cheap family meal ideas?

[milkgoddessmakesthefinestmilk]

ideas need for my, cutting back on spending money.

jacket potatoes and beans
egg fried rice
homemade soup (though not in this weather!)
pasta dishes
chickpea curry and rice
frittata/tortilla

also with things like spag bol/cottage pie just add more veg etc and use half the mince!

pasta pasta pasta.

We introduced a limit on meat-eating in our house and it had a huge effect on weekly bill and the amount of food we throw away. When we do have roasts or barbq's we always use leftover meat the following day in either bolgnase-type sauces or shepherds pie, or stir-fries. I also used to make stuff like lasagne in bulk (and I mean huge quantities) and then slice it up to freeze.

Pizza tastes much better when you make it yourself too.

I am also a big fan of stir fries, because you can use just the tiniest smidgeon of meat and loads of veg, But make the veg yourself as the bags of stir fry veg are very expensive.

And I have learnt that no matter how pretty those bags of salad are they never taste as nice as a simple iceberg lettuce which you can keep in fridge and make up with a few slices each day.

If you can get to a farmers market the veg is often cheaper and much fresher than you get in the supermarkets. For kids I often make them a dinner where butternut squash is the main ingredient - either simple jacket 'potato' with butter & nutmeg, or I use squash instead of chicken when I make things like curries. Children seem to love the sweetness.

I make broadbean and feta falafels using 150g of frozen broad beans cooked, then put in the food processor with half an onion roughly chopped, 1tspn ground coriander, 1/2 tspn ground cumin, small handful of fresh parsley, and 1/3 pack feta - whizz the mixture until chopped very small then stir in a tblespn of flour and form into balls. Chill them for half an hour on a baking sheet, brush with a little oil and cook for 15 minutes at gm4. Serve in pitta breads with salad and a yoghurt/mint dip.

I also use TVP instead of mince - it's ultra cheap and a bag lasts for ages - if you put loads of veg and pulses in then they will never know.

wow thank you so much fo ral the fab tibs

ive realisd the last day or two im goiing to change my whole lifestyle

do you know what we did last sat? had a chinese take out didnt eat any ribs, dh chucked them then the next day he broughyt some from tescos for a bbq!
how mad is that

you can see theres SO much we can do