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250g Ricotta (Sainsburys own - very cheap)
4 rashers bacon roughly chopped
1 red onion chopped
handful of basil - chopped (I grow my own)
1-2 cloves garlic
325g penne pasta
2 sping onions finely chopped (optional)
8 cherry toms
Cook the penne pasta - meanwhile
Cook onion, bacon garlic, spring onion for about 5 min
Remove from heat stir in ricotta & chopped basil beat till smooth
Just before you drain the pasta add a cup of pasta water to ricotta mix
add the drained penne & cherry tom halves to ricotta mix & serve.
I know I have not added the individual prices to ingrediants but I'm sure it's under a fiver!0 -
If you calculate that it's £5 x 7 = £35 then I checked on Mr S's website and for the following main meals it would cost less than that for all the ingredients, bar salt, pepper and granulated sugar. It worked out at £34.64. If one then costed up just how much was used of the various ingredients then it would cost a whacking £17.79 for one week's worth of dinners for 4, which means that you've got nearly half of the value left over for next week!!!
Menu for 7 nights' dinners
Sunday - Roast Chicken, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, vichy carrots, steamed cabbage piquante, followed by Traditional Rice Pudding
Monday - Victorian Bonnets [mushrooms in a cream and sherry sauce] on croutons, followed by Mixed Berry Cheesecake
Tuesday - Macaroni cheese bake, followed by Chocolate Mousse
Wednesday - Canadian Beans on Toast, followed by Pancakes
Thursday - Pasta Bolognaise bake, followed by Jamie Oliver Showtime Beignets
Friday - Chicken Stir Fry, followed by Poor Knights of Windsor
Saturday - Mushroom Rissotto, followed by Lemon Creams
IngredientPriceamountneededfinal pricemealsBeef £4.281.000.5£2.14Pasta Bolognaise bakeThursdayOnions£0.601.500.75£0.30Victorian BonnetsMondayBacon£0.940.670.25£0.35Roast Chicken dinnerSundayChicken Liver£0.000.000.001£0.00Macaroni Cheese BakeTuesdayTinned tomatoes£0.210.402£1.05Chicken Stir FryFridayTomato Puree£0.240.200.05£0.06Mushroom RissottoSalt£0.010.010.001£0.00Canadian Beans on ToastWednesdayPepper£0.010.010.001£0.00Mixed dried herbs£1.540.210.01£0.07Lemon CreamsSundayMushrooms£1.180.750.75£1.18Mixed berry cheesecakeMondayCrème fraiche£1.270.500.5£1.27PancakesWednesdaySherry£5.231.000.125£0.65Chocolate MousseTuesdayBread£0.370.800.8£0.37Traditional Rice puddingButter£0.850.250.1£0.34Jamie Oliver BeignetsThursdayDamson jam£0.590.450.225£0.29Poor Knights of WindsorFriday
eggs£2.5512.006£1.28Pudding rice£1.160.500.1£0.23Chicken£4.001.751.75£4.00Lemon£0.280.050.025£0.14Potatoes£1.765.000.75£0.26Carrots£0.502.000.75£0.19Cabbage£0.681.001£0.68Long grain rice£1.092.000.5£0.27Dried milk£1.690.450.08£0.30Baked beans£0.380.541.62£1.14£0.001.00£0.00Cheesecake£3.150.630.21£1.05£0.001.00£0.00£0.001.00£0.00Chocolate Mousse£0.080.040.08£0.17Granulated Sugar£0.000.000.001£0.00Total£31.25£18.57
sorry about the layout above - I tried to import XL file! ooops!
I can give the recipes if you'd like, but they're all standard, apart from Jamie's Showtime Beignets - basically lightly battered, deep fried jam sandwiches! sounds horrendous, tastes like fresh jam doughnuts for some reason....
oh, and I forgot the cost of the oil - 78p, so that takes the sums to £31.25 & £18.57 - hope that helps
DGIf you see me on here - shout at me to get off and go and get something useful done!!
