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Meal for two for 50p. Suggestions?
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cheekymoney wrote:You can make also make very cheap meals by buying dried pulses and making stews and casseroles from them. For example chickpea dhal which is essentially chick peas, curry spices, onion, garlic, tomatoes, and potato (if you want). ..[snip]....One of the keys to eating cheaply, I find, is to minimise the amount of meat or fish I eat, in fact I have become vegetarian,
I have to agree with you cheekymonkey. Looking at the recipes on this thread, the majority of the cost comes from the meat/chicken/fish. I cook mainly with TVP or Vegemince. For my staple foods (chilli, curry, spag bol etc.) you can make a hearty AND healthy AND cheap meal using meat substitutes.
Sorry, I haven't got my calculator to compare costs, but it has to be cheaper than buying battery farmed plastic chicken and a good deal better for the animals (and the person eating it).
As far as spices go, check out your local asian supermarket. You can get bags of Jeera (Cumin), Dhania (Corriander), Garam Masala, Chilli etc. at a fraction of the cost of Sharwoods. (Approximately a quid for 250g.)
I'll post a couple of recipes when I've got a chance.
Sorry if I've wandered off topic!I know what I want...I just don't know how to go about getting it0 -
cordial wrote:Cheap chicken curry?
Strip the meat off one Tesco Value frozen chicken portion (after thawing!).
Fry gently in a little butter/oil. Remove from heat and stir in some flour to make a roux. Cook again gently for one minute then remove from heat. When cooler, slowly add water or stock to make a thickish sauce. Finally, stir in curry powder and herbs to taste and cook from 1 - 5 mins. You can add other veg, mushrooms etc also at this stage.
On top of plain, boiled rice. Can't see how the lot would reach much more than 50P. You can even use the discarded skin and bones to make chicken soup!
completely the wrong way to make a curry. you should add the spices with some onions and perhaps small amount of tomato paste and fry the chicken into that with oil/butter. adding spices early is always the way as it cooks in rather than being raw. using flour is pretty much unheard of in a curry. still theres a million ways i suppose..0 -
Hi All. First time posting. Enjoyed this thread.
My tips:
Always cook pulses (even red lentils) with NO SALT or salty stuff added. You can add veg, herbs etc at this stage. They will cook quicker.
Save on overnight soaking of pulses by bringing to the boil and leaving an hour or so to cool with a lid on. Softer pulses work best: green lentils, butter beans, black eye peas, split peas.
Microwave your jacket spuds but finish them off under a moderate grill (turn frequently) to get nearer to a proper spud with less time/energy. Also works for frozen spring rolls and probably all sorts of stuff.
I bought a cheap worktop combination cooker from Argos. It takes a fraction of the time a normal oven takes to heat and cooks quicker too.
Make soups more creamy and nutritious by adding some dried skimmed milk before you buzz it with the blender.
Dried milk is a great boost to mueseli too.
Use a food processor slicer or slicing gadget (eg V-slice) to make a few veg go further.
Thats all. May post recipes later.0 -
misskool wrote:What a great thread!
I never normally post on here, but thought I would share this.
I batch cook this so it's probably less than 50p a portion.
1 large onion, finely chopped
Bag of butter beans/lentil
a few rashers of bacon
a tin of tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
fry bacon and onion, then add beans, fry it in bacon fat for a few minutes. then add canned tomatoes, 1-2 pints of water and simmer for ages (actually could make in slow cooker, never thought of it until now!) until beans are soft as you like them. you can add whatever herbs are left in the cupboard, a dash of basil or oregano works wonders.
eat them as is, or serve with rice
if really stretching it, add more water, puree for bean and tomato soup.
I like this one. I could take it to work in my £2.99 flask which I bought in Wilkinson's.
