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cheap meal ideas

33 replies

frazzled74 · 31/07/2012 13:49

im looking for inspiration and recipes for some cheap meals for 2 adults and 2 dcs, trying to cut shopping bill down, lunches will be sandwiches/beans/soup etc, breakfast cereals/toast and ive been baking biscuits/flapjacks etc for snacks. I would like a cheap easy bread recipe, a pizza dough recipe and some different main meals. My usual budget meals are spaghetti bolognaise, shepards pie, tuna pasta. all ideas very welcome.

OP posts:
MaryHansack · 11/08/2012 23:50

chicken livers and rice, known as 'dirty rice' in New Orleans, just cook some rice as normal and in a pan fry onions and garlic and finely chopped chicken livers.
when the rice is done,tip the contents of the pan into it and mix it all up.
really cheap and tasty, and not too 'liverish' for the kids, iykwim.

SlinkyPebbles · 13/08/2012 22:23

Pasta, spinach (one or two lumps of the frozen kind) and a blue-cheese roux sauce.

InMySpareTime · 16/08/2012 16:17

"sunny rice" - boiled eggs, rice cooked in veg stock and turmeric, sweetcorn.
A bit like kedgeree without the fish.

InMySpareTime · 17/08/2012 13:11

Macaroni cheese. Grate as little strong cheese as you can get away with, then add soft cheese to make it taste creamier.

InMySpareTime · 17/08/2012 15:33

Tesco "real food" magazine has a few cheap meal recipes in ATM.

yellowraincoat · 17/08/2012 15:35

Last night I made mash and mackerel mixed together with broccoli on the side.

Really nice, cheap and healthy.

Mum2Fergus · 20/08/2012 18:53

Second the Economy Gastronomy book...it was a lifesaver while I was on Mat Leave...I dont work a Mon so try to make it my shop/cook/freeze day Smile

BiddyPop · 22/08/2012 09:23

If you do a large joint of bacon for "Sunday lunch", use the leftovers for:
Bacon sarnies (rather than cooked ham in packets)
Macaroni cheese (I add lots of veg too like fried onion and garlic, fried mushrooms, raw peppers, frozen peas, raw mange tout, cooked courgettes.....handfuls of whatever I have to hand)
Pasta carbonara
Spanish omlette
Pasta and tomato sauce
With grated cheese over a baked potato
On a salad

Lasagne is a great one too - I make 2 large lasagnes (and often get a couple of individual ones as well from the sauce) using 600g of beef mince, a pack of bacon lardons (I buy the double pack from Lidl, and whizz 1 portion in the food processor for this, as i have that out anyway given the amount of veg involved), 2-3 carrots, couple of celery sticks, a courgette, a pepper, insides of brocolli stalks (our supermarket gives those away "for the rabbits") - all veg whizzed and added once meat is cooked and before tomatoes. And I use a strong (mature or vintage) cheddar for the cheese sauce, as while it is slightly more expensive by weight than mild, you need a LOT less of it so overall cuts the cost and the fat content. (My sister does a version including red lentils, butternut squash, carrots and red peppers, all cooked up and whizzed, but I am afraid of lentils still). I make these on a Sunday afternoon when I am already in the kitchen cooking Sunday roast dinner - one for Monday night (ready when we get in from work) and the other gets frozen for cooking another night. And any leftovers already cooked can be reheated for lunches at work or frozen also for another time.

(For my spag bol and Shepherd's pie, I tend to put a lot of whizzed up veggies in those too).

I definitely agree with growing some veg if you can, and small amounts in mixed dishes can go a long way. And a bag of frozen peas is a great staple for the same reason (I tend to have a bag of mixed veg when I need a whole veg portion, but peas to add a fistful to eke out a mix of fresh veg).

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