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A Celebration of Tomatoes!
Now these recipes are done under the assumption that people will have salt, pepper and olive oil already in their cupboard.
Ingredients (all from Tescos)
4 x Value tinned tomatoes - £1.05
1 x pack of fresh basil - 69p
1 x pack of value pasta quills - 19p
1 big onion - 25p
1 x small single cream - 40p
1 x pack of arborio rice - 73[
1 x pack of oxo chicken stock cubes - 44p
3 x ciabatta rolls - 66p
1 x beef tomato - 49p
1 x fresh garlic - 35p
Total cost - £5.25
Slightly over I know but I thought it better to do the 'true' cost because, let's be honest, it's not like you can go to the supermarket and buy 3 cloves of garlic or two stock cubes! Anyway at least you'll have the extra stock cubes and garlic for later meals!
Bruschetta- Chop up the beef tomato into a small dice and 3-4 chopped basil leaves, a pinch of salt and pepper and enough olive oil to loosen the mixture.
- Slice two of the ciabatta horizontally and either toast on the cut side or use a griddle pan to get some nice marking. When toasted take a clove of garlic and rub it over the toasted side of each slice and then add a good slug of olive oil to each piece.
- To serve, place a ciabatta slice on each of the plates and top with some of the tomato mixture.
For the next three meals you'll need to use the following tomato base recipe:- Finely dice the onion and sweat in a big pan with some olive oil, salt & pepper. When softened add the 4 tins of tomatoes. Let this simmer away for ten minutes until slightly reduced. When finished stir in a splash of olive oil.
- In a separate pan take heat up some oil and gently fry the garlic for 3 minutes. Take a 3rd of the tomato base recipe and place in the pan with the garlic, stir and leave on a low heat for 5 minutes. Blitz tomato sauce in a food processor with a 3rd of the tub of cream 'til smooth then put to one size.
- In another pan cook the pack of pasta for five minutes, drain and then put it back into the pan with the pasta sauce and mix together. Place mixture into an oven proof dish.
- Take the remaining ciabatta, tear it into chunks and blitz in a food processor with a 2 tblsp of olive oil, a pinch of salt & pepper and the chopped basil stalks. When reduced to breadcrumbs take out of the processor, sprinkly over the pasta and then bake in a medium oven for about 30 minutes until the topping is nice and crispy!
- Reduce the tomato base mixture over a medium heat until it's reduced by half and mix in the majority of the remaining basil leaves, reserving a few for garnish.
- Make 3 pints of chicken stock by following the instructions on the packet. and add this to the remaining tomato base mixture and cook over a medium heat for 15 minutes then blitz in a food processor until smooth.
- In a pan gently sweat off two finely chopped cloves of garlic in some olive oil until softened. Add a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Stir in half a pack of the arborio rice and stir round for a couple of minutes until it's nicely coated.
- Add half the tomato base and stock mixture to the pan and cook over a low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring periodically. (I know this isn't the traditional way of cooking risotto, but this is a money saving site and time is money!)
- After 20mins the mixture should be cooked, stir in a couple of spoons of the cream and mix through. If it's too thick and a couple of spoons of the tomato base/stock mixture to loosen it.
- To serve, ladle the risotto into 4 dishes, tear up the basil leaves you put aside and sprinkle over the bowls of risotto and then drizzle over some olive oil.
- Take the remaining Tomato base/stock mixture and blitz in a food processor with most of the remaining cream, reserving about 4tsp of cream.
- To serve, pour into 4 dishes and drizzle over a little olive oil, ground black pepper and a touch of cream.
EDIT: WAS AT TESCOS AT LUNCHTIME AND SAW THEY DO 'VALUE' STOCK CUBES FOR 19P. IF YOU USE THEM IT BRINGS THE PRICE DOWN TO £5 EXACTLY!0 -
I find the pick 'n mix approach is a great solution to interesting, healthy and tasty meals on a budget.
