Cheap meal plan ideas

[SushiGo]

It's January, I'm sure we're not the only ones looking to squeeze a few extra ££s off the shopping bill!

However I'm feeling a bit stuck with my meal plan. Need to be fairly quick to cook and fairly low dairy. We've used up most of the Christmas leftovers!

So far I've got:

• Jacket potatoes
• Melted camembert, bread and hm guacamole
• mini fry up
• peach and chickpea curry w/rice
• egg, chips and veg
• spaghetti bolognese

For packed lunches:
Hm jelly pots
Hm flapjack?

Any other suggestions?

Spanish omelette with green salad www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2738/real-spanish-omelette
Quick pea and bacon pasta www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta-recipes/mini-shell-pasta-with-a-creamy-smoked-bacon-and-pea-sauce/
Egg fried rice
Tuna burgers www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5863/tuna-sweetcorn-burgers
Chilli bean pie www.waitrose.com/home/recipes/recipe_directory/c/chilli_bean_pie.html

Jack Monroe’s carrot and kidney bean burgers
Veggie chilli with rice
Pasta arabiata
What ever needs using up in the fridge fritata
Homemade fishcakes
Tuna pasta
Toad in hole

I often roast a piece of gammon on a Sunday and then use the leftovers for sandwiches and salads for lunch in the week.
Also put any veg needing using up into a soup.

Lentil soup is filling and so cheap.
As is dhal.
Omelettes
Pasta with roasted veg, carbonara, tuna or sardines.
Risotto, our fav is butternut squash, sage and parmesan. But we also enjoy mushroom or tomato, and pea and ham is lovely too.
Special fried rice (with anything thrown in).
Stir fries.
Bacon, cabbage, mash.
Sausage casserole / sausage and mash.
Veggie curry or chilli.

Thanks for all the ideas everyone - lots of things I hadn't thought of!

Pasta with lentil bolognese is so dirt cheap and delicious.
Pizzas made on French bread
I don’t know how much cooking you want to do but home are falafel cost the cost of a tin of chickpeas and are lovely with salad in a wrap

Anything with the par baked bread from lidl or aldi.

Maybe a little over the top, but I make 30+ portions of curries and stew and freeze in batches, much cheaper and so easy for a healthy midweek meal!

How about Sweet corn fritters?

It’s a Savory pancake (So mix eggs, milk and flour and add that grated cheddar, tinned sweetcorn and seasoning. I sometimes include chopped ham or serve bacon on the side) that I serve with baked beans. It’s very cheap and filling!

You’ll have some of the batter left over, so I usually make the pancakes and then freeze them (I just defrost and either warm them in the toaster/sandwhich press or lightly fry them again).

Stew:

Diced beef
3 onions
1 leek
2 carrots
2 courgettes
1 parsnip
2 potatoes
4 stock cubes
A bit of cornflour
Pepper/salt to your taste
1 full kettle of boiling water

Fry beef/onion/leek in a bit of oil. Chop everything else up, bung it in with the water, slowly stew for hours. Lasts us 2 days. My one son likes it blended like a soup. He's still getting the veggies, so that's ok.

Veggie chilli
Soup (varieties are endless and cheap)

Bacons grill and egg on bagels
Pasta bake
Meatballs in subrolls with a cheese slice.
Homemade pizza
German pancake
Cheese and potatoe pie

I think it all depends how expensive ingredients you buy, whether you rely on ready bits and pieces and whether you use up all the food you buy, including the leftovers. I would also think of meat as a flavouring rather than the main ingredient, bulk up further with low cost veg and pulses. Check kilo prices in everything you buy, I have been shocked how much cheaper it is sometimes to buy loose veg instead of packages, ditto grated cheese in comparison to a big block of cheese you grate yourself etc.

Pancakes (sweet or savoury fillings)
Soups with home made rolls + boiled egg for protein
Chilli con carne - I can make this go a long way as first serving with rice, then next day in wraps or as burritos. Finally, if anything left, will throw on top of nachos.
Sausage pasta (insides of 2-3 sausages go a long way for flavour)
Pie - can hide any sort of leftover bits in pies for random mix, if you are okay using cheese then cheese kind of puts it all together. Super cheap if you make the base from scratch.
Oven toasties from leftover bits of bread, some tuna, cheese etc, home made potato wedges instead of chips.