Our Meal Plan For This Week, Back To School Edition - £62

Our Meal Plan for this week is fairly low faff, perfect for getting back to routine after Half Term Week.  I have a couple of meetings this week which mean dinner will have to be quick and easy due to time constraints and the likelihood that I will be rather weary on those evenings.

The cost of our groceries from Asda on 17/02/13 was £61.98.  As usual I used My Supermarket to compare the cost of our shopping elsewhere and our groceries would've cost £72.30 from Tesco and £76.29 from Sainsbury's.

Breakfasts will be either porridge or toast with fruit for afters.

Our packed lunches will be leftovers, savoury bread swirls or cheese/tuna and salad sandwiches/rolls/wraps.  Lunches will also include a pottle of yoghurt, a piece of fruit, crudites and a small baked treat.

Dinners

Meatfree Monday Minestrone

This is fab for using up part packets of pasta and is a really quick, nutritious and fulling soup for a busy weekday dinner.

150g pasta, I used fusilli

1 clove garlic, crushed

2tsp Italian mixed herbs

1 litre vegetable stock

1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes

400g frozen mixed vegetables

Break up the pasta into small pieces.  Heat a large saucepan over a moderate heat.  Saute the garlic for a couple of minutes in a little oil, add the mixed herbs.  Pour in the stock and tomatoes then bring everything to the boil.  Add the pasta and boil for 5 minutes, add the frozen vegetables and boil until the pasta is tender and the vegetables are cooked. Serve with crusty wholemeal bread rolls.

Sticky Chicken Drumsticks

8 chicken drumsticks

2 Tblsp soy sauce, I use the reduced salt one

1 Tblsp honey

1 Tblsp oil

1 tsp tomato paste/puree

1 Tblsp Dijon mustard

Slash each drumstick a few times, this helps the marinade work better and also helps the chicken to cook faster.

Mix all the marinade ingredients together and leave the chicken to marinate for about half an hour at room temperature or all day in the fridge.

Preheat your oven to 200C/180C Fan.  Tip the chicken into a non-stick roasting tin and cook, turning once or twice, for 35 - 40 minutes.  We'll be having ours with rice and mixed vegetables.

Chorizo and Vegetable Stew

200g chorizo, thickly slice

1 onion, dice

1 pepper, deseeded and diced

700g squash, peeled and cut into 2cm dice

500g sweet potato, peeled and cut into 2cm dice

500g tomato passata

1 x 400g tn chopped tomatoes

Heat a large saucepan over a high heat.  Add the chorizo and cook for a couple of minutes until it starts to release a delicious spicy oil.  Take the chorizo slices out of the pan and set them aside.

Add the onion and pepper to the saucepan and cook in the red oil until they start to soften.  Return the chorizo to the pan and add the squash, sweet potato, passata and tinned tomatoes.

Bring to the boil then cover and turn the heat down.  Simmer the stew for 15 - 20 minutes until the squash and sweet potato are tender.  You might need to add a little water towards the end of the cooking time if the stew looks dry.  Season to taste then serve.  We're having ours with mixed vegetables.  This stew freezes well should you want to make double or freeze leftovers.

Vegetable Pie

3 large potatoes peeled, cooked & mashed

50g butter

50g flour

600ml milk

1 tsp mixed herbs

200g mature cheddar cheese, grated

1 cauliflower, cut into florets

1 head broccoli, cut into florets

200g frozen mixed vegetables

Melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan and then add the flour.  Cook for a couple of minutes then add the milk gradually, stirring, until a smooth creamy sauce forms.  Take off the heat and stir through 3/4 of the cheese.

Preheat your oven to 220C/200C Fan.  Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook the cauliflower, broccoli and frozen mixed vegetables for 3 - 5 minutes.  Drain well.

Stir the vegetables into the cheese sauce.  Tip the vegetables and sauce into a large ovenproof dish, top with mashed potato then sprinkle over the remaining grated cheese.  Bake for 20 minutes or until the topping is lovely and golden and crisp.

Homemade Pizzas  - low faff Friday night dinner

Sausage and Apple Bake

6 rashers bacon, rind removed

6 good quality pork sausages

2 eating apples, cut into 8ths

Preheat your oven to 220C/200C Fan.  Wrap each sausage in a rasher of bacon and put them in a large ovenproof dish.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Add the apple wedges to the ovenproof dish and bake for another 10 minute.  Remove from the oven and serve with mash and mixed vegetables.

