Half Term Week Meal Plan 28/10/2013 - £61

I have a confession to make, on Saturday night we had a takeaway delivered for the first time in 2 years.  Our trip into town was scuppered by a bomb scare and we visited the allotment for an hour instead. After working hard in wet and windy conditions my husband demanded we head home and suggested a takeaway dinner. My 3 daughters were delighted and we ate Chinese food with chop sticks whilst watching Strictly Come Dancing. It was a brilliant evening!

We will be back sticking to our Meal Plan this week, takeaways are very expensive! It is Half Term Holiday this week for my 3 children which means they will be at home and tempted to snack their way through the week. In the holidays I try to stick to 3 main meals and 2 snacks a day when we are all home. It avoids random snacking and helps us stick to a budget.

I'll also still be using produce from our allotment. We have lots of chard, Swedes, leeks, potatoes and carrots to harvest and eat.

I've ordered plenty of fruit and we still have an apple tree providing us with apples which will save some money.  One of our snacks will be popcorn, I have stocked up on popping corn, I usually do a spiced version to liven it up. Other snacks will be homemade tea cakes, scones, flapjacks, scroggin, roasted chickpeas, or homemade bread sticks and dips.

Lunches will be soup with a homemade wholemeal bread roll or sandwiches/savoury swirls with crudites if we are out and about.  I've already made large batches of French Onion Soup and Root Vegetable Soup which are favourites of my girls.

Breakfasts will be porridge with homemade fruit compote.  We'll have pancakes or crumpets on the weekend.

Basic Soup

1 onion

1 Tblsp oil or butter

6 handfuls of chopped vegetables

1 potato or sweet potato

Enough vegetable stock to cover the vegetables

salt and pepper to taste

In a large saucepan, cook the onion in the butter or oil over a moderate heat until softened but not browned.  Add the vegetables, cover with a lid, then cook for about 5 minutes.  Add the stock and simmer with the lid off until the vegetables are very tender then remove from the heat.

Leave the soup to cool for a few mintues then blend with a stick blender until smooth.  Add a little water or stock to thin the soup if it is too thick.  Seaon to taste.  I freeze soup in a silicon muffin tray then pop out the frozen soup portions into a container or freezer bag.  Defrosting 1 or 2 portions is enough for a warming cup of soup.

Dinners

Vegetable Stew with Dumplings

2 Tblsp oil

25g butter

1 large onion, peeled and diced

2 potatoes, peeled and diced

1 parsnip, peeled and diced

2 large carrots carrots, peeled and diced

1 swede, peeled and diced

2 leeks, finely sliced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

4 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried

1 tsp mustard

2 Tblsp plain flour

1 heaped tsp vegemite

500ml vegetable stock

400g tin haricot or butter beans, drained and rinsed

salt and pepper

Dumplings

250g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

125g butter, diced

2 tsp diced mixed herbs

salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4.

Put the oil and butter in a large flameproof casserole dish over a moderate heat.  Add the onion and cook, stirring, for couple of minutes.  Add the potatoes, parsnip, carrot, sweede and leeks.  Cook for 5 minutes, stirring, over a moderate heat until the vegetables start to turn golden and soften slightly.  Reduce the heat slightly and ad the garlic, thyme and mustard.  Add the flour and cook for a couple of minutes, ensure the vegetables are well coated in the flour.  Add the vegetmite, stock and tinned pulses.

Bring the mixture to the boil, cover with a lid then put in the preheated oven.  Bake for 40 - 50 miutes.  Whilst the stew is cooking prepare the dumplings. Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. stir in the herbs and a little salt and pepper.  Add a 1 or 2 tablespoons of water, just enough to form a stiff dough.

Divide the dough into walnut sized balls, cover with clingfilm and chill in the fridge until ready to use.  When the stew has baked for 40 - 50 minutes in the oven, remove from the oven and add the dumplings. Ensure the dumplings are partially submerged in the stew.  Cover the pot with a lid and cook on the stove top/hob, over a moderate heat,  for around 20 minutes until the dumplings have risen and are golden on top.  I usually serve this stew with steamed greens.

