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Any ideas for quick, healthy and cheap meals

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  • EagerLearner
    EagerLearner Posts: 4,976 Forumite
    There are some great ideas there - I love Marroccan although can't claim that any of my stuff is even close - the veg curry sounds like a plan and not toooooo heavy.

    The problem I have is I want healthy but without loss of flavour he he...

    Can't risk planting anything in our little patio garden - I kill everything! Would dearly love some tomatoes at least but I live in Brighton and have no car - wouldn't know where to start! Plus I have 'fried' plants before having them in the wrong place, and have killed plants by leaving them in the cold. I am trying to do better and my 2 plants outside are fairing better. I would also like lavender to give a lovely smell in the summer evenings, or anything else low maintenance to give nice smells - any ideas?

    Next Tesco shop I may buy their bulk value bags of sweet potato, also aubergine to save money. I am working on a 'veg price table' which has local veg market prices and will also have Tesco - we will see who wins - by rights it should be the veg market eh!

    The Spanish Omelette will make a come back - for a while I made one a week but then stopped - def a cheapie meal and nice too x
    MFW #185
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  • EagerLearner
    EagerLearner Posts: 4,976 Forumite
    Hi Lynzpower - thanks for the tip - I made Marroccan cous cous yesterday and it was loverrrrly - for the sauce I added sweet potatoes, courgettes, aubergines, carrots, sweet peppers, chickpeas, 2 tins chopped tomatoes, onions, garlic, cinnamon, cumin, star anise, chopped apricots, raisins... with plain cous cous and plenty to make another meal. With what is left today I plan to bulk it a bit with some more sweet pots, carrots and parsnip then freeze.

    I really want to cut down on pork which we have twice a week and have salmon twice a week instead of once.

    The rest I need to somehow get some cheap summer meals sorted - any ideas much appreciated!
    MFW #185
    Mortgage slowly being offset! £86,987 /58,742 virtual balance
    Original mortgage free date 2037/ Now Nov 2034 and counting :T
    YNAB lover :D
  • Nicci_D
    Nicci_D Posts: 652 Forumite
    Wish I had the time to make my own food like this. By the time me and my partner get home from work we don't feel like doing anything and don't usually eat till 8pm which I hate because I'm so used to eating around 6pm but my partner hates that! We just usually make a shephaerd's pie, spag bol, stir fry etc - something quick and easy.
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  • lynzpower
    lynzpower Posts: 25,311 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    in a bit Ill dig out the weightwatchers book and have a look for you shall I?

    Pork isnt BAD, its when you have the chops with the fat on the outside they are bad. Pork mince is cheaper, you can do pork meatballs, or burgers or something. Pork fillet is good vaue, I usually have this with veg ( green beans carrots mange tout etc) pepper sauce and rice or couscous. Its quite light too. Others have it with mash n gravy but i bet thats what you are trying to avoid!

    FWIW me & my OH do 125 a month, and I have to be honest, we wouldnt eat much of what you eat really mainly because the ingredients are more expensive. Have you thought about using cheaper fishes, such as mackerel, kippers etc?
    :beer: Well aint funny how its the little things in life that mean the most? Not where you live, the car you drive or the price tag on your clothes.
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  • Bambywamby
    Bambywamby Posts: 1,608 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Photogenic Combo Breaker
    Use turkey mince rather than beef mince - cheaper, lower in fat and a better source of protein.
  • Storm
    Storm Posts: 1,749 Forumite
    Debt-free and Proud!
    Have you ever tried making sushi? It's actually very cheap to make, cos you use such a small amount of filling, and all you need to get is a rolling mat to make it. I tend to make up enough for the evening and then lunch the following day, and it's soooo yummy!
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  • EagerLearner
    EagerLearner Posts: 4,976 Forumite
    Hi all and thanks for the great tips - I saw Gordon Ramsey last night on tv in an abertoire (sp?) and pigs being killed, that sort of decided it for me... salmon/AN Other fish it is! The occasional meat dish etc.

    I have created a Meal Planner spreadsheet and it tells me which os my most usual cooked dishes work out best - pork isn't one of them! I still want to get the odd luxury ingredient (last week it was Roquefort cheese) so woul drather cut out something like pork to keep a few naughty things in.

    I am not trying to loose weight as such, just not stray from the current scales pointer he he...

    I am going to have a go at making walnut loaf tonight as quite fancy seeing how much that costs on my meal planner... compared to the 'naughty' £1.30ish we spend every 2 months or so (which won't end the world, but hell if I can bake it I will!)

