Help me plan my weekly dinners!!

Costa_lot

OK, I have made a conscious decision to do more home cooking instead of buying pre packed.

The reason behind this is I am trying to save money on the weekly shop although I don't think ours is excessive Approx £50 a week - or is it? the other reason is I want to eat more fresh food, where I know the ingredients.

It's only me and OH at home, we both work full time so there is not a lot of time to prepare meals - I normally allow an hour max 30 mins is better - otherwise we would be eating at 8pm every night.

So hopefully this is where you can help me. I will be putting together a shopping list for Saturdays shop so I can prepare my meals for next week, but I am not what you would call experienced in the kitchen. I am not terrible - I love to cook if I have the time, but when I am rushed and stressed - I just want to eat and relax, knowing I have had something that is good for me.

So would you all be kind enough to share all your expertise to help me, and if anybody wants to join me, we could share our menus and planning ideas to keep each other motivated.

Here goes...

kazmeister

Hi

I start my planning so that its not too repetetive by having the following

Pasta day
Rice day
Fish day
Meat day
Snack day
Roast day and
Other day

Obviously some meals can fit into more than one category, and I usually start planning with the roast day as the leftover joint can then be used to make another dish during the week.

Works for us

HTH

Pink.

Hi Costa lot,

If you like to eat soon after you get home, would it be possible for you to spend some time at the weekend batch cooking so that you could just lift something out of the freezer for tea?

If you have a look through the threads listed in The Complete Menu Plans Collection you might get some inspiratation. Also look at this week's meal plan thread to see what everyone else is having.

Pink

moanymoany

This is my week
Tonight a kind of cheese pudding.
Mock Goose - a war time recipe, mainly potatoes
Egg casserole
Veggie Bean Burgers
Poor man's cassoulet
Liver and mash
Toad in the hole

These are main dishes with additional veg.

Costa_lot

moanymoany wrote: »

This is my week
Tonight a kind of cheese pudding.
Mock Goose - a war time recipe, mainly potatoes
Egg casserole
Veggie Bean Burgers
Poor man's cassoulet
Liver and mash
Toad in the hole

These are main dishes with additional veg.

I know how to make the last two, but all the others are new to me, would you be kind enough to share.

DebtphobicDeirdre

A slow cooker might be good for you I do curries,broth, casseroles and corned beef hash in mine and it is lovely to come home to a ready-made meal.
Tesco do a value stir-fry veg mix that makes a great stir-fry with a few defrosted prawns and chheap instant noodles which only takes 5 mins.
Batch cooking can help too. I do things like white sauce, boloognaise sauce, cookie dough and mashed potatoes in batches.
Good luck you'll soon get the hang of it.

angelavdavis

Sorry for the long post!

I would second the slow cooker - cheap to run and great to get the most from cheap cuts of meat such as stewing steak or brisket of beef. I also love lamb in the SC.

I keep a list of my freezer contents on the door and cross off as I use them, I then have a list of meals I like to cook from the contents, here is my meal idea list:

1. Scampi & Chips (frozen)
2. Turkey Schnitzel, rataouii & chips (HM)
3. Shepherds pie with veg (HM)
4. Turkey biriani (HM)
5. Salmon encroute (HM)
6. Turkey curry with veg curry and Bombay potatoes (HM - TC in SC)
7. Chilli Con carne, rice and garlic bread (HM)
8. Beef stew with potatoes (HM - SC)*
9. Tuna steak with salad and baby potatoes (HM)
10. Bacon and Mushroom pasta (HM - from fridge)
11. Moussaka with salad (HM)*
12. Steak stuffed with paté, sauté potatoes and veg (HM)
13. Seafood pasta (HM)
14. Paella (HM)
15. Prawn Green Curry and rice (HM)
16. Lamb stew & potatoes (HM - SC)*
17. Turkey stir fry with fried rice (HM)
18. Turkey risotto (HM)
19. Roast Chicken with trimmings (HM)
20. Chicken soup (HM from Roast leftovers)
21. Chicken Chop Suey & fried rice (HM from roast leftovers)
22. Chicken casserole (HM)*
23. Sweet & Sour Pork and rice (HM)*
24. Pork chops, potatoes and veg (HM)
25. Turkey chop suey (HM)
26. Salmon pasta (HM)
27. Salmon with lemon sauce (HM)
28. Spaghetti bolognaise with garlic bread (HM)*
29. Lasagne with garlic bread (HM)*
30. Fish pie with veg (HM)*
31. Turkey pasta (HM)
32. Minestrone soup (leftovers)
33. Chicken and bacon pie (from roast leftovers)
34. Tuna and pasta bake (tinned tuna)
35. Crab risotto (tinned crab)
36. Crab soufflé (tinned crab)
37. Beef stir fry
38. Arrabiata pasta (from storecupboard)
39. Chicken curry (HM)*
40. Salmon and broccoli pasta
41. Mushroom risotto (from cupboard)
42. Lamb toad in the hole, potatoes and veg
43. Egg & chips
44. Steak & chips
45. Home made pizza (use breadmaker and any leftovers)
46. Salmon fishcakes, veg (HM)

*all these are batch cooked and frozen, then defrosted as needed.

