A recent post on facebook received interesting and contrasting comments from my friends. I asked if anyone thinks it's possible to feed a family of five, for 10 days, with $60. At first the comments were "impossible", "not in this country"... but then I realised I forgot to say that I had quite a lot of staples in the pantry & freezer, and that we had enough supplies for breakfast for that period and only really need to buy bread & milk to complete the breakfast an lunch menu, sorry girls! So the real deal is asking for 10 days of dinners for $60... minus milk & bread expenses lol!
I then started receiving recipe ideas, and suppliers of great budget meat (thanks Rachel)... so I have come up with a meal plan for the next 10 days, and I will gladly share with you all the recipes, and the family's acceptance of the meals lol.
Please note, when I say family of five, there are only two adults, a 6yr old, a 4yr old and an 18mth old... so really we need to make 4 serves per meal (as the two little ones would only eat one between them).
Day One - Apricot Chicken, Rice & Broccoli
Yes, that meal we remember from our childhood, the gooey, slimy chicken skin, on ugly chicken bones and huge chunks of apricot... ew! I've got my own little version of it here... I do use free range chicken, plus Riviana Ezy Basmati rice which makes the meal a little more expensive, but can be cheaper if you use generic (like I did for the home brand apricot nectar) ... so here's the recipe:
2 skinless chicken breasts, diced (around 500-700g) - $11.27
1 x 400ml can apricot nectar - $1.49
1 packet french onion soup - $0.99
1 brown onion (finely diced) - $0.40
1/2 head broccoli - already in the fridge, estimate $1.20
2 cups basmati rice - already in pantry, estimate $2.00
Total Cost = $17.35 (eek, I know!)
Negligible Items...
1 Tbs Rice Bran Oil
1 Tbs butter
1. In oven & flame proof casserole dish (that has a lid), heat oil & butter over medium heat. Add onions, soften. Increase heat, add chicken & lightly brown (only just a little, otherwise it will dry out).
2. In small bowl/mixing jug, combine nectar & soup mix. Pour over the chicken & stir through until heated.
3. Place in pre-heated 180 C oven with lid on for 30 mins.
4. Cook rice as per packet directions (I do mine in the microwave which takes 15mins, check your method time to match up with serving time for dinner).
5. Get a saucepan of boiling water ready for broccoli (to steam or boil). If steaming in microwave, get that ready now too.
6. Take chicken out of oven, return to hot plate, remove lid & heat again, let it come to the boil, reduce heat & let it simmer until sauce thickens. Cook broccoli now.
7. Serve! Keep leftover rice for another meal (I had about 2 cups rice, now in my freezer for fried rice later this week).
Result from the family - all the plates were clean! From Big M to Little D, dinner was totally polished off. Plus we had a serve left for the freezer (for lunch) and rice for another meal. I really wish I took a photo, because it actually looked so good. So much better than what I'd had as a child. The only thing I would've like to have added would be some slivered almonds to add some more texture to the meal, but they were used up in the last batch of chocolate muffins Big M made :)
So yes, Day 1 has been a success... tomorrow's dinner is my sister's mother-in-law's Corned Silverside & Pasta (which supposedly lasts for two meals)... we shall see how that goes tomorrow!
I would love to receive any more thrifty recipes from my readers, it would be great to share them with each other!
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