Economy Gastronomy- HELP!

hellywelly5

How about buying a fresh chicken - Tesco's £2.99? First day you can roast it in the oven, eating it hot with a whole bag of Tesco's £1 steam veggies. Second day for lunch, cut some up for sarni's/rolls and in the evening heat some up in a cheap can of curry sauce and serve with rice or pasta. Third day take some more in a couple of cheap wraps for lunch and in the evening, enjoy cold with a big jacket potatoe. Very healthy, varied and cheap.

Eltee12

This is a good ‘can’t be asked’ recipe. I usually dish out the quantities by eye and depending on how much pasta I have around. Can be adapted for meat-free diet using Quorn or other meat-free saussies .
Can be frozen - keeps well in fridge for 2-3 days

Ingredients

For the sauce:
A small glug of olive oil
A small glug of red wine (or water)
1 medium onion, roughly chopped, but not too big-ly
A big fat garlic clove or 2 chopped finely, or crushed
A large tin of chopped tomatoes
A large squish of tomato puree
Half teaspoon sugar
Salt & pepper
Dash of hot chilli powder (or other spice you like)
Beef (or vegetable) stock cube
Handful of whatever dried herbs you fancy

For the sausages & pasta:
8 sausages, cooked to your preference and chopped into nice chunky pieces
Enough cooked pasta (I use penne) for 4 people

Method:
Gently heat the olive oil in a largish frying pan/wok
Add the onion and garlic, cook until softened
Stir in the tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, sugar
Add the glug of wine (or water), bring to the boil, stirring frequently
Reduce to a simmer, add crumbled stock cube, herbs salt & pepper and chilli to taste
Allow to simmer slowly for about 20 mins (or until you can’t wait any longer)
Add cooked sausage and pasta, heat through
More seasoning if you like
Sprinkle with grated cheese and stick in a hot oven till all nice and melty
Serve with a nice crispy salad and garlic bread (and the rest of the wine)

Mmmmmmm - might have to make this tonight myself!

Eltee12

Puddingpennies wrote: »

Oh I forgot to say, whilst I've been over here I've been taken in by the flylady thread, so much so that I've printed the list and will be trying it at home on my own this week! At this rate I'll be a domestic godess in no time :rotfl:

SNAP! I'm a new DFW and I joined Flylady last week - amazed how well it's working. This week is deffo a lot less daunting and took less time to complete the tasks.

Another recipe - might have already been posted - veg chilli n rice

leftover veggies cut into bite-size pieces
tin of tomatoes
tin of beans
stick em in a saucepan with some water or stock
add some seasoning & chilli powder/flakes

bring to boil, reduce heat, simmer for 20 mins
serve with rice - yum

hevgoodwin

Hi,

This might be a helpful tip for cooking equipment/kitchen appliances.

Type into your computer search bar "freecycle (your area)". Its a great way of getting stuff FOR FREE. A slow cooker is a great tool as can cook everything in one pot overnight or while you are at work.

If you can - look at the older cookbooks that show how it used to be done by granny where it was a waste not want not time (try local library).

When you are a more confident cook - don't use cookbooks but develop what we in our house call "sling it and bung it" cookery. Sling it all together and bung in the oven - it usually has 2 chances and have made several successful meals out of odds and sods.

Always remember if someone else has chopped it up or prepared it for you it will cost you lots more. Become a DIY preparer.

Basic ingredients - spuds, pasta, rice, tins of toms, herbs, garlic make the basis of most meals.

Hope this helps.

oldschool

Check out Love Food Hate Waste site for tips your Granny would give you. Lots of recipes and money saving ideas. My fav which I put on there is bulk out mince with poridge oats it helps thicken too.

oldschool

We always had a lot of 'concoctions' when I had 5 teenagers to feed. I'd go thro' my cupboards & fridge see what I'd got then throw a bit of this and a bit of that in and it usually turned out pretty good. Only thing is I could never remember what I'd put in so couldn't replicate it.Teens are now middle aged and have given me 12 grandchildren so couldn't have been bad!

freewayz

My best ever cheap meal is :
A few potatoes cut up and boiled (peeled or not )
packet of mince fried up with onions and a good glug of soy sauce and 1/2 teaspoon garlic granules. Salt and pepper to taste.
Mix the mince with the potatoes in an oven proof dish add a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup diluted with a little milk..bake till bubbly....
Serve with a bit of warm bread and butter
tasty quick and cheap. very few ingredients

Hime

At the end of the week rummage through the veg drawer, julien everything, stir fry it, if you like add garlic, soy and ginger, chillie is good too. If you have any bits of bacon, or chicken or beef or fish add them too. Then toss in some noodles and you have chow mein! (or yaki soba...which costs heaps at Wagamama)
Another cheapie is to finely chop veg, bacon, chicken, fish, prawns(!) etc (cooked) then add it to a pancake mix of flour egg and water. I use water flavoured with stock to give it more flavour. Mix all the veg into the pancake mix and cook. Top with brown sauce and voila...you have a Japanese omelette...(or okonomiyaki). Serious fans add a sprinkle of nori and a blob of mayo!
For a fiddly but yummy dish, add finely chopped left over veg, onion, egg and a little mince to make a burger like paste. Put half a teaspoonful into the centre of wanton wrappers, seal the edges and pan fry at low heat in an oiled skillet or pan. If they look too hot, splash with half a cup of water, put a lid on and steam on low. A splash of soy or chilli with these is delicious. Serve with rice if you need to bulk up.

pixie1

I dont know if this has been suggested already but why dont you join your local freecycle group and ask for a small freezer? Most councils charge to dispose of these now so you may well get one for free

Good luck

Pix
x

bigsmoke

hi there

a great singleton tip i picked up here on OS is to freeze any leftover wine into cubes in an icecube tray - this stops you having to open a bottle if you want to add a splash to recipes (like several of the ones above), just drop a cube or two in instead.

of course, this does rely on every having any wine leftover!!