My favourite (I'm a spud fan) is baked potatoes. No need to buy the expensive potatoes sold as bakers. Just buy a bag of spuds making sure there are enough good sized ones for baking.
Bake and serve with a selection of fillings on the table:
Butter
Grated cheese
Baked beans
tuna mayonnaise
chilli beans
chicken pieces
bacon
shredded lettuce
sliced onion
tomatoes
sweetcorn
etc. (you get the picture)
and a selection of sauces from the store cupboard.
- my son's favourite is grated cheddar cheese (no need for butter), worcestershire sauce, mash up and replace into the skins and grill - yum!
Vegetarian/vegan alternatives are easy with these dinners - quorn pieces and mince, soya chunks and mince, bacos, vegan spreads (marge) etc.
The do it yourself approach means everyone is getting what they want and with plenty of healthy ingredients no-one loses out. Put more of the cheaper ingredients out and everyone thinks you are being generous!!
Another DIY option is fajitas. Same principle. Just use wheat flour tortillas (often on bogofs in supermarkets).
Can also be done with noodles and pasta.
Amanda McCormack0 -
kazmeister wrote: »OMG - I so love the sound of this, I might make it for DD's birthday sleepover on Saturday. Thank you so much
I have made it for a group of Children before and they loved it!
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:j Yummy meal for all the family, it's my kids fav. :j
1 Large tin of Corned Beef, Well Cubed
1 Large onion chopped finely
Couple of Chicken Oxo cubes
Spattering of soy sauce/ garlic granules/curry powder add to taste.
Half to a bag of spuds according to how many you are feeding, sliced thinly.
Layer the spuds, onions and corned beef up in an oven proof dish (or crock pot if its to be cooked in the slow cooker).
Dilute the oxo cubes in a pint of boiling water, and add garlic granules, curry powder and soy sauce to it. Mix up well.
Poor over the top ensuring you can see the liquid level in the dish, (if not top up a bit)
Place in slow cooker or very low oven temp. If cooking in oven keep an eye on liquid level.
Serve with tinned sweetcorn.
I shop at Lidle, so for a fiver I can make at least THREE MEALS!!!!!!:T Suitable for freezing too!0 -
Home-made burgers (beef or veggie) with homemade spicy potato wedges with salad with chocolate brownies for dessert
I am assuming that everyone has salt, pepper and olive oil in their cupboards
Burgers
500g lean minced beef (usually around £1.60)
1 onion (10p)
Pinch of salt
Pinch of black pepper
Pinch of mixed herbs (5p)
Teaspoon of olive oil
Burger buns (approx 30p for 4)
Optional extras
Bbq sauce (about 4 spoons)- Add this into the mixing bowl with the other ingredients
Bacon- Need to blend this in a food processor with the other ingredients and then shape.
Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well. Shape into 4 round burger shapes and place in the fridge to chill for a few hours. This helps the burgers to stick together.
I then put them on my george foreman grill for 5 minutes until no longer pink inside.
Veggie option
1 tin of chick peas
I tin of pinto beans
1 tin of black eyed peas (3 tins for £1)
Half an onion (5p)
Pinch of black pepper
Mix in a blender and form into burger shapes. Grill until brown.
Spicy Potato wedges
4-5 medium/large potatoes (approx. 40p from a large bag)
Paprika (60p for a spice bottle, so 5p)
Black pepper
Mixed herbs
Olive oil
Optional
Small fresh chilli, finely chopped (40p for usually 4-5 small chillis so 10p for one)
Preheat oven to 200C.
Wash the potatoes and cut into strips. Place in a pan of water and bring to the boil. After 5 minutes, test to see if potatoes are becoming soft and if so drain the potatoes and pat dry with kitchen towel.
Get a baking tray (I line mine with kitchen foil, so I have less washing up to do at the end!) and add a dash of olive oil to the tray, use a kitchen towel to ensure the oil is spread all over the tray (so the potatoes don’t stick to the tray and burn).
