Menu's 2015

Having finally decided to create a menu for each fortnight, as an aid for shopping, I thought I would copy them here for you to view without having to trawl all through my blog. Many of the recipes can be found under the Recipe tab at the top of my blog, or under recipes in the War Diary tab. If you want to see what we ate in the latter part of 2014, click here

One of the main reasons for carrying on with this page is to show that all these years later, we still stick as close as possible, to what meat allowance would have been allowed under war time rationing.

Using the last year of the war and the historic inflation link as a guide , for 2015, each of us is entitled to £2.20 worth of meat per week or £4.40 for us both (as I cannot find out what the meat ration for the years 1946 to 1954 was). That is 5p per person less than 2014 due to inflation. As you will see, most of the time, we keep below this amount. IT CAN BE DONE!

Here is our first week, last few days of 2014 and first days of 2015:

As we had DS with us for a couple of days, the meat for the curry (beef plus vegetables rather than the other way around as normal), came to £6.25 but only £5 for us two. As it was over the festive period (and during the war,)  his allowance for those days would have been added on, we don't think it was too far over. Add on 50p for our gammon yesterday and total meat spend was £5.50


Week 2 also included some guest meals so we used more meat. Obviously spending extra couldn't easily be done in war time although guests brought their ration cards with them. As such meat for this week was 50p for the ham egg and chips, £4 for the belly pork (both of us) and £1 for the chicken and ham, bringing total meat spend to £5.50, just £1 over in total. Considering that was our Christmas meals, it wasn't too bad. Back to normal from here on in!



I really must remember to check what meals I actually cooked rather than what the menu said! Tuesday was not Gammon and Chips but Pork and Bean pie, £1.50. The chicken came to £1 and we actually had cheese baked potato which I forgot to photograph so this was a generic shot. Total meat for the week for us both was £2.50 - back to normal.


The Bratwurst for Friday totalled 66p and the meat pies were £1.25 each from our local butcher. Total meat for these 6 days (rather than 7 due to starting the food challenge next week) comes to £1.91.

First week on £20 for two food challenge



As you can see, we didn't starve and even managed a few puddings. The chicken cost us £2.85, so that was the cost our meat for the week.

Second and final week on £20 for two food challenge


From the meals made above, we still have a portion of stew each and a portion of vegetable chilli each to have in the next few weeks, so we managed to stretch all the meals quite well this time. I think it would just get better and better as the weeks progressed but my staples and spare food cupboard would become empty very quickly. The pork used in  the stew for both of us,  came to 50p so the meat for this week, was just 50p. Amazing!


Two sausages each came to £1.32, pork in the stew came to 50p, one Bratwurst each came to 66p, that makes a grand meat total, for us both for this week £2.48p.


The meat for the pie came to £1.40 so that was the total of meat used for this week.


Sunday we were travelling back from the wedding. As you can see, mainly a vegetarian week with just a couple of rashers of bacon  eaten on the Saturday. Total cost of meat for this week was 40p.


As you can see, we ate way more chips this week than usual but just fancied them. Hey ho! So how did we do regarding meat prices. One Bratwurst each came to 66p, 3 faggots and a bit of liver came to £1.68 and the beef for the chilli was 96p. A grand total of £3.30.


 The chicken breast for the Thai curry was 66p so our total meat cost for the week was just that 66p!

A bit expensive this week. We bought the pie which only had around £1.50 of meat in it. We doubled the chicken to freeze two portions so our meal for just us this time was 75p. Then DS and DDL were here for Saturday and I spent £4 on the pork tenderloin so for us two it would have been just £2.00. So a total for just us two came to £4.25.

The picture for Tuesday is incorrect, it should have been this one:
Which was left-over fried new potatoes, peppers, onions, eggs and beans.

The chicken for this portion of curry for us both came to 38p (£1.32/7 meals) and the bacon for the chilli was £0.60p in total so again, divided by the number of meals produced, 7, that came to 16p for us both. A grand total of 54p for our total meat consumption. That is a record for us! However next week, we will probably eat more as I intend cooking a leg of lamb from the freezer!!
The pork for our Sunday meal came to £1.25. The lamb for our Saturday meal was from a 3/4 leg of lamb bought for Christmas. We managed to get 6 meals from it, so for us both, this meal was £2.25 for us both. Total meat consumption came to £3.50. The sweet and sour sauce came from Frugal Queens blog. We didn't have any tinned pineapple so I used some of my dried fruit done last year plus a little ginger syrup and it tasted fine!
The leg of lamb was bought in the reduced section before Christmas. We had 2 roast lunches each plus I managed to make us a cottage pie each for another day. That gives a meal value of £2.25 for us both for the roast. Although we bought a Chinese meal each, we always make them last over 2 days - far better value for money. We don't count a takeaway in our meat ration as it is very hard to work out how much of each dish is meat and what it would cost. So, that makes our meat ration total for this each £2.25.

Belly pork was £1.48 so that was our total meat cost for this week.

