Budget, week 3

Last week's budget certainly emptied the larder and as expected the shopping this week was £10.06 over the planned £50 spend. This did include a £10 special offer for a whole chicken, 500g low fat ground beef and some quality sausages. I'm hoping to get at least four meals from the chicken, two from the beef and two from the sausages so this should reduce the bill for future weeks. In addition, stocking up on rice, pasta and oats also upped the cost despite shopping around to find the cheapest brand of these essentials (without compromising on quality). There is quite a variety in prices for the same commodity and the supermarket own brand isn't always the cheapest, it certainly pays to be very aware of the prices on the shelves rather than chuck the more familiar brands in the trolley. I also had another small collection of coupons although it wasn't possible to find all the items I had coupons for, as it seems as though other shoppers are being equally savvy with the pennies. Take note, Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne, it is increasingly harder to survive on a limited salary. This weeks menu is as follows -

Budget week 3

Saturday -

Breakfast: Coffee and toast

Lunch: Pizza (a supermarket own brand)

Dinner: Homemade chicken vindaloo, homemade mung bean dhal, brown rice & chapatti, soya chocolate dessert

Sunday -

Breakfast: Sweet potato, broccoli and leek hash with a fried egg

Lunch: leftover mung bean dhal and chapatti

Dinner: Roast chicken, new potatoes, carrots and purple sprouting broccoli

Monday -

Breakfast: yogurt, fruit and granola

Lunch: Spanish omelette and salad

Dinner: Spelt spaghetti with watercress pesto and tomatoes

Tuesday -

Breakfast: yogurt, fruit and granola

Lunch: leftover watercress pesto salad

Dinner: Rice noodles in a miso broth with spinach, carrot and leftover roast chicken

Wednesday -

Breakfast: yogurt, fruit and granola

Lunch: leftover miso broth for M, sardines and salad for me

Dinner: Soup - homemade Nasi Goreng with leftover roast chicken

Thursday -

Breakfast: yogurt, fruit and granola

Lunch: homemade hummus and raw veg

Dinner: sausage and lentils

Friday -

Breakfast: yogurt, fruit and granola

Lunch: leftover sausage and lentils

Dinner: Fish and chips with peas (these are all from the freezer, not from the chippie!)

Last week, we stuck to the menu as planned although the soup planned for the Thursday night turned into penne arrabiata, simply because I ran out of enough vegetables to turn into any decent sort of soup. I knocked up a simple tuna salad for lunch the following day using some stray beans, potatoes and gem lettuce with the tinned fish and a handful of black olives. Similarly, I didn't have enough red rice (no more than a handful was left in the jar) for Wednesday's lunchtime salad so added some radishes to bulk it up a little. The recipe (again from the Waitrose Summer Harvest supplement) was easy and delicious and used up the last of the beetroot I had remaining. As I have golden and well as the more normal purple beetroot growing in the garden I will make this again (the benefit of growing your own, is that you get the leaves as well as the root, which taste like an 'earthy' spinach and can be used raw or cooked).

Red rice, beetroot, feta and pistachio salad 'al desko'