what are your best bargain food buys/ cheap meals?

[lindyloo]

Yes, i do do batch cooking and freeze. and i buy large, reduced or on offer, joints which i cut up and freeze, etc. i really try hard and normally think i am thrifty; i just have to squeeze the budget further now.

There have been some very good suggestions from you all and some food combinations that i don't ussually try, so i am planning on trying out some of yours. ( i have been off food since monday- had the knee op, so i can't taste anything- effect of anesthetic?) Some absolutely gorgeous sounding soups, too.

Twosheds, I really like the idea of cashew nuts too, instead of meat, but they do cost a lot. and i will try the ( buzzingtalk's) homemade veggie burgers idea- maybe experiment with mushroom, oats egg and breadcrumbs?

northepaul, i love curries and chillis, but my son wouldn't eat any of it! i ussaully make up batches for me, also lasagne, which i freeze, and then have on the nights when he eats cod, because I don't eat fish.

I know my friend used to have a recipe from her mother; 'poormans supper', which was very delicious. it went along the lines of sliced and buttered bread, a little mustard, salt and pepper, (i think her mum put corned beef into it too? but that could be improvised) poured milk and egg over it and popped it in the oven for anbout 20 mins. has anyone heard of that, or something similar?

[Brengirl]

Possibly not the cheapest on here but one of my favorites is:

1kg chicken wings (farm shop sells them for £2.10.
Onions/ bouquet garni and seasoning.
Simmer until the meat is tender - remove wings and take off meat - return bones and skin to pan and render down.

Return meat to liquor and add tin of condensed soup. I sometimes add mushrooms#ham etc. Can be used as pie filling or under cobblers. Delicious.

[Nicos]

Go and buy a bag of horse carrots. There tend to be 2 qualities.
(I'm going to bring some back with me on my next trip to the UK)
Also pumpkins after halloween.
Farm bags of onions make any meal go further.
Lots of potatoes and reduced cheese

4oz meat max per day ( a bit more for your son)

Start most meals with soup and bread..end with a pudding ( eg bread and butter with a sliced apple and some 'value' sultanas)

I too aim for less than 2E between us- and splash out from time to time. It's much easier now that we have a lot of our own veg of course.

One secret is never put any left over food in the bin!!
(I often make enough for 3 peeps and freeze the 3rd portion to save on OH's lunch...that's always a huge saving!)

[Two_Sheds]

Twosheds, I really like the idea of cashew nuts too, instead of meat, but they do cost a lot

They aren't a substitute, they're just a nice topping on your salad/stir fry. A £1.50 bag will last me about 6 meals.

You will get all the protein etc that you need from a good range of vegetables & pulses, plus cheese if you eat that

[Two_Sheds]

This is the book that I learned to cook with. It has some surprisingly delicious recipes in it, using normal store cupboard ingredients.

[SueA]

I'm another who goes in for stir-fries with various veg. & either noodles or rice, you can put eggs, mushrooms, nuts, prawns etc. in them & sesame oil, soy sauce or whatever to vary the flavours. Also pasta with either simple tomato & onion sauce with a sprinkling of grated cheddar on top or made cold mixed with mayo, avocado, peas, spring onions etc. Dried noodles,spaghetti or pasta shapes are cheaper & just as good as fresh & keep for a long time too.

[lindyloo]

nicos- i buy my carrots in the horsey variety too, also garlic- it's much cheaper than buying it in the supermarket. i buy my spuds in 25 kilo bags too. i dont throw food away either- it either becomes soup or is used in some other way. Will defo try to get a farm bag of onoins- i hadnt heard about that. bread- we don't eat a lot of- i seperate loaves into 2 or even 3 sections and freeze seperately, so i dont waste it .

I think what you all have shown me is that there are some more ways to economise even further, but most of all, you have shown me that i am a fairly boring, uncreative sort of a cook!

i will definately start adding the dried peas and lentils- the cashews- well- i will have to keep that as a special treat, as i love them, and would eat the whole lot in one go, probably!

i love cheeze, and i do eat it daily, but i always buy it when it is on a 2 for the price of one offer- that's another thing that has got so-o-o pricey! and i also, buy pumpkin and root veg such as turnip, swede and parsnip now as a reduced item, and stick it in the freezer.

but you have all definately given me ideas for further savings- thanks

[Patchninja]

Another thing I like to do is roast a HUGE container of veggies - whatever's on offer - courgettes, aubergines, onions, pots, etc. Then, you can freeze leftovers. Served with bread, pasta, rice etc always good. Also, I love an egg broken onto the veggies and baked in the oven. Very cheap and nutricious.

