Cheap meals!

[Pheebs]

With the credit crunch here and prices zooming up left right and center and me not yet making a great deal of monies yet... can anyone recommend any cheap, tasty and healthy meals?!

I feel like giving up with food... every time I food shop I have my calculator out and by the time I'm through the veg section I'm already cringing at the cost!

And meat/fish/poultry! ZOMG! It's ridiculous.

At the moment for me it's quorn stirfry (which consists of mainly veg) and noodles or otherwise salad - sometimes with meat, other times with tuna, other times by itself!

I'm bored of stirfrys and salad!

Tickle my tastebuds people!

[TinkerBell]

Look on the sainsbury's website for feed a family for a fiver! Some of those look lovely and shouldn't cost too much to do :)

[iCraig]

I used to shop fresh, but I've switched to frozen veg for a lot of stuff. Brocolli, green beans etc. It's cheaper and I honestly can't tell the difference. I've also heard frozen is supposed to be healthier overall? Fresh is obviously healthy when it's fresh, but after a while it begins to decline. It's still ok to eat of course but it's no longer "peak" Frozen is frozen when it's at its fresh peak, so every time you cook a batch up, it's supposed to be the same as cooking it fresh.

Try downgrading from brand names to basic stuff. Some things (like toilet paper) is an obvious brand quality item. But kitchen roll for example? The flowery quilted stuff is like 30% dearer than the bog standard stuff. At the end of the day you're wiping crap off work surfaces with it? Does it need to be cushioned and have daisies on it?

Cereal is also a good one. The cheap alternatives often taste precisely the same as the big brand names, but they demand much less. For example, Frosted Flakes cost about 40% less than Frosties. Yet they taste identical! Once you've downgraded you'll wonder why you ever paid more for the same.

The best thing to do is experiment, see what you can "downgrade" and not notice the difference. In some instances, you may find out the cheaper version tastes better! It'll cut your supermarket bill significantly. :)

[Haly]

We also buy mostly frozen veg :) Although do often buy organic tomatoes and onions. Ooh and peppers, always buying peppers :D Lately, quite a few supermarkets have been doing bags for £1 I've noticed so that's not so bad. Plus they can make quite an average meal lovely. :)
A lot of our supermarket buying tends to depend on what's on offer tbh, if something's particularly cheap while not scrimping on quality, we'll make a meal out of it.
For example, tonight we're doing spaghetti bolognaise with quorn, we bought the fresh spaghetti last week half price from Sainsburys for about 75p, used half of it last night and now the other half will make a nice meal too :D Quorn was on special offer somewhere too when we bought it but lost track now of where :o

I could eat pasta all the time so usually make a cheese or tomato based sauce, then bung some veg in (lately it's been either frozen broccoli, mushrooms or peppers) and ta da, nice cheap tasty meal :D
Omelettes or Spanish Omelettes/Tortilla are handy too.

Trying to think of what else but we're still eating pretty oddly lately so not sure :o When it comes back to me, I'll let you know :D

[divine]

Toad in the hole.

Sausages. Batter. DONE.

[TinkerBell]

Oooo Sausage and mash with onion gravy! Nom Nom!! I want it now!

[Mondo]

Corned Beef Hash, £3 can get you enough ingredients to serve 4 people.

[Kell_ee001]

Frozen veg - saves a fortune, you won't waste as much and it's equally good for you.

Don't buy all top brands - as Craig says things like kitchen roll etc but also baked beans, shops own tinned fruit, standard cereals like corn flakes / weetabix etc. Also try some of the cheaper supermarkets if you can like Lidl etc.

Buy in bulk - if you can. This is especially good for meats etc that can be split into the portons you need and frozen. Also, if you can go "retail" rather than the supermarket. It'll often be fresher as well as cheaper, and then buying in bulk will be cheaper again. :) As Jen said as well, supermarket offers that you can stock up on are also a great idea.

Pad out meals - with veg but also rice, pasta, potatoes etc. All cheap, one will always go with whatever you're eating as the main meal and very filling :)

And the pointers we all plan to do but never really do - plan your meals ahead so you know exactly what you want and don't waste money, don't go when you're hungry or you'll buy crap and write a shopping list! :D

[Haly]

Buy in bulk - if you can. This is especially good for meats etc that can be split into the portons you need and frozen.

