AIBU to think that this is perfectly adequate?

[CocacolaMum]

We have had a few surprise incidents this week resulting in some large household bills. We aren't panicking as we had a contingency in place (thank god!) but it made me look at how much I have been spending recently and its too much - especially on food!

In an effort to cut back a little bit I have decided that we could stop eating a lot of meat at every meal. So an average week would be something like this
Mon - Omelette (2 eggs, pepper, chorizo, cheese, onion, spinach and sweetcorn) and homemade wedges

Tuesday - Sausage casserole and mash

Weds - Fish and pasta and salad

Thurs - Jacket potato and beans and veg sticks

Fri - shepherds pie

Sat - BBQ Chicken Lasagne and salad

Sun - one pot casserole thing (I have a pack of meat I suspect is pork in the freezer)

I was talking about this with my mum this morning and she said that I cannot give my husband and kids Omelette or jacket spud after a hard day at school/work and it was a bit dull looking(!) and I need to have a rethink. I think the above is alright, could be healthier probably but I cannot see any major issues? AIBU to a) think I should be able to feed my family without my mother feeling the need to give her opinion (not asked for by the way, she happened to see the whiteboard the above was written on) and b) to think that as I do tend to pack veg into the meals they are ok nutritionally?!

Oh yes I want to now about the lentils in mince too please!

I've started buying tiny packs of lamb mince (which is cheaper as well as more easy to digest than beef) and bulking out the batch with veggies of all description. Easiest way by far to stock the freezer and trick ds into eating pretty much anything. lentils would be the logical next step! How long do they need to cook? I tend to slow cook mince anyways so it can be bubbling while I bath ds/tidy up etc.

Another cheapy meal I do is a pack of smoked trout from Lidl (Aldi probs have them too) which is £1.89, frozen and then when we're ready for this meal I pop it in the oven wrapped in foil with olive oil and chopped veg (courgette or mushroom and grapes, whatever's easiest/cheapest/leftover) for 30mins, then chuck it in with some pasta and ground black pepper. Feeds all 3 of us with just one pack and everyone likes it (it feels quite 'posh' too, to me!)

Similarly and even less faff sometimes we warm through some smoked mackerel with gently heated creme fraiche and a bit of lemon, plus pasta. (Again I feel quite posh eating this but mackerel is cheap).

Or I grill a bit of mackerel with sweet potato wedges and serve with beet root (cheap cooked kind) and salad.

My dad used to do chicken/turkey lasagne (especially after Christmas!) and also quite often tuna lasagne (nice with some sweet corn or veg mixed in). Tuna used to be a nice cheap protein option but it has gone up in price in the last 5years so I guess it depends on whether you can get some at reasonable price. I have yet to meet a child who doesn't absolutely love it though!

I'm planning to get into fish cakes as that uses a small piece of fairly expensive protein (eg cod or salmon) but bulks it out with something cheaper (eg potato, veg).

Oh and YANBU - a lighter evening meal is healthier anyway!

Cococola mum do u add tomatoes or not as u use bbq sauce?

Sounds really nice. I've got my grandbrats trained to enjoy veg. curries too - really really easy and great to use up odds and ends of veg. left in the fridge. Also add dried beans (but soak first, as per directions), if you have any.

Those meals are fine and perfectly healthy.

Your mum sound like mine. She freaked out so much when I gave my kids cheese on toast for their tea that you'd have thought I was serving up cold gruel.

I think your mum's views are from a different generation. In fact I'd add more vegetables to the meals you mention, or do you serve them with the shepherd's pie and sausage casserole and mash? Also you're not actually cutting back a lot on meat if you serve it 4 times a week.

You could add potato to the omelette and make a tortilla, yum.

Sounds fine to me. We often have a jacket potato or an omelette for an evening meal, especially if it is one of the evenings DD has to be out early for her part time job because she can cook her own and DH and I do ours later

Bugger all wrong with your menu, it sounds lovely. Agree she's coming from a different time.

My DH has an appetite and would love that omlette! Btw, is it a two-egg omlette to share or two-egg omlette each?

Butternut squash is lovely and cheap and we make a good curry with this. Normally add prawns but if I cook it in the week leading up to pay day we either do it with chicken or just have it on its own,

Lentils cooked and added to some softened onion/ celery/carrot/pancetta/garlic and seasoned with olive oil and salt and pepper are very economical and filling.

How much lentils would you use per person?

sounds fine. i have found my eldest charge since starting school eats less in the evenings now for some reason. often he'l just have a jacket with beans and cheese, or soup and bread, then fruit or yoghurt.

can i offer a delish chicken lasagne recipe too
chopped chicken breast with onion and garlic, pasatta (or chopped tomatoes), paprika, chilli flakes and mixed herbs (u dont need all of them, but i generally make most my meals with chilli, so i always put chilli flakes in, the other 2 depends on mood and if stocked) and spinach as your meat layers and for my white sauce (i dont like the jars as have nutmeg in or something weird that i dont like the taste off). butter, garlic puree, cream cheese, milk, flour.
layer and then with grated cheese.

i have also made tinned tuna one with same sauce as above but that was a one off

Gosh really depends on what else you are serving with it! The lentils are great the next day cold, so make say 80g per person? You can always eat leftovers.