Feeding a family of 7,

I need some new ideas, I am over cooking the same stuff all the time.I try to spend only ten dollars a week on meat per dinner, we dont eat tinned fish, and kids not fussed on stirfrys.

I just bought a leg of lamb for $7.98 a kilo at Pak n Save - that'd meet your criteria.How old are the kids!Can they help you compile a meal planner!That's what we did - got each of the kids to contribute their 6 favourite meals (a week's worth as we have takeaways on Friday) then added in ours which gave us a list of 30 different meals.Then added in a few old favourites that had been left off and my list has gradually expanded since then with new recipes I've tried.It's now up to 63 different dishes.I rotate the dishes according to which meat is on special so this week the roast lamb will do 2 dinners, we are having stir fry but with noodle salad which the kids all like (basically just red cabbage coleslaw with crispy noodles on top) - I will just fry the meat on it's own with a few herbs and spices.My kids are really enjoying wraps at the moment - lots of options but lamb is a favourite with tzatziki and salad or roast beef with relish and salad.

rice cakes,theyre cheap,filling,adaptable and yumm!
Cook some rice in the microwave with half a tin of chopped tomatoes and juice and water or stock if you have it.Let it go completely cold.
Add an egg or 2 depending on the amount your making,some bread crumbs,
garlic,pre caramelised onions,salt pepper and whatever else you want mix it all up.form into patty shape and shallow fry until golden and crispy on the outside.
My kids love these especially with bacon,ham,chicken,tuna in them.
Theyre great on the side of meat with a salador just on there own with salad and homemade yoghurt sauce,yummm.

Mince - Mince -Mince.

Pasta & Mince, Hamburgers, meatballs, meat loaf, Lasagne, Spag bog, Sheppard's pie,Stir-fry, Curry, Mince pie, . I'm sure there is more.Cheap and rustic. so everyone loves home cooking.

yeah more, wraps, Nacho's, Mexcian typedishes. You can even crumble it on top of Pizza's.

go to www.howdoesshedoit.com and they have heaps of recipies and you can make your own menus and print them with shopping list. helps stick to budget and most supermarkets are predictable in the order they special meats etc. so plan around these.

When cooking monce, add half a tin of lentils. Exrtends the meat and adds lots of goodies. Also chicken mince makes a nioce meat loaf, add onion and mixed herbs to taste.

I bought $9 of mince the other day (was just over a kilo I think).Browned it all, chucked in two tins of pasta sauce (watties garlic) two tins of chopped tomatoes.
Cooked a bag of pasta. added just over half the mince sauce to that, put in roasting dish and covered in cheese sauce. put in oven 'till bubbling.We had enough for lunch for everyone the next day (kids take in bowl for a heat up).Then I added a tin of chilli beans to the rest of the mince and put in fridge. Warmed up the next day and had on nacho's with a sprinkle of grated cheese and a bit of sour cream.
Chicken breast is often on special, my family love that with two jars of butter chicken (yes I could make it myself. but I'm always in a hurry) kids like the cheap countdown one.I do 1 1/2 cups rice for 5. up that to two and you've got a meal.
Two of the ways I do stewing steak.
Chop into cubes (if you're feeling flash brown them)
Onion
Stir through a couple of heaped teaspoons of flour
a squirt of worchestershire sauce
a tablespoon of relish
salt and pepper
sliced carrots and peas (or frozen mixed vege) till the mix 'looks' right
Add water till it's about 3/4 up the side of the other ingred's.
Cook 150 for a couple of hours, or put in the slow cooker in the morning.
Serve with mashed potato

Or mix 1T sugar, 1T mustard.
Cut meat into 'serving size' and rub with above.
Put in casserole or slow cooker as flat as you can.

Sprinkle with 2T flour, 1 sliced onion

Mix 2T vinegar, 2T tomato sauce, 2T Worchestershire sauce and sprinkle over the top.

Cook at 150 for two hours, or in the slow cooker from early morning.

Lovely with baked potato's and a green of any description.

$10 a week on meat! Are you serious. did you mean a day!If not I dont know how you do it.

I imagine thats what is meant when they said 'per dinner'

Home made Pizza maybe on a Friday or weekend. Scone dough and the kids can make their own with whatever toppings you have. Spag, onion, ham, cheese, pineapple etc. Mince with grated vege makes meatballs, or bolognaise, chilli con carne, nacho's, taco's, tortilla's etc. Stuffed spuds with leftover mince mixture and grated cheese.

fish fingers or fish burgers often come up cheap. $6 1kg box which does our family of 5 2meals. just get burger buns & have fish burgers 4 tea.

i often feed my family of 5 for $4ish a meal of meat & kids love noodles with pams mixed veges thru it & sum cheerios on the side.

santa did it

Home made coleslaw is always a hit in our house, serve with a roast chicken and oven roasted crispy potatoes, and bread rolls. Home made KFC :-) .
Mildly spiced curries, where you can use a little meat and bulk up with veggies.
Veggie bakes are good for using up bits n pieces in the fridge, turn it into a pie byusing pastry on the bottom of the dish and pre cooking slightly before adding the filling.
Home made falafels are cheap to make,and tasty, use instead of meat style burgers.
See if you can borrow the dollars and since book by Alison Holst they have some good recipes, my family love the curried Mac n cheese.