Five family meals for €40

Wanting to stretch her euros as far as possible, and with two young children to feed, Hazel Larkin’s Austerity Bites blog has touched a nerve. Here she shares her top recipes for a week of healthy eating.

NEXT to Christmas, back-to-school time is the most stressful for families in Ireland. Getting everyone kitted out for school can leave nothing but moths in your wallet, but making the choice between a new pair of school shoes and decent meals for your family, is not one you need to make. It is possible to send the kids back to school in style and keep their tummies from grumbling.

It’s a rare week when I have more than €40 to spend on groceries for myself and my two children. I’ve learnt, though, we don’t need to compromise on taste or nourishment. I plan our meals weekly, taking stock of what we already have, what’s on special offer and how much time I’ll have on a given day.