Links/Recipes for Cheap Meals
Saturday evening is a good time to get marked down food in the supermarkets
Consider buying from: www.approvedfood.co.uk/?por_id=dhlcwEbDfwCuBDjezbBmrrzloujeoz1435853849&afid=por2013 to save 70% off shopping (sell by dates are close).
Look at FEED YOUR FAMILY FOR £20 A WEEK: www.facebook.com/fyf20quid and fyf20quid.co.uk/
15 Foods you didn't know you could freeze: www.thedailymeal.com/15-foods-you-didn-t-know-you-could-freeze-slideshow
Slow Cooker recipes: theheartysoul.com/slow-cooker-recipes/?t=HHL
BREAKFAST
Porridge Oats are filling and can be made with water (or half-milk and water) - add a spoonful of honey or jam in centre of bowl for more flavour.
Peanut Butter on toast (or in bread for lunch-time sandwich)
Nutella on toast (or in bread for lunch-time sandwich)
MAIN MEALS
Top Tip: if you have herbs and spices use them to flavour everything up. If not, buy some value stock cubes. I think you can get a box for about 19p. They add loads of flavour to mince/lentil dishes
Tinned sardines/pilchards can be mixed with mash and frozen veg then fry to make cheap fish cakes. (Substitute tinned tuna/pink salmon as alternative)
Flavoured cous cous with some frozen peas and chopped up roast chicken. Buy some marked down chicken portions, roast in oven and chop up. Put some herbs mixed with tomato purée on before cooking to give a little flavour.
Spanish omelette - onion, potatoes, eggs (and add stuff from the fridge like peppers/meats etc.) Alternatively, Mini omelette muffins: allrecipes.com/recipe/paleo-omelet-muffins/
Boil rice in a chicken stock cube for flavour and add shredded chicken and frozen veg.
Home-made Chicken Soup: www.noreciperequired.com/recipe/homemade-chicken-soup#
Minced beef, chopped tomatoes, kidney beans and chilli sauce = chilli con carne. Serve with rice. Add lentils to make into two meals.
Cooked chicken, rice, peas = risotto
Turn sausages into meatballs and serve in pasta sauce with spaghetti. Just skin the sausages and roll the meat into balls using damp hands.
Boil the chicken carcass with carrot and a bit of leek. Drain and keep the stock. Strip the carcass of all the loose meat and add to the stock with more carrot and leek. Add some sticks of spaghetti broken up into inch long pieces and cook through until everything is tender for chicken noodle soup.
Tomatoes, carrot, leek, cabbage, peas and pasta in soup = minestrone soup (I use water, stock cubes and a pinch of mixed herbs for flavour)
Tuna with baked potatoes and salad.
Cheese and pasta = macaroni cheese. Serve with the cut up hot dog sausages stirred through for another meal.
Cut potatoes into wedges and toss in a little bit of oil. Cook in the oven and serve with omelettes made from your eggs.
Fish finger sandwiches are the food of the gods. Serve with wedges and any leftover salad to bulk out.
Using left-overs:
(1) Break the chicken carcass up a bit so it fits in a saucepan, cover with cold water. Add the end bits of a couple of carrots, ends of the leeks (save the edible middle bits) add salt and pepper, bring to the boil and simmer for about 40 minutes with the lid on. Drain and reserve the stock. You could use the stock to cook some rice in then add the chopped chicken and some peas or use it as a soup base adding chopped veg, potato, lentils really what ever takes your fancy.
(2) If you have a bit of flour you could make a well seasoned white sauce and add the chopped chicken along with some sauted onion or leak and a handful of peas, serve with rice or mash.
(3) Make minced meat go further by adding some lentils then you can do spaghetti bolognese, chilli etc.
The Complete Meal Plan Collection: forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=346932
Pan Haggerty: allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/5658/pan-haggerty.aspx
The 10p beefburger: www.theguardian.com/business/video/2013/aug/12/jack-monroe-cooking-breadline-video Add extra seasoning and a splodge of tomato puree as well. Jack Monroe's site is a godsend for cooking on an extreme budget. She's also very cleverly cross-referenced her recipes by ingredient so if you need to use things up - go there.
LUNCH
Buy a marked down loaf and freeze it, defrost a couple of slices at a time when required on top of the toaster or under the grill. Tinned sardines can be mashed down and spread on bread.
mini omelette muffins
Don't forget to do FreeStuff
Lentil Soup via Dithorydora:
Use olive oil or butter or cooking oil to gently fry an onion - and a couple of garlic cloves if you have them. Then add some red lentils, about a cup full, and then vegetable stock (about 1 litre). Boil it all gently until the lentils are soft and you have a soup like consistency. Add salt and pepper as needed. Mine tends to vary depending on how much stock I add, but if its too thick you can add more water. If you have milk or cream you can add a dollop but not necessary. It will keep in the fridge or you can freeze.
This recipe also works well for using up any vegetables which are a bit on the turn (or the kids refuse to eat them).
Nut Roast via noeffingidea
Equal amounts of chopped mixed nuts and dried stuffing mix. The cheapest way of buying mixed nuts is in the homebaking section, they're about £1 for a bag. A box of sage and onion stuffing mix is 15p (sainsburys basics). Just make up the stuffing, stir in the nuts and bake as usual.
This is nice cold as well, with salad or bubble and squeak.
Lentil Sausages via noeffingidea
2 tablespoons of red lentils, to 1 teaspoon of crunchy peanut butter (basics again). Cook the lentils for approx 10 minutes until they go soft and mushy and as dry as possible. Add mixed dried herbs/spices (I like smoky paprika, but whatever you have in helps). When cool stir in peanut butter. Add a little flour/breadcrumbs if the consistency is too runny. This makes 2 sausages or 1 'burger' , so multiply ingredients for the number of servings you want.
Pancakes via GoulashSoup
Use up whatever is in the fridge for savoury ones, leeks with cream cheese, ham spring onion and cheese/cream cheese or even cheese triangles, mushrooms and garlic, frozen spinach, diced tomatoes, in what ever combo you like. Followed by raisins and butter and sugar, Nutella, honey.
Spaghetti Spiders via GoulashSoup
Chop sausages into inch chunks break spaghetti in half and push 4 pieces through each chunk. Boil up with lots more spaghetti with a tomato sauce made with tinned tomatoes, garlic, dried herbs, fresh herbs, whatever veg needs using (grated carrot, grated courgette, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes etc). I like to add salt, pepper, paprika, a pinch of sugar and a dash of vinegar to make it super tasty. The sauce is great to freeze. Also good if you have ham or bacon to use up just chuck it in.
Chickpea Rice via GoulashSoup
Tinned chickpeas, onion, garlic, tomato purée (don't want it too wet so not tinned toms), garam masala/curry powder/cumin seeds/chilli powder to your taste. Boil rice, layer rice spoon over chickpeas, top with more rice. Brush top with oil and pop in oven till top a little crispy. Serve with yoghurt or mango chutney.
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Additional suggestions for saving money on food
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