Eating on a budget, any tips on changes to typical winter meals as winter gets closer ...

[Firefries]

Needing to feed a family of three kids and and yes the basic meals like stews, pasta and rice dishes and soups DO work but I'm looking for slightly different tastes so that we don't get bored. Often the same meal rotation gets boring - one minute we all like the chicken stew or whatever and next minute we have had it too much.
So do you have any tips on how to change the taste of a simple meal to make it different or more appealing? Just so the meals don't get boring over winter really. Maybe it's s different sauce or vegetable you swear by, so what do you use to make your budget meals interesting? Thanks.

Or maybe you have some websites that yoi have used and found helpful. Anything that can point me in this direction woild be great. Thanks.

With mince dishes I alternate, so that one week it's bolognese, the next week will make lasagne (made double bolognese the week before), then cottage pie the following two weeks, but alternate the topping, so plain mash, pot & swede mash, sweet potato mash, sliced potato topping etc.

Alternate stew / pie / casserole bases, so tomato base, usually Mediterranean veg, creamy base, leek / mushroom, gravy base.

Chicken or fish pie I alternate toppings between pastry, different mash or sliced potatoes.

These are all fairly basic so you've probably already got these, but I tend to shop for what's on offer and then adjust flavours and veg / sides accordingly. Because the supermarkets alternate what's on offer, I shop for those, so tend to get a mix up that way.

Will your family eat spicy food?

Slow cooked pork might be an idea? Served with crusty bread and salad.

Can't find the recipe now, but I do a spicy rice and red lentil soup which is very tasty, filling, and warming in winter.
IIRC, about 1.75 litres chicken or veggie stock, 200 g risotto rice, 100 g red lentils, a good heaped teaspoon each of ground coriander and cumin, simmer for about 45 mins till lentils have dissolved. Taste while cooking and add more spices if liked.
Meanwhile, slice a large onion or 2 smaller thinly, fry gently till soft and then up the heat to brown to nearly burnt.
Stir into the cooked soup - they give a lovely flavour - with the juice of a lemon.
It is delish. Any left over goes thick like dahl, and makes a nice lunch for someone next day.

Risotto, chicken, mushroom etc
Rice fried with peppers, onion, garlic, ginger, curry powder and add pork, prawns, chicken
Home made beef burgers with mash and gravy or in a roll with wedges
Pasta in sauce with smoked sausage, meatballs, spicy mince etc
Baked potatoes with chilli, cheese, haggis, beans, tuna
Macaroni, cauliflower or broccoli cheese
Soups with crusty/garlic bread
Omelettes or fried/poached eggs on toast

I serve almost everything with veg and use a lot of frozen veg.

Most of these meals are cheap to make as they don't need huge amounts of meat. I pick up whatever is reduced to clear on offer and make my menu plan from that.

We love a chilli pie. Chilli con carne topped with sweet potato mash and loads of grated cheese.

You could try adding chilli or herbs to a current meal that wouldn't normally have it, just for a different taste element. I often make a tomato sauce, just add whatever we have peppers, sweetcorn, tuna, chicken and add to pasta. Sometimes we just have cheese on top, others I make a cheese/breadcrumb topping and serve as a bake. Maybe a stirfry or a curry (including something like potato) and rice would be filling.

Lots of mince based dishes - lasagne, bolognese, shepherd pie
Beef stew
Chicken - tray baked, casserole, pie
Sausages - casserole, with mash, road in the hole

Look up cheap frugal puddings to add a bit of variety, I love vegan cakes.

Their usually oil, flour, sugar. Cocoa for CHOCCY flavour.

Filling & cheap. Stodgy is the way to go in winter.

I like proper rice pudding in the slow cooker or semolina cooked on the hob but I think I'm in the minority. Dh spat the rice pudding out, I had 4 portions

I try to alternate too so with chicken I'll do fajitas one week, chicken and chorizo pasta bake the next, chicken drums/thighs the next etc.

Mince - spag bol one week, lasagne the next, meatballs the next.

Pork one week. Ham the next. We freeze leftover ham or pork from a joint and then add them to a stir fry or pasta dish the following week.

Potatoes - mash, roasties, potatoes dauphinoise, baked, baby new pots etc.

Gino de caprio recipes adapted are good

I do two of his recipes without meat

One is his wild boar pasta recipe - just ditch wild boar

The other is his soup with stale bread and sausages - I ditch the sausages or I bye a packet and just put three in chopped up then freeze the other three sausages for the following week

I make a totally bean chilli using a tin of kidney beans and green lentils

I rarely purchase meat as it reduces the food bill drastically

Broccoli soufflé by deliha served with jacket potato and bake beans

Also her onion flan is a firm favourite but I keep it simple with eggs and milk no cream. The pastry is easy to make and tasty with cheese. Or buy ready made and roll out and use instead

Thank you for everyone's great ideas. I've got a lot to go and try.

Agree with pp re the mince dishes. It may be a bit spicy for little ones, but one of my favourite throw it together dinners is chorizo and red pepper pasta - you don't need much chorizo as the flavour is strong.

Chop up your chorizo, stick it in the pan at a low heat with no oil.
Once it starts to ooze oil, add a chopped red onion and a couple of cloves of chopped garlic. (I chop the onion into rings.) Keep it moving as garlic burns quickly.
Add a chopped red pepper.
Chuck in a tin of tomatoes.
Add a glug of frozen peas.
You could skip this, but I add chilli flakes and smoked paprika here.
Boil up pasta, add it in, stir.
We usually have it with garlic bread, good cold for work lunch the next day too. I sometimes add a tin of butter beans, chopped mushrooms, or more peppers to bulk it out if it needs to stretch over two nights.

I batch cook chilli and eat with-

• rice
• baked sweet potatoes
• in tortilla wraps with cheese and salsa on top and baked in oven.