Desperate for Help

DaysofQuiet

I simply won't be able to use my oven for cooking anymore or have any heating on over the winter, after today's energy announcement.

I have a hob, slow cooker and microwave. Please help me with meal ideas. With cheap but nutritious ingredients.

I can't believe this is happening in 2022. 

ceb1995

DaysofQuiet said:

I simply won't be able to use my oven for cooking anymore or have any heating on over the winter, after today's energy announcement.

I have a hob, slow cooker and microwave. Please help me with meal ideas. With cheap but nutritious ingredients.

I can't believe this is happening in 2022. 

This a list of what we're having this week, all of which you can do with using two hob rings maximum, no oven usage (there's two adults and a toddler but all of these you could make for 1 easily) ;
1. chicken stir fry (timed it right for reduced chicken)
2. swedish meatballs (again reduced meatballs, discounter shop sold the powder for the sauce)
3. aubergine chilli (for one person you would just need 1 aubergine for this, along with chopped tomatoes and kidney beans (half a tin of each, a carrot and the cheapest brand of tortilla chips, gives you a very filling dinner for about £1.75)
4. thai pineapple rice (i make this with basic rice, tinned pineapple, soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce and spring onions)
5. bolognese (again reduced mince, can bulk it with the veg, i can't stand lentils but if you like them you can cut down the amount of meat used)
6. ratatollie (made with carrot, courgette and aubergine, with chopped tomatoes, some cheap dried herbs and spices, this works with any carbohydrate really)
7. sweet potato and spinach curry (i use a couple of tablespoons of basic curry powder and a tin of chopped tomatoes, you can either get fresh spinach and use the rest for other meals or a lunch, or you can get a large bag of frozen, i imagine 1 sweet potato would be enough to do a portion for 1). 

Generally, I find making Mexican options yourself avoiding the kit to be good options avoiding the oven, cheese quesadillas, fajitas you can make with lots of vegetables (seasoning wise you can use a fresh lime, paprika, chilli and garlic powder then buying the wraps separate and it ll be less than a kit). 

I would check the electric usage on your slow cooker in comparison to your oven, it would be less but perhaps not substantially enough. 

Katiehound

I think the slow cooker uses very little power if you have it on low.
good for casserole things - like lemon chicken
yesterday they were saying that using the microwave is far cheaper than the oven

Chicken thighs much cheaper than breasts- especially the ones with skin on & bone in. Just one bone to take out

Remember residual heat- for example- bring poatoes to the boil then leave in pan with lid on.

There are lots of ideas with various threads on this board, you need to have a read through.

joedenise

Vegetable curries are cheap to make.  I make a veggie biryani by just boiling up some frozen mixed veg with some curry powder in the boiling water.  Cook basmati rice - I use 1 measure of rice to 2 measures of water.  Bring to boil and simmer for about 3 minutes then turn off the heat and leave for 10-15 minutes to steam.  Mix them together or if you want to be fancy you can line a small bowl with some of the rice; add the cooked curried veg and then cover with the rest of the rice and invert onto a plate.

Might be worthwhile visiting your local library and getting some Asian cook books or check on line for vegetable curries - there are lots of different variations from all parts of India which are all slightly different.

I agree with @ceb1995 about Mexican food - you can make fajitas quite cheaply - just stir fry some peppers, onions and strips of chicken; tip into a wrap (I tend to use a bit of sweet chilli sauce on the wrap).

Jacket potatoes can be topped with all sorts of thing - one of the cheapest toppings is some baked beans.  You can cook a batch of potatoes in the slow cooker and freeze wrapped individually if you have a freezer.

You could also check out the Jack Monroe website - www.cookingonabootstrap.com for loads of cheap recipes.

I think we're all going to be having to look for more cheap recipes.  

