This is actually the first weekly meal plan with a budget that I shared on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, and so many of you asked for all of the info in one place, with a shopping list, so here it is! Watch out for the videos of each recipe coming each night this week, so you can cook along. For reference, I shopped for this Meal Plan in March 2022 at Aldi and it cost £35.58.
Why use a weekly food planner?
⭐️ Knowing exactly what food to buy for avoids food waste, saving you money. ⭐️ Having a plan for dinner avoids the mental load of “what’s for dinner?” question every night. The printable shopping list can be found here. ➡️ Remove ingredients for any meals that you don’t want to cook. ➡️ The shopping list includes the cheapest version of each ingredient. Obviously if you want to buy lower fat mince or free range etc, that’s personal choice. ➡️ All of the recipes are to serve 4, so if you’re cooking for 2, simply halve the ingredients. ⭐️ You could reduce the cost further by using more vegetables and only one pack of halloumi. ⭐️ Cold leftovers would make a great lunch, just add extra soy sauce. Dinner 2 ⭐️ Serve with homemade chips: ⭐️ For the chips:
1kg potatoes 2tbsp oil 2tsp salt 2tsp garlic granules
Preheat the oven to 200c, and cut your potatoes into chips (I don’t bother peeling as am lazy 🤫)
Coat in the oil, salt and garlic granules and spread on a single layer on a baking sheet.
Bake for 45-60 minutes (depending on your chip size!) turning once.
⭐️ For the slaw:
Half a cucumber, diced (save the rest for Friday recipe) Half of a 285g can of sweetcorn, drained (save the rest for friday recipe) 100g natural yoghurt Juice of a lime 3 spring onions, chopped
⭐️ Make the salad, by chopping and mixing everything together. ⭐️ You could make this cheaper (and vegetarian) by substituting the mince for an additional can of beans in chilli sauce. ⭐️ I got a lot of grief on TikTok from people saying this wasn’t a full meal. I mean, it’s the equivalent of two baked potatoes each with half a kilo of mince and mountains of veg between you but as always – YOU DO YOU 😆 ⭐️ You might want to reduce or increase the seasoning depending on your family tastes. Dinner 4 ⭐️ I substituted parmesan for cheddar in this recipe as it saved money. It worked well and was super cheesy. ⭐️ The small size Aldi wraps are my fave for this. Good hand holding size. If you’ve found this useful, let’s be friends on Instagram @tamingtwins