And the pointers we all plan to do but never really do - plan your meals ahead so you know exactly what you want and don't waste money, don't go when you're hungry or you'll buy crap and write a shopping list! :D

:thumbsup: We used to do all those when our lives were more organised :D

[Kell_ee001]

I'm good at the first bit but admit so not much with the second ;D

[Desmo]

Check out the soups thread. They're easy to make, very cheap ingredients and last a bloomin' long time. Sinead has just started making some after my sister showed her some she'd made. A few bits of veg and a blender later and she had a massive pot full of the stuff.

[Pheebs]

Oooh frozen veg! Sounds interesting! Can you still get that just steamed crunch with them though? If veg is soggy I'll eat it but it's not particularly enjoyable! We have our own veg patch which I need to dig over and replant... might get going on that and see if I can save monies that way :)

As for bulk buying and buying own brands we do that already! I miss my Kellogs branflakes! Sainsburies/Tescos own just doesn't match it! Kitchen roll and toilet rolls and toothpaste etc we get from Makro - an expensive buy all at once but lasts a good 6months and saves muchos monies! We also buy chicken from there - I think it's 25kg for £15! Cheapo although lacks in flavour. You have to make up nice marinades for it!

Tink - Sainsburys feed a family for a fiver is a genius idea!! I will look on that today and see if I can pick up bits from it :D Yaaaaaaaaaay!

Stuff like toad in the hole etc I canny have because I'm healthy eating (well... I can have it but once a month kind of thing) so will do that when I'm treating myself :)


Ooh I remembered too! Liver is super cheap and tasty! May have to purchase me some :D

Fankoo for ideas! Keep em coming!

[Tak]

http://www.ciao.co.uk/Tesco_steam_veg__6393081
These are really good.
There a 3 different mixes, 4 individual portion packets per bag, if you can get them on offer they're £1 so 25p for a portion of mixed veg (not on offer I think its about £1.60ish so that's still under 50p per portion)

They are useful for me for when Mic is on nights or if I want veg and he doesn't.

[loki]

Pheebs

Have you considered getting your groceries delivered. I found that we used to waste quite a bit of money on food shopping just by putting in a few things that weren't essential items. Buying online meant that we didn't have to compromise on what we ate more we saved on stuff we didn't actually need if that makes sense. We also found the fresh fruit and veg to be a lot nicer and lasted longer than buying in store.

[Gnat]

We also buy chicken from there - I think it's 25kg for £15! Cheapo although lacks in flavour. You have to make up nice marinades for it!


I buy that, but i think it is 5Kg, for £25

;D

[semi-pro waster]

If you head to supermarkets late at night you'll often find that breads/baked goods are seriously cut in price and most supermarkets have bargain shelves if you search around a bit.

Stews can be quite tasty and easy to make in bulk (you just need a big enough pot) so you can freeze them later. Something like the Marrow Provencal (http://www.boat-drinks.co.uk/showpost.php?p=221416&postcount=26) recipe I put there works quite well and you can throw almost anything in it and have it taste good, it is quite hard to go wrong with which is always handy and you can vary what you have to go with it (rice, pasta and potatoes all work equally well).

If you can cook with seasonal vegetables it becomes a whole lot cheaper and usually tastier too.

//edit curries can work quite well also for throwing in any random cheap ingredients and have them taste decent, don't know how it fits with your healthy eating though.

[Kell_ee001]

Iceland do a similar full meal for a fiver kinda thing too :) Sainburys (http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/family/tasty+ideas/feed_family_for_a_fiver/meal_ideas/chicken_cous_cous.htm) and Iceland (http://www.iceland.co.uk/page/view/%C2%A35_family_meals)

Remember you don't have to buy everything from 1 place either! Check out several places and get all their deals in. You may also be able to get some of the ingredients cheaper! :D

Along the lines of soups and curries, don't forget the slow cooker! Great for cheap meat in particular!

[jmc41]

I did a jamie oliver meal tonight, the slow cooked lamb shoulder.
Picked up a 1.1kg half for £5.48 meant to serve 2-3 but I reckon it's good for 4-5 meals, chuck in some carrots, parsnips and potatoes and it's still probably £2-£2.50/meal.
Did a full leg which was about £8 about 8 months ago for 6 of us and we still had loads left over.

I also buy the frozen veg that you 'steam' in the microwave, it's a bit damp I find (have to strain it again or onto some kitchen towel) but costs about £1-£1.50 for 4 portions. Quite large ones given they are apparently only 1 of your 5-a-day.

I don't mind those pies that you stick in the oven for 30 mins on high for a cheap meal either, think Sainos or Tesco is doing 2 for £2 and with some veg, maybe a potato if hungry and they are fine. Got some photos of tonights if I had someone appropriate to host em.