Birmingham nutritional therapist Kayla Daniels says a carefully planned Marks & Spencer basket provided three days of breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snack-style bakes for about £25.
Kayla Daniels has shown how far a modest budget can go at Marks & Spencer, turning a £25 shop into 12 meals and snacks that she says are high in protein and fibre. The Birmingham nutritional therapist said the haul covered three breakfasts, three lunches, three dinners and three snack-style bakes, with each day coming in at about 1,700 calories.
Daniels shared the shop on 13 September on her social media account, kaylasnutrition, which has more than 25,000 followers. She said the idea was not to prove that every meal had to be a formal sit-down dish, but to show how a carefully planned basket could stretch across several days. The result included berry protein pancakes, a chicken, sweet potato and bean bowl, a green goddess halloumi and lentil bowl, and chickpea protein bars.
The shopping list was built around relatively simple ingredients: Greek-style yoghurt, eggs, chicken mince, reduced-fat halloumi, sweet potatoes, beans, chickpeas, raspberries, bananas and a mix of fresh vegetables, along with items such as chia seeds and peanut butter. Daniels said the pancake breakfast was the cheapest of the set, while her lunch and dinner ideas leaned on beans, lentils and chicken to keep the meals filling without pushing up the cost.
For anyone looking to copy the approach, the method matters as much as the ingredients. Daniels said the breakfast mix is blended and baked, the chicken bowl is cooked with spices and vegetables before being served with roast sweet potato, and the halloumi bowl is built from roasted chickpeas, lentils and salad. She also suggested keeping dressings separate until serving so the ingredients stay fresh. A separate chickpea protein bar recipe rounds out the week, designed to last several days as a grab-and-go snack. Similar value-focused meal planning has become a recurring theme among home cooks and food bloggers, with other examples at M&S ranging from multi-portion budget challenges to the supermarket’s own dine-in offers for shoppers who want convenience as well as savings.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
