Menu 4

• Monday – Baked Chicken, veg & chips
• Tuesday – Loaded potato skins, chicken thighs & salad
• Wednesday – Chilli
• Thursday – Hoisin shredded duck salad
• Friday – Stir Fry
• Saturday – Quick fry up
• Sunday – Roast & the trimmings

• Chicken boobs
• Chicken thighs
• Big jacket spuds
• 5% mince 750g
• Linda McCartney Hoisin shredded duck 300g bag
• Stir fry vegetables
• Bacon
• Pork joint
• Roast dinner veggies
• Blue dragon long grain micro rice
• Tesco taco beans tin
• Asda coleslaw mix

Monday – Really nice, but easy dinner this one. Mix 2 tbsp of any seasoning, I used a chicken seasoning from Aldi I picked up a while ago, with 2 tbsp of water & cover the chicken boobs & cook in the oven on a tray. Mix up any roasted veg you like on another tray, I used red onions, cauliflower, carrots, courgettes & some butternut squash. Spray with Fry Light, season with salt & pepper, & shove in the oven to cook. Chips were just cut & thrown into the air fryer for 30 minutes. This meal for 5 will cost around £6 with store cupboard staples

Tuesday –

Today was my Mum’s birthday so I wanted to make something a little bit special but still stay on plan. Cook 6 spuds in the microwave for 10 minutes either side, then in to the oven to really crisp up. Once cooked, removed & cut each spud in half & allow to cool for 15 minutes. Cook some lean bacon until it’s all crispy & chop up small. In a big bowl, add the insides of the jacket spuds, the bacon & 80g of reduced fat cheddar with plenty of pepper. Mix together thoroughly & put back in to the jackets & into the oven for 15 minutes. These can be cooked well in advance, so if you have time through the day get these started early. I served with a salad & some chicken thighs. The coleslaw is a bag from Asda for around 80p, it’s just all cut up ready. Throw away the sachet of rich, creamy, thick mayonnaise it comes with, remember you want to lose weight & there’s no place for full fat mayo in your life anymore. Mix with equal parts of a low Syn mayo & fat free greek style yoghurt. Costs come in around £5 for 5 portions

Wednesday –

Work day so always need something easy to serve. My chilli is all in one pot & super easy. Fry off ya mince, add a bag of frozen diced onions & a bag of frozen sliced peppers, & a couple of grated carrots. Mix is 2 tbsp of Scwartz fajita seasoning, 2 tins of Taco beans, 2 tins of chopped tomatoes & 300ml of beef stock. Let it simmer away until its reduced to a thick sauce & serve with rice, jackets, salad, cauliflower rice… whatevs

Thursday –

This I made just for myself as we all sort our own meals on a Thursday. This was proper fit & I bought it as a treat for myself. So, even if your an absolute meat maniac, give this a try. Dont be scared to try vegetarian stuff, alot of it is low in Syns. I was giving my husband Quorn crispy nuggets for months, he bloody loved em until he saw me sneaking the packet in the bin & then refused to eat the veggie shite. More for me then hun

The Linda Mccartney range is pretty good. I recently discovered their ‘shredded hoisin duck’ from a member in group. A 300g bag will set you back £2.50 in Tesco / Sainsbury’s / Waitrose freezers… but it is so worth it. The Syns are super low when you portion a bag into 3 meals (100g a portion). I had mine on top of a massive salad with some runny boiled eggs

Friday – Dinner needs to be super quick & easy on a Friday as I am so knackered from work & my fibromyalgia is flaring a bit. I need something I don’t even need to think about & it doesn’t get much quicker than a stir fry.

I use the already cooked frozen chicken chunks from Iceland. £5 for a kilo & I get 2 days worth of dinners (10 meals in total). For a quick stir fry sauce, add 2 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tbsp of runny honey, 1 tsp chinese 5 spice, 1 tbsp oyster sauce together & throw in. This meals will cost about £4 which is a total bargain

Saturday – Super busy day in our house so love a quick throw together. We do big meals in our house & I’m sure we all have 2nd stomachs. Lean bacon, fried or scrambled eggs, beans, fried onions, tinned plum tomatoes, free/low syn sausages & sliced & fried tin of new potatoes. Bosh

Sunday – Roast dinner is probably my absolute favourite, BUT I much prefer my own. Narcissistic to say I know but this is one area I’m gonna blow my own trumpet.

So let’s talk meat – to keep costs low I will either do a whole large chicken, a gammon joint or a rolled pork shoulder joint. There’s normally 6-8 of us for dinner on Sunday’s with extra kids to feed & I normally spend between £5 – £10 on the joint but this normally covers Monday’s lunch too. Cooked in the Pressure King Pro to keep it nice & stress free.

Roast spuds for this many of us get cooked in the oven, par boil in salty water & chuck in a good non stick roaster, spray with oil & rosemary & garlic powder & cook till they become crispy little beauts.

Veggies. I love roasting carrots & parsnips in the air fryer, add a small drizzle of runny honey if you’re feeling a bit flash. Frozen broccoli & cauliflower go in the microwave or on the hob it’s up to you. Mushy peas are good for bulking up a meal like a roast too, though controversial. Frozen green beans are cheap as chips too.

Yorkshire puddings are a must have with any meat, I am not in the business of excluding yorkies just cos I’m not having beef. The hearty food co. Yorkies from Tesco are only 50p for 15 & one of the lowest syn puds I’ve found. I am far too lazy to make my own & I’m scared if I had bags of flour in the cupboards it will turn in to a cake