*VERY* budget meal ideas please......

[QueenOfQuotes]

OK I have to go shopping tomorrow, at best I'll have £15 to spend, at worst £5.

The raw ingredients I already have are

Green Lentils
Kidney Beans
Cannellini Beans
Butter Beans
Barley
Lasagne Sheets
Rice
4 Eggs
Mushrooms (about a handful)
1 White Cabbage
1 Large Carrot
Garlic (loads)
1 small tin of sweetcorn
Frozen sweetcorn
Shortcrust Pastry

DH and the boys eat quite a fair amount at meal times, so I need to make big(ish) quantities of food. What can I make with the above ingredients - and what cheap stuff (preferably a little bit of meat even if it's only chopped cooked ham) would I need to buy to make it

Thanks

for how many meals (this £15)

oh forgot to say they don't all have to be 'meat' based meals, but at least one or two would be nice. And I have a slow cooker which I can chuck stuff in.

Dahl? red lentils, tumeric, garlic and chilli powder if you want. Boil them all together for about 20 minutes and serve with rice and maybe fried egg.

CD - as many as possible LOL. We know that we've got £50 available on Tuesday - but even if it's only 2 or 3 days worth of meals it would be good.

I've got lots of oils, soy sauce, vinegars, practically every herb and spice under the sun etc in the house already.

A good cheap feeling meal we have is pasta with sweetcorn,mushrooms,bacon or sausage and tinned tomatos.
Usually season with mixed herbs and you can get a lot out of it..also add cheese.

meant to say fulfilling not feeling..lol

mince and soya, use half and half to make a spag bol with pasta works well and is v cheap. Also a vegetable pie with the random veg bits. Omlettes one day, plus a lentil and bean suprise

Im rubbish at this!

Nemo - we had that tonight

Actually it was pasta, a cheese sauce, mushroom, tomatoes, spring onions and ham - but basically the same.

I knew you lot would come up with some great ideas

sausage caserole with mash

no good at recipes so usually buy a packet of sausage caserole seasoning as it has instructions on..lol

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yes - have loads of flour and yeast etc - as I stocked up - will be eating homemade bread all week too (the boys are going to go hyper when they find that out LOL)

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Thanks everyone - just going to make sure I know what I'm doing and what I'll need for each of these fabulous suggestions (please correct me if I'm wrong as I only had 3 1/2hrs sleep last night

Dahl - Lentils, Tumeric, Garlic, Rice and Fried Egg

Veg Pie - Pastry, Carrot, Cabbage, Celery etc etc

Pasta with Mushrooms, Sweetcorn, Sausage and Tinned Tomatoes

Sausage Casserole - Sausages, Potatoes, .......???

Lentil and Bean Suprise (probably be just the beans as only got enough lentils for one meal) - what would I put in it

Spag Bol - (or pasta bol ) pasta, mince, onion etc?

Pizza - Base + Tinned toms and extras

Hmm just a few more questions (I do usually cook from scratch - but I cheat and get them sent to me weekly in an email from a subscription service so never have to think about it).

Pasta - do you reckon I could just break up the lasagna sheets for the pasta meals?

What veggies are 'in season'?

What cheap toppings could I buy for the pizza?

rickman - how do you make the baked bean lasagne (DH is feeling very 'open' to things that aren't usually on the menu if it makes the money go further this week).

Stick tin of tomatoes and tin of any type of beans into sausage casserole

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I make bean stews:

Fry up a bit of onion and any suitable veg (e.g. root veg, peppers).

Add beans (I use canned but you can use dried beans if soaked and boiled), sweetcorn (optional) tinned tomatoes and a stock cube

Season with paprika/pepper/whatever you fancy.

Simmer on hob until vegetables tender.

Serve with rice, pasta or baked potato. I grate a bit of cheese over it to serve too.

for sausage caserole i usually add mushrooms and onions so it depends what you fancy in it.

baked potatoes from a grocer (NOT supermarket as they cost loads more!)

add grated cheese / beans etc

also u can get lots of meals from cheep pasta, with a bag of cheep flour, some butter and milk to make cheese sauce for past, add some cheese for variation.... mix this with pasta, add some frozen sweetcorm or something as well

Aussie pie is cheap to make

mashed potato, with a layer of sliced egg, layer of mash. top with cheese sauce and cook for about 30 minutes

Just found some recipes here .

We used to have lentil bolognaise and then the next day lentil surprise.. The surprise was that it was left over from yesterday and I'd put chilli powder in it! On a more serious note, you could make a lovely bean chilli, or stew or bung it in a dish and put mash on the top or make savoury cheese scones on top and bake.

You could do Omlettes as well and add mushrooms, sweetcorn and onions.

You could also use mushrooms and sweetcorn for pizza.

what about veggie shepherd's pie ?

I make with 6oz red lentils, but I'm sure green ones will be fine?
Fry an onion, add some garlic, wash the red lentils ( they are quite dusty), add to the pan & stir, then add 500ml water, or 300 + tin of toms, sprinkle of herbs, put the lid on to cook for 20 mins (until lentils soft) then boil 900g potatoes. Pour lentil mixture in oven proof dish, then slice potatos on top, sprinkle with cheese & back for 20 mins or so at 180o ( I think !) You can also add extra veg to the lentil mix, I use sweetcorn/carrots/peas

Yum yum, serve with fresh toms & cucumber

Can also use beans in lasagne or chili by putting them in a mini chopper. DH thought he was eating veggie mince ( which he likes ) when I did this