Four days of meals

[Becauseisaidsookay]

Get paid on Monday evening, not much until then. I need to get dinners for tomorrow until Monday-two adults, one young Dc
Any ideas of cheap but yummy, as find it a bit depressing eating boring pasta on a Friday/Saturday night

Make a big quiche / flan with ready made pastry, eggs / milk / grated cheese / chopped onion.

A chunky soup - use any cheap veg (swede / carrots / shredded cabbage / celery and onions are good) plus a can of tomatoes, some macaroni (or other small pasta) and a tin of white beans or chick peas. Couple of stock cubes and pepper. Delicious.

Jacket potatoes with tuna mayo and sweetcorn.

Get a cheap cut of meat like braising steak and make a big Lancashire hotpot. Onions, carrots, potatoes, gravy powder, pepper.

I also can't understand this thread. It's plenty of money to eat for 4 days. I'd cook literally anything 🤷🏻‍♀️ it's hardly going to be lobsters and caviar. Cook two meals that are big enough for another two days of leftovers. I can't even be bothered putting suggestions down- literally anything OP.

“You could literally go into Dunnes and get 3 meats for €10 (pack of burgers, pack of chicken thigh fillets, turkey stir fry mix - availability changes but just as an idea).”

please don’t do this. Think of the animals. That’s far too cheap for meat.

🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄😬🙄🙄🙄🙄

But you can be bothered to make this comment

I was just asking for any ideas

Buy a kilo of beef mince and use it 4 different ways, such as spag bol, chilli & rice, enchiladas and loaded nachos.

@Becauseisaidsookay

But you can be bothered to make this comment

Yep.

Nice 👍

If you buy some mince then add lentils and beans to it you could make a chilli that would make 2 meals. Make it exciting by having it as chilli nachos one night then leftovers with rice on another night.
Roast chicken dinner for Sunday then leftover chicken as a pasta dish or stir fry with noodles the next night.

Omelette
Jacket potatoes with various fillings
Toasted sandwich
Fishcakes

I would buy a gammon joint, make pea and ham soup (my current obsession), left over gammon for lunch.

Tortilla pizzas

Chicken curry with chickpeas

Chicken and chorizo creamy pasta.

€10 a day you can easily make it work without eating sandwiches and boring food.

I was talking about this the other day: I think it's actually quite worrying how many people can't think beyond 'boring' pasta. I come from a very working class background, lasagne was seen as very exotic and expensive, but in my 30-something years I've built up a decent repertoire of interesting and cheap things to cook.

Ps OP there are literally tens and tens of posts like this in the food section, all with good answers.

The @Becauseisaidsookay is seeking help with meal ideas, to be fair, and to think beyond boring pasta, and doesn’t need slagging for it.

Try using pesto, this adds zing. You could also use what are thought of as curry spices: chilli, turmeric, coriander and cumin, which will make pasta more interesting. Also try different pasta. I don't like spaghetti so never use it (have some, late DH liked it) but penne, fusilli etc or tagliatelli. Lasagne is a good staple and you can replace pasta with slice aubergine if you wish, and add another carbohydrate along with salad (something potato-ey, since you have some - au gratin is nice and filling).
Other than that a caserole, which can do two days if you combine it with some root veg e.g. those potatoes, butternut squash (buy it frozen) or roast parsnips.
Grilled or baked fish with wedges and salad - you could run to salmon for 3 if you shop in Aldi.
Pizza, home made - use the microwave for first proving: put dough into a plastic bag and microwave for 15 seconds then leave to rise for a few minutes before knocking back and stretching for the base. Topping can be anything you like even the dreaded pineapple (though pineapple works best, I think, served on its own with black pepper).
That's 4 meals. A curried bolognese/lasagne, a caserole, grilled fish, pizza. Fresh fruit if you can run to it.

How much money do you have?

Do you want ideas for fakeaway dishes?

