Meals on a budget!

Does anyone have any low cost recipe ideas and ways of making food shopping last longer? I always seem to run out of meals midweek and Im spending £70 a week for two! I'm trying to save money at the moment!

Any low - cost recipes would be greatly appreciated

Meals on a budget

Hi I use lots of different websites and blogs by other people to meal share - have you tried meal planning/sharing online? I found this website a while ago and whilst it focuses on potatoes its quite good for ideas as it has lots of options for cheap meals, quick meals, healthy recipes, stuff for kids etc. And potatoes are cheap!

www.britishpotatoes.co.uk.

I also try cooking enough so I can either eat leftovers the next day by adding a couple of extra ingredients or freeze to have on another day. Pies are usually quite good for this and go a long way and are cheap to make. Also have you thought about investing in a slow cooker - you can chuck in a bag of root vegetables with your choice of meat and stock (you can use cheaper cuts of meat as well) and the meal will be cooked by the time you get in from work........you can serve with potatoes, rice, couscous, bread......a stew or casserole from one day can easily turn into a pie topped with mashed potato the next.....another of my favourite things to do is roast up lots of mediterranean vegetables and serve them with meat or fish one day with say a potato side dish (check out the potato website again!) like gratin or boiled new pots with herb butter, then I toss all the leftover veg into some couscous the next day with lemon & seasoning to have with a grilled chicken breast or piece of fish the next......also things like fish pies served with veg are another quick and easy but also filling meal, plus its healthy too......

Meals on a budget

I feed a family of 4 on a budget £70 a week . Write a list of meals you are going to have that week then all the ingredients then try going to your local market for fresh fruit ,veg and meat you will find this makes a big difference

Meals

SPAGHETTI/CHILLI CON CARNE
1b of mince, (more if desired)
1 lagre onion
garlic(garlic powder works well 2, lasts ages)
tomato frito (passata)
tomato puree
kidney beans
chilli powder


cook mince, in some oil, until brown, add a large chopped onion, afew finely chopped cloves of garlic, tomato frito, and tomato puree, there you have it, just add pasta. with the rest left over, add a tin of kidney beans, and some chilli powder, to make into chilli con carne.just add rice. you can freeze this for when you fancy.

SAUSAGE CASSEROLE
pack of thick sausages
carrots
onion
gravy granules
potatos

boil potatos in water until cooked, put in a casserole dish with diced carrots, and chopped onion. pop in the oven, about 180c for 40 minutes, and add with mashed potatoes.

CHICKEN FAJITAS
fajita mix
onion chicken
peppers

fry chicken add mix, with peppers,and onion, heat the wraps.

CHICKEN N SAUCE
chicken
tin of condensed soup, choose your flavour
rice/potatos
put chicken in casserole dish, pour over soup, pop in the oven 180c, for about 45 mins. add to mashed potatos, or rice

hope these recipes help you a little
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Meals on a budget

Hi, I am new to the site: What I do is buy meat from a butchers or I also use millets in Swindon, farm shop. I then seperate it into usable portions and put in the freezer. So £7 of mince easily gets us 5 portions. Also use chicken thighs, or drumsticks, they are alot cheaper and juicy once cooked, just cover them in a paste ( I use soy sauce, tomato paste, very lazy garlic and honey, mix it all together and pour over them, pop in the oven) I probably spend about £50 a week on the two of us, and buy lots of fresh fruit and veg, whatever is on offer that week. Another good tip is when you cook, freeze left overs in portions so when you can't be bothered to cook just stick in the oven or microwave. To make things stretch I also buy risotto rice, you can make anything a meal with that! and keep a can of coconut milk in the cupboard. turns rice and peas with tuna into a tasty meal, or fry off black pepper in a HOT pan once they have expoded stick some tomatoes in garlic a bit of cocnut milk and you can have curried whatever you fancy. I'll stop now but if you want any more or different ideas let me know I have lots!

Filling sausage soup

Cheap and filling dish to feed the whole family...........
Fry off some chipolata sausages and streaky bacon until browned, add some chunky chopped onions and continue frying until onions softened. Add either some chopped fresh tomatoes or just use an economy tin like I do....on top of all this add some chunks of potatoe, as many as your family need. Add 2/3 good stock cubes or better still some fresh stock if you have it, cook until potatoes nice and soft. Test for seasoning and add if needed. Eat in bowls with thick chunks of bread.

