Please help me with budget meal plan

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I'm trying to improve the quality of what we eat whilst spending as little as possible On top of that I don't eat lentils, chick peas, beans because I suffer with ibs.

I have

2 x 500g mince
a shoulder of pork joint (that will feed us for two days)
400g stewing steak
cream
Cheddar
Pasta
onions
carrots
6 thick pork sausages
frozen mash
rice
swede
celeriac
milk
bacon
eggs
stock cubes and lots of dried herbs and spices

to feed dh, dd13 and myself for seven days, evening meals only - I'll make veg soup for my lunch, dd takes a pack up to school and dh will be taking sandwiches to work.

Every week I cook the same stuff. I especially would like things I can pre cook or cook in the slow cooker or that are quick.

Suggestions for following weeks also really really appreciated. I shop for £50 or less to include any cleaning products etc required. I either go to Aldi or shop online at asda, depending how much time I have.

I can cook but don't really enjoy it. I work from home in the afternoon so don't have lots of time.

Many many thanks.

Hmm, I won't attempt to make the whole list into a seven day meal plan, but maybe slow cook at least half the mince into a chilli con carne? Or make a shepherd's pie with the frozen mash?

I make sausages go further by using the sausage meat in place of mince in a ragu-style pasta sauce with fennel seeds.

Pasta with bacon and tomato sauce?

Pulled pork with the pork joint (think you can do this in slow cooker) with a celeriac and carrot coleslaw

You could have that with jacket potatoes or bread rolls.

I've never made coleslaw and don't have a good processor. Can I grate/chop the carrot and celeriac to go in it and do you just mix them with mayonnaise?

Sounds good. I've never done pulled pork, was just going to serve as a roast one day and cold sliced with pickle the next day??

food processor

Some ideas...apologies if I am recycling any of your staples...

For the future shops, if you could add some tinned tomatoes to that when you shop you'd extend your range a bit- bolognese, chillis etc, plus they are cheap and take well to slow cooker meals, though there are an ibs trigger for some.
Vac packed beetroot is a good cheap standby too- add to diced onions and carrots as the base vegetables in a tomato sauce. Really good source of iron. Similarly frozen peas, sweetcorn, mixed veg and spinach- cheap and good source of vitamins. Easy to chuck some in a fried rice, pasta sauce, in tothe slow cooker for the last hour or half hour of a stew.

Bacon, onion and potato frittata topped with some cheddar. Or basically the same ingredients for a dish called russian potatoes- basically a potato gratin made with a bit of cheese sauce, with or without cream, with bacon and onions (fried til soft) in between the potato layers, topped with cheese and baked. Keeps out the cold for definite.

Make pasta dish with sausages, cream and diced celeriac and a bit of chilli/paprika and some parsley/oregano basil or similar spices/herbs.

Or pasta carbonara- boil pasta, grill bacon, grate cheese. Stir pasta into cheese til it's melted then stir in bacon and some beaten eggs with a dash of cream plus salt pepper and parsley or similar dried green herb. Stir till eggs thicken into a creamy sauce. (you can laso do this with sausages in place of bacon, or with chopped pork from roast the day before)

Boil some of the carrots and swede and mash together, serve with roast pork and frozen mash. Second day dice the pork and make a stir fried rice with pork, eggs, onions (add eggs to pan first, scramble then add rice etc)- add chilli, garlic powder, chinese five spice etc to taste. if you prefer you could use the pork and rice to make a slow cooker jambalaya, sausages would also work for that (no need for seafood as many jambalayas have, but tin of tomatoes would help for this, as would some frozen peas) allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/9410/jambalaya-in-a-slow-cooker.aspx- any type of meat can subsitute for the sausage in this really- roast pork, chicken thighs etc

Cheeseburgers with potato buns- cut thick slices of potato, brush with oil and cook in oven at 200C until browned, make burgers from mince and top with cheddar. Use potato slices as you would buns. Add bacon/onions if you like.

Use slow cooker to make a stew- fry diced onions and carrots til soft, brown stewing steak, add to stock and diced potatoes in slow cooker and switch on slow cooker. Herbs and spices to taste, or make a beef madras if you add curry powder to the carrots/onions. Serve with rice. If you get frozen spinach in future weeks, a bit of spinach added to the curry at teh end of cooking will make it a beef saag.

Second lot of mince- you could make dirty rice, sort of a fried rice but with mince through it. doesn't look a million dollars but tastes ok. Think there woudl be a way to do this in a slow cooker. Also sheperds pie with potatos or frozen mash. Or meatballs simmered in stock with a potato gratin.

Celeriac is good mashed together with potatoes or used in a potato gratin too

BTW, I have ibs too and have found avoiding wheat (pasta), dairy and onions help too, although I do realise not everyone has the same triggers, so apologies if these are safe for you.

Yes you can just grate the carrot and celeriac or cut into fine matchsticks, mix with mayo and maybe a little mustard and lemon juice

Thanks Roja

Yes I forgot to list chopped tomatoes but I do have them in the cupboard.

I also find cutting out dairy and wheat helps my ibs.

I would make

A beef casserole with the stewing steak served with a mixed veg gratin( some swede, celeriac and carrot thinly sliced and cooked dauphiouse(sp))

Pasta carbonara with some pasta, egg, cheese and bacon

Sausage, mash and onion gravy

Egg and veg fried rice

If you have flour and butter I'd make rosemary dumplings and mince, meatballs in gravy with corrupt and swede mash otherwise

Frittata with eggs and any veg/ bacon left

Chilli con carne and rice

Marking place. Great ideas here:)

shepherds pie would take 5mins if you've got frozen mash.

then, make the celeriac into a Spanish omelette

Jamie Oliver also has a great and easy celeriac recipe where you just roast the whole thing as if it was a leg of lamb! he calls it 'zombie brains'. I'm doing it as a side on Xmas day.

turn the sausages into a filling toad in the hole.

the stewing steak could be some kind of oven cooked curry (tandori style or rogan Josh). or you could make it into a tagline.

I'd also do a pilaf with the rice at the end of the week because you can make it with any leftovers you've got.

also, for budgeting, maths might help. let's say £40 on 21 evening meals. so if you aim for £5 per night that gives you some leeway and should give you plenty of options.

risotto rice is about 50p for enough for 3 people, so you could add veg, prawns or chicken and stay in budget.

make your own pizza bases from flour and water and oil would cost about 10p per head so plenty of cash for toppings

ham joints are 3 for £10 and just need roasting.

if you can afford it, drop into the supermarket just after Xmas and pick up a whole salmon (they always sell them half price) cut into steaks and freeze. works out less than £1 per portion)

you can also freeze portion sized lumps of cheese and that's often on offer after Xmas

I'm also a fan of roast loaves made of leftover bread or oats mixed with egg, marmite , and cheese, mushroom,nuts, courgettes or whatever. they make a good roast dinner but are basically leftovers.