Our Family Meal Plan for this week 19/08/2013 - £64

Apologies for the lack of Meal Plan last week.  We spent the weekend undertaking a mass decluttering of our house and garage and as a result were completely exhausted by Sunday evening.  I did have a Meal Plan but lacked energy and motivation to blog it.

We've been busy at the allotments, showing my Mum the museums, Central Library and other venues in Cambridge over the past couple of weeks.  I travelled to Gloucester on Tuesday, stayed overnight, then back on Wednesday (4.5 hours train travel each way) followed by an event in London on Thursday evening.  We visited the Science Museum yesterday and are feeling rather tired as a result today.  

This week we are helping at two Crafternoons at our Church and attending a Hobbycraft free craft session on Wednesday.  Other than that we will be just chilling out at home and the allotments, a welcome respite from holiday outings.

I've used free range eggs and free range chicken in my Meal Plan, you could of course cut costs by using non free range products.  I have also included rather a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables, we have crudites with lunch and a piece of fruit with breakfast, you could also cut costs if you chose to purchase your fruit and vegetables from a cheaper source or grow your own.  We grow quite a bit of our own but I have formulated the shopping list with the cost of those included to make following my Meal Plan easier if you are unable to grow some of your own food.

I have compared the cost of our shopping as usual by using My Supermarket.  Our shopping this week cost £64.42 from Asda on 17/08/2013. Had I shopped elsewhere my shopping would've cost £71.31 from Sainsbury's or £71.47 from Tesco.  I found it interesting that there was only 16p difference between Sainsbury's and Tesco, I've not had such a small difference in cost between them before.  It shows how fierce price competition is becoming between supermarkets and how it is useful to compare prices at supermarkets to get the best quality and value for your money.

Breakfasts will be either toast with spread or cereal and milk with a piece of fruit for afters as usual.  On the weekend I will probably make pancakes one morning as a treat.

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Lunches

Whatever Fritters

1 cup “whatever” filling you like (banana, diced apple, sweetcorn, grated vegetables, leftover ham - not all together!)

1 cup plain flour or wholemeal flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg, lightly beaten

about 200ml milk

Sift the dry ingredients in to a bowl then add egg and enough milk to make a smooth batter. Stir in whatever' filling you like.

Cook in a pan with a little sizzling butter until golden on both sides and cooked through. Banana or apple fritters are great for a breakfast treat. Savoury fritters can be served a salad for lunch or dinner.

Brunch/Lunch Bread Cases

Bean Burgers

Twice Baked Potatoes

Crustless Salmon Quiche

5 free range eggs

1/2 cup plain flour

75g grated cheddar

1 200g tin salmon or tuna, drained

2 spring onions, green and white parts, finely sliced

1 handful chopped fresh flatleaf parsley

finely grated zest from a washed lemon

a few grinds of black pepper

400ml milk

Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan.  Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix until thoroughly combined.  Pour into a lined 23cm cake tin or flan tin.  Bake for 50 - 60 minutes until set and golden on top.  The quiche is ready to come out of the oven if the mixture doesn't wobble if you jiggle the tin slightly.  We will be devouring this with salads.

Dinners

Burritos

I make my own tortillas/wraps because it is cheaper and my children like to help make them.  Store bought ones are fine and not too expensive when they are on offer.  This recipe served 6 generously for dinner.

500g mince

3 tins chilli beans

400g tin chopped tomatoes

1 Tblsp Worcestershire sauce

12 tortillas

Shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes, grated cheese and soured cream - to serve

Put a fryingpan over a moderately high heat.  Brown the mince and break it up as it cooks.  Pour off any excess fat from the mince.  Stir in the chilli beans, chopped tomatoes and Worcestershire sauce.  Simmer until the mixture thickens.

Spoon the mixture into tortillas/wraps and add shredded lettuce, sliced tomato, grated cheese, and a dollop of soured cream.  Roll up and enjoy.

Chicken Pie

You can make your own pastry or use store bought shortcrust pastry, either is fine.

Pie filling:

500g block shortcrust pastry

300g pot soured cream

4 tsp curry powder, I used mild

1 Tblsp wholegain mustard

1 Tblsp honey

2 free range eggs

2 cooked chicken breasts or 300g leftover cooked chicken

400g cooked potatoes, diced (or use leftover diced roast vegetables)

Preheat your oven to 210C/190C Fan.  Roll out 2/3 of the pastry on a lightly floured work surface and line a 20cm/8 inch springform cake tin with the pastry.  Make sure the pastry comes at least half way up the sides of the cake tin, I usually make sure the pastry comes three quarters of the way up the side of the cake tin just to be sure it will be high enough to hold the filling.

