Budget meal plan: 5 meals for £20

Welcome to the second 5 meals for £20! This a new weekly series her on Millennial Mumma to try and help others cook yummy, healthy meals on a budget! I have ADHD... which means my brain is pretty scatty. I was spending a fortune on food shopping each month as I wasn't planning properly! I would just pop to my local shop and grab something for that evening... I am ashamed to say it resulted in lots of food waste! But it was the only way I could function at a time. Now I meal plan and out food bill has over halved in price! This weeks meals came to a total of £18.51... so you even have space in your budget! 

You can read Week One's menu here!

Why budget meal plan?

Not only does meal planning save you money, but I find its one less thing the think about! I have definitely noticed a change in my overall wellbeing since meal planning... I think its because I don't have the daily decision of, "What do I have for dinner?"

I make sure to use a few key ingredients in every meal.For example, I will buy a pack of onions and make sure at least three of my meals include that ingredient.  Tesco have a great recipe finder tool which has saved me a few times! You simply type in three ingredients and it shows you meals you can create! 

Why do you only plan for five?

I only meal plan for five meals in the week. I found when I was planning for 7 meals a week, things would happen and we would end up changing plans and have an extra meal that needed using up. We might decide to eat at my mums one day, or have a busy plan and do a quick freezer tea. I also overcook some meals and freeze leftovers. Planning for 5 budget meals rather than 7 just means I have flexibility within my week still. It works better for me! 

What ingredients do I need?

This entire shopping list totals at just £18.11. This price is correct at the time of writing this post. However, give it a few more weeks and I may need to update it with the way things are rising! 

I am a big lover of the Asda essential range. I try to save where I can and buy the cheaper brands. However, sometimes the essential range is sold out! Or I prefer certain brands of something and chose to spend a little more. This budget meal plan is based on shopping at Asda, so prices may vary depending on the supermarket itself. 

Meal 1: Florentine wrap pizza!

Okay so this meal was by far one of my favourites of the week! With it being January and all... we are on a bit of a healthy eating mission! Wrap pizza's are a super easy and healthy alternative to indulging on an actual pizza. I simply bought some wholemeal wraps, added pure

]] and cheese! We decided to go rather Italian and have egg and spinach on ours (my fave pizza express pizza) and it was amazing! Even writing this now I am craving it! 

Meal 2: Soup Pasta

Okay... bare with me... I know this may sound weird.But I grabbed a tin of soup from Asda for only 30p! I usually batch cook my pasta sauce, but I decided to try using the can of soup instead and oh my goodness... it was amazing! It felt really comforting too! I added some onions, garlic, spinach and veggie sausages to give it some more substance. It is definitely a recipe I will be using again in the future... especially when I am in a rush or have no pasta sauce in! 

To Add: I had some grated mozzerella which needed using up so I added it and it was insane! Weirdly it reminded me of a cheese and tomato toastie. There is room in this weeks budget to add an extra ball of cheese so I would consider adding it! 

Meal 3: Salmon Curry

At Asda, you can buy four pieces of frozen salmon which is great for spreading ingredients over several meals. I actually posted this photo on a budget meals Facebook group and it received lots of compliments!

Meal 4: Fajita Bowls

I had originally planned to use halloumi in this recipe, but Asda were completely sold out. So instead I used up the remaining four veggie sausages and it was still delicious! 

I put the wraps in a bowl and microwaved for two minutes. Then you can remove the wrap and it keeps its shape! Although, I did use wholemeal wraps which remind me a bit of those cardboard hospital sick bowls... so I think I will stick to white wraps next time! 

Meal 5: Teriyaki Salmon Stir Fry

Another delicious meal! I am most definitely going to be making this a regular in our house! I only used four ingredients too... salmon, teriyaki, broccoli and noodles!