So I thought I would post a sample week of dinners that I make that feed my family for $70 per week.

We typically have a chicken meal, a mince meal (kangaroo or beef), a slow cooked (cheap cut) beef meal, a vegetarian meal, a surprise meal (lamb, pork, fish, sausages etc) and a left over meal a week. I use higher quality meat (grass fed, and free range which I mostly buy in bulk, but I also buy some throughout the week). I buy some organic fresh produce in this budget (mostly apples, potatoes, capsicum, zucchini and a few others). Some of my fresh produce also comes from my garden.

This week I went a little over budget (due to a couple of times I had to provide supper). I spent around $65 – I usually try and spend $60 and put away $10 for bulk purchases (I will now put away a bit less for bulk purchases). Some of the ingredients also came from the weeks before (such as I did not need to buy eggs this week, having bought it the week before)

This week My family had:

Monday: Beef Swedish Meatballs with golden mash and steamed vegetables- This meal included left overs for my husbands lunch

Tuesday: Roasted Chicken Drumsticks (two drumsticks each with my toddler sharing some) with roasted vegetables- (potato, eggplant, zucchini, carrot, tomato, mushroom)- This meal included left overs for my husbands lunch

Wednesday: Quiche (made from pumpkin, silverbeet, mushroom, onion, parsley, eggs, flour and milk) with roasted potatoes and steamed carrots, peas and corn- This meal included left overs for my husbands lunch

Thursday: Salmon Patties (made with canned salmon. potatoes, carrots, parsley and peas) with steamed vegetables-This meal included left overs for my husbands lunch

Friday: Chicken Soup (using homemade stock, chicken thigh, mushrooms, carrot, peas, corn, onion, bok choy, herbs and buckwheat noodles)- This meal also fed the in laws and there was enough left for lunch the next day!

Saturday: Leftover quiche and Salmon Patties with a Fresh Garden Salad (rocket, spinach, lettuce, radish, tomato, carrot and beans)

Sunday: Kangaroo Lasagna (with lots of veges)– This meal included left overs too!

*For breakfast we typically eat porridge with some fruit and yogurt.

*For lunch my son and I often have soup, or a selection of- cold vegetables, cheese, bread with peanut butter, and a hard boiled egg or a homemade pita bread pizza or leftovers.

*Out of the food budget I also made some Lemon Balls this week to serve to small group and a big batch of pumpkin scones to feed 30ish for supper at church.