Meal ideas under £1

Chopper98

Not sure if anyones mentioned it but how about making your own pizza?

Just buy the dough and some tomato puree, both dirt cheap, add whatever you like to top it, if you want to do it really cheap you dont even need cheese, stick with loads of veggies and maybe sausage/bacon. I don't have kids but i can imagine itd be fun for kids to make

nuttyrockeress

Pack of sausages (cost depends on various reasons, brand, flavour ets.)
Tin of beans (approx 42p)
Potatoes - £1 for a value bag
Grated cheese

Cook the sausages in the oven for about 20 mins.

Whilst they are cooking boil potatoes and mash
them.

Pour the beans over the sausages and put the mash on top - then grate the cheese over.

Place in the oven for 20 mins.

Really cheap dinner - serves at least 3 for about £3 total

redrach

Not to sound stupid, but can corned beef hash be frozen? My sons loves it but i dont, and half goes to waste. Also, can homemade pizzas be frozen? Its probably obvious that 'freezing your leftovers' is new to me and im only just getting the hang of it!!

Thanks

angel13

Skint_Catt wrote: »

Another addiction of mine is Pasta, beans and cheese. I buy the big 3kg bags of pasta which lasts me months, 1/3 can baked beans topped with the cheapest cheese grated over the top - YUM!

if i made this my partner would be in heaven and not want any really nice time consuming meals i could ever again his favourite meal is cold baked beans on toast with cheese - the only appliance he has touched is the toaster so no chance of ruining the meal or my kitchen :rotfl:my 15 year old is a lot better at cooking as hes been trained over the years

i could do with some really healthy suggestions please. we are veggie and i like to have at least 3 portions of veg or salad for our main meal as we have cheap meals other times of day to counteract.

i make (all served with salad or side veg dependant on meal) veggie bolognese, veggie cottage pie, veggie chili, baking potatoes, omelettes and curry all the time and im on a strict budget so we never spend that much. but they still seem to cost us a fortune can people suggest other things please - we eat free range eggs and vegetarian cheese but NOT fish.

angel13

redrach wrote: »

Not to sound stupid, but can corned beef hash be frozen? My sons loves it but i dont, and half goes to waste. Also, can homemade pizzas be frozen? Its probably obvious that 'freezing your leftovers' is new to me and im only just getting the hang of it!!

Thanks

not entirely sure about the meat as in veggie but the rules for freezing are you CAN freeze it if none of the ingredients have been frozen before. For example if I make a vegetarian bolognese with veggie mince from the chiller section if i have any spare (as if!:rotfl:) i could freeze that. If on the other hand I have used frozen mince this CANNOT be frozen again. so if your pizza base and toppings have not been frozen they will come out fine and be safe to eat

Things that I know can be frozen and come out just as delicious are homemade vegetable stew, if you have spare hard cheese like cheddar grate it and then freeze to use at a later date. also if you see any good bargains - for example this week i got a bag of fresh pasta for four for 64p in sainsburys and 2 jars of fresh pasta sauce - cheese and tomato i think - from asda (double check packing as all are different) reduced to 20p each. So that will feed all of us for 94p with a big salad so should feed 3 for under £2.00.

also i know everyone is different about freezing but milk usually comes up fine for me - especially for a back up for hot drinks rather than nipping to local shop. i got 4 cravendale milks this week for 20p each, been using 3 all week even though out of date (their milk lasts and lasts) and 1 in the freezer for next week. and if i get reduced or on offer bread, crumpets, pancakes, bagels, rolls, scones, croissants, potato cakes (my favourites!) etc they ALL go in freezer so no chance of going mouldy in bread bin and then i get out what we need the night before. asda scones out of the freezer taste even better than fresh ones ive not frozen form other places! we buy various things that we see reduced on certain weeks and then if theres nothing on offer we have back up nicer things in freezer and i just buy standard bread and rolls for lunches.

