A month of meals for less than £5 – and a weekly menu plan

Happy New Year!

It’s January. The celebrations are over and it’s back to normality. No more over-indulging. In fact probably a bit of under-indulging wouldn’t go amiss in this household – so it’s back to budget menu planning with a bump!

I haven’t posted menu plans (or anything much) for a while leading up to Christmas. We had a bit of illness in the family over the last few weeks so there hasn’t been a lot of time, but fortunately everyone is now recovering well. But I feel I owe you an update on my aim to have a whole month of meals for less than a fiver.

To be honest I wasn’t quite sure that I would manage it without repeating meals several times, but we did manage four week’s worth of low cost meals, without having to compromise on taste – and without the family noticing (apart from the coley kurma disaster!). I need to catch up on recipes, but I’ll try to gradually publish the menu plans together with accompanying recipes in the next few weeks.

Keeping below £5 for the whole main course (including side dishes and vegetables) can be a bit of a challenge and it has made me look closer at using more vegetables, more pulses and estimating portion sizes better.

And I’ve found some great new recipes

• Favourite recipe: Roast tomato and feta tart
  
• Tastiest Quick new recipe: Smoked Mackerel Fishcakes
  
• Easiest one-pot dish: Roast sausages with red onion and peppers
  
• Super-quick recipe: Pasta with tomato and creme fraiche sauce
  

If you want to see the individual menu plans with recipe links here they are:

1. Week 1: Roast Sausages and a Weekly Menu Plan
2. Week 2: More Low Cost Meals and a Weekly Menu Plan
3. Week 3: Another Week – Another Budget Menu Plan
4. Week 4: Week Four and a Fourth Budget Menu Plan

So this weeks menu plan = £20.17 for five meals

Monday
Mini Toad in the holes, potatoes and beans £3.77

Tuesday
Cock-a-leekie Stew and homemade bread £3.42

Wednesday
Shepherds Pie and peas £4.87
(Cook double and use the leftovers for tomorrow)

Thursday
Lasagna and salad £3.93

Friday
Ham, spring onion and parmesan quiche with coleslaw £4.18

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What’s your week look like? And what’s your favourite money-saving tip??

Have a good week!

As usual I’m linking up to Mrs M’s Meal Planning Monday