Friday
Meal Plan 3: Budget Week
Day 5 · Friday · Cheap and filling
Today at a glance. The fish day, made with a tin. Three recipes, about 1 hour 10 minutes of cooking in total. Lunch finishes yesterday's half tin of chickpeas, so nothing is wasted. Dinner is a tin of mackerel stretched into two fishcakes with potato. Every quantity below is for one portion, in metric with UK names.
Breakfast
Breakfast
Scrambled Egg on Toast with Tomato
Ingredients (1 portion)
- 2 eggs
- 2 slices wholemeal bread
- 1 small tomato
- 1 tbsp semi-skimmed milk (15 ml)
- 1 tsp olive oil
- Salt and black pepper
Method
- Chop the tomato into small pieces. Beat the eggs in a bowl with the milk, a pinch of salt and some pepper.
- Put the bread in the toaster.
- Heat the oil in a small non-stick pan over a low to medium heat. Add the tomato and cook for 1 minute.
- Pour in the eggs. Stir gently with a spatula, pulling the egg from the edges to the middle, for 1 to 2 minutes until it is set in soft curds. Take it off the heat while it still looks slightly moist, because it keeps cooking in the pan.
- Spoon the egg over the toast and eat it straight away.
Why it is a healthy start
Two eggs and wholemeal toast give you protein and fibre. The tomato adds vitamin C, and the egg needs only a teaspoon of oil.
Swaps
A handful of spinach stirred in with the tomato. A sprinkle of grated cheese or a pinch of smoked paprika. Add a slice of tomato on the side instead of cooking it in the pan.
Save money
The heel of the loaf, or slightly stale bread, toasts perfectly well, so there is no need to throw it away. If you buy two loaves, freeze one and take out slices as you need them. They go straight into the toaster from frozen.
Lunch
Lunch · Vegetarian
Sweetcorn, Potato and Chickpea Chowder
Ingredients (1 large bowl)
- 150 g potatoes
- 80 g frozen sweetcorn
- 120 g chickpeas (the other half tin from yesterday)
- 1 small onion
- ½ reduced-salt vegetable stock cube
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 300 ml boiling water
- 100 ml semi-skimmed milk
- Black pepper
Method
- Peel the onion and chop it small. Scrub the potatoes (peel them if you prefer) and cut them into cubes of about 1.5 cm.
- Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Cook the onion for 4 minutes until soft, then stir in the paprika for 20 seconds.
- Add the potatoes, sweetcorn and chickpeas. Crumble in the stock cube and pour in the boiling water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, with the lid half on, until the potatoes are soft.
- Mash about a third of the soup against the side of the pan with a masher or fork, to thicken it and leave the rest chunky.
- Stir in the milk and heat for 1 more minute without letting it boil. Season with plenty of black pepper and taste before adding salt.
Why it is a healthy lunch
A chowder is usually made with cream and bacon. This one gets its body from mashed potato and chickpeas, so it is thick and filling, vegetarian and low in fat.
Swaps
A handful of frozen peas or some chopped carrot in with the potato. A spoonful of plain yoghurt on top. A slice of toast on the side makes it a bigger meal.
Save money
This lunch is built from the odds and ends of the week: half a tin of chickpeas, a few potatoes and a handful of frozen sweetcorn. Planning so that no tin is opened and wasted is one of the biggest savings on a food budget.
Dinner
Dinner · Fish
Mackerel and Potato Fishcakes with Peas
Ingredients (1 portion, 2 fishcakes)
- 1 tin mackerel fillets in spring water (about 125 g drained)
- 200 g potatoes
- ¼ onion
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- 3 tbsp porridge oats (about 25 g), for the coating
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 100 g frozen peas, to serve
- Salt and black pepper
Method
- Peel the potatoes and cut them into chunks. Cook them in boiling water for 12 to 15 minutes until soft. Drain well and mash them until smooth, with a pinch of salt and some pepper. Leave them to cool for 10 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan, gas mark 6) and line a baking tray with baking paper.
- Drain the mackerel and flake it in a bowl with a fork. The small soft bones are safe to eat, but pick out any you do not like. Grate the onion on the fine side of a grater.
- Mix the mackerel, mashed potato, onion and paprika together until it just holds. Do not beat it, or it goes gluey.
- Divide the mixture in two and shape each half into a flat round about 2 cm thick. Spread the oats on a plate and press each fishcake into them, so that both sides are coated.
- Put the fishcakes on the tray and brush or drizzle the tops with half the oil. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn them over, brush with the remaining oil and bake for 10 to 12 more minutes, until golden and hot in the middle.
- While they bake, cook the peas in boiling water for 3 minutes and drain. Serve the fishcakes with the peas.
Shaping tip
If the mixture is too soft to shape, chill it in the fridge for 15 minutes first. Wet hands stop it sticking to your fingers.
Why it is a healthy dinner
Mackerel is an oily fish, rich in omega-3 fats, and the tinned kind has just as many as fresh. Baking the fishcakes instead of frying them uses only 2 tsp of oil, and the oat coating adds fibre.
Swaps
Tinned sardines or pilchards in tomato sauce also work but make a softer mix, so use less potato. Add a squeeze of lemon, a spoonful of plain yoghurt, or some chopped parsley. Tinned salmon works in the same way.
Save money
A tin of mackerel costs much less than a fresh fish fillet, keeps in the cupboard for months, and gives you oily fish, which is worth eating about once a week. Choose the tin in spring water rather than oil or sauce for the best result here.
Coming up tomorrow
Saturday has cinnamon French toast with apple, a baked bean and cheese quesadilla, and a spaghetti bolognese with lentils that makes two portions. If you froze the half tin of beans from Tuesday and the 150 g of mince, take both out tonight and defrost them in the fridge.