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cheap meals


Patf
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Trying to plan cheap main meals which are nourishing too. I think the protein in a meal is the most expensive element. There are only two of us, and obviously cooking for a family, especially teens, will demand much more imagination.

For the protein, I buy fresh fish which we have at least two days a week. The best value for money I've found are sardines, about 8€ a kilo, trout and perche de Nil, usually about 12€ a kilo.

We also have at least one meal with pulses as the protein, eg lentils, beans, split peas.

We have our own poultry and a chicken lasts about 6 helpings, but I wouldn't call that a cheap meal.

What do other people advocate as good value for money meals?

ps I've seen the website which Mooky mentions on another thread, giving ideas on how to use up leftovers, which is very helpful.

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Stick with the roast dinner on a Sunday for a treat. There is always a fair bit left over so grind ALL the leftovers down in a food processor. Boil and mash a couple of potatoes and mix these in with your leftovers and seasoon to taste.

Shape into small patties - flour, egg and breadcrumb (using breadcrumbs made from any stale bread you have) and you have delicious rissoles which can be either fried or oven baked.

You can also freeze these very sucessfully for future meals.

Breadcrumbs will also freeze so you never need to throw any bread out.

Use any vegetables that you may have overbought or have in excess to make Minestrone Soup - delicious and very nutritious.

Fishcakes - the same principal as the rissoles only you use a can of tuna or salmon and an onion to add taste instead of your leftovers. Again cheap and nutritious.

Lucinda

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I have in stock frozen fish and shellfish from Picard:

Some prices:

500 grm cooked and shelled mussels ( I do them in garlic butter with lemon and parsley)  4, 30

500 grm Petites seiches ( I do them in a Basque sauce with tomatoes onions and peppers + a couple of piments) 4,70

800 grm filets de dorade 7,95

The advantage is of course that you only use as much as you need at a time.

I also make a curry with chick peas..

A final idea is a Merguez (about 8 of them)  red pepper and potato stew cooked with a little olive oil and paprika..

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Lots of root veggies, soups, pulses and grains, as delicious Indian or Italian dishes. I don't eat much meat but for the OH, I find Lidls offers good value for minced beef, chicken, sausages and frozen fish e.g. 1kg bag of fozen cod for about €8, 700g salmon fillet for €6.  ED sells frozen mince which was less than €5 kilo a while ago, which is handy to keep on hand for emergencies.  

For the two of us, frozen veg is cheaper than fresh, I freeze stale bread crusts until there's enough to make savoury bread and butter pudding and I have a very obliging OH who will eat more or less anything, so I am able to get away with all sorts of interesting creations from leftovers.

 

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Lots of good ideas so far.  I often make fish cakes, Lucinda. Rissoles - I remember my Mum used to make those, using her trusty hand mincer. Good idea to freeze leftover bread for savoury puddings. My husband will eat most things too and his favourite meal is eggs beans and chips, but that's not very healthy.

 I wonder if people will still splash out for "les fêtes."  Turkey legs are usually fairly cheap so you could still have a traditional dinner.And you can buy decent wines for a reasonable price.

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Boil a cheap cut of beef or pork in the slow cooker with loads of veggies and herbs and spices. Next day, eat the mush of veggies that is left, leaving the soup liquid with, say, a cauliflower. Next day, cook your lentils in some of the soup/sauce. Next day, use chickpeas the same way, leaving the sauce which should now be fairly thick. Next day, cook say brussels sprouts and pour the reheated sauce over them. If you are lucky, there will be some broth left over for a soup the next day.

And, buy some small bowls, thus reducing portion sizes.

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WoolyB. - that's the way my late father in law used to cook, not he reason he is "late" though .[:)]

But the principle is a sensible one which I might try, just be sure to bring everything up to a boil for a while to kill all known germs. Cuts down on the amount of work involved in cooking too.

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[quote user="Patf"]

WoolyB. - that's the way my late father in law used to cook, not he reason he is "late" though .[:)]

But the principle is a sensible one which I might try, just be sure to bring everything up to a boil for a while to kill all known germs. Cuts down on the amount of work involved in cooking too.

[/quote]

 

Although, in general, boiling any sort of meat for any period isn't a good idea and, fortunately, most slow cookers simmer anyway.

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[quote user="cheryla"]Lots of meals can be cooked on top of the woodburner (after initially bringing to temperature on the hob). Saves loads of money on gas or electric if the woodburner would be alight anyhow.[/quote]

Egg, sausage, bacon and beans makes a hell of a mess though so best if you use a pan [:D]

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  • 4 weeks later...

I have 2 kettles that stay on the stove all day.  But I don't use the water to make drinks.

I use the water for cleaning and filling hot water bottles at night.

Oh, they'll boil all right but someone on the forum told me that tea made with the water tastes "funny" (her word).

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Can't use my heures creuses, Clair, as they are in the middle of the night:  10.30 to 7.30.

Use the cheap electricity for washing-machine, hot water cylinder, rechargeable toothbrush, rechargeable vacuum cleaner and that's about it as I don't do early mornings (not in the winter anyway) and I reckon that having to have the lights on to do the ironing in the middle of the night is a no-no as the electricity used by the light bulbs would cancel out the cheap rate![I]

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We have low-rate electricity for 3 hours in the afternoon and 5 hours at night. I try to bake (bread, muffins etc)  in the afternoon, but that means the bread is not quite fresh in the morning!

I have been known to bake at night, but thankfully, my insomnia seems to have passed [:D]

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If anyone was watching Willy's Christmas programme, you would have seen him dig a deep hole in the lawn, wrap a whole lamb (dead I hasten to add) in hessian sacking, throw on some hay, fill the hole back in & then light a huge bonfire on the top. After quite a few hours, they dug up the lamb & served it to the guests.

Saves on the electric!

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Buy one of the spit roasted ham knuckles from the supermarket ...they are cheap or buy the end bits of ham from the deli counter...or use any left over meat ...With an onion put the ham through a mincer or rough chop in a processor ...I prefer the mincer..Into a saucepan with some mixed herbs garlic maybe and chopped tomato and a squirt of tomato Puree out of the tube .. Cook and blend the lot together for a few minutes..You want it very thick as with the back of a wooden spoon after you have tipped it out into a big dish push the mix into canalloni pasta tubes .. Into a shallow square or rectangular dish cover with a cheese sauce sliced tomatoes or mushrooms on the top and into an oven for about 40 minutes on about 180 When its browned over and bubbling ..... serve with green salad .. glass of red ! You will probaly get enough to feed 4 out of a decent size ham knuckle will work out about one £1. /50 ... euro 1 /50c a head ...

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  • 2 weeks later...
[quote user="Clair"]I got the Remoska out and am determined to make more use of it.[/quote]

Update on using the Remoska:

since the last post (13/001), I have baked bread, muffins, scones and a cake, reheated croissants, roasted chicken legs (I have read you can roast a whole chicken in it, but haven't tried it yet), cooked frozen oven-chips and frozen pizza (not for the same meal!) and I have not used the oven once.

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