cheap easy meal ideas please . . .

[lucysmam]

hiya, I'm new to this site & have been reading through some really useful threads about food budgeting and budgeting in general, both of which I'm already good at as my oh lost his job last year and then again on valentines day this year so we've been living off benefits at the mo. I just wondered if anyone had any cheap and easy meal ideas as with my budget for a fortnightly food shop being around £40 (plus £20 if needed for toiletries, cleaning stuff, wash powder, nappies and milk through the week) we tend to end up eating a lot of the same stuff as we always have the same stuff in the cupboards!

However, now my freezer's broken down so we're having to shop every other day for fresh stuff and its costing us a fortune (the fridge part still works ok). I just wondered if anyone has any ideas for something other than stuff like omelettes, spag bol, beans on toast kinda stuff . . . .

If i only have one carcass and no time to make stick i put it in the freezer until i have 2 or 3 and then make stock

does the whole carcass need to be covered with water to make stock? might sound a daft question but i've never been this creative with food before so am experimenting when i go shopping on friday. hopefully i'll have freezer to try out some soup and then freeze any thats left if it freezes ok. and so i can see whats on reduced shelves thats worth having

It up to you the more water you add the weaker the flavour of the stock. I normally do about water about 1/2 to a third up the carcass.

If i haven't got any carcasses i buy chicken wing (Asda sell about 24 for £2.00 or £3.00). You get plenty of meat to make other dishes as well.

cheers lizziemun, i will experiment this weekend i think with a roast chicken dinner sunday, leftovers monday & make some soup tuesday . . . . although, what do you do once you've made the stock to make soup?

Do you just get rid of the carcass n bones & sieve any other bits out and add what you want or is it more complicated than that?

I add some fresh choppped carrots, onions,peas and any other veg i have around. Bring to the boil throw in some of the chicken. If i have any pearl barley or rice to thicken slightly eat with crusty bread.

simpler than i thought!! i'm going to do my oh's head in over the next week experimenting in the kitchen, never really been very adventurous because we didnt think we could afford to be but now i have a vague idea how other people do it i'm going to have a go!

mmmm, I think I'll be trying your chicken and mushroom pie, lizziesmum!

lucysmam, the more root veggis you put in the pot, the better the soup! Things like celery are good for adding flavour, too. You can put potatoes in to thicken it if you like.

thanks for the advice about soup, looking forward to trying it out this weekend actually

Hi lucysmam, I know porridge oats in soup sounds really wierd, and I was a bit myself when a friend told me, as I'm not keen on porridge either, but I tried it, and it really works.
Its actually really lovely in the winter, if you add quite a bit, as it goes more broth-like.
Serve with warm crusty bread (aldi do part baked baguettes for around 50p)
Yum.

soup and crusty bread? Can be a main meal and any left overs for lunch?

everyone except me seems to think of soup as a main meal!! is there some secret to this as i've always thought of soup as more of a starter or fairly light lunch tbh.

i suppose if its chunky enough it could be a main meal for me n lo but not sure about oh

chilli bean tacos.

You can add or take away ingredients to suit your budget.

Tacos aren't particularly cheap, but the bean bit is so makes up for it.

Fry 2 red onions, 3 garlic cloves in a little olive oil. When soft add some chilli powder according to taste and some cumin. At this point I tend to separate DD's into a little saucepan so no chilli jsut cumin.

Add 3 tins of beans (kidney, haricot, black eye, pinto whatever prob not the softer ones though)

2 x tins of chopped toms, squirt tom puree, dash worc sauce, salt.

Simmer for half an hour ish.

This makes a MOUNTAIN of beans, def feeds at least 4 with some left over for quick microwave lunch at work for me the next day.

As for the rest...

Depending on how flush you're feeling one or more of the following

Some grated cheddar
chopped avocado
creme fraiche or sour cream
chopped toms / salsa

TBH, all you really need is the taco shells, the beans and a bit of cheese for naughtiness.

I reckon without the added extras but including the taco shells that whole thing costs £5. And it really does make a mountain of beans!

V Healthy too.

You can have a really hearty soup with vegetables, beans/pulses/lentils, and if you eat meat chorizo or similar. I personally add a handful of soup pasta to mine, but thats because I like any excuse to eat pasta!

Not all soup is watery/light. And you can have pasta with it (if you don't add some into like me) or, bread, or new potatoes, you can add more meat, turn it into a stew with dumplings.

Offal, if you like it, is v cheap. Fried chicken livers with fried thin apple slices on buttered bread - yum. Or lamb's heart stuffed with breadcrumb/sage/onion dampened with water, roasted in a tin with a few tomatoes. £1 buys enough of either meat to feed 2-3 people, and it's low-fat, high-protein.

frisbyrat, thanks but im not keen on either liver or kidneys n heart just doesnt sound appealing.

pavlov, i guess its just my view of soup atm but ill have a go n see what i come up with.

osmosis, sounds yummy but £5 for one meal isnt realistic atm unless it'd do for 2 meals or so.

i'm going to have to go back through this and write everything down before friday!!!

It prob would do 2 meals.

DH and I are greedy pigs (he's a tree surgeon, I have no excuse) and it does us 2 days.

in that case osmosis i would probably try it for something different to try. what's a tree surgeon do??

if a tree id dying, they figure out what is wrong with it, whether it can be saved or not and remove the necessary bits or chop it down.

Also pruning (pollarding etc) at height

check for potential damage to property through subsidence that may have been caused my tree roots.

Analyse diseases, fungal or parasitic.

Mainly chopping branches off at height, with chainsaws.

well i didnt know that!! you learn something new every day