A mum-of-six has shared how she cooks Christmas dinner with two "tasty" meats for around £60, with enough left over for Boxing Day.
Gemma Loveden, from St Helens, said she used to spend around £300 on the meal but is simply unable to during the ongoing Cost of Living crisis. The mum dished up a hearty, festive meal with turkey and beef to feed the whole family with plenty of leftovers to last days after Christmas, after buying a hamper from MuscleFood.
Gemma said the Luxury Turkey and Beef Hamper from the online healthy retailer had plenty to feed her family the festive meal. There were also leftovers to store in the fridge and freezer which Gemma used to make budget-friendly meals for Boxing Day and the days following.
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The mum said: "As we're a big family it’s hard cooking healthy and delicious meals for everyone while working but I’ve always made sure to set time aside to ensure we can all enjoy the festivities.”
To deal with the high costs, Gemma has also come up with money-saving tips to make shopping easier over the festive period. She continued: “Even simple changes like buying wonky vegetables, shopping seasonally and planning meals can help.
“It’s not just Christmas Day to think about, there’s Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and the following couple of days. On Christmas Eve we love to sit around in front of a movie and put out a spread full of picky bits for us all to enjoy.
“It’s one of the ways to help us save money instead of forking out for a full meal for everyone. Getting food on the table with things we enjoy is one of the most important parts of Christmas.”
Gemma also saved cash by making the most of loyalty points in supermarkets to get her sides and veggies cheaper along with the MuscleFoods Turkey and Beef Hamper - which costs £75 and includes a 1.5kg beef topside joint, a 2kg+ turkey butterfly, as well as six meaty pork sausages, low fat bacon medallions, unsmoked streaky bacon, pork sausage meat, a stuffing block, pigs in blankets, pork chipolatas, and "figgy pud" stuffing.
When what was left over is factored in, Gemma estimates the entire Christmas dinner cost her just over £60.
Gemma made tasty honey and lime turkey with beef fried rice out of the leftovers which cost 77p per person, as well as using leftover stuffing meat to dish up a creamy stuffed orzo with sun-dried tomato for around £1 a portion.
Gemma, who runs the site Foodie Family Meals, added: "We absolutely loved using the hamper to save on our meats, as the costs in supermarkets are ridiculously high, especially around Christmas. It also meant there were plenty of leftovers from the hamper, so we kept the meats in the freezer and simply defrosted them for whenever we needed to use them.
“A trick I love to do is squeeze the sausage meat out of the skin, pop it into a pan and mash it down to make a healthy portion of mince meat. Add some sauces and veggies to the pan, then boil some pasta on the side.
"Then there are plenty of meals batch-cooked and ready to eat.”
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