Our Family Meal Plan for the week of 20th May - National Vegetarian Week Version £60

It is National Vegetarian Week here in the UK from Monday 20^th – Sunday 26^th May, we are taking part as a family and will be following a vegetarian meal plan this week.  The lovelies at Asda have provided me with a voucher to try out their fresh fruit and vegetables this week which certainly helped with my meal planning.  Asda have a wide range of produce available such as their Extra Special Tomkin Tomatoes, brand new Extra Special Sorrento Lemons or seasonal British produce including asparagus, rhubarb and cauliflower.  I will be posting photos of our meals and feedback on the meal plan from my family on Twitter using the #asdaveggieweek hash tag.  I'll probably post some on my Facebook and Google+ pages too.

We usually have a few vegetarian meals in our weekly meal plan but having a totally meatfree meal plan will be interesting as my husband prefers to have meat in his meals.  I am hoping to make food that is so filling and delicious that he won’t miss meat, or at least won't moan about the lack of animal protein.  He did insist on a no tofu or quorn meal plan so that has made things slightly more tricky.  I do like tofu because it is so versatile and tasty if you flavour and cook it properly.  However, there's none in this meal plan to keep my husband happy. *sigh*

As usual I will be making all our bread, wraps and baked treats.  I have included the cost of flours and yeast in the meal plan.  I haven't included the cost of our drinks or some store cupboard items.

I purchased my groceries from Asda on 19^th May and the cost of my shopping was £60.49.  I used My Supermarket to compare the price of my shopping and had I shopped elsewhere my groceries would’ve cost £71.20 from Sainsbury’s, £73.44 from Tesco and £74.66 from Waitrose.

Breakfasts

We’ll be having fruit and nut wholegrain muesli with milk or wholemeal toast spread with peanut butter or vegemite with a piece of fruit for afters.  We will probably have pancakes one morning on the weekend.

Lunches

All lunches will be accompanied by crudités, a pot of yoghurt and a piece of fruit.  I usually include a small baked treat as well.

Falafel wraps or egg mayo wraps or Quick Chickpea and Couscous Salad   Weekend lunches will be a mini vegetable frittatas and twice baked potatoes.

Dinners

Mixed Vegetable Pearl Barley Risotto 

Spinach and Root Vegetable Cannelloni

500g pumpkin, peeled then diced

250g sweet potato, peeled then diced

200g frozen spinach, defrosted and any water squeezed out

6 spring onions, trimmed then thinly sliced

250g low-fat crème fraiche

black pepper, to season

4 fresh lasagne sheets, cut in half

400g tomato pasta sauce, storebought is fine

100g grated reduced-fat cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a 1.5 litre (6 cup-capacity) ovenproof baking dish.

Cook the pumpkin and sweet potato in a large pan of boiling water until tender. Drain, mash roughly with a fork then set aside to cool slightly. 

In a bowl combine the mashed pumpkin and sweet potato, spring onions, spinach, creme fraiche and a few good grinds of black pepper. Mix together well.

Put 4 tablespoons of filling along the middle of each lasagne sheet.  Fold the lasagne sheet to enclose the filling. Repeat with the remaining sheets and filling.  Spread 5 tablespoons of pasta sauce over the bottom of your greased ovenproof dish.  Put the cannelloni on top in a single layer. 

Pour the remaining tomato sauce over the prepared cannelloni, sprinkle with cheese, then bake for 30 minutes, or until cheese the has melted and is bubbling. Serve with a green salad or steamed vegetables.

Mixed Bean Burgers with Wedges

400g tin mixed beans, drained and rinsed

1 onion, finely diced

1 pepper, finely diced

1 tsp chilli powder

100g fresh breadcrumbs

about 500g potatoes, for the wedges

Sauté the onion and pepper in a little oil for a couple of minutes until it softens then leave to cool for a bit. Mash the mixed beans with a potato masher, leave it a little lumpy – not too smooth. Add the cooled sautéed pepper and onion along with the breadcrumbs to the mixed beans and mix everything together thoroughly. Shape into 5 burgers and fry in a little oil for a couple of minutes on each side, until they’re golden brown. Then put them in the oven at 180C for about 10 minutes until completely cooked through.

Wash the potatoes and cut them into wedges, not too thick. Put a little oil on your hands and rub the wedges so that they get lightly coated in the oil. To cook the wedges, bake them in the oven for about 25 minutes at 180C.

Serve the burgers in buns with tomato, lettuce and mayo. I sometimes sprinkle a little paprika and/or chilli powder over the wedges to give them a little more flavour.

Quinoa and Vegetable Curry

1 onion, finely sliced

2 peppers, deseeded and finely diced

4 Tblsp curry paste

400g can light coconut milk

400ml milk

750g frozen mixed vegetables

300g quinoa, rinsed

Put a large saucepan onto a moderate heat, add 2 Tblsp water then cook the onion, pepper and curry paste for about 5 minutes until the onion has softened.  Add the milks to the pan and warm through for 5 minutes before adding the quinoa and vegetables.  Bring everything to the boil and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes until the quinoa is cooked through.  Season to taste and serve with rice or flatbreads.

