Is it me or are those Sainsbury's feed you family for a fiver..

[MoonIsATiredSlayer]

a pile of poo?

Maybe I am just really bad at cooking but everytime I try one that looks nice it ends up tasting disgusting meaning I have to go and get chips as there is nothing else to eat.

Also the fiver doesn't count all the 'other' stuff' that you are expected to have lying around.

I think the problem is that with the casserole as an example we probably give too much meat - shouldn't it be about 100 - 150g of meat plus lots of veggies and potatoes.

In that case would the casserole do two days?

That is for an adult btw.
But I have had some nice meals from the sainsburys meals for a fiver, I usually manage to stretch it around the six us though.
And slow cookers are fantastic for cheap meals, you can put practically anything in and it turns out nice.

I should add, I wouldn't be making a meal that cost £14 every night, but I would seriously struggle to keep it at under a fiver every night too.

Later in the week I will roast a chicken and we'll have a roast chicken dinner for 4; chicken risotto for the following night; and leftover chicken in sandwiches. So for a £9 chicken I'll get two decent meals for 4 and at least one set of lunches. Plus I can use the carcass for sooup.

I try and limit how much meat we have but fish is really pricey too and ever since reading the thread on her about sustainability I'm trying to limit us to MSC fish- not cheap. I really should try some more veggie meals...

OK I'm going.

I gave my slow cooker away. I found all the meals I did in it suffered from a funny taste- almost as of the slow cooker had tainted them. Plus, I'm a SAHM so I'm in the house anyway to cook. (And I have a shiny range cooker which cost £££ and which I need to cook on every day for the next 25 years at least to justify the expense to myself!)

Slow cookers are cheaper to run than an oven if you are really counting the pennies.
Fayrazzled - I 've never noticed a problem with ours, everything I've made in it has been delicious which is more than I can say for some of my other meals.

I know lots of people rave about their slow cookers and I loved the convenience but mine just didn't do it for me (and it was a brand new one too). I gave it to my brother recently as he and his DP do shift work- must ask them what they think.

I've just been looking on the BBC Good Food website for veggie recipes to add to my plan for next week.

Ah see fay I would probably use only a third of the pork and chuck in some chickpeas or mushrooms or something to bulk it out...

I've just got my slow cooker today- early birthday pressie from my mum.

Have a beef stew in there at the moment. Will do dh and I for tonight and will hopefully be some left for lunch tomorrow.

I do think the secret is using less meat. As a treat we sometimes use a 500g pack of mince for 2 adults and a toddler (for something like cottage pie), but mostly we use half of that for a meal for the 3 of us.

Unless its a meat, spud and veg meal everything else gets padded out with veg and/or pulses (it helps that we have a DS that loves beans and lentils) So lamb curry is made with a couple of cheap chops and a load of veg and lentils. Lots of beans in chilli. Grated carrot and courgette are great for padding out bolognaise, and there is still plenty of protein to be healthy.

I slow cook cheap joints of meat in advance and then remove all of the fat from the meat / skim it from the stock (or cool it and take it off if I don't want to freeze and reheat it)

Also, I buy in bulk from our local butcher. We sometimes get fattier meat but you can cook around that.

We could afford to spend more on meals, but by cutting down the amount of meat we eat, we are being healthier! (and I need that!)

Why are we cooking stew in July?

because it's cold and rainy and miserable. I don't feel like eating cold when it's grey outside and i put loads of veggies in.