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Voice of Real Australia is a regular newsletter from ACM, which has journalists in every state and territory. Sign up here to get it by email, or here to forward it to a friend. Today's was written by Audience Engagement Producer Kayla Osborne.

Meat and three veg is a staple dish in our home - as I am sure it is across many Aussie households.

However, as I stood in my local supermarket last week I noticed there wasn't a lot of 'fresh' vegetables to choose from.

I can almost hear some of you screaming at me that I should be getting my fruit and veg from the local green grocer rather than our supermarket giants. But, I was short on time and hungry.

There were some sad looking green beans, broccoli that was almost on its way out and not a shred of cauliflower or pumpkin in sight.

There was some lettuce, but I am a millennial and we prefer to spend our hard-earned money on smashed avo.

So I grabbed some steaks (which were inordinately expensive for supermarket meat) and headed for the potatoes. Nailed that part. Can't go wrong with potato.

But what else could we have with this meal.

Frozen veg? That's a solid option too.

Well, there were only a few packs of frozen vegies left featuring peas - which would not go down well in our house.

I head for the pre-mixed salad section - huzzah! I grab a pre-mixed Asian salad. Always a winner.

I am not the only one having to think outside the box for the average every day meal.

Coles chief operating officer Matt Swindells took to the Today Show to explain the fruit and veg shortage.

He's urging families to be a bit more adventurous with their meal choices.

It's something we probably should be doing to break the monotony of the week day meal.

However, it could also come at an extra cost given the mind-blogging price hikes we've seen in recent weeks.

We're choosing to see it as a challenge - how can we spice up the shopping list without setting fire to our shopping budget.

(Speaking of spice - I also couldn't get any Sriracha during my weekly shop. I've since learned there is also a hot sauce shortage).

Here are some great winter meal ideas that shouldn't (well, hopefully not) break the budget:

And the best thing is, you can make more to have for lunches or even freeze some for meals later in the week.

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Australian Community Media journalist with almost ten year's experience in providing quality community news. I am a proud Macarthur local working for the Camden Advertiser, Campbelltown-Macarthur Advertiser and Wollondilly Advertiser.

Australian Community Media journalist with almost ten year's experience in providing quality community news. I am a proud Macarthur local working for the Camden Advertiser, Campbelltown-Macarthur Advertiser and Wollondilly Advertiser.

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