weekly meal planning ideas

[hayley1989]

Looking for ideas for my new weekly meal plans! Suitable for my two children as well as me and hubby x
My kids are 2 and 4 so I'd love to make them fun and interesting, healthy, want to try do the eat well for less, shopping at aldi thanks in advance for the help and tips x

I'm a veggie but it's a good way to cut costs-
Risottos / dahls /bean burgers etc.

Also IMO no harm in the odd jacket potato with cheese and beans/ scrambled egg on toast type meal!

I would like to get new ideas too

I like the joint of roast beef at aldi and serve with carrot and parsnip mash and potatoes

Pork chops with homemade apple sauce

Cottage pie with plenty of veg

Pasta and pesto night

Steak burgers with salad and new potatoes done in the oven - halved and to roasted with dried rosemary and garlic

Not sure if mine will be any good as it's largely veggie and also for people who like spicy food.

Today - chicken for the carnivores, nut cutlet for me - with roasted potatoes, carrots, garlic and onions, sprouts, green beans, gravy

Tomorrow - quiche and salad, maybe a baked potato too

Tues - Thai green curry with roasted five spice tofu

Weds - French onion soup

Thurs - sausages (meat or veggie) with sweet potato mash, savoy cabbage and onion gravy

Friday - paneer and vege curry with rice and salad

Saturday - roasted vege and mozerella pastry slice with garlic and rosemary roasted new potatoes and green vege

We tend to do
chicken night e.g chicken and cous cous
Pasta night e.g spaghetti with Philly, bacon and mushrooms
Veggie night X 2 e.g stir fry or veggie curry
Slow cooker night e.g chilli con carne
Leftovers on JAcket potato night e.g chilli or curry (or beans and cheese if we've scoffed all the dinner)
Something DH can cook night e.g gammon, egg and chips

We tend to be out/ have a takeaway at least once a week so I do a 10 day (ish) rotating plan and obviously it depends what we have on that week as to what we have which night...

Also I use frozen veg where possible as this makes it much easier to chop and change when our plans do... or I can't be arsed

Thanks so much even though I'm not a vegetarian these meals all sound so yummy! Xxx
Got lots of ideas here x

I find lots of family friendly recipes on here and the netmums site. I always have a good look through the comments for tips too.
This is me me for this week:
Today: Meat and Potato pie with mixed veg
Monday: Ranch style sausages and sweet potato wedges
Tuesday: Roast pork Ragu
Wednesday: Tex-mex meatballs
Thursday: Roasted squash with feta, bacon and pasta
Friday: Leek and Pptato soup
I got all extra ingredients for under £40 in Aldi and Lidl, wouldn't be much more if I needed every ingredient, and that shop included breakfast stuff and lunchbox things for dd plus nappies so very reasonable I think. Plus there are Always leftovers that me or dh use for lunch or freeze.

Roast lamb.
Lamb left over tagine
Pasta and veggies
Bean burgers and chips
Salmon and new potatoes
Is us this week

Love your name, Toads.

Delicious it's great to get some new meal ideas! Thanks x that 40 pound shop is incredible I'm heading to aldi in the morning and doing shopping list tonight for first week, I'll let you know my list of meals tomorrow and price it came to

We tend to have chicken x 2 nights, fish x 2 nights, veggie x 3 nights (for cheapness, really!). Very little red or processed meat - only as a treat. Healthier and keeps the shopping bill down.
Agree that Aldi is great, even if you only use it for 'top-up' shopping. I can't get everything I need there but use it whenever I can for fruit & veg, salmon/prawns, dried goods. So cheap.

This week:

Veggie dishes:
Chickpea tagine and fruity cous cous
Veggie curry (potato & cauliflower curry and red lentil curry) with brown rice, chapatis, cucumber raita and mango chutney (yum)
Veggie omelettes, homemade chips & salad (really just potato wedges, actually, with herbs and seasoning added).

Chicken:
Jamie's mediterranean chicken pasta bake
Roast chicken & trimmings

Fish:
BBQ salmon with jacket potatoes and corn on the cob/green beans/ salad
Prawn & veg stir fry with noodles

I do about 90% of my shopping in aldi and when flush get my meat and fruit in M&S. There are 2 adults and 1 10yr old in our house.

Apart from top-ups of bread and milk and possibly fruit, I have now got the ingredients to make the following meals:

Chicken curry, rice and poppadoms (had this last night and tonight)
M&S cottage pie with crushed carrots and swede and peas (meal deal offer)
M&S southern fried chicken (in oven), baked potato and coleslaw
River Cafe Winter Minestrone soup (like a stew) with bread and cheese
BBC Good Food egg, bacon and kale hash
BBC Good Food sausage and maple swede tray bake (first time trying this)
Nigel Slater A sausage and mash supper
Meatballs in a cherry tomato and white wine sauce, salad, garlic bread x 2 nights
homemade pizza with salad
Aldi aubergine and tomato filled pasta with tomato sauce and salad
chicken breasts stuffed with black pudding, baked potato and roast veg

could also rustle up omelette or egg, beans and chips, or a veg risotto if needed.

I don't get paid until 25th and stocked up the freezer and fridge so no matter how tight we get till then this month (long month...) we will eat very well.

Remus can you share your Thai green curry recipe please? Five spiced tofu sounds yummy.

We are trying to save money so are trying to just buy basics, but also work our way through the freezer/fridge/store cupboard.

Mon:
Frozen pea/panachetta ravioli or pasta (for the DC) served with a dressing of garlic/chilli/broccoli/olive oil and garlic bread

Tues:
Cheese and bacon skins served with taco beans

Wed:
Bacon and chilli beans tacos served with salad

Thurs:
Pork and veg stir fry served with rice and gyoza

Fri:
Take away as I am away all weekend

This week:
Tonight- chilli and rice or salad (I'm trying to lose weight, whilst fattening the DS up!)
Tomorrow- pizza and salad/ raw veg
Weds- salmon, new potatoes, veg
Thurs- chicken curry and rice for DS / salad for me
Friday- fish pie and veg
Sat-pasta carbonara
Sun- Roast chicken, with potatoes and veg.

Captain
For the tofu, wrap it in a tea towel and press it between two plates with weights (tins of chickpeas in this house!) on, for a couple of hours at least.

On a shallow plate mix oil, soy sauce, five spice powder and sesame seeds. Dip tofu slices in on both sides, then put on a baking tray and stick in the oven until crispy.

Other than that, I just use lots of mixed vege (beansprouts, bamboo shoots from a tin, baby corn, sugar snaps, peppers, pak choy, whatever) fried up, and then a paste and coconut milk. You can make the paste but I often cheat and use this one.

If making my own (rare, these days!) I use onion, garlic, lemon grass, chillis, lime juice, ginger and a shedload of coriander, and blitz it in the food processor.

Chicken noodle soup, use up chicken from the roast
Smoked haddock with mash, cook fish in microwave and half way through cooking add grated cheese - simple quick nutritious meal.

Broccoli soufflé, deliah smith recipe with baked beans

Cauliflower cheese mixed with macaroni cheese and some green vegetables on the side

Tuscan bean soup with soda bread great winter comfort food

This week is

Monday butternut squash and black bean tacos with hm salsa and guacamole
Tuesday quorn bolognaise stuffed giant pasta shells with Parmesan
Wednesday satay veg with egg fried brown rice
Thursday beer battered hollumi with hm chips and minty mushy peas
Friday jerk quorn with coconut rice and peas
Saturday Courgetti with spicy tomato sauce
Sunday lentil and carrot koftas in a spicy curry sauce