What's your 'can't be bothered' dinner/tea?

loobyloo2

I did one of Jamies half hour dinners last night.
Spaghetti Puttanesco
Salad
Garlic bread
Chocolate Ganache with Strawberries and Black Grapes

This meal served 5, and I costed it out to be
Puttanesca sauce £1.88
Spaghetti 35p
Salad 50p
Garlic bread 50p
chocolate Ganache £1.33
Straws and grapes 50p

This was made with all my bargains found browsing this site
eg
Tuna from Asda glitch in Asda
Green and Blacks choc £1.03 in Asda yesterday
Reduced fresh bread waitrose,bought weekly and frozen
Tomatoes from the Tesco glitch last year.

Now I need to find some recipes for tesco's Finest Chestnuts currently available for 1p! And the 1p stuffing. Have at least 50 jars of the 1p mayo from last week too.

Day before I made a very easy Lamb hotpot/moussaka, using a pack of lamb mince reduced in Tesco to 30p, potatoes I always buy a sack so they work out very cheap, put a Bechamel sauce in it that I found in Sainsburys for 26p reduced, and a few carrots and other bits. this cooked in the oven for only 45mins after it was assembled and only cost around £1.50 again to serve 5.

If you can buy fresh reduced and then freeze, and visit the supermarket in the evening on the way home from work, you can pick up some great reduced bargains, then freeze and use plenty of imagination.
HTH

supersally01

I also work 12.5 hrs shifts, so on my days off, I batch cook meals like lasagne, shepherds pies, steak pies, chicken keives etc, and freeze them. Then just take them out of the freezer on the morning you want them. I try to make things that just need veg/salad and/or bread as a side dish, so no potato prep, as that takes time. Just stick them in the oven, and you got home made healthy meals in a jiffy! There is loads about this on the old style forum, if you need more ideas.

Lizling

I often don't get in until around 9pm, so I tend to rely on really quick food. My current favourite is a veg pad thai. It's got a lot of ingredients, but all really cheap and none needs much preparation.

Fry some chilli, garlic, coriander, ginger and a handful of peanuts (1-2 minutes)
Add an egg or 2 and sort of scramble them (1 min)
Add straight to wok ribbon noodles (special offer in Sainsbury's), few handfuls from a bag of prepared stirfry veg, soy sauce, lime juice and tamarind dissolved in hot water if you've got it. Fry for another 3-4 mins.

Total preparation and cooking time = 10 minutes max.

alwaysonthego_2

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Smithsonian

I browse through so many recipes, and they are either complicated/time consuming, expensive, very unhealthy or unsavory or several of the above.

I make burgers, chips and chicken nuggets, and that only one of the above: it is unhealthy, but quick, cheap, filling and delicious. Yes, I said it, chips and nuggets are delicious. :j

Anyone have any suggestions that is also abit more healthy? I dont want to buy 15 ingredients and then they spoil.

quintwins

pasta, spag bol
tatie and brocolli bake

you could make and freeze sheperds pie

ubamother

If you could expand on what you particularly like, that may help with ideas that are useful to you. It would be no good giving ideas for mince-based or pasta-based dishes if you hate both of those!

I prefer to use meat in small amounts and if served as a separate item it doesn't look enough, so basic casseroles, bolognaises etc. are a good starting point as you can add the veg you do like. H/M oven potato wedges or chips can be delicious, cheap and can be much healthier than bought ones. Home made versions of burgers tend to be more expensive than bought, which may reflect what's in them - I did say MAY, as I don't buy them so I don't know and wouldn't want to judge.

oldtractor

HM lentil and curried parsnip soup. 3 ingredients plus water.

anguk

Burgers - some mince, sprinkle of mixed herbs, dollop of tomato sauce, mix together, pull a piece off flatten and shape between your hands and fry, grill or oven cook.

Nuggets - chicken breast cut into chunks, dip in egg then breadcrumbs and fry. (you can also do them in the oven).

Chips/wedges - Wash potatoes (don't bother taking the skin off) cut into wedge shapes, bung them in a roasting tin, add a little bit of oil and shake the tin so they're all coated and stick them in the oven.

All quick, probably cheaper but definitely more tasty and healthier than shop-bought.

happy35

i used to make fish finger and chicken nuggets when my son was little, cut either into strips dip in flour then in egg then in crushed crisps - cheese and onion crisps were a favourite in our house

put on a tray and cook in the oven.

I used to also make oven chips, cut potatoes into chips par boil, drain spray with oil and cook in the oven