Apologies for the lack of Meal Plan on the blog last week, I totally ran out of weekend, and by the time I'd written it up it was Wednesday and I thought it would be too far into the week to publish it.
It's the fifth week of the school holidays, only a couple of weeks left. We've been on outings locally, taking our own lunch and snacks to save money. My middle two daughters had a two hour pottery class recently and thoroughly enjoyed it so we'll try and sort some more sessions later in the year, they've also been to some cheap sessions at the movies - taking their own snacks of course. We've also visited some of the local museums for free and low cost workshops.
Our back garden is still going strong supplying us with salad greens, fresh herbs, raspberries, and loads of apples. We went foraging on the local common last weekend and picked 4.5kg of blackberries, making sure we left plenty behind for other foragers to pick. I've frozen 2kg, made jam with 1.5kg, and made batches of muffins and crumble with the rest, combined with apples from our tree. We ate some and some are stashed in the freezer for this week and next.
Breakfasts will be cereal and milk or toast and spread, both with a piece of fruit for afters. On the weekend we'll probably have pancakes and bacon sandwiches.
Speedy Vegetable Curry
300g quinoa
140g curry paste
3 peppers, diced
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
400g tin chopped tomatoes
400ml tin coconut milk
500g frozen mixed vegetables
Cook quinoa according to packet instructions. Put a large saute pan over a medium heat. Add the curry paste and cook for a minute or two until fragrant. Add the peppers and sweet potatoes, stirring to coat them in the curry paste. Pour in the tinned tomatoes and coconut milk. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
Uncover the pan, stir through the mixed vegetables, and simmer uncovered for around 10 - 15 minutes until the vegetables are cooked through and the sauce has thickened slightly.
Spring Rolls
12 sheets filo pastry
sesame oil, for brushing
6 spring onions, thinly sliced
3 carrots, grated or very thinly sliced
2 peppers, very thinly sliced
300g spring greens, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
1 or 2 tsp Chinese 5 spice
1 Tblsp soy sauce, or more to taste
Preheat your oven to 190C/170C Fan/Gas Mark 5 and line a large baking tray with baking paper.
Mix all the filling ingredients together in a bowl until well combined. Unwrap the filo and cover with a damp tea towel to stop them drying out. Take two of the sheets, brush them with sesame oil and lay one on top of the other.
Put 1/6 of the filling in a line down the centre of the pastry. Bring the bottom edges up over the filling then roll the rest of the pasty over the filling, a bit like making a burrito. Put the spring roll on your prepared tray. Repeat the process with the rest of the pasty and filling.
Bake in the oven for around 25 - 30 minutes until the pastry is golden and crisp. Leave to cool for a few minutes before serving, and take care as the filling will be rather hot.
Creamy Bacon and Butterbean Bake
2 x 400g cans butterbeans, drained
300g bacon, diced and cooked
2 cloves garlic, minced
180ml whipping cream
100g hard cheese, finely grated
2 tsp dried mixed herbs
Preheat your oven to 190C/170C Fan/Gas Mark 5.
Reserve a handful of cheese for topping. Combine all the other ingredients in an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle over the reserved cheese and then bake for 25 minutes. Cool a little before serving. We'll be having ours with steamed greens and mixed vegetables.
Crispy Curry Chicken
1 cup wholemeal flour
3 Tbsp curry powder
2 free range eggs
¼ cup milk
10 - 12 chicken drumsticks, skin removed
Preheat your oven to 200C and line a baking tray with foil or baking paper. On a large plate, mix together the flour and curry powder. On a plate or in a shallow bowl, beat together the egg and milk.
Coat the chicken in the flour mixture, then dip the chicken into the egg mixture allowing the excess to drip off. Dip the chicken in the flour mixture for a second time and gently shake off the excess.
Place the chicken on the prepared tray, cover and chill for 30 minutes in the fridge. Take the chicken out of the fridge and bake for approximately 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. We'll be serving ours with homemade coleslaw and oven baked sweet potato wedges.
Mini Meatloaves
500g sausage meat
500g lean mince
1 onion, diced
3 Tblsp tomato sauce/ketchup, or sweet chilli sauce
1 free range egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 Tblsp low-salt soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried mixed herbs
1/2 cup frozen sweetcorn
1/2 cup frozen peas
250ml/1 cup tomato-based pasta sauce
Preheat your oven to 180C. With slightly wet hands mix together all of the ingredients except the pasta sauce. If the mixture seems too wet, add some more rolled oats to help hold it together.
Spray muffin tins with a little cooking oil. Spoon the mixture into greased muffin tins. Once the mixture has all been used, gently press down the tops of the meatloaves with the back of a spoon. This helps press them into the tins, and also ensures even cooking.
Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes until cooked through and no longer pink in the middle. As soon as the meatloaves are out of the oven, top each of them with a spoonful of pasta sauce. Leave to cool in the tin for at least 15 minutes before serving.
Chickpea and Chorizo Stew
200g chorizo, diced
2 onions, diced
2 peppers, diced
2 celery sticks, finely diced
2 carrots, finely diced
2 x 400g chickpeas, drained
2 x 400g tinned tomatoes
2 tsp paprika
Put the chorizo into a large saute pan over a medium heat. Cook, stirring until the chorizo starts to get crispy and the delicious oil runs from it. Add the onions, peppers, celery, and carrot to the pan with a little extra oil if necessary. Stir frequently until the vegetables start to soften. Add the chickpeas, tomato and paprika stirring to combine everything. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until the vegetables are tender. Add a little water if necessary, and keep an eye on the pan and stir every so often. I'll serve this with cooked rice and steamed greens.
Homemade Fish and Chips
Shopping List
48 items: £72.77
Packets
& Cereals
2x ASDA Smartprice Wheat Bisks
(24x18g) £1.48
1x ASDA Wholemeal Bread Flour
(1.5Kg) 69p
1x ASDA Smartprice Long Grain
Rice (1Kg) 45p
1x ASDA Egg Noodles Medium (250g) 59p
1x ASDA Wholewheat Penne (500g) 45p
1x Oz-Yufka Flat Type Filo Pastry
(500g) £1.95
1x ASDA Quinoa (300g) £1.19
1x ASDA Corn Flakes (790g) £1.34
Tins,
Jars & Cooking
1x ASDA Smartprice Bolognese
Sauce (440g) 39p
1x ASDA Baked Beans, Reduced
Sugar & Salt (4x410g) 98p
3x ASDA Smartprice Chopped
Tomatoes (400g) 87p
2x ASDA Butter Beans in Water
(400g) 78p
2x ASDA Chick Peas in Water
(400g) 66p
1x Caribbean Choice Coconut Milk
(400ml) 50p
1x ASDA Curry Paste - Balti
(200g) £1.19
Frozen
1x ASDA Smartprice Mixed
Vegetables (1Kg) 99p
1x ASDA Smartprice Sweetcorn
(1Kg) 94p
1x ASDA Smartprice Peas (1Kg) 85p
1x ASDA White Fish Fillets (540g) £3.00
Dairy
& Eggs
1x ASDA British Single Cream
(300ml) 99p
3x ASDA British Whole Milk 6
Pints (3.41L) £4.44
1x ASDA Free Range Mixed Weight
Eggs (15) £2.00
1x ASDA Smartprice Mature White
Cheddar (830g) £3.69
1x ASDA Smartprice Hard Cheese
Wedge (170g) £1.60
Fruit
& Vegetables
2x ASDA Grower's Selection Salad
Tomatoes (750g) £2.30
27 ASDA Grower's Selection
Bananas by Weight (200g) £3.00
1x ASDA Grower's Selection
Watermelon £2.50
2x ASDA Grower's Selection
Carrots (1Kg) £1.30
3x ASDA Grower's Selection Whole
Cucumber £1.50
1x ASDA Grower's Selection Celery 52p
2x ASDA Grower's Selection Spring
Onions £1.00
2x ASDA Grower's Selection
Apricots (320g) £2.00
1x ASDA Grower's Selection
Sweetclem (600g) £1.39
2x ASDA Farm Stores Pears (500g) £2.00
3x ASDA Grower's Selection Sweet
Potatoes (2) £1.95
1x ASDA Farm Stores Brown Onions
(1Kg) 55p
2x ASDA Farm Stores White
Potatoes (2.5Kg) £2.30
2x ASDA Farm Stores Plums (400g) £1.58
2x ASDA Grower's Selection
Cooking Peppers (700g) £2.70
1 ASDA Grower's Selection Red
Cabbage by Weight 72p
1 ASDA Grower's Selection White
Cabbage 78p
2x ASDA Grower's Selection
Nectarines (6) £2.18
Meat,
Fish & Poultry
2x ASDA Farm Stores Cooking Bacon
(500g) £1.14
1x ASDA Butcher's Selection Beef
Mince - 12% Fat (500g) £2.16
1x ASDA Extra Special Chorizo
Casero Sausage (225g) £1.85
1x ASDA Butcher's Selection
Chicken Drumsticks (1.1Kg) £2.20
1x ASDA Extra Special Pork
Sausages (6 per pack - 400g) £2.25
Bakery
1x ASDA Wholemeal Tortilla Wraps
(8) 89p
We purchased our shopping online from Asda, via My Supermarket and the cost of our groceries was £72.77. Had we shopped elsewhere our shopping list would've cost:
£73.52 from Tesco
£81.63 from Sainsburys
£101.44 from Ocado
£101.98 from Waitrose