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Actually it is NOT so glorious, is it? to have to feed a family on a budget. So I have started this topic so that we can all share ideas, recipes and top tips. A well-known TV chef does the "feed your family for a fiver" recipes and some of them are very good in my opinion but a fiver is too expensive considering it only covers one meal a day.
So what's your favourite economical recipe? I am going to do some research and post some recipes on here soon. My top purchase of this week is a jar of curry sauce from a superstore beginning with "M". It is in their cheap range and is 13p. It is delicious! and is medium spicy, I put a bit of extra curry powder in mine but I do like spicy things ;)
Louise
Mango and Apricot chicken!
These quantities are for 2 grown ups
2 Chicken breasts
1 tbsp apricot jam (I use the cheep stuff)
1 tbsp mango chutney (I always own a pot of this)
3 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp Worces' sauce
1 tbsp lemon juice (little plasic lemons are fine)
Mix it all together, pour it over the chicken, cover with foil
cook in oven (180C/350F/G mark 4) for 30 mins or until chicken is cooked.
I tend to chop the chick up 1st into strips.
My 18 mth old loves it and it goes well with rice.
Its stuff I usually always have so I don't notice it costing much apart from the chicken itself
Ooh Louise, great topic!!
One of our favourites is 'bacon rice', cheap, quick and yum!
Fry onions and bacon (and garlic if you wish)
Boil rice
Throw together, add frozen peas (they will defrost over the heat very quicky)
Add lashings of tomato ketchup!! Finito! Viola!!
As my daughter has got older I have taken to adding spinach, peppers and a splash of worcestershire sauce too!!
YUM I knew this would be an interesting topic. My mouth is watering reading the recipes so far. I even climbed up on my step stool to rootle around and confirm that I had some lentils at the back of the cupboard :lol:
A few thoughts from me:
Has anyone ever tried that cheapy pizza base mix stuff (just add water to make the dough)? is it any good?
How about using CONDENSED soup as a sauce for pasta? You can get mushroom, which would go with tuna pasta bake, or tomato that would go onto boiled pasta, perhaps with cheese on top.
Omelettes with various fillings
Tuna and mashed potato mixed together with a small beaten egg and formed into patties to grill/fry
Hummus: tin of drained chick peas mashed, mixed with 1 dry crumbled stock cube, finely chopped garlic and some natural yoghurt. Serve with the cheapest pitta bread (from supermarket beginning with A, it is 29p for 6)
If you are a meat eater, buy bacon bits (cheaper) and also compare prices of mince, for example 500g turkey mince is a pound cheaper than the same amount of beef mince and you can freeze half of it for the next week.
The big stores do packs of offcut smoked salmon for about £1, good to add to pasta or rice.
Bean bake: Soften whatever veg you have around, in a pan and add 1 tin cheap baked beans and bacon bits/ham if you eat meat, some cooked lentils if you prefer. Stick in an ovenproof dish, top with some mash and a bit of grated cheese, bake in oven.
Re cheese to top cooked dishes, get a tub of parmesan, lasts for ages so very economical. I guess you need to build up a a storecupboard of a few things and that will feel expensive the first week or two but then you have them for ages.
Keep the recipes coming and don't forget to recommend your Best Buys, like my 13p curry sauce!
Louise :D
Me and my kids love making home made pizzas and they are really cheap to make..
We use Naan bread as the base, tomato concentrate puree (in the tube) mixed with a little tomato ketchup for the tomato base.... the the toppings are up to you..
My son just has cheese and my daughter has ham, mushrooms, onions covered with cheese. Just put them under the grill for a few minutes and voila!! :D I find its a great kid/parent time!
Another easy favourite is cooked pasta, mixed in with a tin of chopped tomatoes. My kids either have that with cheese on the top or with chopped sausages (tinned hot dog sausages are just as good) or with bacon bits!
Keep the ideas coming as i am always on the look out for new inspiration :idea:
When my parents came to help me out as I was in such a state, my mum cooked lots of food and left it in the freezer so I could just get it out and eat it.
She made lots of lentils, bean stews and chickpea stews. They are full of goodies, have plenty of vegetables so vitamins! and are so very cheap. My butchers bill has gone down dramatically. The only thing is that is better to have a pressure cooker (as its faster to cook them).
