ok my first dip into this pool of knowledge

Ticklemouse

Taz, do your lot like pasta? I made a tuna pasta bake from scratch tonight, but it can also be made with bacon if tuna not liked.

The following quantitiy made enough for 3-4 adult portions and a couple of kids portions.

1/2 onion, softened.
Add tin chopped tomatoes, pinch of mixed herbs.
Cook down and then blitz to make into puree.
Added a couple of desert spoons of cream cheese (philly type)
Let it melt in then add tuna (I added one large tin)
Add sweetcorn
Warm through and add to cooked pasta.
Sprinkle with cheese and grill.

Can also add a crushed bag of plain crisps for a crunchy topping. Bit of salad on the side or bread and you should fill them all up for very little.

MRSMCAWBER

hello there

When i was younger my dad couldnt work through ill health so things were tight - although being the youngest (of 5)i missed the worst of it...anyway my mum only ever got peas in tins (occasionaly) everything else was home made....mmmmm a favourite was savoury meat roll...trust me its a gut buster :T :T :T ...it has evolved over the years but we all still love it...

Please give this a try

about 2lb mashed potato (you can add swede and carrots too to hide that veg:rotfl: )
a few onions finely chopped and zapped in the micro
2 sausages skinned
4oz minced beef- just realised you use 5lb at the moment so you could even be extravagant and use a whole lb

we always used to do extra potatoes the night before as it is easier to work with it cold...anyway mix the raw sausage, mince and onions into the mash - its easier to squidge it through with your hands ....plenty of seasoning...

Then you make shortcrust pastry...with your crowd i would probably go for 1lb flour....1/2lb fat (but if you do it in a mixer you can use less fat about 5-6oz should do) seasoning and water....

roll it out into a big rectangle, srpead the filling over ..and roll...if you fold in the left and right narrow edges first you wont lose the filling and then roll into a huge fat sausage....you may need a hand rolling it onto a baking sheet...we used to have to bend it to fit it on :j ....and then whack it in the oven....all the juices from the meat soak into the pastry on the inside so they wont realise how much pastry there is...well i never did and i didnt like pastry ....its best served with home made mushy peas and thick gravy...but beans would go down well too...oooh and you could always make a box of stuffing and mix that in to for more flavour. that is just the basic one..but you can adjust it to suit your families taste...its lovely cold too if they leave any...

mum also used to make great breast of lamb stew..you wouldnt believe how little meat there was in there...but heaps of flavour....let me know if you want the recipe...

sandy2_2

Ticklemouse wrote: »

Pizza dough is easy to make - have a search on the web and find one you like. .

I use scone dough for a pizza base, seems to work well

sandy2_2

Mrsmcawber, could I have a copy of the breast of lamb stew, thanks

lynzpower

Last night i did a steak ( it was our anniversary- I splashed out LOL)

Chips, corn, mushroom crunchy gratin and balsamic onions.

The chips were HM ( parboiled then slung in roasting tin)
Corn frozen cobettes
Balsamic onions- sliced onions fried off then simmered in balsamic vinegar with a pinch of sugar to caramelise- turned into a bit of "sauce"
Mushroom gratin - mushrooms sautteed in butter, then mixed in with a load of breadcrumbs and grated cheddar. sling in oven for about 25 mins.

ANother thing to note is that can you get hold of any reduced meat? I went supermarket yesterday for "a couple of bits" and came out with 2 shopping bags full of reduced meat and consideirng I had more than I could comfotably carry, spent less than 20 quid. including pork roasting joints for 1.50 each.

thriftlady_2

Mrs Micawber, your Savoury Meat Roll sounds like a good candidate for my wartime experiment -i might try that with a scone-type pastry which uses less of my fat ration Thank you :T

clairemg

Newbie here but would like to say thanks to some of the post here, we're cutting back and i'am very pleased with myself, taking your tips and making a totally home made pizza with your ideas. The dough is whirling round in the breadmaker (aquired from freecycle) as we speak. Thank you soo much for your advise!!

lynzpower

clairemg wrote: »

Newbie here but would like to say thanks to some of the post here, we're cutting back and i'am very pleased with myself, taking your tips and making a totally home made pizza with your ideas. The dough is whirling round in the breadmaker (aquired from freecycle) as we speak. Thank you soo much for your advise!!

Welcome Claire :hello: lovely to have new people on board enjoy your pizza we are having one tonight as well

user55

This seems like a god place to jump in and say hello!

I've been reading and picking up tips for a few weeks - have reduced my shopping bill from around £100 a week to under £30 so I'm happy.

My recipes include Toad in the hole, meat and potato pie and corn beef hash, all very very filling and cheap as anything to make. For the toad in the hole I chop the sausages up so there's no way to tell exactly how many are in there, there's plenty of bits in everyone's portion and that's the main thing. The meat and potato pie is made in a huuuuuge dish, with some frozen mince, lots of onion, carrot, whatever veg is hanging around and a lot of potato - it does 2 days generously and could do 3 with bigger servings of veg on the side.

As someone else has said, flour is your best friend. We are able to eat heartily and cheaply with a little help from flour!

jinny

Good morning good people, looks like i'm not the only one who gets up early even on weekends! I made shepherds pie for last night nights tea, and remembered my gran telling me she used to pad out the mince she cooked with a couple of table spoons of porridge oats. Well I tried it and it worked a treat, cant taste or see it at all. It does thicken it a bit so more liquid is needed. Regards :hello: