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JoJames 
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Joined: 11 August 2008
Location: Te Puke
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 Topic: Menus
Posted: 25 September 2010 at 10:37pm |
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Next question, I try so hard to stick to a strict food budget and write fortnightly menus, also it is so much easier than having to think each day about what to cook, and meat gets defrosted.
But I am so stuck on what to put on the menu, I would like to have a couple of meat free days, but I really don't know what to cook, I was wondering if people would share their menus, I know some people have a monthly one, how often do you repeat meals?
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jazzy
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Joined: 16 January 2009
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Posted: 26 September 2010 at 9:24am |
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I don't plan the weeks meals but I have enough to chose from. I stock up on canned tomatoes, simmer sauces, mixes.
I repeat a couple of meals as the kids love pasta so if I make spaghetti I know they will eat dinner.
We have decided to thrash the bbq this spring/summer, so lots of salads..not going overboard on meat tho.
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happymumma
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Posted: 26 September 2010 at 9:29am |
Having said that I was chucking out the idea of meal planning I just meal planned for the next two weeks 
So this week I have:
winter roast vege salad and couscous (which I have just taken from the cheap meals thread in the food section)
Hummus (trying home made for the first time) with toast and veges (carrots, celery etc)
Homemade pizza (with homemade base and anything I can find in the garden plus a bit of bacon)
Slow cooked chicken casserole (which I'm planning will last two nights
Taco soup (a very tasty man friendly, meat free soup!)
So the winter vege salad thingy can be meat free or not depending on whether you choose to add something like bacon in. The homemade pizza could be a vege one - I like a base of hummus and tomato paste and then I quite often chop up spinach, cherry tomatoes, peppers etc to pop on mine. I tried a kumara and blue cheese one last night (I was feeling adventurous!!) but it needs modifying if I'm going to bother again. And the taco soup is meat free - 1 x can of chopped tomatoes, 1 x can of whole kernel corn, 1 x can of chilli beans and a bit of chicken stock. Puree if you prefer the texture. Crush a few corn chips into the bottom of a bowl (weird but very tasty!), pour in your hot soup and top with grated cheese.
I'm not sure how often I repeat meals. Risotto is one that gets done fairly often here - partly because it's easy and partly because both my children can eat it and enjoy it. I probably do that once a week. Other than that I go through phases. Homemade pizza is an example at the moment - probably once a week for the same reason as above. In winter I tend to go through a soup phase.
Sorry - a bit of a novel but I hope it helps?
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jazzy
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Posted: 26 September 2010 at 9:48am |
happymumma sound yum.
I find it had to get meals that everyone will eat..mainly the 3 kids...
Love humus should really try & home make that also. Saw them doing it on master chef 
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Bizzy
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Posted: 26 September 2010 at 9:50am |
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i dont do meal planning - keep thinking i should but havent yet...
meat free dishes are usually pasta in this house - or they have minimal meat in them. pizza can be meat free. i picked up some cheap fresh fish the other day and that is a great alternative to meat and veg! macaroni cheese is a fave, i put eggs and tomato in mine and sometimes bacon if we have any. my kids will just eat pasta with cheese and tomato on it if they could. on days when i dont have to feed my husband the kids like spaghetti and cheese on toast!
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kebakat
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Joined: 01 January 1900
Location: Palmy North
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Posted: 26 September 2010 at 1:05pm |
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Why do so many people struggle with meat free meals? lol my hubby does and he lives with me (a vego).
Basically any meal can be meat free..
Some of the things we have are:
- pasta bakes
- quiche
- home made pizza
- risotto
- hokkien noodle stir fry
- mac n cheese with vege on the side
- breakfast dinner (so can of spag, sausages, hash browns, eggs or whatever)
- vege bake using those maggi sachets
- roast vege salad
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caliandjack
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Location: West Auckland
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Posted: 26 September 2010 at 5:26pm |
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I buy my groceries first then I plan my meals around what I was able to get. Helps when buying meat as I get what's most economical.
This week I bought mince, chicken sausages and bacon on special at the supermarket.
This week I'm having -
Chicken and vege patties
Mince and pasta
Bacon and cheese pie
Texas casserole with potatoes, sausages and vegetables.
Savoury mince on toast
Chicken sausage balls on rice
I had fish n chips takeaway on Friday
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  [/url] Angel June 2012
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happymumma
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Posted: 26 September 2010 at 7:10pm |
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ooooo Caliandjack can you please tell me what you do to create your chicken and vege patties please? And what's in your Texas casserole?
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caliandjack
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Posted: 26 September 2010 at 8:52pm |
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I use the sausage meat from the chicken sausages and add vegetables - grated carrot, onion, 1 egg and dried breadcrumbs and herbs and spices I have on hand.
Fry big spoon fulls of them in shallow oil in my fry pan,
until golden brown. I flatten them when I turn them.
