Our Family Meal Plan Week of 30/04 - £62

I know, my Meal Plan is late again!  After a hectic week my eldest daughter had her 12th birthday on Friday.  I had to bake her birthday cake that day and then Saturday was spent entertaining her and her friends with a pamper session and a marathon shopping session at the local mall.  Consequently, I cobbled together this Meal Plan on Sunday afternoon then raced around the supermarket before it closed.  I'm using my slow cooker a couple of times this week as I'll be absent at dinner time twice this week.  When I'm not here to cook dinner I need food ready to be devoured by my husband and children as soon as they get home with little effort required by my husband. 

Last week I received a delivery of a lovely Budget Box of meal from Keevil and Keevil to review.  The box retails for £30 and contained the following:

1.25kg Pork Loin
450g Sliced Back Bacon
450g Sliced Honey Roast Ham
16 x Chicken Drumsticks
18 x Premium Cumberland Sausages
500g Minced Beef

I have used some of the Budget Box in the Meal Plan for this week and will use the rest over the coming weeks.  It is fabulous quality and I'm looking forward to cooking with it.  I shall blog about it later this week.  I have included the equivalent items in the shopping list to make it easier for those following our Meal Plan.

Breakfasts this week will be toast or English muffins with spread or cereal with milk, as always there will be a banana or apple for afters.  We'll probably have boiled eggs with soldiers once this week too.  

Packed lunches will be leftovers, cheese and homemade chutney sandwiches/wraps, or homemade rice salad which is cooked rice mixed with cooked mixed vegetables, diced raw pepper, grated carrot and the juice of an orange or lemon mixed with 1Tblsp oil to make a dressing.  All packed lunches will have a piece of fruit and a baked treat as well as some delicious yoghurt from The Collective which I shall blog about later this week. 

Weekend lunches will be Macaroni Cheese and Twice Baked Potatoes because we will probably have guests for lunch on at least one day this coming weekend.

Baked treats will be scones, Lemon Drizzle Cake and a Banana Cake.  As usual I shall bake all our bread, muffins, wraps, rolls, etc and have added the cost of the ingredients to our Meal Plan.

The cost of the 37 items needed for our Meal Plan this week was £62.35 at Asda on 29/04/2012 and I checked My Supermarket as always to compare the price of a similar basket at other supermarkets.  The equivalent 37 Meal Plan items would've cost £73.58 at Sainsbury's and £78.56 at Tesco.

Dinners

Vegetarian Cottage Pie - Monday

1 Tblsp oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 celery stalks, diced
3 carrots, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 bay leaf
2 tsp dried mixed herbs
250ml vegetable stock
400g can lentils, rinsed and drained
Enough mashed potato to use as a topping for the cottage pie
100g grated cheddar to sprinkle on top

Preheat your oven to 200°C. Put a large saucepan over a medium heat and add the oil. Cook the onion, celery, carrot and garlic for a few minutes. Add the tin of tomatoes, herbs, bay leaf and stock. Stir everything together thoroughly.

Simmer gently for about 15 - 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Add the lentils, stir them through and check the seasoning. Add salt and pepper if necessary. Pour the contents of the saucepan into a 1.2-litre baking dish and leave to cool slightly while you make the mash topping.

Cook about 750g of potatoes, cut into chunks, in boiling salted water until tender then drain and mash as you normally would. Spread the mash over the vegetable and lentil mixture then sprinkle grated cheese over the top. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese on top is bubbling and golden.


Slow Cooker Chicken Casserole - Tuesday

8 chicken drumsticks
2 Tblsp oil
300g bacon rashers, rind removed and cut into rough dice
500g mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
2 tsp dried mixed herbs

Heat the oil in a frying pan and brown the drumsticks all over and then put them into your slow cooker. Put the bacon, mushrooms, onion, chopped and garlic into the frying pan and cook for 5 minutes or until the onion is transparent then add it all to the slow cooker. Put the tins of chopped tomatoes and herbs in the slow cooker too.

Put the lid on the slow cooker and cook for 4-6 hours on low or for 2-3 hours on high. Check the seasoning just before serving and add salt and pepper if necessary. I usually serve this with steamed mixed vegetables and a wholemeal roll to soak up the juices instead of mash.


Fish Pie - Wednesday

1 onion, finely diced
1 Tblsp oil
425g tin tuna or salmon in water, drained
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
200g spinach
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
700g potatoes for mash topping
1 cup grated cheese to sprinkle on top

Preheat oven to 200C.

Cook the potatoes in boiling water and mash, seasoning to taste.

Mix together the tuna/salmon, frozen mixed vegetables, spinach and tinned tomatoes in an oven-proof dish.  Cover with mashed potatoes and grated cheese.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the top is golden.  I usually serve this with steamed broccoli or cauliflower.


Slow Cooker Vegetable Curry - Thursday

1 Tblsp oil
2 onions, roughly diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 Tblsp curry powder or paste
2 tsp ground cumin
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
juice of 1 lemon
400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly diced
2 carrots, peeled and roughly diced
2 peppers, roughly diced
1 large cauliflower cut into florets
250g mushrooms, sliced
1 head of broccoli cut into florets

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for a couple of minutes then add the garlic, curry powder and cumin. Cook, stirring constantly, for a minute or two until the spices are fragrant.

