I need cheap healthy home made meal ideas that are easy to make please....

[juicychops]

..... for my new year resolution of eating healthy on a very cheap budget

Agree - cottage and shepherds pie a great way of sneaking in veg.

I normally dice a courgette, and a carrot and maybe some celery to the above.

Casseroles/stews are good, easy, one-pot meals.

You can peel and slice any mixture of root veg, along with an onion and/or a leek. Add some veg stock, some pearl barley - yum.

Or add chicken stock and some chicken breasts.

or add Beef stock and some diced stewing steak.

etc etc

Pasta sauces are great - you can dice a variety of veg - I usually use a red pepper, yellow pepper, courgette, onion, carrot and two tins of chopped tomatoes. Soften gently in some olive oil - add the tinned tomatoes, a teaspoon of dried oregano and a handful of fresh basil leaves. Simmer for 30 mins. Blend until smooth.

Makes many many many portions of pasta sauce that you can use or freeze. Fab.

I lurvvve dippy eggs and soldiers. Thought I was limited to only 2 a week though. I lurvvve you Snafu

Well I thought I'd better just make sure before I attempted to feed my family with a homemade boney soup!

VVV, It had been years since I made stock out of raw bones. I would imagine that cooked carcase isn't as good, but is still better than even the best stock cubes (and free as well!)

I leave some of the tatters of meat on the bones and some skin, as I think this probably gives it a bit more flavour.

Ludaloo, no you strain the stock first....that why I wrote that bit!

I'd hate to think of anyone missing out on their boiled egg ration, winestein!

Stir fries are good, too. Loads of veg and some egg noodles, maybe with some small strips of chicken or beef added?

Cheese and potatoe pie & baked beans

Mash potato and fired onion(in olive oil) and grated cheese - bung in the oven until golden on top

You can replace about a 1/3rd of the potato with sweet potato....which is lovely - but a bit more expensive

Also - a new REALLY healthy pasta dish I have started to make just for me and DP (contains copious amounts of greenstuff that I know the DC's wont eat)

I boil 3-4 handfulls of penne pasta. (About 140-150g).

While that is cooking i prepare two handfuls of cherry tomatoes - ie wash them

I grate a tablespoon of parmesan cheese. Get the pesto out the fridge, and the bag of baby leaf spinach - ready washed.

When the pasta is cooked - I drain it. Stick in 3 teaspoons of pesto in the (empty) pan you have cooked the pasta in, chuck the cherry tomatoes in, 3 BIG handfulls of the spinach, the pasta back in, and the parmesan cheese. If you have them in the cupboard - chuck in a small handfull of pine nuts too.

Stir until the spinach has wilted a bit. Although not necessary to do so. You can eat hot, or cold.

VVV we do something similar with Tomatoes and cougettes. Very nice. And you don't need much parmasan to make it taste scrummy.

Thanks MB. did wonder.

Snafu - good point.

One of DP's top meals is stir fry rice which DD ADORES!

If i boil some rice for something I always cook double the amount I need so that DP can make this the next day. (It works better with completely cool rice too).

He slices some red and yellow pepper (but any sliced/diced veg to your liking would do), some onion, he cooks some peas and sweetcorn (in microwave), and dices some bacon and sprinkles some soy sauce on the bacon in a bowl.

He cooks the onion and peppers for a few minutes, then adds the bacon, then the rice and peas and corn, then lastly - he breaks an egg into it and stirs it around for 30 seconds. Sprinkle some chopped spring onions on top if desired. Done!

Yes - pesto is a magical invention isnt it?

Brilliant for last minute dishes.

I make a point of ALWAYS having a jar of pesto in the fridge, and ALWAYS having a pot of basil on the windowsil and some thyme in the garden.

Oooh home made pizza's even easier if you buy one of the cheap, supermarket own brand cheese and tomato large pizza's (about 88p in sainsburys), then, just add sliced peppers, onions, ham, mushroom - whatever you like on top. Grate a little extra cheese - only a little on top. Pinch of oregano always good too.

VVV, I would say that it is still worth doing, even if the stock isn't as good.

Or you can do french bread pizzas....we do these and freeze them. Ever so easy for an after school tea.

homemade pizza (even cheaper if you own a btread machine)

I feel confident enough now to try it - thank you.

BTW for other meal ideas - miaous thread is great, also - check out The Dinner Lady by Jeannette Orrey - full of basic cheap family recipes.

Another one you can do is to add dried red lentils to things like bolognaise sauce (not authentic I know but stretches the minced beef further and v. cheap and healthy). Also add grated carrot to sauces as it bulks them out nicely! Or for casseroles, you can make things like chicken and bean casserole rather than just chicken (IYSWIM). Or chicken and chick pea curry. You get the idea - pulses are great for you and cheap. If you buy cans of things like borlotti beans they cost about 35p from supermarkets and they are good for you.

Also - don't buy jars of sauce as they are hideously overpriced, far too salty, and nothing you couldn't do with a reasonably basic store cupboard much nicer yourself.

We are having succotash tonight - not sure how healthy it is as it has single cream in, but it's a blended brew of sweetcorn, finely chopped onion, lean bacon, single cream and borlotti beans and it does taste like yummy comfort food. We have it with rice as my dd is allergic to wheat, but it would be scrummy in pittas / tortilla wraps.