Chicken Casserole

1 Tblsp oil

500g chicken thighs (boneless and skinless)

2 onions, diced

2 peppers, diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 Tblsp fresh thyme leaves or 1 tsp dried thyme

750ml chicken stock

2 x 400g tins cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

180g spinach, washed

Heat large saucepan over a moderately high heat.  Brown the chicken then add the onions, peppers, garlic and thyme.  Cook for another 2 - 3 minutes.  Add the stock then simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.  Cover and simmer for a further 20 minutes.  Add the cannellini beans and spinach then cook for a further 5 minutes until the beans are heated through and the spinach has wilted.  Season to taste then serve.

Shopping List

Cost of 40 items from Asda on 17/02/13 was £61.98. 

Packets and Cereals

1x      ASDA Wholegrain Scottish Porridge Oats (500g)                    65p        

1x      ASDA Smartprice Cornflakes (750g)                                     46p        

1x      Asda Wholefoods Strong White Bread Flour (1.5Kg)               80p        

1x      ASDA Smartprice Long Grain Rice (1Kg)                                40p        

1x      Asda Home Baking Easy Bake Yeast (6 per pack - 42g)          64p        

2x      ASDA Wholefoods Brown Bread Flour (1.5Kg)                        £2.56     

Frozen

2x      ASDA Smartprice Mixed Vegetables (1Kg)                             £1.50     

Tins, Jars and Cooking                                                                      

2x      ASDA Smartprice Chopped Tomatoes (400g)                         62p        

2x      ASDA Cannellini Beans in Water (300g)                                £1.28     

1x      ASDA Smartprice Mayonnaise (500ml)                                  45p        

1x      ASDA Double Concentrated Tomato Puree (200g)                  48p        

1x      ASDA Extra Special Passata Chunky (700g)                           £1.28     

1x      The Reel Fish Co Pole and Line Tuna  Water (3x185g)            £3.00                  

Dairy and Eggs

5x      ASDA British Semi Skimmed Milk 4 Pints (2.27L)                    £5.00     

1x      Cathedral City Mature Cheddar (2x350g)                               £4.00     

1x      ASDA Low Fat Peach, Pineapple Mandarin Yogurt (6x125g)       £1.00                  

1x      ASDA Low Fat Strawberry Yogurt (6x125g)                            £1.00     

1x      ASDA Smooth Fruit Yogurts Low Fat (6x125g)                        £1.00

Fruit and Vegetables
1x      ASDA Smartprice Pears                                                       90p        

1x      ASDA Baby Spinach (180g)                                                 £1.00     

20     ASDA Smartprice Apples by Weight (100g)                            £2.40     

25     ASDA Bananas by Weight (100g)                                         £1.70     

1x      ASDA Cauliflower Loose                                                      50p        

1x      ASDA Smartprice Mushrooms (750g)                                    £1.49     

10     ASDA Red Onions by Weight (100g)                                     90p        

2x      ASDA White Potatoes (2.5Kg)                     £3.50   2 FOR £3.50

7       ASDA Butternut Squash by Weight (100g)                             74.9p     

6       ASDA Sweet Potatoes by Weight (100g)                               76.8p     

3x      ASDA Whole Cucumber                                                       £1.50     

3x      ASDA Round Lettuce                                                          £1.71     

1x      ASDA Celery                                                                      89p        

1x      ASDA Garlic Loose                                                             30p        

1x      ASDA Smartprice Peppers (700g)                                         £1.57     

1x      ASDA Carrots (1.2Kg)                                                         £1.00     

1x      ASDA Broccoli (335g)                                                         50p        

Meat, Fish and Poultry

1x      ASDA Extra Special Pork Sausages (6 per pack - 454g)           £2.98 

1x      ASDA Butcher's Selection Unsmoked Back Bacon (300g)         £2.00     

1x      ASDA Butcher's Selection Boneless Chicken Thighs (515g)       £3.00 was £3.58

1x      Banham Poultry Chicken Drumsticks (1Kg)                            £4.00     

1x      ASDA Chorizo Cooking Sausage (200g)                                 £2.50     

Prices and special offers reflect those of the online grocery website My Supermarket, and are correct as of 17 February 2013.  Prices may vary in different in-store locations.

You can check out loads of other Meal Plans over at the Meal Planning Monday linky.