Leftover Quinoa Curry Pasties

Leftover Quinoa and Vegetable Curry

2 sheets puff pastry

Preheat your oven to 200C

Cut each sheet of pastry into thirds.  Put mounds of leftover curry on one half of each pastry third.  Fold over the other half of the pastry third and crimp with a fork to seal the edges.  Prick each pastry parcel with a fork so steam can escape during cooking.

Put on lined baking trays and cook for 20 - 25 minutes until the pastry is golden and crispy.  Serve with mango chutney and steamed vegetables.

Bean and vegetable wraps

1 pepper, diced

2 x 290g tins chilli beans

300ml low-fat soured cream

10 wholemeal tortillas

salads

grated tasty cheese

Warm the chilli beans.  Heat the tortillas in a microwave to soften, then place on a flat surface. Spoon some chilli beans onto the middle of each tortilla.  Add a dollop of soured cream and some salad greens.  Fold up then serve immediately.

  

Vegetable and Lentil Pastry Roll

 Shopping List

43 items: £60.49

  

Packets and Cereals

1x   Jordans Natural Muesli (1Kg)                                                   £2.50

1x   Jus Rol Puff Pastry Block (2x500g)                                        £2.00 was £2.50

1x   Great Scot Pearl Barley (500g)                                                58p

1x   ASDA Wholefoods Cous Cous (500g)                                     68p

1x   Asda Home Baking Easy Bake Yeast (6 per pack - 42g)       65p

1x   Allinson Wholemeal Self Raising Flour (1.5Kg)                       £1.60

1x   ASDA Wholefoods Brown Bread Flour (1.5Kg)                       £1.28

1x   Great Scot Chick Peas (500g)                                                 95p

1x   Great Scot Quinoa (300g)                                                        £2.18

Dairy and Eggs

1x   ASDA Chosen by You Yogurts Assorted (6x125g)                 £1.00

1x   ASDA Reduced Fat Crème Fraîche (300ml)                           £1.10

4x   ASDA British Semi Skimmed Milk 4 Pints (2.27L)                  £4.00

1x   ASDA English Mature White Cheddar (500g)                          £2.74

1x   ASDA Smartprice Low Fat Natural Yogurt (500g)                   45p

1x   ASDA Low Fat Peach, P/apple & Mandarin Yogurt (6x125g) £1.00

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

1x   ASDA Reduced Fat Soured Cream (300ml)                           £1.10

3x   Suffolk Farm Medium Free Range Eggs (6)                           £3.00

Frozen

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

1x   ASDA Whole Leaf Spinach (1Kg)                                            £1.00 was £1.39

Tins, Jars and Cooking                                                                            

2x   ASDA Chosen by You Chilli Beans (290g)                              96p

1x   Geeta's Premium Mango Chutney (320g)                               £1.00

1x   ASDA Smartprice Mayonnaise (500ml)                                  40p

1x   ASDA Smartprice Crunchy Peanut Butter (340g)                   62p

2x   ASDA Chosen by You Green Lentils in Water (400g)             £1.24

2x   ASDA Mexican Style Bean Mix in Water (400g)                     £1.24

1x   Kingfisher Reduced Fat Coconut Milk (400ml)                        £1.19 was £1.40

1x   ASDA Chosen by You Tomato Pasta Sauce (500g)               £1.00

Fruit and Vegetables

1x   ASDA Chosen by You Stoned Apricots (500g)                       £2.98

20   ASDA Bananas by Weight (100g)                                            £1.36

20   ASDA Carrots by Weight (100g)                                              £1.60

1x   ASDA White Potatoes (2.5Kg)                                                 £2.00

7     ASDA Butternut Squash by Weight (100g)                              70p

10   ASDA Sweet Potatoes by Weight (100g)                                £1.28

2x   ASDA Whole Cucumber                                                          £1.00

3x   ASDA Round Lettuce                                                               £1.71

1x   ASDA Garlic Loose                                                                  30p

1x   ASDA Smartprice Peppers (700g)                                           £1.57

2x   ASDA Spring Onions                                                                £1.48

1x   ASDA Smartprice Brown Onions (2Kg)                                   98p

1x   ASDA Unwaxed Lemons (5)                                                    £1.25

4x   ASDA Smartprice Apples (500g)                                             £3.52

Ready Meals

1x   ASDA Chosen by You Fresh Egg Lasagne Sheets (250g)     80p

Prices and special offers reflect those of the online grocery websites, and are correct as of 19th May 2013.  Prices may vary in different in-store locations.

Don't forget to check out other meal plans on the Meal Planning Monday linky hosted by At Home With Mrs M.