oh Foodies!!!!!..... I'm needing your help,& inspiration for cheap meals.

[davidtennantsmistress]

not nec quick but must be cheap, filling & hopefully have veggies in it. (pref under £3.00 per meal, but double if i'm splitting it iycwim)

will be doing extra and freezing some so stuff to freeze also fab.

any thoughts on a tom sauce as well?

am currently using about 4 meals, and althou our food bill is low £30 due to funds - we also eat out at least twice a week at my parents house. - well no point doing a sunday roast for an adult and a toddler is there? lol.

so any thoughts?

veggie curries which can include lentils ie dahl

Veggie soups

Tuna Pasta Bake

Roasted vegetables and pasta

Sausage and mash

We love pulses and they are so cheap and filling.

DH makes his own chappatis too which are as cheap as chips.

Toad in the hole

Pancakes with sauteed veggies

Mushrooms are great too as they are quite meaty and filling.

thanks collision.

Simple tomato sauce is nice with a few handfuls of red lentils cooked into it. Adds texture and is great on pasta. Can also add breadcrumbs/other veg and make into veg burgers.

how do you do the tomato sauce? (sorry I know I must sound stupid but never tried a home made one, and i'm sure it's better for DS if I do that) - besides he's relaly into helping me cooking at the minute so I thought little things like that he could help me with (stiring etc)

don't mind some meats as well - jsut trying to cut it down from 5/6 times a week to maybe 3 if I can.

also does anyone know of a pizza base recipe?

If you have a bread maker you can make pizza dough up in batches and then freeze it. Im not sure of the recipie tho sorry

A great student recipe that I still make:

Layer sliced potatoes in a casserole dish with sliced onions and any other veg that you happen to have. Celery works well, as well as carrots (sliced thinly), along with peppers.

You can put grated cheese in if you wish.

Season each layer with plenty of pepper, but go easy on the salt.

Once everything is layer up, pour over a can of Campbells condensed mushroom or celery soup, that you have diluted with water (the same quantity of water as the can of soup)

Bake in the oven on a medium heat for about an hour, until the potato slices are cooked. You can always start this off in the microwave - 20 minutes on high - and then finish off in the oven so it has a nice crispy top.

You can eat it on its own, or serve it with baked beans or salad.

Tomato sauce:

Large onion, finely chopped
Chopped garlic (optional - or as much as you like!)

Heat some olive oil and gently fry the onion and garlic. Season with salt and black pepper and oregano or mixed herbs. Cook until softened.

Add a tin of tomatoes and cook gently for about 20 minutes.

If you like it more garlicky then add the garlic at the end of the cooking time and cook for another minute or so.

My Italian Momma in law also adds a pinch of sugar and a knob of butter to the tomato sauce. Otherwise, same as BecauseImWorthIt's recipe.

Can add bacon, chopped olives, anchovies etc to the basic sauce.

Also have you ever tried Gnocchi? £1.29 at Sainsburys. They are like potato dumplings, lovely with tomato sauce. Find them by the pasta either fresh or dried.

A bag would serve you and toddler - probably twice.

Macaroni cheese is nice and I make mine a bit more tasty by adding mild curry powder or paste to the cheese sauce. Add as much or little as you wish.

Also some sweetcorn and finely chopped peppers gently softened are nice in the macaroni sauce too. Have with a baguette and salad. Yum

Pizza dough is simple:

300 g flour

1 flat teaspoon of salt

10-15 g of yeast

Stir the yeast in a glass of lukewarm water and then mix all the ingredients

Let it rise for a few hours.

