Hi again :)
Your weekly menu looks pretty good, but I can see how you might be getting bored. I'd second those suggestions above - try some vegetarian dishes or dishes where meat is the flavour, not the main component of the meal. Even though ham, bacon and even salami are very expensive per kg, if you are only using a tiny amount to flavour the meal then it can work out cheaper than mince.
Also, have a look at how much are you spending per meal on meat per person, not just /kg price. With chicken, is it one breast per meal or one per person? That can make a huge difference to your spending.
Pasta dishes are great - instead of the mince and tomato type though, have you tried some other options? Here are some of my frequent go to ones:
- tomato and ham pasta bake (cook pasta, drain, add 1can of chopped tomatoes and some ham and onion that has been cooked through. If you have cheese, add a bit to the top or else just salt and pepper. Cook at 180c for around 20min.
- chicken pesto and bean pasta. Now, i know pesto is hideously expensive, but if you like the flavour, per meal this doesn't work out too bad over the long run. If i find it on speical, i'll buy a jar and then make this once a week until it's gone (around 4-5 meals depending on the brand). Cook pasta, add a small amount of chopped and cooked chicken (i use one small breast) add 1 drained can of white beans, a couple of spoons of pesto and some cooked green beans, brocolli or other greens of your choice. The white beans and veg help to bulk this one out.
- ratatouille - cook together tinned tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant with a few herbs and spices then use to top pasta. Skip the eggplant though unless it's in season. Feel free to add white beans instead to help bulk it.
I agree with the poster above - if you are only having two minute noodles at lunch, i'm guessing you are getting pretty hungry towards dinner time. In order to bulk up two minute noodles, i find adding an egg as it cooks will make it a much more filling meal. If tinned tuna is on special, you can add a small tin.
One of my lazy lunches is often a small tin of tuna, cous cous and some frozen peas. I find 1/4 cup of cous cous is enough to hold me through the day. The tuna comes in heaps of different flavours too, so you can swap things about a bit. If tuna isn't on speical, then the cous cous, peas and some other flavours are good too e.g. add in some powdered stock/spicy sauce/other flavour you like.
Otherwise, Is there any chance you could be bulking your main meals with more cheap carbs e.g. beans, lentils and chickpeas and then having leftovers for lunch? We often cook an extra portion of rice for lunch and then serve with either a small amount of leftovers like curry or even with eggs and a bit of sauce.