A Dinner A Day Challenge: Day 14

Cheese-topped Pasta Bolognese

Another quick and easy meal for when you don't have much time. We have a lot of these, don't we?!

4 handfuls of pasta of your choice (cheapest is usually penne)
small pack of lean mince beef
a small onion, chopped
box of passata
teaspoon of oregano
half teaspoon basil
sprinkle of parsley
tablespoon of gravy granules

1. Fry the mince in a little bit of oil with the gravy granules (or a beef stock cube) and the onion.

2. Once the mince is brown, add the passata and the herbs and mix gently together.

3. Leave to simmer for 15-20 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a pan of boiling water.

5. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and mix with the sauce mixture.

6. Place into a large oven proof dish, top with grated cheese and put under the grill for five minutes, or until the cheese has melted.

7. Serve with garlic bread.

Cost: Approximately £5 per family assuming you have the dried version of the herbs in your store cupboard. If you need to buy these, I would suggest budgeting around £1 each for them.

A Dinner A Day Challenge: Day 13

Chicken goujons with salad.

This was a really simple salad containing:
a boiled egg
sliced cucumber
a spoonful of coleslaw
a handful of grated cheddar
iceberg lettuce
a few black olives
some oven baked chicken goujons

Delicious and really satisfied my hunger.

Cost: Total cost would be around £4/£5 to feed a family of four though you will probably have left over salad that can be used the following lunch time.

A Dinner A Day Challenge: Day 12

Picadillo & Rice

This was a new dish that I'd never tried so it's a 'proper' recipe from a book I have.

You'll need:

2 tbsp oil
2lb minced beef
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 eating apples
1lb tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (I used tinned)
2 drained jalapeño chillis, de-seeded and chopped 
half a cup of raisins
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cumin
salt & pepper to taste

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan & add the beef, onion & garlic. Fry, stirring from time to time, until the beef is brown & the meat is tender.

2. Peel, core and chop the apples. Add them to the pan with all the remaining ingredients. Cook, uncovered, for around 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Serve with rice and/or tortilla chips.

Cost: This is a slightly more expensive dish but really worth the money. I had many of these ingredients at home already but I'd estimate that it would cost around £6-£7.00 per family, remembering that some of that cost would be an investment for ingredients that will last you a good while.

A Dinner A Day Challenge: Day 11

'Tater Ash'

One of the dishes I was brought up on was good old Potato Hash, or as we've always called it, 'Tater Ash'.

It takes about half an hour to make from chopping board to plate and is really tasty. It never fails to please! Add a pie crust if you like for a more substantial dinner.

You'll need:

6 medium sized potatoes per person
3 carrots
1 large onion 
gravy granules
1 tin corned beef, chopped into small pieces
ground black pepper

1. Roughly chop the onion, cut the potatoes into bite-sized pieces and peel and slice the carrots.

2. Add the gravy granules and pepper, then bring to the boil and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft.

3. Add the corned beef and mix well. Season to taste if necessary.

Serve with mushy peas and pickled red cabbage or beetroot.

Cost: Around £3.50 for a full pan - usually serves all four of us with some left over.

A Dinner A Day Challenge: Day 10

Starter: Prawn Cocktail

Frozen Prawns (defrosted overnight in the fridge), topped with seafood sauce and sprinkled with paprika. Served with a small garden salad. 

Cost: Approximately £4 per 4 servings

Main Course: Steak Casserole

This was a dish I made up as I went along and we really enjoyed it. 

I used:

1lb braising steak
1 large onion, roughly chopped
1 chopped red pepper
1 small cauliflower
5-6 medium sized potatoes, cubed
Gravy granules to acheive desired consistency
1 beef Oxo cube
Ground black pepper, to taste

1. Cut steak into strips or cubes, place in a frying pan and sprinkle the Oxo cube on top, then seal and add to the bottom of the slow cooker.

2. Parboil the potatoes for around 15 minutes.

3. Add the onion, pepper, cauliflower, potatoes to the slow cooker, as well as enough boiling water to cover all ingredients.

Cook on a low heat for 5-6 hours to ensure the beef is tender 

Cost: Approximately £5 for our family of 4

A Dinner A Day Challenge: Day 9

Chicken Fried Rice and Curry Sauce

Well it didn't take long for me to dig out the takeaway menu and so on day 9 we had a Chinese takeaway!

This shared out nicely between myself and the two boys with a bit of curry sauce poured over the top.

Cost: £5.90 for three of us.

A Dinner A Day Challenge: Day 8

Pizza

Naughty but nice, we had pizza and garlic bread for a treat tonight.

This was a make your own from our local Asda pizza counter - my favourite!

Cost: £3.50 for 14" pizza and 37p for a garlic baguette

A Dinner A Day Challenge: Day 7

Tuna Pasta Bake

This is a firm family favourite in our house and we have it quite often. It's very easy to make and really cheap too.

You need:

One tin of tuna
Half a tin of sweetcorn (if you buy the cheap, large tins)
Pasta to serve 4 (see pack for details - I usually just use about 300g)
A jar of creamy tomato pasta sauce (cheating!)
A regular sized packet of ready salted crisps
100g your favourite cheese

1. Cook the pasta separately

2. Meanwhile mix the tuna, sweetcorn and sauce in another pan and heat very gently.

3. Once the pasta is done, drain it and return it to the pan. Add the sauce mixture and decant into an ovenproof dish.

4. Crush the crisps and sprinkle over the pasta, then top with cheese and grill until the cheese has melted.

Cost: Approximately £2.50 to serve a family of 4

A Dinner A Day Challenge: Day 6

Spaghetti Bolognese

This is a really quick and simple dish - and really filling too.

You'll need:

Beef mince
A tin of chopped tomatoes
A teaspoon of oregano
A beef Oxo cube
An Onion
Spaghetti
A dash of Worcestershire sauce

Optional: Parmesan and sweetcorn

1. Fry the onion and mince in a large frying pan and sprinkle the crumbled Oxo cube into the pan.

2. Add all the other ingredients

3. Serve with the spaghetti

Simple!

Cost: Approximately £4 for a family of four, using herbs from the cupboard.

A Dinner A Day Challenge: Day 5

Chicken Curry & Rice

This was a rushed dinner and I used a jar of sauce - something I don't usually do.

So there isn't really a recipe apart from to say I used ready to cook chicken breast strips, fried them up with an onion and two halved tomatoes before adding a jar of tikka massala sauce.

Served with rice and naan bread.

Cost: Approximately £5 to feed the four of us including rice and naan bread.

A Dinner A Day Challenge: Day 4

Chilli Con Carne

Since an unfortunate experience with left over kidney beans, my husband no longer eats them if he can possibly help it and so our chilli con carne is made with baked beans.

This recipe does require quite a lot of ingredients but if you're going to make this regularly (or any Mexican inspired dish) it's worth the investment.

To make this tasty dish you need:

Beef mince
A tin of chopped tomatoes
A tin of baked beans
One onion, sliced
A dash of Worcestershire sauce
A teaspoon of chilli flakes
A teaspoon of garlic powder
1 tablespoon of chilli powder
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
2 teaspoons of paprika
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Fry the mince and onion in a little oil and drain the excess fat from the mixture once the mince is browned and the onions are soft.

2. Add all of the herbs & spices and the Worcestershire sauce.

3. Add tomatoes and beans and simmer for around 20 minutes

4. Add salt & pepper as preferred

5. Serve with rice or pita bread & salad.

Cost: Approximately £4 for all four of us without the herbs and spices. Each of those will probably cost between 80p and 1.50 each depending on where you shop.

A Dinner A Day Challenge: Day 3

Chicken Salad

This was a really delicious meal. Preparation of salad always seems to take ages to me but it's always worth it! The combination of flavours is always a pleasant surprise.

We had sliced salad tomatoes, baby leaf pre-prepared salad, slices of carrot, cucumber and red onion, olives, a chicken breast cooked in the oven and a jacket potato topped with coleslaw.

Delicious!

Cost: Approximately £4.50 to make enough for all four of us. 

A Dinner A Day Challenge: Day 2

Sticky Chicken and Savoury Rice

This is one of my favourite dishes. It's really quick and it's so easy to make.
To make this you'll need:

A bag of cook from frozen chicken strips
3 tbsp honey
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 packet of savoury rice per 2 people

1. Mix the honey, soy sauce and balsamic vinegar together.

2. Toss the chicken in the mixture and fry in a wok or large frying pan for 10-15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, cook the rice according to packet instructions.

4. When everything is cooked, mix together and serve!

Cost: Approximately £5 if you need to buy the honey, vinegar and soy sauce. These will obviously last you a lot longer than one meal.

A Dinner A Day Challenge: Day 1

White fish and savoury rice.

Rather than buying cod or haddock as we usually do, I decided to buy 'white fish' from the supermarket. I thought it might not be as tasty as the more expensive options but for the sake of research we gave it a try. On closer inspection of the packaging at home I found that the fish was Pollock.

I found that the fish was just as tasty as any other I have bought in the past. I didn't flavour it at all to be able to truly taste it and it didn't need any seasoning even on the plate.

The savoury rice was Asda Smart Price and is really tasty. I add a small dash of soy sauce to this just before serving.

A really easy, simple meal that everyone enjoyed.

Cost: £2.52 for a family of four

A Dinner A Day Challenge: September 2013

A Dinner A Day - What's it all about?

I was making our evening meal one day in August and I realised that although we eat well and I cook a high percentage of our meals fresh every day, we do tend to eat the same dishes quite often. 

We're fans of all different types of cuisine and the children aren't growing up as fussy eaters - I'm very lucky in that respect!

I decided to set myself a little challenge for September:

Thirty days - Thirty different dinners.

To be honest, I wasn't too concerned about finding things to make. There are literally millions of recipes on the internet, I have lots of cookery books and I often throw recipes together on the spot at home.

But you know what? It wasn't as easy as I thought! 

Follow my journey through September with dishes and recipes (where applicable - I can't promise a takeaway-free month!)

The other thing is that for a family of 4 we still try to keep our food shopping to £50 per week. So these meals will be a brilliant mix of imagination, budgeting and time-friendly recipes.

Wish me luck!