Cheap Meals 2020

StrawberrySuze

joedenise said:

off_the_wagon said:

Thanks Goldfinches.  I started with the Grocery Challenge thread - that was what led me to get out the calculator and access the Mr T website - not surprisingly prices have gone up in the nearly 20 years that MSE has been in existence- some more than others hence the idea for this thread. Might be time to cull some of the recipes or post a warning to take a note of the original date of posting...
I like the idea of pasties - actually have some leftover spag bol sauce that might now go this way for dinner tonight.  Wonder if grated cheese in there as well would be good, sort of calzone pasty - we might have invented a new dish!
BTW for 4 people I add 2 heaped tbsp of oats to 450g mince - disappears like magic - honest guv:)

I usually add a similar amount of red lentils as I find the oats give it a weird texture for me but maybe I was putting too much in.  May give it another go as I've always got oats but not always got red lentils!  Wonder if I could get away with adding both?

I add both

StrawberrySuze

I do roast chicken dinner with 1 chicken thigh, these are really meaty and cheap, fresh carrots but frozen other veg, mashed potato, can do a lot at once and freeze and lots of stuffing and gravy. I used to have 2 thighs but it is not needed with a mound of stuffing   I cook the veg, apart from potato, in the oven at the same time as the chicken.
I also buy red pesto from Li**ls and mix with pasta, sliced olives and grated cheese, serve a green veg on top, usually frozen green beans and sometimes serve a chicken thigh on top if I fancy some meat too! This pesto is less than 60p per jar and does at least 3-4 portions.  
I also use the pesto with flat mushrooms, spread a bit on top and some grated cheese, stick in the oven or grill and serve on top of salad leaves with crusty part-baked bread. It is lovely

off_the_wagon

Made shortcrust pastry, cut into 4 circles 6 inches in diameter.  Spread with value on one side of circles and then two leftover cooked sausages, sliced; a couple of mushrooms and half a pepper, chopped and 1 fresh tomato chopped, topped with 50 g of cheese grated. Seal, bake yum.  Good use of debris from bottom of fridge!

Toonie

off_the_wagon said:

Toonie said:

It is certainly difficult when pulses or other cheap proteins aren't an option (I have stomach problems which mean that beans, lentils, rice, pasta are no go as well as not being able to have garlic, onion, celery, leeks). I tend to find that we eat a fair amount of pork (quite often the cheapest meat) and make things like schnitzel with chips and salad, pork chops with roast potatoes, toad in the hole and veggies.

Otherwise it's often mince based meals. We occasionally have a roast (beef if we can find it cheap, or gammon/pork) which is then used for sandwiches for work lunches.

FODMAP by any chance? Use Asafoetida instead of onions and garlic , just a sprinkle, really makes a difference.  Had to try this some two years ago when my immune system went into overdrive and I was one big rash head to toe.  From experience it is a pain (did it for 6 months) then got to slowly introduce some of the culprits back in.  The Batch Lady on Youtube does how to batch cook baked potatoes which you can then freeze and I used those instead of rice/pasta but with the same sauces as the rest of the family IYSWIM. Good luck!

No, part of it is actually to do with my hypermobility and the speed at which I digest things and part of it is down to genetics (my Dad and Grandma couldn't eat alliums either). Unfortunately I tried asafoetida and I'm no good with that either. It's one of those things I learned to accept and work around but it does sometimes make things tricky when you just fancy ordering a takeaway as a treat!

danrv

StrawberrySuze said:

I do roast chicken dinner with 1 chicken thigh

Good idea. 

CapricornLass

Back in 2009, the BBC did a series called economy gastronomy, based on the idea that you had one good ingredient, and then cooking it i such a way that you could get two or three additional meals from it.  I didn't get on/fancy all of the recipes and some I couldn't have due to food allergies.  However one recipe I go back to time and time again is this one for mince:

Basic:
3 tbsp oil
6 cloves of garlic peeled and chopped
3 onions peeled and chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme chopped (I use the frozen thyme from Tescos)
1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1 kg mince
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tblsp worcestershire sauce
3 beef stock cubes

Use a large saucepan.  Heat half the oil, add onions, garlic and herbs, and fry for a few minutes on a high heat.  Take pan off the heat,   Then take a large saucepan, heat a little of the remaining oil, and then start frying the  mince off in small batches so it develops a good brown colour.  As each batch is ready, tip into the pan.  Once all the mince is browned, put the pan back on the heat, tip in tomatoes and worcestershire sauce.   Make up a litre of stock with the three stock cubes, and add. to the pan.  Bring everything to a simmer and allow to simmer away for an hour.

At this stage, you can divide the mix into three portions.  They can be cooled and then frozen at this point.  Each portion can then be used to make another dish - chilli con carne, cottage pie or spaghetti bolognaise, sufficient for 4 people.  

As you use each portion, add further ingredients - more tomatoes, onions, garlic, half a bottle of red plonk for the chilli and bolognaise and a further stock cube, together with those ingredients which identify with each dish, e.g. 2 large diced carrots in the cottage pie, bacon in the bolognaise, and kidney beans and spices in the chilli, and again allow to simmer for 45 - 60 mins

By adding loads of vegetables, and also plenty of seasonings, its made the 1kg of mince stretch into 12 portions - approx 80 gms of mince per serving. The committed carnivores in this family wolf this down.