Your Cheapest Evening Meal.

oops_a_daisy

skintstudentbabe wrote:

my fave cheap meal is as follows:
i tin of tomatoes (aldi plum toms 13p)
2 handfuls of pasta (aldi (50p a kg) bout 15ps worth)
a small onion finely chopped (bout 8p)
one clove of garlic finely crushed (5p)
grated parmesan cheese (10p)
mixed dried herbs (1p)
olive oil (3p)

fry the onion and garlic gently in the oil. add the tinned tomatoes, breaking them up as you go along. leave to simmer for as long as poss til thick and pulpy.then add mixed herbs. meanwhile cook pasta as directed. wen pasta is cooked drain and tip bck into pan. pour over the tomatoes and mix together gently. sprinkle with parmesan and serve.

this costs me bout 50p and fills me up no end!!!!!!!!!!!

I do a tomato sauce the same as this but instead of pasta I make lasagne with it. Lasagne from Asda is 27p for a pack and I make a white sauce with butter, milk and cornflour ( sorry cant price that but doesnt cost much ) pinch of nutmeg and season.
I put a layer of white sauce in the bottom of a oven proof dish, then layer lasagne, tomato sauce, lasagne, white sauce, lasagne, tomato sauce, lasagne then white sauce on top and grated cheese and parmesan. Then cook in the oven for about half hour. Serve with HM bread toasted with olive oil and crushed garlic on and any veg thats in. My Daughters favourite meal

Brassic

Mine is tomato pasta. For 2 people :

Ingredients :

1/2 onion
tin tomatos
Handful of grated cheddar cheese
Egg - beaten
Basil & Oregano
S&P
Cup of Pasta - I use penne.

Cook pasta as directed on packet. Meanwhile - Fry up onion in oil until soft, then add tin tomatos, herbs and seasoning. Cook for 15 -20 minutes on medium to reduce slightly. Strain pasta and add to tomato sauce, then add grated cheese. Stir til melted and add the beaten egg, stirring round briefly to coat all the pasta, but not to cook until set. Serve with crusty garlic bread and/or side salad and a glass of red plonk.

Without the sundries, and using value ingredients, this costs merely pennies.

[Deleted User]

The leisure club where I go to swim in Gillingham do a tuna cheese melt .It is basically a large jacket spud with about half a tin of tuna on top and covered with cheese and shoved under the grill.They charge 3.95 for it but I can do two for about £1.25

Raspberry_Swirl

i don't think you can beat the value range tinned tomatoes made into a pasta sauce. so cheap and versatile!

bluekp

Pack of 4 Tesco Value chicken & vegetable/minced beef & onion pies. (0.79p)
Approx 1/2 kg of Tesco Value Potatoes - mashed (0.13p)
2 x Tins Tesco value baked beans (0.30p)

Grand total £1.22 for 4 people or £0.31 each! (and the pies are yummy too!)

Gingham_Ribbon

I like value beans on hm bread, toasted. A bit of chilli powder in the beans or a grating of cheese peps them up too. Costs pennies, but the HM bread does make it really tasty.

lilmisskitkat

A few of our fave cheapy meals:

Pasta with baked beans and cheese (a firm fave of DD's)

Toasties

Cheesy potato bake - i make it very similar to Black-saturn's recipe

Cheesy broccoli pasta - cooked pasta, broccoli mixed together with a cheese sauce, put in ovenproof dish and top with grated cheese and breadcrumbs. Sometimes add a tin of salmon if i've got one in the cupboard.

Chickpea and spinach curry - tin of chickpeas, tin of value chopped toms, few blocks of frozen spinach, an onion (and any other spare veg lying around) and some curry powder. Don't know any quantities, i just chuck it in and hope for the best lol

Tomato pasta (seems to be a popular one on here!) - tin of chopped toms, pinch of sugar, chopped onion, garlic cloves/garlic puree, tsp dried mixed herbs. Fry onion and garlic in oil until soft, add all other ingredients and simmer until sauce is reduced and thickened. Pour over cooked pasta and top with grated cheese.

Kate xxx

wotnext

Serves 4

2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
50g split red lentils
800ml vegetable stock
2 teaspoons mixed herbs
2 onions, chopped
2 peppers, chopped
2 teaspoons tabasco sauce

Place all the ingredients in to a saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer for 35 minutes. I serve with a nice crusty loaf or roll.

Not just cheap, but easy too! I usually freeze half, which makes a nice simple dinner for another day.

wotnext

Serves 2

Tin of baked beans
2 shallots or 1 small onion
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1 teaspoon curry powder
15g sultanas (optional)

Place the beans in a saucepan with the shallots/onion, tomato puree, curry powder and sultanas. Heat through gently and simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Divide between two bowls and serve with toasted pitta bread (cut in to slices) or inside the pitta bread. Alternatively, serve on toast as an alternative to normal beans on toast.

Cheap and easy, and low fat too!

skintstudentbabe

id also recommend buying a recipe book aimed at students.. meals tend to be inexpensive and filling...
also shop around for best deals and try cheaper supermarkets like aldi.....
i also make sure i have dried pasta, tinned tomatoes, sliced ham, bread, cheese, tinned soup (oxtail is my fave)onions, peppers, potatoes, carrots, apples and yoghurts in store. it is possible to make a cheap filling warmin meal from these basics. try cheaper cuts of meat casseroled with cheap veg and a stock cube. the economy ranges (especially sainsburys basics, tesco value and asda smart price) can sometimes b good too especially for meat and fruit and veg. if your looking for budget alcohol then tesco and sainsburys do v drinkable wine for £2.10 and aldi have a 4pk of lager for £2.69. im a student and i spend a MAX of 30 quid a week on grocery shopping (that includes meat and alcohol!!!)i visit aldi tesco asda and sainsburys and also use local butchers and markets. just EXPERIMENT and have fun!!!!!!