Single mum who lost 56kg shows how to meal prep on a budget and makes 281 meals and snacks in 4 hours for $384

Healthy Mummy Cicily Goodwin, who has lost a HUGE 56kg with help from The Healthy Mummy 28 Day Weight Loss Challenges, has shared her recent amazing meal prep.

This gorgeous mum was able to make a whopping 281 meals and snacks and it only took her FOUR hours to make all these meals and cost just $384.10 for the whole lot!

(Please note, these prices are based on grocery prices in March 2021).

Cicily’s also included a breakdown of how much she spent on each meal and how much it cost per serve.

Cicily made 112 main meals and 169 snacks!

110 serves of snacks came in as under $1 per serve and 53 serves of main meals were under $2 per serve!!

Scroll down to find out more…

It took Cicily 4 hours to make 281 HEALTHY meals and snacks for just $384.10!

You don’t have to spend all your time in the kitchen if you want to meal prep. All you need to do is set aside a couple of hours and you can make enough meals for the family for a few weeks, even a month!

In fact, it only took Cicily from 8.30am to 1.30pm to make all these amazing meals from the Challenge recipe hub, one hour portioning her meals into containers and another hour and a half tidying up.

Cicily, who suffers from hyperthyroidism, credits her incredible weight loss of losing 56kg to learning how to make healthy meals through the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge.

What Cicily made:

Bean and Corn Tostada x 18  – one of Cicily’s favourite recipes from her Healthy Mummy ebook

TOTAL: $29.93

PER SERVE: $1.66

Layered Meatloaf x 16 -one of Cicily’s favourite recipes from her Healthy Mummy ebook

TOTAL: $56.86

PER SERVE: $3.55

One Pot Spaghetti Bolognese x 18 

TOTAL: $62.16

PER SERVE: $3.45

Zucchini Bacon Slice x 24 – you can find this recipe on the Challenge app

TOTAL: $57.70

PER SERVE: $2.40

Mexican Casserole x 16 – you can find this recipe on the Challenge app

TOTAL: $61.60

PER SERVE: $3.85

Hidden Veggie Sausage Rolls x 35

TOTAL: $47.70

PER SERVE: $1.36

Soba Noodles with Salmon x 12  –you can find this recipe on the Challenge app

TOTAL: $51

PER SERVE: $4.25

Salmon with White Bean Purée x 8  -one of Cicily’s favourite recipes from her Healthy Mummy ebook

TOTAL: $35.70

PER SERVE: $4.46

Chocolate Weetbix slice x 24

TOTAL: 26.60

PER SERVE: $1.10

Coconut Brownie x 24

TOTAL: $22

PER SERVE: 91c

Apricot and Oat Bliss Balls x 30– you can find this recipe on the Challenge app.

TOTAL: $14

PER SERVE: 46c

Peanut Bubble Crunch x 32 

TOTAL: $17.50

PER SERVE: 55c

Wholemeal Choc Chip Muffins x 24  

TOTAL: $19.60

PER SERVE: 81c 

Ingredient List Breakdown

All of this cost just $384.10! See below for how the ingredients stack up and for some great budget tips and how to reduce costs even further!

All of these ingredients made 112 main meals and 169 snacks! (Prices based on grocery costs in March 2021).

5 x Coles Brand Kidney Beans $4
8x Coles Brand Corn Kernels $6.4
5x Avocado $9
2x Coles Brand Street Tortilla Wraps -$5.40
2x Coles Light Cheddar Cheese – $13
3x Tomato -$2
1 xSpring Onions $1.90
1 x Parsley $3
14 x Coles Lean Beef Mince – $112
16x Carrot – $4
4 x Sweet Potato – $4.50
1 x Cheese Slices – $6.50
12x Onions – $3
1 x bunch Celery- $4.50
1 x pack Mushroom – $3
13 x Zucchini – $7.50
10x Tinned Tomatoes – $8
2 x Beef Stock- $3.50
1 x Red Cooking Wine – $9.90
2x Spaghetti – $2
1 x Parmesan – $3.20
52x Eggs – $15.80
1 x Greek yoghurt – $5
3L Milk – $3.59
1x SR flour – $2
850g Bacon – $10.11
1x Mexican Spice – $2
4 xMicrowave Basmati Rice- $6
4x Black beans- $4
4x Limes- $4
1x Filo Pastry – $6
20 x Salmon – $60
2x Soba Noodles – $6
3x Lemons $3
1x Spinach $3
6x Cannellini Beans $4.8
4 x Asparagus $5.70
1x Sultanas- $3
1x Peanut Butter- $4
1x Coconut – $4
1x Weetbix – $2.90
1x Cocoa – $4
1x Honey – $4.70
2x – Dark Chocolate $4
1x Coconut oil- $4
1x Coconut sugar- $4
1x Apricots – $4.60
1x Oats -$1.40
1x Puffed Rice -$2
1x Malt Syrup – $3.60
2 x Chocolate Chips- $4

TOTAL $384.10

Tips to Keep Costs down when Meal Prepping!

