What are your favourite cheap meals?

missbishi

missbishi

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Things are financially tough right now. Not just here in the UK but all over the world. What are your favourite meals to cook when money is tight? I do a lot of jacket potatoes and one-pot meals when there's too much month left at the end of my paycheck but I would welcome some new ideas.
 
Salmon patties made from canned salmon with creamed peas, creamed potatoes and angel biscuits is one of my favorite cheap meals. Judging from the shelves at my local walmart canned salmon something is on a lot of people's favorites list lately. It seems like the stock of salmon is always either low or the shelf is empty altogether. So much so that when we go in my husband often says, "Quick! Get the salmon!"
The patties are also good with macaroni and cheese and/or other vegetable choices, as well. I'm just partial to the creamed peas and creamed potatoes. And salmon on a biscuit is so tasty later on or the next day.
I hesitate to say "biscuit" to you, knowing you are in the UK.:)
 
When I want to cook a cheap meal I usually go for something like minced meat and mashed potatoes or minced meat and macaroni. I would sometimes use minced meat with rice too, but my favourite minced meat dish is when mixed with macaroni. I would also use tin stuff, something like corned beef, for instance, which goes well with either cream potatoes or plain rice. Corned beef does not take much seasoning except for some onions, tomato sauce and cayenne pepper, so apart from it being a cheap meal, it is also a very quick meal to prepare. I like salmon also, but this is very expensive where I live, even the canned one.
 
I would have said corn beef and macaroni one time but I am not sure that those meals are cheap anymore. I have seen my son buy something called ramen. It's some sort of noodle and apparently it's not only cheap, it's a quick fix. Someone spoke about salmon but salmon is not so cheap around here. Like Caribbean girl said. Not even the canned one.
 
Canned salmon is expensive in the UK too. It would never make a cheap meal. Canned tuna costs less than salmon, but sardines are the best value and are richer in omega3.

Value range packets of noodles or pasta cost very little and white rice is still very cheap. One of my most nutritious and filling meals is rice cooked with lentils and served with fried onion.

I buy whatever vegetables are in season or on offer, to cook in a curry or to use in a pasta dish with a homemade sauce.
 
Pasta or ramen noodle dishes are always a good cheap meal as you can add nearly anything to them and they can be filling and nutritious. I usually add a poached egg and add some mayonnaise to make a creamy sauce to pasta and saute some vegetables or make a noddle soup and add the vegetables.
 
missbishi said:
Things are financially tough right now. Not just here in the UK but all over the world. What are your favourite meals to cook when money is tight? I do a lot of jacket potatoes and one-pot meals when there's too much month left at the end of my paycheck but I would welcome some new ideas.
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Pasta would be my choice. I have a bunch of spices, and I can do a lot with pasta. I can make an Asia style dish, or cook them with tomato sauce.
 
Rice and beans or cabbage and potatoes if taking into consideration feeding more than just myself. For myself the quickest, cheapest meal would be to blend up leftover vegetables add some vegetable stock or water, heat and eat! A cheap, fast, no frill soup !
 
I go for pasta or ramen, I also like beans, so I'm ok with make burritos with beans, rice, a little cheese and hot sauce. Lentil soup is also easy to make and cost effective.
 
A while back I lost a bit of weight and was eager to gain it back but I wanted to do it the healthy way. In addition I wanted cheap ingredients (student's budget and all). Sooo, potatoes, eggs and beans became my best buddies :)!
I would take 2 large potatoes,boil then mash them and add a little salt and butter to taste. Once that's done, I would place the mash in a big mug (a small bowl will also do) and then break 1 egg (you can add more if you like) on top of the mash and bake until the egg is cooked. At this point you can just eat the mash and egg alone but I would just add two table spoons of beans and eat. :)
 
We tend to go for rice dishes served with homemade Indian or middle Eastern foods full of herbs and spices for flavour.
Another is the standard paella option, there is little cheaper than rice, veg stock, an onion, some frozen peas and some oregano...
Jacket potatoes as you mentioned and another is beans and egg on toast or when I was able to have cheese, beans and cheese on toast (as in baked beans).
We also use a lot of dried beans and pulses in our meals with frozen fresh herbs usually being the most expensive ingredient!
 
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I like stir fry cabbage because cabbage is super cheap ,and if you stir fry some veggies and a bit of meat with cabbage and serve it over rice, it's a cheap meal. The cabbage is naturally sweet, so you just need some soy sauce and onions for flavor.
 
A simple yet cheap meal that my kids love is meatball subs. It only takes 4 ingredients. Bag of meatballs, spagetti sauce, provolone cheese and sub rolls. I can whip this together in 15 mins. It comes out ooey gooey and they absolutely rave about it.
 
twinsmommy31 said:
A simple yet cheap meal that my kids love is meatball subs. It only takes 4 ingredients. Bag of meatballs, spagetti sauce, provolone cheese and sub rolls. I can whip this together in 15 mins. It comes out ooey gooey and they absolutely rave about it.
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That's not really 4 ingredients tbh (just look at the ingredients for the meatballs alone, or the spaghetti rolls) and I shudder at the thought about the amount of salt/sodium in each of those items alone, but together :sick:. Salt is not good for you and that combination is lacking in vitamins and minerals, not to mention fresh veg and fibre, is very high in fat, sugar and salt.
 
Since we are currently on a strict budget, usually eat potatoes, legumes, and whatever vegetables we can find on sale. Potatoes are really key because we can cook them so many different ways and they will be delicious.
 
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