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.

Pasta bolongnese - defrost a portion of sauce and heat thoroughly
Toss frozen pasta in a pan of boiling water - simmer for 5-7 minutes
Drain pasta and stir through sauce until evenly coated.

Pork chop seasoned and cooked in the oven. Add 1 tbsp apple sauce and a handful of grated cheese - grill till the cheese melts. Serve with root vegetable mash and green beans.

just made a fab cheap pudding

aldi chocolate broiche loaf (can make 6 puds) break up add a little custard over and pop in microwave for 20 seconds

ok it is not home made but had to share as it is so delicious

My favourite, cheap and super fast dinner is pasta with brocolli, garlic and chili. While the pasta is boiling I steam the broccoli (chopped up pretty small) in a colander above it. In a separate small frypan I heat up a few glugs of olive oil with copious quantities of chopped garlic and chili (fresh is good but dried flakes are perfectly fine too, stirring and bubbling for a minute or so, making sure NOT to brown the garlic.

Then stir it all through together, and handful of parmesan, some black pepper, super delish!
I find its best if the broccoli is a slightly overlooked, a bit smooshy so it breaks up through the pasta. Yummo.

stovies, - tatties, onions, (we get these free from our garden at the moment), oxo cubes, dripping (always have these in my house) and corn beef (which is probably the expensive part of this at £1.50 a tin). Peel and chop everything up, put in pan with a cup of water and cook over a medium heat. Give it a mush up once tatties are cooked. Food of Gods. Plus they taste even better heated up the next day. Serve with beetroot (also from our garden). But even having to buy tatties and onions, not that expensive overall.

mexican chilli bean wraps.
1 tin of mixed beans in chilli sauce.
1 mug of rice.
1 onion.
1 pepper
1 tin of tomatoes.
Garlic.
Mixed herbs.
50g chedder.
Fry onion/pepper/garlic, add tin of tomatoes, fill tin with water and add beans and rice, as well as herbs and a pinch of chilli flakes. When rice is cooked, fill wraps, place in oven with grated cheese over the top, when wraps are crispy and cheese is melted, serve. This does six/eight wraps comfortably and you can't move afterwards!

Rice and peas.

This one isn't so cheap, but makes good use of a cheap cut of meat - if you're concerned about not compromising animal welfare, you can get a decent sized pack of outdoor reared pork shoulder steaks in the 3 for a tenner offer in M&S, at the moment. It would probably work very well in a slow cooker. Both of my kids love this. The pork is tender and the veg is virtually invisible. I like to serve it with cabbage and spuds or brown rice, but I've equally enjoyed it with a pile of oven chips to dip in the sauce!

Paprika Pork

Cut an onion and 2 peppers into strips and soften in oil with some garlic and a little salt in a large casserole or saute pan. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Cut about 500g of pork shoulder into strips or dice. Season and brown in the pan. Add 100-200g of sliced mushrooms (they pad it out quite well, so you could add more) and continue to cook. Then add a large pinch of caraway or fennel seeds (these aren't necessary but really add something to it) and 2 heaped teaspoons of smoked paprika, along with a heaped teaspoon of plain flour and stir until everything is coated. Add the other veg back into the pan and stir through. Add a little chicken stock - just enough that everything is paddling but not submerged. Cover and cook on a low heat for a couple of hours.

To finish, you can add a splash of cream, but this isn't essential. Parsley makes it look pretty, too. Soured cream or creme fraiche would be nice, if you have some to use up.

I'll be doing the brioche pud

These are great and so inspiring.

The reason I said fast is twofold

1. People think that not using convenience food means slow. And that cooking from scratch is slow, expensive and involves lots of pulses.

1. Tv chefs don't understand fast. We do, and this thread proves it. Everything posted is properly fast. Not tv fast with poncy equipment fast. And everything posted is properly cheap and realistically cheap and does not assume you have a store cupboard containing 3k of tv chef "essentials"

There are some great things on here, loads I am going to do that I know my family will enjoy. And they'll save me time and money .

Now can everyone else contribute please? This thread ain't going to fill itself

Can't beat leek & potato soup in the winter.
Lob a load of leeks into a pan with melted butter. Fry til soft.
Finely shop a large potato, add to leeks.
Chicken stock. Simmer. If you want it thick and filling, less stock.
You can mash it for a chunkier texture, or blitz with a blender for a smooth finish. Eat with a crust baguette.

Hope this hasn't been done and I've missed it.
Butternut squash and sweet potato soup.
1 Medium Butternut squash
2 medium sweet potatoes.
Good pinch of ground cumin.
1 Vegetable stock cube.
Chop veg, including skin, bung in oven for 20 mins, until soft.
Chuck in pan with stock and spices, simmer for ten minutes, blitz and serve with a wee bit of blue cheese or creme fraiche and a hunk of bread, another one where you can't move afterwards.

Pasta, pesto, peas, parmesan, plus tuna if you have any.

my daughter just reminded me of this one, and said she remembers it as one of her favourite comfort foods. So ... not the roasts, or the casseroles, or the meals which took endless hours in the kitchen ... but this! I could be quite depressed!!