For the lentils: Only need the pressure cooker, 2 carrots, 1 onion, 1/2 leek, salt, olive oil, bay leaf, a bit of chorizo (optional, if you have any) water to cover and 1 packet of lentils. No need of soaking lentils, just close the lid and cooked for 20/30 minutes. (You get lots of it so can freeze the rest)
For the chickpeas: (have to soak them the night before)100gr Green beans, 2 carrots, one chicken leg, half a pork rib, water to cover,salt, chickpeas (cook as above)
White beans: (soak the night before) 2 tomatoes, 1/2 leek, 2 carrots, 1 small onion, about 6cm of chorizo (optional but great taste), a pack of white beans (cook as above)
I also make lots of soups: Fry an onion with a bit of courgette till golden brown. Boil whatever vegetables you have and a bit of potatoes. And the onion and courgettes to the boiled veg and water, puree them till smooth consitency and add some gratted cheese for flavour and if desired some vegetable stock cubes. Freeze the extra quantities. Try to have some nice french bread always in the freezer and through it in the oven to serve with the soup.
Hope you enjoy and dont find it to weird!
Yes - cooking extra portions for the freezer is a really good idea! Lets you make the most of stuff on special offer and means you've got a quick homemade meal on a busy evening (are there any other kind . . . ?) I should be disciplined and do more of it myself! Fi x
These ideas all sound gorgeous. The last time I did homemade soup,however, with the virtuous intention of freezing half, I ate the lot :oops:
I have never used a pressure cooker, Francesca, that sounds very efficient. And I had never thought of naan bread bases for pizza (....rushes to revise shopping list.....)
Louise :D
Mmmm mmmmm, this is my favourite topic at the moment!! i love the idea of naan bread and tom puree & ketch, when my daughter was smaller I used to fry onions , different coloured peppers (something she thought she detested!!) and garlic, then added tinned toms and mixed herbs, pureed the lot with and used it as a tom base for pizza, she LOVED it!!
Keep 'em coming!
Another thought... I saw this on the telly and have tried it and its good for a little after noon/school snack
2 wraps
any left over chicken or cooked chicken pieces
grated cheese
Onion (regular, red or spring)
Gently heat a little oil in a frying pan and place one of the wraps in the pan. Put the chicken pieces, onion and grated cheese on top of the wrap. Put the other wrap on top. Let the cheese melt a little, 1 min or so and flip the wraps over using a spatular. Let the other side heat for another min or so, so that the cheese has melted to both sides. Remove and cut into 6.
Of course you can use what ever fillings you like :-D
Wraps are a really good idea, Blusey :) I do a thing with them where I put whatever filling in them (cooked meat, veg) and cover with cheese sauce and bake. I am a mega cheat though as I tend to get a pack of white sauce, make it up and then add cheese. Packet cheese sauce is a bit yukky; have made my own white sauce but it is a bit floury so I get the white sauce pack and add my own cheese...probably my (lack of!) cooking ability. I am interested in your instruction to cut the wrap up...ooh this must be so it looks nice, like cookery programmes ;) I wish I could be as clever as the Ready Steady cooks
Louise :)
I make my own cheese sauce and sometimes it does taste really floury, so add english mustard, yum yum, it completely takes away the flour taste!
Ooh thanks for that Anna, I am sure it would be cheaper to make my own sauce and I love mustard :D
Has anyone got any best buys this week?
Louise
I don't have a best buy this week Louise, but I thought that I might put together a recipe page onto the website if we manage to get 20 varied recipes together.
So come on guys and girls get your thinking hats on and keep those recipes coming!! :lol:
Last week I paid £2.50 for 3 bags of readymade stir fry things in tesco. I chose a bag of egg noodles, a bag of rice noodles and a huge bag of chopped veg, leaves and bean sprouts. We got 8 meals out of it but I never want to see another stirfry again after 4 days of the stuff! ;o)
Wow Harissa, that was a bargain but you were a hero eating it for 4 days. That would be even better for someone with a large family as it would perhaps last 2 days.
Anna, a recipe page would be brill. There are a few ideas already on this thread and I am sure we can all think of more.
My best buy for this week is half price pasta sauce 66p at the place beginning with 'M'...that's if you want a jar. I still think it is cheaper to make your own with own brand tinned chopped tomatoes etc.