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[/url] Angel June 2012
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caliandjack
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Posted: 26 September 2010 at 8:59pm |
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Texas Style Casserole
2 large potatoes sliced thinly
2 cups frozen vege thawed
8 sausages sliced thinly
1 cup milk
2 eggs
salt and pepper
3/4 cup grated cheese
Preheat oven to 180, coat a medium baking dish with cooking spray
Place potatoe and then vegetables in baking dish, top with sausage.
In a separate bowl combine milk, eggs, salt and pepper pour over sausages, sprinkle with grated cheese.
Bake until casserole is hot and cheese is browned for approx 45 mins.
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[/url] Angel June 2012
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myfullhouse
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Posted: 27 September 2010 at 9:48am |
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Popular ones on our menu are:
sausages and veges
meatballs and spaghetti
mince and pasta
pizza and chips
macaroni cheese - no meat but add a can of whole kernel corn (DH doesn't like this one due to no meat but the boys love it)
Roast chicken using chiken portions as we usually don't eat the leftovers
Next month I am going to try a whole roast chicken though and use the leftover chicken and some veges for a pie and the rest of the veges for a quiche
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clover
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Posted: 27 September 2010 at 10:03am |
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Linzy I remember you asking about roast chicken a while ago. We had a roast chook last night and with only the addition of veges a can of soup and rice(s) I'll make it go three meals.
So last night was roast vege with roasted potates, orange glazed carrots & broccoli. We used half the chicken (basically cut it down the middle) DH gets the thigh and 1/2 breast I just have half a breast (cause I like vege more).
Tonight we will have a chicken bake on rice, bake made using tinned chicken soup, milk, curry power, broccoli and the thigh and drumstick meat plus some breast from the remaining half of the chicken. cooked in the oven with some cheese on top.
With the carcas and skin I boiled it up last night with some crappy veg from the bottom of the veg bin to make home made stock. Tomorrow I'll make a risotto with the stock and use the remainder of the chicken breast.
So 1 chicken (that I got on special for $10) three meals!
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xLUCKYx
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Posted: 27 September 2010 at 10:04am |
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I am a meal planner! I usually just think up what to make based on what we already have and add meals based on what we feel like to make the shopping list.
Meals on this week's menu have been;
Crock pot beef stroganoff
Portugese roast chicken
Hamburgers
Steaks
Chicken Curry
Ravioli
I have a mix of super simple recipes and some more complicated - I have 2 nights a week where I have training at 6pm so I need real simple dinners to cook and clean up after those nights.
When I am low on inspiration for what to cook I turn to old recipes magazines, healthy food guide or my trusty recipe folder that stores all of my repeat faves al though mostly I dont follow the recipes but just use them as guidelines or to get ideas from.
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xLUCKYx
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Posted: 27 September 2010 at 10:06am |
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Wow clover that is impressive! I am going to see what I can do with a chicken this week :-)
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clover
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Posted: 27 September 2010 at 10:19am |
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Thanks, I always make it do two meals but thought I'd see if I could do three and it was easy. There are actually a range of dishes you could do as well.
I'm a meal planner, only way I don't have a pantry/fridge/freezer overflowing with stuff I'm not going to use. In terms of not getting the specials with meal planning, I buy my meat a week ahead (or more if it is a really good deal). So this week I buy the meat on special and then when I'm doing my meal plan for next week I already know what meat I have so plan the meals around that.
Our groceries used to be $200-$240 before the meal planning, we spent $110 yesterday for the entire week including breakfast, take to work lunches and dinner.
Bear in mind I don't have kids to feed yet though.
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clover
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Posted: 27 September 2010 at 10:22am |
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Just realised I've got yesterday's shopping list with the meal plan on the back in my pocket, so this week is:
Roast chicken
Chicken bake
Risotto
Cous Cous with marinated chicken
Tandori chicken curry
Stirfry
Fresh tomato pasta
So technically the only meat free dish there is the pasta, but the stirfry and risotto could also be meat free. You could also do the cous cous with roasted winter veg instead of meat. A real favourite in our house is falafel and that is meat free (and cheap).
Hope some of that helps
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mummy_becks
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Posted: 27 September 2010 at 11:06am |
I am not a meal planner, but I have a lot of meat/cans/stuff in my house. I have an idea of what I want to make and try to organise it the night before (usually getting the meat out of the freezer). We have our favourites
Mince and Pasta
Sausages and anything else with it
Homemade Pizza
Stirfry
Enchilada - made with chicken mince and salad
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I was a puree feeder, forward facing, cot sleeping, pram pushing kind of Mum... and my kids survived!
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caliandjack
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Posted: 27 September 2010 at 11:47am |
I generally organise the days meal the night before, that way I get what ever meat I need out of the freezer and into the fridge.
I hate defrosting meat in the microwave it never seems to go right.
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[/url] Angel June 2012
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clover
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Posted: 27 September 2010 at 11:57am |
I agree, it ends up swimming in liquid and half cooked 
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Bizzy
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Posted: 27 September 2010 at 12:24pm |
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clover can we have your falafel recipe then please?
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