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My $$$ Saving Tips on Weekly Shopping
By Dolly D'Arling
I make a menu plan then shop from it. I try to make a monthly menu plan then shop for meat and pantry items including canned goods, cereals (but often buy on special in my weekly shop), flour, oil, spices etc. monthly. Weekly I buy milk, bread, fruit and vegetables.
When planning my menu I try cooking meals that provide the meat for the next meal. For example last night we had a roast leg of lamb. I saved about one third of the meat and we will have lamb wraps tonight. For our family of 5 it will work out at around $22 total fortwo main meals - and that's quite a costly example.
Another example is roast chicken on night one, followed by chicken and vegetable risotto on night two and chicken pizza on night three. If i pick the meat from the bones I'm also able to make stock to freeze for the base of a soup. So one large chicken or two smaller ones costing around $10 has provided meals for four nights and possibly leaving some stock in the freezer.
We love tacos. Left over taco mince and salsa is fantastic used as an omelette filling with a bit of cheese. And you only need a small amount of leftovers as a two egg omelette only requires about one tablespoon of taco meat and half a tablespoon of salsa. Half a cup of meat and a quarter cup of salsa feeds all five of us. Such a small amount of left overs would otherwise only feed one as a snack!
When cooking tacos I don't use the seasoning packet. It's so easy to add ground spices and fresh or dried herbs. I also use 50/50 minced beef/beans; either dried kidney beans or most dried beans work or a tin of baked beans if I'm pressed for time.
When we have pizza i always make four pizza bases. Our family eats two in one meal. The other two are frozen so we have a second pizza meal in the month using our pre-prepared bases.
I've found we often have a fair amount of leftovers in our monthly menu plan. For example, sometimes we eat all the taco stuff so I don't roll over a taco meal in my meal plan. Same with pasta sauce, tuna bake and the like. Indeed the lamb roast we had last night I'd not expected to have left overs until i was plating the meal. We also get a take away about once a month. Because of these leftovers providing us extra meals I've found that my four week (28 day) meal plan only needs to include three weeks of meals (21) to feed us for the whole month.
My menu plan looks like this:
Week 1:
Breakfast
Monday: Friday: cereal or toast
Saturday: eggs and mushrooms
Sunday: fruit and yoghurt muffins (bake 24 and put remainder in freezer for week 2 lunch treats)
Lunch
Monday - Friday: sandwiches (I freeze cheese, cold meat and pickle sandwiches weekly) and homemade muesli bars and fruit.
Saturday: homemade party pies/sausage rolls
Sunday: bread rolls with leftover meatloaf/roast etc.
Dinner
Monday: Spaghetti bolognaise. I make enough sauce to make a lasagne at the same time which I freeze for a cooking free night in week two or three.
Tuesday: Pumpkin soup
Wednesday: Pot roast beef with mash. I buy a round roast cut for $6.50 kg. A three kilo roast gives us around five meals. I freeze portions of cooked meat either prepared into meals like shepherd's pie, stews and casseroles or just 600g packages of meat to be cooked into a stew or soup. Pre-prepared meals are an awesome time and dollar saver as they provide takeaway from the freezer.
Thursday: Beef and lentil hot pot (using left over pot roast).
Friday: Pizza.
Saturday: Meatloaf with creamy mash and peas. I always make double the amount we need, 750g meat per meal and freeze the mixture for an easy meal next week or next month.
Sunday: Chicken wings with salad.
I try to buy 1-2 fancy meals per month like roast lamb or chicken Kiev or lamb cutlets. I include one or two super cheap meals per week like pumpkin soup (in season), risotto or homemade pizza.
We eat really well. My groceries for a family of 5 work out at around $120 per week.
My taco recipe:
Ingredients:
1 cup dried beans
500g mince
1 tin tomatoes
1 onion
2 clove garlic
3 tsp ground cumin
1tsp ground cinnamon
1tsp ground coriander
2tsp oregano
Fresh coriander
Salt
and chili to taste (optional)
Method:
Soak beans for six hours, then boil in salted water until cooked. Fry off onion garlic spices and oregano. Add meat and brown off. Add can of tomatoes and drained beans and salt (reserve water - if mix looks too dry add as required). Simmer for 15 minutes or longer to reduce if too liquid. Add fresh coriander (i freeze my washed coriander. This works great) and give it another 5 minutes. Serve. Add chilli to taste. Add more or less spice to taste.
