Three Course Dinner For 4 for £10 - Can you do it?

Never_Enough_Money

Hi

I have friends coming to dinner this weekend, they are old friends so it's quite casual, I'm now on a tight budget as DH has been put on risk of redundancy this week, I have a meal plan which with my very rough workings out comes to around £10.50 - I intend to buy it all at my local Aldi. This got me thinking what would you all cook for a similar cost? I often lurk here and see that you all seem to have great meals plans etc, you all seem very good at meal planning and making things go further

Here is my menu

Starter - sweet pototo & butternut squash soup with warm bread roll, (home made in soup maker) ingredients sweet pots, butternut squash, chopped onion, 1/2 can coconut milk and veg stock cube
Part baked rolls

Main course - Chilli with jacket pots, salad, hm cheesy garlic bread
Ingredients - minced beef, chilli sauce, salad, (french stick from freezer) cheese, hm garlic butter

Desert - microwave chocolate brownie & cream

Ingredients - flour cocoa, 2 x eggs, stork, vanilla essence, choc chips
Cream from freezer

Any other ideas greatly appreciated

CT19720

When I've had a dinner party for 4, I reckon it cost me about £10 to feed us all. I cooked:


Starter:
Choritzo and red pepper, onion soup - really easy to make, blitz onion/red pepper, fry it off in a saucepan for 2 mins with a bit of oil, add a carton of passatta, 1/2 pt of chicken or veg stock I use value stock cubes, a shake of chilli powder, add half a choritzo round from aldi, and cook for 20 minutes. If you want to baulk it out add baked beans for the last 5 minutes.


Main:

Steak and mushroom pie - cheap casserole steak, onion, mushrooms and gravy, in a slow cooker for 5 hours, transferred to the oven and topped with a puff pastry lid, served with frozen veg and home grown potatoes.


Desert:


HM apple and blackburry crumble - all fruit grown in my garden, with a crumble top.


Cheap food and plenty off it and every time I've done it, everyone has loved it.

Floss

Starter: H/g leek & potato soup (allotment)
Main: Oxtail, boulangere potatoes, purple sprouting broccoli, carrots (local farmers market £6/£7, allotment)
Dessert: H/m fruit yogurt icecreams - raspberry, rhubarb, (h/m yogurt, fruit from allotment), mint-choc-chip, all served with h/m tuile biscuits

Never_Enough_Money

CT19720 wrote: »

When I've had a dinner party for 4, I reckon it cost me about £10 to feed us all. I cooked:


Starter:
Choritzo and red pepper, onion soup - really easy to make, blitz onion/red pepper, fry it off in a saucepan for 2 mins with a bit of oil, add a carton of passatta, 1/2 pt of chicken or veg stock I use value stock cubes, a shake of chilli powder, add half a choritzo round from aldi, and cook for 20 minutes. If you want to baulk it out add baked beans for the last 5 minutes.


Main:

Steak and mushroom pie - cheap casserole steak, onion, mushrooms and gravy, in a slow cooker for 5 hours, transferred to the oven and topped with a puff pastry lid, served with frozen veg and home grown potatoes.


Desert:


HM apple and blackburry crumble - all fruit grown in my garden, with a crumble top.


Cheap food and plenty off it and every time I've done it, everyone has loved it.

Thanks, thats a lovely menu, going to try your soup next week, DD will love it, she really likes Aldi chorizo.

I've never been brave enough to make my own steak pie as I never seem to choose steak that isnt like old boots! I guess like you say the thing is to slow cook it. Do you think if I added some sort of ale it would make a good steak and ale pie?

CT19720

Never_Enough_Money wrote: »

Thanks, thats a lovely menu, going to try your soup next week, DD will love it, she really likes Aldi chorizo.

I've never been brave enough to make my own steak pie as I never seem to choose steak that isnt like old boots! I guess like you say the thing is to slow cook it. Do you think if I added some sort of ale it would make a good steak and ale pie?

The soup is lovely and really easy to make. and I quite often take it to work for lunch. I always have too take 2 lots because my boss would never forgive if I turn up with it and there isn't one for her to :rotfl:. It goes great with hm bread.


The trick to cheap casserole meat is to slow cook it, and I always do it in the slow cooker and it come out really well. I've also done steak and ale pie using guinness, brown sauce and worcestershire sauce, and it comes out like 'pub' grub, it is beautiful. PM if you want the recipe and I'll scan it for you - just tried to find the link, and the website I got it from is unavailable.

meritaten

I do 'beef in ale' and always leave it in the oven for at least three hours then cool it (overnight usually) to top with pastry or scones the next day.
Aldi do some lovely 'Ales' look for the ones with the funny names - one called Hobgoblin makes a beautiful 'beef in ale'. so does Fursty something (cant remember the name). but any of their 'proper' ales will be good.

pennypusher

How about mushroom or french onion soup, they are both quite cheap.

Brambleberry

Starter - Leek and potato soup with small hm scones if ys rolls not available to refresh in oven.


Main - Individual bowls of chilli (lots of veg/pulses and little mince). Shredded spring onion, sprinkle of grated cheese, dollop of crème fraiche and baked potato wedges on the side.


Dessert - Eve's pudding and custard.


Drinks - chilled council pop in posh decanter with crystal tumblers for individual portions, decorate with ice and slice if wished.


Instant coffee with a mint imperial on the saucer

foreign_correspondent

pennypusher wrote: »

How about mushroom or french onion soup, they are both quite cheap.

I love french onion soup - takes a bit of time but costs pennies to make (half a dozen onions, oil, a spoon of flour, beef stock - from a cube - and a slug of balsamic vinegar or wine), and is best served with a slice of french bread, toasted, with melted cheese floating on top!

I'd probably do french onion soup followed by roast pork and crackling. Aldi do a good outdoor reared pork leg joint that would easily serve 4 for a fiver. I would serve it with roasted potatoes and parsnips, stuffing, apple sauce and veg.

I've tried loads of methods to get the crackling to crackle - but this is foolproof - score the fat and rub a bit of salt in, cook pork according to cooking times on pack, then cut off the layer of fat and skin, and bung in in the microwave on a plate. Microwave on high for a couple of minutes or so (checking every 30 seconds after the first minute) till it's all crisp! It will make a few poppng and sizzling noises, but don't worry about that. Slice the meat and serve with a bit of the cracking on each plate.

Alternatively, I might do some chicken thighs marinaded in something tasty, with rice or new potatoes and salad. I like chicken in a teriyaki marinade - something like this, though I often use dried ginger instead of fresh - http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/soy-ginger-marinade.html

I'm not great at desserts, so would probably go for a ready made one, alternatively a rhubarb crumble or similar would be good!

pavlovs_dog

meritaten wrote: »

Aldi do some lovely 'Ales' look for the ones with the funny names - one called Hobgoblin makes a beautiful 'beef in ale'. so does Fursty something (cant remember the name). but any of their 'proper' ales will be good.

that would be Fursty Ferret.

Both of these are available nationwide, they are not exclusive to Aldi. Home Bargains often have Hobgoblin for around 99p a bottle.

Horace

Dessert wise Aldi do a good strudel type dessert containing plums and custard for around 89/99p in their freezer compartment. Serve it with additional custard.

You could make a slow cooked beef & ale casserole and when you serve it add rounds of cooked puff pastry to the plate so that it looks as though it had a lid.