Five years ago, Paisley-born Lorna Cooper set up a Facebook page (facebook.com/fyf20quid) to help people get dinner on the table more easily, healthily and – most importantly – cheaply.

She recalls how at the start, “we had people commenting and messaging us saying, ‘We’ve got £3.75 to last us until Thursday, what can we do?’ Or people saying, ‘I’m on maternity leave so I’ve only got £15 to buy the next four days’ worth of food’.” Half a decade on, she says, “that’s been consistent”.

Food poverty is being increasingly (and quite rightly) talked about more than ever before, and in terms of how many people are affected, Cooper says, “one person is way too many, isn’t it?”

Cooper, 43, started the FYF community after a back injury left her off work sick for almost a year. As a mum of three and stepmother of two, her family’s £100-a-week food bill had become pretty much untenable.

“I started to look at the budget to see where I could cut costs,” she remembers, and began scrapping expensive jarred sauces, cooking from scratch rather than just heating stuff up, and soon found herself sharing tips online with other people in a similar position. FYF now has more than half a million followers – and a new cookbook to match, Feed Your Family For £20 A Week.

LOADED BREAKFAST BURRITOS

“Bored of the usual breakfasts? These make a great hot breakfast with minimal fuss in the morning,” says Lorna. “They definitely taste like they cost a whole lot more than they do! I often make these at the weekend and then wrap and freeze for a quick and easy hot breakfast midweek.”

Ingredients (Serves 12):

Oil, for frying; 2 sausages, removed from their skins; 1 onion, diced; ½ pepper, diced; 1 tomato, diced; 6 eggs; 50ml milk; 50g cheese, grated; parsley, chopped; 2 cooked potatoes or ½ tin, diced; 12 wraps.

Method:

1. Pour a little oil into a frying pan and add the sausages, breaking them up with a wooden spoon (as you would if you were browning mince).

2. Add the diced onion and cook for five minutes.

3. Add the pepper and tomato and cook for a further five minutes.

4. Whisk the eggs in a bowl and add the milk. Add this to the sausages and veg, and cook like you would scrambled eggs until the egg has cooked through.

5. Remove from the heat and add the grated cheese and parsley. Stir through the potatoes.

6. Spoon the mixture onto 12 wraps and then either roll or fold them up, ready to eat.

SLOW COOKER CHOCOLATE CAKE

“Give it a go,” says Lorna. “But I mean it when I say below, don’t stir it!”

Ingredients (Serves 8)

For the cake: 130g plain flour; 150g white sugar; 3tbsp cocoa powder; 2tsp baking powder; ¼tbsp salt; 125ml milk; 75g butter; 2tsp vanilla essence.

For the topping: 100g caster sugar; 100g soft brown sugar; 25g cocoa powder; 350ml hot water; Ice cream or custard to serve.

Method:

1. To make the cake, combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, then make a well in the centre.

2. Add the milk, butter and vanilla essence to the well, and whisk until smooth.

3. Pour the batter into the slow cooker.

4. To make the topping, mix the sugars and cocoa powder together in a bowl and sprinkle evenly over the top of the cake batter.

5. Pour the hot water evenly over the mix - and don’t stir! I know it doesn’t make sense, I know you’ll want to, but trust me, don’t stir!

6. Put the lid on and cook on high for about four hours. Serve straight out of the slow cooker with ice cream or custard.

  • Feed Your Family For £20 A Week by Lorna Cooper is published by Seven Dials, priced £16.99.