Poor Man's Kedgeree

Put a pan of rice on, to cook.
Melt some butter in a large pan and very gently cook chopped onion until soft (garlic optional as an addition, but my garlic loving family don't like it in this!)
Raid the fridge & freezer for as many bits as you can find - the basic should include
frozen peas & sweetcorn,
ham or chicken or fish (chop into small pieces),
sultanas or raisins,
Nice extras if you have them in stock: small prawns, chorizo ( cut small), bacon cut small & cooked til crisp, cooked courgette^

Zap the peas & sweetcorn in the microwave until cooked.
Cut any other veg into small pieces and cook.
Cook fish if using, then flake.
Take one or two eggs, whisk and cook as for omelettte. Cut into small strips.

Drain the rice, and tip into the buttery onions, stir thoroughly, then add everything else, stir again and serve into bowls ...sprinkled with grated cheese.

Time: as long as it takes to cook a pan of rice
Cost: minimal - this uses up whatever is around
Ease: well, as long as you know how to cook rice........

Tablespoon green curry paste (a decent one)

2 tablespoons sunflower oil

Clove of garlic

White sugar (2 teaspoons)

Fish sauce - a large dash

Tin of coconut milk

Squeeze of lime

Rice

Salmon fillets - on a big enough piece of foil to close over them

Handful of basil.

Recipe:

Fry chopped garlic in oil with curry paste for a couple of minutes. Add coconut milk, sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, basil leaves. Stir to mix then turn off heat. Pour over salmon fillets, seal foil, in a hot oven for about 10 minutes.

Serve with rice.

My dc's will eat this cold from the fridge if there's any left over the next day.

I have a rival for the poor man's kedgeree:

Fry a couple of leeks in oil.

add rice (Delia's prefect rice quantity; 150ml I think)

Add boiling water (275ml)

1 large spoonful of nice curry powder (I like tescos)

bring to boil and then simmer with lid of for 15 minutes.

While this is cooking, boil two eggs and flake some smoked (peppered?) mackerel.

Add the mackerel and some frozen peas 5 minutes before the end of cooking time; just scatter it on top and lid back on.

Serves two/3 people with egg sliced on top and a good squeeze of lemon juice.

Gnocci with Dolcelatte and Bacon

chopped bacon

100g young leaf spinach

4 tbsp double cream

75g dolcelatte cheese

1 x 400g pack gnocci

Fry up bacon, remove from heat and stir in spinach letting it wilt. Cook gnocci following pack instructions (boil for about 7 minutes usually).

Heat cream and cheese until cheese has melted.

Drain gnocci and then mix everything together.

Serve with garlic bread

Above ingredients should feed 2 so adapt as required. My teens love this and it is very quick!

Chicken and Potato Thing (thats what DD calls it)

Either chicken breast, pre cooked in slices, or use the leftovers from Sunday Roast.

Potatoes, sliced thinly
Onion, sliced thinly
Grated cheese (optional)
Chicken Stock (cube, made up with 500ml water)
(could also add any left over veg/frozen veg - I quite often use peas and carrots because they cook easily)

Large pyrex dish
Layer potato slices, then onion, then chicken, repeat until you have a potato layer on top.

Pour over the chicken stock, put grated cheese on top (if using)

Cook in a pre-heated gas mark 5 oven for about 30-40 minutes, or until potato is soft.

I know you said quick, and this isn't really, but it's quick to get it together and leave it cooking whilst you do other things!

WHY? whats the 48 hours about?

Roughly chopped cheap cooking bacon with leeks/spring onions (if in season) or peas and onion and touch or garlic. Fry off and add creme fraiche, some water (to make less thick) and teaspoon of wholegrain mustard. Add to boiled pasta or serve on top of crushed potatoes.

Yum.

LtE my gosh, that sounds good and v kid-friendly.

Meatball Sandwiches

Get a nice fresh "bloomer" loaf, cut it lengthwise down the middle so you have two flat halves.

Brown meatballs, then add chopped onion, garlic, and green pepper, cook til soft.

Add chopped tin chopped tomatoes, tablespoon of Tomato paste, 100 mls of beef stock. Black pepper.

Spoon meatballs and sauce over bread halves, sprinkle loads of cheese (mozzerella, cheddar?) over sauce, blast under grill til melted and brown.

Cut across sandwiches in slices so you have lovely, gooey open-topped sandwiches. I put chilli flakes on mine and DP's for a kick.

Serve with cucumber and carrot slices on side for kids, or make up a garden salad.

This is quick and cheap and goes down a treat with visiting kids.

Hot Dog Sausage Pasta

Tin of hot dog sausages, each cut into 1 inch pieces
Get 4 strands of raw spaghetti (held together) and thread 3 bits of sausage onto them
Continue till all the sausage is used up
Large pan of boiling water, cook spaghetti as normal. Sausages are then 'magically' attached to the spaghetti as it curls up

Yup. I reckon we could easily get nearly a thousand posts of actually useful meals to share. And we don't have to pay for the privilige.

It's ok Ladymilford, the thread won't explode after 48 hours.

Come on keep them coming. I'm dead chuffed with all the contributions so far

Gorgeous super-quick pudding.

For one:

Get a couple of dollops of Greek yoghurt and put in a nice pot. Add a spoon of good lemon curd. Add a squeeze of lemon. Tinker with the proportions until it's right for you. Eat with a biscuit (or five) for dunking.