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Homemade is often cheaper and better quality than shop bought – it’s one of the reasons why I am a massive advocate of cooking from scratch! This is one of my favourite kitchen hacks: homemade vanilla extract. Vanilla extract is made from just 2 ingredients: vodka and vanilla beans – the cost to make 250ml is about £10 which is significantly cheaper than buying a good quality one from the supermarket. So how do you make it? Split 5 vanilla pods lengthways Immerse them in a bottle containing 225ml of vodka Put on the lid and give it a good …

In my opinion, a good tomato sauce is something that you should always have a supply of in the freezer. It’s a cheap, budget friendly staple that can be used in so many family meals: stirred through pasta, on your pizza base, spread over chicken and topped with some mozzarella or as a base for some delicious Turkish eggs or a sausage and bean casserole … A basic tomato sauce forms the foundation of many of our favourite family meals which is why we should all have that perfect recipe to hand; a recipe that we can pass on to …

With increasing energy and food costs, many of us are trying to tighten our purse strings and find ways of saving money – being more mindful of what we spend on food each week, is a great place to start! Creating, and sticking to, a realistic grocery budget, doesn’t mean you have to compromise on taste and you can still create healthy meals that the whole family will enjoy.  Here are 8 simple steps to saving money on your weekly food shop: Make sure the whole family are on board!  You all need to be willing to try and reduce …

I always knew that meal planning was the cheapest way to feed your family but I’ve never sat down and actually worked it out! With rising energy and food costs, we are all trying to find ways to save money and reduce our outgoings: sticking to that family budget is now essential as we are all feeling the financial pinch. Last week, I worked out what an online shop would cost for a family of 4 based on my current meal-plan: based on a Sainsburys shop, it came in at just £45.25 – with the £1.25 subscription fee, that means that …