Are there economical recipes WITHOUT pasta!

Lou3000

Okay, I have decided I really, really need to lose at least £140 off my household food bill. There are only two of us, but hubby is diabetic and hates pasta to boot! I'm not partial to it either.

Does anyone know where I can find some nutritious and economical recipes that are pasta free?

My monthly food bill is not helped by the fact I've been working in our local supermarket at the weekends for the past 12 months. We are not supposed to have cash on us so I found it easier just to carry my debit card. I rarely have much cash in my purse so I thought it was easier just to pay for my paper and odds n' sods using the card. I do my normal 'big' shop once a week and spend between £35-£50 ... it's the odds 'n' sods which are the problem. When I sat down and totalled up all my card transactions for March I discovered that I was £140 over my £200 'budget' for food.

We don't eat expensive stuff, and we only have Mueller yoghurt for puds (hubs only likes the Mueller ) and because I have two jobs I am always exhausted so can't be really faffed messing about in the kitchen when I get home. Obviously, I am going to have to think properly of what we are going to eat in advance if I'm going to cook economically!

Pink.

Hi Lou,

There are lots of ideas for nutritious and economical meals on these older threads:

Cheapest recipes???

Meal for two for 50p. Suggestions?

The Cheapest Healthy Meal Ever!

Feed 6 for £1.62

Cheapest meal

Your Cheapest Evening Meal.

cheap, easy family meals

For ideas for lunches have a look here. Why not join this month's Grocery Challenge where you'll get lots of support in trying to cut back

Pink

redruby

Hi Lou,

Jacket pots are a good cheap meal, with chilli or cheese / tuna / coleslaw, also a cottage pie is another good one, you could make two up at a time and freeze one.

Another one I do is cheese and baked bean pie, put a tin of beans in the bottom of an oven proof dish, mash potato on the top, grated cheese over then, heat through in the oven.

My dad is diabetic too, and he has sweet potatoes which are apparantly a slow release carb, which is better for diabetics.

Sausage mash and veg is another fairly cheap one, HM pizza, chilli ?

I am sure others will be along with more ideas in a while,

hth

sue
x

belfastgirl23

Just to say that it's worth having a look at how much meat you're eating and seeing if you can do some bean/lentil type recipes a few times a week. There's a really good thread on here somewhere (recent!) about this, there's a tuscan bean stew that's lovely Beans and lentils freeze well too and I think are very good blood sugar wise.

Also just to add that you need to start by looking hard at the things you are buying and see what you're weaknesses are (mine was M&S!). Then seeing what you can swap or do about them...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=813339&highlight=lentil this is the thread I was talking about

celyn90

I don't like pasta very much either - we eat is occassionally if I'm too shattered to cook anything else. I like pulse based dished, like dahls and bean stews. I tend to cook meat simply and serve with lots of vegetables. Curry is very economical (and they don't have to be spicy) as are things like fishcakes, tortilla and stews.

HM pizza is remarkable versitile and I find it's very good for days when I can't find much in the fridge

ubamother

casseroles - meat based or bean based can be made with loads of veggies to eke out the meat - make in bulk and get some in the freezer, then have with potatoes - mashed, boiled, jackets etc. and a quick frozen veg like peas. you could try posting an example list of the meals you eat now and i'm sure members would be really helpful in providing alternatives that may be similar but more economical.

moanymoany

I've discovered that most pasta recipes can be eaten with jacket potatoes, wedges, chips or mashed potatoes, rice, bulgar wheat, cous cous.

My own fave carb is the humble spud. I do like pasta, but I usually only cook it once a week. I love bulgar wheat mixed with frozen mixed veg, it is filling - adds more (cheap) veg and I think it goes with most things. Rice I use rarely and I only like brown rice.

I've cut down on meat to reduce the food bill. I sometimes buy organic mince or an organic chicken. I use lots of haricot beans. I soak and cook a whole pack and then freeze it in 150 gram portions. I use it instead of meat in lots of dishes. A pack of 500 grams is about 50 - 70p and makes the protein for 5 meals.

Lou3000

:T You lovely people! I am off to do my evening shift at the supermarket now (I work weekends there), but come Monday I'll be able to browse your replies. I'm sooo glad I asked!

Just as a matter of interest: one of our young supervisors (he's 18 and a real money saver!) told me that he went to Tescos in Inverness recently and spent £11.60 for groceries and then he did a comparison by seeing how much the same items would cost in our local supermarket (we only have the one Co-op so no chance of going elsewhere :mad:) he discovered that the same items would have cost a whacking £36!!! and that's just groceries!

ali1972

belfastgirl23 wrote: »

Just to say that it's worth having a look at how much meat you're eating and seeing if you can do some bean/lentil type recipes a few times a week. There's a really good thread on here somewhere (recent!) about this, there's a tuscan bean stew that's lovely Beans and lentils freeze well too and I think are very good blood sugar wise.

Yes, Lentils are a great meat substitute in Shepherds pie and other such dishes. I have a good recipe for Bobotie somewhere (a spicy african dish with an egg custard topping) which I use lentils for instead of lamb. Really delicious.

Skint_Catt

Do you need to do anything to lentils before you add them to a shepherds pie? I'm looking for ideas to bulk out meat/quorn mince.

Catt xx

ceridwen

ali1972 wrote: »

Yes, Lentils are a great meat substitute in Shepherds pie and other such dishes. I have a good recipe for Bobotie somewhere (a spicy african dish with an egg custard topping) which I use lentils for instead of lamb. Really delicious.

oooh, oooh, oooh - I love bobotie and quorn mince is a good substitute for lentils. Anyone who is cooking a veggie version....can I come round for dinner please? I'm a very good guest....I help with the washing-up and bring a bottle of wine for the "feast":D