The focus of this week’s meal plans is going to be using similar ingredients in different ways to make sure you don’t end up with a bunch of kale languishing in your fridge in two weeks time! Or spending unnecessary money on food you’ll never eat!
The three easiest ways I find to cut down my grocery bill are: avoid processed foods, eat less meat, and plan 3 out of your 5 or 5 out of your 7 meals, leaving 2 dinners to eat either leftovers or make a ‘clean out the fridge’ meal. And I’ve included some really flexible recipes this week that you can adapt to suit the contents of your fridge.
Plan A
Day 1: Parmesan and Zucchini Tacos, a delicious start to the week, you can use stale bread to make your own bread crumbs if you have some around.
Day 2: Chicken, Leek and Sundried Tomato Pasta bake. If you cook a whole chicken in the way described in this post you can make this and the Day 4 recipe from the meat.
Day 3: Teriyaki Cauliflower bowls, Make extra rice and then you can make fried rice the next night.
Day 4: Chicken and Cabbage Fragrant fried rice. This uses up loads of ingredients you should have on hand from other recipes this week!
Day 5: Herb Crusted Salmon with a shaved Asparagus, Fennel and Broad Bean Salad. You can use any combination of leftover herbs in the crust.
Plan B
Day 1: Teriyaki Cauliflower Bowl, make extra slaw and use it in the zucchini tacos tomorrow night.
Day 2: : Parmesan and Zucchini Tacos, add any leftovers from last nights dinner to bulk out these tasty tacos.
Day 3: Grilled Eggplant with Hummus and Yoghurt flatbread. Use any leftover yoghurt in smoothies or with fruit at breakfast.
Day 4: Baked Sweet Potatoes with cheddar, Black beans and green salsa, you can use flat leaf parsley instead of coriander in the salsa if you prefer. Add any leftover vegetables you please to the topping.
Day 5: Creamy Spiced Lentil Dahl, this is a great basic recipe that you can really make your own by adding roasted or sautéed veggies to the top, serving with flat bread or rice, and using the herbs and spices you have on hand.
This weeks bonus recipe is on the same waste less note, a post about building salad bowls using what you have on hand.