Try this

khinskitchen.com/hyderabadi-chicken/

Admittedly I had all the dried spices already plus ghee so wasn't expensive but it was absolutely delicious and far better than any high street takeaway.

Another idea is to cook peppers and onions, set aside, chop up chicken thigh toss in soy sauce and then cornflour, fry until cooked through. Add back the peppers and onions and add sauce if your choice

What would you be eating if you didn’t have a budget?

Sausage burgers. My mum used to make these when we were little in the 70s (three day week etc so money had to stretch). It fed five of us. I do the same for three of us now and use the left over 'mix' to make small meatballs to put in a pasta sauce or to make stuffing balls for a roast dinner instead of another few burgers.

So, one pack of sausages, one pack of stuffing mix. Make up the stuffing mix, let it cool. Skin the sausages and add to the mix, squish it together. Make into patties, whatever size you want - they don't shrink like some burgers. Cook on 180 oven for 30 minutes.

You can freeze any left over shaped mixture before cooking. Just open freeze them then bag them up. Defrost before use.

Really nice with pickled red onion slices - just put the slices in vinegar and salt (some people add a bit of sugar but I don't find it makes any difference). Leave to marinade for a few hours, turning occasionally. The onions will be lovely and tender and spicy.

Or a roast chicken then make a white sauce or tomato/curry sauce (onion, curry powder, tin of tomatoes and a little chicken stock with flour or cornflour to thicken) with rice or pasta. You can do the same with sausages - onion, a little curry or chilli powder, tinned tomatoes, bit of stock to zip up the flavour. Add mash or a jacket potato.

Or mince casserole/stew with a giant yorkshire pudding.

Aldi sell packs of frozen white fish for less than a couple of quid. They are great for a fish curry if you like that.

I also like making burgers out of tins of lentils, with homemade potato wedges.

Slice of a big pizza and some pasta

Eggs on toast

Jacket potatoes and use up any cans you have if not buy some fillings.

Roast dinner with sausages as the meat

Sausages and mash

Oven chips eggs and ham.

You could get a smoked ham hock from the butchers (cheap!), or a smoked bacon joint from Tesco, and some dried beans (pinto, cannellini etc.) and make Boston Baked Beans - in the slow cooker if you have one, or the oven if not. I did this yesterday and ended up with a big bag of chunks of ham (discarded the fat) and four bags of beans for the freezer. The recipe calls for strips of bacon (aka rashers!) but I think a big lump of meat works better for slow cooking.

Tonight I'm making Delia's Shallow-fried fish and chips. Whiting is a good, and cheap, alternative to cod or haddock.

Today is my weekly shopping collection day, so I went through the fridge earlier and took out any veg on its last legs (broccoli, carrots, leeks, celery, potatoes) and made soup with them, plus a couple of stock pots. That'll be lunch tomorrow and a few servings for the freezer. Sometimes we just have veggie soup for dinner with freshly baked bread or soda bread.

Just a few ideas there - HTH.

I'm vegan but going to steal this tip for use with frozen soya mince! Adding in the carrots and oats is a great idea x

Chilli is a good one as if you make a nice big pan of it it's a good way of getting protein and veg in at the same time and often into usually reluctant veg eaters! Then as pp said with nachos or rice, or on a tortilla, or even a baked potato!

Have a look at what bread is reduced in the shops, if you know you're going to eat it over the next day or 2 then it's a good bargain.

Also what about a big pan of scouse or Irish stew (they're virtually the same thing)

Which veg would you put in chilli?

I can see why people are begging snippy with you, OP. Your budget isn't tight and so many people have taken their time to give you ideas and you've not responded to any of the suggestions or, heaven forbid, said thanks.

Search four meals one chicken.
Loads on line

https://pinchofnom.com/how-to-make-four-meals-from-one-chicken/

What have you got in the cupboards OP

Tins of soup, fish, bags of rice, oats, lentils, tins of tomatoes, beans, pulses, stock cubes, crackers, flour?