Lost job, what's good budget meals?

[lil454]

Trying to cut food spend, as have been made redundant, there are 3 of us: myself (I'm pregnant), husband and a toddler who eats and eats!
What's your healthy budget meals?
Many thanks

Jacket potatoes
Beans on toast
Pasta with homemade ragu
Stews bulked up with lentils and other cheap ingredients
Toad in the hole

Thank you @Stompythedinosaur

Look up some Jack Monroe recipes - I make a lot of her stuff and it’s very very budget friendly.

Thank you @Shantotto

Beans and lentils are your best friend. Go to the world foods aisle for cheaper brands of things like lentils, spices etc.

Off my head I suggest:
5 bean chilli
1 can mixed beans 39p
1 can chopped tomatoes 39p
1 onion 15p
1 large carrot 15p
1 stick celery 15p
1 pack chilli spice mix (35p) or use chilli, oregano, cumin seeds and smoked paprika

Chop and sauté veg, add beans and tomatoes plus seasoning, cook for 15 mins. Serve with rice (20p) and cheese/sour cream if you want. Serves 4 adults.

Cheat cassoulet. As above but change seasoning to herbes de Provence and paprika. Serve with crusty bread (50p homemade or Lidl/Morrison's) plus sausages if budget stretches.

Chicken stew
Bone in chicken thighs £1.79 yesterday in Morrison's)
Stew pack £1 chopped up
Stock cube x2. 10p
Garlic (frozen from world foods section is cheapest) 10p
Pearl barley - 1/2 cup. 10p
Brown chicken add vegetables, add stock and remaining ingredients, cook one hour approx. Dumplings are a good addition - 4oz sr flour, 2oz suet, water to bind, add herbs if desired. Serve with potatoes and veg to go further but serves 4 adults as above.

All prices Lidl.

I second Jack Monroe - tasty, wholesome food on a strict budget. If you've got a few quid to spare right now, one of her cookbooks secondhand would be a good investment:
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/302201442845

But she has lots and lots of recipes and tips on her website too:
cookingonabootstrap.com/

Thanks I will have a look, we already eat a lot of pasta, I have to admit I have never tried lentils!

Sausage casserole with mash

Egg, chips and beans

Toasties

Veg chilli and rice/jacket potatoes

Baguettes

Lasagne

Spaghetti carbonara

Yes to Jack Munroe as previous posters have said.

As a student I ate a lot of bean chilli and pasta with homemade sauces; it’s amazing what you can do with a tin of tomatoes, some leftover fridge veg, garlic and some seasoning.

Lentils are amazing! Homemade Dahl is so easy, delicious and cheap.

Thank you!

Lentils are a great value meat substitute in things you would have used mince in, e.g. chilli, spag bol.

I just found a BBC series on iPlayer called Cooking in the Doctor's Kitchen which has lots of healthy budget meals. Jack Monroe was one of his guests. The recipes are all available on BBC Food too. Quite inspirational and worth a look.

I started a thread a few days ago about how much your main meal cost...........there were loads of responses, some of them were really cheap and might give you some ideas.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/4151551-How-much-will-your-main-meal-cost-today-per-serving

Red lentils are the easiest gateway into lentils!

Red dal - onion, garlic, ginger if you have it, one cup lentils, four cups stock, one or more tablespoons mild curry powder. Kids love it. Plain yogurt on top is nice.

Things like buying one curry powder are good as it saves you buying five different spices (unless you have them already).

Also, ethnic stores (asian/Turkish etc) often have amazing quality food in bulk for great prices.

Scrambled eggs with home style potatoes.

Fried rice with onion peas and sweet corn.

Sorry to hear about your job.

Thank you all, yes being made redundant while pregnant wasn't the plan but hey ho!

I'm veggie and often eat vegan foods and feel like I spend so much less as I don't eat meat.

Check out vegetarian meals, often lentils and beans are your best friend & super healthy but it depends on how fussy your children are, a lot of people don't like beans, chickpeas etc and like their meat.