Roll out.

hotpot - get lamb shoulder which is v. cheap, I buy the "blade side" cos it is easier to get the meat off, a carrot, a leek, any other veggies you find in the fridge or fancy putting in there, slice a couple of potatoes on top and there you go.
I do a lot of casserole type meals (chicken thighs is another good one, can be casseroled with veg or roasted with garlic or rosemary & seasoning thrown over) I feed me and three kids (DH eats at work) and we eat them with rice or potatoes. All are cheap as I'm tight economical

I would suggest if you make tomato sauce make lashings and serve as soup the first night, probably about 3 tins of chopped tomatoes (stripy kind is fine there isn't really much diffrence) add a goodly amount of fresh basil (squeezy will do its better than dried basil leaves)the blend until smooth, serve with a dollop of creame fraiche and a spinkle of cheese with some crusty bread.

the next day or week as it can be esily frozen if you devide it into smaller amounts, you can fry some minced beef add the soup/sauce and you have bolognaise sauce, or you can use the sauce/soup as pizza sauce.

I make this all the time, infact we had tomato soup last night.. to DS's I stiffed in some 2 min micro rice and extra cheese as he didn't want soup and i didn't feel like arguing, and he loves rice, so his was a cheats tomato risoto tonight it will probably be pasta sauce or pizza sauce depending on if i feel like making pizza dough or not.

Corned beef hash with cabbage, yum!

Oh yes and mackerel is lovely and cheap, just make sure it is really fresh. Best just grilled with butter and served with potatoes and green veg or bread and salad.

Lambs liver is also a cheap dish, just don't cook it too long. We like it with cabbage, bacon and mash.

For one adult and one child I could use one pack of mince and make it last 4 meals as spag bol, by adding plenty of veg (peppers, mushrooms etc) and a handful of lentils. So you eat a quarter and freeze 3/4 and that would definitely come out at well under £3 per sitting.

Sausage casserole is cheap. We generally have it with jacket pots but I know a lot of people prefer it with mash. For my version I chop the sausages then fry them with onions and garlic. I then stick them in the slow cooker with other veg (carrots, swede, parsnips, celery, peppers, mushrooms, jerusalem artichokes, basically whatever I have) and a tin of tomatoes and a tin of kidney beans (you could use chickpeas or baked beans instead). I add seasoning, sometimes a splash of wine, maybe some paprika, some worcester sauce whatever and leave it in the slow cooker for a few hours.

Also what about veggie quiche? Make/buy shortcrust pastry and roll out to line a quiche dish. Then add your filling. I like feta cheese and leek. But you can use cheap cheese and all sorts of veg like brocolli, sweetcorn, peppers, mushrooms etc. And you could always add a couple of rashers of chopped up bacon to a mushroom one for instance. Then beat together several eggs (4? - depends on size of dish) and a bit of milk, maybe add some herbs, and pour over filled pasty case. Bake for 45 mins. Serve with potato wedges or new potatoes and salad or green beans or whatever really.

Also what about omelettes and salad? Quick and easy and cheap and DS would probably enjoy mixing.

Quiche will do you and DS two meals if served with pots and salad/veg.

thanks guys these are fab will have a proper look in a bit when ds is napping (think he's off colour today up early and a grump already!)

6 large stuff your face adult portions.........freezes brilliantly. DD 15 mo loves it

2-3 mattesons smoked sausage - bite size pieces
2 tins chopped tomatoes
2 large onions chopped
2-3 tins kidney beans
(you can also add lentils if you want to bump up volume)
Water if you need it.
worcester sauce (start with 8 shakes!)
hot sauce (e.g. tabasco but any will do) (1-2tsp)
cayenne pepper (1-2tsp)

Saute onions til soft
Add everything else
Simmer for at least an hour
Add more spicy stuff if you want to

Oh. Serve with rice

Hi there! A really easy one - boil some white rice, or wholegrain if you're feeling healthy - and just stir in some chopped ham and grated cheese. And if your kids are better than mine at eating veg, you could add some peas or sweetcorn too!

definatly corned beef hash. We make home-made beef burgers which the kids love to help making and they are so much more filling then frozen ones (and cheaper) or meat-balls served with pasta or mach potato and veg.