Louise :)
I make all my own pasta sauces using tinned tomatoes or passata, tomato puree, bit of garlic and herbs, fried off onion and mushrooms and pinch of salt and pepper. This makes a great base for Spaghetti bolognasie or just with pasta on its own. I also use this with cooked chicken pieces with pasta and grated cheese on the top! My kids love this one :-)
That sounds yummy. Blusey :)
I am ecstatic to discover that my 13p curry sauce has now been slashed in price to.........12p!!!
I would recommend everyone to look at the home page of this site and then click on "Info Library" and the "Looking After you", where there are some food tips and a few tasty yet economical recipes.
Louise :D
If I'm feeing a bit skint, saving for something or other my kids quite often get Spagetti Carbanara as its cheap and takes 20 minuits.
Like this..
Some olive oil in a pan roughly chop up some garlic and sweat it in the oil, while this is doing its thing put a pan of water on to boil with a bit of salt and a splash or two of olive oil in it. Chop up a couple of slices of bacon and few mushrooms put them in the oil, you can omit the bacon if you are a vegetarian, I fish out the bits of garlic too : ) once the water has reached boiling put some spaghetti or tagliatelle in it.
Stand there and watch, siring occasionally, I get my kids to help.
Beat an egg, I get my kids to do this too if I'm in a mood for cleaning bits of egg of walls.
When the spaghetti, tagliatelle, what ever, is al dente, I do like that word, makes it sound like I know what I'm doing, my dad used to throw it against the wall until it would just about stick, so you can do that except it makes a mess, alternatively you can just eat a bit, much easier except you tend to burn your fingers, but besides that, it has to be soft(ish) on the outside but still chewy on the inside, people generally overcook pasta : )
Pour the egg into the drained pasta as soon as its been drained so it still has its heat, mix it up until the egg has cooked, then pour over the oil with the mushrooms and bacon, you can whip some cream till its thick and add that too, I don't though as I'm always on a diet : ) (since I had kids I've just put on so much weight) *sigh*
Serve it with fresh grated Parmesan and sliced French stick (fresh(ish) daily in my local co-op).
The most expensive bit is the Parmesan I suppose as good stuff you can only get from a nice deli and its costs : ) but its bloody gorgeous and so I always have some in the kitchen.
My kids love it (Carbonara) general, depending on what mood they happen to be in... and if they are not, I implement the 'When.. Then' thing I learnt on my parenting classes (the incredible years)... WHEN you have eaten your dinner THEN you can have some pudding : ) apparently you have to use 'when' over 'if' as 'if' sound like there is an option where as 'when' implies that they will be eating it and 'when they have'.... if you see what I mean.. all sounds very good when on paper or if you are sitting in a class full of parents holding A4 handouts, drinking coffee and biscuits while watching videos of perfectly behaving children doing exactly what they are told... and still smiling : )
Thanx for listening
Simon.
Hey bubblegum
That carbonara sounds gorgeous and surprisingly simple! I think we might have that at home tonight!
TOP TIP - I lurve parmesan too, but at the moment we just have the tub in the fridge (you know the stuff that smells like baby sick!) Its a lot cheaper and it does a similar job!!
Have a look in Parenting Support as I am going to start a new topic called 'Best tips from parenting classes' as I think what you say about 'when.... then....' is useful to others. I am going to quote you!
Bring on more recipes!
Oh yes it's my favourite parenting technique, the "First...then", I have just been wittering on about it on another thread.
I have to say it is not a good idea to read this thread before lunch as it always makes me feel hungry. YUM!
Louise :)
That sounds yummy. Blusey :)
I am ecstatic to discover that my 13p curry sauce has now been slashed in price to.........12p!!!
Louise :D
I'm lucky to have a Julian Graves near by and they are incredibly cheap for spices, nuts dried fruit and stuff..
Curry spices, or the base for a sauce at least, can be equal parts coriander, cumin, turmeric, I use about a teaspoon of each and then chilli to taste, a tin of tomatoes, tin of chick peas, lentils, softened slowly in olive oil some chopped up onions, potatoes (add them the last so they don't disintegrate or cook them separately even) and the above spices and you have a nice cheap quick veggie curry, put some raisins in it too, some sesame seeds as well, or what ever really I suppose, I sometimes do it with chicken.
