Low cost and fuss free

boo81

Please help me find low cost, healthy and fuss free meals, I have a 4 month old (who i breastfeed) and live on my own with very few shops nearby but I have a good stock of ingredients. I'm trying to cut down on meat and fish as it is so expensive to have in every meal.

Please give me some ideas, on the list so far are:
Pasta and simple veg sauce
Slow cooked beef stew
Omelette
Beans on toast (lol)
Sausages and lentil salad
Butternut squash soup

I have loads of chickpeas it seems, so anything with those would be good :-)

kboss2010

Carrot and honey soup
1kg carrots
2tbsp value honey
1 large onion
2 veg stock cubes
Hot water to cover rice and carrots
1.5 cups value rice (the broken cheap stuff works great!)

Once cooked, mush with a potato masher or blender if you have one.

Pasta with bacon, peas and cream - simple but lovely (single serving)
2 rashers of bacon cut into small chunks
1 cup frozen peas
150-200ml single cream
Salt and pepper
1 cup of pasta per person

Chorizo pasta (1 portion)
1/4 chorizo diced small
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 large onion
1/2 tin tomatoes
1 tsp sugar to remove tartness from tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato pur!e
Salt and pepper
Pasta

Chickpea and tomato pasta sauce (1 portion)
1/2 tin chickpeas
1/2 tin tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
1 chopped carrot
Good sprinkling of mixed herbs (rosemary, thyme, basil, oregano)
Salt and pepper
Pinch of dried chilli flakes
Dash of red wine
Pasta

Really easy pastry recipe
110g margarine
170g plain flour
Pinch of salt
Water to bind

Add salt to flour
Rub flour and margarine together until you get breadcrumbs
Add tsp of water at a time and mix with a wooden spoon to bind.
When it can be made into a ball, dust surface with flour and roll out. I can make this in 3 minutes and costs about 10th of shop bought stuff.

kettlenic

everything you will need to know is listed here....

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/235198

boo81

Thanks kettlenic, but I've tried using the mega collection and I just give up - like I say I've got a 4 month old and simple no time to trawl through it all.

Thank you kboss

bellevie

Sweet veg stew - carrot, onion, swede & potato - dice all and fry for a few minutes, then cook in veg stock - if you have the budget you can add chicken mixed in or on the side. Sometimes Il skip the swede if Im having chicken but my toddler loves it with or without chicken! Would be a good weaning meal when you get to that stage you can get salt free stock cubes, and add your salt when its seperated out.

Im alone with a toddler, and if we have meat its normally in a stew like the above so it stretches further, and we will share a chicken breast its more than enough.

Where do you shop, do you have a preference on what type of meats eg will you consider value, cheaper cuts or do you prefer organic?
I only ask as, I buy what I can afford so dont mind cheaper cuts....I generally get 2 lots of meat, 500g mince from lidl for £2 I split into 3 meals of chilliconcarne, and a big bag of frozen chicken breast from tescos - its around £5 and lasts us a month - on the principle we have 1 x chilli or spag bol a week, and 1 x chicken meal a week. The chicken is either in a stew or on the side of roasted/stewed veg. When its on offer Il buy fish though generally frozen as its cheaper and again we share a portion.

The rest of the time, its pasta or potato based meals

brocoli, potato & cheese mash - when things have been tough we ate this on its own as it covers veg, carbs & protein - but normally Il add something on the side white fish portion(value), or fish fingers if Im in a rush.

Leek & potato soup - I dont have a reciepe of this I just aim to do roughly the same amount in stock, with bread & butter to dunk in!

I dont know any simple reciepes with chickpeas - just though if it is budget thats an issue the above info might help re meat (if you have either of those shops near by)

If not, do you have a veg shop near by? In my old town there was a fruit & veg shop - it looked like what you'd find in a market just boxes of fruit & veg but in a shop and it was so so so cheap - I did do a lot of veg stews with whatever I had brought that day in stock, if I felt like I needed something more savoury but didnt have meat in I would cook it in chicken stock instead of veg stock.

Hope something in this helps

x

trulymadlydeeply_indebt!

Flavoured couscous packets (I use Aldi Lemon and Coriander 39p) are a godsend. Chop and soften some red onion, flaked almonds and ready chopped apricots and warm up some chick peas whilst you add some boiled water to the couscous packet mix and leave it for 3 minutes. Packet to Plate in 5 mins max.

boo81

Bellevie - fab ideas, thank you. I go to a butcher for all my meat and enjoy the cheap cuts, so that is never an issue for us. I really like root veg but never really thought of it as a main part of the meal.

Truly madly deeply - that would work for the ready cooked rice I have too, I've got lemon which would go well with a bit of dried fruit and chickpeas. Will make a good filling meal.

Fire_Fox

Canned oily fish can be inexpensive and you and baby would both benefit from the omega-3s and vitamin D - 400g mackerel or pilchards in tomato sauce can be had for 90p to £1. No cooking, can be used in all sorts of meal and snacks - on toast, fishcakes made with leftover root veg, with green veg and chick peas or rice and so on. Good recipes here
http://www.john-west.co.uk/our-recipes
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/apr/13/tinned-fish-recipes-sardines-anchovies

Also in place of muscle meat offal/ organ meats, can you have those when breastfeeding? Some are just £1 a kilo and jam packed with nutrients. Also generally just eating small servings as per the official healthy eating guidelines and combining with vegetarian friendly proteins like beans and lentils.

Slow cooker curries are tasty and cheap - vegetables, beans, lentils, block creamed coconut, canned tomatoes, often no meat. I choose the lazy options and never fry anything off just chuck it all in raw which takes under five minutes including chopping - then you have a meal for two or more days depending how much you make.

boo81

Thanks Firefox, I love tinned pilchards but apart from on toady or in a sandwich I wouldn't have lue what to do with them - tuna has become a very expensive option.

I'm not keen on offal although I plan to make it for my daughter and see if she likes it. I do like pate, that's the only exception really.

I've never done curry in the slow cooker, so I think of it as being labour intensive. I should give it a go though, as its a great standby plus I have naan bread in the freezer that I got on an offer too :-)

[Deleted User]

I once made a pizza with passata topping and a tin of pilchards chopped and scattered over it all and covered with grated cheese and chucked on the oven until the cheese bubbled and my two kids wolfed it down.Back in the 1970s I had to be inventive as money was scarce and times were hard with two tiny children,the mortgage rate had shot up to 15% and the country was working on a three day week with electricity blackouts all the time.By Thursdays I used to make odds and sods pie, I would make a pastry case and bake it 'blind' for ten minutes then what ever was in the fridge got used up.chopped onion,grated carrot a couple of sausages cooked and chopped up some mashed potato topped it off with a bit of grated cheese over the whole lot .cooked in the oven unti the top was brown and served up with whatever green veg (usually cabbage as it was the cheapest ) it made a filling meal for my OH and I and the two little ones for very little money