Meals Ideas Needed

charley24 · 2 November 2005 at 11:39AM

Hiya I am a newbie and enjoying the site very much !

Being a buy everything processed, out of a packet, ready meals kinda gal, I am now ready to embrace home cooking, for the sake of my purse and my 2 children.

I am clueless ! I need some ideas for good food that I can make, and also any receipes if you can !

I would like to make a meal planner so need some good suggestions.

Currently I have:

Pea and Ham Soup (My friend has given me receipe)
Cheese and Potato Pie (Pastry..............help) !
Lasagne
Tuns and Potato Cakes

And thats about it ! Anyone care to share some good receipes with me!

Bargain_Rzl · 2 November 2005 at 11:53AM

We have a huge recipe index on this site. Start off by following the link to "Indexed Collections" in the dark blue bar towards the top of this page.

HTH

squeaky · 2 November 2005 at 11:55AM

Hiya,

We have loads of recipes:)

However, to start you off on pastry there's no place better than the Be-ro web site.

http://www.be-ro.co.uk/f_insp.htm

Click on pastry on the right hand side and then choose shortcrust. it's bullet proof standard pie pastry.

Then there's the Cooking section of the MEGA Index sticky at the top of the forum listing where you'll find all sorts of meal ideas and whole threads on what to do with indiviual foods that you might have in your larder or cupboard.

And last but not least we have over four hundred tried and tested recipes in our main Recipe Collections.

You can find these via the "Our Collections" in my signature any time you see it or...

..you can use the Indexed Collections link in the Blue Bar at the top of every page which looks something like this:-

Edit: Crossed with bargain rzl again - must learn to type faster

Lucie_2 · 2 November 2005 at 12:12PM

Charley24

As the previous posters have mentioned, the recipe collection on here is fab, however 400 recipes might be a bit daunting for a newcomer!

As most of us like nothing more than discussing food (insert greedy rubbing tummy smilie here), why don't you tell us what sort of things you like to eat & we'll try to come up with some ideas. At the very least we can point out the recipes in the collection you might like to try. What are your favourite ready meals? There is usually a home made version that one of us will have tried at some point or another.

Magentasue · 2 November 2005 at 12:28PM

If you're making meat based lasagne, could you pad it out with veg/pulses and make double. Next day, top with mash for shepherd's pie. If it's a veg lasagne, make double and turn half into chilli for next day.

Sarahsaver · 2 November 2005 at 12:49PM

welcome!
I cook up a load of pulses and then some of it becomes curry, some veggie chilli, some soup, some veg crumble - like a sweet crumble but with cheese, salt and pepper in the topping instead of sugar. I do a weekly plan but it is never the same every week. Today we have rabbit stew and pasta, done in the slow cooker. (a whole rabbit only cost £2.50)
OUr favourites are:baked potatoes with toppings, pancakes with fillings, chicken curry or biryani with naan bread (make that too) homemade pizza, omelettes with the crinkly past-its-best veg in them, chinese food made at home - crispy seaweed, egg fried rice and veg or meat to go with it, noodles, and my boys love anything which is seafood, except kippers. These things occur more often on our menu, and we do tend to have a proper sunday dinner with roasties etc, then use the leftover meat the next day, after that make stock with the bones.
Welcome, you will learn so much here, save so much money, and hopefully have fun too!

black-saturn · 2 November 2005 at 3:16PM

I felt the same as you when I first started on the Home Made stuff. What I basically tried to do was to make Home Made versions of the things I knew they liked like fish fingers, chicken nuggets (made with pieces of chicken breast not loads of crap like shop bought ones) and pizzas. Then I started to expand a bit. My children really love roast dinners too so that helps. Invest in a slow cooker too. Apart from my kettle that is the most overworked gadget in my kitchen!!

ka7e · 2 November 2005 at 4:11PM

I draw up a monthly meal plan, with variations to take advantage of seasonal veg etc. I also take into account days when meals have to be staggered (children's activities/working) or cooked in advance, or cooked in a very short time.
Stews, spag bol sauce, soups etc.can all be frozen in individual portions.
The advantage of a monthly plan is that I can buy regularly used ingredients in bulk when they are on special offer - I also have 2 freezers for the same reason.

lilmisskitkat · 2 November 2005 at 4:29PM

I cook up large batches of things like chilli, bolognese, curry, casserole etc and freeze it into portions of the amount i know will be eaten (so no waste), then i use these on days when i'm going to be out and not able to prepare and cook a meal. Just add rice/pasta/veg to go with them. If i'm going to be out all day i take a box of Chilli con carne or something out of the freezer the night before and defrost overnight, then before i go out i cook some rice, drain and leave to cool. When i get home it only takes minutes to heat up - great when you're in a rush and the kids are starving.

