A frugal meal plan

 I failed to publish a meal plan at all last week. It’s not that I didn’t have a plan for what I was going to eat; I just got extremely confused with what day it was and by the time I was back on track we had eaten loads of the meals. Sigh. Still, armed with an actual calendar, I have now pledged to plan my days, be more productive and organised and publish blog posts when I am supposed to. This frugal meal plan will appear on Saturday as usual!

Paying more for food

Planning food and making sure we don’t waste it is more important now than ever. I am not shopping at my usual discount supermarkets, as I really don’t want to be queuing for hours outside. Archie the pup can be left for a short period, but not several hours.

Instead, I am buying eggs, meat and veg from the farm shop as much as possible, and getting pretty much everything else from the small local shops like the Coop. I have also had two Tesco’s deliveries, but slots are still tricky to come by and I really don’t enjoy online food shopping at all.

This means that I am spending more on food than usual, so I am trying to make our meals healthy and tasty but not too expensive.

Low carb

I am still generally eating low carb. However, I break this whenever there is carby food that needs to be eaten. For example, we have a sack of sorry looking sprouty potatoes that I bought a while ago from the farm shop. I am feeding Mr S and his mum three times a week but this isn’t’ using them fast enough. So I am incorporating them into my meals.

I am still avoiding sugar, wheat and gluten completely, as I think they are the food items that kick off my fibromyalgia symptoms.

The one good thing about shopping at the smaller shops is that they seem to have a lot of yellow sticker reductions. When I find them I change the meal plan to make sure they get used quickly.

So, what will we be eating this week? This is the plan.

A frugal meal plan

Saturday

I picked up some pork loin chops in our small Sainsbury’s the other day. Mr S is fed up with chicken!

I will cook these in olive oil with rosemary and garlic and do crispy mini roast potatoes and cabbage with them.

Sunday

I made a big chicken casserole on Friday night with tomatoes, garlic, celery, mushrooms and carrots. This means I don’t have to cook – always a bonus. I will have broccoli from the freezer with this.

There was enough left over to add to my little stash of frozen ready meals for another time.

Monday

Cod in lemon cream sauce with all the veg I can find. 

Tuesday

Corned beef hash, using a can from our stores. I will adjust the usual recipe and use celery and hing powder instead of the onions, as I can’t eat them. Justin’s mum will enjoy this, as she loves corned beef. Hopefully, this will finally use up the rest of the bag of spuds from the farm shop.

Wednesday

Halloumi salad with olives and keto garlic bread. A nice, easy week night tea.

I love this keto garlic bread. It’s so easy to make and really filling. I use this recipe.

Thursday

This will depend on what I pick up at the farm shop this week. I will probably go for sausages or lamb chops, as both are good there and produced locally. 

Hopefully they will have some decent vegetables on offer as well, for this and to keep us going for the next week or so.

Friday

I have learned to make a 90 second keto bread in the microwave. It has a slightly eggy consistency, but is nice toasted with tuna mayo and cheese on top. 

This will make a quick and easy tea with a bit of salad.

Other stuff

I have a lot of almond flour, which is just as well as I am enjoying making keto crackers and various mug cakes with it.  They tend to be really quick and straightforward, I am finding.

I managed to pick up some kippers reduced recently and was reminded how much I enjoy them. If I can get some more this week from somewhere they will make a change for a lunch.

It is very likely that I will make some soup as well this week. Again, it will depend on the veg I pick up!

What are you eating this week? Are you going for a frugal meal plan?

As usual, I am linking up with Katy Kicker for her meal planning linky. For more of my frugal food ideas see here.