    Nicci_D - only reason I can do this is because I am self-employed (fairly new to it) and have been for just under 4 months, before that batch cooking was on the odd bored sunday, usually with a hangover! Now if I have no work for the day I prefer to cook and stay away from stores... I am off tomorrow too, so will get lots off my list and if I have time left freeze some more food - next week is chocabloc with work and we are away for the weekend so I am reaping hay whilst the sun shines IYSWIM....

    Lynzpower - your budget makes me feel a hell of a lot better - sometimes I read threads and I wonder how it can be done for less than that for 2 people. I guess at somepoint you have to decide what you can do without, and what you won't do without...!
    MFW #185
    Mortgage slowly being offset! £86,987 /58,742 virtual balance
    Original mortgage free date 2037/ Now Nov 2034 and counting :T
    YNAB lover :D
  • lynzpower
    lynzpower Posts: 25,311 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Lynzpower - your budget makes me feel a hell of a lot better - sometimes I read threads and I wonder how it can be done for less than that for 2 people. I guess at somepoint you have to decide what you can do without, and what you won't do without...!

    Its true enough. I owuld never eat "value" meat for example, altohugh I have had the bacon misshapes, and once tried the turkey leg :eek: never again.

    Free range pork in tescos has a very negligible price difference incidentally.

    Do you ever use soya mince? I do. mainly cos I dont really like mince (apart from in burgers or meatballs) but It is cheap, and I do chillis etc with it.

    Im hoping to save money & planet with my growing- I have baby spinach ready to scoff right about now- really its very easy ( im rubbish at gardening all i do is pot stuff and water it and eat it)
    if you have a very sunny spot, youll do well with mange tout, sweetcorn and courgettes- for the price of some seeds its gotta be worth a shot- doesnt it?
    :beer: Well aint funny how its the little things in life that mean the most? Not where you live, the car you drive or the price tag on your clothes.
    Theres no dollar sign on piece of mind
    This Ive come to know...
    So if you agree have a drink with me, raise your glasses for a toast :beer:
  • cupid_s
    cupid_s Posts: 2,008 Forumite
    Nicci_D wrote: »
    Wish I had the time to make my own food like this. By the time me and my partner get home from work we don't feel like doing anything and don't usually eat till 8pm which I hate because I'm so used to eating around 6pm but my partner hates that! We just usually make a shephaerd's pie, spag bol, stir fry etc - something quick and easy.

    I find that because I plan everything now I have more time, for everything really. And some things can be done in just over 10 minutes. I sit down on a sunday and decide what to have the rest of the week and then I can take the stuff out the freezer the morning before.

    We usually work 6 days a week and very rarely get in from work before 7pm (apart from on saturdays) and there's pets who need seeing to first as they go to bed at 8ish. But this would be a typical few meals for us.

    Pad thai: take chicken breast strips out on the morning (we cut them before freezing so everything is ready on the day) and ensure we have the veg needed. This then takes less than 10 minutes on the evening before we're sitting down to eat.

    Roast belly pork with mash and veg: whilst this takes a while most of the time you can be sitting down with a glass of wine. Stick the pork in the oven, go sit down, a bit later bung veg in steamer (we have frozen veg usually as we grow our own and this makes it easier as no preparation is needed), and quickly peel and boil potatoes, couple of mins at the end. Easy

    Or pizza. We make a batch of pizza dough and freeze it, we also freeze pizza sized portions of toppings, take this out on the morning then it's a case of rolling out the dough and baking it for a bit, grating some cheese, opening some chopped tomatoes and reducing slightly before dumping everything on top and baking for ten mins or so.

    It is difficult to get into the habit of planning in advance when you're so busy. But it works out so much cheaper for us and we eat so much better than before.
  • EagerLearner
    EagerLearner Posts: 4,976 Forumite
    lynzpower wrote: »
    Its true enough. I owuld never eat "value" meat for example, altohugh I have had the bacon misshapes, and once tried the turkey leg :eek: never again.

    Free range pork in tescos has a very negligible price difference incidentally.

    Do you ever use soya mince? I do. mainly cos I dont really like mince (apart from in burgers or meatballs) but It is cheap, and I do chillis etc with it.

    Im hoping to save money & planet with my growing- I have baby spinach ready to scoff right about now- really its very easy ( im rubbish at gardening all i do is pot stuff and water it and eat it)
    if you have a very sunny spot, youll do well with mange tout, sweetcorn and courgettes- for the price of some seeds its gotta be worth a shot- doesnt it?

    Haven't eaten soya mince yet but will have to give it a go...

    You have my curiosity peaked - we get sunshine from say 11:30 to around 16:30 - not the biggest patio garden though! What do you recommend I start with and, er, how...! i will give it a go and report back :T
    MFW #185
    Mortgage slowly being offset! £86,987 /58,742 virtual balance
    Original mortgage free date 2037/ Now Nov 2034 and counting :T
    YNAB lover :D
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