Credit crunch recipes! hehe. Shall we have a thread with cheap meals/recipes? I'll start

[MamaG]

Mix one pack of mince with half a large onion, a table spoon of worcester sauce, a teaspoon of mustard, an egg, a cup of grated cheese and salt and pepper.

Stick in a lightly greased 2lb loaf tin.

Stand tin in a baking tray full of water, cover in foil and bake for about an hour on GAS 6.

After an hour, remove foil, spread tom puree (or ketchup!) over, grated cheese and then breadcrumbs (smashed up cream crackers fine) then bake until cheese melted.

Voila. cheapo meatloaf type thing that my chef DH loves.

That sounds great MamaG! So you don't have to brown the mince first then?

I did meatloaf the other day - v similar recipe but with some breadcrumbs too (so even cheaper) - sadly my ds1 didn't like it (v frustrating as I made meatballs with an identical recipe and he loves those!)

fish pie made with frozen cod...any leftovers can be combined with breadcrumbs and made into fishcakes. i always put spinach in too.

macaroni cheese.

i'll also vote for meatloaf, but i use a different recipe. has meat, egg, breadcrumbs, chopped onions, mushrooms and so on in it. also - put a few bits of bacon over the top and make an onion gravy to go with it

toad in the hole - good way to make a few sausages go a long way - again - make onion gravy to go with it.

Sausage casserole:

Put lots of sliced peppers/onions/tomatoes/mushrooms and a can or two of chickpeas or beans in an ovenproof dish. Add a bit of stock/water/wine to come up to just less than the level of the veg. Add a bit of garlic puree and tomato puree. Lay sausages on top and bake in the oven for about an hour, turning sausages halfway through so they get browned on both sides. You can bulk it up with plenty of beans or chickpeas and serve with rice or bread or mash and add any herbs you like. A bay leaf and some dried oregano is good. Look out for packs of cheap basics veg for this - onions are about 50p for a big bag in Sainsburys. You can basically use any veg that's in season, although I think the onions and tomatoes are vital.

Also, fishcakes made with tinned tuna and seasoned mash. Add an egg and a little plain flour and mix well. Put flour and breadcrumbs on the outside and fry. You can make a huge amount of these v cheaply.

Not a recipe but Waitrose don't appear to have any customers anymore and yesterday morning there was a lot of meat and veg reduced.

Red lentil, carrot & roast red pepper soup:

Finely chop an onion and some garlic, fry until soft. Add a teeny pinch of cayenne pepper. Chuck about 200g of red lentils into the pan with some vegetable stock and boil rapidly for 10 mins. While that's doing, deseed a pepper and chop into a couple of pieces and roast in the oven until the skins blacken a little (could do under grill I suppose). Turn the heat down on the lentils and simmer for 20 mins with the addition of one large chopped carrot. Add more water if needed.

At the end, add in the red pepper and liquidise until smooth. Season with salt & pepper. Serve with crusty bread and butter.

Blackpuss - no, no need to brown the mince or hte onions. Its so easy

By Tanee58 on Wed 15-Oct-08 14:52:30
Sausage & Leek Risotto - slice a large leek until tender, fry some sausages, slice them up and add to leeks. Cook the risotto rice according to packet with plenty of stock, thyme and pepper, add the leek and sliced sausage to the rice whilst it's cooking, add some grated cheese just before serving (grana padano is cheaper than parmesan) - it's filling and often lasts three of us for two meals as you need to add more water/stock when reheating and it GROWS!

Horton, yes, I so a similar sausage casserole. I chuck in whatever tins of beans I have - last week it was chickpeas - yummy with garlic bread . A tablespoon of mild curry powder spices it up.

creamy tomato pasta:
1 tub Mascarpone or Philadelphia
1 onion finely chopped
pinch chilli powder to taste
1 carton passata or a tin of tomatoes finely squished
2 ozs grated Grana Padano/Parmesan

Fry the onion & chilli powder gently till softened.
Add the tomatoes and simmer 10 mins or so.
Add the mascarpone or Philadelphia and stir until it has melted, heat to a gentle simmer.
Turn heat off, stir in cheese to melt

If you have it, you can also add some tinned salmon.

Serve with past bows. DD has always liked this since she was little (minus the chilli) - and as a little goes a long way, it's a good cheap dish for a dinner party if you add a flaked salmon fillet

Egg fried rice.

1 chopped onion
a small cup of rice (I use a teacup not mug for 2 adults and 2 children) Cooked and left to cool.
1 egg per person (adult)
handfull of frozen peas and sweetcorn
a teaspoon of chinese 5 spice and a shake or 2 of soy sauce.

1. Cook rice in water or chicken stock and leave to cool until completely cold.

2. Scamble eggs. put to one side.

3. fry onion in a little oil for 5mins, add veg and heat through for 5 mins.

4. add rice cook until heated through, add cooked egg along with 5 spice and soy sauce.

Serve when throughly heated through.

If you have any frozen prawns you can through them in to.

Smoked paprika is also fab in that sausage casserole, Tanee. It gives it a lovely chorizo-ish flavour.

Ooh yes, Horton - have you been spying in my kitchen? Last week when the sausages were running low on the second night, I added some sliced spicy pepperoni from Morrisons. Made it all very spicy. I like making big dishes like casseroles as they last two nights and gives me a night off cooking!

That's what I do, too! Are you me? Tonight's meal is entirely composed of leftovers, apart from the pudding.

yep, same here (you ARE me!) tonight we are having Sainsbury's garlic and herb tagliatelle with meatballs in a sauce made from fried onions, a tin of tomatoes, worcs sauce, herbs and a teasp of mild curry powder all simmered together. Made lots yesterday, so I can just put the pasta on and relax with a glass of wine!

Ah, you are not me. We're having chicken and spinach curry with nan bread, peas and rice, followed by pancakes.

What could I use instead of cheese? Dairy allergies in my family. could I just leave the cheese out?

we aRE HAVING BACON AND RED LENTIL CASSEROLE TONIGHT. i made up the recipe as i went so lord knows what it will be like..

fry up bacon, add an onion, some garlic, add some mushrooms/any other stuff you wish like celery, sweetcorn, peppers. Put red lentils on to simmer in some veg stock with bay leaf. When almost done, drain, add to bacon etc, add tin chopped toms, lots of black pepper, some mixed herbs, pinch of sugar squidge or puree, simmer and reduce a little. Serve with grated cheese and lots of bread.

nkf I don't see why you couldn't leave the cheese out.

I did a great cheap and very quick thing last night

Smoked Salmon Kedgeree (serves 2)

Fry in a little oil a cup full of frozen peas and a few chopped up spring onions

Add a packet of Uncle Ben's express rice and stir fry for a couple of minutes

Add a tablespoon of Curry paste (or to taste) and half a cup of water

Simmer for couple of mins then add a small packet of smoked salmon trimmings, heat through and serve.

Smoked Salmon cost 88p (Asda), Rice cost about £1.25, everything else I had in fridge / freezer.

DElish!