Meal planning, sharing recipes and ideas to make the weekly budget go further.

[Seaside3]

Ok, snappy title, I know.

Having recently loved a thread where the op bemoaning the price of minced beef, (i didn't love that) and seeing how helpful people were, I decided to start my own thread.

We are a large family, but currently just 4 of us live at home. 2 adults, 2 teens who eat adult portions.

I aim to spend around £70 on average a week, we do eat out a couple of times a week, but £70 should roughly cover it.

New shop arriving tomorrow, hoping it will cover the week.

To start though, tonight we had Asian style pork, rice and garlic broccoli.

Asian pork - minced pork, onion, grated garlic and ginger, Chinese five spice, carrot, courgette broccoli stem, sweetcorn, peas, dark soy, chilli flakes Fry, add a little water if required.

Garlic and ginger broccoli... fried sliced garlic and root ginger, red onion, broccoli florets. Added a couple of splashes of water, soy and a sprinkle of sugar. Would have used honey, but didn't have any. Fresh coriander leaves.

Basmati rice

Added a fried egg.

Served 4 for dinner, 2 extra servings for lunches.

Would love to hear others go to family meals.

Hello all, hope you had a lovely Christmas and new year. Things are just.and so back to normal here, with a proper shop finally coming tomorrow.

We've been existing on a mainly cheese diet of late, so lots of delicious veggies ordered. Aside from the cheese, we have pretty much emptied the freezer of all soups. Present me thanked past me for being organised and batch cooking some healthy options.

For this week I'm planning:

Sweetcorn and miso soup
Roasted tomato soup

Chana massala
Blackbean wraps
Mac n cheese to use up all the left over cheeses.
Chickpea and chestnut nut roast
Leek and potato gratin
Thai green roasted chicken
Chicken shwarma

Tonight it's peking beef and rice.

You may remember i was asking about canapés for Christmas day. Got to say, it smashed it out of the park. Photos attached...
They went down very well indeed.

Urgh, tesco cancelled my order due to 'driver issues'.

We are away tomorrow, so going to leave some money for the kids to sort themselves out.

Today we had dahl for lunch, with chickpeas and kale. Tea was roast chicken, yorkshires, roast potatoes, honey roast parsnips and braised peas.

Dhal is something I rarely make but when I do, I find it so comforting.

Dinner tonight is stretching out a previously made and frozen chilli for one person into two portions, with the addition of some frozen peppers and a few leftover cannellini beans. I'm having it on a jacket potato.

Making the most of DS being away so we can freezer forage!

@Seaside3 I've been lurking on this thread and getting loads of ideas. Was inspired to do loads with Christmas leftovers. There's still some cheese in there somewhere; I think it may not be salvageable... Your canapés look lovely! I'm having people round soon; would you mind breaking them down? Did the roasted pepper and carrot dip make the cut?

Thanks. It did make the cut I served it with carrots, cucumber, pepper and radishes to dip. We topped it with mixed seeds, pomegranate seeds and honey.

I made- the dip with crudites,
coronation chicken in mini poppadoms
Mozzarella and pickled sprouts with hot honey
Artichoke and pecorino crostini
Fried dates with blue cheese and parma ham
Chicory with cream cheese, roasted grapes and toasted pecans
Mini toad in the holes
Mini beef and horseradish
Pea crostini
Charcuterie hams

I also made pickled grapes for the cheese board. These went down really well too.

I made most of the elements ahead of time, the only thing I cooked on the day was a steak. Which I then thinly sliced and placed on Yorkshire that had horseradish in already.
I even toasted the bread ahead and then froze it. I should have reheated it as it was a bit chewy.
It's the assembly that took the time, so if you can rope anyone else in, do!

@Seaside3 thank you, sounds wonderful. I'm sure your guests were wowed. I'll definitely be using a few of these ideas!

@SquirrelFan I have them, and loads more.saved as a collection on Instagram, irritatingly I don't think i can share the collection.
Do share a pic of you make any!

A couple of good soups I've made this weekend. Served with toast.

Corn with miso and lime.

Roast tomatoes with white bean, topped with crispy kale. Served with cheese toasty. I used regular tinned tomatoes (×2), some sundried tomatoes and then at the end of cooking i added a tin of cannellini beans. Topped with fried kale and seeds.

Those look fabulous - we love a creamy tomato soup with a cheese scone so that’s the plan this week, use up all the scraps of cheese left in the fridge that I don’t think we’ll do anything else with now.

@QforCucumber cheese scones with soup are the best.

I've got some parsnips that could do with being made into soup, then at least I've made a start on restocking the freezer.

Last night we had some sausage and mash casserole from the freezer. Husband fancied a meal deal, but I persuaded him we were better off having something I had made. Once it was served he agreed. Plus £15 saved.

For the rest of this week- soups, sandwiches and egg dishes for lunches. Evening meals - mac n cheese with added veg, cottage pie with red cabbage, chicken curry, something from the freezer.

I'm changing my shopping deliverey this week. A friend has put me into Sprive, and it doesn't work with tesco on line, so trying sainsburys. We will see how it compares price wise. I'm also doing a slightly earlier shop, Christmas, then an undelivered shop meant we stripped the cupboards bare.

I used up the last of my braised red cabbage from the freezer with my roast yesterday. I usually use a bit of red cabbage in a slaw and then braise the rest in a slow cooker for freezing. I had made this batch in June.

