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So whats your best low cost healthy family meal as fed up of everything i serve up !

what do you normally serve up?

don't want to suggest something you already do!

Baked pots ?
Soup and homemade bread ?
Getting really tired of these and quorn and pasta

do you eat meat?

do you have loads of herbs/spices etc in your cupboard?

potato boulangerie is quite cheap (can go with just about anything).

thinly sliced potatoes and onions in layers. Add black pepper and stock (any works), herbs (rosemary works well). Cook in oven for about an hour.
Serve with sausages and whatever veg you've got.

What do you usually serve (to give an idea).

A roast chicken goes a long way.

You can use the leftovers for a salad, sarnies, soup, pie, curry. The list is endless.

Plus with things like curry, pie and soup is that you can use the left over veg too.

TBH have been eating too well this year.
Steak,fresh fish,always dips to start ect.
Now we are tightening our belts (excuse the pun ) need to try something a lot cheaper.

Have you tried shopping in Lidl? They have excellent quality food really cheap eg 2 tuna steaks for under £2.

if you eat meat, you can make a packet of mince last for loads of meals

you just need to bulk it out with lots of tomato (tinned stuff, v cheap), onions, peppers (whatever takes your fancy - some people chuck carrots in)

put mashed pots on top for cottage pie
shove with spaghetti for spag bol
make into meat balls

best cheap meal is fish pie - tinned mackerel and salmon are v cheap (or ask the fishmonger for some of the salmon off cuts, they aren't v expensive normally), shove fish with a chopped up onion/leek in a pot. Add some chives and a pot of half fat creme fraiche. Top with mashed pots and shove in the oven.

NBG chicken sounds great.
I could cook a large one and curry it or something tomorrow too ?

TF yes have lots of herbs-all growing and not being used in the garden.

Armadillo-that potato recipe sounds lovely-and spuds are quite cheap .Thanks

you can do loads with a pound of mince

spag bol
chili con carne
burgers
minced beef stew

a dash of worcester sauce livens all the above up no end

I make loads and freeze some, saving time and effort on Can't Be Arsed Days

Also, a couple of chicken fillets, diced, fried up with an onion & some diced bacon (I use that cheapo cooking bacon offcuts, about 88p a pack from Asda/Tesco), chuck in a bit of chicken stock (oxo and boiled water in our house) and some sage, parsley and a bit of black pepper. Cook until nice and stewy. Can be used as a pie filling, potato topping or on its own with new pots & veg.

Fox in socks-that recipe sounds fabulous.I have some leeks in the garden too.Never made fish pie so think thats a def !

I do a lot of different things with veg to stop getting bored.

Roasted/boiled/steamed

And then use herbs (grown in garden) and spices (cheap locally) to give them different flavours.

Cheap meat (usually needing to be cooked slowly) can cut down a lot of costs.

Yep, a large chicken then pick the remaining meat off the carcus, keep in fridge and just heat throughly in whatever sauce you fancy.

Asparagus goes nice in creamy curry sauces.

mmm sounds like you have lots of nice things in your garden!

if you have lots of leeks - you can also fry them, add some bacon bits (or cut up streaky bacon), add some garlic and a pot of half fat creme fraiche (or make a white sauce, creme fraiche is just easier!) and pour it over spaghetti. Delicious and very quick.

Pulses can be used in any dish where you'd use minced beef or lamb. I like them better actually and they are very cheap. Lentil chilli is one of my favourite things.

Cook split peas until soft, combine with grated cheese, mushrooms and onions and an egg. You can either bake it in a quiche tin or in flat meatball shapes. Serve with youghurt and cucumber dressing, baked potatoes or rice and salad. Or with a roast veg. Or whatever

With chicken I always find you get good use if after you roast (and eaten the meal) you tehn strip down immediately and put in a large tupperware container.

Then use carcass to make stock or soup. For a change with chicken soup I chuck in sweetcorn and noodles.

If you have slow cooker they can be great for making soups/stocks or for cooking cheaper cuts of meat.

I also tend to try and get to supermarket when they have a lot of reduced meat (friday afternoons is good here) and then stick it in freezer till I need it.

Mince is very versitile and cheap, especially if you bulk it out with lentils/cheap vege mince/beans.

You can also make expensive meat like lamb go a long way by adding loads of veg

I do a moroccan lamb thing - fry up diced lamb with onion, add cumin & a bit of cinnamon, add stock, tinned chopped tomatoes and whatever veg you fancy, sweet potato, pepper, mushrooms, butternut squash all work well, cook together until all tender, add dried apricots and/or sultanas and some coriander. You don't need much lamb to make this go a long way. Lovely with couscous.

Oooh just reading what foxinsocks suggested, that reminds me of a similar recipe.

Bacon fried with cabbage and onions.

Sounds a bit weird but its really yummy

Oh yes nbg that is lush. Put some diced potatoes in too and you have a complete meal in a pan. Quick, easy, cheap and tasty

at garden full of herbs and leeks

Passata is good - about 90p for a large jar in Asda. Use it with roasted veg for pasta.

Mix it with mince and onions for use with anything needing bolognaisey style thing.

Rissoto (sp?) is good for leftovers. Fry left over veg with onion and add aborio rice (or other rissoto rice) and then add stock and leave.

Bacon pieces are great too - Asda (sorry that;s where I shop) do a biggish bag of offcuts for about £1, that'll spin out to several meals.

Batter is good bulk for meals.

MAke up batter, add (made up with just hot water) cheap stuffing mix (really bulks it out) and you can make individual yorkshire puddings with tiny bits of bacon and onion in bottom. Then serve with veg or beans - don't even need potatoes.

If you have friends/family/neighbours with herbs in their garden, get them to give you a few cuttings. Saves loads of money.

One tin of tuna can add a lot of flavour ( and a bit of protein ) to rice and pasta dishes.

My favourite budget meal is tomato,leek and tuna rice. Obviously you can add whatever veg you like. Sweetcorn goes well.

All these recipes sounds fantastic I think i will be using some of them too.

A lot of things now use ceme fraiche is that like yoghurt?

When I was a student, I used to live on cheese and tomato pasta, and it was literally just that. Economy pasta, mixed up with an economy tin of tomatoes, and economy grated cheese. The secret was in the seasoning - add plenty of salt and pepper and mix well, and it actually tastes quite nice. Oh, and butter - it needs a nob of butter too.