Cheap tasty meals - ideas please

[Ann]

Seeing Alba's previous thread on tinned potaoes gave me the idea to ask ABers for cheap recipes for delicious meals ...... lets see who can contribute the cheapest and tastiest ............ :) Give prices and where best to get the products from, bargains etc :)

[boxtops]

I can't remember whether it's chuck or buenchico (where is he?) who is the past master at this, he can live for a week on a couple of quid.

[albaqwerty]

That's the thing, when you consider what you get out of an 'expense' it's not really so bad at all.

[pastafreak]

I get about 5+ meals for myself from a chicken...first a roast,several lunches,chicken -and other leftovers - as a hash or in a cream sauce over rice...and finally stock/soup.

[friedgreentomato]

It's was buenicho but some of his recipes were a bit rough!!

[pastafreak]

It's chris-and if I remember correctly-he does all sorts with tinned fish.

[Barmaid]

I was moaning the other day cos Mr BM bought a "fish pie mix" (just salmon, pollock and haddock). Bloody £3.99 for 390g of fish. I was ever so cross. OK, so by the time I had bulked it up with some fish I had in the freezer and some veg and made a mashed top it fed us for 2 days. However, I pointed out to him that if you buy the separate bits of fish in bags frozen, it works out SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper. I told him I could turn out the same meal for about half the price, but he doesn't believe me. He thought he had done well. Bless.

[humbersloop]

owd, corned beef hash is the food of the gods - how lonng does mrs owd cook that for can you ask?

[AlwaysConfused]

I'll hang my head in shame here, and find a solitary corner to stand in ..... but the other day I ate the asda cheapi-as-chips equivalent of SUPERNOODLES for the first time in about 16 years. I added a sprinkle of cheese (you may notice my cheese theme going on), various dried herbs, a couple of chillies and some pepper. It was a breakfast/brunch treat. It was so nice. I hate to admit it incase people point and laugh at me in the street - 'there goes the one that ate student food! and with cheese on top. Who DOES she think she is!?!'

[EcclesCake]

Not a meal as such but grating carrot, courgette, parsnip or any gratable veg into your mince makes it go further and hides the veg from fussy kids.

[owdhamer]

I used to be lucky to get the top off me dads egg

[humbersloop]

don't be daft, always, if that's what you wanted, why not?

[pastafreak]

@barmaid....I keep meaning to buy packets of the individual fish for fish pie-but it is always a very fatigued Friday night meal for me...and I don't want to think too much about a meal then...;-)

[albaqwerty]

Always, if it floated your boat, go for it I say :-)
Hold your head high, they're the ones missing out.

Eccles, when I worked the weekends, Mr Alba gave them bog standard food some weird names to get them to eat :-)
Bog standard = mince and mashed.

[albaqwerty]

Another corned beef hash recipe:

Boil the spuds, drain and mash them to serious bits.
Cube the corned beef and mash into the spuds.
A knob of marg in a frying pan, soften finely sliced onions,
dollop and spread the hash mixture, fry on a medium heat for 10 mins, turn it over and give it another 5 minutes.

[LyndaB]

I have loads of cheap recipes, the secret is to get the very most out of every ingredient. Don't forget that what looks cheap isn't always the least expensive option! For example, rather than using cheap packaged mince, go to your butcher and get some from there. It might be a bit more expensive, but will probably contain less fat - so when it is cooked, you have more mince in the pan. You will probably get away with buying less in the first place! When buying cheese, buy strong rather than mild as you will use less. Some smart price products are fine (I wouldn't dream of using anything other than Asdas smart price tomatoes) but others aren't so good (Asda SP pasta is horrid and its worth paying just a bit extra for their ordinary own brand, which is great). I go to the butchers and ask him to cut up a pound of shin beef for a casserole, and put lots and lots of veg in with the meat to bulk it up - there is always enough for 4, with some left over to make a pie - or you can freeze it for another day.

[Ann]

Loads of good ideas on here ABers - thanks for contributing! Maybe we should publish an AB cookery book - out just in time for Christmas, with the proceeds going to me as the original poster haha ;)

[sherrardk]

Cowboy pie (for six - I don't eat it). Bag and a half of Richmond skinless frozen sausages (on offer at Asda - £1 a bag), potatoes from Aldi (about 69p) 2 tins of beans from Aldi (about 27p a tin). Put the cooked beans in the bottom of an individual pie dish, add mash and sausage horns (mine love it but they have extra sausages on the side). £2.83 for 6 people (less than 50p a head).

[EDDIE51]

Ox tail is £6.50 a kilo in Morrisons now (75% bone), butchers used to give it away free.
It has become 'trendy' far too expensive to be a cheap dish.

[DTCwordfan]

Crikey, Eddie, I was recently given 3kg by a local restaurant as they had far too much.

[EDDIE51]

DT your lucky , I bought a kilo yesterday as it was special offer 1/2 price , it is in the stew pot now being turned into Oxtail soup.