help please!! fortnightly menu planning

[BoyCrazy]

ok so dp started a new job last week, and we just found out last night that he will get paid fortnightly.

ive never mealplanned/budgeted/whatever for 2 weeks worth of food, can it even be done? lol

please help me with some recipe ideas, tips or any other advice that might help me plan things properly!

TIA :D

[the_queen]

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com
:yes: :yes:

[DivinelySophistimicated]

We are in the same boat...had to start shopping fortnightly...It is much cheaper that way. We used to spend $150 a week now we spend $200 a fortnight. You can get the meat in bigger packs and half etc etc..

I normally do 4 chicken meals in the fortnight (honey mustard chicken, apricot chicken, butter chicken and a pasta bake) that way I buy a $20 bulk pack of chicken breasts...divide it up for freezing...The sauces for the meals are around $3 and just add rice and veges.

I also make Spag Bowl and Shepards pie....A big pack of mince for around $10, halve it....Once again sauces are around $2-$3..

I make curried snags....Bulk pack of sausages around $8....This makes a massive bunch and does dinner 2 nights and lunches the next day.

Theres 8 meals and the meat only cost $38 dollars.

Good luck with it all hun :)

[KiaKai]

We do the fortnightly thing too, can be a pain sometimes.
Basically what you could do, is buy the things for meals that you normally do, only buy double the amount, so that you have enough to freeze for the 2nd week? If you dont mind reheated food all the time that is :laughing:
thats what I do alot of the time it makes things a little easier.
Ill be watching this thread though because we need to start eating a wider range of healthier foods as it wont be long before dd will be having meals with us..

[Skittles]

hey. i went through the same thing when my DH changed jobs. What id did was make up a monthly menu on the computer.. and then all i had to do was shop for the items in that fortnights worth. It is so much cheaper and easier. Buying meat in bigger packs is cheaper and the butcher usually has a deal or something. My DH and DD love the meals like sheapards pie, spag bog and chicken parmagana. love it. too hard to shop every week. we also buy enough bread etc for the two weeks and freeze it

[Skittles]

oh and you can buy steak, lamb and pork chops and sausages really cheap in bulk from the larger butcher. 4.99 for rump if in big chunks from some of them....

[Amberlea]

If you buy bulk meats like suggested - you wont have too much of a problem.
I buy in bulk but seperate it all into smaller quantities before I freeze it - but you can also cook two meals out of the one pack of meat.

Mince:

Savoury Mince with mash & veges - do a double quantity of the meat and put in the fridge to do Burritos and salad veges the next night. (buy bulk packs of burritos and freeze half so you get another meal out of them as well)

Spaghetti Bolognaise - double quantity of it, fridge half of it then add some frozen veges to it the next night and make Shepherds/Cottage Pie.

Rissoles, veges and gravy.. the next night - add the reheated left over rissoles to a burger bun with salad.

Sausages:

Sausages, veges & onion gravy : cook a double quantity of sausages, place other half in the fridge and use the next night in a Sausage pasta bake (cooked pasta, pasta sauce, chopped sausages refried till warm, grated cheese on top - under the grill)

Or make hotdogs with the second half of the sausages.. top with fried onions, cheese, mustard and sauce. But bulk packs of hotdog rolls and freeze half for something else.

If you make sure you always have staples in the cupboard/freezer - rice, pasta, pasta sauce, herbs, sauces, tinned tomatoes, pasta-n-sauce packets, potatoes, frozen veges etc - you will always be able to rustle something up even at the end of the fortnight.

If you eat Tuna - theres plenty of cheap and easy meals you can do with that. Mornay, tuna patties, tuna noodle patties, tuna pasta.

I love pasta so we have a lot of pasta dishes - quick and easy and cheap.. and plenty of room in the cupboard to store the pasta and sauces etc.
I add chopped cooked sausages or chicken to it, top with grated cheese and grill.