Menu Plan Monday (16th May)

This fortnight's meal plan is full of cheap eats.

We're going though our stash in the freezer, bulking out our meals with loads of veggies as well as having a few vegetarian meals, and then rounding it out with some mince and sausages.

My husband scored an amazing array of fruit and veg for next to nothing on the weekend, including a box piled high with apples, oranges and butternut pumpkin for the grand price of $1!

Real food definitely doesn't have to be expensive:)

What's on the menu ...

Monday - Roast chicken with gravy and potato, pumpkin, broccoli and corn

Tuesday - Spaghetti and meatballs with beans

Wednesday - Hamburgers with homemade buns, lettuce, tomato and beetroot

Thursday - Leftover lamb curry with rice and Asian greens

Friday - Grain free pancakes with bacon and eggs

Saturday - DIY

Sunday - Homemade pizza with spelt bases

Monday - Leftover pulled pork with coleslaw and homemade tortillas

Tuesday - Vegan macaroni and cheese

Wednesday - Sausage and veggie bake

Thursday - Leftover beef ragu with pumpkin and greens

Friday - Leftover chicken with potato salad

Saturday - Veggie soup

Sunday - OUT

What's on the menu at your place this week? Did you score any grocery bargains on the weekend?

Meatless Monday - Vege Bean Patties

Recently I've been trawling some old magazines and cookbooks looking for cheap eats. My mother in law lent me a set of Women's Weekly Menu Planners from the late eighties and that's where I found this little gem aka Vegetable Bean Patties. Think a veggie burger, but old school.

It was exactly the type of thing I was after. Cheap, easy, no fancy ingredients and something I could make with very little notice given we already had all the ingredients in the pantry. I also did most of the work in food processor so it took next to no time to make. You could of course do the grating and chopping by hand.

And the verdict? Yum!

I made a very simple salad of baby leaves, parsley and tomato dressed with lemon juice and olive oil and it was all absolutely delicious. We will definitely be having this again!

Vegetable Bean Patties

Slightly adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly Menu Planner No 6, ACP 1988 p24

2 cups mashed potato

1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 carrots (about 250g) grated

1 egg

1/2 red onion, finely diced

1 ts curry powder

1 1/2 cups dry breadcrumbs

olive oil for shallow frying

Place the mashed potato in a large bowl.

Using a food processor, add the onion and pulse a few times or until broken up. Add the kidney beans and pulse again until coarsely chopped and combined. Switch to the grating attachment and grate the carrots. Add it all to the potato. Add the lightly beaten egg and curry powder and mix with you hands until well combined.

Divide mixture into 8 equal portions, roll into patties and roll each patty in breadcrumbs.

Heat the oil in a large frypan over medium-high heat. Add the patties (in batches if you need to) and cook until golden brown on both sides and heated through. Remove and drain on paper towel. Serve with a salad.