I feed my kids recycled food made from scraps – trolls call me gross but I refuse to waste perfectly good meals
A MUM-of-four has revealed how she has previously been called “gross” because of her money saving tactics.
Aimee Connor is determined to find ways to cut her grocery budget and has discovered an interesting technique into recycling food.
The resourceful mum has created cereal using sandwich crusts, a jar of granola from half-eaten pancakes, and a dessert using stale rice krispies.
And it’s not old leftovers the mum uses, but it’s food straight off her childrens plates.
Rather than throwing away the well cooked breakfasts, lunches and dinners that her children have refused to eat, or even touched, Aimee has discovered a different technique to making sure it doesn’t go to waste.
Aimee, who regularly shares videos on her TikTok page @aims.lc, says her daughter has got a “sensitive tummy,” which means a lot of food can go to waste.
So instead, Aimee will form a different kind of recipe.
Talking to the camera, she says: “My kids have a really low appetite but then some days they’ll just absolutely smash everything I give them. So it’s really hard for me to find that happy medium.
“It’s not just me. I think that’s just kids in general.
“We’re just out here trying to work out what they want to eat when they’re not actively telling you.
“You just have to guess, and sometimes you get it wrong. So there’s a lot of food waste.
“They’ve not touched them, they’ve not even breathed on them. It’s a whole lot of food, and also, my dog can’t eat it because he’s got a sensitive stomach.
“I know I’m not changing the world or anything but for me it’s just really hard to waste something, especially in this climate.
“I don’t have the money to just buy NutriGrain, because they’re not feeling like Cheerios one week. Cereal is pretty expensive these days.”
Her videos often go viral with many people rushing to the comments section to share their thoughts.
One wrote: “You’re so damn creative with foods! Sometimes at the beginning I’m unsure but I just know you’re gonna come up with something so good!”
However, not everyone is a fan of how she recycles her food as she has been accused of being “gross”.
Others think she is “unhygienic” because the food has been directly used from her kids’ plates.
Money saving tips for parents
WE'VE put together six top tips to cut costs, nab freebies and to make sure you're not fined.
- Free prescriptions and dental care – Prescriptions cost £9.15 a pop in England, while NHS dental costs vary by location. You can get both for free while you’re pregnant and for 12 months after your baby’s due date. Ask your doctor or midwife for a maternity exemption certificate (MATEX) to claim the free care.
- Free milk, infant formula, vitamins or fruit and veg – Under the Healthy Start programme, you may be entitled to the freebies if you’re at least 10 weeks pregnant or you have a child under four and you’re on certain benefits, such as Universal Credit.
- £500 free grant – In England, Northern Ireland and Wales you may be entitled to a Sure Start grant of £500 if you’re on certain benefits and expecting your first child or expecting more than one baby – such as twins.To claim, you need to fill out the following form on Gov.uk and get your doctor or midwife to sign it.
- Register the birth in time or face a £200 fine – You need to register the birth within 42 days of your baby being born with your local registry office. This costs £11 in England and Wales.
- Update a will or update it – If you don’t have a will, in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, where one parent dies, children will only inherit cash if the estate is worth more than £250,000 – otherwise all the money will go to the surviving spouse. If you don’t want that to happen, you need to get a will stating your wishes.
- Consider getting life insurance – No-one likes to think about death but if something happened to you, could the family survive without your salary? If not, you many want to consider life insurance. Use a comparison service to find not only the cheapest, but the most suitable cover for your needs.
But Aimee thinks her savvy food hacks are totally justifiable.
Speaking to her 679K TikTok followers, she says: “I usually get really negative comments with any kind of my videos … And I do get it, they don’t see everything.
“When I’m saying I’m using my kids’ scraps I’m not using ones they’ve coughed in and snotted in. I’m literally talking about cereal that I’ve put in front of them and they’ve looked at and said they don’t want.
“I make my own judgement with the food I’m using.”