What Do You Have For Dinner?

chirpychick

I am on a real tight budget this month (£100 incl dog food and nappies) and I was looking for a bit of inspiration.
We eat quite a lot of mince meals but my husband lost his Brother (aged just 52) about 6 weeks ago and as a result had an "MOT" with the GP and has high blood pressure (plus allergies to nuts, kiwi, grapes, banana, celery, mushrooms and wont eat aubergine, celeriac or asparagus or most fish, lamb, pork - except sausages and bacon!!) and we have a 2.5 year old little boy who genuinely dislikes carrots and is allergic to raisins.
I feel quite at a loss as to where to start, I used to frequent this board a lot before my son came along and seem to have lost my way.
So I was hoping for a few dinner suggestions to help me get started again.

**purpleprincess**

It can be overwhelming thinking of dinners. Have you seen the weekly meal plan threads? And the 'what are you having for dinner' thread. Tonnes of ideas.

chirpychick

Thanks, no i hadn't ill try find them

Teddi

We do a lot of 'in the bag' cooking, you can buy cheap cuts of meat like chicken drumsticks or leg quarters, pop them in the bag with spices (I love smoked paprika) and that's it. Serve with a root veg and a non root veg (so for us it will often be potato and cauliflower mash with spinach).


Also saves on washing up.


If you have a slow cooker or an oven that goes low enough, lots of summery Mediterranean casserole recipes out there which again, pretty cheap which works well with chicken, beef or pretty much anything else!

chirpychick

I havent ever done in the bag cooking lol i might have to try it out!

maman

Recent (easy) favourite has been a sausage tray bake. We have two sausages each (adults) and cut them in half. Put in a roasting tin with whatever your DH will eat. I use garlic, tomatoes, mushrooms, courgettes, peppers, onions and new potatoes. It takes about 30 - 45 mins although helps to parboil potatoes first and cut any large ones in half. Then we have something green alongside like broccoli, green beans or even peas.


Sausage casserole is good, loads of recipes on Google.
http://www.fiverfeeds.co.uk/recipes/sausage-baked-bean-casserole/
This is an easy one and you can leave out the carrots and maybe add mushrooms instead.


If he likes bacon he may like gammon. Boil a gammon joint (good value in Aldi or Lidl) and slice it up to have with chips or potatoes and veg. Keep the stock, it makes brilliant veg and lentil soup.


With mince make your own burgers as well as the usual Bolognese, lasagne, chilli or just savoury mince and tatties.


This Hairy Bikers recipe
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/braised_steak_with_gravy_24508
is absolutely delicious. You can use braising steak but I've used shin to make a cheaper meal. The gravy is to die for and just as nice with potatoes and veg as with chips. I add mushrooms (seem to have a thing about them;)) as well as onions.


If your DH wants to eat more healthy food I'd make the meat portions small and fill up on the veg.

lucylema

chilli bacon
fry bacon with onions and spices and chilli, add tin of toms, tin of beans, peppers. cook for 20 mins or so then serve with pasta, couscous or crusty bread. mr lema and i tend to make enough for 2 portions for 2 main meals and even have enough for one more meal/lunch.

toad in the hole
sausages and yorkie puds, simple and yummy with spuds and veg

veg pasta bake
fry onions and a bag of frozen mixed veg with herbs, add tin of toms. mix with cooked pasta and transfer to dish. add cheese sauce and grated cheese and bung under the grill until melted. if you want a crunchy top just sprinkle crushed up crisps over the cheese sauce before adding the cheese

VfM4meplse

Cut out the meat OP and you'll save money and do your OH's heart a favour at the same time. Processed meat might be cheap but it's bad news.

Goldiegirl

As OH has high blood pressure, he needs to reduce his salt intake, so he should at least go easy on the bacon and sausages, which contain a lot of salt.

Also, he needs to be careful of cheese, which also contains a lot of salt

chirpychick

maman wrote: »

Recent (easy) favourite has been a sausage tray bake. We have two sausages each (adults) and cut them in half. Put in a roasting tin with whatever your DH will eat. I use garlic, tomatoes, mushrooms, courgettes, peppers, onions and new potatoes. It takes about 30 - 45 mins although helps to parboil potatoes first and cut any large ones in half. Then we have something green alongside like broccoli, green beans or even peas.

If your DH wants to eat more healthy food I'd make the meat portions small and fill up on the veg.

Ooh thank you! I think we could try doing this with some quorn sausages (i'm assuming without looking that they will be healthier than proper ones) it really sounds lush!

lucylema wrote: »

toad in the hole
sausages and yorkie puds, simple and yummy with spuds and veg

Thank you, i'd totally forgotten about toad in the hole and again could use quorn sausages assuming they are healthier.


Hubby actually really likes quorn and we're trying to consciously cut back on how much meat we eat due to his high blood pressure. I used to be veggie and have just remembered i have some old student veggie cookbooks under my bed, i will dig them out!


We managed to get 3 loaves of 2p whoopsie bread yesterday from Asda so they have gone straight into the freezer.

Really appreciating everyone's input thank you

Goldiegirl

Even the Quorn sausages should be eaten in moderation, as they are still have quite a high salt content ( although not as high as some 'normal' sausages)


I just had a quick look, and saw a packet of 8 quorn sausages weighs 336g


The salt content per 100g is 1.1g, which is 18% of the recommended adult daily salt intake, or in other words, less than 2 sausages.


As OH has high blood pressure, perhaps he needs to check with the doctor about how much salt he should have a day, as it may be recommended that he should consume less than the normal adult amount.


There is stacks of information on the internet about low salt cooking, try Googling 'action on salt' to start you off


But the basic advice is cook everything from scratch and avoid anything processed


PS, don't forget to check the salt contained in that bread..... it'll be higher than you think, so bread is another thing to eat in moderation