To ask for your Family Dinner meal plans?

[Needsleep32]

We usually do Gousto but we need to curb our spending. I used to cook the same family dinners every single week (spag bol, jambalaya, Thai curry, lasagne etc) - just wondered if anyone can share some family dinner inspiration (cheaper the better)!

If it needs to be cheap, pick things that you can get a few meals out of ie

Sun: Roast chicken and veg
Mon: chicken pie
Tue: chicken curry
Wed: chicken soup

Top them up with veg. Put some in the freezer then do the same with a different meat/flavours so you have a load in the freezer to pick from so it doesn't get samey.

During lockdown I got about 11 meals (2 adults) from 1 chicken by roasting it and then flaking ALL the meat off, shredding it and just adding a handful to what I was making, but I made things like soups and curries so I could bulk them out with tinned or frozen veg and it made a lot of portions.

Feed your family for £20pw on Instagram and Facebook is very good for ideas. I think she has a few cookbooks out now too.

Roast gammon with chilli and pineapple salsa (leftovers fab for lunches)
Pasta arabiata (v. Cheap)
Cauliflower chickpea and red pepper curry with rice mango chutney and garlic flatbreads.
Roasted veg fritata and salad
Tandoori chicken skewers, spinach, cucumber, red onion and mango salad with mint and yoghurt salad.
Baked butternut squash falafel with pita, salad, humous
Shakshuka and flat breads.

Sausage gnocchi (we use chipolatas).
Oven/grill cook the sausages.
Fry some red onion, garlic, rosemary. Add a can of chopped tomatoes and a generous glug of balsamic vinegar and let simmer.
Boil the gnocchi for a couple of mins and then mix with the sausage and sauce.

Chicken souvlaki/Greek salad (quite cheap, I use skinless/boneless chicken thighs, cheaper than breasts)
Roast veg Arabiatta
Cottage pie/veg
Chicken stir fry
Veggie enchiladas (can chop any left over veg to put in them so good for using up odds and ends) www.feastingathome.com/vegetarian-enchiladas/
Beef chilli/rice
Paella

Plan at least one 'easy' meal a week - e.g. frozen fish with packet rice, ready made pizza (Sainsburys do a great low calorie one). Make double portions of things like tomato sauce, soups and stews and freeze them.
Ideas for meals:

• pasta bake (we like a tomato base with tuna and peppers)
• enchiladas
• curry (use ready made paste and yogurt/chopped tomatoes/coconut milk)
• noodle stir fry (with tofu, chicken or salmon)
• rice bowl (brown rice, veg, tofu or chicken, soft boiled egg)
• sweet potato and courgette fritters (baked in the oven) with paratha and mango chutney
• pasta carbonara
• shepherds pie
• homemade pizza (you can buy frozen dough, ready made bases, or just use a tortilla!)
• dhal with rice or naan/paratha/chapati
• lentil bake (a bit 70s hippy but we love it!)
• frittata
• chili con carne
• toad in the hole
• sausage and mash
• sausage casserole
• haloumi and roasted peppers with sweet chilli sauce and rice or pita bread
• hunters chicken and chips
• burger and chips
• lasagne
• mushroom risotto
• paella

I cook
(one night a week)

pasta and pesto
Curry
Mince (either tacos when I don't bother with the kit but just use tortillas and shape on the back of a muffin tin)
Beef stew
Cottage pie
Salmon or seabass (I buy when reduced)
Steak (aldi)
Pork chops
Cheaper cut of roast beef in slow cooker
Make my own chicken in breadcrumbs and wedges

My tip for these plans is to bring in a standard super super easy tea, as in beans on toast or eggs on toast, one night a week. It saves money and time, and helps cut down meat consumption. It's useful if you can time it for nights when people have things on or tend to get home late as well.

If you have the Gousto cards, could you just go through them and make a meal plan from them? This is what we do with our backlog of HelloFresh cards!

I use the gousto recipes and plan my ingredients around them as I can’t afford to use it every week. That plus an easy meal every week is a great way for me to not struggle with ideas and to eat properly.

Thanks all.

I think that’s what I need to do too (maybe pick out the Gousto cards with the least ingredients/similar ingredients).

We tried Gousto and Hello Fresh, but prefer Simply Cook. Here's a code if you would like to try it. If you sign up, then you get a free box and so do I simplycook.com/invite/60VNCR

We managed to reduce our food shop by about £80 a month.
We cut down on meat & only eat it once a week now, as well as one day where we have fish.

We just got more organised - we picked out about 15 meals we love/ saved recipes down from magazines/ family etc. We have them written down on a little whiteboard in the kitchen too.

These are the kind of things we eat...

Spaghetti meatballs
Chickpea curry with chutneys
Salmon or cod with potatoes and veg
Chicken and mango salad with spicy rice
Veggie burger with sweet chilli fries and salad
Jacket potato with cheese and beans
Veggie chilli con carnie with sour cream and gauc
Thai curry with prawns
Sometimes we just have a random tea- like corn on the cob, sweet potatoes, halloumi with savoury rice.

There's not loads of prep involved and none of them are particularly technical but they are all tasty!

Corn beef hash is my go to for a cheap meal and the leftovers are great for lunch the next day.