Also, make your own nan bread, its basically just like bread but use yoghurt instead of water and make the dough particularly moist, I use one from Co-op, a Greek style one with honey in it, peshwari nan filling I make from coconut and honey with a bit of cinnamon maybe some almonds.
People always go on about the kitchen being dangerous and keep your kids out, but I say phhhh!! to that, they need to be in there with me so they can grow up knowing how to cook and where food comes from, how it's made, so they don't think it comes out of a box or a packet and stuck in a metal box with buttons on it, or from over a counter from a brightly coloured menu with a number. : ) and it's an excellent time to interact with them as they love to help, my son is mad about doing the dishes!?..? I have to tidy up a bit after him but still... I just hope he wants to do it when he's a teenager as I don't recall being that keen when I was younger : ) in fact I distinctly recall hating it!
Goggle is your friend.. : ) well it's mine anyway, there are millions of recipes out there, the BBC has some good ones here and contrary to popular belief, it doesn't take that much longer to actually cook something basic and healthy than it does to get something out of packet and fiddle about with that. But biggest thing though as a single parent anyway, for me at least, is the cost, cooking from scratch, from fresh, and locally, my food bills per week are about £30, £40 at the most, inclusive of treats... and a bottle of wine for the weekend, maybe even two : )
thanx : )
Gosh there's loads of good idea there, I am sure it is cheaper (as well as healthier) to make as much from scratch as possible.
if you look on the home page at the "news" section, there is a link there to a newspaper article called "A tale of 21st Century poverty", lots of detail about the woman's weekly shopping budget and lots of comments from readers after it. Very interesting!
Louise :)
Hi, it was interesting.
Having recently come from a very run down deprived council estate here in North Wales, I had a couple of friends in a similar situation, living that kind of existence.
I spent a lot of my youth travelling, I visited Central America and Central Africa and saw a lot of poverty and it made me realise how lucky I am to live in a country that gives me money to live, pay my rent for nothing. I was once on an Aeroflot plane trying to explain to the chap next to me that my government gave me money for doing nothing, it seamed incredulous to him a hard working fisherman from the black sea.
I receive similar benefits to the girl in the article and we live quite comfortably and I'm not complaining, there are lots of things I would like but I'll just have to do without them, or save. But that's not to say I don't sympathise with her as I do, as I do with my friends who are in similar situations. As the article touches on, I think that education plays a major role, as does what social class you come from. There are whole estates in Britain, and all across the northern hemisphere, full of people with no hope or future, fed a warped view of the world and how you should be living through TV that they see and will never have.
I realise that my view may not be the most popular : ) and I appreciate that I have been lucky enough to have been born to nice middle class liberal and educated parents.
That's interesting, thinking about peoples' aspirations perceived through the TV :!: I spose when I read the article I wished the lady could come on this board and get some of the ideas you are all offering for cheap and healthy eating.
Louise :)
A couple of quick recipes:
Dried peas (in cardboard packet) follow instructions on the pack to make into loads of pea soup. Add some bacon bits if you eat meat.
Corned beef hash
Fish cakes made with tuna, mash, a small onion and an egg.
My Best Buy of the week....supermarket beginning with A sells value bags of apples and pears for around 70p
Louise :)
Just HAD to share this with you, as it has become a pet project of mine :D
Went to M yesterday to stock up on that cheapy curry sauce and it has now gone down to 10p! I must be the only person in the country buying it :lol:
Louise
I went to M last week, big mistake!! I buy smoked salmon trimmings in Sa it is 88p in Som it is 77p both VERY nice! But the packet i bought in M - not good, it was crunchy! I often eat it for lunch at work with salad for a cheap healthy meal!
EEuuugghhh AND I just remembered that I also bought veggie mince from M, we had it for supper last night - not good either!
Sounds like you won't be shopping there again, Anna! :(
Mentioning smoked salmon trimmings, I have a recipe suggestion. Cook some pasta, drain and return to pan. Add salmon trimmings and cook through for a couple of minutes, stirring so it doesn't stick. Add some natural yoghurt or fromage frais before serving, you can also add cooked mushrooms if you like them.
Louise :)
oohh, yum! That's dinner tomorrow night then!
