Budget friendly winter family dinners - week 3

It’s never been easier to feed the whānau!

This week three winter 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!

Tips for the week three meal plan

• This week’s meals can be cooked in any order you like. 
• The green part of a leek is edible, it just takes longer to cook so we recommend slicing it thinner than the white part of the leek, so they cook at similar times. 
• Milk is used in this week’s recipe for the mac n cheese and is listed as a pantry staple.
• If following the cooking order, hamburgers are cooked at the end of the week. Store the buns in the freezer to maintain freshness and move into the fridge the night before to begin defrosting.
• Finely chopped mushrooms are included twice this week, you can either chop these by hand, or to save time, you can use a food processor.
• To save time you can cook the full packet of pasta when making the Bolognese and save half to use in the mac and cheese later in the week. To stop the pasta from sticking together drizzle 1 teaspoon of oil over the cooked pasta and toss to coat, then place in a sealed container in the fridge. 
• There will be a little leftover frozen mixed vege mix, you can add more into the recipes or use in other dishes. 

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.