It’s never been easier to feed the whānau!
This week four summer meal plan has five easy and tasty dinner recipes that can feed four people. Download the shopping list and recipes to enjoy in season veges, zero food waste and nutritionally balanced dinners!
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Week 4 meal plan
Week 4 recipes
Tips for this meal plan
- The dishes this week can be cooked in any order you like.
- Quinoa is a shared ingredient this week. If preferred, bulghur wheat, pearl barley, or brown rice can be used instead.
- Red onion is a shared ingredient used in the meals that use quinoa. Store the cut onion in a container in the fridge between making the meals.
- You can use salad ingredients you already have at home instead of buying a bag of seasonal salad leaves.
- To stop your salad leaves going soggy, open the bag when you get home and pop a piece of paper towel on each side of the bag, then fold it closed. This will absorb excess moisture and keep the leaves fresh.
- You can cook less rice than stated in the recipes to suit what your family will eat. If you have leftover uncooked rice store it in a sealed container in the pantry and use in other recipes.
- Eggs are listed as a staple ingredient – two are used in the fish cakes recipe but can be omitted if preferred.
Some ingredients will be used across more than one meal in a week. These ingredients are all marked with a * so you know not to use all of the ingredient in one meal.
* Each meal plan of 5 meals is designed to use in-season fruit and veges. Fruit and vege growing conditions and pricing vary throughout each season, so choose cheaper in season fresh, or frozen substitutes if a particular item is unseasonably expensive.
About the budget friendly family meal plans
Zero food waste
These meal plans have been developed with the team at Love Food Hate Waste and are designed to be zero food waste. All the shopping list ingredients you buy should be used by the end of the week. For some meals you may have leftovers and the recipe will tell you whether they’re suitable for freezing or are best eaten the next day.
If there is an ingredient you or your family doesn’t like, swap it with one you’ll all enjoy and avoid waste
Ready-to-go shopping list
The shopping list tells you the ingredients to buy for the week. The pantry staples lists other ingredients you will need but are likely to have in your fridge or pantry already. Before going shopping check you have the staple ingredients and check your fridge, freezer and pantry as you may already have some of the ingredients on the list.
If you view these recipes online and click ‘shop for ingredients’ the products added to your cart will reflect what’s available at your local store at the time – this may vary from week to week.
Some ingredients will be used across more than one meal in a week. These ingredients are all marked with a * so you know not to use all of the ingredient in one meal.
Protein balance based on nutrition guidelines recommendations
These recipes are based on current nutritional guidelines. Varying the type of protein in your evening meals can help you get a good balance of nutrients. A good guide is to aim to have fish once or twice a week, chicken with the skin removed once or twice a week, lean red meat twice a week, one egg-based meal, and one vegetarian meal. The ‘adapt it’ tips show you how to change up the recipe to enhance the nutritional content or change ingredients to suit your dietary needs.