Saves all those 'oh sod it, we'll go to the chippy' days!

I shop weekly so have a weekly meal plan, i only plan main meals but breakfast and lunch tend to be the same sorts of thing every week ie. cereal/toast/porridge for breakfast, beans/spaghetti/eggs on toast, soup and bread, sandwiches, jacket potatoes etc for lunch. I bulk out mince by using grated carrot, diced onions, lentils etc.

Be inventive with leftovers - i had a small amount of bolognese left the other day, enough for 1 person but i made it stretch by adding a tin of value beans and topping with mash and grated cheese, baked for 20 mins it fed both myself and DD.

Things like lasagne, shepherds pie etc you could make up in bulk and freeze in individual portions - then you have your own 'ready meals' to hand a lot cheaper (plus you know whats in them!)

Good luck, this really is the best place to be in for budgetting advice!

Kate xxx

Bargain_Rzl · 2 November 2005 at 5:02PM

I do exactly the same as Kate, though normally I'm just cooking for myself.

I draw up a meal plan to a certain extent, but generally AFTER I've stocked up the freezer. Basically I look out for pure meat products - chicken breasts, fish fillets, mince, smoked salmon, steaks etc - when vastly reduced just before closing time at the supermarket. Then I work out what I can do with them and buy other supplementary ingredients.

If it's been a slow week at the Reduced to Clear fridge, I have a few staple veggie dishes which work out very cheap to cook, like penne with butterbeans, or pasta in a tomato & veg sauce etc, which I buy the ingredients for from Lidl. I try to make new things every few days so I don't end up eating four portions of the same thing for four days running - lol.

I do also buy the occasional reduced to clear soup or ready meal.

Last weekend I made:
Tagliatelle with smoked salmon & cream sauce (5 portions)
Chicken pasta bake (3 portions)

And I ate:
Saturday lunch: 2 portions of chicken pasta bake as I was starving!
Saturday dinner: portion of fried risotto left over from previous day
Sunday lunch: out
Sunday dinner: Tagliatelle with salmon
Monday lunch: Tagliatelle with salmon
Monday dinner: Penne with beans
Tuesday lunch: Tagliatelle with salmon
Tuesday dinner: Chicken pasta bake
Wednesday lunch: New Covent Garden Pea & Ham Soup (reduced)

More tagliatelle with salmon this evening (soooo nice), and rest of week will be much the same. Will probably cook loads up on Saturday as I have NO PLANS! I can't remember a day when I didn't have to be at work or out in the evening if not both! As the freezer currently contains a kilo of boneless pork and a couple of large cod fillets, I will probably be making a slow-cooked pork curry and a fish pie.

If you're not very confident with cooking, try one of the many student cookbooks available and adjust the ingredient quantities to feed enough mouths. The books tend to be aimed mainly at people who don't know how to cook and can't be bothered to spend much time doing it. If this is you it could be ideal

maggiesoup · 2 November 2005 at 5:19PM

FAJITAS! Sounds dead trendy & posh but my 12 yr old loves them and they're dirt cheap. Basically, get a pack of already made Flour Tortillas (10 for about £1) and then fill with (a) grated cheese (b) sour cream (c) salsa tomato dip (£1 for a jar will give you about 6 small helpings) (c) thin strips of chicken or beef or pork (either leftovers or from scratch). Put all the fillings in little bowls and let the kids help themselves! Sometimes we light a candle and pretend we're in a restaurant (how sad am I!) but he loves it! Also, it gives me the excuse to have a glass of red! Also, scour the fridge sections of supermarkets for reduced stickers, the food is always within its sell by date and you just pop into the freezer and bring out when you need it. Have done this for years and saved a fortune!

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Meals Ideas Needed

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