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.

Chicken thighs in a roasting tin with chunks of red onion, garlic cloves and fresh or dried herbs, with a glass of white wine thrown over them. You can also add tomatoes and olives if you want - or nay veg that cooks well in a bit of liquid. The skins go crispy and the wine bubbles down into a lovely sticky sauce. Served with rice and steamed veg. Easy, cheap and tasty.

Healthy carbonara is good too. Beat a tub of quark cheese with two eggs, 1-2 ounces of grana padano or parmesan, pinch of nutmeg and thyme and seasoning.

Fry up some strips of bacon and finely minced red onion. Cook spaghetti for 1 min less than packet says. Drain then back on the stove with quark sauce over it and stir over low heat for 2 mins to cook the egg. Add the bacon and onion. Serve with salad or steamed green veg.

What fabulous ideas! Copy pasting a ton so must share too ...

Quick Chicken Curry

Fry one diced onion on medium to high heat. In a mug, mix 3 heaped tbsp meat curry powder with enough water to make a medium consistency paste. Once onion is translucent, chuck paste in and stir constantly for about 2 mins, add a splash of water if the paste starts to stick to the pan. Throw in up to 10 pieces of chicken (I usually use chicken thighs) and stir to coat. Chuck in a tin of diced tomatoes, add salt and 3 tsps of sugar (cuts the acidity of the tomatoes). Stir well, cover pan and lower heat. Take about 45 minutes to cook depending on size of chicken, need to sitr maybe once or twice in that time. Once done, remove pan from heat, taking off pan lid and let it sit for 10 minutes. Then add one large tub of low fat natural yogurt into the pan, stirring well. (Taking the pan off the heat for awhile ensures the yogurt doesn't curdle on hitting the hot chicken) Eat with rice and raita!

Cheat's Asian Spinach

Defrost a little frozen spinach in the microwave. Cut one large onion and 3 garlic cloves and fry until translucent. Add defrosted spinach and stir to break up. Add about a tbsp of oyster sauce, a tbsp of soy sauce and a good dash of black pepper. Stir very well for about 5 minutes. Delicious with rice.

Cucumber and Carrot Raita

Grate one large cucumber into a sieve and leave to drain (I put it in a sieve over a bowl). Takes about 20 minutes. Give the grated cucumber an occasional good squeeze to encourage more water to come out. Then, grate a large carrot and add the grated cucumber to it. Add a cup and a bit of low fat natural yogurt and stir well. Add salt and stir again before popping in the fridge till you're ready to eat.

Yum.

I always have lamb mince in freezer, I fry about 250g til brown, add chopped onion, cumin powder or seeds, black pepper and salt. Then 1-2 cups rice and a tsp marigold powder. Once mixed and coated I put 1.5-3 cups water or enough to come up the the first joint on my middle finger if my fingertip is touching the top of the rice.
Cover and bring to boil, lower to simmer for 15 mins, switch off and leave for another 5 mins. You can either add some cooked peas and/or corn now or frozen when you add the rice.
I also recently discovered Sainsburys basics frozen fish pie mix. I emptied the pack into an oven safe dish, seasoned with salt pepper and freeze dried tarragon. Then I spread a pot of creme fraiche over the top and topped with sticks of frozen mash. Oh and I put a few old mushrooms in chopped up. Baked for about 45 mins, was really really delish!

I've tried the microwave cheese and it didn't work that well - far far easier to mix flour with water into paste, then keep whisking into slowly heating milk, then add cheese. I never do a roux (the butter flour thing) as always get lumps! A proper sauce whisk helps.

Tuna pasta - lots of garlic fried in olive oil, tin tuna, tin tomatoes, done.

If I have more time, I add brocolli and a spoon of low fat creme fraiche to serve.

I really rate the schwartz jerk chicken mix, rub over chicken, stick in over till cooked, grill five mins to get that crispy skin.

Rice and peas - cook rice in tin of coconut milk, 400ml chicken stock, add tin of gungo peas, some fried chilli.

Jerk chicken and rice and peas, serve with coleslaw!

another one - boil skinless chicken thighs in chicken stock, carrots, add tin potatoes towards the end, frozen peas, tarragon. Other veg can go in too. Low fat and lovely. Spoon of low far creme fraich to serve if feeling decadent. .

Beany Thing

Assorted tins of beans - kidney, cannelloni etc
Passata and tins of tomatoes
Sausages - can be hot dogs, chorizo, 'proper' ones, diced

Chuck in a pan, cook through!

Haggis is delicious microwaved (and we live in Scotland!) - tomorrow we are having microwaved haggis, mixed with frozen peas and diced parsnip, covered with frozen mash pellets, in a pie. Bit of cheese on top and it's delicious

Haggis IS delicious microwaved, but if you don't have a microwave (we don't) then it's pretty bloody good fried in slices as well!
We tend to dry fry it, or with just a smear of olive oil on the pan to prevent it sticking - and then have it with mash etc. But that takes a while of course. :)

I made myself egg fried rice when I got back drunk last night.

Put rice on to boil.

