tight (ish) budget help please!

i.love.baking

Been lurking the boards for quite a while now, particularly this one, love all the tips I've got so far. but thought I need to get more involved to get the most out of it, so thought I'd kick off with asking for some advice/ideas from you all!
So I was out of work over the summer for a couple of months due to end of a course and an injured ankle :mad: I started work in sept, being paid weekly through an agency- I have now started on a contract where I had been working which means getting paid monthly, so at the moment I'm a little short of money. SO I would love it if you could give me a few ideas for super cheap meals. It's just me I have to feed and I will be able to buy a few fresh things (I have an aldi, asda and sainsburys nearby) I've managed this last week with what's already in the house, but running out of interesting ideas! I've had tuna pasta bakes, pasta and pesto, stews, jacket potatoes, sausage casserole, chili and bolognaise (bulked with lentils, beans and veg!)
In my cupboard I have:
pasta
gnocchi
rice
cous cous
tinned tomatoes x2
kidney beans
lentils
couple sachets of cuppa soups
jams and honey
1 egg
tuna chunks
flavoured porridge packets (never get up in time to make them!)
enought cereal for 2 or 3 bowls
general herbs and spices, stock cubes etc.
I have a breadmaker, and enough stuff to make quite a few loaves.
2 crumpets
general baking things- flours, sugar, icing sugar.
skimmed milk powder

In the fridge I have:
small bit of cheese
cheese spread
mustard
mayo
ketchup
tomato puree
little bit of stalk
milk ( is my housemates turn to buy the milk next)

In the freezer I have:
2 fishcakes
fish pie mix
8 sausages
mixed veg
spinach
3 potato waffles
strawberries
vanilla ice cream
pack of mine (but don't know how long it's been there?!)
quorn mince
quorn sausages
2 jacket potatoes

Thanks lovely people of MSE! you always seem to come up with great ideas! :j

Butterfly_Brain

Tuna burgers

[FONT=&quot]Can of tuna [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Chinese sauce of choice (sticky ginger sauce or hoisin sauces are ideal)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Burger buns, lettuce, sliced onion and sliced tomato to serve[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Tip the tuna into a bowl and mix with the chosen sauce[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Shape into two burgers, place on a plate, then freeze for 10 mins to firm up. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan, then cook the burgers for 1-2 mins on each side or until done to your liking. Serve the burgers in toasted buns with lettuce, tomato and sliced onion.

[/FONT][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]Lemon s[FONT=&quot]paghetti with tuna and br[FONT=&quot]occoli[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]

• 350g spaghetti
• 250g broccoli, cut into small florets
• ½ finely chopped onion
• 198g can tuna
• lemon juice
• 1 tbsp olive oil (optional)

1. Boil the spaghetti in salted water for 6 mins. Add the broccoli and boil for 4 mins more or until both are just tender.
2. Meanwhile, mix the onion,tuna and lemon juice in a roomy serving bowl. Drain the pasta and broccoli, add to the bowl and toss really well with the olive oil and lots of black pepper.

[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]Jacket melts

[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]Jacket potatoes,[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]tuna and top with cheese and grill until the cheese is melted.

[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]Gnocchi in a vegg[FONT=&quot]ie [/FONT]chilli sauce

[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]P[/FONT]orridge only takes a couple of minutes in the microwave[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot], have it for lunch instead of breakfast [FONT=&quot]if you have[FONT=&quot] use of a microwave at work.

[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]Sticky sausage bake[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]Par[/FONT]boiled potatoes cut into chunks (or use salad potatoes), parsnips, sliced onion, 2 sausages [FONT=&quot]cut in half put everything in a roasting tin and [FONT=&quot]cook until the sausages and [FONT=&quot]veg are cooked, drizzle wi[FONT=&quot]th honey and put back in the oven for another 10minutes until sticky, you need to keep an eye on [FONT=&quot]it in cas[FONT=&quot]e the honey burns.

[FONT=&quot]Sausage and bean pasties

[FONT=&quot]Sausage and bean crumble

[FONT=&quot]Keema curry using mince
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/461642/keema-with-peas


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i.love.baking

Oh fab! Thanks so much! Just realised I have a packet of stir fry sauce in the cupboard so will definitely have to try the tuna burger thing. The sticky sausage bake sounds equally as good

Change4Life

Hi i.love.baking,

Our Meal Mixer tool contains healthy, easy to make, calorie counted recipes and a shopping list function which makes it easy to keep track of everything you need.

Most recipes serve four adults, so you can freeze what's leftover for dinner another night!

Additionally, you might want to buy fruit and vegetables that are in season and look for good deals on frozen, dried and canned fruit and vegetables, such as frozen peas, dried lentils and pulses and canned fruit in their own juice.

Using more vegetables and less meat/fish as part of your meals is a great way to eat healthily while keeping the cost down. Another helpful tip is to buy cheaper cuts of meat, such as shoulder of lamb instead of leg of lamb.

If you're stuck for healthier meal ideas and need some help getting started, have a look at our Meal Mixer now!

Hope you find this information useful.

RM, Change4Life

LameWolf

Hi, i.love.baking. I have to say, I love your screen name.:o
Last night DH and I had tagliatelle with tinned toms and veggie hot dogs -
basically, fry up some diced onion in the bottom of a saucepan, chuck in a tin of chopped tomatoes, (if you have tinned whole toms, just break them up in the pan) add some dried mixed herbs, cut the veggie hot dogs into chunks and chuck those in, and simmer the lot while the tagliatelle cooks. Put the tagliatelle onto plates and tip the tomato mix over the top.
It's quick and easy, and I bet you could use whatever pasta you have in the house, and probably use any type of sausage - just pre-cook them if they're meat sausages.
HTH.:o

i.love.baking

Thanks! ooo yes LameWolf, that's actually reminded me of something I've made before where I take the insides out of the sausage, fry it and add tinned tomatoes, was really yummy with some extra herbs and pasta. you get extra flavour out of the sausages into the sauce and sort of turns into a kind of bolognaise.

RAS

Alternatively make the sausage meat into meatballs.

Re the couscous, can you use some of that to make "salads" for lunch with stock? Obviously depends what YS veggies you can get hold of but chopped green herbs, finely chopped onion, a chopped tom or even some olives, capers etc if you have them in the larder?

For brekkie at work, how about making the egg, flour and some skimmed milk (powder) into thick batter, adding raising powder and making dropscone/Scot pancakes. Take to work and nuc for about 20 seconds from thawed and check. Nice with jam, honey, or even bacon and maple syrup. Freeze any spares.

i.love.baking

ahh yes cous cous salad... sometimes even though you've made these things loads of times before you just forget about them and end up eating the same things all the time! Will make cous cous for lunch tomorrow instead of pasta.
might make the pancakes for saturday breakfast actually. I like to have something a bit different for breakfast on the weekends for a little treat.
you're all amazing! sometimes you just need a bit of inspiration!

Butterfly_Brain

Waffles are 62p for 12 in Aldi and are lovely served with a blob of Greek yoghurt, sliced banana and a drizzle of honey or maple syrup