DESPERATELY need cheap meal ideas

interzen

If you've got a Chinese or Indian supermarket nearby (a 'regular' supermarket will do at a pinch - look in the 'world foods' section) then it's worth picking up a 10kg bag of rice.

I'm a bit of a curry fiend and it takes me ages to wade through 10 kilos of basmati Although rice prices have gone up quite a bit recently, buying in bulk is a lot cheaper and since it's a dried product it effectively keeps forever if you keep the bag somewhere cool and dry.

I'm not vegetarian (but I'm diabetic *and* allergic to dairy products, which makes life interesting) but one of my favourite meals is quick-n-dirty chickpea and lentil dhal:

• 1 cup chickpeas (soaked and boiled. Or use tinned)
• 1 cup green lentils (soaked and boiled. Or use tinned)
• 1 tsp tamarind (optional, but gives a nice flavour)
• Curry paste to taste (I use Patak's Vindaloo paste, or you could fake it with curry powder)
• Tomato puree to taste
• Couple of small onions, fried (red onions work best)
• Garlic (optional, add to taste - dried works best)

Boil up the lentils and chickpeas - when they're done, bung the whole lot into a pan or pressure cooker until everything has cooked down. Serve with rice or on its own. The net result is low fat, practically sugar free, dairy free and lots of fibre.

Another favourite from my student days is 'poor man's pizza', which involved toast, tomato puree, dried herbs and cheese plus any other toppings you like. Spread tomato puree on bread, put cheese+toppings on the top and then chuck it under the grill. Sadly, the dairy allergy has put paid to this for me

HTH.

Always_Harassed

Look at the vegetarian society website for some good recipes. One I tried was a lentil curry. If your daughter wants some meat in it just make it up and put some meat in it. Asda sells salmon scraps for 88p and that would be enough to add to a couple of stews, curries etc.

dcds47

Have you checked out the Quorn web site, it gives recipes.

**Upsy_Daisy**

Spinach pancakes - my kids love em and people are amazed when my kids say their favourite food is spinach

Pancakes (8oz flour 2 eggs pint milk s&p)

1lb frozen spinach and cheese sauce

Make pancakes - above mix should make around 8-10

make cheese sauce (about 1 pint of milk 1.5 oz butter and flour) chuck in spinach

Put a dollop of sauce into pancake, roll up and bobs your uncle

I usually put a dollop of sauce on top of pancakes just to keep moist

What you don't eat can be frozen for a quick meal

Delicious - the kids will love it

moyilla

claire21 wrote: »

use coupons as cash at Tesco to help your money go further.

Have a look at the discount/voucher forum and see the "sticky" at the top of the page - printable coupons. There is probably £25 of coupons there if you havent downloaded them already. Some you can print twice so there is another £15 roughtly.

Again use the Old style board.

PS Buy the Sun every day this week for £5 off a £30 spend at Morrisions but can be used at Tesco and use with the printable vouchers.

Thank you for this information Claire21, I didn't know you could do that

angel13

babs2008 wrote: »

I missed that too

There are plenty of falafel recipies around, so it'd maybe be worth a try at home made.

asda (where the poster shops) have falafel mix - its a dried mix in a bag in with beanfeast and that sort of thing. I think its 78p and will be plenty for two of you. Last time I did it we had it with salad, cous cous and wraps. delicious at the moment wraps are on offer there for 80p.

also does your asda do home delivery? I manage to get quite a lot of good bargains from getting it delivered as usually in stock unlike when the shelves are empty. plus if you have a list you stick to it. If you find a free code online you wont even have to pay for delivery.

not especialy healthy but this week frozen large yorkshire puds are on offer (3 for a £1) and veggie saussages - pack of 6 for a £1. We had that tonight with ltos of yummy fresh veg so meal for 3 adults cost me £3 and it was a treat as I didnt have to spend ages cooking :eek:

i cant believe i randomly know the prices that asda are selling things for :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

stephen77

rice, flour for bread making (tastier as well), pasta, potatoes can all make good buly fillers. Some veg is always on offer as well.

Write a average week shopping list out. then we can anaylsis more carefully or offere potential saving.

stephen77

wordsfan wrote: »

casseroles/stews, pasta, stir frys/curry's. would also like tips on making own sauces for these and other meals and advice on what can and can't be frozen.

Thanks in anticipation of the great ideas i know i'll get.

WF

1) flour, milk and butter(some deals on butter make it cheaper) can make a nice sauce.

2) tinned chopped diced tomatoes 33p a can.

For both of the above suace, Buy a variety of dried herbs and flavour mixes, eg cajun spice, tex mex in the spice rack.
Fresh chilles are £2.99kg at asda in the loose section. I only buy about 5 chilles at a time or they will go off. 5 chilles weigh about 6 g so only cost 6p. I think the bag weighs nearly as much as the produce. Ignore the pre-packed they are are about 10 times the price.
Fresh ginger is not to much as your only use a bit at a time.
I do this to give a vareity of flavours to basic sauces.

Pizza bases are cheap to make, just need a little flour and water. You can use tomato sauce and value cheese. Cost well under £1 for a big margehetia. As the dough if fresh it taste really good as well.

shoperholicnot

red lentil lasange very nice easy cheap

Mixed bean curry/casserole

aubergine bake

aduki bean shepherds pie..very cheap, easy

Lentil and tomato soup, you can make about 3 pints for about 80p, really nice too

barrymung

Don't be afraid to shop at more than one supermarket.

For instance, I buy fruit and veg at Lidl where it's fresher and cheaper but by my milk at Asda where it's cheaper.

After a while you tend to remember the best places for particular products.

Also, don't be afraid to try cheaper products. A lot of the time you won't notice the switch to own brands.