OUR FAMILY MEAL PLAN FOR WEEK OF 26/03/2018 - £51

I've largely recovered from they lurgy that I had last week, however our 3yo has picked up yet another illness from Nursery. He's got 'the cough' and a cold, thankfully he only had a fever for about 24 hours this time.  

We're having a Mother Hubbard Week, because March is a 5 week month and we've had some unforeseen expenses.  This means we're in super frugal mode spending as little as we can on groceries this week, and using up any leftover store cupboard provisions. 

I usually do a stock take before I make up our Meal Plan each week, this week I was extra thorough.  We've baking supplies, bread making ingredients, and porridge so that's breakfast and baked treats sorted.  We've also got some tins of fruit and beans, various part packs of frozen vegetables, and some part packs of lentils that I've purchased for recipe development but not used up.  I've also got a whole free range chicken (yellow sticker bargain £1.20) stashed in the freezer.

I've included all the items that I will be using in the shopping list at full cost because it's much easier for people to follow.  Obviously it will be a cheaper week for us than the shopping list total as I already have some items in our freezer and store cupboard.

Meal Plan

Breakfasts will be porridge topped with tinned fruit or toast with spread, and a piece of fruit for afters.  I'll make crumpets one morning over the weekend.

Packed lunches will be Wholemeal Savoury Swirls filled with Vegemite and cheese, crudites, herbed yoghurt dip, a small baked treat, and a piece of fruit for the first half of the week. The second half of the week I'll fill the swirls with leftover lentil bolognese as normal.

Weekend lunches will be Rice and Vegetable Bake and Spicy Roast Sweet Potato and Carrot Soup.

Dinners

Root Vegetable and Red Lentil Dhal - served with homemade Naan for Meatfree Monday

Quick Bean Chilli served with rice and mixed vegetables.

Red Lentil Bolognese - double batch 3/4 for dinner and rest to fill Wholemeal Savoury Swirls.  Served with pasta and mixed vegetables.

Roast Chicken with all the trimmings

Chicken Fried Rice

4 spring onions, sliced

500g frozen mixed vegetables

4 cups cooked rice (or use microwaveable rice)

2 cups shredded cooked chicken

2 Tblsp salt-reduced soy sauce

Heat a large, non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Spray with oil then fry spring onions for 1-2 minutes. Add frozen vegetables and fry for a couple more minutes until cooked through.

Add rice, chicken and soy sauce to pan and stir to combine. Heat for a few minutes more then serve immediately.

12 Muffin Tin Chicken Tarts - served with mash and mixed vegetables.

Macaroni Cheese with mixed vegetables.

Shopping List

35 items: £51.44

Frozen

3x   ASDA Smartprice Mixed Vegetables (1Kg)                                           £2.46

Tins, Jars and Cooking

6x   ASDA Smartprice Chopped Tomatoes in Tomato Juice (400g)              £1.74

2x   ASDA Smartprice Red Kidney Beans in Water (400g)                           60p

2x   ASDA Smartprice Peach Slices in Light Syrup (411g)                           66p

1x   ASDA Chick Peas in Water (400g)                                                       33p

2x   ASDA Smartprice Pineapple Pieces in Light Syrup (565g)                    £1.28

Dairy and Eggs

3x   ASDA British Whole Milk 6 Pints (3.41L)                                              £4.44

1x   ASDA Free Range Medium Eggs (12)                                                  £1.65

1x   Willow Block (250g)                                                                            80p

2x   ASDA Smartprice Low Fat Natural Yogurt (500g)                                 90p

1x   ASDA Smartprice Mature White Cheddar (830g)                                  £3.69

Packets and Cereals

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

1x   ASDA Wholemeal Bread Flour (1.5Kg)                                                 69p

1x   ASDA Smartprice Long Grain Rice (1Kg)                                             45p

1x   ASDA Easy Bake Yeast (6 per pack - 42g)                                          59p

1x   ASDA Wholewheat Penne (500g)                                                         45p

1x   ASDA Dried Red Lentils (500g)                                                            95p

1x   ASDA Scottish Porridge Oats (1Kg)                                                     99p

Fruit and Vegetables

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

19   ASDA Grower's Selection Royal Gala Apples by Weight (Approx 160g) £4.56

1     ASDA Grower's Selection Leeks by Weight (315g)                               55.1p

1     ASDA Grower's Selection Butternut Squash by Weight (1.3Kg)             97.3p

3x   ASDA Grower's Selection Whole Cucumber                                         £1.65

2x   ASDA Grower's Selection Celery                                                         £1.10

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

1x   ASDA Grower's Selection Spring Onions                                              55p

1x   ASDA Grower's Selection Sweet Potatoes (1Kg)                                  £1.20

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

1x   ASDA Grower's Selection Pears (1.2Kg)                                              £2.00

1x   ASDA Grower's Selection Swede                                                         50p

22   ASDA Grower's Selection Loose Carrot by Weight (135g)                     £1.70

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

1x   ASDA Farm Stores White Potatoes (2.5Kg)                                          £1.25

1x   ASDA Farm Stores Mixed Peppers (3)                                                 99p

Meat, Fish and Poultry

1     ASDA Butcher's Selection Free Range Whole Chicken by Weight (1.5Kg)       £4.87

I purchased our shopping online from Asda via My Supermarket and the cost of our 35 items was £51.44, had I opted for another supermarket our shopping list would've cost:

£53.77 from Morrisons
£56.62 from Sainsbury's
£57.27 from Lidl
£67.98 from Waitrose
£80.35 from Tesco

My lovely blogging buddy Ciara from My Fussy Eater has created a fab Meal Planning Facebook Group so we can inspire each other. She also has a book coming out in April which you can pre-order here. 

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.