I had to change up the meal plan for today as we had so much leftover pork. So tonight we are having pork and apple sauce baps with some caramelised onions and salad. I actually find leftover pork one of the more difficult meats to think up ideas for.

@diggoryVenn now I just want a pork sarnie! But with aple sauce, stuffing and a gravy dip!
What about pork tacos?

So this week i discovered booths (posh northern supermarkets) had some £2 veg boxes. Naturally I bought 3. (There were plenty left before I get accused of being greedy). As you can see from the pics, there was loads of stuff in them.

I roasted all the tomatoes with salt and pepper. Half was used in a veg curry tonight. I also roasted the beets, they went in tonights curry, along with an onion, courgette, pepper, all from the boxes. We had cottage pie with a colcannon style topping, baby carrots and corn. Then baked potatoes with beans and cheese last night.
I roasted all the root veg with onions, theyre in the freezer ready to be made into soup. Oh, I forgot brocoli and courgette with white bean soup.
And still there's more. So just when I thought I was up the creek this week, a very veg and tinned bean heavy diet came to the rescue.
And we only popped in to buy some nice sandwich stuff as we couldn't afford lunch out.

A couple of things I made last week. A veg and chickpea curry, with chicken to add in for those who wanted it, and baked rice.
And last night's roast was a chickpea, mushroom and chestnut roast. I followed this recipe, but replaced the porcini with fresh mushrooms and used veg stock to soak the breadcrumbs. Normal gravy ( we aren't veggie), roast potatoes, red cabbage with prunes, peas and cauliflower.

On Friday friends came over for brunch, I made pancakes. No pics, just one of the battered recipe I use. It never fails, and a double batch is always required.

Lunch today: Herby leek and butterbean soup with garlic courgettes and Longley farm soft cheese on toast.
Tea - booths meatballs with roasted tomatoes (last weeks too good to go veg boxes), onions, peppers and garlic with spaghetti.

Not sure if anyone is still interested, but I'm keeping this thread going for myself, as much as anything!

Yesterday I roasted a chicken, smothered in Thai green curry paste ( hamper gift from Christmas). I roasted it over some red peppers, onions, carrots and courgettes. I also baked some rice and made broccoli. Plenty for 3 (Husband os off chicken so had left over veg curry with some rice), with left overs. Today some of the chicken and the veg were made into chicken noodles soup, finished with an egg. Still some chicken left for sandwiches.

Sainsbury delivery yesterday instead of tesco. Definitely seems more expensive, but will see how it balances.

Tonight it's baked potatoes with beans and cheese. Got to get those pulses in somewhere.

Photos of said chicken dishes.

Oh, I'd forgotten this thread. Did you put the green curry paste on the chicken skin or under it? And if under, did the flavour work its way in? Sounds good, either way.

I did slow cooked ox cheek on Sunday, marinaded in red wine, some chilli and garlic for 24 hours prior to cooking. Had woth mash, amd there's some left over for DP to make pies with.

Tonight I'm doing a tomato and bean stew with halloumi and garlic bread, a frist try at this but someone else on the food board recommended it, so I'm giving it a go. Might put the last of a chorizo we have lurking in the fridge in too.

@Seaside3 quietly following! Please do keep sharing your amazing meals.

Hi!
I just put it on the skin. I roasted the chicken with the veg, so they got some of the flavour too. I made a 'gravy' with the broccoli water and a stock cube, which I poured straight into the beg (with peas) too. It was simple but surprisingly nice.

Your ox cheek sounds amazing. As does the halloumi with bean stew.

Thanks! Not sure they're amazing, but they generally bring us joy and that's all you can ask i guess.

Yes I love this thread too. I used the last of my Christmas Stilton in a bacon, blu cheese, mushroom & broccoli pasta today.

I’m also trying to do 30 plants a week so am freezing odd bits here and there - today I stewed some plums with star anise to freeze and will pull them out for breakfast over the next few weeks.

I love that pasta @DiggoryVenn ans thw plums sound delicious too.

I did start the 30 a week, but found it difficult to keep track. So I just go for as much variety as possible. I've shifted my focus to protein/fiber and legumes!

Hello!
Some food I've made lately...

Soup inspired by this. Served with red cabbage pancakes - the red cabbage was left over from a roast.

This coriander chicken curry was amazing. I didn't quite get it right, but it was still so good.

It's been a porridge week, I've been making it with all the seeds, fruits, Greek yogurt. I make extra and leave in the fridge as pudding.

I've not managed to do much batch cooking as trapped nerve in shoulder makes it hard to do too much. I did make a ham for Sunday lunch (no pics) as older boys visited. Served with mustard mash, cabbage, roast parsnips,swede and carrots, gravy. No left overs. Whilst cooking that lot I shoved a beef casseeole in the oven. Moroccan inspired with prunes. Will serve with cous cous tomorrow. Tonight i'm trying marry-me lentils. Back to work wed-friday, not looking forward to it as still got nerve issues. So anticipating freezer meals on Thursday and Friday.

As ever, my stock of soup in the freezer has been useful. I'm still making at least two a week. Recent additions are a roast pepper and black bean soup, curries cauliflower with coconut and today I'm making roast squash with ginger. Somw of the squash will be lunch with feta ans cranberries in a salad.

Hope everyone is surviving the cold.

Roasted red pepper and black bean soup with a cheese toastie for lunch.

Marry me lentil, chickpea and kale with cous cous. Added feta too. X

Both delicious.