Tuesday
Meal Plan 3: Budget Week
Day 2 · Tuesday · Cheap and filling
Today at a glance. Three of the cheapest foods you can buy: bread, potatoes and chicken thighs. Three recipes, about 1 hour 15 minutes in total, but most of it is waiting for the potato and the pot. Lunch is vegetarian. Every quantity below is for one portion, in metric with UK names.
Breakfast
Breakfast
Peanut Butter and Banana on Toast
Ingredients (1 portion)
- 2 slices wholemeal bread
- 1 tbsp peanut butter (about 15 g), 100% peanuts
- 1 banana
Method
- Toast the bread until golden.
- Spread the peanut butter over the hot toast while it is still warm, so it melts a little and spreads thinly.
- Peel the banana, slice it into rounds and lay them over the top. Press them in gently with the back of a fork.
Why it is a healthy start
Peanut butter brings protein and unsaturated fat, the banana adds potassium and natural sweetness, and the wholemeal toast keeps you full. Using one level tablespoon keeps the calories sensible.
Swaps
A pinch of cinnamon on top. Sliced apple in place of the banana. Mash the banana on the toast with a fork if it is very ripe.
Save money
Choose a peanut butter that lists only peanuts (and perhaps salt). The supermarket's own-brand jar is usually the cheapest, and it lasts for many breakfasts. Very ripe bananas with brown spots are often sold cheaper, and they are sweeter, which suits porridge and toast.
Lunch
Lunch · Vegetarian
Jacket Potato with Baked Beans and Cheese
Ingredients (1 portion)
- 1 large baking potato (about 250 g)
- 200 g baked beans, reduced sugar and salt (half a 400 g tin)
- 20 g mature Cheddar cheese
- Black pepper
Method
- Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan, gas mark 6). Scrub the potato, dry it and prick it all over with a fork.
- Microwave it for 6 to 8 minutes, turning it halfway, until it is soft when you squeeze it (use a tea towel, it is hot). Without a microwave, bake it for 1 hour 15 minutes instead and skip step 3.
- Put it straight on the oven shelf for 15 minutes, until the skin is crisp.
- While it crisps, grate the cheese. Warm the beans in a small pan over a medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes until they are bubbling and hot all the way through.
- Cut a deep cross in the top of the potato and squeeze the ends to open it. Spoon in the beans, scatter over the cheese and finish with black pepper.
The other half tin
Put the rest of the beans in a covered container in the fridge and eat them within 2 days, or freeze them flat in a small bag. Saturday's quesadilla uses them, so freeze them for that if you want to.
Why it is a healthy lunch
A baked potato with its skin on is a filling source of fibre and potassium, and beans add protein. Strong cheese goes a long way, so 20 g gives plenty of flavour.
Swaps
A spoonful of plain yoghurt in place of cheese. Cottage cheese or tinned sweetcorn on the potato. A sweet potato works the same way.
Save money
A baking potato and half a tin of beans cost very little for a meal that fills you up. Buy mature cheese: a small amount is as tasty as a lot of mild cheese, so one block lasts longer.
Dinner
Dinner · Chicken
One-Pot Chicken, Tomato and Rice with Peas
Ingredients (1 portion)
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 200 g)
- 60 g long-grain rice
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes (400 g)
- 1 small onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 60 g frozen peas
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 100 ml water
- Salt and black pepper
Method
- Trim any hard fat from the chicken and cut each thigh into 4 or 5 chunks. Peel and chop the onion small, and peel and chop the garlic.
- Heat the oil in a wide saucepan or deep frying pan with a lid, over a medium-high heat. Add the chicken with a pinch of salt and cook for 4 minutes, turning, until browned on all sides. Move it to a plate. Wash your hands, the board and the knife.
- Turn the heat to medium, add the onion to the same pan and cook for 4 minutes until soft. Stir in the garlic and paprika for 30 seconds.
- Add the rice and stir it for 1 minute, then pour in the tomatoes and the water. Return the chicken to the pan and add some pepper.
- Bring to the boil, then turn the heat right down, cover and cook for 18 to 20 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the rice is tender and has soaked up most of the liquid. Add a splash of water if it looks dry.
- Stir in the peas and cook for 3 more minutes. Cut open the largest piece of chicken to check: it must be white all the way through with no pink, and the juices must run clear.
- Take it off the heat, put the lid back on for 3 minutes, then serve from the pan.
Rice safety
Eat this the day it is cooked. If you save any, cool it quickly (spread it on a plate and chill it within an hour), keep it in the fridge for no more than a day, reheat it once until steaming hot all the way through, and throw away anything left after that.
Why it is a healthy dinner
Chicken thighs are rich in protein, and in this recipe the tomatoes and peas supply most of the vegetables. Everything cooks in one pan, so there is little washing up and no extra fat for frying.
Swaps
Brown rice is higher in fibre but needs about 10 more minutes and 50 ml more water. Chopped peppers or a handful of sweetcorn with the onion. A pinch of chilli flakes for heat. A spoonful of plain yoghurt on top.
Save money
Chicken thighs cost far less than breasts and stay moist, so beginners rarely overcook them. A family pack is often cheaper per kilo, so if you buy one, split it into portions and freeze each portion in its own bag.
Coming up tomorrow
Wednesday has a boiled egg with toast soldiers, a tuna, sweetcorn and tomato pasta salad, and a butter bean and tomato pasta bake, which is the vegetarian dinner. Nothing needs preparing tonight.