Menus
Printed From: OHbaby!
Category: Support
Forum Name: Budgeting
Forum Description: Want to save before baby arrives? Struggling on one income? Found some great ways to make your dollar go further? Share your thoughts & tips here.
URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=35923
Printed Date: 23 November 2024 at 5:42pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.05 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Menus
Posted By: JoJames
Subject: Menus
Date 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? ------------- http://www.alterna-tickers.com"> 
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Replies:
Posted By: jazzy
Date 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. |
Posted By: happymumma
Date Posted: 26 September 2010 at 9:29am
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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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Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 26 September 2010 at 9:48am
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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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Posted By: Bizzy
Date 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! ------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker"> 
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Posted By: kebakat
Date 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 |
Posted By: caliandjack
Date 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 ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow">   [/url] Angel June 2012 |
Posted By: happymumma
Date Posted: 26 September 2010 at 7:10pm
| 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? |
Posted By: caliandjack
Date 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. ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> [/url] Angel June 2012 |
Posted By: caliandjack
Date 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. ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> [/url] Angel June 2012 |
Posted By: myfullhouse
Date 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 ------------- Lindsey 
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Posted By: clover
Date 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! ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: xLUCKYx
Date 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. |
Posted By: xLUCKYx
Date Posted: 27 September 2010 at 10:06am
| Wow clover that is impressive! I am going to see what I can do with a chicken this week :-) |
Posted By: clover
Date 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. ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: clover
Date 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 ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: mummy_becks
Date Posted: 27 September 2010 at 11:06am
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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 ------------- I was a puree feeder, forward facing, cot sleeping, pram pushing kind of Mum... and my kids survived! |
Posted By: caliandjack
Date Posted: 27 September 2010 at 11:47am
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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. ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> [/url] Angel June 2012 |
Posted By: clover
Date Posted: 27 September 2010 at 11:57am
I agree, it ends up swimming in liquid and half cooked  ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 27 September 2010 at 12:24pm
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clover can we have your falafel recipe then please? ------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker">
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Posted By: clover
Date Posted: 27 September 2010 at 1:45pm
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Surely can, I can't quite remember it off the top of my head so I'll grab it out tonight and post it for you tomorrow. ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 27 September 2010 at 5:02pm
mmm yum DH wants to make his (or more likely me pasta sauce. I would use tinned tomatoes & add garlic, onion, herbs...maybe roasted capsicums.
Any other ideas...will it be cheaper than buying, I usually buy Dolmio. |
clover wrote:Posted By: caliandjack
Date Posted: 27 September 2010 at 5:14pm
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I never buy ready made pasta sauce, I use tinned tomatoes add flavourings (onion, garlic, herbs etc) and reduce it down to the required consistency.
I've done the same to make tomato topping for pizza. ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> [/url] Angel June 2012 |
Posted By: SMoody
Date Posted: 27 September 2010 at 8:53pm
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This week is roughly this:
tonight fish veg rice(one piece salmon, lemon fish and dozen scallops between 4 people and trust me the kids eat as much as we do) 2: pork chops with some veg (was on special) 3: cottage pie (loaded with loads of veg in the mince and take half the mince mixture and freeze to top with mash in about 2 weeks) I also have pumpkin so mix some pumpkin with the mash or use some kumara. 4. chicken roast with veg and cous cous 5. vegan pizza 6. pasta of some sort. 7. Lamb tjops with veg. But this changes as my whole freezer is full after todays shopping. I want to make a stew as well and save up on some meals for during my exam time so I can just defrost and heat up for the family. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: SMoody
Date Posted: 27 September 2010 at 8:54pm
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and salad with all meals
------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 28 September 2010 at 8:43am
Do you ever make it up before or make in bigger batches & then freeze or bottle the left over? Because it is tomato base it should keep right? |
Posted By: Mum_mum
Date Posted: 29 September 2010 at 12:52pm
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I have about 16 meals on our meal plan (though only in the 2nd week of doing this!) We have a lot of meat and 3 veg meals as thats what DH likes but this week we have:
Roast chicken with veges Chicken and mushroom pot pies Snitchel with veges Hot dogs Lamb and veges Spag bog Steak salad we also do things like mince pies (homemade), mac cheese, soups, bacon and egg pie with salad, chicken and mushroom with rice erm sorry, no meat free options  ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
 Angel baby - May 2008
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Posted By: happymumma
Date Posted: 29 September 2010 at 5:04pm
| another meat free option (might have been said before but it came to mind because it's what is now on our menu for tonight!) is nachos without mince. I just use beans and mash them a little if I need to hide the fact that that is what it is. I'm doing mine with rice and a few corn chips on the side. |
Posted By: kiwisj
Date Posted: 07 October 2010 at 11:15pm
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Meat free meals in our house (we're not vego but meat is expensive and we don't eat a lot of it anyway)
Stiry fry veges, noodles and tofu. I use firm tofu and shallow fry in a little oil and then add to stirfry, it is yum! Pineapple fried rice (sometimes I add prawns to this actually, but not always) or just regular fried rice with egg and veges. I do stir fry veg to go with this as well. Roast pumpkin and ricotta cannelloni or spinach and cheese cannelloni Vege lasagne Burritos with beans, lettuce, tomato, cheese, guacamole and greek yoghurt Soups (pumpkin, leek and potato, carrot and coriander are ones we've had recently) Lentil dahl, rice and naan Vege curries with rice ------------- SJ Callum - Dec 2008 Daniel - Oct 2010 |