Low cost meals & snacks

[R184]

As the title suggests - I’m looking for suggestions of low cost meals and snacks for a family of 4, 1 child at school and 1 at home. I usually buy prepackaged snacks (oat bars, soreen bars, babybels etc) but I’m looking for either things I can pre make at home and store in the fridge or low cost alternatives? Also for family meals, what are some of the cheapest meals to cook? I do already meal plan but am going on maternity leave again soon so just looking to reign things in a little. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you!

Snacks. Make flapjack, brownies, rice Crispie buns, loaf cakes, jellies with fruit in, chopped fruit or veg, dips with bread sticks or veg, popcorn, rice cakes. Buy fruit on offer. Homemade pancakes, toast, crumpets.
For meals I batch cook chilli (add lots of baked beans, kidney beans and passatta to bulk out), spaghetti bolognaise, curry, shepherds pie. Make big batches of tomato sauce base to use in above or add some meat or fish and pasta.
pan fried chicken marinated with new potatoes and vegetables, sausage and mash.
Homemade pitta pizza (using left over meats, veg), chips and salad, beans, cheese or egg on toast, potato waffles and beans, jacket potatoes.
Bulk buy pasta and rice when on offer.

but I’m looking for either things I can pre make at home and store in the fridge or low cost alternatives?

fairy cakes with chocolate melted on top - uses fairly cheap ingredients and I use 55p dark chocolate from lidl or Aldi.

Also for family meals, what are some of the cheapest meals to cook? I do already meal plan but am going on maternity leave again soon so just looking to reign things in a little

pesto new potato and pasta with green beans
rice dishes, risottos with peas - as the rice is cheap

look on the bcc website for cost of living meals

Aldi do a malt loaf copy that you can slice up as an alternative to the soreen bars. Bananas are good and not expensive. My ds is 11 and starting to eat loads so I get custard creams or copy oreos from aldi for if he’s on a sweet snack rampage. Not very healthy but better than him eating lots of packed lunch snacks! Aldi also do instant porridge sachets for 75 p for 10 I think if anyone likes porridge. Oats are super cheap and you can make nice flapjacks although butter can be expensive. Buy cheap cheddar and cut into cubes/sticks for snacks or carrots are super cheap if your kids like them raw. Ds likes them dipped into cheap balsamic.

If your kids like cheese, you can switch babybel to block cheddar, Lidl has very cheap and massive blocks. Babybels are really expensive, way too expensive for what you get.

Dried beans and pulses are really cheap to bulk soak and cook ahead and freeze in 4 person portions, then halve the meat you use in eg chilli, bolognese, curries, stews. Also use dried chickpeas to make bulk humus and freeze in portions. Use with cheap carrots and sp offer veg as dips or pitta.
baked potatoes and vary the fillings cheap cheddar and grated carrot, tuna and sweetcorn, snips of bacon, big salad to bulk out.
risotto with chicken stock cube, peas, garlic and any cheap veg, leftover cheese/meat
soup can be really filling and nutritious with pulses, noodles or beans added plus veg and frozen in portions, eat with bread to fill.
Snacks:
Make bulk energy balls/bars from whatever dried ingredients you have/are on offer, buy oats in bulk, mix in oil, peanut butter, dried fruit, cocoa or a few nuts, although these are obviously more expensive.
crackers and marmite
buy cheap flour and make your own crackers, make cakes using oil as cheaper than butter, use ingredients you can forage or grow eg blackberries, apples, strawberries.
if you know people who don’t pick their fruit in autumn let it be known you would love it for juicing if gardens nearby. Lots of people just let it rot. Also check out free community orchards for this. We get masses every year and save up bottles so get a good supply of juice.

I have a baking day every week with 4 kids they eat a lot and make everything from cakes and pies and snacks for the week.