[Nicos]

I get free lamb bones from the butcher whenever he has them and make a stock. I then use this in place of water when I make rice- then do something veggie to go on top.
You still get the taste of having meat without actually having bought any!!
Works with chicken bones too....and there's usually a bit of stock left over to freeze.

Try and stock up with frozen stock- then you'll be able to make soup with any rubbery veg- and still have some left for free nettle soup in the Spring!

If you buy a large bag of onions you can saute/roast them and pop them into the freezer in portions when they start to show signs of going soft.

Don't peel carrots- give them a good scrub ...and eat more spuds in their jackets. Same with apples.

You can pad out a liquidy soup with pasta or pearl barley.

I've never really used many pulses in my dishes-I too will have a play around with them! there are some lovely ideas in this thread

[Rabidbun]

Definitely some lovely ideas in the thread! Never even thought of rinsing off cheap baked beans for other uses!

I have found some lovely recipes on here (that could be easily adapted to veggie or vegan if not already):

Vegetable Main Courses : Riverford Organic Vegetables

(current favourite is chard, tomato and sunflower seed pasta as I grow chard and frost doesn't seem to kill it, plus I get huge bags of seeds and cheap (nearly off) tomatoes from the veggie shop)

I also cut costs a lot (incase it's of any help) by shopping for cheeses (mozzarella and parmesan) in Lidl, using the reduced veggies from my local veggie shop, various ethnic shops for bulk spices and rice etc, also noodles, and going to supermarkets before closing time (depends on shops). Moneysaving expert is also a handy site. Also, for meat for your son, does a local butcher do a savings day at all where they clear excess stock?

[Two_Sheds]

You can pad out a liquidy soup with pasta or pearl barley.

Or beans, grown on lotty = free protein

We're having Free Soup for dinner: pumpkin, beans, onions, chillies & sweetcorn all from lotty. With homemade bread (about 35p a loaf).

Beans also get snuck into meat dishes, sauces and curries. A few into mashed potato too, to make it more nutritious

[lindyloo]

twosheds- please- is your homemade bread @ 35p a loaf, made in a conventional oven, or with a bread maker? and how big is it?

[Hilary B]

If you can't afford meat, and the other person you are cooking for wants it, get him to buy his own! It may be that he just doesn't realise how much it costs, and would be more sympathetic if he did.
There are many ways to make a little meat go a long way, and I would always prefer those to being veggie or vegan (but the following is not meant as a criticism of those who make the other decision), because if everyone was a vegan, farm livestock would have to become extinct, and if everyone was lacto-vegetarian, what would you do with the calves those cows would need in order to give milk?
My personal ideal (won't be possible in this house, because OH is much more carnivorous than I am) would be to get the 'balance'. If our use of dairy foods would come from half the milk of one cow, we can eat the equivalent of half-a-bullock per year (it is actually a lot less than that). If we have an egg a day each, then about 3 chickens a year between us would fit the balance. Calculations for pigmeat and sheep-meat are much more complicated, beause our 'other use' of these species is considerably less direct, but it adds up to SOME meat (but usually not a lot) on about 5 days out of 7.
In fact we use at least twice the amount I consider appropriate....
If you want meat in your diet, the ideal amount is about a matchbox-sized portion per day, assuming the rest of your diet is 'moderately well balanced'. If you are really good at balancing the diet, you can do it just fine without any meat at all.

[lindyloo]

hilaryb, my son does contribute towards to costs-- i probably wouldn't have survived financially without him living here over the last couple of years. it is probably more accurate to say that he is limited in what else he eats! ( and he never complains) but all of you on here have given me some great ideas, which i am going to incorperate

[MrsC]

I like he cheap baked bean idea as well, going to try that one, how simple is that! We have lots of homemade soups and stews. I'm veggie and use to use Quo'rn but someone told me how it was made and I did a bit of research and now won't eat it, it's not what you think it is!