I have a friend who has a book of recipes to make with just 5 ingredients, which sounds interesting, it is in Swedish, but she says she will translate it and get back to me, I am looking forward to that! :)
:lol: I had visions of that Swedish chef on the Muppets, do you remember him?
I have got a new book on fish cookery. Whilst I was in the shop I saw there were a few books on budget cookery so I sneaked a peek. One of the recipes was for blue cheese pasta. I wasn't aware that blue cheese was cheap! :roll: Anyway I will report back if there are any good fish dishes. I always like to keep a tin of tuna and one of sardines in the house anyway.
My Mum used to do a recipe where you cook some spaghetti then mix in a tin of sardines in tomato sauce, chopped. Very filling!
Louise
Ummmm :? Personally I am not a great fan of sardines :?
But it does sounds a quick, easy, low cost meal :P
I like the sound of blue cheese pasta, it reminds me of when I was in Spain,there is a time of year when they have a Calchotts fiesta (don't know how you spell it!) when loads of restaurants openly barbeque leeks and then serve them with blue cheese sauce. You eat it with your fingers, it was absolutely delicious, even though very messy with chargilled skins etc, but divine. I have tried to recreate it here, but leeks are extremely expensive don't you think??
That sounds gorgeous! I can imagine how messy it would be with the cheese all dripping down though :oops:
I think that fruit and veg in general are too expensive and it is no wonder people find it hard to eat healthily. I know that parents of very young children can get the Healthy Start vouchers but these are only for a very small amount. It would be great if every parent got the vouchers for a decent amount and people on Income Support got twice as much.
I know I am obsessed with 10p food ( :lol: ) but I got some dried noodles from A*** for 10p this week, their own make, find them with the Batchelors Super Noodles. You can get chicken or mild curry flavour. We had the curried ones with stuffed peppers for tea yesterday.
Louise :)
Oh that's interesting, I keep those noodles in the cupboard for when my girl wants food and I'm not hungry, she just rustles them up, I know its not very healthy, but as long as she eats an apple or banana afterwards I'm ok with it! But I have never cooked them with anything...
When she was smaller I was terrible at giving her decent food, I had little or no advice about healthy eating and all I learnt came from other young mums, her meals consisted of spaghetti hoops that went into microwave and potato waffles that went into the toaster, et voila! How dreadful I feel now that I didn't encourage her to eat better, at the time I didn't have the emotional energy to chop, prepare and cook lovely meals. However I am in a much better space now and she will try most things with a little encouragement (or bribery!)
One of her favourite snacks now is a pot of houmous (£1) and carrots, she doesn't even bother to peel or chop them, just dips them straight in! She happily munches that and I feel better that it is not crisps and a chocolate biscuit, which she has already had in her lunch box. :)
I know what you mean about their eating when they were small BUT my eldest was fed a really "holy" diet as a toddler with lots of veggie food, plenty of fruit, exposed to lots of different herbs and spices and food from other cultures......and he grew up into the pickiest teenager you have ever met. At one stage he would only eat tinned ravioli or pepperoni pizza. He's better now but still very picky. With the youngest, on the other hand, I had a pretty relaxed approach and now he is the most healthy-eating teenage boy you could meet, with five or more a day, gym visits, lots of water etc.
Your daughter's snack sounds great and very healthy. I love hummous. Do you ever make your own? I think you can make it with a tin of chick peas mashed, a dry veg stock cube crumbled, some crushed garlic (optional, depending on snogging status) and some natural yoghurt.
Louise :)
Ha ha ha ha!! :lol:
MY DAUGHTER IS DEFINITELY NOT SNOGGING ANYONE JUST YET - as far as I know - yikes!! :shock:
I am going to make some now though, thank you very much!
PS. With EXTRA garlic to cover my back!
Phew on the snogging status! ;)
tried a new recipe this weekend, which I found on the Net.
Risotto (serves 4 adults)
1-2 onions
12 oz rice
oil
tin chopped tomatoes
1 and three-quarter pints of veg/chicken stock (use a cube)
1 tsp chili powder
4oz cheese, cubed
few bits of ham/cooked bacon/sm tin tuna (if you are not veggie)
Soften the onion in the oil, add rice, tin toms and stock, bring to the boil stirring continuously so it doesn't stick. Simmer 10 mins. Add seasonsing and chilli powder. Put in casserole dish, mixing in cubes of cheese and your meat or fish if using. Bake 30 min at 180 degrees.