Place the potatoes on the tray and add a dash of olive oil over the potatoes. Sprinkle the paprika, black pepper, mixed herbs (and chilli) all over the potatoes.
Place in the oven at 200C for 5-10 minutes. They don’t need that long as the potatoes are already mostly cooked from the boiling, so the wedges are soft inside but crispy on the outside from the oven.
Salad
All chopped finely/small pieces
Half of 3 different coloured peppers (£1.18 for 3 peppers, so half is 60p)
2 spring onions (8 for 50p so 2 is 12p)
2 handfuls of chopped leaves (around 15p)
Half a cucumber (30p)
10 baby plum tomatoes (small tub is 60p so use about one third so 20p). You can use 2-3 normal tomatoes, but I find baby ones easy to chop and less pips/mess.
Optional extras- We usually add all of these to the salad as well. It goes really well and tastes yummy!)
Handful of green olives, no stones, chopped in half (about 10p)
Half an apple, chopped in small pieces (10p)
Half a carrot, chopped into small pieces (5p)
To season add 2 spoonfuls of olive oil, half a lemon (10p), salt and pepper.
All that is approx. £4
Homemade chocolate brownies
150g butter (40p)
100g chocolate (39p for tesco plain cooking chocolate)
1 and a quarter glass sugar (5p)
3 eggs (50p for free range eggs)
1 glass flour (5p)
Optional
3 quarters of a glass of crushed nuts
Preheat oven to 160C. Line a baking tray with butter or use a baking sheet.
Heat butter and chocolate in a pan on the hob until syrup like/liquid. Turn off heat. Add the sugar and stir continuously. Add 3 eggs. Stir. Add the flour (and nuts). Pour mixture into a baking tray and bake for 25 minutes.
Approx. cost is £1.40 but makes at least 2 servings of brownies, so could be for dessert the next day too.
Total cost approx £5. I have not bought anything from the value range, so if substitute for the value equivalent that would be under £5!Competition Challenge 2007 - Win your internet fees back in prizes = £349.87/£1560 -
Lots of vegetarian and pasta dishes, all favourites of mine but here is another slightly different idea I also like.
Moroccan Chicken with Cous Cous
500g chicken thighs £1.49
10g fresh root ginger £0.24
medium onion £0.13
Crespo green pitted olives £0.71
Basics chicken stock cube £0.02
Lemon £0.28
250g cous cous £0.38
Fresh parsley £0.69
Total = £3.94
Slice onions and chicken breast. Crush, finely chop or mince ginger. Very finely slice lemon and remove seeds. Bung it all in a hot non-stick pan and cook to seal chicken pieces. Add stock cube and enough water to just cover chicken. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 20-30 minutes until chicken is very tender. Soak cous cous in hot water according to packet instructions. Just before serving stir the olives into the chicken to heat through. Serve with the cous cous and lots of chopped fresh parsley.0 -
French onion soup - 30p
Lentils with pasta - 59p
Ice Cream and Ginger Syrup - 48p
I could make this cheaper if I bought bread rather than make it, and used cheaper butter and olive oil, but, personally, I'm not prepared to compromise. Shop bought stem ginger syrup is extortionate.
I get onions (£2.50 for 10kg), garlic (20p a bulb) and ginger (£1.49 per kilo) from an Indian grocer rather than the supermarket, and I get a 25kg sack of spuds for £4.50 from a local farmer, making spuds about 9p each. Salad is so easy to grow at home all year round, and so much tastier, that it's stupid to buy. Make your own bacon and corned beef - it's an absolutely doddle.
Some things are worth paying money for - all meat and eggs I buy are free range and from farmers markets, all fish I buy is MSC certified. Even so, most meals I make cost £2 or £3 to make.
All 3 of these courses are absolutely delicious. I didn't want to make something cheap and horrible. I don't usually bother with puddings.
