After the latest round of media stories, I thought it was time I shared our latest menu plan. Many people on social media thought we didn't eat meat. Others thought we had a high carb diet or didn't eat at all. It was quite hilarious to read so many assumptions.
We eat meat most nights of the week and while there's not a lot of meat in the meals, it's still there, we can taste it and see it.
It's hard to explain everything in our menu plan, the cost of each item, when I bought it and how much I use, but I will explain a few things.
* Legs of lamb were bought earlier this year from Tasman Meats. They were $7.99kg and I think I bought 3 or 4 legs. The butcher was quite happy to cut them in half for me and wrap them up. I cook legs of lamb in the slow cooker and a full leg won't fit in. I used leftover grocery money I'd been saving for a sale like this. It's called my grocery slush fund.
* Chicken drumsticks were also bought from Tasman Meats when they had them for $1.99kg last month. I bought 10 kilos and portioned them up into meal sizes and froze them.
* The chicken dump bags are drumsticks in a snap lock bag with diced veggies, liquid chicken stock, sauces and seasonings. I did these meals in bulk when I bought the drumsticks. I defrost the meal in the fridge then ' dump ' it all into a casserole dish and cook it in the oven.
* The fish we eat is Woolworths Basa fillets. The current price is $8 for 1 kilo. I coat them in seasoned flour then pan fry in a tiny bit of oil. I also cook them in the oven in foil with seasonings.
* Tuna casserole, tuna pasta bake and Massaman beef curry are the only meals that use tinned soup, ready made pasta sauce ( I mix it with a tin of tomatoes to stretch it out ) or a packet of seasoning. I buy these items because that's the recipe, it tastes better or it works out cheaper. Everything else is completely made from scratch.
* Many of the meals are made in bulk, portioned out and frozen for future menu plans. For example, lasagne costs about $20 to make. I get 12 serves from my big dish. Even more if I use TVP and add extra veggies to the sauce. I only need to make lasagne twice a year and I always have the ingredients on hand. I don't go out and buy it all in one hit when it's on the menu and we don't eat it day after day until it's gone.
* We grow many of our veggies and freeze excess. We eat in season too.
* " Get Your Own " on the menu means we can eat whatever is in the house. That might be leftovers, bits and pieces from the freezer or something simple like pancakes, toasted sandwiches, soup, eggs on toast or ' wing wong for a goose's bridle " as my mother in law would say.
* Sometimes we move the meals around if our plans change. If food has been defrosted in the fridge it's safe to keep for another day.
All the recipes for these meals are in the recipe section.
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| Some of our garden produce |
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| Some of the fruit we grow |
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| The latest menu plan |
Some of the meals we eat
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| We eat chunky, hearty soups. |
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| Tuna pasta bake before adding cheese |
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| Chop suey |
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| Slow cooked lamb with silverbeet and mash |
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| The big 12 serve lasagne |
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| How I serve lasagne |
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| Roast beef ( a rare treat now ) with lots of veg |
