Budget menu plans??? Post here!!

[daisycat01]

Hi, Have been looking for a few ideas for what to cook this week. Am trying to keep to a budget for January and save a bit of money so am looking for clever ideas to feed my family.

Here is what I cooked last week:

Sunday - Roast leg of Lamb with roasted vegetables and roast potatoes. (lamb was reduced in Tesco to £4)

Monday - Lamb Tagine. All leftover meat taken off bone, put in pan with some cinamon, cardom seeds, cuimin seed and some corriander seeds, quartered onion and some carrots cut into chunks. Added a stock cube and a bit of honey and a little water and let simmer for 45 mins. We had this with Cous cous

Tuesday - Roasted Veg Pasta. All the leftover roasted veg (Cherry tomatoes, Courgette, Onions, Carrots and whole garlic cloves) added to a tin of tomatoes with some pasta.

Wednesday- Roasted chicken drumsticks with homemade bbq sauce and pototoe wedges

Thursday - Leftover salmon frozen from xmas made into fishcakes with salad and potatoes

Friday - Noodles. Ginger, garlic, carrots, pepper, mangetout, spring onions stir fried with some noodles and soy sauce and white wine vinegar.

Sat- Out for dinner

Sun - Organic chicken roasted with veg and roast potatoes

Monday - Made stock with carccas, leftover veg and gravy. Had some parsnips redued from tesco so made Curried parsnip soup with the chicken stock. Used leftover chicken from carcass to make a risotto with mushrooms.

Now am a little stuck as to what to eat for the rest of the week!!
Was hoping to chuck in some more veggie meals to try to eek out the meat!

Any suggestions??

Tins of tuna mixed in with cooked rice and grated cheese and brocolli and a tin of cambells muchroom soup for a tuna bake. Cheap and easy. BTW have you tried making easy soups from your roasts - can last for lunches for the next few days.

Sorry - misread your message you're already making soup.

lentils?

Really cheap alternative to meat and ver healthy. I go for the black ones and fry a very small bitof bacon, garlic and add lentils and carrots or whatever veg i want to chuck in. Add a tablespoon of tomato puree, some stock and let simmer until lentils are cooked. At the end add a small tin of baked beans or borlotti beans and you have a lentil and bean casserole. Good with rice.

Lentil burgers are also good - i think theres a recipe on the bbc website.

Macaroni cheese with cauliflower?

Spanish Omlette with leftovers?

have you got a blender? Chuck in any cooked leftover veg and puree to make a nice sauce for pasta

Saw you made salmon fishcakes - how about chicken burgers made with leftovers?

you made a risotto with leftover chicken...how about a mushroom risotto...

if i think of anything else I'll let you know

ohhh

I forgot that money saving staple of my mothers form when I was a child

meatloaf made with mince, onions, breadcrumbs, an egg, mushrooms and red peppers. All chopped up into tiny bits, mixed together, expanded by the bread volume and then baked in the oven in a bread tin. Served with gravy and veg.

Make a little mince go a long way.

Wonder what it would taste like made with lentils......

Ok thanks hoarsewhisperer.

I went to my local farm shop today and got all my fruit and veg for £13, and then got a few bits from the butchers next door for £7 (a big portion of mince and some sausages and some bacon). All that should keep us going until at leat the weekend. Asked the butcher for a free range chicken but he was all sold out!! I think I may try to avoid the supermarkets for a while!!