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.

This is a Great Thread! How do we keep it forever?

Another one: Harissa salmon (or chicken)

Salmon fillets/steaks on foil. Smear top with Harissa paste. Parcel up. Bake for 20 mins. Serve with couscous and salad. Harissa is also fab on lamb.

Confession:

I am scared of Polenta. Is it really nice? Because potatoes are bloody expensive and I get fed up of pasta and rice sometimes, and my dh eats treats both Cous Cous and Gnocchi like I have presented him with boiled pubes

We keep it forever by doing our best to fill it than I will pester HQ to shift it to food to preserve it

Polenta tastes like slime with oil and grit in it, even in good restaurants. Be very afraid.

Good job honey. What a fab thread!

Duck legs (£3.50 for 2), cover in dry chicken seasoning or sweet chilli sauce - cook it in the oven on medium heat for 90 minutes.

Serve with some baby spinach leaves and tomatoes.

Not super cheap but it is delicious.

Quick Chicken and Mushroom Pie for 4:
Cook a ready rolled sheet of puff pastry on a baking tray.
Fry onions, garlic, big handful of mushrooms and whatever veg you have to hand, and enough chicken for four in a pan, quick splash of wine or vermouth, reduce, add cream, reduce until rich.
Serve pie mix on a plate with a quarter of the cooked puff pastry on top.
Lovely with new potatoes and fresh veg.

I'm sure there was a thread like this a few months back.

Enjoy, yes there is a excellent budget thread still around. I just wanted to try and get quicker,lazier ideas all together.

Cauliflower curry:
Cook 1 large onion, 3 fat garlic cloves and a 2.5cm knob of ginger (all minced as finely as you can manage) gently in butter or coconut oil until very soft. Add 2 heaped teaspoons curry powder, fry for 1 minute, add a cauliflower separated into large florets and about 1 litre of stock or water. Cook at low simmer until cauliflower is soft. If you have a handful of red lentils to add with the liquid, so much the better.

For protein, hard boil and shell some eggs and add just before serving (veg or lentil curry plus hard boiled (not soft) egg is an inspired combination.

"Teriyaki" chicken (or whatever meat you have - works with salmon, beef, quorn, whatever)

Serves 2-3

450g pack boneless chicken thighs (or breasts, or equivalent cheap meat/fish)
2tbsp soy sauce
1tbsp peanut butter
1tbsp honey
1/4tsp chilli powder (to taste)
Whatever veg you have to hand (we use up broccoli stalks, finely chopped)
Few tbsp water (as needed)

Heat chicken, add all ingredients, bring to simmer, then turn right down and leave till meat is cooked through and sauce is sticky (add a little water if it gets too sticky)

Serve with oriental-style noodles

Cheap, easy and YUMMY. We just had it for dinner!

Sweetcorn fritters

    100g/3½oz plain flour

    1 tsp baking powder

    salt and freshly ground black pepper

    pinch smoked paprika if you have it

    1 tbsp caster sugar

    2 free-range eggs

    75ml/2½fl oz milk

    350g/12oz tinned sweetcorn kernels

    6 finely chopped spring onions

    125-150ml/4½-5fl oz vegetable oil, for frying

Make up batter using all ingredients except oil, and fry 1tbsp at a time. Serve with ketchup

Saag Paneer curry

750g/1½lb frozen spinach

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 large onion, chopped

thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into long julienne or lump of frozen

1½ tbsp chopped garlic ditto

1-2 green chillies, whole ditto

2 tsp ground coriander

salt, to taste

250g/8¾oz ready-made paneer (£1.64 in Sainsbury's at the moment)
½-1 tsp garam masala

6 tbsp milk, or 4 tbsp double cream

1-2 tsp lemon juice, or to taste

Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan. Add the cumin and fry for about 30 seconds, until fragrant, then add the onion and fry over a low heat for about six minutes, until soft. Add the ginger, garlic and chillies and cook for a further minute.

Add the ground coriander and salt to taste. Cook for another 30 seconds then add the spinach and a splash of water if necessary. The mixture should be loose but not watery. Bring to a boil and then simmer for three minutes.

Add the paneer cubes, garam masala and milk or cream. Stir and cook for a few minutes or until the spinach is nice and creamy. Stir in the lemon juice to taste.