Fry any veg you have lying around (I had onion and carrot and chilli and garlic), some frozen peas if you like, chuck in some chicken if you want, or some prawns but they are not exactly budget, I had some bamboo shoots in a tin too.

When rice is cooked, drain it, crack an egg into the pan with the veg and stuff, stir it about a bit, chuck in the rice, stir everything together.

Eat with lots of soy sauce and chilli sauce.

Right now im making fritters, perhaps not very healthy but amazing as a treat lunch. Just sliced tatties dipped in batter (flour and water) and deep fried. Served on a roll for maximum pleasure.

It's this kind of thread that makes me love mumsnet. Thanks Honeydragon Just off shopping to get some ingredients for these great easy recipes. Thanks everyone!

I did one yesterday that doesn't fit the fast criteria (in that it was slow-cooked) but was cheap and bloody lovely! I was going out for the day with DC and just before I went I chopped potatoes and carrots and stuck them in the slow cooker under a cheap joint of beef (was a fiver) that I'd just browned. I added chicken stock, a splash of red wine, some mustard, mixed herbs and seasoning and left for 7 hours on low. I came home to melt in the mouth, slow roast beef and veg.

I like basmati rice with smoked mackerel stir fried with red onions, boil the water while you're chopping the onions, chuck the rice in, fry the onions and drain the rice once it's boiled, leave it to go all fluffy while you tear up the mackerel and chuck it in with the onions to heat it up. You can add any veg you like - chuck peas or sweetcorn in with the rice to boil or peppers or chillies in with the onions - and wash it all down with chilled white wine, bliss.

Also like soured cream with smoked salmon on cheese and tomato flat bread, heat the bread, cut it and the salmon into bits and stick the salmon to the bread with the cream, not sure how quick that one is though.

cold meats,j/potatoes and salad.

Chicken supreme works well with left over chicken from a roast.
Tin of chicken soup,splash of white wine,couple of sliced mushrooms,slice of ham diced,1/2 a small onion finely chopped,sprinkling of mixed herbs,squeeze of garlic puree or one garlic clove crushed,cooked chicken,black pepper to taste,simmer for 20 minutes.Serve with boiled rice and broccoli.

Pasta and vegetable bake boil pasta and veggies,whilst they're cooking pre-heat oven(if not a fan oven)make a cheese sauce.Put some butter into a sauce pan and melt,once melted remove from the heat and add some plain flour a little at a time and mix until it makes a paste,add some milk and return to heat,whisk constantly and keep adding milk until you have a smooth thick sauce,add mature cheese and black pepper,stir until cheese is melted(adding dijon mustard gives a nice edge to the flavor of the sauce)drain vegetables and pasta mix in with sauce so all equally covered then top with grated cheese and place into a hot oven for 20 minutes.Tastes great on it's own or with some crispy bacon on the side.

Homemade soup,Bologneise,Baked omlettes,Meatballs and pasta,Tuna and pasta bake,cottage pie.

I had the macaroni cheese suggested on this thread for my tea on sat night.

It was lush

So thanks!

There are some great ideas on this thread!

I'm sure I've posted this recipe a thousand times before but it is fast, cheap and good (it's also nutritious and freezes well!) so here it is again

Spinach and Chickpea curry
Chop 1 onion and fry in oil, add a tablespoon of curry paste (could probably use curry powder/garam masala/your own spice blend), then add a tin of chickpeas and a tin of chopped toms and simmer for about 20 mins. Finally add a packet of spinach and stir until wilted. You can also use frozen spinach but I think fresh tastes nicer. Serve with rice, or it's also very good with warm naan bread.

Fry some pancetta (I get mine from aldi) until golden. Add in a load of chopped mushrooms, fry.
Cook some pasta - spag, linguini or tagliatelle.
Add cream to the pancetta and mushroom, let it mix.
Dollop it into the cooked pasta.
Eat and drool.

my new favourite low carb jobby for me (as DP won't eat this much green stuff):

finely slice onion, mushrooms and a bit of bacon.
Fry in a pan, add some cinnamon (was meant to be nutmeg first time but i got the jars mixed up, and it's actually lush!)
While it's frying, wash and top/tail a courgette, half it lengthways, and then slice really thinly.
Add courgette to the pan for a few more minutes, until it's soft and floppy but not translucent.
Take off heat, stir in a spoon of philly and some pepper.
Serve.

takes about 10 mins, only one pan, and pretty cheep too.

Wonderful ideas guys! We're going to move this to food now.

Quesadillas were a big hit with my 6yo and 2yo last night: I drained and cooked a tin of kidney beans in passata and a pinch of cumin, mashed them, and then layered grated cheese, bean mix, tinned sweetcorn and more cheese, and dry fried both sides.

Tasty, quick, cheap and provided veg, dairy and protein. Thank you to the genius PP who suggested them

Layered ON A TORTILLA and topped with another one, obviously. Duh.

My stand by when dh is out and ds in bed
Fry bacon onion garlic and any veg rattling about in the fridge add cooked pasta and creme fraiche or philly. Voila -tea!

CMP, that's my standby too! I also sub smoked salmon for the bacon sometimes...