Ashleigh loves meal prep because she saves money by not wasting what's in the fridge. Photo / facebook
Ashleigh loves meal prep because she saves money by not wasting what's in the fridge. Photo / facebook
For plenty of Aussie families, cooking cheap and healthy meals while staying on a tight budget is a hard task.
But four mums from across the country have proven you can make 200 nutritious meals for just $3 a serve as part of a challenge to promote the benefits of meal planning.
The woman are part of The Healthy Mummy program and each cooked up a range of delicious meals, from slow-cooked Asian chicken to Beef San Choy Bow and even Spinach and Pumpkin Curry.
"Normally, if I meal prep properly, that means I'm not in the kitchen until Thursday or Friday that week so I get to hang out with the kids in the evenings and I don't have to stress about anything," she explains.
"It's easier to stay on track and just feel better because you're making the right decisions all the time because they're easy," she says.
Before Sascha joined The Healthy Mummy she never did any bulk cooking or meal prep like this.
"My meal prep day might be a bit hectic with the kids hanging off my feet and stuff but three or four hours in the kitchen saves me hours and hours each night throughout the week. And then some weeks my stock in the freezer is enough to not cook for a whole week, not even go to the shops, so it all comes out in the wash in terms of doing bulk shops and bulk cooks and not having to cook for a week or two, sometimes longer," Sascha explains.
All of the meals Sascha cooked as part of the challenge are being donated to St. Matthews Church in Manly on Sydney's Northern Beaches.
Another mum who took part in the challenge is Ashleigh, who believes that meal prep not only saves time but money too.
"It ensures that I am sticking to my meal plan, because it's so easy to just open the fridge and grab my snacks. It stops me overeating, or getting too hungry," she explains.
"It means that my kids are eating healthy, home-cooked snacks instead of packaged food with loads of preservatives. It also teaches my kids about healthy food as I get them involved in the kitchen."
Ashleigh says meal-prepping cuts down her bills because she uses everything she has.
"All the old veggies in my veggie drawer go into slow cooker meals, all the fruit gets portioned out and bought according to my meal plan, I don't end up with extras at the end of the week so nothing is wasted," she says.
She donated the meals she made to Access Street Vans after she decided it would be amazing to help those less fortunate than herself.
Both Ashleigh and Sascha followed the same recipes and each made:
Kaitee and Nikola also took part in the challenge and both donated their 200 portioned-out meals to Lake Macquarie Women's Refuge and Our Lady of Fatima Church respectively.
The women got involved to help those in need; donating 800 meals to charities that support the homeless and struggling mums.
Kaitiee also took part in the challenge. Photo / Facebook
Each of the four mums have proven that bulk cooking not only saves time but proves you can have healthy meals that won't break the bank.
"All of us at The Healthy Mummy are passionate about helping other mums," explained Rhian Allen, the founder of The Healthy Mummy.
"We love showing mums how making healthy food doesn't need to be expensive and meal prep is key to this. It was also amazing to be able to donate so many healthy meals to mums in need," she added.
