Fast, Cheap and Healthy Meals

Rummer

Hello

Now normally I am very organised and cook healthy meals from scratch however due to a bout of ill health I am struggling at the moment and am in the danger zone where takeout is looking more and more appealing.

So I am looking for fast healthy and cheap meal ideas that take very little time to prepare. In the last week we have had:

Various soups
French toast
Freezer dinner - these are rapidly depleting and it will be a while before I can batch cook
Pasta and sauce
Pizza
Toasted cheese with veggie toppings

We do not have a microwave and I would like to eat as little processed food as possible. Normally I spend £25/week to feed two adults, one child and two cats and I would hate to put the bills up.

Thank you!

sleepymans

How about a tin of sardines in tomato sauce? I mash it all up (removing bones and any roe, which I don't like) and psread on bread toasted on one side then toasted under the grill....yummy
Or omelettes....source cheapest eggs (I am lucky and get 6 free range for 50p from a colleague) flavour with all sort of things, from mushrooms to left-over cooked veg or a little cheese.....
Corale baked beans (from Aldis) which taste better than Hnz!

yuppiebaker

Re above on eggs: Poundland are doing 6 large free range eggs for £1 if that helps :-) that's about as cheap (cheep!) as I've found them anywhere, other then buying from neighbours back home.

Spanish tortilla (eggs and potato, basicly) is cheap and easy, and not hideously unhealthy.

danih

Curry beans! Teaspoon of curry powder into a tin of beans, heat as normal, plus toast / baked spud. V nice!

graspandsave

baked spuds

-so many fillings choices, doesn't need to be boring

gayleygoo

Noodle stir fry? They only take 3-4 minutes to cook, and you can stir-fry the veg at the same time. The veg could be prepared and portioned earlier so that you have very little to do at teatime. Frying steak, cut into strips, just needs sealed in the pan too cook. I remove it before doing the veg and add it back in after so it doesn't go too tough.

Things With Beans - chopped bacon or sausages/mini sausages fried in a pan, drain off most of the fat, add a tin of baked beans. Cook through and serve on toast or with potatoes or chips. Sausage meatballs are fun too - just squeeze small amounts of the meat out of the sausage skin, roll roughly into a ball and fry or grill. I once made a pie out of sausage meatballs and beans - spread in an ovenproof dish, top with breadcrumbs or stuffing and grated cheese, then grill or bake until golden.

As others have said, baked potatoes - okay so they take over an hour to cook but prep is minimal and you can just serve with a big salad, tuna, baked beans, cheese etc.

quintwins

Do you have a slowcooker? i find this makes cooking from scratch alot easier.

-taff

fritada - giant thick omlette with potatoes/veg

you could make a large pot of something that will last for a couple of days, like chilli, or a curry. First night serve with rice, second night serve with noodles, or jacket potato etc.
Not much prparation but can be cooked in slow cooker or similar.

Pasta bakes, with the pasta and some other stuff chucked in, whatever you have really

tallyhoh

pasta with soft cheese stirred in, sprinkle of cheddar on the top and popped under the grill. soft cheese 49p from aldi

Nicki

meatloaf: chop an onion and mix it in with some minced beef, salt and pepper and a beaten egg or some tomato ketchup to bind. Squidge it into a loaf tin, or shape it into a log and put it on a baking tray. Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes alongside a baked potato.

Meatballs: buy some preformed raw meatballs and put in a saucepan with a chopped onion, some herbs and a tin of tomatoes. Simmer for about 30 minutes. Serve with pasta.

Spaghetti carabonara - fry some bacon and onion, add a couple of beaten eggs and some cheese and toss in hot cooked pasta.

Pasta al salmone - heat up some cream and smoked salmon trimmings and add hot cooked pasta

Salmon en croute - chop up a salmon fillet, mix with a small tub of creme fraiche, season well. Spread half a sheet of readymade puff pastry with the mix and fold the other half over. Brush the top with a beaten egg and bake at 180 for about 25 minutes. If you like you can add a bag of spinach to the salmon mix.

zaxdog

Corned beef hash: cube a tin of CB, add a sauted onion, some veggies (tinned are fine) some tatties (again tinned are fine), some water and gravy granules. Leftovers are great with rice/topping baked tattie/iinside giant Yorkshire pudings

Stir fry: pack of stir fry veg and a handful of Quorn/meat

Soups made in the slow cooker with YS bread and a pudding