<b>French onion soup</b>
3 onions, finely sliced (9p)
1oz butter (8.5p)
6 slices homemade bread (6p)
1tbsp olive oil (6.5p)
Fry onions in butter and oil until they are really, really brown, add a tbsp of plain flour (not counted in price) and fry. Add water, salt and pepper, bring to boil and stir to thicken soup. Cook for about 10 mins, toast bread and pour soup over toast.
<b>Lentils with pasta</b> (From Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian)
6oz red lentils (18p)
3 cloves of garlic, chopped (7.5p)
half a tin of tomatoes (10.5p)
half a bag of pasta (10p)
2tbsp olive oil (13p)
Fry the garlic gently in the oil. Add tomatoes and cook a bit more, then add lentils and about a pint of water, and some salt. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to packet instructions. The lentils should be wettish, but not souplike. Mix pasta with lentils.
<b>Ice Cream and Ginger Syrup</b>
Sainsburys Vanilla Ice Cream (5p per 100ml scoop)
Home Made Stem ginger syrup (basically, chop up a load of ginger, boil it in syrup and allow to cool - about 3p a tbsp)
Allow 2 scoops of ice cream and 2tbsp of ginger syrup for adults, half that for kids.
Spoon syrup over ice cream.
Cheers
Joe0 -
Right, I've prototyped my cheap but wholesome dish. I've checked the Sainsbury website for the feed your family for a fiver and they include things like olive oil etc. as 'from your store cupboard' and don't actually count those to the cost so I won't! I've only prototyped one course, because that's all they do on their feed for a fiver thing.
What I did was homemade fishcakes with homemade potato wedges, carrots and peas. And yes, I was sad enough to photo it so you can see it here:
The recipe fed three adults and we were stuffed afterwards and there was a fishcake spare to reheat for next day's breakfast - because the fishcakes include mashed potato, they are, actually, very filling so it would stretch to a family of four (2 adults, 2 children).
So what did I do and what did it cost (I have calculated the cost by weight used so, e.g. with bread, I took the relevant weight ratio of cost compared with the complete item - after all, there would be some left for the next meal!)
Ingredients and cost
1 x 418g tin Sainsbury's pink salmon 0.80
100g bread (from Sains medium sliced white) 0.07
1.3gk potatoes (Sainsbury back to basics = 1.76/5kg) 0.50
70g onion (Sainsbury basics - 0.39/kg) 0.03
250g carrots (Sainsbury basics - 0.50/kg) 0.13
250g Frozen peas (Sainsbury = 1.08/kg) 0.27
25g butter (Sainsbury basics butter - 0.85/250g) 0.09
1 egg (Sainbruy back to basics) 0.08
Total: £1.97
Recipe goes like this:- Boil 418g (or thereabouts - it's not that precise a science!) of the potatoes in salted water until cooked.
- Mash, with three quarters of the butter and add pepper (from store cupboard!) to taste. Allow to cool
- Finely chop the onion and saute lightly until transparent in the rest of the butter and a bit of olive oil (from the storecupboard!)
- Open tin of salmon and remove any bones and skin and combine thoroughly with the mashed potato and cooked onion. If you have any parsley (fresh or dried in your store cupboard, add some to taste. Put in fridge to cool
- Prepare rest of potatoes for wedges and par boil for 5 minutes. Drain and then put on an oven tray on which some oil (from store cupboard!) has been heated for a few minutes in the oven. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and put in oven at about 200C (gas mark 6) - they'll take about an hour and need turning once or twice.
- Once the wedges are in the oven, blitz the bread (crusts included) to make breadcrumbs, peel carrots.
- About half an hour before the potatoes are ready, take the salmon/potato mix from the fridge and form into fishcake shapes.
- Beat the egg and use it to coat the fishcakes before covering them with the breadcrumbs.
- Pop on another baking tray and stick in the oven with the wedges for half an hour.
- Boil up carrots and peas at the appropriate time
I am the leading lady in the movie of my life
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