Fish Pie

Chicken and Bean Hotpot

Red Lentil Bolognese

Spicy Vegetable Parcels

Vegetable Quiche

Slow Cooker Meatballs

Shopping List

44 items: £61.13

Packets and Cereals

1x   Mornflake Superfast Oats (2Kg)                                                       £2.08

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

2x   ASDA Wholemeal Bread Flour (1.5Kg)                                             £2.52

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

1x   ASDA Smartprice Self Raising Flour (1.5Kg)                                    45p

1x   Jus Rol Puff Pastry Block (500g)                                                     £1.00

1x   ASDA Long Grain White Rice (1Kg)                                                  £1.38

1x   Great Scot Red Split Lentils (500g)                                                  £1.28

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

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

1x   Cook Italian Wholewheat Spaghetti (500g)                                        £1.00

1x   Cook Italian Wholewheat Fusilli (500g)                                              £1.00

Frozen

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

1x   ASDA Whitefish Fillets (500g)                                                          £2.00

Tins, Jars and Cooking

2x   ASDA Smartprice Chopped Tomatoes (400g)                                   68p

1x   ASDA Borlotti Beans in Water (290g)                                               48p

1x   ASDA Smartprice Sweetcorn (326g)                                                 35p

1x   ASDA Organic Cannellini Beans (400g)                                             70p

1x   ASDA Organic Butter Beans in Water (400g)                                     70p

1x   ASDA Chosen by You Vegetable Stock Cubes (12x10g)                   78p

1x   ASDA Tomato and Chunky Vegetable Pasta Sauce (500g)                £1.00

Dairy and Eggs

1x   ASDA Free Range Medium Eggs (12)                                              £1.98 

2x   ASDA Smartprice Low Fat Natural Yogurt (500g)                              £1.18 

2x   ASDA Rich and Creamy Unsalted Butter British (250g)                      £2.00 

Fruit and Vegetables

1x   ASDA Smartprice Sultanas (500g)                                                    84p

2x   ASDA Brown Onions (1.1Kg)                                                           £1.50

15   ASDA Bananas (Approx 170g)                                                         £1.73

13   ASDA Royal Gala Apples (Approx 160g)                                          £3.33

2     ASDA Parsnips (Approx 250g)                                                        74.5p

2     ASDA Butternut Squash (Approx 850g)                                            £1.62

2     ASDA Sweet Potatoes (Approx 460g)                                              £1.18

2x   ASDA Whole Cucumber                                                                  £1.00

2x   ASDA Celery                                                                                  £1.78

1x   ASDA Trimmed Leeks (500g)                                                           £1.00

2x   ASDA Baking Potatoes (2.5Kg)                                                       £2.80

1x   ASDA Smartprice Peppers (700g)                                                    £1.68

1x   ASDA Courgettes (3)                                                                       £1.00

3     ASDA Swede Portion by Weight (100g)                                            36p

2x   ASDA Carrots (1.2Kg)                                                                     £2.00

1x   ASDA Medium Navel Oranges (1Kg)                                                £1.50

2x   ASDA Smartprice Pears (500g)                                                        £1.58

Meat, Fish and Poultry

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

1x   ASDA Butcher's Selection Boneless Chicken Thigh Fillets (515g)       £3.58

1x   ASDA Honey Roast Carver Ham (425g)                                            £3.00

Prices and special offers reflect those of the online grocery website My Supermarket and are correct as of 27^th October 2013.  Prices may vary in different in-store locations.

As usual I compared the price of my shopping using My Supermarket.  Our shopping cost £61.13 from Asda on 27/10/13, had I shopped elsewhere my shopping would've cost £63.19 from Tesco or £68.54 from Sainsbury's.

Don't forget to check out all the other fab Meal Plans over on 

At Home With Mrs M.

4 comments Basics, Beef, Breakfast, Chicken, Fish, Lunches, Meal Plan, Meatfree Monday, Slow Cooker, Snacks, Soup