Help with meal planning

suki1964

bouicca21 wrote: »

Like suki I concentrate on not throwing stuff away rather than meal planning. This week has to be super frugal. Accordingly it's pork kidneys in tomato chili sauce with rice, lamb heart casserole with baked potato and spinach, and lamb shank with sweet potato puree. I've the rest of a cauli, a bacon rasher, mushrooms and a pepper, so that will the makings of a cauliflower cheese. That's a week more or less done. No idea what I'll do after that.

Super frugal or not that all sounds lovely

I just can’t get Dh to entertain kidney or hearts. Daft because he now loves liver and bacon which he wouldn’t entertain till he met me and he’s even eaten chicken livers when at a party But I guess we all have our little foibles

bouicca21

If he can eat liver, then the chilli pork kidney could be the next step. Super easy to cook (it's just chopped kidneys in a simple tomato sauce with chilli flakes) and although the kidney flavour is more piggy than a pork chop, it's not overwhelmingly strong (way milder than liver) and works really well against the chilli.

thegirlinthegreenscarf

suki1964 wrote: »

I don't have a meal plan set in stone, everything is flexible
So I tend to pick perhaps 3 meat items a week, one fish and one quasi veggie ( eggs or cheese based anyway ) and theres usually a left over meal in there and Saturdays is fend for yourself day as we tend to be busy and I don't want to be tied to a time to get a dinner sorted

So I don't really meal plan, I plan not to throw anything away

But I hope some of that helps

You are amazing! What are your quasi veggie meals ideas please?

suki1964

thegirlinthegreenscarf wrote: »

You are amazing! What are your quasi veggie meals ideas please?

Ha ha , I wish I was

Money is tight, so I have to be tighter

We have our own hens so eggs feature a lot, I'll make quiche and egg curry a lot. Macaroni cheese I can get away with now and then as well as a vegetable pasta bake. I find I can get away with a vegetarian dish if it's curry - chickpea and spinach or afghan aubergine

One trick I use with steak is to buy just a two pack ( there's 3 adults here) then I slice them up, fry some slice onions and mushrooms, throw in the steak pieces till lightly cooked , mix with a pepper sauce and pile into big jacket spuds. Steak dinner for 3 for less then £5

With fish I pick up the bags of mixed fish out of the freezer section in Tesco - usually 2 for £6 and make fish pie or I use tinned salmon to make fish cakes. If I'm doing fish and chips I buy from lidl when on offer and cut each fillet in half before lightly battering. Makes it look a lot more on the plate and tbh both mum and me would only eat a small piece anyway

Mince gets padded out with lentils. Works particularly well in spag Bol and lasagna as the long slow cook breaks them down and the rich tomato sauce disguises them even further

Today is gammon. £3 for 1kg. I'll boil it then finish it in the oven with a mustard and honey glaze then when cold enough to handle I will put it through the slicer. Half today roast dinner style. The stock will be ham and pea soup using the bits and bobs that fall off when slicing and the rest will be ham and eggs one night during the week

We don't eat a very exciting diet but we don't go hungry, meat portions may be smaller then most people serve but a portion does only need to be 3 or 4 ozs Plates are filled with vegetables

thegirlinthegreenscarf

suki1964 wrote: »

Ha ha , I wish I was

Money is tight, so I have to be tighter

We have our own hens so eggs feature a lot, I'll make quiche and egg curry a lot. Macaroni cheese I can get away with now and then as well as a vegetable pasta bake. I find I can get away with a vegetarian dish if it's curry - chickpea and spinach or afghan aubergine

One trick I use with steak is to buy just a two pack ( there's 3 adults here) then I slice them up, fry some slice onions and mushrooms, throw in the steak pieces till lightly cooked , mix with a pepper sauce and pile into big jacket spuds. Steak dinner for 3 for less then £5

With fish I pick up the bags of mixed fish out of the freezer section in Tesco - usually 2 for £6 and make fish pie or I use tinned salmon to make fish cakes. If I'm doing fish and chips I buy from lidl when on offer and cut each fillet in half before lightly battering. Makes it look a lot more on the plate and tbh both mum and me would only eat a small piece anyway

Mince gets padded out with lentils. Works particularly well in spag Bol and lasagna as the long slow cook breaks them down and the rich tomato sauce disguises them even further

Today is gammon. £3 for 1kg. I'll boil it then finish it in the oven with a mustard and honey glaze then when cold enough to handle I will put it through the slicer. Half today roast dinner style. The stock will be ham and pea soup using the bits and bobs that fall off when slicing and the rest will be ham and eggs one night during the week

We don't eat a very exciting diet but we don't go hungry, meat portions may be smaller then most people serve but a portion does only need to be 3 or 4 ozs Plates are filled with vegetables

All fab and very useful
Thanks so much

viv0147

Make a Menu for the Week
HI the way I got my shopping under control was every Sunday I write a menu for the forthcoming week doing this has many advantages (1) it eliminates waste (2) you only buy your shopping to suit your menu so no unnecessary spending if during the week you don't particularly want what you have on the menu for that day you can interchange the meal for another day example of my menu.
Week beginning 18th of June
Monday

Breakfast Beans on toast 1 egg

Dinner Fish Fillet with Salad

Tuesday

Breakfast Mushroom Omelette

Dinner Burger with Salad

Wednesday

Breakfast Full English

Dinner Cheese with Salad

Thursday

Breakfast Roasted Cheese on a Plate

Dinner Steak Etc.

Friday

Breakfast Scrambled Eggs with Bacon Etc.

Dinner Welsh Rarebit

Saturday

Breakfast Porridge & Fruit

Dinner Chicken Dinner

Sunday

Breakfast 2 boiled Eggs 1 Toast

Dinner Chicken Dinner