OUR FAMILY MEAL PLAN FOR WEEK OF 26/02/18 - £71

Apologies for the posting our Meal Plan a day late, it was one of 'those' weekends which are rather challenging and you breathe a sigh of relief when it's over.

The weather is meant to be a very cold this week with subzero temperatures most nights and a bitterly cold wind during the day, and there's also a couple of weather warnings in place for snow.  It was lovely and almost Spring-like a week ago but clearly Winter isn't finished with us quite yet.

Despite the weather we've a busy week with after school and evening activities so dinners need to be easy and filling, as well as able to be eaten at different times depending who is home when.  We're having a vegetarian week this week as I do from time to time.  Our dinners this week feature recipes from my two favourite Jacks.  Jac from Tinned Tomatoes, who is a lovely blogging friend with an brilliant Vegetarian and Vegan blog, and Jack Monroe who blogs at Cooking on a Bootstrap and creates delicious recipes that are fabulously frugal.

Breakfasts will be porridge with homemade fruit compote, on the weekend we'll have pancakes one day and probably crumpets the next day.  I think we'll need a good warm porridge breakfast to warm us up. I'll be adding some blitzed up mixed seeds to our porridge for more nutritional value.

Packed lunches will be flask based this week due to the cold weather.  Quick Vegetable Tagine with Couscous will be alternated with Sweetcorn and Cannellini Bean Soup which will be accompanied by a homemade wholemeal bread roll.  As usual packed lunches will also contain a piece or two of fruit and a baked treat.  .  

Sweetcorn and Cannellini Bean Soup

oil spray

1 onion, finely chopped

2 sticks celery, finely chopped

1 pepper, finely chopped

1 small potato, finely diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp chilli powder

1 Tblsp cornflour

1.25 litres/5 cups vegetable stock

750g/4 cups corn, I used frozen but you could use drained tinned sweetcorn

2 tins Cannellini Beans, drained and rinsed

Put a large pot over a medium heat. Add a few sprays of oil, the chopped onion, celery, pepper, and potato, then stir. Cover the pot and let everything sweat for about 5 minutes. Check and stir every couple of minutes to prevent the vegetables from sticking.

Add the garlic, chili powder and cornflour, stir well then cook for a couple of minutes. Add the stock, corn and cannellini beans, turn the heat to medium/low then cover and leave to simmer for around 30 minutes. The soup will thicken and all of the vegetables will be very tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with crusty bread.

Dinners

Mexican Sweet Potato and Lentil Mole from Tinned Tomatoes

Quick and Easy Aubergine and Tomato Pasta

500g wholewheat pasta

2 tbsp olive oil

2 large eggplant/aubergines, cut into 1.5cm cubes

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes

1 tsp dried oregano or 1 Tblsp fresh oregano

100g Parmesan or hard cheese, finely grated

salt and pepper

Put a pot of water on high heat and add a good pinch or two of salt then cook the pasta according to package instructions until al dente.

Whilst the pasta is cooking put a frying pan over a moderate heat and add the oil. Add the prepared aubergine and cook for about 5 minutes until starting to soften. Add a little of the pasta water to the aubergine if it looks too dry. 

Once the cubes are a lightly browned on all sides, add the garlic and stir for a couple of minutes. Pour in the tomatoes, add the oregano, and simmer for about 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Again, if it looks too dry add a bit of the pasta cooking water. The aubergine cubes should collapse and you should be left with a loose, thick sauce. Add half of the Parmesan cheese and stir through the sauce.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and add your sauce to the pasta. Stir everything together, then turn off the heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve sprinkled with more Parmesan.  I serve this with steamed mixed vegetables.

Hearty Chickpea and Sweet Potato Stew from Tinned Tomatoes

Veggie Mince and Lentil Baked Potatoes

1 Tblsp oil

1 onion, finely diced

4 spring onions, finely sliced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp dried oregano

1 pepper, deseeded and finely diced

2 carrots, peeled and grated

400g can brown lentils, rinsed, drained

500g veggie mince

400g tin chopped tomatoes

2 Tblsp tomato paste

To serve:

one large baked potato per person

200g grated cheese

wilted greens

Heat the canola oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Fry the onion and spring onion for around 5 minutes until golden and softened. Add the garlic, cumin and oregano. Cook for a couple of minutes then add the pepper, carrot, lentils, chopped tomatoes and veggie mince. Stir well then simmer uncovered for 10 - 15 minutes until all the vegetables are tender and the mixture has thickened. I serve this over halved baked potatoes then sprinkle grated cheese on top and with wilted greens on the side.

