On to week 4 and the final week of my July challenge, though I think I might keep it going for one a 5th week. Once again I am working off a list of items that are in my freezer, fridge and cupboard to try and use what I have in already as far as possible in order to keep the cost of my groceries down.
So, my menu planner for 21st July to the 27th July is as follows;
Saturday lunch - Bacon and sweetcorn chowder
Saturday dinner - Braised chops with borlotti beans and wine and Boulangère potatoes
Sunday lunch - Leftover bacon and sweetcorn chowder
Sunday dinner - Braised pork chops with cider vinegar and prunes with leftover Boulangère potatoes
Monday dinner - Mixed bean chilli (my own recipe)
Tuesday dinner - Leftover mixed bean chilli
Wednesday dinner - Fish fingers, waffles, peas and sweetcorn
Thursday dinner - Smoky beef stew served with tortillas
Friday dinner - Pizza (for me and daughter), chicken breast and gravy with potatoes (for husband)and other freezer dinner for baby (using up odds and ends from the freezer here!)
For lunches during the week we will have ham sandwiches, tuna salad and any leftovers from dinner.
Last week I spent below my €50 budget once again by spending only €43.80 on my groceries for the week. I am hoping that this week I manage to stick to my €50 budget once again. If I do, that will mean that I will have managed to stay below €200 for the four full weeks in July, leaving €200 to go to our savings account.
Showing posts with label July challenge 2012. Show all posts
Showing posts with label July challenge 2012. Show all posts
Friday, 20 July 2012
Saturday, 14 July 2012
Menu plan for 14/7/2012 to 20/7/2012
We're onto week 3 of my July challenge and so far things are going good. Last week I managed to spend only €35.70 of my €50 budget for the week. To say I am happy would be a bit of an understatement. Although, in fairness I had one less day to feed the family last week and while this wouldn't have caused me to save the €14.30 that I didn't spend of my budget it certainly helped a bit. Hopefully I'll be able to do as well with my budget this week as I did last week.
This morning my husband cleaned out our fridge while giving me a bit of a lie in (I know - lucky me!) so it was possible to see at a glance what we had in our fridge. Together we had another review of the contents of the freezer and made a list of what was in there just to update the list of what we had in already. So, using the list of what we have in already I put together a menu plan for the week. It is as follows:
Saturday dinner - Steak and sticky red wine shallots with potatoes
Sunday lunch - Tomato, lentil and lime soup (I have all the ingredients in for this)
Sunday dinner - Roast lemon chicken with tagliatelle (I have all the ingredients in for this)
Monday dinner - Wraps
Tuesday dinner - Pizza
Wednesday dinner - Chorizo pilaf (I have all the ingredients in for this)
Thursday dinner - Leftover chorizo pilaf
Friday dinner - Fish fingers, chips, peas and sweetcorn
For lunches we will be having ham sandwiches, leftover tomato, lentil and lime soup and leftover roast lemon chicken with tagliatelle.
As you can see, I have selected three items for my menu for the week were I will not have to buy anything for the recipe as I already have all the ingredients in. For the rest of the options I have selected I have most of the items in already apart from Tuesday evenings pizza. I will be buying whatever frozen pizza is on offer for my daughters dinner on Tuesday evening as a special treat for her as my husband and I are off to a concert on Tuesday evening while she and her brother stay at home with a minder. Picking recipes where I have most of the ingredients, if not all of them, in the house already has enabled me to keep my shopping list quite small for this week again.
Tip
To help select recipes using ingredients I already have in, I used the search function on the Good Food website to do this quickly. I typed in a selection of the ingredients I have in already, for example 'chicken' and 'basil', and then went through the search results. I then looked at the ingredients list for those that caught my eye, dismissing those that involved the purchasing of lots of items I don't have in the house at the moment.
This morning my husband cleaned out our fridge while giving me a bit of a lie in (I know - lucky me!) so it was possible to see at a glance what we had in our fridge. Together we had another review of the contents of the freezer and made a list of what was in there just to update the list of what we had in already. So, using the list of what we have in already I put together a menu plan for the week. It is as follows:
Saturday dinner - Steak and sticky red wine shallots with potatoes
Sunday lunch - Tomato, lentil and lime soup (I have all the ingredients in for this)
Sunday dinner - Roast lemon chicken with tagliatelle (I have all the ingredients in for this)
Monday dinner - Wraps
Tuesday dinner - Pizza
Wednesday dinner - Chorizo pilaf (I have all the ingredients in for this)
Thursday dinner - Leftover chorizo pilaf
Friday dinner - Fish fingers, chips, peas and sweetcorn
For lunches we will be having ham sandwiches, leftover tomato, lentil and lime soup and leftover roast lemon chicken with tagliatelle.
As you can see, I have selected three items for my menu for the week were I will not have to buy anything for the recipe as I already have all the ingredients in. For the rest of the options I have selected I have most of the items in already apart from Tuesday evenings pizza. I will be buying whatever frozen pizza is on offer for my daughters dinner on Tuesday evening as a special treat for her as my husband and I are off to a concert on Tuesday evening while she and her brother stay at home with a minder. Picking recipes where I have most of the ingredients, if not all of them, in the house already has enabled me to keep my shopping list quite small for this week again.
Tip
To help select recipes using ingredients I already have in, I used the search function on the Good Food website to do this quickly. I typed in a selection of the ingredients I have in already, for example 'chicken' and 'basil', and then went through the search results. I then looked at the ingredients list for those that caught my eye, dismissing those that involved the purchasing of lots of items I don't have in the house at the moment.
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