Meal Plan 20/10/13 - 26/10/13

We're trying to eat more soups this week, as it's getting colder now and we are trying to keep the calories down a little. I'm also trying to make extra food so that we can freeze it as well, so that next week we won't have as much to make.

There is an extra meal being made this week, for the simple fact that I bought a marked down cooked chicken from Morrisons and decided to make a soup out of the rest (got to love home made chicken soup!)

Meal Plan 20/10/13 - 26/10/13

Leek, Bacon, Mushroom & Spinach Soup

Polish Sausage Soup

Chicken  Soup

 Broccoli and Stilton Soup

Spiced Carrot and Lentil Soup

Chicken Noodle Soup

Pesto Cheese, bacon wrapped chicken with vegetables

Spinach and Ricotta Gnocchi

As mentioned above, some of the above will be used for meals for next week.

Breakfast: Cereal, Eggs, Bacon, Fruit

Lunch: Tuna Mayo / Egg & Bacon Sandwiches, Leftovers

Snacks: Bananas, Clementines

Leftovers:  Onions, Eggs, Lentils, Spinach, Rice noodles, Cereal, Flour

Milk £1.00

Organic Cornflakes £1.48

Bananas - 1.65 kg £1.12

Oranges (Smart Price) £0.60

Apples £1.00

Peppers £1.00

GF Bread £1.75

Broccoli (0.88 kg) £1.76

Celery £0.89

Potatoes £1.18

Frozen Peas £1.60

Butter £1.00

2 * Castello Blue Cheese 150 g £2.00

Garlic £0.30

Bovril Stock Cubes £0.92

1.2 kg Carrots £1.00

Shredded Kale 200g £0.95

Root Ginger - 0.045 kg £0.09

Frozen Sweetcorn £1.40

Mushrooms £0.79

Spring Onions £0.50

Mint £0.70

Chicken Fillets £3.79

Leeks £1.00

Smoked Middle Bacon £1.40

Lemons £1.00

2 x 4 Ski Yoghurt £2.00

Half Swede £0.61

Parsnip £0.33

Mature Cheddar Cheese £2.00

Chicken (Morrisons - marked down) £2.45

Natural Yoghurt £0.59

Low Fat Pesto Cheese £0.90

Parsley £0.70

Ricotta £1.00

Rocket £0.69

Kabanos £4.00

Butternut Squash - 1.14 kg £1.08

Courgette £0.52

2 * Sweetcorn £1.20

Red Onion £0.13

Tuna (2 * 400 g) £3.00

Total £51.42

Beetroot Risotto

I've been wanting to make Beetroot Risotto for some time now, I really liked the look and sound of it and I can tell you I wasn't disappointed. I loved the colour of it and it loved the taste of the beetroot coming through. I certainly will be giving this a try again.

I used this recipe from the BBC Good Food website, but I did make some changes:

• Instead of raw beetroot, I just a pack of 500 g packed and pre-cooked beetroot
• I did cook it on the hob, adding the stock a ladle at a time. 
• I chopped and cooked the beetroot and then just used a fork to mash the beetroot, leaving some small pieces.
• I added the beetroot to the rice, just before the end of cooking. 
• I also didn't use wine in my recipe as I didn't have any in, so I just replaced with chicken stock and a teaspoon of red wine vinegar. I cooked the vinegar out right at the beginning after cooking the onions and adding the rice.

The original recipe was cooked in the oven, but I like the texture and creaminess of this and cooking on top of the stove lets you make sure you don't overcook the risotto. You can of course use the oven recipe, as sometimes ease is exactly what you need.

Meal Plan 13/10/13 - 19/10/13

We had a lovely day out in Leeds this weekend and as we'd been out for lunch, we didn't really feel like much to eat on the evening.... even the Thai Butternut squash soup! We'll be having that today on Sunday evening instead. Despite having it leftover from last week's menu, we are both still really looking forward to this!

This week is also a little more expensive than it would have been, as I've stocked up on oil as well.

