OUR FAMILY MEAL PLAN FOR WEEK OF 23/04/18 - £71

My goodness the weather was hot last week! Our weather went from damp and cold the week before, to scorching and dry with several days in mid 20C's and one day was 28C.  Thankfully this week is much more in line with normal April temperatures. 

It's our eldest daughters birthday his week, her 18th, so she's chosen the dinner for that evening.  She's even insisted on baking her own birthday cake.  We've a school trip to London this week too, a long day with extra lunch and snacks required.  And a couple of play dates too, thankfully they're easy to cater for.

Our garden has really grown well this past week with the warmer temperatures so we've plenty of salad greens, rainbow chard and rhubarb to add to our meal plan along with fresh herbs.

Breakfasts this week will be homemade granola with yoghurt and rhubarb and apple compote.  Weekend breakfasts will probably be pancakes on one of the days and perhaps waffles or crumpets the other day.

Packed lunches will be falafel wraps, packed with salad leaves from our garden, accompanied by crudites and herbed yoghurt dip, with a piece of fruit and baked treat for afters.  I'll be making the wraps for the lunches and also the buns for the fish burgers.

Weekend lunches will be twice baked potatoes and on Saturday, and we're going out for lunch at friends on Sunday.  I'll be bringing the drinks and pudding.

Dinners

Vegetable and Bean Hotpot - Meatfree Monday 

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 pepper, diced

2 sticks celery, finely sliced

2 courgettes, sliced

2 carrots, finely sliced

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

400g tin chopped tomatoes

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

2 x 400g tins haricot beans, drained

300ml vegetable stock

Put a large casserole pot over a moderate heat. Saute the onion and garlic until they start to soften.

Add the pepper, celery, courgettes, carrots and sweet potatoes. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. You may need to add a little water if the vegetables start to stick to the pan.

Add the tinned tomatoes, spices, haricot beans and stock. Stir well, bring to the boil then cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Check the hotpot every 15 minutes to ensure there is enough liquid in the pot, add a little more water or stock if necessary. Check the seasoning then serve.

Bacon and Egg Pie

500g puff pastry

2 spring onions, thinly sliced

6 rashers of bacon, rind removed and thinly sliced

8 free range eggs

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 200C/180 Fan.

Roll out 2/3 of the pastry on a floured surface until large enough to line a 25cm pie dish. Line the pie dish with the pastry. Sprinkle the chopped spring onion and half of the bacon over the pastry, crack in the eggs then sprinkle over the rest of the bacon.

Roll out the remaining pastry and use it to make a lid for the pie. Trim off any excess pastry and crimp the edges to seal. Cut 3 or 4 small vents into the lid of the pie, brush with milk and bake in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes until the pastry is dark golden and crispy.

Fish Burgers with Sweet Potato Wedges

3 spring onions finely sliced

400g fish fillets, finely chopped

1 Tblsp fresh herbs

Juice of half a lemon

1 free range egg

1 slice wholemeal bread made in to breadcrumbs

1 Tblsp flour

Thoroughly mix together the spring onion, fish herbs and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper then add the egg before mixing thoroughly once again.

Add he breadcrumbs and flour, mix until combined. You should have a firm but moist mixture, if the mixture is a little dry add more lemon juice.

Shape the mixture into burgers, we made 5, and grill or fry for 4 - 5 minutes on each side until cooked through. We serve ours in wholemeal buns with salad and some potato wedges on the side.

Roast Chicken with Roast Vegetables, Steamed Greens and Yorkshire Puddings

Chicken and Roast Vegetable Pasties

Leftover roast vegetables

100g other cooked vegetables

300g leftover roast chicken

1 or 2 tsp dried mixed herbs

1 egg, lightly beaten

500g shortcrust pastry, divided into 3 and rolled out into large squares

Preheat oven to 220°C.

Line an oven tray with baking paper.

Roughly mash the roast vegetables, stir through the other cooked vegetables, chicken and egg until combined. Season with salt and pepper.

Cut 12 squares from the pastry Spoon vegetable mixture evenly amongst pastry squares. Fold pastry squares in half to enclose filling. Crimp with a fork to seal.

Place on the lined tray and bake in oven for 15 – 20 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from oven and set aside to cool slightly before serving.

Chicken Stir Fry with Noodles

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Shopping List

41 items: £70.76

Packets and Cereals

1x   ASDA Wholewheat Spaghetti (500g)                                       45p

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

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

1x   ASDA Egg Noodles Medium (250g)                                        59p

1x   Allinson Easy Bake Yeast (100g)                                            98p

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

1x   ASDA Ready to Roll Puff Pastry (500g)                                  £1.00

1x   ASDA Ready to Roll Shortcrust Pastry (500g)                         £1.00

Tins, Jars and Cooking

1x   ASDA Smartprice Bolognese Sauce (440g)                             42p

1x   ASDA Smartprice Chopped Tomatoes in Tomato Juice (400g) 29p

1x   ASDA Smartprice Mayonnaise (500g)                                     40p

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

1x   ASDA Vegetable Bouillon Mix (150g)                                      £1.40

2x   ASDA Haricot Beans in Water (400g)                                      £1.00

Frozen

2x   ASDA Smartprice Mixed Vegetables (1Kg)                              £1.64

1x   ASDA Basa Fillets (450g)                                                       £2.50

1x   ASDA Beef Meatballs (640g)                                                  £2.50

Dairy and Eggs

3x   ASDA Semi Skimmed Milk 6 Pints (3.41L)                              £4.44

5x   ASDA Smartprice Low Fat Natural Yogurt (500g)                    £2.25

1x   ASDA Free Range Mixed Weight Eggs (15)                            £2.00

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

Fruit and Vegetables

2x   ASDA Grower's Selection Salad Tomatoes (750g)                   £2.50

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

25   ASDA Grower's Selection Royal Gala Apples                          £4.56

1     ASDA Grower's Selection Butternut Squash                            97.3p

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 Courgettes (3)                                90p

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

2x   ASDA Grower's Selection Pears (1.2Kg)                                 £4.00

2x   ASDA Grower's Selection Plums (750g)                                  £2.00

30   ASDA Grower's Selection Loose Carrot                                   £1.77

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

2x   ASDA Farm Stores White Potatoes (2.5Kg)                             £2.50

1x   ASDA Farm Stores Round Lettuce                                          45p

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

Meat, Fish and Poultry

2x   ASDA Farm Stores Cooking Bacon (500g)                              £1.14

1x   ASDA Butcher's Selection Whole Chicken (1.6Kg)                  £3.49

We purchased our groceries online from Asda via My Supermarket on 22/04/18 for £70.76, had we shopped elsewhere our groceries would've cost:

£81.49 from Sainsbury's
£93.16 from Waitrose
£97.78 from Ocado
£108.73 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, I have a copy and it is fab.  You can order a copy for yourself 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.