Meal for two for 50p. Suggestions?

Adrift

chrisontheup wrote:

I lived in Scotland for a few years and took to heart their soup making philosophy. In its most simple form this involves putting some cheap cut of meat, could be chicken, could be bones (Morrisons very often sell packs of bones - or even better cultivate your local butcher who will give them to you), onions, then whatever veg you have to hand, carrots, swede, parsnips etc etc. :

Hi,
if you are using beef bones to make stock or soup they give a far superior flavour if you roast the bones in the oven first

BWs Adrift

Bunnie1982

I am trying a couple of these recipes this week particularly Sardines with Couscous and Arrabiata Pasta

linbadd

I'm surprised no-one else mentined this delicious treat!

This recipe will make a decent sized bowl of soup each for 4 people. All quantities are approximate - I make it up as i go along!

6-8 (about 2-3 pounds / 1-1.5 kilo?) medium to large cooking onions
a spoon of cooking oil (whatever kind you prefer)
2-3 bay leaves
black pepper to taste
beef stock cubes (number depends on the kind you use. I use Knorr, 1 'cube' to three quarters of a pint, so this recipe takes 4 cubes) or beef stock liquid or paste. Veggies could use vegetable stock.
3 pints water (hot or cold)
4 large slices of bread or 8 small (whatever kind you prefer)
sliced or grated cheddar or similar cheese - enough to cover the bread

1. Peel onions, slice fairly thinly and place in in a large saucepan or pressure cooker with the oil.

2. Fry very gently until they are nice and brown, stirring regularly to make sure they don't stick and burn.

3. Add water, stock cubes, bay leaves and black pepper.

4. Pressure cook on high pressure for 3 minutes or boil gently for 15-20 minutes if using a saucepan.

5. While soup is cooking, put grated cheese on the bread and toast under the grill until the cheese melts and starts to brown.

6. Serve in big bowls, with the cheesy bread floating on top and spoons and forks to eat with.

DELICIOUS!!!!

Spend all the money you've saved on a cheap bottle of red wine to go with it. Aldi's 'Baron Jean' rouge is excellent for the low price of £2.49.

If you shop at Lidl you'll often be able to get the onions half-price. Most of their fruit and veg seems to be half-price all day on Saturdays. Not sure about other days of the week.

ENJOY!

Happy New Year

Lin

Nony_2

For those who DO like dumplings I can recommend a nice dessert; simply make suet dumplings (recipe and method found on the suet packet!), cook in plain water (lid firmly on), then spoon into dishes and top with Golden Syrup. My boys loved them - and christened them 'Syrup Snowballs'.

mumoftwo

Only just discovered this thread and have read through some pages but not all yet because DD1 is waiting to get onto the computer. So if this dish has been mentioned before, I apologise.

Cornbeef Hash

1 tin of corned beef
potatoes

cook potatoes, mash in with corned beef, I add in some cabbage so we get our vege intake and fried onions. Cheap, filling and my kids love it. And it is an easy meal to cook.

Bunnie1982

I forgot about corned beed hash, I usually serve it with beans

vixtress

have just cooked up a big pan of corned beef hash made with left overs, mash, peas and cabbage friied up like bubble and squeak then a chopped up tin of corned beef, a dash of worchester sauce and plenty of white pepper, delicious!!

Bogof_Babe

Here's one I "invented" at the weekend. I made it for my lunch but will double the quantities here, in the spirit of the 50p for two objective.

Sainsburys Basics long grain white rice - enough for two, say 15p
Sainsburys Basics mixed frozen veg (79p per kg) - couple of spoonfuls, say 12p
Grated cheese (economy for cheapness), say 18p
Curry powder say 5p

Cook rice and veg, mix with cheese & curry powder, dish up and eat!

It goes a bit gloopy with the cheese melting, but it is filling and tasty.... and CHEAP!!!

gerretl

The key is to not mix your flavours too much. There is a temptation to chuck the whole lot in, and see how it turns out. Heres a suggestion.
Categorise all your non staple food by style, e.g italian, english, chinese etc especially the herbs.
Use one staple and a only items in one category. I know things cross over, but a little common sense helps, thus chilli powder and marjoram are not used in the same dish. Use the staple to bulk out the meal, and add a few extras, to make it feel more elaborate than it is. Best example of this is a spag bol. Good on its own, but make a little garlic bread (easy, cheap, and you can use stale french sticks), and the whole meal is different.

Hardup_Hester

When my kids were younger, I used to make Macaroni Cheese & add a squirt of tomatoe puree, which turned it pink!
Another favourite was 'Hunt the fish pie' which was 2 coley portions, mash potato & cheese sauce all mixed together, put it in a dish & brown under the grill.
I save all my dried up bits of bread & ends of cheese & put them through the food processor together & use to top all sorts of meals in particular, this one, cook equal quantities of carrots, leeks & potatoes mix together with a cheese or whitesauce & top with crumb mix & brown upder grill.
I think all these can be done for 50 p a serving