You can save some serious cash by getting organized and cooking in bulk like this. Not only is meal prepping great for time-saving, but it can also save a lot of money too!  Check out these money saving tips for meal prepping.

• Buy in bulk from fruit shop, butcher, fishmonger.
• Use frozen fruit, vegetables and proteins where possible.
• Use a half/half mixture of tinned lentils and beef mince.
• Bulk buy on catalogue specials- If you know you use rice malt syrup for a lot of your recipes and you see it on special, buy a few to store.
• Build a fruit/veggie patch at home.
• Use grated or finely diced vegetables to bulk meals- spaghetti sauce, sausage roll fillings, taco mince.
• Make a list (or use your shopping list in Healthy Mummy app) to stick to your budget.
• Use online grocery shopping to avoid temptations and the convenience of comparing prices.
• Swap to cheaper meat cuts where possible- instead of chicken breast, lean chicken mince may save you money and time chopping.
• Go meat free for a meal. Try some of our vegetarian or vegan meal options in the Healthy Mummy app.
• Use lemon or lime juice instead of fresh.
• Avoid microwave/ready made rice/quinoa/noodles and cook your own from the dried packet options.
• Avoid pre-cut or pre-grated cheeses, purchase a block of your choice to cut or grate yourself.
• Compare labels on home brand/own brand varieties.

See Cicily’s talk about her TOP TIPS for Meal Prepping

Cicily’s top 5 tips for meal prep:

• Use any empty template in your meal plan and add all the meals and portions you want to prep. Now you have a shopping list ready to go in the App. 

• Order online if you can. This allows you to find all the ingredients you’re going to need without running around the aisles looking for things. You also have time to check out the specials and find the best price for things! 

• Choose recipes that are easy to do big batches of (save the more time-consuming ones for nights you want to cook a fresh meal). Things you can cook in one big pot on the stove, things you can cook in the slow cooker. 

• Clean as you go. Wipe down benches, wash utensils, bowls, chopping boards, blenders as you go so there’s not a huge cleanup at the end.

• Use a food processor for less prep time chopping & grating veggies etc. 

The hardest part of meal prep

“Keeping up with all the different things you have going on at the same time. I recommend putting timers on or writing down the times for each thing, because it’s easy to get mixed up when you’ve got 3 recipes cooking at once.”

The best bit about meal prep

“It’s such a great feeling to look at all the food you’ve cooked set out at the end, such a feeling of accomplishment and also so much motivation to stay on track.”

How meal prep keeps you on track

“A few hours worth of cooking means you then don’t have to think about dinners or snacks for the next month, you can just whip one out of your freezer stash! This also means you stick to your portion sizes and aren’t tempted to just add a little extra to your bowl, or go grab takeaway on a late night home!”

How Cicily lost 56kg

Cicly reveals her health journey started when she decided to make a more conscious effort to check and monitor what she was eating.

“Hypothyroidism means I should avoid a lot of foods, and also strive to eat a lot of certain foods. This is where the Challenge recipe hub was amazing! I could search for specific ingredients,” she says.

“Things like dairy, eggs, nuts, beans, chicken, beef, seafood and most vegetables are great for thyroid health. Highly processed foods also affect my thyroid negatively too.”

Before that, Cicily reveals she used to buy maternity clothes when she was at her heaviest.

“I used to buy maternity clothes just because they were stretchy and forgiving. Now I can buy tight denim,” she says. “I used to buy daggy undies, now I buy whatever I want because it all comes in my size.

“I used to wear size 24 tights, now I can fit both of my legs in one leg hole.”

How meal prep helps Cicily maintain her weight loss 

“I have one to two healthy mummy’s premium smoothies a day and eat healthy mummy’s recipes for dinner and snacks.

“Now that I’m not eating to a calorie deficit to lose weight, I tend to not be as strict all the time, and spice up my recipes a bit by adding things I love, or even just eating out occasionally and not worrying about it.

“Because I stick to The Healthy Mummy’s lifestyle most of the time, those occasional splurges level out (as long as you keep consistent between!).”

Cicly’s tips for those wanting to lose weight:

• Make weekly goals for yourself e.g: Go for a walk three days a week, have a Healthy Mummy smoothie daily, follow your meal plan, do home workouts on the app 3 days a week etc. 
• Take photos weekly in the same position, same angle, same kind of clothing – so you can track your progress.
• Drink water! I drink 2-3 litres per day. 
• Think about where you want to be, and figure out what you need to do weekly to get there. For example, 700grams per week is 36.4kg per year weight loss. This is a realistic and achievable weekly goal that I averaged throughout my 56kgs weight loss over 18 months.