To ask what you make for dinners

[Chocolateanddiamonds]

Recently saw a thread on there about how much is spent on the monthly food shop. It made me have a look at mines and it made me ill. I haven't been doing a big shop as such lately so lots of little ones which is clearly isn't working.
I'm currently pregnant and been off alot of smells and foods lately but it's much better now. What I'm off is spending over £400 a month on food for dh, 1yo and myself.

Tomorrow I will be doing a "big" shop and fill the freezer etc but can't think of a good range of meals.
I'm bored of spag bol, sheppards pie etc and in dire need of inspiration.

We eat a lot of veggie food and some fish:

Red lentil bolognese with spaghetti
Chickpea (and chicken for DC) tagine with rice
Prawn korma with rice
Tofu pad Thai
Vegetable sausages with jacket potatoes
Mac cheese with chopped spinach
Salmon with sesame seeds and coconut rice
Cod in tomato and thyme sauce

We had salmon fillets with miso paste rubbed on and rice and a pack of stir fry veg

Ooh I love these threads! Will keep an eye on it

We have

A lot of pasta and pasta bakes
Pork, dauphinois potatoes and green veg
Sausage and mash with veg and gravy
Chicken and veg stir fry
Thai green curry
Burger and chips as a treat

We shop at Aldi and that saves a fortune. Some faves in our house are new potatoes with chorizo sautéed with spices with some veg on the side, homemade korma with rice, spicy meatballs in a tomato sauce. We buy chicken thighs and make the tomato sauce for pasta/meatballs etc from scratch with one of the hairy bikers books.
We also make soup in an electric soup thingy and have that with hunks of bread. Pressure cooker for pulses, chickpeas, lentils etc with a spicy sauce.
I could go on But we are a family of four, three adults and a teen. Dd who's 18 is a vegetarian. Shockingly we spent £83 at Aldi this morning but there was all the cleaning stuff as well.

This week we had:

Sunday - Roast beef + trimmings
Monday - beef and veg pie
Tuesday - meatballs and pasta and tomato basil sauce
Wednesday - baked chicken and veg in a tomato sauce and cous cous
Thursday - salmon, salad and homemade chips
Friday - chilli con carne and rice
Saturday - chilli con carne and homemade chips and salad.

Oh and homemade burgers that we add red peppers and coriander too for extra flavour, in a poncey brioche bun with pan fried potato slices.

Baked potato with cottage cheese / tuna / whatever you fancy.
Stuffed baked potato ( scoop out the insides when they're about ready, mash up in a bowl with some grated cheese, chopped ham or grilled bacon bits, & stuff it all back in. Back in the oven for a few minutes until it looks nice.
French bread pizza.
Pasta & pesto with vegetables (peas, green beans or broccoli) which are cooked in the same pan, maybe some leftover roast chicken if we have any.
Frog & toad in the hole (sausage & whole onions in the Yorkshire pudding batter - cheap so it goes further). With veg & gravy.
In summer I also make big bowlfuls of salads such as tabbouleh, Greek salad etc. They last a couple of days in the fridge. Dinner is then really easy as we can just wash & cut up some green leaves etc, & bread to go with it.
Minestrone. Easy to make, economical as I tend to chuck a lot of slightly sad veg in, plus a load of herbs. Stick it in the fridge once cool & reheat a bowlful as needed.

Oh and more I love these threads we buy frozen salmon fillets, drizzle with a little oil and pepper, wrap them in tin foil parcels, cook and eat with salad.

@SluttyButty how long will your £83 shop last you.
I was in tesco yesterday spent £57 and couldn't tell you what on, i had to defrost food a previously made sauce out the freezer for dinner as I had nothing

I make a lot of traybakes...takes about an hour or more in the oven but prep takes no time at all.

I do....

Sausage traybake
Onions, peppers, courgette, sweet or normal potatoes, sausages, olive oil and a drizzle of balsamic...roast in oven.

Pork and apple.

Pork steaks/chops, sliced potatoes, quartered apples, sprinkle with dried sage, olive oil and lemon juice...roast in oven.

Then numerous chicken ones of any veg/chicken/spice combo.

Some faves here are
Tomato sausages with mash and veg.
Homemade lasagne.
Spicy tomato and vegetable gnocchi.
Chicken wraps with salad and rice.
Homemade curry.
Homemade mac cheese.
Pork loin steaks with veg.
Turkey stir fry with noodles or rice.

These suggestions are just brilliant. I'm writing up a list for tomorrow. Thanks

Chicken and veg spicy rice
Jacket potatoes with cheese/beans/tuna
Cod topped with pesto, serve with sweet potato mash/wedges and veg
Chicken stuffed with cheese then wrapped in bacon with mash or salad
Chicken or veg fajitas
Chorizo and lentil stew
Chilli
Breaded chicken, sweet potato wedges & salad
Toad in the hole
Curry ( sweet potato, spinach and chick pea is a fave here with dc)
Pasta with pesto and peas
Sweet chilli salmon ( for me & dh) plain salmon for the dc with sweet potato fries and veg or salad
Home made pizza ( you can even buy frozen pizza dough)
Meatballs in a tomato sauce with garlic bread

For me what's quite important to reduce cost is reducing waste. So if you plan a meal with butternut squash in it but know you won't use the full thing then make sure you plan a second meal with it.
We also freeze all leftovers, even if it's a tiny amount, you can then use loads up on "leftovers" night - brilliant for fussy eaters too.
I also try to limit meals with meat in them. I use the Waitrose and BBC goodfood websites to find quick veggie meals - both of them are good for filtering recipes.