Combine the filling ingredients in a bowl.  Pour the filling into the prepared pastry case and smooth the top.  Roll out the rest of the pasty to make a lid for the pie, use the cake tin as a template and cut around it to make a perfectly fitting lid.

Put the lid on top of the pie filling and use the excess pastry from the sides of the cake tin to fold over the lid and crimp to seal.  Use the tip of a sharp knife to cut a couple of small steam vents into the pie lid then brush with milk to glaze.

Bake for 40 - 45 minutes until the pastry is golden and the filling piping hot.  Leave to cool for 5 minutes before serving.  We usually serve ours with salads or steamed greens and mash or potato salad.

Lentil and Root Vegetable Curry

2 tsp oil

2 onions, diced

4 cloves garlic, crushed

2 cups green lentils

2 Tblsp curry powder

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1.5 litres vegetable stock

2 cups mixed root vegetables, peeled and diced

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a moderate heat and saute the onion and garlic until the onion has softened. Add the spices to the pan and stir for a minute or two until they are fragrant. Add the lentils, stock and vegetables then bring to the boil.

Simmer for around half an hour until the vegetables are tender and the liquid has mostly been absorbed. Serve with cooked rice. We add some steamed greens or mixed vegetables on the side for added veg content.

Toad in the Hole

Homemade Pizzas

Fish Pilaf

Macaroni Cheese with mixed vegetables, my Mum requested this dinner :o)

Shopping List

39 items: £64.42

Packets and Cereals

2x    ASDA Smartprice Cornflakes (750g)                                        92p

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

1x    ASDA Wholemeal Bread Flour (1.5Kg)                                    £1.26

1x    ASDA Smartprice Plain White Flour (1.5Kg)                           45p

1x    Jus Rol Shortcrust Pastry Block (500g)                                     £1.10

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

1x    ASDA Smartprice Pasta Shapes (500g)                                    32p

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

1x    Great Scot Green Lentils (500g)                                                 £1.29

Tins, Jars and Cooking

1x    ASDA Wild Pacific Pink Salmon (418g)                                   £2.54

1x    ASDA Smartprice Chopped Tomatoes (400g)                        31p

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

1x    ASDA Smartprice Red Kidney Beans in Water (400g)          27p

Frozen

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

1x    ASDA Whitefish Fillets (500g)                                                    £2.00

Dairy and Eggs

2x    ASDA Soured Cream (300ml)                                                    £1.80

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

1x    ASDA English Extra Mature Cheddar (500g)                          £2.50 any 2 FOR £5.00

1x    ASDA English Medium White Cheddar Cheese (500g)         £2.50 any 2 FOR £5.00

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

Fruit and Vegetables

2x    ASDA Salad Tomatoes (750g)                                                   £3.00

25x ASDA Bananas (Approx 170g)                                                  £2.89

1x    ASDA Lemons Loose                                                                   30p

12x ASDA Carrots (Approx 110g)                                                     £1.19

1x    ASDA Smartprice Mushrooms (750g)                                      £1.49

6x    ASDA Onions (Approx 230g)                                                     £1.24

1x    ASDA White Potatoes (2.5Kg)                                                   £2.25

1x    ASDA Butternut Squash (Approx 850g)                                  72.3p

4x    ASDA Whole Cucumber                                                              £2.00

2x    ASDA British Iceberg Lettuce Loose                                         £1.00 was £1.00

2x    ASDA Round Lettuce                                                                  £1.00

1x    ASDA Celery                                                                                  50p was 89p

1x    ASDA Smartprice Peppers (700g)                                              £1.38

1x    ASDA Spring Onions                                                                    50p was 74p

1x    ASDA Juicing Oranges (1.6Kg)                                                   £2.25

3x    ASDA Smartprice Apples (500g)                                                £2.70

Meat, Fish and Poultry

1x    ASDA Butcher's Selection British Beef Mince (500g)            £2.00

3      ASDA Free Range Chicken Breast Fillets (100g)                    £4.43

1x    ASDA Extra Special Pork Sausages (10 per pack - 756g)     £4.00 

Prices and special offers reflect those of the online grocery website My Supermarket, and are correct as of 17 August 2013.  Prices may vary in different in-store locations or on individual online supermarket shopping websites..

Don't forget to check out the other Meal Plans on the Meal Planning Monday linky over on 

At Home With Mrs M

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