Meal Planning Monday - 16 Jan 2012

Welcome to my Meal Planning Monday on Wednesday post. I don't really have an excuse for being late since I have already got my menu planned as part of my money saving January. It's kind of going out the window a little bit as I have hit my annual slump and am fighting off a severe case of the blahs.

Last week's £60 goal was not a success, and I have probably spent about £80 with both the regular shop and a top up for milk and bread. It's ironic since the supermarket shop was the largest since before Christmas, but my children seem to have developed the appetite of teenagers with a tapeworm.

Just to demonstrate how lazy I have been this week:

Monday: coq au vin in slow cooker with 3 ingredients - frozen chicken thighs and drumsticks; packet of coq au vin casserole mix I found in the pantry, and a can of lager. No other added liquid. Once the chicken was cooked I took the skin and bones out and served it with rice and veg. It was gorgeous.
Tuesday - chips and gravy from the chippy, with added cheese, peas and sweetcorn at home. The kids had sausages (and a battered sausage). Nutritional value? Severely limited.

The rest of the week's plan is:

fridge fried rice as I have some bits to use

pulled pork with pasta and baguette (in freezer) with zucchini

shepherd's pie with butternut squash and mash topping, with zucchini (I have a lot to use)

chicken curry (in freezer) cauliflower and naan

Quorn stir fry, veg and rice noodles

I made a batch of brownies yesterday. I have seen these gorgeous cupcakes on Wraggamuffins' Facebook page and may give them a whirl this week. I have a good recipe for caramel mud cake, but will have to find one for caramel sponge. How luscious do these look!

Wraggamuffins' Facebook page

Be sure to check out other Meal Planning Monday posts on At Home With Mrs M.

Meal Planning Monday - 9Jan 2012

Last week's menu went well. I didn't make the beer chicken as my 9 year old wanted to make dinner and since he can only cook stir fry, I swapped it with the Quorn stir fry from this week's menu.

My shopping this week was £58.24. Again, it was higher than I expected due to the size of the pork joint being much bigger than I ordered. Asda still haven't got back to me about that. Honestly, if you can't order a specific size of something, why allow it to be ordered ? Grrr... Still, the pork and beef from last week will get used so it should help to keep Feburary's meal costs down.

Fridge frittata

beef and mushroom pie

chicken curry

rissoles

chilli & rice

cranberry pork (leftover cranberry sauce from Christmas)

Quorn & noodle veg stir fry

Baking:
Chocolate chip muffins (ashamed to say these were eaten in 24 hours)
Chocolate cake (husband's birthday)
Anzac biscuits

Don't forget to check out Mrs M's linky for more Meal Planning Monday.