OUR FAMILY MEAL PLAN FOR WEEK OF 11/06/18 - £71

It's a proper back to routine week this week, our 11yo is back from her week long residential and we've all the usual after school and evening activities.  I'm battling a cold, as is 3yo so I want low fuss meals, with plenty of vegetables to see us through the week.

It's Healthy Eating week at the primary school that our youngest two attend so we've been talking about how we can eat even more vegetables and whole grains.  I try and make sure that we have reached our 5 a day by lunchtime each day.  We have one or two servings of fruit with breakfast, with a serving of whole grains, then at lunchtime there's 2 - 3 servings of vegetables in the form of crudites and a piece of fresh fruit, along with more whole grains.  Dinner also includes 2 - 3 servings of vegetables and quite often some pulses or lentils too. 

Our 11yo would like us to eat 4 meatfree meals a week so I'm going to try and aim for that in our meal plans from now on.  Some of the rest of the family aren't as keen, but if I make the meals tasty enough I'm sure they'll not be bothered by the lack of meat.

My blogging friend Jac has co-written a book called Living on the Veg: A kids' guide to life without meat which I will be reviewing this week.  It's a brilliant book which is aimed at kids who are new to, or thinking about, becoming vegetarian.  All of my girls have read the book and thought it was fab.  It's what prompted our 11yo to ask for more meatfree meals and I'm very glad she has. 

Breakfasts this week will be wheat biscuits with milk and sliced fruit, with pancakes on one weekend day and wholemeal soda bread on the other.

Packed lunches will be Quick Vegetable Tagine with pearl barley instead of couscous topped with a little herbed yoghurt, with a baked treat and piece of fruit for afters.  Cook the pearl barley by rinsing thoroughly until the water runs clear. Put into a saucepan with cold water or vegetable stock. I use a ratio of one part pearl barley to three parts water or stock. Bring to the boil and boil for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for a further 30 minutes or so until tender. Drain if necessary, then use or freeze in batches for later use. One cup of pearl barley will yield 2 - 3 cups of cooked pearl barley.

Weekend Lunches will be Twice Baked Potatoes and Homemade Pizzas, both served with salads.

Dinners

Family Sized Vegetable and Lentil Pastry Roll

One Pot Orzo Bolognese

500g minced beef, or vegetarian mince
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 peppers, diced
330g dried orzo pasta
500ml pasta sauce, homemade or store bought
600ml vegetable stock
300g frozen peas
300g frozen corn
100g cheddar cheese, grated

Put a large frying pan on to a medium-high heat and cook the mince until it is no longer pink, breaking up clumps as you do so. 

Add the diced onion, minced garlic, and diced peppers to the pan then cook for a few minutes until the onion and peppers soften.

Add the orzo, pasta sauce and stock to the pan then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is cooked and all of the stock has been absorbed. Stir through the frozen peas and corn, cook until these have heated through. Stir through the grated cheese then serve.

Roast Chicken with roast vegetables, steamed greens, and Yorkshire puddings

Roast Vegetable Frittata

Add 300g frozen peas and 300g frozen sweetcorn to leftover roasted vegetables in an ovenproof dish. Add enough beaten egg to coat the vegetables and sprinkle over some grated cheese. Bake at 180°C for around 45 minutes or until the egg has totally set. I'll be serving the frittata with wilted greens.

 

Chicken and Orzo Bake

2 onions, diced

2 peppers, diced (any colour will do)

1 clove garlic, minced

170g dried orzo pasta

500ml chicken stock

300g leftover cooked chicken

200g cherry tomatoes, halved

Preheat your oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. Mix together all of the ingredients in a large baking dish until well combined. My Pyrex baking dish measures 9 x 12 inches (23 x 33cm). Put the casserole dish in the preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve with steamed greens or mixed vegetables.

Quick Bean Chilli with sweet potato wedges

Saag Aloo served with mango chutney and homemade flatbreads

Shopping List

41 items: £71.15

Packets and Cereals

3x   ASDA Smartprice Wheat Bisks (24x18g)                                   £2.22

1x   ASDA Orzo (500g)                                                                    65p

1x   ASDA Good and Balanced Pearl Barley (500g)                           55p

1x   ASDA Ready Rolled Light Puff Pastry (375g)                             £1.00

Tins, Jars and Cooking

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

1x   ASDA Smartprice Red Kidney Beans in Water (400g)                 30p

3x   ASDA Chick Peas in Water (400g)                                            99p

1x   ASDA Mango Chutney (240g)                                                    £1.00

6x   KTC Chopped Tomatoes in Tomato Juice (400g)                       £1.60

2x   Merchant Gourmet Ready to Eat Puy Lentils (250g)                   £4.00

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

1x   ASDA Haricot Beans in Water (400g)                                        55p

Frozen

1x   ASDA Frozen for Freshness Mixed Vegetables (1Kg)                 85p

1x   ASDA Smartprice Peas (1Kg)                                                    76p

1x   ASDA Frozen for Freshness Sweetcorn (1Kg)                            85p

Dairy and Eggs

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

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

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

1x   ASDA Mature Cheddar Cheese - Light (750g)                            £3.65

Fruit and Vegetables

3x   ASDA Grower's Selection British Spring Greens (500g)              £2.04

2x   ASDA Grower's Selection Salad Tomatoes (750g)                      £2.30

25   ASDA Grower's Selection Bananas                                            £3.00

30   ASDA Grower's Selection Royal Gala Apples                             £6.00

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

1     ASDA Grower's Selection Butternut Squash by Weight (1.3Kg)  97p

3x   ASDA Grower's Selection Whole Cucumber                               £1.50

1x   ASDA Grower's Selection Iceberg Lettuce                                 50p

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

1x   ASDA Grower's Selection Garlic (3)                                           55p

1x   ASDA Grower's Selection Sweet Potatoes (1Kg)                        £1.00

3x   ASDA Grower's Selection Satsumas (600g)                               £3.00

4x   ASDA Farm Stores Pears (500g)                                               £3.20

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

1x   ASDA Farm Stores Brown Onions (1Kg)                                    55p

2x   ASDA Farm Stores White Potatoes (2.5Kg)                               £2.30

2x   ASDA Farm Stores Round Lettuce                                             80p

1x   ASDA Farm Stores White Mushrooms (300g)                            68p

2x   ASDA Grower's Selection Washed Baby Spinach (300g)            £1.60

3x   ASDA Farm Stores Mixed Peppers (3)                                       £2.97

Meat, Fish and Poultry

1x   ASDA Butcher's Selection Beef Mince - 12% Fat (500g)             £2.28

1x   ASDA Butcher's Selection Whole Chicken (1.6Kg)                     £3.28

Prices and special offers reflect those of the online grocery website My Supermarket, and are correct as of 10th June 2018. Prices may vary in different in-store locations.

We purchased our groceries online via Asda on My Supermarket, spending £71.15, had we chosen to shop elsewhere our items would've cost:

£79.17 from Morrisons

£81.40 from Sainsbury's

£84.52 Tesco

£93.20 from Waitrose

£96.42 from Ocado

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.