Feed 6 for £1.62

KK

I'm a bit late on this post, but wanted to share with you my inexpensive meal. Shame I missed out on the champagne!

I imagine this comes out at much less than £1.62, but I've never tried. Both my brother and I were sent off to college with my mum's 'Standby Stew' which was easy to make, cheap, nutritious, vegetarian and actually really yummy. Plus, I've since discovered - fat free - great for dieting!

1 onion
2 carrots
1-2 potatoes
1 stick of celery
1/2 tin plum tomatoes
2 oz each of barley and red lentils
fresh or dried herbs to taste
1 1/2 pints of vegetable stock
salt and pepper

Peel and chop the vegetables into small chunks, toss in melted butter if you wish (or leave out for fat-free version), add all the other ingredients and cook until pulses are tender. A pressure cooker cooks this in about 15 mins. You can vary this thick vegetable soup endlessly – frozen peas and sweetcorn are nice additions, and for the meat lovers (which would of course push the price up) chicken or any other meat could be added. I also love the addition of sliced smoked sausage. My daughter was weaned on this and variations of this theme and loved it (it can be pureed for babies). I still make it for myself, but my hubby is so sick of it he won’t eat it any more. You can also add grated cheese, or if you're feeling richer parmesan!

matthk_2

Plus, I've since discovered - fat free - great for dieting!  

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Fat free, sure, (well, very low in fat) and not too bad for dieting,
but beware the starch and carbs in the humble spud!
And white rice isn't all we think it is either. I stick to brown.

Remeber, carbs can make us fat much more easiliy than fat can!

Still, it's a worthy recipe.
I'll be giving it a go this week!
matthk
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oscarhugo

Queenie, My Mum used to say "Bread and pullit" as well. I thought it was something peculiar to her, glad to know she is not alone.

My long-late grandmother used to talk about Windmill Pudding -- "If it goes round, you'll get a bit".

amazon_2

Dear Caterina
Thanks for all your comments - I heard the Nail soup folk story not the stone one - same trick maybe different country - I have used it to entertain many times and it always captures the imagination.
Lucky you are cooking for breastfeeding mums - all my friends are driving me crazy still obsessed with Atkins diet and nearly all cheap food seems to be carb loaded. Was brought up on Yorkshire food -great for farmers doing lots of manual work but sitting in metropolis on computers all day has turned me into a Yorkshire pud!

jpr1312

Maybe I'm showing my age here, doesn't anyone else reply 'Sawdust and hay for dinner today!' (from the Wooden tops) when asked what's for dinner? Oh well, as for cheap meals how about bean and tortilla chip bake? Mix a tin of beans with a tin of chopped tomatoes, put a layer of the mixture in a deep dish, cover with roughly crushed torilla chips, then cover that with a layer of cheese. Repeat the layers once or twice more ending with a layer of cheese and bake in a moderate oven until heated through and the cheese has melted (or stick it in the microwave if you can't wait). Apparently my cousin lived on this during his 3 years at university and we've come to like it in our house too, it's tasty and not too difficult for novices in the kitchen dept.

Caterina

Dear all

I am just back from my holiday in Italy and I am truly delighted to have won the champagne!

Thank you all for making this possible, and thank you all also for your lovely comments and recipes too!

Lots of love,

Caterina

16011996

well done, and i hope you had a lovely holiday. ;D :-*

Caterina

Hi! It is nice to be back. My holiday was really fun and lovely but coming back is always lovelier!

Home sweet home and all that.....

Caterina

Finishrich

Caterina:
Congratulations, I've just tried the recipe out tonight and it was fab. My DH came into the kitchen, looked in the oven and asked if I was hungry. Said No just trying out a MSE recipe. He actually thought I'd taken the pizza out of the freezer. That's before he tasted how wonderful it was of course! (I don't know who's going to eat the one in the freezer now and I paid £2.99 for it - never again)

Ryanski

i could feed 10 people for a £1
yes £1
get 10 tins of tesco value spag £0.08
and tesco value bread 20p
arent i just great!!!

THANK YOU FOR THIS