Need some very cheap meal ideas?

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Money is very tight this month and I'm basically going to have just £50 each week to feed a family of 5.

I am really rubbish at coming up with ideas for meals and struggle to keep our weekly grocery bill under £80.

I could really do with some ideas for cheap meals that will keep everyone happy!

Sausage & chickpea casserole with mash is VERY popular here. Brown the sausages in the oven then fry onion and garlic, I add a chug of white wine but no need really, tin of toms, tin of chickpeas and lovely buttery mash.

ooh that sounds lovely! Will definately try that one as even fussy DS loves sausages, thank you

Jacket potatoes bakebeans and cheese always goes down well here....

That sounds lovely cornish, I will try that too

I have recently got hold of a 1960s cook book by a woman who made her name in the war being imaginative with rations.

She does some clever things like:

Make a thick white sauce - crumble in a tin of corned beef and some breadcrumbs - shape -coat in egg and breadcrumbs and fry.
Or (as we tried last night) - same principle but use tinned salmon and add lemon juice and the egg yolk to the white sauce then coat in just the egg yolk.

She also has a yummy baked onion recipe - stuffed with oats bacon and cheese.

Tomato & Anchovy pasta....

Fry garlic in oil ( vege oil ok) tip in a carton of pasatta and chopped up anchovy (including their olive oil). Cook to splitting point. If you have basil or parsley in the garden - add some.

Filling meal for under £2

Ok stuff on toast is great for tea one night, be it scrambled egg, beans etc,

Get a slow cooker, sling in cheepo chicken thighs, any chicken on the bone is cheeper. I buy a huge turkey leg and slow cook that, the meat litterally falls off the bone, made a curry one night then sandwiches with left overs the day after.

meal plan meal plan meal plan your arse off.
shop ONLY for what is on your list.

Make BIG batches of stuff like corned beef hash, curry, spag bol etc then keep some back, freeze it and you have a "free meal" the following week.

I make a big cake once a week, and that lasts as a treat.

buy bread on offer then freeze, get out slices as you need them, same with crumpets, bread rolls stuff like that. there is not nearly as much waste.

i can feed us for between £30-£50 a week, but there are 3 of us, no pets etc and i am very very strict.

i buy crisps as treats, when they are gone, they are gone...and only those on offer. and only one multi pack.

buy loads of supermarkets own brand stuff, try it, its just as nice as the comercial brands.

this time of year we have been blackberry picking, and i have a freezer full, also wind fallen apples from next doors garden. I have stewed them and again frozen them, this will mean puddings all winter. (crumbles/pies etc)

I make my own pastry and by the cheap flour etc, lasts for ages.

some fab ideas!

Thanks for the link Seven, will have a look now

Pasta with stir fried bacon and corgette ribbons. and a dollop of olive oil and black pepper.

What have you go in the back of cupboards??

Stir fry with much veg( tined or fresh) and little meat and noodles or rice stretch things quite well.

Windfall APples may be being given away locally, good for crumbles and the like.

also have started making stuff like fish cakes, chicken nuggets they are delish and i make big batches of them, so have loads to freeze, again, quick, cheep and free meals for one night later on.

tend to trawl for offers, but then i loath supermarket shopping so i need to know what i need, go in get it and get out so hate hanging round.

its taken about a year but ive got it down to a fine art now.

Did you watch Economy Gastronomy when it was on the BBC? I now use leftovers far more than I ever did before. We have a roast on Sunday and use leftovers to do the following, beef becomes beef and ale pie, chicken either chicken pie or chicken biryani and lamb becomes "rustic" shepherd's pie.

Buy a packet of "cooking bacon" from the supermarket. It's basically the end of cuts or bits that didn't fit in the automatic slicer. Very good value. Chop it and make pasta carbonara 1kilo pasta 80p, 750gm cooking bacon £1.29, small tub of single cream 45p, an onion 15p = £2.64 for 5 people.
Quick & easy too.

cottage pie... add some red lentils to pad out the meat!

500g mince - £2.50
2kgs potatoes - £2
3 or 4 carrots - 40p
big onion - 40p
red lentils - 50p

couple of stock cubes in the mince and a splash of milk and butter in the mash, job done!

will do for 4-6 people (depending on appetites!)

similar meals for £6ish...

bangers and mash
toad in the hole
veggie pasta bakes
risottos
chicken casseroles using 'the bits', ie you can get a load of legs for a couple of quid
various pastas, ie, carbonara, bolognese, cheap raviolis, tuna mornay
lasagne, but use veg for one of the layers
pies are cheap and easy to make
home made vegetable soups
sausage hash
use cheap cuts of fish/less desirable fish and make fish pie

Pad mince and soups out with lentils, even people that reckon they don't like lentils won't even notice
use in season veg like cauliflower to make cauliflower cheese, cheap and filling
top tip - waitrose and tescos do some great frozen veg that costs a fraction of the price of fresh and tastes great (ie spinach, peppers, grilled mixed veg)

Ooh I thought of another one

buy a hulking great big bit of pig arse/leg/shoulder

cook it for about 9 hours in a slow cooker and the meat falls off the bone

cue 3 meals - pulled pork buns, pulled pork and leek pie, pulled pork and noodles

leftover cream/milk - make rice pudding

Another one from same book -
half packet of frozen sweetcorn + 2 eggs, 1/4 pint milk and cheese +grated cheese on top. 1 hour at 150 degrees = sweetcorn pie - yummy and huge.

One night a week have egg and beans on toast

Another night have a Freezer Surprise Night where you just defrost a few things from the freezer and see what you get!

Tomato pasta - fry onion, add tins tomatoes x 2 and some tomato puree, bit of stock. Add cooked pasta and cheese if you have any.

Couscous is a big fave in our house at the end of the week. Get all the bits of ham/chicken/ veggies and cook all together and add to couscous.

Go blackberry picking and make a crumble for a treat.

ahhh kedgeree! Fab, cheap and filling. Nice one.

Quiches are great too as they keep for a few days.

Just looking at people suggesting spending £2 on 2.5 kilos of potatoes.

Go to your local farm (look it up in the book) and buy a 55lb sack of spuds for about £7.50. They just need to be kept in the sack in cool dark, (the garage is ideal) and if there are 5 of you, you aren't going to waste any.

oh wow you are all fab there is enough ideas there to keep me going for weeks

kathyjelly - we actually grow our own, I just looked on Ocado to see what the cost was!!
My prices were only guesstimates!

Shepherdess Pie is one of my favourite cheap recipes.

Toad in the Hole is another.