OUR FAMILY MEAL PLAN FOR WEEK OF 13/01/19 - £66

Our back to routine week last week didn't exactly go to plan.  Our 12yo was poorly all week, with what turned out to be flu, and I've got yet another cold.  Aside from more soups than planned, and some homemade Lemon, Honey and Ginger Drink we stuck to our Meal Plan fairly well.

Hopefully this week will be back to proper normal, and everyone will be well again.  We've a play date on Tuesday, as well as the usual evening/after school events so I've factored them all in to our Meal Plan for the week.

We're getting low on spices and stock cubes so I've added them to the list this week.  We've still got some plain and self raising flour in the cupboard so I'm not getting any this week.  I've added extra rice and some popping corn kernels so I can make rice pudding pots and popcorn for snacks.

Breakfasts will be cereal and hot milk or porridge, both with homemade fruit compote or sliced banana. Weekend breakfasts will be toast and pancakes.

Packed lunches will be 5 Ingredient Eggy Quinoa Cups twice, and Wholemeal Savoury Scone Swirls three times.  Packed lunches will include some Vegetable Crisps, a piece or two of fruit and a baked treat for afters.  Weekend Lunches will be soups from the freezer with homemade wholemeal bread rolls.  

Slow Cooker Bean Chilli

2 onions, peeled and finely diced
500g sweet potato, peeled and cut into roughly 2cm/¾in chunks
2 peppers, deseeded and finely diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 Tblsp sugar
200ml hot vegetable stock (made with 1 vegetable stock cube)
400g tin chopped tomatoes
2 x 390g tins red kidney beans in chilli sauce
400g tin mixed beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp mixed dried herbs

Put all the ingredients into a slow cooker. Stir well then cover with the lid and cook on high for 3–4 hours or low for 8–10 hours until the sauce has thickened and the sweet potato is tender.

Mixed Vegetable and Egg Fried Rice

Simple Chicken Casserole

2 Tblsp plain flour
1kg chicken thighs, bone in and skin on
2 Tblsp oil
2 onions, finely sliced
4 - 6 carrots, sliced into thick batons
2 tsp dried mixed herbs
500ml chicken stock

Preheat your oven to 160C/Gas Mark 3.  Season the flour with a little salt and pepper then coat the chicken thighs in the seasoned flour.  Heat the oil in a large, heavy based casserole dish over a high heat then brown the chicken thighs on all sides.  Add the vegetables, herbs, and enough stock to just cover everything.

Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and then put in the oven for one and a half to two hours until the chicken and vegetables are tender and soft.  We'll be serving ours with mashed potato and steamed greens.


Slow Cooker Vegetable Stew with Dumplings

500g sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into chunks
2 onions, thinly sliced
4 carrots, cut into chunks
3 parsnips, cut into chunks
2 Tblsp plain flour
400g tin chopped tomatoes
2 Tblsp tomato paste
350ml hot vegetable stock (made with 1 stock cube)

Dumplings:
200g self-raising flour
75g vegetarian suet (I used Trex)
125ml cold water

Put the prepared vegetables into the slow cooker. Sprinkle over the flour and stir to coat the vegetables. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste and stock. Stir well then cook on high for 4 hours.

Make the dumplings. Put the flour in a large mixing bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add the suet and rub into the flour until combined. Stir in enough cold water to bring the mixture together as a soft, dough. Divide into 12 equally sized pieces and roll each into a ball.

Remove the lid from the slow-cooker then arrange the dumplings gently on top. Replace the lid and continue to cook on high for a further 25-30 minutes, or until the dumplings are cooked through. We’ll be serving ours with steamed greens.

Homemade Fish and Chips

Homemade Pizzas

Toad in the Hole

Shopping List

47 items: £66.04

Packets and Cereals

2x       ASDA Smartprice Wheat Bisks (24x18g)          £1.48

2x       ASDA Wholemeal Bread Flour (1.5Kg)          £1.38

1x       Silver Spoon Granulated Sugar (500g)          54p

2x       ASDA Smartprice Long Grain Rice (1Kg)          90p

1x       ASDA Quinoa (300g)          £1.14

1x       ASDA Great to Bake Golden Syrup (750g)          £1.34

1x       Tropical Sun Popcorn (500g)          79p

1x       ASDA Scottish Porridge Oats (1Kg)          89p

Frozen

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

1x       Ibco Pangasius Fillets (800g)          £3.50

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

Tins, Jars and Cooking

2x       ASDA Smartprice Chopped Tomatoes in Tomato Juice (400g)          56p

1x       Rajah Haldi Ground Turmeric (100g)          67p

1x       Rajah Paprika (100g)          67p

1x       Rajah Jeera Ground Cumin (100g)          67p

1x       ASDA Smartprice Strawberry Jam (454g)          28p

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

1x       East End Ground Coriander (100g)          £1.15

1x       ASDA Stock Cubes - Chicken (12x10g)          43p

1x       ASDA Stock Cubes - Vegetable (12x10g)          39p

1x       TRS Cinnamon Powder (100g)          65p

1x       TRS Garam Masala (100g)          65p

1x       Rajah Ground Ginger (100g)          75p

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

1x       ASDA Mexican Style Bean Mix in Water (400g)          65p

Dairy and Eggs

2x       ASDA Semi Skimmed Milk 6 Pints (3.41L)          £2.96

1x       ASDA British Whole Milk 6 Pints (3.41L)          £1.48

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

1x       ASDA Butter - Unsalted (250g)          £1.49

1x       Trex Vegetable Fat (250g)          85p

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

Fruit and Vegetables

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

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

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

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

5x       ASDA Farm Stores Pears (500g)          £2.95

6x       ASDA Farm Stores Apples (500g)          £3.54

1x       ASDA Grower's Selection British Parsnips (500g)          54p

1x       ASDA Farm Stores Brown Onions (1Kg)          75p

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

1x       ASDA Grower's Selection Cooking Peppers (700g)          £1.45

1x       ASDA Grower's Selection Sweetclems (1.2Kg)          £1.80

1x       ASDA Grower's Selection Black Seedless Grapes (400g)          £1.00

1x       ASDA Grower's Selection Seedless Red Grapes (400g)          £1.00

1x       ASDA Farm Stores White Mushrooms (250g)          54p

Meat, Fish and Poultry

1x       ASDA Butcher's Selection Chicken Thighs (1.1Kg)          £2.09

2x       ASDA Extra Special Pork Sausages (6 per pack - 400g)          £4.00

We purchased our groceries online from Asda, via My Supermarket on 12/01/2019 and out items cost £66.04. Had we shopped elsewhere our shopping list would've cost:

£76.59 from Tesco

£80.50 from Sainsbury's

£101.16 from Ocado

£102.58 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.

8 comments Bread, Chicken, Dairy free, Dinners, Fish, Gluten-free, Lunches, Meal Plan, Meatfree Monday, Vegan, Vegetarian