Cheap, healthy meal ideas?

[sammysam]

Please could you post your cheapest, tastiest healthy meals-we're on an economy drive for the next month+ so all ideas would be very welcome!!!

Cowboy casserole

1 tin beans
frozen mince
1 stock cube
onions
grated carrot
Pinch chilli powder

serve with fresh mashed potato

Tuna pasta

Pasta
tuna
tin mushroom soup
sweetcorn

Carrots and onions are reliably cheap veg - cheap tinned sweetcorn, baked beans, tinned tomatoes - all cheap and perfectly edible.

Chicken thighs are an economical and tasty way to eat chicken - skin them, because the fat is in the skin, and they can be greasy if you don't./

Lentils are your friend.

Try this:
Fry an onion until soft;
Add some sort of curry paste if you like it and fry for 1 minute;
Add 100g of lentils and about 500-600mls of vegetable stock;
Boil for 10 mins then simmer for 20 mins (keep an eye on the water level);
Add a tin of butter beans (or similar) and heat through.

Serve with rice or bread or whatever you like. This feeds two adults and two children in my house (I serve it with paratha).

Roast chicken thighs with lime juice and ginger

Juice 4 limes, slice 2 stalks of lemon grass and 4 small hot chillis. Shred a chunk of ginger. Chop 2 cloves of garlic and 4 spring onions and miss all together with 3 tablespoons of honey., salt and pepper

Slash the skin of chicken thighs and put face in roasting tin. Pour mixture above over the top, rubbing well into the slits and marinate for an hour or two.

When ready - roast in oven (Gas 6 or 200 degrees) for about 45 mins. Serve with rice or noodles or potatoes or salad

I buy the jars of lazy garlic, ginger and chillis as it works out cheaper than buying fresh each time

Got a recipe for tomato, bean and bacon stew if its your sort of thing

Chili:
Mince
Value chopped toms (13p)
Value Kidney beans (16p)
1 onion
cayenne pepper
bay leaf
Ground cumin

Broccoli & Cauliflower Cheese

Buy a large chicken and get three meals out of it, I generally do a roast diner, chicken stir fry and a chicken curry.

Tomato and Egg Pasta:
Tin of chopped tomatoes
1 x Onion
1 x clove garlic
Teaspoon of oregano
Simmer for 20 minutes then crack in an egg and stir continuosly for a couple of mins and then add 1/2 teaspoon caster sugar. - Pour over cooked pasta.

Jacket potatoes with various fillings are alway cheap and easy.

Homemade pizza:

You can buy a pizza base mix for about 50p
Mix tablespoons of olive oil with one tablespoon of red wine vinegar and one crushed garlic clove. Brush this over the base.

In a mixing bowl put in 4 deseeded and chopped tomatoes, some chopped olives, some shredded basil leaves and grated mozzeralla - mix together and spread over pizza base.

Thank you so much everyone!
Would love your stew recipe Tilly

Printer out of ink so i'm madly scribling this all down

No problem - Tomato, Bean and Bacon Stew

Fry off 2 chopped red onions and 4 chopped cloves of garlic until softened. Add a couple of handfuls of pancetta (or streaky smoked bacon) and 2 sticks of chopped celery and cook for a couple of mins

Add 2 tins of tomatoes and some beans (cannellini, flagelot or haricot). I usually do 2 tins but you can use dry ones (soaked the night before and cooked). Add enough water/stock to cover everything. Simmer for about half an hour. Add some spring greens/shredded cabbage and a handful of chopped parsley. Continue cooking for about 20 mins. Add salt and pepper, drizzle of olive oil and some Parmesan. Eat with loads of crusty bread.

Keeps well for lunch the next day as well.

queenmeab

i am a lentil virgin

what kind of lentils do you mean in your recipe below? dh would love that

thanks

One more - Parmesan chicken with Ratatouille

Chop and stir fry 2 garlic cloves, 2 courgettes, 2 red peppers and an aubergine for a few mins, Add a can of chopped toms. Season. Cover and simmer gently for about 15 mins

Meanwhile - prepare the chicken. Put grated parmesan on a plate and press chicken breasts into cheese so they're coated (if chicken breasts are moist, the cheese will stick fine). Shallow fry in olive oil for about 10 mins turning once until golden and crusty.

Add shredded basil leaves to the ratatouille and serve with the chicken. Have with salad, new pots or buttered pasta

I buy the little pots of herbs and grow them in the kitchen. Therefore have parsley, basil etc at hand all the time

Chicken legs wth garlic, lemon wedges and olive oil
spray the oven tray with olive oil, put on it chicken legs, some lemon wedges and sprinkle some paprika on chicken. After around 15 minutes add some unpealed garlic cloves and bake in the oven on 180g, gas mark 7, turn from time to time and put garlic and lemon onto the chicken. it's ready in around 1 hour or so, depending how brown you like your chicken. Mine I cooked for 1 hour and 15 minutes. I serve it either with rice and peas or cous cous and broccoli or really whatevery you like, could be with roast pots.

Nailpolish - sorry was offline last night due to dh!!

I used dried red lentils - 500g for 84p at Sainsburys so you can get 5 meals out of one bag!!!!!!

This soup recipe is another of my extra-cheap favourites
winter broth

thanks queenmeab

lovley ideas!
I have a thing about soup at the mo and that broth sounds lovely!