When planning my menu I try cooking meals that provide the meat for the next meal. For example last night we had a roast leg of lamb. I saved about one third of the meat and we will have lamb wraps tonight. For our family of 5 it will work out at around $22 total fortwo main meals - and that's quite a costly example.
Another example is roast chicken on night one, followed by chicken and vegetable risotto on night two and chicken pizza on night three. If i pick the meat from the bones I'm also able to make stock to freeze for the base of a soup. So one large chicken or two smaller ones costing around $10 has provided meals for four nights and possibly leaving some stock in the freezer.
We love tacos. Left over taco mince and salsa is fantastic used as an omelette filling with a bit of cheese. And you only need a small amount of leftovers as a two egg omelette only requires about one tablespoon of taco meat and half a tablespoon of salsa. Half a cup of meat and a quarter cup of salsa feeds all five of us. Such a small amount of left overs would otherwise only feed one as a snack!
When cooking tacos I don't use the seasoning packet. It's so easy to add ground spices and fresh or dried herbs. I also use 50/50 minced beef/beans; either dried kidney beans or most dried beans work or a tin of baked beans if I'm pressed for time.
When we have pizza i always make four pizza bases. Our family eats two in one meal. The other two are frozen so we have a second pizza meal in the month using our pre-prepared bases.
I've found we often have a fair amount of leftovers in our monthly menu plan. For example, sometimes we eat all the taco stuff so I don't roll over a taco meal in my meal plan. Same with pasta sauce, tuna bake and the like. Indeed the lamb roast we had last night I'd not expected to have left overs until i was plating the meal. We also get a take away about once a month. Because of these leftovers providing us extra meals I've found that my four week (28 day) meal plan only needs to include three weeks of meals (21) to feed us for the whole month.
My menu plan looks like this:
Week 1:
Breakfast
Monday: Friday: cereal or toast
Saturday: eggs and mushrooms
Sunday: fruit and yoghurt muffins (bake 24 and put remainder in freezer for week 2 lunch treats)
Lunch
Monday - Friday: sandwiches (I freeze cheese, cold meat and pickle sandwiches weekly) and homemade muesli bars and fruit.
Saturday: homemade party pies/sausage rolls
Sunday: bread rolls with leftover meatloaf/roast etc.
Dinner
Monday: Spaghetti bolognaise. I make enough sauce to make a lasagne at the same time which I freeze for a cooking free night in week two or three.
Tuesday: Pumpkin soup
Wednesday: Pot roast beef with mash. I buy a round roast cut for $6.50 kg. A three kilo roast gives us around five meals. I freeze portions of cooked meat either prepared into meals like shepherd's pie, stews and casseroles or just 600g packages of meat to be cooked into a stew or soup. Pre-prepared meals are an awesome time and dollar saver as they provide takeaway from the freezer.
Thursday: Beef and lentil hot pot (using left over pot roast).
Friday: Pizza.
Saturday: Meatloaf with creamy mash and peas. I always make double the amount we need, 750g meat per meal and freeze the mixture for an easy meal next week or next month.
Sunday: Chicken wings with salad.
I try to buy 1-2 fancy meals per month like roast lamb or chicken Kiev or lamb cutlets. I include one or two super cheap meals per week like pumpkin soup (in season), risotto or homemade pizza.
We eat really well. My groceries for a family of 5 work out at around $120 per week.
My taco recipe:
Ingredients:
1 cup dried beans
500g mince
1 tin tomatoes
1 onion
2 clove garlic
3 tsp ground cumin
1tsp ground cinnamon
1tsp ground coriander
2tsp oregano
Fresh coriander
Salt
and chili to taste (optional)
Method:
Soak beans for six hours, then boil in salted water until cooked. Fry off onion garlic spices and oregano. Add meat and brown off. Add can of tomatoes and drained beans and salt (reserve water - if mix looks too dry add as required). Simmer for 15 minutes or longer to reduce if too liquid. Add fresh coriander (i freeze my washed coriander. This works great) and give it another 5 minutes. Serve. Add chilli to taste. Add more or less spice to taste.