More tips

1.Bread- Good supermarkets who sell things like Hedgehog Bread etc. Look out for reductions (i.e.20p) buy a few, cut them up and freeze them. They go nice with LENTIL SOUP, which is another cheap meal (Packet of lentils, packet of bacon mishapes, stock cube, chopped onion, grated carrot if you wish). Its good for you too.

2. Corned Beef Stew- Corned beef, potatoes,veg(carrots,turnip,onion etc)- thrown in a pan of water, lovely!Cost for 3-4 people approx £2.20

3. Chilli con carne- Packet basic mince, tin of ratatouli, cheap tin of bolognaise sauce, touch of chilli powder, mushrooms if you wish, tin of kidney beans. Cost to serve 3-4 people approx £2.20

Cheap meals

Hia. Im new here. Anyway if you are like me and dont have a lot of time to cook here are some tips I have on how to get the most out of your shopping:-

CHICKEN SUPREME & RICE
If cooking for 3 or 4, instead of using 2 jars of the ready made sauce only use one and add a cheap tim of chicken or mushroom soup. It tastes lovely, and instead of the sauce drying up in the oven and hardly having any left after using one tin you end up with more sauce and it makes the meal more enjoyable.
I suppose you could adapt the same methods with other things too. Will get back to you with more.Cheers
PS_ Dont cook too much rice like I always do (Im not a good judge at rice) I end up throwing the rest out.

Budget meals

You can`t go wrong with good old jacket potatoes filled with anything you fancy served with a salad.

Meal planning is the key!

Don't just go through the supermarket and think, oh, i can make meals out of this stuff. Instead, sit down and plan what you want to eat that week, including breakfast and lunch. Then write down your shopping list and stick to it.

At most, for a family of four, you should be looking at spending no more than £45 a week, and this should include ALL your shopping.

I am not talking about junky food type meals either. You can do balanced meals WITH a pudding every day for this price.

There is even an ebook available for sale that talks about meal planning strategies, and has sample emal plans with the recipes for those who don't know how, or don't have time to plan. I wrote it so won't spam the sales site, but if interested, just PM me. I will give a hint though pmsl. Title of this thread and a uk web addy suffix :P

Feeding family of four on £45

Whaaaaaaaaaat??? i am surely doing something severely wrong here cos i spend between £70 and £130 a week on shopping. Ok, this includes things like nappies, wipes, toothpaste etc and i hope that £45 is just for food!?!?!? Can you give me some details as to what meals you do and how you budget, plan your meals, and snacks too for the week!!!

Oh, i really need the help so we can get saving some!!!! Thanks for this thread - big eye opener for me!

Hi

hi im interested in your recipes and other stuff if you could please get back intouch with me when you get a min thank you karen

Budget meal planning

Hi
new to site. Just read you write up on budget meal planning, interested to see how one can feed a family of 4 on around £45 a week. I am spending a small fortune just can;t seem to make the money last - food is so exoensive - what am I doing wrong. are details of ebook still avaiable, thanks Angela

Tom, mozzarella and basil salad

If you can splash out on mozarella once in a while, this livens up your tomato salad:

Slice tomatoes and arrange on a plate.
Roughly chop mozarella and sprinkle toms.
Tear up a few leaves of fresh basil and sprinkle on top.
Grind black pepper over top and drizlle with plenty of olive oil.

this is a great summer salad, and can be eaten with pasta and pesto or just on it's own. Great if youfind yourself with loads of toms.

Hi lennylover1

Just given me a good simple idea for a starter tomorrow thanks.....molliecollie

Hi molliecollie!

I know it's not very 'budget' with the mozarella, but as long as you always have tomatoes, it's great, especially for people who grow their own herbs. Hope your guests like it

Budget foods

click onto this site for egg recipes it's a good one and doesn't involve just eggs, go on give it a try. www.eggrecipes.co.uk.
let me know what you think of it.

Hi!

we have the same problem... I find chickpeas and other bulky things go a long way, I know chickpea curry doesn't sound that interesting, but it's filling!

We also always cook big portions so we've got enough for a couple of meals as well.

We've just bought a blender too, so are addicted to soups! We usually eat half and freeze half. It's so easy and is really good for you, eating healthily is so important, even on a budget.

Will try and think of more ideas for you and have a look through recipes at the weekend

Same for lentils!

and as many fruit and veg as you can, although I knwo sometimes it's not very cheap!
I'll look for some recipes for you too

Great idea

well i got a fantastique link in which i am sure that u will loads of good recipes . try it out
http://www.imsickofbeingfat.com/forum/2807-fruits--vegetables-promot e-weight-loss.html
hope you will love it
see ya