Our Family Meal Plan for week of 16/04/18 - £70

I am really glad that the children are back to school and routine this week, it has been quite a challenging 17 days of school holidays this time around.  I don't know about you but my children tend to develop ravenous appetites during the school holidays, I swear they eat more than the All Blacks rugby team at the moment.

Of course the weather is much better this week, after being generally grim and damp for the two weeks of school holiday.  Our gardens have loved all the rain though and our salad greens, rhubarb and chard are all growing very well indeed as is the herb patch.  This means we've free, freshly picked food to add to our meals this week which is delicious and most welcome.

Our dinners this week are quick, low faff and tasty.  Everyone will be exhausted after the first week back at school and I need to be able to serve dinner early if necessary depending on grumpiness levels.  After a long day at work and school, nobody wants to be waiting an age for dinner to cook and be served up.

Meal Plan 

Breakfasts will be overnight oats or granola with a piece of fruit for afters.  I'll do fruit bread and pancakes on the weekend.

Packed lunches will be Storecupboard Salad and crudites for some of the week and egg salad sandwiches and crudites for the rest of the week both with herbed yoghurt dip. 

Snacks will be homemade popcorn, flapjacks, and fresh fruit.

Dinners

Pizza Beans - Meatfree Monday hearty dinner served with salad greens

Fish parcels - fish and vegetables cooked in foil parcels, accompanied by sweet potato wedges

Mini Frittatas with potato salad and coleslaw

Honey Soy Chicken with Steamed Vegetables and Rice

1kg chicken drumsticks

2 Tblsp soy sauce

1 Tblsp honey

1 tsp tomato paste

1 Tblsp oil

1 Tblsp mustard, I usually use Dijon mustard

Make a few slashes into each chicken portion. This will help the marinade penetrate the chicken and also help it cook faster.

Mix together all the marinade ingredients, pour over the chicken and make sure the chicken is thoroughly coated. Leave to marinate for half an hour at room temperature or overnight in the fridge.

Preheat your oven to 200C/180C Fan. Put the chicken into a roasting dish and bake for 35 - 45 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. We'll be having ours with rice and steamed vegetables.

Quesadillas with coleslaw and sweet potato wedges

12 tortillas, wholemeal wraps or burritos (Store bought or homemade)
2 tins chilli beans

2 peppers, any colour will do (finely sliced)

1 tin sweetcorn, drained
1 spring onion, white and green parts chopped
A couple of large handfuls of grated cheese

Preheat a non-stick frying pan or sandwich press. Top four of the tortillas with the chilli beans, drained sweetcorn, chopped peppers, spring onion, and grated cheese. Cover with remaining tortillas to make a tortilla sandwiches.

Spray frying pan with a little oil. Cook tortillas one at a time in frying pan. Cook on one side for 2 or 3 minutes, then turn and cook the other side for another 2 or 3 minutes, or until the fillings are hot and the cheese has melted. Repeat with the other three tortillas. Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.

Potato and Vegetable Bake with Sausages

Oven Baked Risotto

Shopping List

46 items: £70.33

Packets and Cereals

1x   Cypressa Popping Corn (500g) *unavailable                          £1.00

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

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

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

1x   ASDA Smartprice Sultanas (500g)                                        88p

1x   ASDA Lemon Juice (250ml)                                                  39p

1x   ASDA Arborio Risotto Rice (500g)                                         £1.25

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

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

Tins, Jars and Cooking

2x   ASDA Smartprice Chopped Tomatoes (400g)                        58p

2x   ASDA Butter Beans in Water (400g)                                      90p

2x   ASDA Smartprice Sweetcorn in Water (326g)                        70p

1x   ASDA Real Mayonnaise (500ml)                                           70p

1x   ASDA Borlotti Beans in Water (400g)                                    50p

1x   ASDA Cannellini Beans in Water (400g)                                40p

2x   ASDA Chilli Beans in Chilli Sauce (390g)                               £1.30

1x   ASDA Haricot Beans in Water (400g)                                    50p

Dairy and Eggs

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

3x   ASDA Smartprice Low Fat Natural Yogurt (500g)                   £1.35

1x   ASDA Butter - Unsalted (250g)                                             £1.45

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

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

Meat, Fish and Poultry

1x   ASDA Farm Stores Cooking Bacon (500g)                            57p

1x   ASDA Extra Special Pork Sausages (10 per pack - 750g)      £4.00

Fruit and Vegetables

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

25   ASDA Grower's Selection Royal Gala Apples                         £4.56

4x   ASDA Grower's Selection Whole Cucumber                           £2.20

2x   ASDA Grower's Selection Iceberg Lettuce                             £1.20

2x   ASDA Grower's Selection Celery                                           £1.10

1x   ASDA Grower's Selection Garlic Loose                                 25p

2x   ASDA Grower's Selection Spring Onions                               £1.10

2x   ASDA Grower's Selection Sweet Potatoes (1Kg)                    £2.40

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

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

3x   ASDA Grower's Selection Plums (750g)                                £3.00

2x   ASDA Grower's Selection Broccoli (360g)                             £1.10

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 Round Lettuce                                        45p

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

1     ASDA Grower's Selection White Cabbage (Approx 1.2Kg)      78p

Frozen

1x   ASDA Smartprice Peas (1Kg)                                               76p

1x   ASDA White Fish Fillets (540g)                                             £2.50

1x   ASDA Chicken Drumsticks (1.1Kg)                                       £2.50

Bakery

2x   ASDA Mexican Style Wholemeal Tortillas (8)                        £1.50

Snacks and Sweets

2x   ASDA Fruit Mix (200g)                                                          £2.00

We purchased our groceries on 15/04/18 from Asda via My Supermarket.  Had we shopped elsewhere our items would've cost:

£75.69 from Sainsbury's

£78.13 from Morrison's

£90.71 from Waitrose

£102.27 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 out in April which you can 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.