$50 fortnight Week 1- Days 6&7 $25 menu Week 3 Days 6&7

Hello to all my lovely followers.

This is another catch up post to bring us up to the end of last week.

$50 menu Day 6

Breakfast
Baked Beans on Toast

Lunch
Left Over Tex Mex Rice Slice

Dinner
Chicken , vege and pasta

$50 Menu - Day 7

Breakfast
Poached Eggs on Toast

Lunch
Cheese Salad Sandwich

Dinner
Tuna Filled Spud

25 menu  Day 6

Breakfast
Porridge
Lunch 
Cheesy Pasta Bake.
This turned out really yummy.  
In a pot I boiled 1/2 cup of pasta and 1/2 cup of mixed vege until not
quite cooked ( about 6 minutes)
In a separate pan I sauteeed a bit of onion in some butter and
then added about a 1/4 of a cup of milk and the last of the cheese sauce satchet.
Stir until a thick sauce is made.
Pour the cheese over the drained pasta and vege.
I then placed a few slices of tomato into the bottom of a buttered dish
and loaded the cheesy pasta mix over.  Press down firmly and bake in a
180 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes.
Allow to cool a little before running knife around the outside and turning out
onto a plate.  Serve with salad if desired.
Dinner
Filled Spud
This spud just had vege cheese and bacon.

$25 menu  Day 7
Breakfast
Baked Beans on Toast

Lunch
Tuna, vege and pasta in soup/sauce
Boil up the pasta and veges until al dente.
Drain and add the tuna and a cup-a-soup made up
in less water so it forms a sauce.

Dinner
Bacon and Cheese Burger

$50 fortnight Week1 - Day 5 and Week 3 - Day 5

$50 Fortnight Week 1 - Day 5

Breakfast
Souffle Omelette
I really enjoy souffle omelettes. The fluffiness of the eggy mixture coupled with a bit of cheese and veges is just a joy to start the day with :-)  It just seems so much more than 1 egg.

Lunch
Quiche.
If I had given this day's meal plan more thought, I would not have quiche after having eggs for breakfast.

Dinner 
"Tex Mex Rice Slice"
I invented this combination a week or so ago when I discovered the range of rice and pasta sachets in Woolworths.  One of the rice varieties is Mexican Rice.   I loved the idea of having beef with it, but Mince is expensive from the supermarket so I did not think I was going to be able to do this until I could build up a stockpile.  Then I found the Meat Sauce. :)   So my Tex Mex Rice Slice was born.

Recipe (using the Mexican Rice sachet)
In a pot, make up the rice as per the instructions. 
Once the rice has finished cooking, allow to cool slightly.
Microwave or boil a cup of mixed veges.  Add to the cooked rice along with
1/2 cup or so of meat sauce.
Add in 2 eggs which have been lightly beaten.
Mix well and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C for 15-20 minutes. 
or until well set.
Allow to cool a little before cutting and serving with salad.

OR
Recipe  ( using plain white rice and a sachet of Taco Seasoning)
In a pot, melt 2 teaspoons of butter, add rice and stir until the rice is well coated in butter.
Add 1/2 packet of  Taco Seasoning mix stir well to combine all.
Add 300ml of water and bring to the boil.  Cover and simmer until the rice is cooked.

Once the rice has finished cooking, allow to cool slightly.
Microwave or boil a cup of mixed veges.  Add to the cooked rice along with
1/2 cup or so of meat sauce.
Add in 2 eggs which have been lightly beaten.
Mix well and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C for 15-20 minutes. 
or until well set.
Allow to cool a little before cutting and serving with salad.

I am going to make this again with brown rice and minced beef.  It would be really lovely served with avocado and a good dollop of sour cream.

$25 Menu Week 3  - Day 5

Breakfast
Porridge ( Again i don't cook this)

Lunch
"Pizza"
Bread spread with a bit of the tomato sauce from
the tin of baked beans then topped with  chopped bacon, onion and cheese.
Grill until the cheese is melted and everything is hot.

Dinner
Tuna Rissoles withe Vege and Salad.

$50 fortnight Week1 - Day 4 and Week 3 - Day 4

I am posting twice today as I seem to have lost a day and am getting myself confused :(

I am having meals from both meal plans and getting myself in an all mighty mess.  I twill be easier when I go back to just one menu plan :)

$50 menu  Week 1 - Day 4

Breakfast
Poached Eggs on Toast

Lunch
Mince and Vege on toast.
This was a few tablespoons of the delicious Campbells Meat Sauce and a cup of mixed vege.
Heat until nice and hot and serve on hot buttered toast.

Dinner
Quiche

$25 menu   Week 3 - Day 4

This is where I have confused the plan :(

So to bring things back on track I will swap around some of the days meals but each meal is from the $25 Week 3 Menu.

Breakfast

Beans on Toast

Lunch

Chicken and Vege Pasta cooked in Soup.

You may remember this from a previous week.  Adding a standard cup-a-soup to what would be a pretty bland dish, adds a good hit of flavour.
Cup-a-soup sachets are a great idea as a meal base or simple sauce.  Simply use less water to get the consistency you require

Dinner

Tuna Rissoles with Vege and Salad.

