6000 meals under 50p in 2010; feeding your family on a low budget

zarazara

this isnt a recipe as such, just a tip, I find peral barley is great for padding things out,and a change from lentils.

mark55man

Reporting back for Wed 10th February

Back out in the country today - blizzards, hail and sunshine.

Today's Summary - 15/18 meals 50p or under
Summary Total - 660/726 = 90.9% = Target 91.3%

Breakfast: 50p or under (6/6)

Lunch: 50p or under (6/6)
OP : Egg Mayo s/w & apple
OH: Packed lunch provided (school trip)
DD1, DS1, DD2 : Quorn chicken sandwich (19p woopsied loaf) = 26p + apple 9p + small bit lettuce or carrot 10p
DS2 : Ham sandwich & Apple = 41p

Supper: 50p or under (3/6) -
OH, OP, DS2 : 10 portions (well a mountain) of Coq a leekie - 2.99 chicken mr S chopped breast, 20p lidl leeks, 750g Lidl rice 93p, 3 carrots 30p, 2 stock cubes 10p = £4.12 - half in freezer 3 eaten today 2 left out for tomorrow = 41p each
DD1, DD2, DS1 : 250g Spaghetti (26p) with quornballs (£1 - Mr S Special a while ago) + 100g cheese = 64p = £1.86 = 62p each

zarazara

yummmmmmmmm

mark55man

thanks zara

if the kids are not on one of their I hate leeks phases, we do the rice leeks and carrot in two pans

- then add chicken stock in the meaty one, veggie stock in the veggie one.
- add chicken pieces in the meaty one, quorn pieces in the veggie one

We end up with coq-a-leekie in the first pan, and mock-a-leekie in the second. :rotfl:

Money_saving_Diva_2

Queen-Bee wrote: »

Hmm.. wish I had it cracked with my OH. Basically he just eats, and eats and eats. I have to cook for four: 1x portion for me and 3x portions for him. It's very irritating and blows a bit hole in my budget when he comes round to eat!
QB

I don't know if you have tried this, but have you thought about when serving up, very quickly putting the extra portions into a container ready to freeze or put in the fridge and then just denying that you cooked any extra? He could always have a big bowl of soup or something to start his meal to help fill him up and home made soups are very frugal and easy to make.

I used to find if there was food left in the dish, my OH (and me, sometimes, I do admit) would just have 'one more spoonful' and then suddenly there weren't two portions left for the next night, so we learnt to portion out and put the leftovers out of sight immediately.

Diva.x

p.s. Mark, still really enjoying reading your thread and the challenge you have set yourself. You are so good humoured, even with the odd naysayer! You are doing amazingly well though I think you can hardly fail with our lovely Weezls advice!

EllieA_3

Money_saving_Diva wrote: »

I don't know if you have tried this, but have you thought about when serving up, very quickly putting the extra portions into a container ready to freeze or put in the fridge and then just denying that you cooked any extra? He could always have a big bowl of soup or something to start his meal to help fill him up and home made soups are very frugal and easy to make.

I used to find if there was food left in the dish, my OH (and me, sometimes, I do admit) would just have 'one more spoonful' and then suddenly there weren't two portions left for the next night, so we learnt to portion out and put the leftovers out of sight immediately.

!

I do that, my husbands a pain in the bum when it comes to leftovers if i want to save any or if i intentionally cook enough for more than one meal i HAVE to hide the extra and deny it ever existed otherwise he'll eat it.

phizzimum

I have to hide the leftovers too - although if you're removing them before the meal I guess technically there not leftovers...um...bonus portions? I freeze things in old margarine containers which is great as no-one spots them in the fridge. if the bonus portion was in a bowl it probably wouldn't make it past DH's 9 o'clock munchies!

Mrs_Weasley

Still a GREAT thread Mark

Keep popping in to have a catch up.

You lot have inspired me - my menus tend to be same old week in week out veerrryyyyy boring So i have decided to change that and this week i made for the very first time (can't believe i've never made it before!) Cornred beef Hash and it went down a storm with everyone (DS did pull a face though) served it with cabbage.

Next week i am going to attempt fish pie - sainsburys basic frozen white fish, basic frozen prawns, basic spuds and home made white sauce (cheese?) Don't know if the basics fish is ok if not will see if my bro will do a deal with haddock from work (fish and chips -free for me on a thursday :T)

thanks for all the recipes

mrs w xxx

ellas9602

Hi Mark
Still enjoying reading your thread every day.
Just wanted to report last nights tea as it went very well. Do you shop at Tesco?
We had falafels last night using a packet mix, its made like stuffing, called al'fez. Its 99p from Mr T. Probably not as cheap as HM but hardly any hassle.
I managed 10 falafs from one pack but reckon this would stretch to 12. I made round but flat ones and shallow fried. they look very small but seem to swell when cooked.
served 2 falafs each in pittas with salad and yoghurt and mint, we served roasted toms and crushed garlic new pots, was very nice. even veggie-phobic OH said it was satisfying and delicious. Didn't have a full turn out last night so 4 leftovers have made two lunches today.

Lesley_Gaye

Tried a fab new recipe today called Jamaican Run Down. It is basically root veg and beans in a thick coconut sauce. It tastes absolutely fab and I can't wait for dinner time so I can eat it. It is from Lindsey Bareham's book, In Praise of the Potato, which has loads and loads of cheap and tasty ideas in it. The book says it serves 2, but it made a huge saucepan full, so I portioned it out and it made 5 generous portions which means it cost 46p per portion

1 med potato, diced
1 sweet potato, diced (didn't have any in, used mushrooms instead)
150g creamed coconut
1pt water
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 green pepper, cored and sliced
1 med onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs thyme (didn't have any, used a sprinkle of dried mixed herbs)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 chilli pepper, seeded and chopped, optional
1 parsnip, peeled and cubed
225g kidney beans, soaked and cooked - didn't have any, used some dried white beans
salt, pepper and soy sauce

Put the creamed coconut in a large pan with the water and dissolve. Add the carrot, pepper and onion. Simmer for 10 mins.

Add potatoes, bay leaf, garlic and chilli. Simmer for 10 mins

Add sweet potato and parsnip. Simmer for 10 mins or until all veg soft but not mushy

Add cooked beans, s+p and a good splash of soy.

The sauce needs to be thick and flavoursome and coating all the veg. If there is a lot left, strain it out (or remove the veg and beans) and reduce down. If the veg are too dry, add a little water.

There is a lot of coconut in this and I thought I might be able to reduce it as it is high fat and saturated fat at that. Tried it with half the qty and it didn't really work, so added in the other half. At 5 servings, there is 22g of fat per serving