TaAMAZON MEMBERS CLUB - NUMBER 650 -
OK, here goes...from memory, this is my basic curry sauce that can be used for almost everything curry'y:
vegetable oil (1 table sp.)
onion (1 chopped)
tin of tomatoes
milk (1 cup)
spices:
corriander (2 teasp.)
turmeric (1/2 teasp.)
cumin (1 teasp.)
chilli (to taste)
season:
salt/pepper
fry the onion in the oil until soft (but not brown). Make a paste of the spices with a quarter of the milk and add to the onion and cook for a minute or so. Add the rest of the milk and cook for a further 1-2 minutes. Add the tin of tomatoes (this should curdle the milk and give it that curry consistency). Season with salt and pepper to taste.
You can use this as a base for any curry you like (lentil, spinach, vegetable, meat etc.)
I use it for vegetable and quorn curries, you can add various exotic ingredients that you can pick up in bulk from asian supermarkets in most large towns for pennies. Fennel and mustard seeds are good when added at the start (before the oil and cooked until the mustard seeds start to pop).
Sorry, don't know the cost, but it's very cheap once your cupboard is filled up with spices (I buy the 250 or 500g bags and store the spices in old jam jars).
Cheers
MikeI know what I want...I just don't know how to go about getting it0 -
These are all good suggestions, but can I just offer a word of warning. There are two tricks to eating cheaply (and healthily);
1. Use seasonal Vegetables - remember, for soups and sauces, you can braise and freeze for use later in the year.
2. DONT BUY CHEAP MEAT - Honestly, when I read of buying 500g bags of mince for less than a couple of quid, what do people think that they are eating???? You will be eating all of the rubbish off the bones including sinew, organs, extremities and soft bone. Rather than do this, buy cheaper cuts and trim it yourself. Cheaper cuts are often fatty or tough, but if you drain off the fat and cook for a little longer, they taste great. Where red meat is concerned always buy it in cuts - never mince. The only way I eat mince, is if I select the meat and ask my butcher to mince it for me.
Mike.0 -
Not a specific meal as such, but a cheap way to get seasonal vegetables is to find a farm shop that does veg boxes/bags. We have one locally which does a carrier bag full of assorted veg for £2. Two of these supply enough veg for a family of five for a week.0
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unixgirluk wrote:This will feed 6-8 people depending on portion size. I make this and portion it up and freeze the rest.
Vegetable lasagne
Tesco Value lasagne sheets 27p
Butter beans 27p
Tesco value pasta sauce 27p
various veg (I always go for seasonal and look for cheapest, i.e. carrot, potato, leek, etc. A little veg will go a very long way!) I allow 60p
A little grated cheese 10p?
Cook the veg in the microwave for about ten minutes to soften it. You want the veg cut small but leave butter beans intact. Then in oven proof dish layer pasta sheets and veg and a little of the sauce (leave about a third in the jar) and put dish in oven on about 200C for about 20mins, then take out and get pasta sauce jar and fill to shoulders of jar with water and give it a good stir and pour on the lasagne, add the cheese and put back in oven for about ten minutes until cheese bubbles.
This works out at 19p per portion.
If you use a value tin of plum tomatoes (whole not chopped) instead of the pasta sauce you will save yourself at least 18p. Or for super cheap, super quick tomato soup just whizz one tin in the foodprocessor, heat and serve. If you add a slice of toast each that still can't add up to more than 25p.0 -
Fantastic thread. I'm off out now but I will be grabbing most of the recipes later. I'll probably be needing them in January when I'm thoroughly skinted. I have a good cheap veg curry recipe somewhere too I'll bring that along.
I agree on not eating too cheap meat if you can afford not to. I try and buy from the butcher too even though it's more but as in the old days we should cut to the size of our cloth. If I was on the breadline I expect I'd be happier to eat budget meat or do without than the free range I normally buy. Anyone who thinks different should swap places with the person trying to make more food go further.MFi3 member 105 - MFW date Oct 2023 - 12 years 9 months more0 -
For those who don't mind the cholesterol:
'Double Quick Double'
Double egg (poached, fried, scrambled) on top of two rounds of toast, served with one third tin of value baked beans - you can probably get away with a thin slice of mature cheddar for extra oomph and still come in around the 50p mark when all this is doubled for two people.
One of the fastest meals to make and quite nourishing.0
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