• veggie shepherds pie
• bean Chili
• lentil soup
• spinach & ricotta cannelloni
• leek and mushroom pasta
• sweet potato/ potato + chickpea curry
• mushroom risotto
• tacos / fajitas (we do use quorn with that but get it when it's on offer - £2 for a 500g bag).
• roast dinner with no mean but not sure how your family feels about this.
• pasta with tomato sauce, chopped tomato, garlic, onion, spices (then blend, mine don't like the bits in the sauce)
• gnocchi pasta bake with tomato and cream
• veggie red Thai curry (the expensive bits are the paste & coconut milk)

If you go to sainsburys at about 10am on a Sunday, they'll have loads of foods reduced. As hubby eats meat, I buy the organic meat then and freeze as you usually get 20-90% off.

Cottage pie made with lentils and tomato sauce topped with mashed potatoes.

Vegetarian chili.

Cauliflower cheese (made with strong cheddar, so more flavour).

Cheese omelettes.

Also, there are lots of foodbanks around at the moment.

Cauliflower and chick pea curry is always really cheap.
Tuna pasta bake
Tuna fish cakes
Fritata
Pasta arabiata
Pasta with blue cheese, red onion and mushrooms
Home made falafel in pitas
Toad in the hole
Sausage casserole.

If you have a big enough freezer, keep bread, pitas etc in there to reduce waste.
We had a piece of gammon yesterday. We served as a roast and have so much left, will do sandwiches and probably will slice with a pineapple and chilli salsa and then in a pasta bake. I’m sure that it was less than a fiver.
Use seasonal veg. Avoid pre-prepped fresh veg as it’s more expensive and doesn’t last as long. Frozen veg is obviously fine.
Plan your meals to reduce wastage. E.g if you use half a packet of sausages in one meal make sure you know how you will use the rest.
Use strong flavouring in smaller amounts to give flavour but keep costs down, things like bacon, chorizo and strong cheeses.

Thank you for all your suggestions, we only have 3 draw freezer so not big!

Dahl literally costs pennies and is so filling
Leek and potato soup with bread
Bean chilli
Mujadra

Pasta bolognese, but bulk it out with carrots and a handful of porridge oats or red lentils.

Porridge for breakfast, it's warm and filling and doesn't cost much. You could use it to make flapjacks as something sweet to have as well.

Sausagemeat mixed with made up stuffing mix makes a great meaty loaf to serve with spuds, veg and Gravy as a cheap delicious Sunday lunch

Ground Nut Stew

Sweet potato and onion. Fry it until slightly brown. Can also add chopped chicken thighs to this part of recipe but its lovely and cheaper meat free.
Add Ras al honout spice
Add chopped tomatoes (or a tin)
Add stock cube and a little water.
Cook like a thick stewy soup for 30 minutes.
Add some crunchy peanut butter and when melted some ground almonds to make it a bit thicker.

Pasta bakes - make them different each time , you could chop up a few sausages through them / value cooking bacon / sliced pepperoni etc for meat content.

Spaghetti carbonara - use cooking bacon
Spaghetti Bologna’s - use frozen mince

Home made soup and serve with part bake baguettes / rolls

Sausage casserole - serve with mashed potato

We use lots of frozen veg and frozen meat as it works out cheaper
Also canned carrots / peas / sweetcorn etc all cheap and good little side dishes

Burger and chips - frozen chips / burgers / rolls / value cheese slices / serve with ice berg lettuce only 49p at the moment.

Frozen sausages / beans & chips or eggs. Beans and chips both fine for a quick cheap dinner

Fish fingers - great in a salad wrap

Tortilla wraps turn loads of cheap stuff into meals -
Fish fingers
Chicken goujon - put in wraps serve with cheap salad and chips or canned sweetcorn etc

Value mince with fajita seasoning ( 49p a packet ) , fry it off and fill wraps , wrap up tightly like a parcel , place in oven dish , grate some cheddar and pour Tomato purée or canned tomatoes 29p over top , bake in oven , cheap burritos , serve with lettuce , packet of microwave rice 39p , lettuce is really cheap in supermarkets just now