48 hours, 1000 posts consisting of FAST, CHEAP and GOOD, over here please.

[HoneyDragon]

No smugginess, no social commentary or judginess.

I want EVERYONE'S go to, cheapest stand by meals that they use, on one cosmic, love in thread of sharing and nicety.

Lets help each other out with a bit of inspiration.

My favourites are quesadillas

Either cheese and baked bean

Or

Onion and pepper and cheese

Either can have other veg ends smuggled in. Basically chuck everything on a Tortilla wrap fold it over and dry fry in a pan till the cheese is melted.

Sausage linguine with rocket [or whatever you like].

Skin sausages and shape into small balls, fry for 8 minutes then bung in rocket or any veg and single cream.

Cook linguine and mix in with sausage and rocket.

Serve with garlic bread, maximum time is 20 minutes cooking.

Anything with tinned tomatoes!

Last week I had some straggly old broadbeans left over and I used them up in a tomato pasta.

Fry garlic in olive oil and add 2 tins of tomatoes, chilli, salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar. Roughly chop up the broad beans and add to the sauce. Simmer for 10 minutes until it's reduced slightly. Finish with fresh basil and serve with any pasta.

It was delicious.

Tin of tomatoes
Pinch of sugar
Dried/frozen basil

Gentle cook on hob

Stir through dried Spaghetti.

That and a bowl of cheese to sprinkle on top is my standby quick dinner.

Has often also fed unexpected children and adult guests for a quick lunch or dinner.

Chicken drumsticks, jacket potatoes, sweetcorn and peas.

I have sausages in the freezer, will do that this week.

I also like that frozen garlic and chilli in the freezer. When I'm tired I just fry a bit of the chillie and garlic in oil, stir in cooked spaghetti and instant nice dinner in 10 minutes.

Pasta bake,

Tin of chicken in white sauce, tin of toms, tin of sweetcorn and pasta. With anything in the fridge ie; bacon, peppers, courgette, mushrooms, chorizo etc etc fried up and added.
Mix together, added grated cheese on top and bake til it looks real good

Chicken noodle soup

Simmer roast chicken carcase for an hour. Strip meat from carcase. Reserve stock.

Soften a couple of onions in a stock pot with some finely chopped carrots and some garlic, I use about three cloves minimum, chopped finely. Add some cabbage, preferable to use pak choi but I sometimes use Savoy, greens or just white cabbage.

Add three or four heaped spoonfuls of ground ginger, loads of black pepper and a good pinch of chilli powder. Fry spice for a minute or two then add stock. Simmer until veg is tender then chuck in some dried egg noodles for the last 5 minutes.

Serve with a big dollop of sweet chilli sauce. Yum.

Cheese and potato pie. Not really a pie, just mash together potatoes with butter,milk (or cream) black pepper and sauteed onions add grated cheese of your choice put in an oven proof dish top with cheese and bake.
We have it with pickles.

Sausage meatballs - cut up sausages and fry till crispy and brown, chuck in a bit of garlic for the last few minutes. Deglaze the pan with a bit of wine vinegar or similar (optional), add a tin of chopped tomatoes and simmer for 20 mins till thick and cooked through, serve with pasta or rice, grated cheese, salad, green veg, whatever.

Bean chilli/curry - tin of mixed beans in chilli sauce and one of chopped tomatoes, cook together for 15/20 mins till thick and rich, maybe with a bit of curry paste or chilli powder added to taste. Serve with rice or tortillas, salad, maybe a bit of sour cream, grated cheese.

HoneyDragon - That's my standby cheap meal too.

tomato and mozzarella

Cook penne pasta according to packet (or other shaped pasta)
Meanwhile fry a clove of garlic and 1/2 teaspoon of chilli flakes for 30 seconds, add a carton of passata and a splash of balsamic vinegar, simmer till pasta is ready.
Add pasta to sauce, place in a bowl. Slice a ball of mozzarella, cover pasta with mozzarella.
Put in oven for 15 to 20 mins (180 degrees) till mozzarella is melted and browning.

Pour 3/4th cup rice in a casserole dish, a can of Campbell's condensed chicken soup (found in Asda), 3/4th cup of water, a couple of handfuls of frozen veg scattered in.

