very cheap meals

[mycatis]

please help! I need some ideas for (very) cheap meals to make for my son and I, I am really skint (as usual) and I can't look at macaroni cheese any more. I know it's cheaper to make meals from scratch and I dont want to feed us ready meals (junk) anyway.

[marcoddy]

Hi, what a brilliant question. And a very honest and noble one at that.

Cheap food is the best. "pesant" food is making a comeback, I love it. many famous dishes have come from a lack of money. Yorkshire pudding was created as a filler for families that couldn't afford to have a lot of meat. Pizza was created in italy as a way of cooking all the leftovers. Flour & Water base, topped with leftovers

The cheap cuts of meat are always the most tasty, try some cheap veg, potatos and some cheap beef cuts, into a pot with water and a stock cube. Put it on a very low heat in the oven for a few hours (or even all day) and you'll have a really tasty hot-pot with very little effort.

Corned beef hash is easy, I know i'll get loads of people questionning my recipe... but basically, potato, corned beef and a tin of beans mixed togrther. The way you do it is up to personal taste.

A good cook will always use leftovers. Some people may turn their noses up at this, but the best chefs (Gordon Ramsay, Marco Pierre White, Albert Roux etc) all rave about the sign of a great chef is how he/she handles leftovers. A great old classic is Bubble & Squeak, basically taking whatevers leftover, folding some leftover mashed potato into it and browning it in a pan. tastes lovely.

Add some frozen peas into any meal that doesn't have vegetables, cheap, and essential for health.

Pancakes and Yorkshire pudding are great fillers too. Flour, water, milk and egg. Cheap, easy and delicious.

I wish you and your son the very best of luck, and I think that your situation has given you a great chance for you and your son to have an exciting, healthy (and character building) culinary experience. Eating this kind of food growing up certainly hasn't done me any harm, and I think cooking on a tight budget creates a much closer connection with our food.

[pixi]

marcoddy my bloke makes peasant food all the time, its brilliant. 

[mycatis]

thank you marcoddy,

[Dark Angel]

Marcoddy's recipe reminded me of something I made for my brother recently. It turned out well- I boiled spirally pasta (can't remember what its called), drained water, put back on hob, added a can of creamed sweetcorn, corned beef, salt and pepper, and added grated parmesan cheese at the end.  

[SupaAbzyBall]

Being a former student, I can understand your situation. I also hated ready meals, not only are they tasteless but unhealthy too. Id advice you to buy veg (not in packets, but individualy) and use it as a pizza topping. Make a base using flour and oil and then stick in in the oven for around 5 mins. Stick on tomato paste (made from tinned tomatos) and then your toppings. Another great cheap meal is a curry. You will have to buy curry power (or buy ground tumeric, cumin, corriander, chilli; all retail around 80 pence). Basically, you fry an onion until its soft. then fry the ground spices along with chopped ginger and garlic. stick in tinned tomatos (even the 10p onces are nice!) and whatever veg/meat you wish. Simmer, covered with a lid until the meat/veg has cooked. Sorry for going on, I hope Ive helped. x

[Otrere]

Cottage Pie!!!

You only need beef mince, an onion, some carrots, a bit of gravy and a couple of spuds. You can make up a batch and freeze it too!

[Otrere]

Tuna and pasta bake with some mixed veggies thrown in and some cheese sauce???

Am having a good old scratch of the head on this one.