I've been asked to share my cheap recipes, come and share your own

[JamaicanMeCrazy]

On the back of the "how much do your groceries cost" thread, I was asked to share a few of my recipes as I am a very frugal cook

I will add some of my recipes, please feel free to steal them and add your own!

I'll start with cereal bars, excellent for packed lunches and snacks

2 cups oats,
1 cup peanut butter (I use crunchy)
1/2 cup of honey (or golden syrup)
2 tbsp melted coconut oil
1/2 bag of linseed mix (aldi- 1.99 a bag, I like the one with goji berries)
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp sugar

melt butter, coconut oil and honey in a mixing bowl in the microwave then add all the other ingredients and mix well then press into a small roasting tin lined with baking paper. Bake at 180 for 30-35 mins. Cut into squares/bars while warm then leave to cool before transferring to a tupperware box or freezer bag to store. They keep for about 2 weeks

alternatively:

50g chocolate (I use whatever decent dark chocolate is cheap in home bargains but you can pick your own)
3 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp milk
1/2 cup oats
1 tbsp dessicated coconut
1 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 tbsp raisins

melt 1st 3 ingredients, add the dry ingredients and mix well. Press into bars/roll into balls and refrigerate

There's a GH book called Family Meals for £5, is brilliant. Make loads from it all the time - I'm veggie so substitute/adapt meat recipes where ever poss.

Also Rose Elliots Cheap 'n Easy. My fave easiest recipe that uses up old bread....break up old bread in a big bowl, chuck into bowl 1x fried off onion (a pepper too ifyou have one), a can of chopped toms, salt and pepper 1-2 eggs and mix it all up. Chuck in greased baking dish, bake. You have a sort of pizza, kids happily take this in lunch box as 'tomato bread'.

Also cheap falafel/veggie burgers....see Jack Monroe but basically gate and fry off an onion and a carrot with some cumin and turmeric, then mash chickpeas (tin or even cheaper if done y'self from dried, I have a pressure cooker for such things) through the carrot/onion mix and add fresh coriander roughly chopped this (grow this or buy in short date and freeze) form into patties with flour and fry off. Costs pennies, mine all devour.

Red Lentil & Tomato soup (based on a Nigel Slater recipe):
1 chopped onion
1 chopped garlic clove
1 teaspoon each coriander seed & cumin seed
250-300g red lentils
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 litre veggie stock
Fry off onion, garlic and spices in a bit of oil/butter until onions are soft. Add lentils, stock and tomatoes and simmer until the lentils are soft. Blend and eat.

Dd has been living off this this week, she's had tonsillitis. Cheap, quick & filling.

Love all these. I used to cook frugally and from scratch, must get back into it.

It's really worth it, we are really skint so for us it means we can eat well, but when we had more money it was about saving for other little treats that we wouldn't otherwise be able to afford. There are loads of recipes to replicate things that you normally buy, but without the added preservatives etc so it's a healthy option too

Jamaicanmecrazy, those veggie burgers sound lovely

Stew works out quite economical in our house. Especially if made in the slow cooker. I make it like this:

400g diced beef. Cheap is fine here, it's better to use cheaper beef as the fat adds flavour to the stew. We buy ours at Aldi and its about £3.

Chuck three thinly sliced potatoes, five sliced carrots, three sliced parsnips, two sliced onions and two chopped leeks along with the beef in your slow cooker. Make two pints of beef or vegetable stock, add a squeeze of tomato purée and some dried thyme to the stock. Pour over the meat and veg and cook on low for 8 hours.

You can alternate the veg depending what you have/ what's on offer. This feeds DH and two DC for at least two dinners. If I can be bothered I make a veggie stew for myself by leaving out the meat and substituting with red lentils.

Although I must say, to eat frugally you have to have a decent stock of herbs and spices, buy if you are really skint you can always buy them one at a time until you have a full spice rack

Lucky for me I already had all of that first, and my situation is changeable too so soon enough we will have more money, but for now we're living off very little and are unable to heat the house. Bring on the change! It won't change the way we cook at all but it will be nice to be able to have a fee treats

Oh the veggie burgers are a firm favourite here, we're not veggie really but don't eat much meat, just when the mood takes us, plus I have ibs associated with my fibro so I can't eat much meat anyway

I have loads more recipes to share, but I'm off out just now so I will post back later

We had a lovely chunky soup this lunchtime and there is lots left. Think it would serve 4 to 6 people

Ham and Vegetable Broth
1/2 pack of Sainsbury Cooking Bacon (300g) diced .... 75p (This is my big economical find of the year)
3 carrots, peeled and diced... 20p
1/2 swede, peeled and diced.... 40p
3 celery sticks, chopped.... 20p
1 large onion, chopped.... 10p
4oz green lentils... 30p
1 can chickpeas, drained.... 60p
About 3 or 4 pints water and a couple of Chicken Oxos ... 20p

Total cost about £2.70 or 50p -75p per portion.

Method

• Heat a large pot and dry fry the bacon until the fat runs
• Add all the chopped vegetables plus some seasoning, stir, put on the lid and sweat over a low heat for 10 mins
• Add water, stock cubes, lentils and chickpeas, bring to the boil and then simmer for 45 minutes
• Nice with a bit of chopped parsley stirred in at the end. Serve with plenty of bread,

Coconut, lime and ginger pork with veg fried rice

for the pork
pork belly strips (you can use another cut of pork or a bit off a joint if you don't like belly as it's fairly fatty )
can of coconut milk
4 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp ginger
2 tbsp garlic powder
tsp of paprika
tbsp parsley

put all the ingredients (except the pork) into a pan and bring to the boil until the spices have mixes properly into the coconut.
Transfer to a slow cooker or casserole dish and add the pork. In a slow cooker cook on high for 4 hrs or low for 8. In a casserole dish bake at 170 for 2-3 hours until the pork is soft.

for the rice
2 cups rice
any 5 veg you fancy (I use pepper, onion, courgette, sweet potato and mushroom)
tsp garlic powder
tsp turmeric
2 eggs

In a wok (or large pan) Fry off the veg for about 5 mins or until softish. Add boiled rice, mix well and fry for 2 mins then add the egg and mix in then fry again for 2 mins till the egg is cooked.

Serve pork on top of rice. Delish