Stir it up so it's all evenly distributed, bung four boneless, skinless chicken breasts on top, season it all with onion powder, salt, pepper. This whole process takes about 5 minutes.

Bung in oven at 200 (180 for fan) for about an hour til chicken breast is cooked, then sprinkle loads of cheese on top and blast under the grill til golden brown on top.

What you get is a cheesy, creamy chicken with rice and veg dish that the kids will love! I serve with mini jackets on the side.

Naan bread pizzas.

Naan breads, tomato ketchup, cheese and whatever you have, ham/bacon/onions/sweetcorn. Assemble and cook in the oven at 200C until cheese has melted and its all heated through. Obviously the bacon needs precooked!

Feta prawns.

Defrosted bag of frozen prawns
Tin of chopped tomatoes reduced a bit with some onion and garlic
Feta cheese
Crusty bread or rice and salad to serve
Dill

Mix the prawns and sauce and pop in an oven proof tin. Pop some crumbled feta and dill over the top. Bake.

Lush and less than a fiver to serve four.

Home made pizza, follow the Jamie Oliver basic pizza dough recipe and add whatever toppings you fancy.
Cheap,easy and lots of fun for everyone to top their own pizza.
Once the dough is made cooking the pizzas takes minutes in a hot oven.

I do chicken and sweet corn soup. As well as left over roast chicken, I use sand which meat if it needs using and is too dry for sarnies.

Just google whatever recipe you fancy and substitute your chicken.

Also those £1 box frozen wontons and spring rolls, are lovely to have with Chinese style soups.

JustShabby my lot would love that

Jacket potatoes! So easy and you can chuck literally anything into them to make them exciting. See also omelettes.

Rataouille with couscous.
Batch cook the rat - just 2x onions, 2 x tinned toms, garlic, 2 x courgettes, 1 x pepper and 1 x aubergine. I freeze it so there is always some in the freezer then serve with quick cook couscous.

Pasta with cheese and peas and pesto is always a cheat "fast food" for us. Pasta, throw frozen peas in at the last minute. Serve with jarred pesto and grated cheese on top.

Spanish omelette - 5 x eggs, cheese, milk and whatever needs using up thrown in! Fry then grill. :)

pasta arribiata - put pasta of choice onto boil, while it's cooking fry an onion until soft, add garlic (2 cloves or more if you like it!) and sliced veggie or meat sausages, I usually use 1 sausage per person. Add salt, pepper and a dash of mild chilli powder or dried chilli flakes to taste, we like it spicy! Then once all veg/meat is cooked, add a tin of tomatoes (two tins if making for 4 people) and simmer until pasta is cooked. Stir through cooked pasta.

Tinned ratatouille with jacket potatoes, or with chicken, or as a pasta sauce with spinach and soft cheese stirred through. It even be used to make a vegetable lasagne.

Meatball Bake - throw a pack of meatballs and a tin of tomatoes in a roasting dish, bake for 20 mins. Add some torn up mozzarella and torn up flatbread/ciabatta/focaccia and cook for another 10 minutes. Yum!

Veg and cheese macaroni - Fry some onions, garlic, peppers (all frozen ) and macaroni in oil until the macaroni is starting to brown, add a tin of tomatoes and some veg stock. Gently cook until the macaroni is cooked through. Add cheese.

I also keep some frozen fish in the freezer to bake wrapped in foil with a bit of butter, then serve with whatever veg I've got. I generally always have peppers, onions, sweet corn, garlic cubes, mash and peas in the freezer.

The dds love pasta with cheese and creme fraiche stirred through it, with sausages if we have any. And gnocchi baked in the oven makes quick roasties .

Fry chopped bacon, garlic, onions and mushrooms together. Boil pasta.

Mix it all together and add cream and cheese.

Serve with a salad (and garlic bread if you have carb hungry males like I do).

Learn to make pizza dough, it's so easy!

225g bread flour
1 tablespoon of oil
Half teaspoon of salt
Teaspoon of dried yeast
150ml hot water

Mix dry and then wet ingredients to make a soft dough. Knead for 5 minutes and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes. Then roll out, top with tomato sauce, cheese and any other toppings and cook in a hot oven 200-220 C for 10-12 minutes.

Tomato sauce could be a real sauce, some tomato purée or even ketchup! Cheese can be anything. If you don't like tomatoes you could use pesto or anything really!