London_1

I would definitely recommend your slow cooker, Asda's if you have one near are doing a bag of chicken thighs for £1.94, I bought a bag about 10 days ago, and they were really big, not unlike the size of a chicken quarter. If you cook a couple in a slow cooker you can get so much meat off them, use half cold in a wrap, or even with some mash and veg..

 I use my steamer on one ring and have some potatoes in the bottom tin, then carrots ,cauli, cabbage diced in the top tin. So you can get all your veg cooked on one ring I think you can buy them in Wilkos for about £12-15.00. The remainder of the chicken you can curry with a tin of tomatoes, and some curry powder and even a diced spud ot two.Once you've made a potful portion it up, and freeze and then defrost and microwave when needed with some rice.
 
500gms mince can have diced onion,carrots ,mushroom stalks (I always top and tail these and freeze in a bag until I'm making mince for lasagne,curry or even cottage pie)

 I don't mind a handful of lentils in there to streetch the mince a bit ,or even a small handfull of porridge oats (this will extend the meat, but takes the flavour of the meat, so I use a gravy made from Bisto powder and a dollop of marmite to make it even beefier )

There are lots of cheap meals to be made out of almost anything that you don't need the oven for I rarely use mine, unless I'm baking,but then I have a Remoska, but most stuff I cook in my slow cooker and microwave.

A full kettle of water boiled in the morning can be decanted into a large thermos and keep hot all day for drinks (look in camping shops for reduced ones as the summer is almost over I think I paid about £6.00 for my last large thermos.

Best of all try not to panic, you will get through this, and we are all here if you need to ask any questions at all .
No question is daft or silly if it helps you, it will help someone else who is too shy to ask.
I have been fairly frugal and able to streeetch my purse to sometimes it almost squeeks for the past 60 plus years so I've heard all sorts of questionsand I'm always willing to help if I can

JackieO xx 

DaysofQuiet

Thank you everyone. It's just so frightening. I'm really worried about my elderly mother as well. She lives in a large house with expensive storage heaters on a basic pension. Nightmare 

-taff

I love a one pan wonder chuck together and a steamer or slow cooker would also work to use just the one hob. Start with onions, add some veg, whatever you like, add whatever seasoning you like, add your carbs to the same pan with enough liquid of whatever kind to cook. Using this method you can go Mexican, Spanish, Indian, Thai, or a stew/casserole, or soup [with prizes as we used to call it which basically means a few chunks of beef or something], or some meatballs chucked in from mince [ if you squish the mince really well with whatever seasoning -onion powder is a winner instead of adding onions or spring onions - and no big chunks of stuff, you can roll into little balls and cook in the liquid] . Bulk with lentils or dal, go toindian shops for big packets of herbs and spices, baically, as long as it has some flavour or other, pretty much anything can taste good with very cheap ingredients.

calleyw

if you make curries and stews that need long cooking then there is a thing called a hay box.  Not made one as I don't tend to make those sort of meals.  Google it to get an idea about it and how to make one and use one

-taff

P.S. have a look at the grocery challenge threads there are a ton of recipes linked to in the first posts for some ideas for cheap meals.

bouicca21

What sort of things do you like to eat?  No point in us suggesting stuff you can’t stand.  

And for the oven, meal planning is the answer, so you fill it up. For example, I think I’m going to be given courgettes and tomatoes next week. If that happens I’ll do roast veg and fish but I will also do a bacon and egg pie and stew some fruit at the same time.  I think there might even be room for me to ‘finish’ the gigantes plaki that was mentioned on another thread, that I will have done in my slow cooker.

Also, don’t panic.  Have a look at your meter to see just how many units the oven uses.  I saw all the doom and gloom estimates, and then conducted my own experiment only to be agreeably  surprised that the oven didn’t use nearly as much as all these ‘experts’ said it would.

annieb64

If you haven't got a  steamer you can cook veg in a metal colander on top of the potatoes.

 Bring rice to the boil then put the lid on the pan and turn it off. The rice will carry on cooking. You can do the same for pasta or noodles for a stir fry.