Mattar paneer -

fry cubes of paneer then set aside

fry onion, garlic, a couple of chopped fresh tomatoes (can leave these out), cumin seeds, chilli or chilli flakes, ginger, turmeric

Add frozen peas and a bit of water and cook until peas are v tender

Stir in the paneer to warm through and add s&p

Stuffed cabbage (Italian style) serves 4-5

1 large savoy cabbage
7-ounce (200-gram) hunk of bread (see above), crusts cut away, torn into small scraps (you?ll have about 3 loose cups of scraps)
2/3 cup (approximately 150 ml) whole milk
14 ounces (400 grams) or approximately 4 plain pork sausages casings removed
1 small sprig of sage -optional
1 small sprig of rosemary - optional
2 tablespoons grated parmesan/chedder other strong cheese - optional
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tins chopped tomatoes/passatta
2 tablespoons (30 ml) oil
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

Make tomato sauce by frying of garlic and adding tomatoes into wide, lidded pan. Bring to a simmer.

Soak bread in milk and make filling by combining sausage meat, herbs, salt, pepper, cheese and milk soaked bread.

Peel leaves off cabbage and blanch for 30 seconds in boiling water.

Make golfball sized portions of filling and wrap leaves around them. Add to the tomato sauce. Bring to simmer and add lid for 25 mins. Turn cabbage rolls over and cook for a further 25 mintues. Take of lid and simmer of excess moisture for 15 minutes. Remov from heat and leave for 10 minutes before tucking in!

(BTW this is not quick but is a v complete, nutritious meal for very little money and can be done in bulk and frozen)

I made Macaroni and chicken the other day. It was cheap and really, really tasty. Didn't take long either.

Falling short of the 1000 but said Chef has only been mentioned once and that's in connection with his pre-made jarred sauces.

Beans and tinned tomatoes on toast. With ketchup because that was my only store-cupboard staple when I was skint and it can be bought for 19p.

um. Black beans cooked + lime juice + cholula chilli sauce + squished avocado with quinoa or on some olive ciabatta
... sounds vile, tastes great

butternut squash mashed + black pepper + butter

ratatouille using any old chopped veg and some tinned tomatoes

sealed then pan cooked chicken breast pieces + coconut milk + lemongrass, lime, baby corn, thai curry paste - quick, nice

Pesto and spinach pasta

Cook pasta as per instructions

Add Spinach to a jar of pesto and blend until smooth

Add Spinach Pesto to the pasta

Add other ingredients left over in the fridge, for example cooked bacon, ham, chicken, cherry tomatoes, sweetcorn ect.

Top with cheese

Even super fussy DD2 will eat this.

Chopped anchovies, a couple of spoonfuls of chopped olives, ditto capers, tin of tomatos, available herbs, garlic - mix. Add to pasta, lush.

Baked potato cheese, beans and butter - but the cost of that has shot up recently!

Mess in the Pan
( old family recipe, invented by my Dad on our first holiday abroad and christened by us kids)
Loads of mates have nicked this and everyone calls it Mess in the Pan.

1. Sauté onion low heat 3 mins.
2. Add either chopped bacon or salami, cook till golden.
3. Add random veg. I like broccoli and courgette. If I am being particularly sneaky, I add a carrot and a red pepper which I have blitzed, so that they cannot be picked out by picky kids.
4. Add 2 tins chopped tomatoes ( it was originally 1 tin Heinz tomato soup and a bit of water/wine, which is also very nice, so take your pick).
5. Bring to simmer, add pinch sugar, some herbs if you have em. Cook till tomatoes have gone more orange in colour and sauce has thickened. While this is happening, cook some pasta.

6.Optional extra, towards the end, chuck in that ( drained) half jar of pitted black olives which is hanging around in your fridge door.

1. Serve with grated cheddar.

I love Polenta.

It suits a quick recipes thread like this as you can have it "wet" one day, then leave the rest to set on a shallow baking tray and then slice it and grill or fry the next day.

Simple Cole Slaw - cheap and filling

Just shredded white cabbage mixed with flavoured mayonnaise. The mayo can be mixed with any kind of mustard; horseradish; red or green pesto; ketchup; chilli sauce; coriander paste .... etc. Something different every time.