OUR FAMILY MEAL PLAN FOR WEEK OF 10/09/18 - £60

Everyone is properly back to school and Nursery so it will be the first full week in routine.  I'm sure we'll all be completely knackered by Friday.  Back to our usual schedule means that on a Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at least one of our children will need an early dinner or one that can be easily reheated later on.  

The weather is cool enough now for the older ones to have a cup of soup, with homemade bread, after school as a snack.  This stops them from being quite so 'hangry' and gives them an extra potion of vegetables which is never a bad thing.  I've made Vegetable and Pearl Barley Soup and Tomato Soup then frozen portions in silicone muffin cases ready to defrost and serve in a mug for each person.

Breakfasts on weekdays will be porridge with homemade compote, a good hearty start to the day which will hopefully keep them going until morning break.  Weekend breakfasts will be pancakes and scrambled eggs on toast.

Packed lunches will be Pull Apart Picnic Bread with crudites/homemade vegetable crisps, a piece of fruit, and a baked treat. 

Weekend lunches will be Versatile and Thrifty Flatbreads and 10 Minute Spicy Bean Burgers.

Dinners

Vegetable Fried Rice (using brown rice)

Sausage and Roast Vegetable Traybake with steamed greens

Spicy Slow Cooker Lentil and Chickpea Soup

1 ½ cups green lentils

1 onion, finely diced

1 inch knob of fresh ginger, finely grated

2 cloves garlic, minced or finely grated

3 carrots, roughly diced

2 peppers, roughly diced

400g tin chopped tomatoes

1 litre vegetable stock

1 Tblsp chilli powder, use more or less to your taste

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp cinnamon

salt and pepper to taste

1 Tblsp fresh lemon juice

400g tin chickpeas, drained

Put all of the ingredients, apart from the chickpeas and lemon juice, into your slow cooker and stir to combine. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-6 hours.  Add the lemon juice and chickpeas, stir well and cook for a further 30 minutes until the chickpeas have heated through.  Season to taste then serve in bowls, garnish with fresh herbs if you like, and have some flatbreads on the side.

One Pot Pepper and Chorizo Spaghetti

Lentil and Vegetable Curry

Leftover Curry Pasties

Potato and Vegetable Bake

Shopping List

36 items: £60.19

Packets and Cereals

1x     ASDA Wholewheat Spaghetti (500g)         45p

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

1x     ASDA Good and Balanced Green Lentils (500g)         £1.15

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

2x     ASDA Scottish Porridge Oats (1Kg)         £1.78

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

Frozen

2x     ASDA Frozen for Freshness Mixed Vegetables (1Kg)         £1.90

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

Tins, Jars and Cooking

3x     ASDA Smartprice Chopped Tomatoes in Tomato Juice (400g)         87p

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

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

1x     ASDA Double Concentrated Tomato Puree (200g)         37p

1x     ASDA Black Beans in Water (400g)         65p

Dairy and Eggs

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

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

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

Fruit and Vegetables

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

2x     ASDA Grower's Selection Carrots (1Kg)         £1.30

2       ASDA Grower's Selection Butternut Squash by Weight (1.3Kg)         £1.95

4x     ASDA Grower's Selection Whole Cucumber         £2.20

1x     ASDA Grower's Selection Celery         52p

1x     ASDA Grower's Selection Courgettes (3)         95p

1x     ASDA Grower's Selection Beetroot Bunched (500g)         £1.60

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

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

4x     ASDA Farm Stores Pears (500g)         £3.00

2x     ASDA Chosen by Kids Easy Peasy Peelers (500g)         £2.30

2x     ASDA Grower's Selection Broccoli (360g)         £1.16

1x     ASDA Grower's Selection Swede         50p

1x     ASDA Farm Stores Brown Onions (1Kg)         65p

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

2x     ASDA Farm Stores Seedless Grapes (500g)         £2.50

2x     ASDA Farm Stores Plums (400g)         £1.58

2x     ASDA Grower's Selection Cooking Peppers (700g)         £2.70

Meat, Fish and Poultry

1x     ASDA Extra Special Chorizo Casero Sausage (225g)         £1.85

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

We purchased our shopping online from Asda, via My Supermarket and the cost of our groceries was £60.19. Had we shopped elsewhere our shopping list would've cost:

£65.64 from Tesco

£66.16 from Sainsburys

£73.58 from Ocado

£73.89 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. She also has a book out which you can order here. 

And Katykicker has a Meal Planning Linky full of fabulous Meal Planning posts with lots of tasty ideas.