Meal Plan 13/10/13 - 19/10/13

Thai Butternut Squash Soup

Tuna & Sweetcorn Pasta Bake (Thornley's Mix)

Beetroot Risotto

Chilli Con Carne

Squash and Spinach Pasta Rotolo (Jamie Oliver Recipe)

Cod in Parsley Sauce with Carrots and Fine Beans (Thornley's Parsley Sauce Mix)

We will be eating out once this week:

Breakfast: Egg, Bacon, Cereal, Fruit

Lunch: Ham / Corned Beef / Egg and Bacon Sandwiches, Leftovers

Snacks: Bananas, Oranges, Kiwi Fruit

Leftovers: Rice, Tinned Fruit, Tuna, Cereal

Shopping List

Bread £1.50

GF Bread £1.75

10 Bananas - 1.87 kg £1.27

Smart Price Oranges £0.60

Punnet Kiwi £1.00

Beetroot 500 g (Morrisons) £0.79

Onions £0.75

Pecorino 160 g £2.00

Milk £1.00

Beef Mince £2.00

Kidney Beans £0.27

Chopped Tomatoes £0.31

Feta £1.50

Frozen Spinach £1.00

Red Onion £0.11

Garlic £0.30

GF Lasagne Sheet £3.00

Passata * 2 £0.68

Eggs £1.35

Cooking Bacon £0.81

Ham £3.00

Corned Beef £1.78

2 * Cod Portions £4.00

Trimmed Beans - 90 g £0.50

Carrot Batons 300 g £0.58

Ski Yoghurts £1.00

Vegetable Oil - 3l £3.78

Smart Price Yoghurt £0.59

Total £37.22

Sticky Kicking Chicken

I drive the other half potty sometimes watching cookery programs, I enjoy watching though and they give good ideas. A while back I saw this Jamie Oliver make Sticky Kicking Chicken with Watermelon Radish Salad & Crunch Noodles. This really appealed to us both and we've finally got around to trying it.

I think this turned out really well, was quick to cook (we were slightly longer than 15 minutes) but it was a very tasty dish and an ideal mid week meal. It would be great to have if you're having company. I would definitely make this again.

I did use gluten free soy sauce to make it gluten free.  We also left the radish out as we're both not keen on this, but that's just our personal taste.

I'm actually considering buying Jamie's 15 minute meals book (you can find it on Amazon here), as it seems like a good book to have around when you need some ideas for quick meals.

Meal Plan 06/10/13 - 13/10/13

I've tried to keep a couple of nights free this week as I'm going to be eating at my family's house for 2 nights. We should hopefully have plenty of leftovers this week as well, to take these to work for lunch. 

As we ending up eating out unexpectedly, I didn't manage to have the Carbonara that I was looking forward to so I've brought that into this weeks menu. We've also got a couple of new recipes that were trying, so very much looking forward to these too.

Meal Plan 06/10/13- 13/10/13

Pulled Pork with salad

Spaghetti Carbonara

Sticky Kicking Chicken - Jamie Oliver

Harissa Cous Cous with Chicken

Thai Pumpkin / Butternut Squash Soup

Shopping List:

Milk £1.00

GF Bread £1.75

Bananas 7 - 0.94 kg £0.64

Oranges £0.50

2 x Mangos £1.00

Bisto Best £2.00

Bread £1.50

Free From Soy Sauce £2.80

Lettuce £0.50

Activia Yoghurts £1.00

Mint £0.70

Cooking Bacon £0.81

Coriander £0.70

Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs £3.58

Fish Sauce £1.68

Fresh Ginger 0.55 kg £0.11

3 Limes £0.75

Spring Onions £0.50

Water Melon £2.97

Garlic £0.30

Chipotle Paste £1.60

Cherry Tomatoes £1.00

Lemon £0.30

Butternut Squash - 1.42 kg £1.21

Lemongrass £0.67

Mayonnaise £1.18

Coconut Milk £1.50

Pork Shoulder 1.65 kg £4.96

Muscavado Sugar £1.38

Avocado £1.00

Cider Vinegar £0.84

Dijon Mustard £0.58

Watercress, Spinach, Rocket £1.50

Sugar £0.88

Organic Cornflakes £1.48

Total  £44.87

Roast Vegetables with Lancashire and Feta Cheese

We've been trying to eat a lot more vegetables lately and this particular recipe is something we tried a while back from the BBC Good Food website. The original recipe we used it here, but since then we've been tweaking it to our own taste and also trying to use up some leftovers in the fridge!

