie meals to keep the pounds off, with lean meat where possible, and lots of veggies," she said.

“I’m quite fortunate as my son isn’t a terribly fussy eater. He actually loves his meat and steak night is his favourite, but we didn’t tend to eat lots of it as it can get quite costly in the supermarkets."

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How she keeps costs down

There are a few tricks she's learnt along the way to keep costs down.

To make meals go, further as well as keeping them healthy, Jeni bulks out dishes like Bolognese and chilli con carne with extra vegetables like onion, celery, carrots and peppers.

She also adds chick peas and butter beans to curries and stews because they’re cheap, filling and absorb the flavour of the meat.

“It also goes without saying, but I’d always recommend scouring your yellow aisles too. I managed to pick up some sausage meat for just 50p which I used for a roast dinner,” Jeni added.

She also bulk-buys ingredients then freezes where possible - getting her meat, often the most expensive part of the food shop, delivered from online specialist musclefood.

“The hampers are fantastic value and great for people who enjoy batch cooking. The meat is really good quality too – plus there’s so much to choose from," she said.

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Recipes she uses

We asked Jeni for a few of her favourite recipes if you're looking for inspiration. You can also follow her food adventures on Instagram where she post as eat.grow.home.jen

Roast Chicken Dinner (serves 10) - 74p a person