The faggots for Sunday, plus 1 leftover for Monday came to £1.50 and the Bratwurst was 66p for both. 4 rashers of bacon was 50p. Meat total for this week came to £2.66.



The meat for the spaghetti bolognaise was £1.34, Corned beef came to 50p and the bratwurst 66p. Total meat for this week came to £2.50 for both of us.


Faggots came to £1.50, bacon for the chilli 28p. chicken for nuggets £1.32. Total meat used this week came to £3.10p. A few weeks missed whilst we were out and about.


Where there is an asterisk*, indicates meat or meal from the freezer. Lamb for both the couscous came to £2.50, bolognaise mutton £1.34, making a total of £3.84, still under our limit!

An * indicates main part of the meal from the freezer.  The bratwursts cost £1.32 and the chicken was 66p, making a meat total cost of £1.98!
Chicken curry was 66p, bacon was £1.15 so a total meat price of £1.81. Jolly good!!
What I plan and what we eat sometimes changes especially when the weather has been as hot as it has. We don't shop for extra, just use tinned meat or what we already have in the freezer. What doesn't get used from my shopping, gets frozen and used at a later date. Anyhow, Bratwursts were 66p for us both and the tin of corned beef £1.65 so a meat total of £2.31.


Meat used was two sausages each at £1.50 for all 4. So total meat used for the week is £1.50. Better and better.


No meat this week at all!


The ham was £1.59 for the whole pack which we used up, plus we used not more than 20p for the salami. Total meat cost for the week was £1.79.

The pork for the lasage came to £2.56 and the little bit of bacon was 78p. So a total of £3.34 for both of us for meat for the week. Still keeping it within our war time rations! A slight error for Tuesday, forgot to change the wording, it should read vegetable pasta:)

The chicken breasts came to £1.96 for both of us and that was our meat spend for the week.


The mutton leg steak cost £3.36 and as you can see, was our total meat cost for the week. I made a double batch of Indian beans and mushrooms. Besides giving us a meal each on the Saturday, we also managed to freeze 6 portions, enough for another 3 meals each.


The mutton leg steak was smaller this week, costing £2.96. Adding lots of vegetables to it helped create two shepherds pies. So meat for this week was £1.48 for us both.


Although the leek and cottage cheese pie meal doesn't look very large, we followed it with a baked stuffed apple. The 1/2 fillet of pork for Sunday, the pork for the chilli and the 2 Bratwurst came to a total of £3.80. Close to the mark but not over it!
The pork for the chilli (made the previously week and already costed into that week) was now free. So, nothing spent for meat!

The beef cost £2.25 so that was our total meat price for the week for us both.

Normally we wouldn't eat a whole pizza each but 2 got left out of the freezer by accident, so we had to! The belly pork came to £2.25 and the Bratwurst 66p for both. A total meat cost then of £2.91.
 
Oh dear, I seem to have chopped of my descriptions. Ah well. Sunday, vegetable, bean and a bit of pork, Monday vegetable chow mein, Tuesday chicken curry, Wednesday toast as per normal, Thursday Mushroom Goulash, Friday - not hungry so fresh tomatoes on toast, Saturday Chicken chowmein. The tidgy bit of pork and two small chicken breasts for both chicken meals came to £3.14 so that was our total meat for the week.


 The Shepards pie was from the freezer and cost £1.30, the tin of corned beef over 2 meals was £2, making a grand meat total of £3.30 for us both.
A busy week getting Christmas food prepared and as much cooked in advance as possible. The Shepards pie was from the freezer and cost £1.30, the gammon was from the leftovers of cooking for Christmas and was about 50p - so - a grand meat total of £1.80 for both of us. Sorry, it appears Google has lost the picture and I have now deleted it. Lets try this week!

The ham was from a joint for Christmas, so this bit probably came to 50p. Bratwursts come to 66p, so a grand meat total of £1.16.






30 comments:

  1. Love this idea, it like a very posh cookery book. Frugal food at its best.

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    1. Thank you. The pork curry was from the freezer but only had a few chunks of pork in it. We reckon that the amount of meat for this first week was just £2 in total! That is less than the amount allowed for one person in wartime:)

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    2. £2 thats incredible! All the meals look very appertising and quite substantial portions, we have cut down on our meat intake quite a bit and hubby hasnt really noticed any difference, I think if there is some tasty gravy or sauce it more than makes up for it.

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  2. Fortnight 4 week 2.

    I make a roasted veg pasta with Mozzerella cheese, its nice and gooey :-)

    I am really impressed with the variety of meals and the low costs of your meaty dinners. Well done!

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    1. Shall have to try that, will make a nice change. It is much appreciated that you comment, wish a few more would.

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  3. Oh dear, its just me again , am I getting a bit geeky :-). Its such a shame nobody is commenting on these foody posts.

    I think we are on the same wavelength when it comes to food, your lovely meals are always up my street. Those lamb dinners are my favourites this week closely followed by the bolognaise, although my preference would be pasta twists, I dont 'do' spaghetti I think it stems from my fear of worms! :-)
    You are doing extremely well at keeping your meat budget under £4:50. I try to keep meaty main meals around a pound a head.

