budget meals

[DragonFlyx]

Any suggestions of nice 'budget dinners'? The shopping bill for two adults and a child seems so high, I'm trying to save every penny ahead of having baby#2 and unfortunately I don't live near an aldi or lidl :(

Tonight were having sausage, bean and mash pie or cowboy pie as some call it.

We like cornbeef hash too as a cheap meal.

Last week I made a lovely sausage stew for all the price of the sausages as I had everything else in!

Any other meals to try?

I'm a big fan of making meat and fish go further by padding out with beans/lentils and veg. A small amount of salmon for example can be mixed with mashed potato and made into fishcakes. Similarly, one pack of mince can be made into bolognaise with pasta for one meal and bulked with beans and spices for a chilli with rice for another.

Anything with lentils, so Dahl etc

We just had cauliflower cheese. Make it a bit more of a meal by adding fried leeks and bacon and serve with peas or other veggies.

I make a big batch of cheese sauce so I can use some for mac and cheese the next day.

I used lots of lentils beans and chickpeas - we eat a fair amount of veggie meals these days. I make curries/dal and big soup/stew things which are tasty healthy and filling.

Tonight we're having baked potatoes with tuna sweetcorn and cheese, served with a salad.

Pasta- carbonara is cheap , 250g pasta, two eggs, a 50p pack of bacon cubes, an onion, a handful of frozen peas, a handful of cheese.

Soup is always cheap- base it on any cheap veg- carrot, tomato and red lentil, leek and potato, parsnip, cerleriac( these always end up in the cheap aisle in asda- I think people are put off by their hideousness )and the tiger loaf for 50p to go with.

Or chunky soups- ribollata can be made with a tin of white beans, a tin of toms, an onion, a carrot , stock and a handful of kale/cabbage/cavolo Nero( again often in the discounted aisle)

Minestrone is equally cheap and delicious

Split pea soup

Vegetarian fayre is generally cheaper- you can make a lentil Bolognese for half the price of meat if not a third. Same goes for burgers- see the bean burger thread- a tin of butter beans is £0.40 in asda, haricot and kidney are cheap too ( though not cannellini no idea why) a pack of dried chickpeas is £1.19 but will make the equivalent of three family meals- a chickpea and lentil loaf( like meatloaf) a chickpea curry, and chickpea burgers.

A pumpkin can last too- they are usually about two quid but last for three meals if paired with pasta/ noodles/ pulses- chickpea and pumpkin stew, pumpkin lasagne, pumpkin risotto for example.

I am a huge advocate of meal planning when on a budget. If you can do it it will save money, but I know some don't like to. I find it reduces waste and saves money.

Try cooking a huge bag of dried chickpeas and then freezing it in batches for future use.

Going veggie is v cheap.

Corned Beef Stew.
1x tin of corned beef, (£1)
1 Vegetable pack (costs around £1 and contains swede, carrots, turnips and onion.)
Gravy granules. (£1)

£3 for a whole pot. Very scrumptious!
You will also find that the more food you cook from scratch, the cheaper your food bill will be. Buy copious stock, flour, tinned tomatoes and a Herb and Spice rack!

Here are some old threads with ideas which may help : )

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/food_and_recipes/2122710-What-is-the-absolute-cheapest-meal-you-can-make

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/food_and_recipes/2133991-Help-need-quick-cheap-nutritious-meals

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/food_and_recipes/1956734-Looking-for-ideas-for-really-cheap-meals

I think the cheapest meals we eat are:

Pasta with tomato and tuna/sardine sauce. Make it yummy with lots of garlic, herbs etc.

Dahl

Lentil soup

Chicken drumsticks or thighs roasted with mustard, honey, and lemon and rice with peas in

Jacket potatoes with various leftover bits

Roast chicken made to stretch over 2 or 3 meals- as curry, fajitas, soup etc

Also check out 'A Girl Named Jack' if you haven't already.

Eggs - do a Spanish omelette or tortilla

Savoury pancakes

Yorkshire puds with a filling

Lentil pie, my kids won't eat dhal, but will happily eat savoury lentils with mash on top, cottage pie style. Shepards pie!Treacle tart is my favourite and mince pies! I like them warm with toffee fudge ice cream. I made muffins at school yesterday and they are nice ??. This is milkrunningoutagains child.

Chicken moustache

We are on a really tight budget, so tend to eat things like pasta with pesto and cheese. The kids love it. Another favourite is using swapping out other meats for turkey cuts. Spag bol with turkey mince, curries using turkey etc - its better for you as well as being better value than beef! We also eat omelettes or jacket spuds!

Toad in the hole! It's tasty too!

If you want to make anything richer and more filling, add cream. It's not that expensive when you consider how much more filling it makes a meal. I make creamy pasta sauce with courgettes in summer, mushrooms, or peas and onions in winter. Bit of cheese (emmenthal or grand padano) and garlic as well. Really cheap and the cream means you don't need to eat as much as it's quite rich.
I also make a lot of cheap meals with mushrooms and frozen peas as they're cheap in winter eg
Risotto, pasta, stroganoff.

Can you tell I spent many years as a student?

Make a list of every thing you have in your cupboards and freezer and see what meals you can make with what you all ready have.

Be creative with leftovers.

a big bag is spuds from a fArm can go a long way for jacket spuds, potato curry wedges mash chips. Spanish omelette potato cakes etc

We eat lots of omelette here with baked beans

Make scones with value jam so quick and cheap and kids like straight from the oven, they can be frozen

Make batches if pancakes while catching up in your fave TV or radio show then freeze and pop in the toaster to reheat

I have made my kids have porridge for supper sometimes with milk but added sugar if we are our of milk, my older boys also drink tea with a rich tea biscuit as a snack or for supper they're hungry teenagers!!!!

Tell everyone about your problem people know I have lots of hungry mouths and I always get unwanted or leftover food or spare milk eggs bread etc on my doorstep this works for clothes too

Most things with mince with lots of vegetables and tinned tomatoes to pad them out and make the meat go further. I can get 6 portions out of 500g mince so usually have enough left to freeze some which also will save money. Shepherds pie, burgers, spag bol, chilli con carne. Look out for turkey mince too which is usually cheaper. Don't buy expensive tinned toms - the cheapest are fine!