We really enjoy this recipe and apart from the preparation of the vegetables, you actually just put it in the oven and don't have to do much at all. You can serve this on the side of some roast chicken portions or your favourite meat if you prefer.

Serves 2 as a main, 4 as a side

Ingredients:

1 Butternut Squash

1 large courgette

1 large handful of cherry tomatoes

1 pepper 

1 red onion

100 g Lancashire Cheese

100 g Feta Cheese

3 - 4 garlic cloves

Sprig of fresh sage

1 tsp mixed herbs

Glug of Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Method:

1. Preheat fan oven to 180 C / 200 C conventional / Gas 6.
2. Chop your squash in half, scoop out the seeds and cut into small chunks and peel. Cut into chunks and put into the roasting tin.
3. Chop the courgette and pepper and put into the tin.
4. Peel the red onion, chop in half and cut each half into 4 chunks and put in the roasting tin
5. Scatter the tomatoes with the rest of the vegetables.
6. Chop up the sage and add with the mixed herbs and garlic to your chopped vegetables. Pour a good glug of oil over, season and mix round a little. Don't over season with salt as you will be adding the Feta later.
7. Roast for approx 30 minutes or until all of the vegetables are cooked through, stirring half way through.
8. 5 minutes before the end, crumble the cheese over and pop back in the oven for 5 minutes.

The cooking juices from the vegetables are lovely mopped up with a bit of bread!

Meal Plan 29/09/13 - 05/10/13

We've decided to keep one night free this coming week, as I think we may be going out for dinner. If we don't we will have leftovers to use up. We've tried to make sure there are plenty of vegetables in this weeks meal plan, we will be trying to eat a little healthier and make sure there's more focus on vegetables. That being said, I really am looking to trying out the Thornley's Carbonara Sauce Mix!

Meal Plan:

Roast Chicken Dinner

Chicken or Beef Stir Fry

Roasted Autumn Vegetables with Lancashire Cheese

Leftover Chilli / Fish Cakes with Mushy Peas

Spaghetti Carbonara (Thornley Packet)

Vegetable Medley (Beans), Cabbage, Bacon

Shopping List:

Cooking Bacon £0.81
Chobani Yoghurts x 4 £1.50
Activia Fig Yoghurts x 4 £1.00
Smart Price Whole Chicken 1.584kg £3.93
Milk - 4 pints £1.00
2 X Carrots £0.21
Sweetcorn £0.69
Savoy Cabbage £0.80
Green Beans £0.50
Broccoli £0.60
15 Smart Price Eggs £1.35
Stir Fry Vegetables £1.00
2 x Stir Fry Sauces £1.00
1 Butternut Squash -0.86 kg £0.73
Sage £1.00
Lancashire Cheese 100 g £1.00
String Beans £1.00
Single Cream 150 ml £0.55
Kingsmill Seeded bread - little big one £0.75
Free From Wraps £2.80
Bananas (4 - 0.655 kg) £0.45
Clementines £1.75

Total £24.42

All of the above prices were correct at time of publication.

Breakfast: Cereal, Toast, Eggs

Lunch: Chicken Mayonnaise and Sweetcorn / Egg and Bacon Sandwiches,  Tuna, Lerftovers

Snacks: Bananas, Clementines, Yoghurts

Leftovers: Cereal, Bread, Eggs, Chilli, Potatoes, Spaghetti, Lentils, Frozen Spinach, Frozen Broad Beans, Frozen, Peas, Garlic, Fish Cakes, Bananas