Please could you share your cheap meal ideas here meal planners and others? Thanks

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Before I go shopping this morning if pos.

I need 7 suppers for me and dh for next week/weekend

Will be buying pizza bases to make pizzas (have sardines, anchovies and chargrilled veg to put on the top)
Have fishfingers
can do omelette on night
so I need some other ideas as I am planning to shop with a LIST (a novelty for me) as we are saving to buy a house and therefore Cutting Back

TIA!

oh i didnt see that post WWW!

WWW passata is about 30p a carton and it's worth the money because it's really versatile.

if imake fish pie i poach the fish in milk then use the milk to make a cheese sauce
i like haddock but its pricey, i usually use cod from the fish van and some end-bits of salmon

we make jacket potatoes by baking them in the oven, whilst frying some chopped bacon (streaky will do).

When bacon is cooked place in large bowl and add three or four spring onions chopped finely, then as mcuh cheese as you like and a blob of marg/butter.
Remove the potatoes from the oven and cut them in half...then using a spoon carve out all the soft potatoe filling just leaving the empty skins ( be careful not to split or tear skins).

Using a potatoe masher now mash all contents in bowl together...and spoon back into the skins piling high.

Stand skins back on baking tray and place back in hot oven for about 10 mins or until the tops of the potatoe mix has gone golden brown.
delicious, cheap and even my kids love it!

Frozen soya beans boil/simmer for 3 minutes and then use them as you would chickpeas. They have a lovely texture, quite firm, like very small broad beans but with a sweeter taste and less floury texture.. If I make a veg curry I add them towards the end of the cooking time and then leave them to sit in the sauce for a while before serving.

I also sometimes buy frozen ready to use aduki beans, too.

Ocado gave me a free bag of Birds Eye frozen soya beans, so I've been wondering waht to do with them...thanks everyone

Tin Corn beef
Potatoes
1 onion
parsley
Tom ketchup/or sim (we like spicy ketchup)
2 eggs

Par boil Chopped up bite size spuds
Fry sliced onion gently
Fry spuds until golden then add corn beef (chopped into bite size)
throw in small handful chopped parsley
pepper and a good squirt of ketchup.
serve with a fried egg on top.

This is a very cheap,simple and very filling meal.

I made a big bowl of nicoise salad the other day and we had it with a big crusty loaf. Quite inexpensive and yummy.

Halve new potatoes (a small bag) and boil until tender. Cool.

Steam some french beans. Cool and cut into 2" pieces.

3 Hard boiled eggs quartered.

Put them in a big bowl and flake over a tin of drained tuna, a few capers and/or olives. Some halved cherry tomatoes. I also put in a small tin of mixed beans and some sweetcorn.

Actually I put the eggs in last on top as they're quite delicate.

Drizzle over a dressing of crushed garlic, olive oil and lemon juice.

Oh sorry forgot... you can add some mixed salad leaves or spinach too

I bought this little book in Asda the other day for a couple of pounds (where I got the nicoise salad idea from) and it's really good.

Feta abd rocket pasta with chilli and lemon (for 2)

Mix 1 chopped chilli, zest and juice of lemon and 2tbsp olive oil (best you've got!). Leave to infuse
Pour over cooked pasta and stir in 100g (half a block!) chopped feta and 85g bag of rocket. Yummmmm!

If you buy BIG bag of rocket you have left-over rocket and left-over feta to make a big salad the next day

thanks bubble

Have you tried Aldi / Lidl? If not you might be pleasantly surprised, I was. Things like their fruit juices, passata plus their cleaning stuff are brilliant and sooo cheap if you're Cutting Down. Also their cheeses and cold meats are lovely, lots of continental type things that you may not see in the supermarkets. Here's a thread that might help if you fancy trying them out. lidl shopping tips

Shame you're not too keen on pasta as tuna pasta is always my "skint at the end of the month" stand-by meal, filling and v cheap. I make it like macaroni cheese and throw a tin of tuna in. It's also useful for using up the bits of cheese that have gone a bit dry due to not being wrapped up properly by the DSs before they put it back in the fridge. Waste not, want not! (((pats back of hair in Les Dawson manner))

Couple of quick lunch or dinner ideas which are really, really versatile:

Chop up various veg - I typically use onion, red and yellow peppers, chopped big and cherry tomatoes, chopped courgette, crushed garlic. Spray with fry light and roast in a medium oven for about 45 mins.
You could eat this once cooked hot or cold with a salad, or cous cous, or baked potato.

But for a variation you can turn it into ratatouille by adding some tinned chopped tomatoes and a tin of chick peas. Heat through and serve with salad or baked potato.

I usually make extra and then you could blitz the remainder into a really nice pasta sauce. Good for the kids as you can hide the veg in a pasta sauce! Done the ratatouille
for my boys and served it with cous cous and garlic bread - clean plate all round!

1)fritatas
grate any veg (potatoes/courgettes/carrots) and chop onions. fry them with salt and pepper . Cool and mix with eggs and grated chesese. Make omelet. serve with salad and crusty bread

2. stir fried noodles.
   stir fry onions, garlic and carrots/peppers/any mix frozen veg.
   Soften noodles and add to stir fry mix.

3. lentil dahl curry
   fry onion, garlic, tumeric powder salt and peper. add 2 tbsp tomato past and 1 pint water. Add i cup lentils and simmer 30 mn. add more water if needed. serve with rice

4)sardine bruscheta
toast bread. drizzle olive oil. dress with chopped tomato/onion/sardines.

Hello, thank you, some great ideas here. I bought (all organic):

milk, reduced to 46p as 2 days to go on sell by - will freeze most of it
3 garlic pizza breads @£1.29 each, reckon I can add stuff to them to make pizza, sardines, anchovies etc (I have these in cupboard)
organic mince @ £2.19, onions, carrots, potatoes, intend to make shepherds pie
3 packs of organic chicken thighs @£2.44/pack, will do with bbq marinade
12 eggs for omelettes etc
2 organic salmon fillets for £3, will do with Nigella's hot and sweet sauce
bread x 3
3 packs of hot dog rolls for £1
2 packs of Helen Browning organic small sausages at £2.35 each so we'll have hot dogs at some point with a film
4 bottles of Pinot Grigio at £.49 a bottle, 2 bottes of cheap red
butter (bought solid at 87p rather than £1,79 for spreadable
3 packs of apples
2 packs of raspberries
strawberries
kiwi on bogof
2 mango on bogof
blueberries
green beans
a melon
sweet peppers to have with omelette

And it all came to £76.00
I forgot loo roll so call it £70 and I really don't think I'll have to shop again until next week. That includes fruit for dh and I to take to work for lunches next week, enough for suppers for the week and for food for this weekend for us and 2 children.

So, I'm quite pleased with myself, there were plenty of frittering opportunities I just didn't take

It deffinately pays to a) meal plan and b) take a list and stick to it. It's sooo easy to pop in your trolley stuff on special offer that you just can't resist as it's going cheap but don't really want or need.