Stir in the tinned tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly. Add 125ml cold water, lemon juice, chickpeas and all the prepared vegetables. Turn up the heat and bring everything to the boil. Once the curry is boiling carefully transfer it to your slow cooker.

Put the lid on and cook it for 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low. Serve with rice and naan bread.


Sausage Pie - Friday

500 grams sausage meat
1 onion, diced
2 sweet potatoes, grated
1 apple, grated – don’t bother peeling it
1 cup grated cheese
4 free range eggs, beaten
salt and pepper to season

Preheat your oven to 180C.

Grease and line a 23cm (9 inch) diameter cake tin with non-stick baking paper. Using wet hands, line the base and insides of the tin with the sausage meat. Put the diced onion, grated sweet potato and apple, cheese, beaten eggs and a couple of grinds of pepper in bowl and mix until well combined.

Put the vegetable and egg mix into the sausage meat case. Gently press it down with the back of a spoon. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes until the top is golden brown and the pie has set in the middle.


Chicken Traybake - Saturday

1kg chicken drumsticks
2 large potatoes roughly chopped into chunks
300g squash chopped into chunks
1 head of garlic, unpeeled and in half widthways
2 tsp dried mixed herbs
125ml chicken stock

Preheat oven to 200ºC. Put the chicken in a large baking dish along with the prepared vegetables. Sprinkle over the dried mixed herbs.

Bake for 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked. Pour over the stock and bake for another 5 minutes so a gravy forms. Serve with rice or mash and steamed greens or vegetables.


Slow Cooker Sausage and Lentil Casserole

400g good quality sausages
2 onions, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 stalks celery, diced
2 peppers, deseeded and diced
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
1 Tblsp tomato paste
1 1/2 cups uncooked green lentils
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly diced
3 carrots, peeled and roughly diced
500ml beef or chicken stock
1 tsp sugar

Brown the sausages in a large frying pan then transfer to the slow cooker. Put the onion, celery and pepper into the frying pan and cook them in the fat from the sausages until the pepper and onions begin to soften. Add the tinned tomatoes, tomato paste and heat until boiling.

Pour the mixture into the slow cooker, add the lentils, the rest of the prepared vegetables, stock and sugar. Stir everything to combine then put the lid on the slow cooker.

Cook on high for 6 hours or on low for 8 hours. When the casserole is cooked serve with crusty bread and steamed greens.

Shopping List

37 items: £62.35

Tins, Jars and Cooking
1x ASDA Wild Pacific Pink Salmon (418g) £2.17
9x ASDA Smartprice Chopped Tomatoes (400g) £2.79
1x ASDA Chick Peas in Water (400g) 70p
1x ASDA Chosen by You Green Lentils in Water (400g) 47p

Frozen
1x ASDA Chosen by You Frozen Mixed Vegetables (1Kg) £1.10

Dairy and Eggs
6x ASDA British Skimmed Milk 4 Pints (2.27L) £6.00 any 2 FOR £2.00
1x Stork (500g) £1.00
1x ASDA Free Range Mixed Weight Eggs (15) £3.00
2x ASDA English Medium Cheddar (400g) £4.00

Fruit and Vegetables
1x ASDA Smartprice Mixed Fruit (500g) 64p
20 ASDA Smartprice Apples by Weight (100g) £2.00
20 ASDA Bananas by Weight (100g) £1.36
10 ASDA Broccoli by Weight (100g) £1.75
20 ASDA Carrots by Weight (100g) £1.56
1x ASDA Cauliflower Loose 78p
1x ASDA Smartprice Mushrooms (750g) £1.18
10 ASDA Onions by Weight (100g) 76p
2x ASDA White Potatoes (2.5Kg) £2.00 2 FOR £2.00
1x ASDA Celery 68p
2x ASDA Garlic Loose 52p
1x ASDA Smartprice Peppers (700g) £1.50
2x ASDA Sweet Potatoes (1Kg) £2.40
2x ASDA Spinach (350g) £2.00
2x ASDA Mandarins (700g) £2.00 2 FOR £2.00
1x ASDA Unwaxed Lemons (5) £1.00

Packets and Cereals
1x Silver Spoon Granulated Sugar (1Kg) 98p
1x Asda Wholefoods Strong White Bread Flour (1.5Kg) 60p
1x ASDA Wholemeal Bread Flour (1.5Kg) £1.28
1x ASDA Smartprice Self Raising Flour (1.5Kg) 52p
1x ASDA Smartprice Long Grain Rice (1Kg) 40p
1x ASDA Smartprice Pasta Shapes (500g) 30p
1x Asda Home Baking Easy Bake Yeast (6 per pack - 42g) 64p
1x Great Scot Green Lentils (500g) £1.09
1x Sunnybisk Wheat Biscuits (48 per pack - 864g) £1.78

Meat, Fish and Poultry
2x Banham Poultry Chicken Drumsticks (1Kg) £5.96
1x ASDA Smartprice Unsmoked Back Bacon (312g) £1.50
1x ASDA Sausages Cumberland (20 per pack - 1.14Kg) £3.94 any 2 FOR £6.00