In-expensive meal ideas please?

3kids3pets, Jun 4, 11:08pm
I want to spend half of what i normally spend on food, just for this week, dont care if i dont buy meat. What would you reccommend for dinner ideas? thank you

toadfish, Jun 4, 11:12pm
I have bumped 2 really good threads, grab a coffee and a comfortable seat and have a good read, I am sure you will be inspired! Good Luck

uli, Jun 5, 2:10am
Hard to say - what are you normally spending on food?
And what do you buy? And can you cook from scratch?

Maybe you find something in whatever toady has bumped up.

lidbud, Jun 5, 2:25am
I can recommend the Healthy Food Guide website (and magazine). They have plenty on there about budget cooking and meal planning.

http://www.healthyfood.co.nz/

liamjosh, Jun 5, 3:39am
Soups, you can make a really wholesome and delicious meal that is cheap and filling with soup, pumpkin, leek and potato, pea and ham etc... . All with a loaf of crusty bread.

winnie15, Jun 5, 3:49am
pasta meals go along way

indy95, Jun 5, 4:09am
3kids3pets, perhaps you would like to have a look at the Tasty Vegetarian thread. There are some great ideas in there.

blou, Jun 5, 6:20am
I x Pkt dry spaghetti noodles I buy on special when 99 centsI tin tomatoes also buy when on special heaps of chopped garlic onion and 1 rasher bacon less than $1 total cost $3 - 4Boil Spag Noodles boiling water . in frypan fry onion garlic and chopped baconadd tomatoes warm through til just boiling drain spag add sauce . .

ferita, Jun 5, 6:21am
3 dollars hot chips

karenz, Jun 5, 6:37am
Make a basic potato bake, just thinly sliced potatoes topped with milk and with cheese sprinkled over to top. You can add, for example , a layer or two of tinned fish, chopped cooked bacon or ham, onion slices, tomato slices, other vegetables like kumera, carrots, pumpkin and if you don't have cheese leave that off. It is even nicer with cream which is only about $1. 35 a bottle.
Or a pasta/tuna bake topped with cheese and breadcrumbs.
If you like mussels they are a really cheap meal, if you cook some onion and garlic then add either a splash of wine or a little water then put in a tin, or even half a tin of tomatoes in then steam the well cleaned mussels in this you get a lovely soup as well to dip bread into.

duckmoon, Jun 5, 8:41am
one of our vegetarian favourites is vege slice (google is your friend)
had three cups of vege plus 4 eggs and feeds five of us... So is an economical meal.

duckmoon, Jun 5, 8:42am
It appears to be a one week glitch...
so, start by looking at what is already in the cupboard and the freezer - see if you can get two or three meals out of the cupboard, before you head to the supermarket...

also, don't forget to fill people up on things like fruit sponge or scones (if you have flour and tinned fruit inthe cupboard)

tahmoh, Jul 9, 2:15pm
I have recently discovered a fabulous scone mix at our local BinInn store. I'm assuming they all have it. You can buy as much, or as little, as you want. Also, you can mix up enough for a couple of scones, or enough for a large batch. Whilst your list of optional ingredients is limited to your imagination (my favorite is garlic&thyme and sometimes cheese) the only required ingredient (apart from the mix, of course) is water. Yep. . , that's right. Good old tap water. I use warm water, adding in varying increments, mixing with a knife until the dough forms a ball and leaves the bowl clean. Oops. , assuming you lot haven't made scones before. Anyway, not a recipe as such but a great belly filler and very adaptable but most importantly, cheap to make and and easy one to teach the kids to make.