I use fresh veg where poss, but do freeze sliced peppers, blanched parsnips/ turnips/swede, mushrooms, mange tout, sweetcorn as these things either tend to have a short fridge life or are things we don't use large amounts of (because there are just two of us), so I open-freeze to ensure I have a supply. I also freeze cheese (grated), mozarella for pizzas (sliced), ginger (peeled in 1 inch pieces) and lemon grass.

As a result of this, I have a ready made shopping list and meal list.

The list changes - for example, I don't have any beef brisket because I only buy meat and fish on special offer.

By the way, I also work full time (and very often am away during the week so the frozen "ready meals" help OH!) and spend £160 a month on groceries for OH and me including beer and wine! I have tried but can't it down lower and we don't buy many value brands as OH is fussy about his baked beans/orange juice/butter, etc I also try to buy organic (won't buy non-organic toms any more as IMHO, they are tasteless).

I hope that has helped!

Costa_lot

Wow - angelavdavis - that is amazing, if I could get into your routine that would be fab! My problem is that my knowledge of recipes is very limitied, I just can't throw things together - if you know what I mean.
Where did you get your recipes from, do I need to get myself and good cook book?

QOTD

angelavdavis wrote: »

Sorry for the long post!

.... I keep a list of my freezer contents on the door and cross off as I use them, I then have a list of meals I like to cook from the contents, here is my meal idea list:......

I second that, and what a fabulous idea to keep a list of all the frozen meals. I made a monthly meal plan last night aiming to work out where I could made double portions ready to freeze for later in the month, and keeping a list of what I've got will definitely help for swapping around meals and days if I don't fancy what I have "booked" for that day.

Thanks for the advice :T

cobbingstones

Many thanks Angel - fantastic :-)

mm

angelavdavis

Costa_lot wrote: »

Wow - angelavdavis - that is amazing, if I could get into your routine that would be fab! My problem is that my knowledge of recipes is very limitied, I just can't throw things together - if you know what I mean.
Where did you get your recipes from, do I need to get myself and good cook book?

Some I get from OS recipe collection, some I have made up or adapted to suit my tastes - such as:
turkey schnitzel (seasoned turkey, dipped in flour, egg and herby breadcrumbs and then grilled). Make ahead and freeze
Salmon encroute - I make a thicker than usual white sauce and either put in lots of chopped parsley or lemon juice/grated rind. Placed the salmon in the centre of pastry (which is large enough to cover the salmon), add some wilted drained spinach, then put a spoonful of sauce on top of the salmon and fold up the pastry (use either fresh or pre-made), sealing with milk. Bake in hot oven for 20 minutes. Make ahead with fresh salmon and freeze.
Moussaka is layers of pre-cooked slices of aubergine (dry fry in frying pan in batches), cooked savoury lamb mince (I add veg into it such as mushrooms and courgettes but its personal pref, seasoned with lots of nutmeg) and then topped with a bechamel sauce. Baked for 15 minutes until top is brown.
Curries are usually adapted from a fairly standard chicken curry recipe, I buy green thai curry paste and use the recipe on the pack!
Chop suey - soak egg noodles in boiling water until soft, drain and add a good sprinkle of sesame oil to stop them sticking. Meanwhile chop onion, carrot, celery, mushrooms to roughly same size. Fry meat/prawns in wok, add good slosh each of sesame oil and light soy sauce, then add veg to wok and cook until starting to soften. Add finely chopped garlic. Add drained noodles and beansprouts (if you have them - I sprout my own in a couple of days on the windowsill). Add a couple of tablespoons of water, half teaspoon of sugar and pinch of salt (if desired). Give them a good stir, turn off gas and leave for 2-5 minutes before serving.
Tuna Bake - Cook pasta. Make bechamel sauce and add lots of cheese to taste. Soften onions/garlic in butter, add sweetcorn, oregano and frozen peas and cook lightly. Open tin of tuna and drain well. Add white sauce to veg and then flake tuna into sauce. Drain pasta and mix with tuna mix, put in an oven dish, sprinkle with grated cheese and bake in oven for 15-20 minute until brown.
Sweet and Sour pork - recipe on OS
Arrabiata pasta - recipe on OS
Bacon and Egg pasta - cook pasta, soften onions in butter with some garlic, oregano, chopped mushrooms and add chopped bacon. Once bacon cooked through, drain pasta and return to saucepan and add bacon mix into pasta. Whisk an egg lightly, pour over hot pasta and add lots of grated parmesan, mix well and serve.
Crab soufflé - I use a recipe from www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes - just search for recipe. I cook this at the weekend or for a more special occasion.
My risottos are generally the same format - chop up veg (whatever you have in), start by sweating onions with garlic, chopped meat and herbs of choice, add rice and veg, ensure they are coated with flavoured juices and then add stock. Bring to boil, then turn down and put lid on top (if cooking prawns - leave these until the end of cooking). Once most of liquid is gone, add prawns (and dash of wine if desired) and replace lid to cook through. Turn off heat and leave to stand for a couple of minutes before serving.

If there are any specific recipes I have missed you want, PM me and I will oblige!