Weekly Menu Ideas: 21-04

The cost of food

I am a currency converter, I have told you this many times. I am slowly but surely running out of fancy ideas to introduce my weekly menu so I thought what better way to do this than busting or proving myths about moving abroad.

One of the biggest myths, till date is that living abroad is much more expensive than living in South Africa. While I agree that it is expensive I do not believe that it is that significantly more. Of course, how would I entertain you for 3 whole minutes if did not share all the details.

I order my groceries on Picnic. Picnic is like Sixty60, but you need to order in advance so if I order today I will only get my order tomorrow evening. That’s the level of preparation of the Europeans in general.

I decided to take an easy meal, my favorite meal of the week, the easy red pepper soup and priced the ingredients in both places and then I compared the actual difference.

Red Pepper Soup	Quantity	ZAR Price	EUR Price
Red peppers	3	39.75	3.15
Onions	2	7.33	0.99
Garlic Head	2	34.99	1.29
Cream - 500 ml	1	65.99	1.86
Pack Cherry Tomato	1	24.99	2.39
EUR Price		8.09	9.68
ZAR Price		173.05	207.15

This table is based on the current exchange rate of 21.40 ZAR/€1.

It turns out that in fact it is roughly 20% more expensive to make a red pepper soup in the Netherlands than it is in South Africa. Each week, I will try my best to convert one meals ingredients and that way you can see the breakdown.

Weekly Menu - 21 April

Monday

School Lunch: School Wraps

Dinner: Steak/Black Bean Quesadilla

Tips for this idea:

Quesadillas are great, especially if you have a panini press. I do not have one, so I make it the old school way with my pan. I love recipes like this that using one meal, everyone can adapt the meal to their own tastes. I usually prepare all the warm ingredients together with the corn and beans and then add the cheese.

Tuesday:

School Lunch: Leftover Quesadilla/ Cheese Quesadilla

Dinner: Chicken Pita with Green Salad

Tips for this idea:

If you are anything like me, I really always try to do many things all at once, usually to my own detriment. However, eating leftovers for lunch the next day is my favorite. Especially the kid friendly meals. Growing up one of my favorite meals was chicken pitas, my mom made the best. I realized now that this tastes equally as great with the chickpeas.

Wednesday:

School Lunch: American Pancakes

Dinner: Creamy Pea Pasta with Fish

Tips for this idea:

It's the middle of the week already, so I usually give myself a break in any form. This week, it will be eating store bought American pancakes, so yes basically flapjacks.

Thursday:

School Lunch: Buffalo Wings

Dinner: Red Pepper Soup

Tips for this idea:

Red Pepper Soup is always great, you can eat it plain, with break or even a toasted sandwich to dip. My kids love this with extra parmesan cheese. The best part is that you do not need to do much, you simply need to bake your vegetables so it is a great way to get away with doing so little.

Friday:

School Lunch: Mini Pizza

Dinner: Burger Night

Tips for this idea:

Make your own burger night is great, whether you make your own smash patties or you buy the store bought ones, it is always good! Having an air fryer makes this even easier.

Saturday:

Lunch: Chip Rolls

Dinner: Greek Bowls

Tips for this idea:

Greek bowls are a great way to empty leftovers in your fridge it is literally an opportunity to add all your fresh vegetables into a bowl along with other delicious ingredients. If you do not have any leftovers, then it is always great to add the additions you love. You can easily make them with Falafel, Tofu or even chicken and steak.

Sunday:

Supper: Roast Chicken & Potato Bake

Tips for this idea:

Roast Chicken Smells Like Sunday to me, I figured that after a Sunday filled with Pickled Fish it may be nice to visit the rest of the protein families. It is light and relatively easy to make.

I hope this makes this week easier for you. If you feel like you this is something you need for the weeks ahead, please subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

To all those celebrating Easter, I hope you having an absolute blessed weekend!

Please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas for next week. ♥️