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    1. I'm just glad you do comment, thanks for that. We usually have pasta twists as well but just fancied a change this time, did chop it up a bit to eat it though!

      246 people have viewed this page yet you are still the only one who comments, keep it up:)

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  4. No 7 wk 1
    Chinese Takeaway...yum! Thats reminded me to make one, we haven't even done any stir fry for ages. Its good to know there are other people who dont mind eating the same meal 2 days running, we had cauli cheese with roasted veg and jacket potato twice this week. We are away for 4 days starting tomorrow, at a music festival at Skegness Butlins!! Goodness knows what the food will be like! If it's too bad we can always pop out for fish and chips :-)

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    1. We had the leftovers from the takeaway the next day for lunch, a combination of house special chow mein and beef and tomatoes - lovely!

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  5. Brilliant. This is eating frugally but well and all in pictures. What a brilliant resource.

    Sorry to interrupt your conversation with Karen ... Lol ;-)

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    1. Great to have you respond, think Karen was getting a little worried bless her:)

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  6. Oh sorry I missed a few :-)

    Last week of the year looks a nice mix of dinners and pasta and rice, great comfort food for this cold weather. We had Christmas dinner 3 days on the trot and salad the last 2, we are back on Soup now to use up all the bendy veggies. I'm looking forward to your 2015 menus :-) Have a fabulous New Year x

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    1. We feel we have eaten a little too much meat! Ah well, a week's respite before our visitor's arrive. Hoping to start a new 2015 page with a link back to this one.

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  7. Wow! I just found this and it's absolutely fabulous! I've probably missed it somewhere but can I ask a) do you eat breakfast? and b) why toast on a Wednesday? Thanks, Angie x

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  8. Yes we do eat breakfast, wouldn't be without it. Porridge Monday to Friday, cereals Saturday and toast on Sundays for a change. The menu covers our evening meals only which the meat value price reflects. We don't have meat for snacks unless a little has been saved from a meal and added to soups.Snacks are either soup or something on toast or a toasted sandwich. We have toast, usually but not always Wednesday as it is the day we go for a long walk out and treat ourselves to a snack out so only require toast in the evening.

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    1. Now I understand, thank you! I will follow this page with interest :-)

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    2. I wondered what you did on a Wednesday too. Now I know. I love toast anyway. X

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  9. Just catching up with blogs and found your recipes and menu sections, very good and some ideas I will try too. Trying to cut down on meat and only buying organic because of all the antibiotics in the regular stuff. More expensive but important to me but love veggies, pasta, veg curry, rice etc so not too bad. Thank you for taking the time to show your pictures as well. Xx

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    1. We don't feel at all hard done by and probably eat less than 1/2 lb a meat per week.

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  10. Sorry I have missed quite a few weeks :-) I'm way behind on commenting on blogs just now. Its great to see you haven't been alone :-) and a few more have visited.

    Lovely meals as per usual, didnt you do well on your £20 per week challenge. I think those folk on Eat Well for less should take a look at these menus, I think they must come from another planet!! We could probably live for a month on what they throw away lol

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  11. It was hard working out the meals and shopping but we ate well.

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  12. The pie sounds good :-) I did a freezer audit this week and found a pastry case and lid so I think a nice pie will be on our menu next week. We tried Aldi Cod fish fingers tonight and they were lovely with chips and mushy peas, I will definitely buy them again.
    Have a good week.

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    1. I have menu planned until halfway through March from the fridge and freezer. Just fresh stuff to buy. Might even be able to get to the end.

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  13. Great ideas here, I will try the mushroom curry, I love vegetable based meals but the man likes to have a bit of meat. I tried him on a risotto but he was not impressed, ha ha although he dies like quorn mince. You do very very well with your meals and are a source of recipes for me to try. Thank you. Xx

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  14. We love mushroom curry, stroganoff, goulash Etc.

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  15. Wow, love the menu pictures! I've not pinned down the menu planning down yet but getting there, hopefully. It's hard when husband wants spaghetti and then I want spicy papaya salad with grilled fish. Then that wins over every time.

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    1. We are lucky that my husband eats whatever I want to cook, so I make the menu decisions, then just run them by him occasionally!

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  16. Thanks for the new pictures. Can't believe I forgot to buy mushrooms his week!

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  17. I have just spotted the menu page, duh, only because you mentioned updating it. I have tried meal planning and sometimes it works, what I find best for me is to go through the cupboards and list what is low then when I shop I look for good buys and then make my meals around what I have. I never know whether I will be alone or have company so keep my options open. I use quite a lot of spice in my cooking and lots of pulses and veg. Nearly all the meat that I eat is from my local Lidl with the odd thing from my local butcher. I will be perusing your plans and trying some of your recipes out.

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    1. The only visitors we have is DS and DDiL and we always know when they are coming. Although a menu is worked out in advance, in any given week we sometimes swap days around depending on how we feel.

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