Cheap but healthy meals for December

Callie22

Try the Cheap Family Recipes website (it was created by some people who are/were members on here, I think) - one I can recommend is the smoked salmon pasta, I make it with a 90p pack of trimmings from Sainsbury's and it's a favourite in this house.

Nicki

You could do a large veg curry one night, and then a few nights later do a biryani with a tiny amount of whatever meat you like best served with the remainder of the veg curry?

Homemade pizza or quiche is a good way of using up odd bits of meat and vegetables at the end of the week without wasting them if your OH isn't a soup fan. Or a stir fried rice dish. If you have absolutely no meat, these are also fine as veggie dishes.

Veg chilli might be an option for one of your cheap veg dishes. I do mine with black beans and haricot beans and it tastes almost meaty but it looks striking as it is black and white. Serve with home made corn muffins for a change.

You can make some nice pasta based dishes just with cheap offcuts of bacon. Carabonara, cream bacon and mushrooms, amatriciana. And if you can splash a bit more, cheap offcuts of smoked salmon give a splash of luxury and are great in pasta dishes or quiches. I'm also a huge fan of puttanesca sauce which is just passata, tuna and chillis at its most basic.

Cheap cuts of meat slow cooked and served with interesting sides so you need less meat and can save half for another meal could be a way to go. Braised veg aren't more expensive than boiled for example, it doesn't cost much more to turn a boiled spud into a gratin, chip, wedge, roastie or duchesse potato, and rice can be cooked with different flavours or colours to make it more interesting.

heavenleigh

Last night I made the other half Mexican Rice,
Some value long grain rice (sorry i cook by guessing not weighing)
1 1/2 time the amount of rice of chicken stock (made with value stock cubes)
Glug of oil
1/4 of an onion chopped finely
1/4 pepper chopped finely
A few slices of Jalapeno pepper (i used jarred)
1 tomato seeded and chopped
salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried corriander leaf
1 garlic clove chopped.

In a medium sauce pan, cook rice in oil over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Pour in chicken stock, and bring to a boil. Stir in onion, green pepper, jalapeno, and diced tomato. Season with salt and pepper, cumin, cilantro, and garlic. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 20 minutes.

Very simple, very cheap fed two of us with leftovers and OH who loves his meat said it was so tasty you didn't need it.

Tonight i did the same again for the kids but added a little bit of chopped chicken a handful of frozen peas and swapped the cumin for curry powder. xx

attentionseeker1

ALIBOBSY wrote: »

I would have a heart attack if that was all the "stores" I have in the house, but I bake ALOT and am a bit of a hoarder lol.

Yes heart failure is imminent- I normally have stores too but have been relying on them for a couple of lean months already- did last month's menu plan based on what we had in so now there's little left!

Ok fried rice, veggie curry, Schnitzel, carbonara are on the list with lentil/carrot soup.

Anyone have good ideas for the bag of frozen roots?

Re: baking, I have flour, raising agents but would need to get in a bit more sugar and some butter

Nicki

I'd put the bag of frozen roots in a slow cooker with some lamb shanks or some other cheap cut of meat and cook until the meat falls off the bone, then shred the meat into the veg, and use for at least two meals with another side to pad it out and vary it.

Butterfly_Brain

Savoury vegetable pancakes
make pancakes as normal and fill with chopped veggies mixed in a little cheese sauce, which is made with the parmesan and ½ a tsp of mustard added to the flour, butter and milk. Roll them up and put them in a dish.
Pour the remaining sauce over the pancakes with some grated parmesan and put in the oven 180c for about 20 minutes.
This is also nice with a tin of tuna and some sweetcorn, mince and veg, chilli or left over curry can be used just don't use a cheese sauce use the curry/chilli sauce.

Dhal

Barely cover red lentils in water with a little tumeric and cook until the lentils are tender, but not too soft, mash them down, then fry onions in butter with garlic, cumin seeds and chilli until crispy, then stir the hot spicy butter into the lentils. Ginger, other spices etc can be added to the dhal.

Kiwisaver_2

The bloke here gets a bit miffed if there's no meat, so I do have to do a bit of trickery with him. Macaroni cheese, gets a bit of ham or bacon in it and made a bit more interesting with whatever other veggie, leeks, mushroom or lots of sliced tomatoes on top.

Pizzas again tiny bit of ham or pepperoni and stacks of veggies.

Chicken dhansak style curry is a good one, small bit of chicken can go a long way padded out with lentils.

Today we had stir fried beef, made with just one very tiny piece of steak cut very thinly and stir fried with heaps of onion, peppers and beansprouts with noodles.

Another one he likes is a jambalaya / paella type of dish I make up as I go along depending on what we have but essentially rice cooked in stock with some tinned tomatoes, heaps of veggies: mushrooms, onions, peppers and a little bit of sliced up chorizo or sometimes chicken leftovers. It seems more meaty than it is!!

Also omelettes and frittatas can be cheap and quite substantial if you add sliced potatoes or pumpkin and maybe a touch of ham for the man.

ash28

attentionseeker1 wrote: »

Yes heart failure is imminent- I normally have stores too but have been relying on them for a couple of lean months already- did last month's menu plan based on what we had in so now there's little left!

Ok fried rice, veggie curry, Schnitzel, carbonara are on the list with lentil/carrot soup.

Anyone have good ideas for the bag of frozen roots?

Re: baking, I have flour, raising agents but would need to get in a bit more sugar and some butter

Lentil Curry (adjust ingredients to taste) - really easy and quite quick

• splash of oil
• 2 onions cut into rough wedges
• 4 tbsp curry paste (extra or less depending on your preference)
• 850ml vegetable stock
• 750g stewpack frozen vegetables
• 100g red lentils
• 200g basmati rice
• turmeric (optional)
• handful of raisins and roughly chopped parsley (optional)
• canned chickpeas (optional - but always good in a curry)

1. Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onions and cook over a high heat for until they are golden brown. Stir in the curry paste and cook for a minute. Slowly pour in a little of the stock so it sizzles, scraping any bits from the bottom of the pan. Gradually pour in the rest of the stock.
2. Stir the veg, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Add lentils and simmer for a further 20 to 30 minutes or until the veg and lentils are cooked.
3. While the curry is simmering, cook the rice and add the tumeric to the water - if using
4. Season the curry with salt, toss in a handful of raisins and chopped parsley if using - serve with the rice,

serves 4

ash28

Another one....

Shepherds Pie

• Knob butter
• Large onion - chopped
• 2 cloves garlic or granules etc
• 500ml vegetable stock
• Splash red wine (optional)
• 500g stewpack frozen vegetables or fresh chopped carrots
• 250g red lentils (washed)
• 2tsp tomato puree
• Mashed potato

1. Put the lentils in a saucepan, add stewpack or chopped carrots, onions, butter and red wine if using.
2. Bring to the boil and simmer until the lentils are soft.
3. Stir in the tomato puree and season with salt and pepper.
4. Put mixture into an oven proof dish and top with mashed potato - oven 200degrees or gas 6 for 30 to 40 mins or until potatoes are golden.

attentionseeker1

Ok managed to hit Aldi's Super Six as advised which was really helpful as they had loads of useful things on offer this week. The quality of their fruit and veg seems to have improved greatly since I last went there!

Didn't get much meat, just a bit of mince, some lardons for the carbonara and some pork loin that was half price so will experiment with beating that out for Schnitzel. Also got lots of pulses and eggs for protein- is there anything else that contains protein??!