what are your best bargain food buys/ cheap meals?

[Bagpuss]

A couple of useful website for ideas are
Cheap Family Recipes | Low Cost Meals | Reduce Food Bills | Eat For Less Money

Old Style MoneySaving - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums

[buzzingtalk]

Lindy - it is bloody expensive! But its worth it, if you have the time and inclination to be very tight with your food and save EVERYTHING and I mean everything haha! It is a very rewarding lifestyle but only if you have the time to really learn how to cook - and I mean learn to cook everything from scratch. I make my own lasagne, I even made my own worcester sauce to put in a shepards pie, I make vegan cake etc. Its taken a good few years to learn but it is lovely surprising people with tasty food that they just didn't think was possible!

This is where I got the idea for veggie burgers from - but i adjust it according to what veg i have. most veg tends to work fine as long as you get the moisture out by salting the more moist veggies. the main bit of it is the oatmeal and breadcrumbs. i sometimes usually add some tomato puree and spices to this recipe, and balsamic vingar and oil if it is a bit dry. you can also make tofu burgers, as well as proper veggie burgers. they are all on that website, and i take the ingredients with a pinch of salt - substitute any veg on there for something cheaper if you need.

[buzzingtalk]

gah that link didnt come out.

Veggie Burger Recipe - Vegan Lentil Burgers - The Veggie Table - Vegetarian Recipes and Info

[northepaul]

i always watch hfw, and will look on the website for recipes. that ham and pea soup sounds just up my street. ( maybe i should have titled to thread' how to widen my sons food horizons'!!) p.s. more recipe ideas please

If you cant find the recipe, let me know and I'll pop it into the 'season to taste' section when I have a minute

My son is a bit like your lad by the sounds of it, he likes to have meat pretty much everyday.
What I did for him, when I visited him in the summer, was show him how to make bulk meals. (Hes at uni BTW)
We made
Chilli
a beany bolognaise sauce
&
chicken curry.

I have to admit I threw my ethics out the window somewhat, because he simply doesnt have the money to buy free range meat/veg etc.

We bulk bought some reasonable quality beef mince (1kg for £5) and added some tinned borlotti beans (3 for £1) mushrooms, onions, (basics cost £1 for them) italian seasoning (50p) and tins of basics tomatoes (19p each) 1 garlic (19p)
We made 11 large portions of sauce with half the mince, and used the rest in Chilli, which is mince, kidney beans (19p tin) mushrooms, onions, pepper, (pack was 50p ish)chillis (I brought some up with me, but also bought him a jar of flakes at 80p) and tins of basics tomatoes.
Made 8 portions of sauce. (Enough for 2 meals per portion)

Chicken curry:
chicken peices (£5 for 2 kgs I think..) various veg left over from the last sauces, ginger, chilli garlic, (I bought the ginger with me) some indian spices mix (£1.59 - quite expensive but a big jar) basics yougert (39p half litre x 2) and tins of toms.
Made 15 individual portions.
(All then frozen)
Costs just under £20

Also bulk bought some pasta and rice.

Taking it to £24


Thats enough for 54 days worth of main meal.


I dont know if thats any help??

[stella]

I got a big bag of brussels in lidl today for 29p, good thing we like them. can anyone give me thread for the River cottage food please

[binley100]

try this-
River Cottage Every Day | Food | Channel4.com

[northepaul]

Also, I would heartily recommend the book River Cottage Everyday - its the most bashed and stained cookbook I have got, but thats cos we use it, err well pretty much everyday

[buzzingtalk]

is there much veggie/vegan food in the river cottage book? i do love RC but dont know if i would stretch to a book if its mostly meat

[northepaul]

Its divided into sections: breakfast, fish, meat, veg, fruit and treats.
Dont know if it's worth buying if you are vegan...??

[Dottie]

Did you make use of the great deals big brands for less had on these last couple of months? I bought loads of tins of soup and baked beans for 3p a tin. I'm not a baked bean fan, but love pulses, so I rinse off the sauce and just use the cooked beans in whatever I'm cooking and also make hummus with them. 4 x 3.5kg bags of pizza mix for £1.00 (each bag making 71 pizzas). Stock up when the prices are silly and your sorted. The offers are not as good this month, but there are still some good buys.

I have always made loads of stews, soups etc in bulk and then freeze in smaller portions. As someone has already mentioned, you can make curries for next to nothing and use up home grown veg or pop out to the big supermarkets an hour or so before they close, and you get loads of veg ready chopped really cheap. And curries can go on anything, I'd defrosted a chicken curry and a mixed veg curry yesterday and had it as a main meal. But today I decided to use the left over curries on some of the pizza bases I made, yum yum.

I used to pop home for lunch and cook a cheap packet of prawn flavoured noodles, add some frozen peas near the end and then mix in a tin of tuna. It was tasty, quick and eaten while watching Loose Women, before going back to work. Zazen999 does something similiar, but I wouldn't be able to manage 2 packets of noodles in one sitting, but maybe it was for 2 folk to eat?

[Dottie]

is there much veggie/vegan food in the river cottage book? i do love RC but dont know if i would stretch to a book if its mostly meat

Check out your library website, it usually covers the whole county and not just your local library. 50p to order a book, but once you have the book you don't pay for it again if renewing. Also if there are books you think might be of use but need a review before ordering, then check the review on Amazon.

Join freecycle and make a request for cookery books, I've given loads of cookery books away on there. As these days I'm more likely to check the internet for new ideas or recipes, just tap in your ingredients and there's likely to be loads of recipes that will pop up.

[Patchninja]

Beans and greens is nice.

Get fresh white beans or soak dried.
Cook 20 mins (or until tender) in unsalted water and drain.
Soften an onion and some garlic in oil, add the beans, some stock, a little tomato paste, and chopped cooked bacon if desired and cook until the sauce is nice and, well, saucy!
Add a load of sliced cabbage and cook until tender. Very cheap and delicious.

[Polly Fouracre]

Oh, Patchninja, I'll make that for supper tonight, it sounds delicious.

[Marthaclematis]

I made about 8 portions of cabbage soup on Saturday from half a left over cabbage, and it is lovely - really creamy (but no added cream). I find sprouts make a lovely soup too.
1 onion and one stick of celery softened in oil.
Add chopped cabbage and a knob of butter
Stir for 15 mins.
Add stock (I use boullion but any will do) about 2pts.

Simmer for 20 mins then wizz in pan with hand held blender.

It was really tasty and delicious... dh was going to throw the cabbage away. I'm glad I got to it first.

[Two_Sheds]

i ... would like to know your fav. ideas to make a tasty filling meal without meat

Think of the cost of cooking fuel too. I batch cook several meals at once, then freeze in individual portions (so we don't have the oven on more than once a fortnight). Overnight thaw, quick zap in the microwave, tastes lovely.

I also use the hob instead of the oven wherever possible.

My meals tend to be lotty vegetables (salad, stir fried, souped or curried) with beans for protein, dressed with a chilli sauce or salad dressing. A little cheese for topping & flavour. I add salt & pepper cashews (Aldi) too. I'll have Quorn now and again if it's on offer, same with nut-burgers.

Himself gets what I have, with some meat added. I buy the meat when it's on its Last Legs in the supermarket then batch cook & freeze (about 3pm for the best deals).

I reckon my meals cost about 50p or less, and His are £1 or less (that's a rough guesstimate, I don't count up).