New and thrifty meal ideas please!

[TattooedGrrrl]

Times is hard in the tattooed household, and i've managed to get the food shopping down to £55 per week, inc nappies. But lord i am bored.

We're having 'freezer tea' 3 times a week (fish fingers, oven chips, beans etc) Once a week it's home made curry and rice, once a week bolognaise on Sundays a roast dinner. Any ideas for something different that will suit a toddler awell?

I seem to always be cooking the same things Jazzed up the last curry with a bag of spinach, but i'm at a loss for new dieas really.

and i can't spell apparently!

stuffed spud goes down well in our house
can use left over bolognaise, or creamed corn or whatever you have really

homemade pizza can be pretty cheap

lentils are filling, tasty and go a long way

ditto chickpeas

um soups can be made from left overs

Pasta bake with tomato sauce good for using up leftover bits of veg: peas, green beans, broccoli, courgette etc all go well with the tom sauce.

Or mix in some crushed tinned tuna.

Second the pasta bake to use up stuff, I did that last night and manageed to make 2 lots, one lot we ate and the other lot has gone in the freezer.

I have posted this before but try this cheap pie;

X2 tins of stew stake (I use asda smart price at 78p a tin)
X1 handful of chopped frozen veg.
X1 tin of new potatoes chopped (again Asda smartprice at 25p a tin)
X1 packet of pastry, puff or shortcrust (or hoemade if you prefer)

In a bowl mix the stew stake, veg and potatoes, place in pie dish (I use lasagnes dish as I dont have a pie dish ) Roll out pastry and place over the top of dish and cook on gas 6 for about 25-30 minutes. Cots approx #3.00-3.50 to make and leaves next to no washing up .

Read about this book at the weekend, could be worth a look?

Rainbow rice is quite nice and very thrifty - boil rice in a bit of chicken stock, add diced carrots, frozen peas, sweetcorn - anything you have around really - then diced ham or chicken and then stir an egg through at the end. It's a bit like fried rice but without the frying and the children really like it.

sg, that sounds yummy, think I will try that tonight.

grilled sausage, beans and cheesy mash - basically mash with enough cheesy to make it cheesy. tis scrummy and very much comfort food here.

We love what we call 'inside-out pie' ...

Boil up and mash enough potato to cover the bottom and sides of a lasagne dish. Put the mash in the dish like a pie case and put in the oven to 'set'.
Fry off a chopped onion until it's soft. Chuck in a load of mince and brown it. Once browned add a tin of beans and stir through.
Put the mince/beans mixture into the potato case and cover the top with grated (or thinly sliced) cheese. Return to the oven until the cheese is browned.

Delish! It never comes out of the dish nicely so make sure everyone sees it in its original form before dishing it up

bacon, cheese and potato pie and beans
pasta with tomato sauce
sardine pasta bake
tuna pasta bake
g=faggots and mash]
chicken legs with savoury rice

filz - can you make bacon, cheese and potato pie with sliced back bacon or does it have to be chunky bits? We seem to have packets and packets of bacon in the freezer and that sounds like a good use for it, if it'll work ...
TIA

Beany bake - any random beans (I try to soak and cook my own but if I am in a hurry I use tins of mixed beans), tomatoes, random veg (carrots, courgette, celery, sweetcorn): cheese on top and in the oven.

great ideas guys. I have a few tins of mixed beans to use up for something, will try a beany bake type thing.

and rainbow rice sounds good and healthy- i have left over chicken from yesterday, so might try that for lunch today.

i'm thinking about going veggie again, and i do have loads of lentils here. Might do a lentil bake for tea

Keep em coming though- i'm getting loads of cheap inspiration!

tigerschick, i just grill the bacon seperately and put it seperate on the plate iykwim. Cheese and potato pie is just onion, mashed potato and cheese grated it. Then grate some cheese on top and slice toms and stick under grill until it all goes crispy/golden brown

Thanks filz, sounds good.
I wonder if I could chop the bacon into little bits and flash-fry it then mix it into the potato/cheese mix ... I think I'll try it and report back

well i've made a bean and lentil bake, looking good.

Mixed a tin of mixed beans with cooked green lentils, chopped onion, garlic and carrot, a tin of tomatoes and some herbs. Will top it with brown breadcrumbs and grated cheese before i bake it.

Shepherd's pie instead of spag bol with your mince.
Or chilli and jackets
Fish cakes made with tinned tuna
sausage casserole - I made one using 1lb of sausages but so far it has served four of us two meals.
Veggie risotto of some description.
Quiche not that expensive
Frittata on similar lines

tuna, baked bean and potato pie - tuna on the bottom of the lasagne dish cover with baked beans, i add a layer of frozen peas or spinach, then mashed pots, them layer of crushed ready salted crisps mixed with cheese (makes yummy crispy topping) bake for 25 mins in 180C oven

Chicken thighs (dead cheap, even in Sainsbury's, and full of flavour) in a casserole.

www.beyondbakedbeans.com has some budget recipes.

The bean and lentil bake was lovely, and made enough for lunch today aswell. DS2 liked it, DS1 turned his nose up.

Will do rainbow rice with tuna tomorrow.

I tried the rainbow rice for DD lunch yesterday, but did it with a tin of chopped veg and a tin of mixed bean salad and added garlic, DD ate it with gusto and it was delish.

I tried a great new cheap recipe yesterday from a newspaper article- smoked fish chowder. It's a lovely pink colour and really creamy. Serves 4.

• fry 1 chopped onion, few rashers of bacon, then add chopped green pepper

• peel & dice several potatoes, add to veg & bacon. Pour in a tin of chopped tomatoes and 250 ml boiling water.

• poach 2 fillets smoked haddock in 550ml milk for about 5 mins until opaque. Drain off the milk and set aside. Break up the fish into chunks.

• Use a bit of cornflour to make a paste in a pan with a little of the milk, then add in the rest and heat up to creamy consistency. Pour into the veg & bacon mixture, tip in a small tin of sweetcorn and heat through.

DDs (aged 4 and 1) absolutely gobbled this and we had enough left over for a feezer meal for me & DH later this week!

Rest of bacon, potatoes and onion will go into a hotpot- fry off bacon, layer with potato and onion slices, pour over a white sauce and bake at 160 for around 90 minutes. IMo the best way to eat well on a budget is to plan menus so that you have absolutely no waste.

Pendulum that sounds lovely, I've written it in my recipie book

.sorry, omitted to say that you add the cooked fish right at the end with the sweetcorn.

DustyTV, let me know how you get on with the recipe, it is my new fave!