Tuna pasta-pasta, onion, sweetcorn, passata, basil and tuna.
Cottage pie
Spagetti bolognaise
Jacket potatoes
Sausage and mash
Leek and potato soup and part baked bread
bacon pasta-(see tuna pasta but maybe with peas). I use the cheap cooking bacon for this.
Bacon and leek pie-leeks in a white sauce and bacon topped with mash and cheese
sausage pie-sausages cut in half with onions, covered in tinned tomatoes and garlic, topped with mash and cheese (it's a favourite)
cod in parsley sauce, mash and peas (just boil the fish in milk then add parsley)
Boiled egg and marmite soldiers
pizza and salad
chicken nuggets/fishfingers and oven chips/quick cook packet rice with peas or mixed veg/beans
Frozen pie, mash and carrots
faggots, mash and baked beans

Tuna bolognaise sauce over mung bean spaghetti with Parmesan. Wild salmon with mayo, lemon and rosemary under the grill served over microwaved quinoa and a red onion/tomato salad. Tuna/veg/cheese traybake. Chicken paprika with wholewheat couscous & veg.

Pork belly strips/sausages, sauerkraut and mash
Spag bol
Chilli
Kedgeree
Caribbean chicken, brown beans, green beans and rice
Chicken Cacciatore, polenta
Pasta, courgettes, peppers, aubergine maybe with lardons
Cauli cheese
Cottage pie
Pork chops, mash and green veg
Pasta, king prawns, courgette and cream cheese
Couscous with roasted veg
Smoked mackerel, new potato, watercress salad
Steak frites, peas/corn on the cob
Thai green or red curry
Lamb/duck/game, spiced red cabbage, mash

Tbh we don't meal plan. I shop nearly every day and we just make whatever we feel like, or base dinner around what needs using up, what was on offer, what's in season (so what we received in our weekly veg pack)

Oh yeah and turkey/beef meatballs fryed then a jar of bolognaise sauce on spagetti for a quick cheap meal

Oooh @SluttyButty fellow Aldi disciple here. I literally go through the receipts on the way home with DP saying 'do you know how much more that would have cost in Tesco?'. He's given up feigning interest at this point and just ignores.

I actually look at what Aldi/Lidl/Tesco have on offer that week and try and think of nice things to make that would involve those to save money.

Off the top of my head...

Satay chicken with saucy noodles
Filled pancakes with veg (not findus, no horse was harmed in the making of my pancakes)
Bacon and cabbage with parsley sauce
Tarragon Chicken/Turkey
Fajitas
Cannelloni (useful for using up leftover bolognese sauce and lovely with spinach and ricotta)
Quesadillas and sweet potato wedges and salad
Chicken risotto with peanuts
Lasagne
Chicken, Bacon and thyme casserole with cheesy dumplings
Beef Bourgignon
Toad in the hole

Seconding the huge bowls of salad thing. Grilled anything is lovely with a nice bit of greek salad.

Mushroom and bacon creamy pasta...so easy. Fry up some chopped up bacon and mushrooms mix with pasta and add garlic and herb cream cheese to make a sauce.

@Chocolateanddiamonds that will last us until next Saturday minimum.

I always make double quantities of the tomato sauce and freeze but it's so cheap ingredient wise but takes a while to cook (not prepare).it literally contains tinned toms, onions, garlic, red wine, water and a pinch of sugar. But it's a great stop gap that you can chuck any leftovers in.

Ooh just thought of my other leftover user upper, a frittata, any leftover chicken or peppers or bacon get chucked in. And if dh has cooked steak on a Saturday which he's currently in the kitchen cooking now and he's bought bagged chunky frozen chips rather than made some potato creation from scratch; then I'll cook those and chuck them in the frittata, same goes for left over roast potatoes.

This week we’ve had...

Paprika breadcrumbed chicken with garlic potatoes and salad

Cheesy lentil stuffed jacket potatoes and leftover salad

Slow cooked gammon, mash, peas and carrots

Broccoli, pea and tuna cheesy pasta

Roast chicken, chips and salad

Vegetable curry (sweet potato, lentils, chickpeas etc.), wild rice and naan bread

Lentil bolognese with spaghetti and garlic bread

Breakfasts are toast and cereal with fresh fruit, lunch is usually beans on toast or sandwiches, for snacks we only have fruit.

We do all our shopping online with Sainsbury’s and I make sure we stay within our budget of £350 a month - this feeds me, my DH and our DD (aged 2) and we all have VERY healthy appetites, we love large portions! It also includes all cleaning products, nappies/wipes, toiletries etc.

We used to spend ridiculous amounts on shopping but I find shopping online and banning the DH from popping into the local co-op all the time has saved us a huge amount.

Place marking!

I'll be back later for a proper read and to add any of our staple meals which aren't already mentioned.

Sun - ribs with baked pots & coleslaw
Mon - tuna pasta
Tues - salmon traybake
Wed - veal escalope & roasted gnocchi
Thurs - Lamb and new potatoes
Fri - curried cod & rice
Sat - pork burgers with coleslaw

We are £100 a week but happy with that. 2 adults, 2 children. All food has to be prepared from scratch due to allergies. We use a fishmonger, butcher & Waitrose.

Allergies: dairy, egg, soya, nuts, legumes, bananas, avocados, asparagus, raw tomatoes, strawberries, coconut oil.

Loving these ideas. Wrote most down. Won't be stuck for ideas for a good while now!