freezing bread etc has definitely helped cut our costs as things used to go off all the time plus teenage son and partner can only help themselves to whats in the breadbin at the time and NOT whats still frozen (he doesnt know you can toast frozen bread yet and im not letting him in on that :rotfl:)

angel13

wishing4amoneytree wrote: »

earlier I made the fishcakes! added the sweetcorn and covered in breadcrumbs! Mmmmmmmmmm yummy! the mixture was yummy even before I made them into fishcakes. HOWEVER I made 6 and left them on the side to cool as I thought I might freeze them, when I just went to check on them the dog had dragged them onto the floor and eaten them! :mad:

So that didnt save me many pennies did it!:rotfl:

its probably cheaper than dog food as ours costs a fortune!! some nights when i do bolognese the dog has a portion with a handful of his biscuits as its cheaper than his dried food and he gulps it down

angel13

focus888 wrote: »

i have loads of this at home because once my bf went mad and brought 20 :rolleyes: but has not bothered to eat one of them. is there anyway i can turn this into something nice that i can pretend to pass off as something from takeaway to him :rotfl:

i have them in cupboard for son sometimes and if ive forgotten egg noddles i used them in stir fry. dont use the sachet as they are the bad bit and if you are vegetarian the bit you cant eat. so just make up the noodles with the water and then add to stir fry as you do egg noodles. still fills everyone up.

dig4victory

Very cheap and cheerful; pitta bread pizzas.

1 packet sainsburys basics pitta breads - 25p for 6, so about .04p each.

then squeeze a little tom ketchup over and spread over.
then grate a little cheddar over the top (as cheap a cheddar as you like)
sprinkle a little dried oregano or basil over the top (optional)

grill till melted and browning.

My kids love these cold in their packed lunches or as a snack or for a treat supper with salad.

dig4victory

P.S. I hear what angel13 is saying. Meat products can be purchased really cheaply if in bulk or from a basics or value range - us veggies don't get the same kind of prices so I find that although in principle veggie eating should be cheaper, it isn't always.

jayne_just_learning

Like many I am trying to save money on shopping and feeding the family but still want to eat healthily and not resort to junk food or just bulk out on carbs - the pounds I save on shopping become instant pounds on my hips with too much rice and pasta!

I don't like the taste and qualtiy of 'value meat' so I'd rather save some pennies on other things like toiletries and cleaning products or heaven forbid wine ...

What I have found though are 3 meat money saving tips that have saved me loads a lot of cash.

I now never buy chicken breasts from the supermarket and these used to be the basis of probably 3 meals per week in the old days! Last week I bought a large chicken for £4.99 and roasted it. With the white meat (cause we are all fussy) I made chicken and mushroom pasta using some condensed mushroom soup for the sauce as I was short of time. We got 6 good sized portions from this and had enough white meat left for a chicken salad for 4 the next day. The scrappier meat from the wings and legs etc could be made into a pie or soup but in our house the dog gets it! 10 meals and the meat content was less than 50p per head plus a few dog meals too. Today I got a similar sized chicken on a mark down that was £3.49, it's roasting in the oven as I write - mmmm. Plus using the carcass for stock gives an excellent base for many other meals, especially risotto.

My local butcher does good deals on freezer packs. I carefully wrote down the content of his pack and then checked the prices on line with Sainsburys and Tesco and found his to be the same or slightly lower against the average range (not basic not finest) so I ordered one. He bagged the whole order in half kilo bags so a friend and I split and shared the cost of the pack and neither of us had a problem with freezer space. The meat is top quality so I feel better about what me and the kids are eating and it goes further because its not packed out with fat in the mince etc. The qualtiy of the sausages was superb. I'll definitely be doing this again and it supports your local shops.

Buying mark downs. Every trip to the supermarket starts with the mark down counter and then I'll adapt my menu planning/shopping depending on what is there. However a few golden rules. Don't buy it just because its cheap - can you first get it home quickly? If it is already near its use by date it won't cope with sitting in the office for hours before you get home to the fridge. Can you use it now or if not freeze it quickly? If your freezer is already bulging with bargains maybe best to let it go. If freezing, make sure you know what you have and use it up fairly soon.
Finally, if the meat is already looking past its best I just wouldn't bother. Mince going grey won't taste good - may not even be fit for cooking by the time you want to use it -might upset your tummy. These are lessons learnt from buying the mark downs and eventually throwing them away because they were off - not MSE at all.

JJL