That will cost a lot less than the "feed your family for a fiver" thing!
Louise :)
Interesting... not so keen myself on risotto, but sounds simple and tasty enough!!!
Last night I made delicious potato and leek soup, leeks can often be expensive, but luckily my next door neighbour had an abundance of them and gave me loads!!
I did 5 leeks, 2 potatoes, 3 carrots and 1 onion, fried them, added nearly 2 pints of stock, some milk and salt and pepper, it was SCRUMMY :P Oh and some thyme for good measure!
Still haven't made the salmon and pasta yet, will let you know!
Very healthy!! I always mean to make my own soups but get a bit lazy. The last one I made was a spicy tomato and lentil one, serves 4, I ate the lot myself in one go so it wasn't very ecomical :shock:
I am trying to grow my own herbs, got a couple of "living herbs" from the supremarket and planted them out.
Louise
Oooh, good for you! I had a window box a couple of years ago and they either died or became so overgrown I didn't know what to do with them.
Have you planted them in the garden, or window box? I would love to hear your tips as I am sick of constantly buying them from the supermarket and then watching them grow old in the fridge! I have tried them in the freezer, but they just seem to be completely soggy when I need them.
A couple of years ago I got some mint and planted it in the garden, it disappeared within 48 hours, we obviously have some nocturnal nibblers round here (and thats just my sons :lol: ) This year it seems to be doing Ok. I have just added chives and parsley and keeping fingers crossed. My friend who grows herbs has them in tubs, I wonder if this is so she can use richer soil? Parsley is notoriously difficult to grow. Will let you know how I get on.
Louise :)
STOP PRESS ! :D :D :D :D
My favourite curry sauce is now...........EIGHT PENCE!!!!!!!!!!
Oh my!! :lol:
Curried chicken, curried baked beans, curried rice, , curry on toast, curried eggs for dinner this week then??!! :lol:
And possibly curried curry! :lol:
Another tip: I never buy chicken cos it is too expensive but I noticed that you can get a bag of FROZEN boneless chicken breasts for £3. I think they are cheaper than the non-frozen cos they are not a uniform size. Anyway I bought a bag and they have done 3 meals for us, so at £1 a meal that's pretty good, especially as I feel it is a "posh" meal with chicken in it!
Louise
Cheep and quick pesto.
A good amount of Rocket (I use half a bag that I get from CooP) chopped into tiny little pieces, a palm full of walnuts crushed into tiny little bits, two garlic cloves crushed (in with the walnuts I do this with a small wooden pastel and mortar) A generous amount of finely grated Parmesan, some salt and pepper a dash of olive oil. Mix it all together, it should have a consistency of something like peanut butter.
Boil some Spaghetti, Tagliatelle, Linguine or something. when it's nearly ready take some of the water and add to the pesto to make it sort of like thick cream (thick lumpy cream maybe, but this is so it will mix with the pasta in the next bit)
Drain the past, and mix in the pesto, serve it with chopped French sticks and more grated Parmesan, eat it.
Takes basically the time it takes for the pasta to cook, put the pasta on and do the pesto while it cooks : )
You can do exactly the same thing with fresh Basil, you can use pine kernels or cashews instead of the walnuts too, any combination of all those. Just google 'pesto alla genovese'
That sounds delish. :D
Curry sauce now SEVEN pence! I think they must be trying to sell it off, I will get stocked up :o
Hoist by my own petard!
Bought some fresh salmon trimmings in M...... Just over a quid. hey that will make two fish pies methinks. Got home and opened the packet. Basically all skin and so little fish on the skeleton that the bin was too good for it. That'll teach me! :oops: :oops: :oops:
Top tip - Get your salmon trimmings from either of the shops beginning with S, both under 90p! They have brown bits in, but no skin and no bones - yummy!
Chicken has been mentioned - turkey is a cheaper and leaner alternative!
I like to make lentil bolognaise (I am a veggie anyway and so are my kids) with 'value' range spaghetti, value tin of tomatoes, some onions, carrots, lentils. Never costed it out but I'm sure ut's dead cheap, quick and yummy. Fi x