Moondog, Franny and anyone else who prides themselves on cooking good food for their kids - I have a challenge for you....

[englandflag]

Whenever I try and feed my family on "good" food, it seems to cost me a fortune.

So, I challenge all you foodies to give me a week's worth of meal ideas that are not going to break the bank - have three kids aged 7, 5 and 3.

TIA

I will do my best, englandflag (oh it's you again, and I never did work out who you were before )

I will think about it and post some ideas later on

Likes and dislikes, allergies, etc please?

Thank you very much.

No nuts - that's about it, I think.

We need a lot more details - the ones F&Z asks for.

Also, details about you - do you cook? What do you like to cook? What do you not like to cook?

Meat? Lentils? Pasta? Quinoa? Seeds?

And what shops have you got, also? Greengrocers / market / health food or just supermarkets?

Do you have a local market? The one we go to is MILES cheaper than the supermarket (5kg of chicken breast fillets for £19 - we get about 25 in the bag and they're all really decent), fish, fruit & veg a fraction of the price etc.

Things like chicken & broccoli pasta bake, cottage pie, etc are pretty cheap to do

Crumbs!

OK, I like to cook but work part time, so food for the kids needs to be able to be prepared quickly after school (happier to spend time at the weekend).

I'm happy to try anything and my kids are pretty good at trying stuff (although they're not too wild about very spicy stuff).

We have a decent butcher, a fishmonger who comes once a week, a greengrocer and a health food shop.

Am trying to wean myself off supermarkets, especially for f&v and meat.

If the bulk of your diet is fruit/veg/pulses etc then it will be much cheaper than a meat-based one.

Stuff like pasta bakes, stir-fries, etc, all done with seasonal food, are good and cheap.

Oh, and refried beans, home-made hummous (tinned chickpease) ...

Where do you get protein from without meat ?

Well, you can have animal protein, eggs and cheese. You can also have vegetable protein, from wholegrains, seeds and nuts (not nuts for you, though). If you have a wholegrain diet, you don't need so much animal protein.

Off the top of my head I am thinking

lentil shepherds pie
home baked beans with mash or baked potatoes
bean casserole with quinoa / rice
veg korma with quinoa / rice
homemade scone base pizzas with salad
vegetable loaf eg nut / sweetcorn / lentil with salad, new pots
hummus with pittas and salad

I can't advise on meat etc as we are veggie. Moondog is good for healthy carniverous stuff.

hmm this is a bit heavy on potatoes for optimum health, but not a bad start, and bloody cheap. I will come back later with recipes and whip it into shape

Did you want breakfasts and lunches as well, or just dinners?

Ah, wholegrains have protein? So I guess that's how vegetarians manage to have a balanced diet then?

NQC, will you rise to the challenge...?

Franny, they look great

If breakfasts and lunches wouldn't be too much extra trouble, I'd be very grateful.

Ooh, I'm excited (sheltered life, can you tell?).

All foods have enough protein to sustain life, EF, except fruits and some vegetables. This "you need loads of meat and milk" stuff is a load of crap, put about by surprise surprise, the meat and dairy industry.

Over-high levels of protein as found in the typical Western meat eating diet are associated with all sorts of health problems. Most of us need far less protein than what we are getting.

franny a recipe for that lentil s pie would be fab!!!!

Hmm, I'm a bit more of a fan of protein than you, F&Z. I agree that we don't need animal sources, but I do think a diet reasonably high in protein is good for weight management, energy levels, muscle development, and tall children. (E.g.: lots of East Asian immigrants to the US have tall kids.)

If you eat meat, and like it, adding a small amount of meat (lardons/pancetta are very good for this, as they come in small packages) to an otherwise vegetarian dish makes for a much tastier meal without adding a lot of unhealthy stuff.

I tend not to be budget-minded on food (we get a box delivery, we try to eat that), but would recommend, as well:

• home-made burgers
• pasta bake w/ cheese
• warm salad with new potatoes, veg, pancetta
• stir-fries, with seeds/pancetta, with quinoa etc

If you want to eat meat, there are two ways to eat meat cheaply. You can either have small amounts (pancetta, lardons etc give the most bang for the buck, a nice meaty flavour without a lot of meat), or cheaper cuts (things that need stewing, or ground meats). I'm not great on things that need stewing, but ground beef is quite easy to work with.

I would say (and am open to be corrected) that protein is more important for children than adults. nqc do you really think that the amount of protein I feed my children will affect their eventual height? to what extent?

Lentil shepherds pie (after Rose Elliot)

Soak 8 oz brown lentils overnight, drain and rinse. Simmer slowly in saucepan until tender, drain.

Fry 2 onions, with garlic if you like it, and any / all of the following (or whatever else is in the fridge) celery, carrots, mushrooms. Add lentils, 1 tsp dried herbs, 1 tbsp tom puree, black pepper, splash soy sauce (although tastes good enough without any salt as well). Cover with mash (a mixture of potato and sweet potato is so delicious, and adds nutrients to the rather nutritionally crappy mashed potato). Bake for 40 mins at 200 C / GM 6.

Or you could do what I do and bulk cook the filling, then freeze in portions of 2 meals at a time, before baking. Add the mashed potato to a defrosted portion, bake, and you have it twice that week. Serve with green veg - broccoli, brussels, cabbage - whatever's in season and cheap. I also have to have it with sweetcorn but am a bit of a sweetcorn admirer.

a bit of meat woudl amke all those recipes a lot nicer imo

Thanks NQC, do you have a recipe for home made burgers? Are they easy?

Good tip re the pancetta as well.

I'm off out now but will check back later. Thanks very much everyone

Ok.....how about

Frittata(omelette with potatoes and anything else you fancy)

Chilli con carne and shepherds pie (I bought cans of kidney beans for 17p from Netto)

Tomato pasta sauce with olives (make a huge batch and freeze)Serve with Parmesan.Buy a lump.It is expensive but lasts forever.

Sardines on toast

Chickpea and spinach curry

Ham hocks cost about £1 50 at the butchers.Plenty of meat on them,lovely with a potato salad

Buy spare ribs and marinate in ginger,garlic,honey,chilli sauce and soy then roast.
Fabulous and so cheap.I bought 2 kg for less than £8 the other day.They would have fed 6-8 easily.

Roast a chicken and shred it into good packet noodles (go to an Asian store) with some greens,Flat lettuce does nicely and costs nowt)
Also have it in sandwiches.

Dried sausages (eg salami) are great with beans in a vinaigreete with perhaps tomatoes,peppers,onions,herbs and a vinaigrette

Dahl is about the cheapest thing in the whole wide world and loved by everyone in my family.

That do ya????

I have no problem with getting a good amount of protein, NQC, I just think most people are getting much too much. If you eat loads of protein, it leaches calcium from your body for a start, so then you do need to be drinking loads of dairy produce etc, which leads to more protein being ingested, etc etc.