Need some help please with my meal plan

moneysaver12

Hi iam new to this board. We are spending too much on food each week. There is the two of us and we have a dog.

I have been going through th freezer and cuboards to see what food and ingredients we have.

I thought that we could have these meals

HM pizza
Chilli
pie and wedges
spaghetti bolognese
veg curry
chicken curry
tuna pasta bake

I have found 3 tins of tomatoes
tomatoe puree
salmai
veg curry that i have made perviously in the slow cooker
rice
pie in the freezer
potatoes
jar of batli sauce
jar of pasta bake sauce
tuna
2 big red onions
Oregano
bay leaves
garlic powder
veg stock cubes
turmeric
garam masala
black peppercorn
smoked paprika
ground fenugreek
ground ginger
ground cumin
chinese five spices
ground nutmeg
ground cinnamon
mustard powder
parsley
chillies crushed
mustard seeds
spicy season
ground cloves
block of coconut cream
salt

Now as i have not made chilli before and only used a jar for spaghetti bolognese im not sure what i need for them. My oh tends to do most of the cooking, i want to help with it more and also make meals from scratch and save money. Can anyone help with my meal plan please.

SmlSave

Meal plan looks good to me

My chilli is normally made with mince, onion, peppers, can of beans, can of tom, some tom puree, veg stock, chilli and paprika.

My spab bol is almost same as above but I add more veg, no beans and instead of veg stock beef, instead of chilli and paprika I use mixed herbs. (i see you have oregano, bay and parsley)

Hope this helps!

P.S. I stretch my meat by adding grated carrot and lentils

CCP

It's nice to see someone else with a selection of spices like mine - I've filled up a whole cupboard now!

Your meal plan looks pretty good to me: you could bulk out most of these with some veggies to make your main ingredients go further.

I make bolognese and chilli much the same way as SmlSave does, except I use cumin rather than paprika in the chilli. The one bit of advice I would give when making chilli for the first time is to go easy on the spices at first: you can add more later if it's not spicy enough, but you can't take the spices out if you've made it too hot! (I've made that mistake a few times... :whistle:)

moneysaver12

SmlSave wrote: »

Meal plan looks good to me

My chilli is normally made with mince, onion, peppers, can of beans, can of tom, some tom puree, veg stock, chilli and paprika.

My spab bol is almost same as above but I add more veg, no beans and instead of veg stock beef, instead of chilli and paprika I use mixed herbs. (i see you have oregano, bay and parsley)

Hope this helps!

P.S. I stretch my meat by adding grated carrot and lentils

Thankyou very much for your help. Would i be able to cook like a base with the mince and then put it in to portions so i could put some in the fridge for the spag bol and how long will it last in the fridge.

CCP wrote: »

It's nice to see someone else with a selection of spices like mine - I've filled up a whole cupboard now!

Your meal plan looks pretty good to me: you could bulk out most of these with some veggies to make your main ingredients go further.

I make bolognese and chilli much the same way as SmlSave does, except I use cumin rather than paprika in the chilli. The one bit of advice I would give when making chilli for the first time is to go easy on the spices at first: you can add more later if it's not spicy enough, but you can't take the spices out if you've made it too hot! (I've made that mistake a few times... :whistle:)

Thankyou very much for your help. I thought it was about time we started using the spices again and using things in the cupboard.

CCP

moneysaver12 wrote: »

Would i be able to cook like a base with the mince and then put it in to portions so i could put some in the fridge for the spag bol and how long will it last in the fridge.

I think that would work - you can add the spices to the mince base once you've taken the bolognese part out, then just heat it all through. The mince should be OK in the fridge for a couple of days: if you want to keep it longer than that you could freeze it then take it out when you need it.

moneysaver12

CCP wrote: »

I think that would work - you can add the spices to the mince base once you've taken the bolognese part out, then just heat it all through. The mince should be OK in the fridge for a couple of days: if you want to keep it longer than that you could freeze it then take it out when you need it.

Thankyou very much for your help. Would one tin of tomtoes be ok and should i cook the onions, mince and put the tomotoes in, or do i just cook the mince and onions and then take the part out for the bolognese. Also do i need to cook the lentils first or can i just cook them with the mince.

ChocClare

Your meal plan looks good to me too! If you want step-by-step instructions to make a ragu (ie the meat sauce which forms a base for bolognese, lasagne, cottage pie, chilli etc.) I wrote it out in another thread yesterday, which is...http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1906025
here!;)

CCP

I'd do it as: cook onions and mince, add tomatoes and lentils (if they're red ones you don't need to cook them seperately first), then leave it to simmer for a bit. Take out the bit for the bolognese, then add the spices etc for the chilli and cook it for a bit longer, so the spices don't taste too raw. When you come to eat the bolognese, all you'll need to do is heat it up again and add any herbs you fancy.

One tin of tomatoes should be enough, I think, but if it looks like it's going to be a bit dry you could also add a squeeze of tomato puree and some water or stock.

Good luck - let me know if you have any problems!

moneysaver12

Thankyou very much for your help ccp and chocclare. Do you know where you can get cheaper lentils. I got some from asda and they only had organic ones, i got the green ones, they were 98p. Will aldi sell them cheaper.

zippychick

moneysaver12 wrote: »

Thankyou very much for your help. Would i be able to cook like a base with the mince and then put it in to portions so i could put some in the fridge for the spag bol and how long will it last in the fridge.

This thread - building blocks for the freezer - same principle would apply with the fridge . Great thread.

Meal plan looks good! You can always add lentils to your curry - make it go further and more filling power too

The_Saver_2

Hi Moneysaver12,

There's a website www.cookingbynumbers.com that may help you in future. It has a list of items (e.g. sugar, flour etc), you tick the items you have and it comes up with a list of recipe ideas.
Unfortunately, it only has about 80 items so it will only help you a limited number of times. It might be a help though?

TS