A woman says she is saving £100 a month by ditching junk food for healthy ‘fakeaways’ – and it’s seen her lose a stone, too.
Lindsay Wiencierz use to spend around £30 on takeaways every week.
With the cost of living crisis squeezes purse strings for most people, the 33-year-old decided to start making replicas of her favourite dishes at home.
Lindsay from Durham has created her own spin on everything from From Five Guys to KFC, Chinese food and pizza – and says it usually costs her less than £5 per week.
Her fast-food-style lower-calorie dishes have become a hit with her boyfriend, Jordan, 32, and dad, Tony, 63, as well as a online – with the cook boasting 51,000 followers on her TikTok (@fakeawayqueen).
“My overall diet was never bad, however, I loved takeaways and would often have a Chinese takeaway every Friday evening, which we would spend around £30 on as a family,” Lindsay told NeedToKnow.co.uk.
“I started making fakeaways during lockdown when fast food and restaurants were closed as we were missing our favourite takeaways.
“However, when I realised how much money I was saving and how much weight I was losing, I decided to create lots of different fakeaways to help other people.”
Some of Lindsay’s biggest hits include a 289-calories pizza, with her making the low-fat base using low calorie wrap. These work out at around £1.50 each.
Another popular recipe is her homemade Chinese takeaway – featuring Chow Mein noodles made from scratch, rice fried with eggs and soy sauce, and fried chicken bites. The Chinese dish costs around £1.75 per person.
One video, which has over 29,000 views, features Lindsay’s take on a Five Guys burger – the dish is 390 calories and made with Aldi’s Skinny Burgers which are £3.30 for four, but sometimes also makes her own patties using 5% mince.
Another post shows Linday’s KFC-style dinner with Doritos-covered chicken, coleslaw and fries – and it costs £3 per person.
She said: “One of my favourite fakeaways has to be my Five Guys burger!
“I have also made low -alorie pizzas, Chow Mein, kebabs, Nandos, Greek gyros and Indian curries.
“The majority of these recipes cost less than £5, which is a huge £25 saving per week compared to actual takeaways.
“All of my fakeaways range in calories between around 400 to 600 calories per portion, which can be easily fit into a calorie deficit, and have helped me lose 16lbs to date.
“I recently went on holiday to Kos with my boyfriend and felt so much more confident in my bikini.”
Lindsay has received a lot of support and praise for her meals online.
Jessica Killburn said: “This looks amazing, never had a Five Guys, heard it’s so expensive.”
Kayzee, also referring to the burger, added: “One of my best fakeaways, I love them.”
Amy said: “This looks yummy.”
Efuntoye Jolaoso added: “This looks so good!”