Ultimate Moussaka - Cooking on a Bootstrap

Roasted Vegetable and Chickpea Tagine with Bulgur Wheat - Tinned Tomatoes

Cheesy Cauliflower and Potato Bake - Tinned Tomatoes

Shopping List

Our shopping list is a little more expensive this week as I've purchased baking supplies and spices that we had run out of.  I tend to buy spices from the Ethnic Food aisle as they are much cheaper.

50 items: £70.80

Tins, Jars and Cooking

12x   ASDA Smartprice Chopped Tomatoes (400g)                       £3.48 

1x    ASDA Ground Coriander (34g)                                            79p    

1x    Rajah Jeera Ground Cumin (100g)                                       85p    

6x    ASDA Chick Peas in Water (400g)                                      £1.98

1x    ASDA Stock Cubes - Vegetable (12x10g)                            39p

1x    TRS Chilli Powder (100g)                                                    65p

1x    Rajah Ground Ginger (100g)                                               75p

2x    Petti Double Concentrated Tomato Paste (200g)                  £1.40

2x    ASDA Cannellini Beans in Water (400g)                               80p

1x    ASDA Red Kidney Beans in Water (210g)                            30p

Frozen

1x   ASDA Smartprice Mixed Vegetables (1Kg)                          82p

1x    ASDA Meat Free Mince (454g)                                            £1.50

1x    ASDA Smartprice Sweetcorn (1Kg)                                     £1.10

1x    ASDA Frozen for Freshness Berry Medley (1Kg)                  £2.75

Dairy and Eggs

4x    ASDA British Whole Milk 6 Pints (3.41L)                              £5.92

1x    ASDA Free Range Large Eggs (6)                                       £1.00

1x    ASDA Smartprice Mature White Cheddar (385g)                  £1.89

1x    ASDA Smartprice Hard Cheese Wedge (170g)                     £1.60

Packets and Cereals

1x    Allinson Strong White Bread Flour (1.5Kg)                           75p

1x    Silver Spoon Granulated Sugar (1Kg)                                  64p

1x    ASDA Strong White Bread Flour (1.5Kg)                              69p

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

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

1x    ASDA Cous Cous (500g)                                                     65p

1x    ASDA Wholewheat Penne (500g)                                         65p

1x    Cypressa Green Lentils (500g)                                            £1.49

1x    Cypressa Bulgur Wheat (500g)                                           £1.00

2x    ASDA Scottish Porridge Oats (1Kg)                                    £1.98

2x    ASDA Four Seed Mix (150g)                                               £1.80

Fruit and Vegetables

2x    ASDA Grower's Selection Baby Potatoes (1Kg)                    £1.60

30    ASDA Grower's Selection Bananas by Weight (200g)           £3.00

2x    ASDA Grower's Selection Carrots (1Kg)                              £1.00

1x    ASDA Grower's Selection Cauliflower Loose                        £1.00

1      ASDA Grower's Selection Butternut Squash (1.2Kg)             90p

1x    ASDA Grower's Selection Celery                                         55p

2x    ASDA Grower's Selection Courgettes (3)                             £2.40

1x    ASDA Grower's Selection Garlic (3)                                     60p

2x    ASDA Grower's Selection Sweet Potatoes (1Kg)                  £2.00

1x    ASDA Grower's Selection Ginger (125g)                              50p

1x    ASDA Grower's Selection Oranges Extra Juicy (2Kg)          £2.00

2x    ASDA Grower's Selection Apples (1.2Kg)                            £3.00

3x    ASDA Farm Stores Pears (500g)                                         £2.10

1x    ASDA Grower's Selection British Parsnips (500g)                65p

1x    ASDA Farm Stores Brown Onions (1Kg)                              59p

1x    ASDA Farm Stores White Potatoes (2.5Kg)                         £1.15

3x    ASDA Aubergine                                                                 £2.10

2x    ASDA Farm Stores Mixed Peppers (3)                                 £1.98

1x    ASDA Grower's Selection British Spring Greens (500g)        69p

Drinks

1x    ASDA Cocoa (250g)                                                            £1.49

1x    Sutter Home Fre Merlot (750ml)                                          £2.98

Prices and special offers reflect those of the online grocery websites, and are correct as of 25th February 2018.  Prices may vary in different in-store locations.

We shopped online with Asda via My Supermarket.  Had we purchased our items elsewhere our shopping would've cost:

£73.71 from Morrisons
£86.72 from Sainsbury's
£86.95 from Tesco
£92.72 from Ocado
£97.32 from Waitrose

My lovely blogging buddy Ciara from My Fussy Eater has created a fab Meal Planning Facebook Group so we can inspire each other.

And Katykicker, and Naomi from The Organised Life Project have a Meal Planning Linky full of fabulous Meal Planning posts with lots of tasty ideas.

7 comments Dairy free, Lunches, Meal Plan, Meatfree Monday, Pasta, Slow Cooker, Soup, Vegan, Vegetarian