Really Cheap Dinners

[spacemonkey]

I'm skint at the moment and seem to have lost the will to live when it comes to dinners. Baked potatoes with cheese and beans always goes down well. Also like casseroles (have noted recipes on the casserole thread). Any other ideas for cheapo meals please?

How old does a baby have to be before they can eat rice?

Lots of Indian babies are weaned onto rice. Although I am now vaguely alarmed by the 'if you eat it cold or reheated you will instantly collapse with food poisoning' argument, despite my physical survival of more decades than I like to admit to.

We actually eat so much smoked mackerel and rice that DP and I are slightly fed up with it. It is a quite fabulous staple.

weirdly, that is one of our favourite meals (as in dd, ds, dh and I) - the mackerel, rice and peas thingy - especially as it is so easy and quick to cook. I normally add one large tablespoon of medium curry powder to the mix as dd also prefers her mackerel curried (fusspot!).

We reheat rice in our house though we nuke it till it is really over cooked (to the point where it probably would have been easier to recook the lot). Knew someone who had rice food poisoning (always wonder how they really know what caused it) and was horribly ill. I have had nasty food p from salad so I guess you never know where you'll get it from!

Thabks for that Motherinferior. So you are not worried about them choking on it?

i have heard that iceberg lettuce is one of the worst things for food poisoning

Thank you everyone for your suggestions, I've done my online shop now thanks to you

Funny you should say that spacemonkey. I have just gone back to using iceberg lettuce because it was reported recently that bagged salad is a very high risk. Apparently where it is packed the workers don't wash their hands.

I think the reason is that lots of people don't wash iceberg before use though, so I'm sure it's fine as long as it's washed!

liver and bacon
spag bol
in fact anything with mince
roast chicken legs
cauliflower and broccoli cheese (maybe with bacon)
sausage casserole (cheap sausages and onions/tin of toms/ garlic and whatever else you have. If it tastes wrong add a bit of vinegar and sugar at the end)
Spanish lentils: fry up some bacon/pork and a bit of spanish sausage (you don't need much meat but you need some, otherwise it's a bit hippy). Set meat aside, then fry up onions, garlic. Add green lentils and stock/water and rosemary. When lentils are cooked add meat and a bit of olive oil. Very cheap and makes a meal on its own with bread, or you can use it as a side thingy with pork chops or something.

spanish lentils sound delicious, I love chorizo

made choricitos al vino the other week and that was lovely although not cheap

Meatballs sm. With rice.

oh and those lovely meatballs you make with minced chicken and apple, onions, herbs, garlic then roll in breadcrumbs or bashed up cornflakes/cheese & onion crisps and grill/fry. serve with rice/pea/sweetcorn combination and ketchup

Roast chicken? Not very inspired but cheap, nutritious and delicious

Really sad but boil in the bag cod in butter sauce with mash and peas - my comfort food and very very cheap - buy Sainsbury's own make rather than Birdseye and is super cheap!!

Tomato macaroni with cream crackers. Yum yum.

You'd also be able to make a chicken and mushroom pie with Delgirls left over roast chicken for the next day. Just add a tin of cambells condensed mushroom soup to the chiken. A pastry lid, bung in the oven and serve with either chips and peas as dh likes or jacket and veg as I love.

I've got this fantastic American 50s cookbook (somewhere in a container in the Indian Ocean still ) and it has loads of not-really-cooking recipes to do with processed food. The best one is a tuna noodle casserole made with eggnoodles and condensed mushroom soup and tuna and topped with ritz crackers and processed cheese, it's seriously good, for a novel turn.

I'll share it with you when it arrives

Egg and bacon pasta is a fave here as well. Pretty much scrambled egg , bacon and a few herbs mixed into the pasta.

I used to make something like that Suzy for the 4 boys in my last nanny job. The mother gave me the recipe. YUm. Think I may have made it with a hollandaise type sauce.

Oh Suzy Wong! When you said somewhere in the Indian Ocean! I thought it had sunk!

Sorry - too many !s

How does one make braised shoulder of lamb with lentils?

i know it's not a laughing matter sally but your post made me laugh! hope you're feeling better soon x

Big chunky minestrone soup with crusty bread

Macaroni Cheese

Vegetable chilli

Chilli and Rice

look for special offers at the supermarket

buy a whole chicken .. have a roast chicken dinner then use bones to make chicken soup

pasta and sauce .. fry onions and bacon for 5 minutes, add tin tomatoes, tsp honey, Salt, pepper, lots of basil and a bay leaf and simmer for 30 minutes

pasta and pesto

etc

SM, I bet your sis has some fantastic recipes she can give you