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Cheap meals

4 replies

RosieLeaLovesTea · 09/10/2022 19:42

I want to hear about all your ideas for cheap meals and how to make your money go further. I’ve been reviewing our budget and we spend too much on eating out, snacks. We really need to try to cut down. As for family meals I struggle as no one seems to like the same thing. My son who is 5 will only eat plain chicken, mash potato with beans and pasta. He does not like stews or Bolognese or foods with a sauce. So difficult to batch cook. Please share your tips! Thanks!

OP posts:
Greengr · 09/10/2022 19:50

I'd buy whole chickens to roast, then use them to create other meals for the rest of the family.
Keep some chicken back for him. Bag of potatoes, make mash and freeze then make other dishes for the family with the potatoes.

AtleastitsnotMonday · 09/10/2022 22:14

If you ds literally only eats those few items then I can't see a way where the rest of the family eat a well balanced and varied diet without cooking for ds separately. So like pp suggested I'd make a load of mash and freeze. Just to make the day to day a bit easier.

As he eats pasta (all be it plain) I would probably include at least one pasta dish a week for everyone so at least you can use the plain pasta for ds and turn the rest into something a bit more exciting for everyone else. Pasta dishes have the added bonus of tending to be relatively cheap. Things like pasta arabiata, tuna pasta bake, pasta with garlic mushrooms, pasta with tomato and bacon sauce etc.

Similar with dishes using mash. Sausage and mash, cottage pie (or cheaper still make a veggie version subbing in lentils, or mix of both meat and lentils, fish cakes (cheapest using tinned fish but frozen fish, particularly things like pollock are fine for things like fish cakes and because you are mixing with potato you use then eating the fish alone.)

Shakshuka is really tasty and inexpensive.
Veggie curries are also really cheap to make, particularly if you already have a well stocked spice cupboard. Chickpea and cauliflower and butternut squash with red pepper are both popular here.
Look for recipes which over flexibility of ingredients, things like fritata are great for using up random bits and pieces left from other recipes.
If you are eating meat look for ways of stretching it further by combining it with other ingredients. For example a beef casserole can be made with shallots, mushrooms, carrots, parsnips, leeks, pearl barley to stretch it further. Similar with fajitas, less meat more peppers, onions, I often add courgette that needs using up.

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Sniffypete · 09/10/2022 22:22

Bulk out food with vegetables and pulses.
Soups are filling too and can be made cheaply.

Jacket potato night is something I will be doing more often this winter. They do quite well in the microwave and then crisped up in the airfryer. Or in the slow cooker wrapped in foil.
I'll have things like beans and cheese, tuna Mayo etc with them.

Pulled pork (shoulder of pork) is another dish that seems popular. I cook it in the slow cooker, stick some new potatoes in the juices that come out and then serve with rolls.

If your little one is fussy, I would just let them have what they want! Saves on any waste!

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