Have you tried cooking a huge batch of beef ragu? I use beef shin or skirt. Incredibly cheap cuts, but frankly THE tastiest.
Get yourself 2-3 Kilos of it. Cut in to 1" cubes, toss in seasoned flour and brown in batches. Set oven at 140. Meanwhile cut 3 or 4 carrots, same in celery , couple of medium onions and 3-4 cloves garlic. Big, small, whatever. When you've browned all the meat, put it to one side and then soften the veg over medium heat for 10 mins or so. Lob the meat back in along with 2 tins plum tomatoes per kilo, a good glug of red if you have, couple of sprigs of rosemary, 1-2 GOOD beef stock cubes or a couple of those Knorr stock pots and maybe a splash of water - see what you think. Lid on, shove in the oven for a good 4-5 hours.
I serve it in lots of forms:
tagliatelle
root mash
mash
rice
rigatoni
spag
out the pan before it hits the plate
chunks of nice bread
As a rule 1kg, 2 tins toms, 1 carrot, 1 cel and sm onion etc etc will give you 2 healthy adult portions and a couple of medium non fussy children ones. Probs a baby too.
Another good, filling, cheap one is Irish Stew
flour some lamb - neck, or stewing.
layer up in a casserole lamb, 3 sliced carrots, 3 sliced leek, 2 sliced onion, 1cm sliced potatoes - depends on size as to how many (natch) - 3 or so layers from 1.5kg lamb, pour cold water over to JUST cover and throw a small handful of pearl barley over. Bring gently to boil, skim off any scum (sometimes lots, sometimes none) and turn heat right down, leave for a couple of hours. Can also chuck in the oven at about 150 for same sort of time. Check and season with S and P. One pot supper, v. tasty...
With all your eggs....Toad in the Hole with an onion gravy and some peas or something? Always a hit with my kids - big and small alike
Another easy one, not sure of spelling but it's a maltese dish called Frorja...
Basically: cook 80-100g spag per person. Drain, rinse well under cold water. Whisk 1 egg p/p and as much grated cheese as you want really - maybe matchbox size each plus an extra one. I also like to throw in some chopped spring onions and chopped, deseeded tomatoes. Add spaghetti and give it a good stir. Melt some butter/oil in a heavy based frying pan, chuck in mix. Cook over medium heat til medium brown, slide onto a plate and flip over to do other side. It's probably about 6min either side. Cut into pizza wedges. Delicious hot or cold, I usually through some salad on the plate for good measure and ruin it all with a fat blob of ketchup. CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP and very damn tasty.
I had to be queen of frugality after my divorce when my older DCs were small - I can indeed still make a chicken last a week and not be hungry! So anymore you want, just say. I could write a flipping book with some of my inventions!!!!