Top tips to create delicious family meals for under £10

Top tips to create delicious family meals for under £10
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Between work, kids’ activities and taking a few precious moments to relax, you can often feel lacking in the time (or energy) to be in the kitchen for hours. Creating healthy family meals out of lots of fiddly ingredients can seem to cost a small fortune, but eating for less doesn’t have to be dull. We have teamed up with Chef Ben Lebus, from Mob Kitchen, to bring you top tips for sticking to a budget and feeding your family a quick and healthy meal for under £10.  

  1. TOP TIP - PREP

Taking the time to plan your weekly meals will help you get the most bang for your buck by working around what’s in your kitchen. Therefore you’ll end up with a meal that’s not only delicious, but healthier and cheaper too. Ahead of your weekly shop, write a shopping list of the ingredients you need and stick to a budget. Shopping online is a good way to do this and keeps you from overspending in store.

  1. TOP TIP- VEGGIE POWER

Vegetables are not only essential for helping your little ones grow big and strong. They’re also great for adding substance to any meal, due to meat being expensive. Fish, beef and lamb are often the most expensive items in your shopping basket, so a simple way to reduce your food bills is to go meat-free two to three times per week. Try Mob Kitchen’s delicious Pesto Potato Brunch Pan, which easily feeds the family for just £7.30.  

  1. TOP TIP - SLOW AND STEADY

While you might think that slow cooking is time consuming, it’s a great way to batch cook for the week. This can turn cheaper cuts of meat into the most delicious meals. You can slow cook anything from chilli to pulled pork and even a whole chicken. Chicken thighs are the cheapest cut of chicken (bar the wing) and easily the most flavourful. Perfect when roasted or chop up and fried to add in to a pie or casserole. WE LOVE A CHICKEN THIGH.   OP TIP - GET FRUITY!
 We use fruit and citrus a lot in MOB Kitchen. It adds a wonderful fresh acidic hit at the end of the dish which can lift any curry or stew to a new realm. The zest of the lime and lemon also works wonderfully in so many dishes – often an overlooked part of the fruit! Try this trick with this Sacla’ recipe for Tagliatelle with Artichokes, Lemon and Pesto, for the perfect summer supper.  

  1. TOP TIP - GET THE KIDS INVOLVED

Cooking can sometimes feel like a chore, but if you get your kids involved in the process, it can become a fun learning activity. Allowing you to teach your kids about cooking and the importance of eating their veggies. They will feel a sense of achievement that they were part of the process meaning less waste from uneaten dinners! 

  1. Top TIP - KEEP IT SIMPLE

At Mob Kitchen we like to keep it simple, and craft recipes that we believe anyone can make delicious. Every recipe feeds four under £10. We prove that you don’t have to be wealthy to cook healthy, delicious meals on a budget! Check out our latest recipe with Sacla’ - Pesto Steak Gyros - the perfect lunch-time snack that will leave your little ones wanting more! Delicious.  

  1. TOP TIP - LOVE YOUR LEFTOVERS

Make the most of those leftovers! Never throw anything away if you can help it. If you’ve got ingredients, simply search them on google (or the MOB website) and create a new dish with the leftover as the star! If these recipes interest you, you can find them all here. Pesto Potato Brunch Pan Tagliatelle with Artichokes, Lemon and Pesto Pesto Steak Gyros Pestoey Summer Orzo And if you want to read more by Mob Kitchen, check out his student MOB Hacks guide, or go buy his new book out now.