Tips For Feeding The Family

I don’t know about you, but I dread the weekly shop. Pushing a full trolley around a packed supermarket, whilst stopping the kids from helping themselves to food � not exactly fun.

However, if like me, you are working to a budget, there really isn’t much choice on where you can buy quality foods.

When it comes to buying for a growing family, supermarkets seem to be the only place to go.

Or are they?

Well I made a fascinating discovery the other day, which I had to share.

My sister is a fan of buying her foods online, and she recently recommended buying my meat online.

Now I was dubious� For instance, how do they stop your meat from going off during delivery? Plus, surely there is a charge for delivery? However, the sites she pointed me to left me pleasantly surprised.

Here are the 3 she recommended:

�Westin Gourmet � they offer a range of different meats (beef, pork, poultry, lamb, veal, sausages, roasting joints), but also have their hand in continental foods, cheeses and condiments.

What I loved about these guys is that there delivery is currently only 3.75 for orders under 75 (free for deliveries over 75); their meats are protected in temperature controlled boxes which will keep your meat fresh for 72 hours and they sell their meats at wholesale prices.

I took a look at one of their family packs and for 63.22, you can get: 1.5kg of Cumberland sausages (24x63g sausages), 1kg of British steak mince, 1.5kg of whole corn fed chicken, 4 8oz pork loin steaks, 2 6oz Aberdeen Angus Sirloin Steaks, 10 meatballs and 1lb of sliced cooked ham. Seriously cheaper than what I can get at the supermarket. Visit www.westingourmet.co.uk

�Donald Russell � they sell beef, lamb/mutton, fish/seafood, pork, poultry, game, veal, ready meals, sausages and desserts. They even sell bakery and kitchenware! Their delivery is a little more expensive at 5 for orders under 80 (over 80 free), and is only available Tuesday to Friday.

Their selection boxes are pretty good too. Their �Butcher’s Classics’ for instance costs 39 and offers you: 2 sirloin steaks, 4 fillet medallions, 8 pork sausages, 4 classic steak burgers and 12 mini steak burgers. Visit www.donaldrussell.com

�Clare Barry � a bit more restrictive with their meat choices, they offer: beef, lamb, pork, poultry, bacon and gammon and sausages. Their delivery is the most expensive of the 3 costing 9.99 for small orders, 4.99 for orders over 30 and free for orders over 80.

Their selection boxes redeem them though. For 49.99 you can get: 8 pork loin steaks, 6 prime rump steaks, 6 chicken supreme fillets, 1.2kg Shropshire chicken roaster, 800g pork loin roll joint, 800g silverside roll roast and 800g leg roast joint. Visit www.clarebarry.co.uk

I chose to go with Westin Gourmet in the end as their family packs were too good to resist, but with all 3 meat suppliers you can get incredible deals. Whether it is about buying pork or buying meat, the Westin Gourmet guys are excellent.

I am currently waiting for my order to arrive, but I am pretty excited to give them a try. I’m sure I won’t be disappointed.