$50 fortnight Week1 - Day 3 and Week 3 - Day 3

$50 fortnight Week 1 - Day 3

Breakfast
Baked Beans on Toast

Lunch
Toasted Cheese Sandwich

Dinner
Stuffed Spud.
Today I had my spud stuffed with  mixed vege and a couple of tablespoons of
Campbells Spaghetti Sauce with Beef.  

OMG it was tasty.  When I was making it, 
I had thought that if I wasn't sticking to the budget, I would have added cheese, but on tasting it, I am glad I didn't add the cheese, I did not need it at all.  Maybe a shave of Parmesan, but cheddar would have done nothing to greatly enhance the flavour.

Recipe:
Stand your potato up in a collar of foil to stop it rolling around.  I use half a large-ish potato because I like the ease of getting the baked flesh out.  
Cut some slices into the raw potato and dab over a bit of butter. The cuts help the butter to permeate through the cooking spud.  
Once the potato is tender, remove from the oven and allow to cool enough to handle. 
 Scoop the flesh out with a spoon and gently mash, add in some cooked vege and a couple of spoonfuls of meat sauce.  
Pile everything back into the shell and pop back in the oven until heated through.  
Serve on a bed of salad.

$25 Menu Week 3 - Day 3

Breakfast
Beans

Lunch
Cheese and salad Sandwich

Dinner
Roasted Chicken Piece with Vege and cheese sauce.

I am really liking this packet cheese sauce.  I probably would bother to make a regular cheese sauce normally.  I would go with gravy.  But this packet is cheesy enough and is just as easy to make as packet gravy.  I think it might just find a regular place in my pantry.

To make this dish, I used a chicken thigh and put some butter directly under the skin.  I do this with whole chickens when I roast them, makes the chicken nice and moist and the skin all lovely and crispy.  My roast chicken was served on a bed of steamed mixed vege and the cheese sauce drizzled around. (Do you like how I got all "Master Chef" with my plating up here.  :-)   )

$50 fortnight Week1 - Day 2 and Week 3 - Day 2

I will diarise both meal plans into one post each day. Otherwise you will all get mightily sick of multiple posts. :)


$50 fortnight Week 1 - Day 2

Breakfast
Scrambled Eggs on Toast
Cup of Tea

Lunch
Leftover Chicken Carbonara from last night

Dinner
Tuna Rissoles with Vegetables Served with Salad
These were super tasty.
In a pot boil a small potato and a 1/2 cup of mixed vege.
When tender, remove for the heat and mash well with nothing added ( no butter or milk) 
You want quite a dry mixture.  When the mash has cooled down enough to handle, add a 100g of tuna and mix gently ( you don't want to break up the tuna too much.  
Form into patties and refrigerate until firm.   
Cook over a medium heat in butter until golden and heted through.
Serve on a bed of salad

.





Week 3 -  Day 2

I realised too late that there are two Pasta dished here. :(
I don't like that lack of variety.

Breakfast
Baked Beans on Toast

Lunch
Leftover Bacon Carbonara from last night

Dinner
Chicken, Veges and Pasta in Soup

Snack
Cake and Lemonade

$50 fortnight Week1 - Day 1

Day 1

Breakfast:
Baked Beans and Toast

Lunch:
Quiche

Dinner:
Chicken Carbonara 
In a pan sautee some chicken and onion in butter
Add 1/2 cup of milk (or cream if you have it)
Bring the milk to the boil, then add a cup of cooked pasta.
While the pasta is still warm, crack an egg into the pan
and stir gently until it makes a thick sauce.
Serve.

Week 3 - Day 1

I am doing 2 menus this week.  The Week 3 $25 menu plan and also the 1st week of the $50 fortnight.   All meals that are photographed, I did actually cook.  Sometimes there will be repeat photos of dishes that repeat (Beans on toast, Poached eggs  leftovers for lunch etc)


$25 per week Stand Alone Menu 3 - Day 1

Breakfast
Porridge  (disclaimer I did NOT cook this.. Honestly porridge is just something I just cannot eat, but I know a lot of people do and it is a very budget friendly product.)

Lunch
Soup and Toast

Dinner 
Bacon Carbonara
In a pan saute some bacon and onion in some butter. mix up a heaped dessertspoon of cheese sauce mix in 1/4 cup of milk.  Ad to the pan and stir until thickened.  Add in a cup of boiled pasta and mix until the sauce coats the pasta well.  Serve.

And now for something COMPLETELY different.  Cupcakes make with packet cake mix and lemonade. I came across this idea on Pinterest.   Just 2 ingredients... Cake Mix and soft drink.  (I used Vanilla Cake Mix and Lemonade)

Well I just had to try it.  Homebrand Cake Mix is 80c and soft drink just 75c.   
In mixer, mix the cake mix and 350ml of softdrink.   
Mix for 3-5 minutes and bake in cupcake liners for 15-18 minutes at 180 degrees.

I didn't think it was going to work as it made a very wet batter. It did rise, but I think next time I will turn the fan off in my oven as they got blown around a bit as they rose.

They taste like a normal cupcake.  I am pleasantly surprised with the result of these.