Tasty cheap recipes, and a few budgeting tips. (Cooking on a Budget!)

Member Name: thehonesttruth

Product:	Cooking on a Budget!
Date:	08/01/09 (69 review reads)
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Advantages: Tasty food!

Disadvantages: none

I'm always trying to save a few quid here and there - my theory is that the more I can save on all the boring things, like food, the more I get to spend on taking my daughter out and having fun with her .

Cooking on a budgets relatively easy, and not having much money is no excuse for not attempting to eat healthy balanced meals . One of the things I try to do to make it easier, is to buy things with a long life, and in bulk . For instance, I'll buy the big 3kilo bags of pasta, store them in an airtight container, and that'll last me months and months . The same goes for tinned goods, frozen veg, and some meats, mince for example .

I also tend to do my shopping later in the day - sure, this means I have the daughter with me in the trolley after school nagging for chocolate, but it often means I can get reduced food items which I then freeze. Recently, I got 4 100g packs of smoked salmon for £2 -it would usually have cost me a little under £8, and it can be frozen until needed .

Shopping online is also a great way to save money, and I do TRY to do this, when I remember to book my delievery slot in advance . You're less likely to pick up anything you don't need, and more likely to think ahead and plan your meals for the week .

I also try not to throw anything away - if I buy a bag of onions, and don't use them all, I chop whats left in a blender, stick it in a sandwich bag , and freeze it . You can do pretty much the same with any veg - wash it, chop it, freeze it . Much better than throwing it away!

Below are a few recipes I use often, that are easy and cheap to make, given that I usually have the ingredients in the house already anyway. Most of these recipes originally came from magazines, but I tend to play around with things and tweak them a little, so there's a fair bit of my own personal taste in there - such as my love of spiciness!

Without further ado, heres a few of my favourites! I hope you try them, and who knows, maybe they'll become favourites of yours too.

Spicy Sausage Pasta
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1 tbsp oil
8 pork sausages cut into chunks *
1 chopped onion
2 garlic cloves , crushed
1 tsp chilli powder
400g can chopped tomatoes
300g pasta

*Raw sausages can be hard to cut into chunks with a knife . If you have good sharp kitchen scissors, it makes it much easier.

Boil some water ready for the pasta.Heat the oil and fry the sausage chunks until they are golden brown all over. Add the onion and garlic, and fry until they are soft. Add the sausage, chilli, and tomatoes, and keep on the heat for 10 minutes . Cook the pasta, mix together with the sauce, done!

You can also add any veg you have lurking about into this to bulk it up, I often have the odd couple of stray mushrooms or peppers in the fridge, and when I do, I bung those in too . It's not too spicy, just a mild kick, and the advantage of having the sausages cut up is thet they absorb the flavour more, so if you're using the really cheap frozen ones (I always have a bag) they taste far nicer . A good slug of red wine, if you have it, also adds to this!

If you want to, add an extra 100g of pasta while cooking, and put that portion to one side - its useful in the next recipe, which is :

Baked Frittata
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½ tsp oil
85g pasta (if you're using leftover pasta, a small plateful is about right)
1 bunch spring onions, chopped
85g frozen or canned sweetcorn
85g frozen peas
1 red pepper , chopped
2 large eggs (or 3 medium)*
150ml milk
50g grated cheese

*Eggs are the only area where I don't tend to go for the budget option - I refuse to eat barn or battery eggs, and only eat free range.

Heat oven to 190C( gas 5) Brush the oiil all round a baking dish. Cook the pasta for 8 minutes (skip this if using leftovers) and boil the veg in the same pan until slightly soft. Drain, tip into the dish, and mix. Beat eggs and milk together, and mix in half the cheese. Pour into the baking dish, stir so it's all spread, and sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top. Cook in the oven for around 40 minutes until set and golden.

This is another recipe thats pretty flexible - play around with the veg, maybe even add in some ham, chopped tinned potato, or tuna. Its another recipe that can be made to use up leftovers - half a tin of hotdogs, that leftover bit of roast chicken, it all works.

Stovies
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This is a recipe given to be my my neighbour - its basically a traditional scottish dish, where no one seems to agree on the recipe and everyone does it a little bit different. Its kind of a mix between a corned beef hash and a thick soup when I make it - but you can use any leftover cooked meat you like.

For those curious..stovies is a scottish dish. It basically takes your leftover and you steam them all together.. And yes I would use corned beef here for sure!

3 lbs potatoes
1 large onion chopped
1 tin of corned beef (or 1lb of any leftover cooked meat, mince also works)copped into chunks.
2 ozs beef dripping
1/2 pint of water
Stock cube

Add the onions to the fat and fry gently for 4-5 minutes. If using raw mince, add to the onions, and cook until light brown. dice the potato's (not too finely) and add to the onions, along with your meat, if using cooked or corned beef .Pour in the stock, and cook until the potatoes are soft. Give it a good mash up with a potato masher, and you're good to go!

Its really simple, and my version, with the corned beef, is really just a lazy mans corned beef hash - buts its yummy , especially with a good dollop of brown sauce stirred in!

Hope these recipes work for you, if you try them (or perhaps if you have an alternative stovies recipe, theres so many variations!) let me know! I hope you enjoy them!

Summary: Easy to cook and low cost :)