Family Cooking in Lockdown

The news that the UK is going back into lockdown on Thursday is a financial and mental health blow to millions of people. With money extremely tight for many families I’m going to focus on some low budget family meals that can be made with little time and cooking experience.

Worry can wreak havoc on our health and one way to counteract this is to eat foods that protect our mental health. Slow burning foods lower blood pressure which in turn reduces stress hormones being released into the bloodstream. Food doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive to do you a lot of good. When there’s so little we can control at the moment a family meal that feeds our physical and mental health is a big win.

Here are the lockdown dishes I’m going to show you this week. They’re based on a family of 2 adults and 2 children under 8. I’m also including the shopping list you’d need to make everything:

JACKET POTATO
Full of fibre this can be lunch or dinner and padded out with store cupboard ingredients.
PLAIN TOMATO PASTA SAUCE
A very simple pasta sauce is extremely versatile. You can eat it by itself or add meat, fish or vegetables.
GOOEY CHEESE ON TOAST
Another basic that can be added to easily and is great for using up bread that’s a few days old.
SAUSAGE CASSEROLE
A family staple that is nutritious, can be made in big quantities and freezes well.
POTATO HASH AND FRIED EGGS
Equally good at breakfast, lunch or dinner, this dish has fibre, protein and mental health superstar selenium.
SIMPLE ROAST CHICKEN & LEFTOVERS
Chicken is one of the cheapest meats. I’m going to show you how to turn a roast chicken into Little Effort Roast Chicken Sunday Lunch, Chicken and Red Pepper with Rice then Chicken Stock Soup. 12 servings from one chicken.

SHOPPING LIST