Looking for ideas for really cheap meals!

[LollyPop87]

This month, me and DP are going to be on a really strict budget. Christmas was expensive, and its a long month till payday!

It's only the two of us, no children. We have about £20 a week to spend on shopping. We probably need about 3 evening meals a week however, as we often go to each of our parent's houses for tea once a week.

I'm trying to think of things that are as cheap as possible, but that can also go in a slow cooker if possible! We both work quite long hours so using the slow cooker is ideal!

if anyone has any ideas I'd be very grateful!

Thank you! :)

How about this two-meals-in-one idea for spag bol/chilli?

Make a double batch of spag bol sauce in the slow cooker, but swap half of your mince for dried red lentils and add extra stock or cheap passata. Eat half with economy pasta.

Next day make a chilli with the left overs: add 2 tsp mild/hot chilli powder, 1 tsp cumin, a tin of kidney beans and some tinned/frozen sweetcorn to the other half of your mince mix and serve with rice or jacket spuds.

Here's my veggie version.

Sausage casserole - I buy a sachet of the powder mix, some chunks of carrot, peppers, mushrooms and veggie sausages, tinned tomatoes, veg stock and stew it all down. Make a double batch and you can eat it over 2 days, with some chunky bread or mashed potatoes.

I also think soup is the cheapest thing ever to make - value tinned tomatoes, onion, veg stock cube, some dried herbs = lovely tomato soup. Carrot soup is really cheap too, or Leek & potato for something more filling.

Pasta bake - value penne pasta, fry up some veg, make a cheese sauce & bung in oven.

Pretty much everything I make (for the 2 of us) I make double so we have leftovers the next day, and the cost per meal is pennies.

Pasta with onions, courgette, creme Fraiche and mustard. All fried up together (cook pasta first. Ready in minutes.

Jacket potatoe.

Egg on toast.

Corn beef hash with fried egg on top.

I just cooked dinner.

pasta with onion, bacon and peas.

Chop one onion
cup up bacon into inch pieces (about 2 per person)
A couple of handfuls of peas.
75g - 100g pasta person
some grated parmesan/cheddar

Fry onion in a little oil and bacon until browned. Meanwhile cook pasta and peas. Once cooked combine together with a little of the cooking water and cheese.

Thank you!! This has given me some inspiration! Definitely think its a good idea to make some meals that have very similar ingredients, like the spag bol, chilli idea.

Thanks very much!

I bought a £1 pack of seasonal veg from the supermarket last week which did soup for three lunches x 2 adults.

Lentils are also your friends. So good for bulking out small amounts of meat and/or veg.

Bacon joints are usually reasonably cheap and can be cut up for what you need and the other pieces frozen for other meals another time.

(eg Morrisons do one that is about a kilo for £4 - also part of 3 for £10 meat deal - which you could probably stretch to three or four meals)

Here are a couple of ideas using a bacon joint

Loaded Skins tyne-teas.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/loaded-skins.html

Potato and Bacon Soup tyne-teas.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/bacon-and-potato-soup.html

You might also want to check out the website 'a girl called Jack' - great meal ideas for pennies. Try the kidney bean vegeburger or the economy salmon paste pasta.

I agree with Cosy about soups

This tomato soup is pretty cheap tyne-teas.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/tomato-soup.html

When I'm on a strict budget, rather than split the money equally between meals each week, I'll do one or two really cheap ones like this, and then have a little bit more towards one more so it doesn't feel quite so relentless

Starch is cheap (i.e. pasta, rice, buckwheat, polenta, couscous and potato). You need some protein though and that can be done cheaply with beans, lentils. Mince meat of most kinds is the cheapest as are sausages. Add vegetables for bulk and vitamins.

Moroccan food, Mexican food and Italian food are good places to look for inspiration as they are poor countries.

My children just had crepes for tea with treacle on (you could do other toppings like lemon and sugar or even a bit of chocolate spread). Its a cheap treat. Just 250 g of flour, 600 ml of milk 2 eggs and butter for frying will do 10 decent sized crepes. Not a meal really but its a treat for the kids I just do now and then.

I agree with the girl called jack blog. She fed herself and her young son pretty well on a budget of £10 a week with some very judicious recipes and shopping.

Jack Muro, of a girl called Jack did an article in the Guardian this week making 'ready meals' from scratch. I didn't totally agree with her pricing, she doesn't include the cost of things like power to cook and wash up after but some good recipes.

One I have not done in the SC but is quite substancial.

Pork pieces of some sort, steaks, chops, medalions - whatever is cheapest.
Potatoes
1 pack cheap stuffing (can actually do it with half)
1 jar cheap apple sauce.

oil/grease a baking tray
slice the potatoes finely
put the pork on top
put the apple sauce on the pork
make up the stuffing and put that on top of the pork/apple - Bake for 30 mins and pad out with carrots/green veg.

Pancakes served with a stuffing of cheese sauce / chilli / ragu / mushrooms can make a decent tea, and how many children don't like pancakes.

If you have a freezer make a stack of pancakes and oe or two fillings, fill the pancakes and freeze.

You can also make a lasagne type thing with layers of pancake and ragu - it is incredibly fattening but tastes lovely.

Once you have your pancake batter you can also do toad in the hole. If you have meat in the freezer try chops instead of sausages.

And you can add a tin of sweetcorn to pancake batter - fry as you would a pancake and you have sweetcorn fritters.

Old fashioned pea and ham soup.

Get a ham shank and one or two packets of dried peas (depending on the size of the sc).

Soak the peas overnight.

In the morning put the peas and ham in the sc and top with boiling water.

When you get home from work take the fat of the shank - it will be easy and then shred the meat. Serve with crust bread.

If you have a decent sized sc you will make enough for 2 meals and again this can be frozen.

'milk cheese' on toast.

Put some milk in a pan, crumble in to it some nice crumbly cheese, wensleydale is good and when it has melted pour over toast and eat like you would beans on toast.