Budget family meals?

[Nuttyaboutnutella]

Due to certain circumstances, I may be taking some time out from work to focus on DC. My maternity pay is due to finish in a couple of months so we'll be done to one wage. We can wrangle it, but obviously need to budget a bit more.

What are some cheap meals I can make? My son (2) can be quite fussy but I can work around that. He won't touch eggs or rice in any form. I already do stuff like beans on toast or baked potatoes once a week but need to include more, just suddenly lacking inspiration!

Our cheap meal is fried garlic, tin of chopped tomatoes (reduced down) and stirred through pasta. We always have parmesan in the fridge (so stir some of that through too)

A large pack of sausages can go a long way in our house. I can make 3 meals out of one big (18 sausage) pack:
Sausage pasta.
Toad in the hole.
Sausage and mash.

Anything involving mince - bolognaise, shep pie, chilli etc - can be padded out with red lentils; a kilo is only £1.80. They cook into the sauce & are not noticeable. They're also a good addition to soups.

My cheap meals are

"Stew" tin of stewed steak, chopped carrots and potato onion in a pan with gravy, and cooked until veg is done.

Pasta and tomato soup.

Cheap soup. Pack of cooking bacon, chopped up, potato, carrots, turnip, onion, red and yellow split peas, veg or chicken stock. Half of the veg chopped up, other half grated. All in a pan simmering for 1.5 hours.

There's lots of meals you can make for around £1 a head, lots of beans, avoid imported veg, work on reducing waste is a big one. Biggest savings for me have been not buying lunch out and batch cooking lasagna etc instead of ready meals

Tuna pasta bake
Lentil spaghetti bolognese
Bean chilli

Fb page feed your family for £20 per week and the TV series eat well for less will help you.

Toad in the hole www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/toad_in_the_hole_with_86283
Bean casserole www.waitrose.com/content/waitrose/en/home/recipes/recipe_directory/e/easy_bean_casserole.html
I make tuna balls with tinned tuna www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/italian-tuna-balls
Chilli bean pie www.waitrose.com/home/recipes/recipe_directory/c/chilli_bean_pie.html
Cheap and quick 'pot noodle'. Recipe is for one but easily multiplied. www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/8035/smoky-bacon-pot-noodle-for-one
I use a packet of flavoured couscous which costs less than 50p from Tesco. It takes about 15mins to cook in boiling water. I then just crumble feta cheese or add a tin of chickpeas along with cherry tomatoes and red peppers.
Heinz Creationz is a range of pulses that I like using when I just can't be bothered! They don't have added sugar or preservatives and provide a good cheap source of protein. There's a Mexican Beans one that I serve with tortilla wraps and grated cheese and we like the lentil curry one with rice.
Pitta pizzas are cheap and easy to adapt to everyone’s likes and dislikes.

Came to recommend cookingonabootstrap.com - The veg chilli is a firm favourite in this house (I think it’s called bootstrap chilli)

Thanks all, will have a look at some of these recipes

Amatriciana and carbonara. The packs of cooking bacon usually have nice thick slices of smoked that you can cube nicely. 20p spaghetti from Tesco or Asda.

DS likes green pasta - I use half pesto and half cream cheese for the sauce, and add whatever vegetables we have in (my favourite combination is brocolli and plum tomatoes)

He also likes hummus on toast/a bagel as a quick lunch, with some tomatoes or fruit after.

I've got hyperemis atm so have been having just boiled potatoes and carrots a lot - I'm surprised at how much DS likes it (he has his with an omelette or cheese or ham for protein)

Chicken thighs in herbs traybake with root veg - sweet potatoes, parsnips, and normal potatoes. When my dad makes it he also adds an onion.

Lentil Dahl
Veggie and bean chili
Vegan/veggie enchiladas
Bean and cheese quesadillas
Million dollar spaghetti
Homemade soup
Mac and cheese
Tacos
Roast dinner with sausages
Homemade pizza (I make large ones for around £1 and they are enough to feed two adults, much bigger than shop bought)

I generally make most meals and then swap out the meat for beans, veggies or lentils. Keeps the cost down and I believe is better for your health and the planet.

Mixed bean chilli
Homemade soups

Pastry is cheap - pies, pasties, quiche, tarts
Frittata
Savoury pancakes
Burritos, lots of spicy rice in wraps
Corned beef hash - my dad is in his late 80s and is obsessed with this, if you use reduced salt corned beef and add loads of root veg and peas it’s not even unhealthy
You can get reasonably priced frozen fish fillets to use in fish cakes, fish fingers

Apologies, please ignore burritos and frittata

In Tesco's yesterday on a whim I bought 6x large hot dog sausages in a jar £1 and 6x large finger rolls 70p
Fried/caramelized an onion I had in the fridge.
2x hot dogs each for £1:70 the lot.

Wouldn't do it too often but for a change.

Btw we're adults, one each would have been more than enough for kids.

Soup and pudding

Stew / casserole or soup in the slow cooker then portion it up for the freezer . Convenient and cheap.

Skinless and no less chicken thighs. Bash flat and then

Coat in flour, egg and breadcrumbs and make chicken fingers.
Cover with zest of lemon and fry with a little oil and salt and pepper
Put in a roasting tin with
Wedged lemons, red onion, cubed potatoes and thyme
A little cut up chorizo, some red onion, whole garlic cloves and cherry tomatoes
With any root veg and herb combo you like.