Recipes - Simple & Cheap

I'm having a minor crisis here... I hate cooking dinner... and atm I hate grocery shopping as well, as we don't have much money at all to buy lots of ingredients... so I am soooo out of ideas on what to cook!
Poor DP has been getting the same terrible meals for weeks now...

Does anyone have any new simple and cheap recipe ideas for me?? Please?! 8-[

Here's a few suggestions:

~ Fried Rice
~ Shephards Pie
~ Lasagne/spag bog
~ Risotto
~ Apricot Chicken
~ Rissoles
~ Taco's
~ Stews
~ Soups

Let me know if you want exact recipes or just ideas ;)

*hugs*
Cailin

Ambah.....we are going through a similar thing......I am trying to use everything up in the pantry/freezer before we move, so we are eating bizarre/odd meals........I have emailed you a couple of recipes.

The tricks for me and cooking dinners when inspiration is low are these:

~ Check with DP after each meal you serve up......get him to give the meal marks out of 10.......that we he can't ever moan if you dish it up again!

~ When making a meal (like curry, chilli, spag bol, lasagne etc) always make a big load and then freeze some.

~ Buy meat on special from the supermarket & freeze it when you get home.....sausages and mince and often steak get marked down by a LOT in the evenings....(get DP to take care of Aidyn one evening and go to the supermarket in peace?)

~ Make a two week menu plan and stick to it when you go shopping......that way you spend less and only need to do the boring groceries once a fortnight.

~ Have one night at least when it is DP's turn to "cook".......Andrew does this once a week and it generally means we have soup and toast or something very simple, but it means that I can have a big lumnch that day!

Hey Ambah

I know what you mean. We make good used of Maggi packets where all you need to add is meat or meat and the odd vegetable(s) and then just have it with rice, plain boiled pasta, or mash spud. They have heaps of different varities you can choose from too, which is great.

Love

Ooooh, thanks for all of the ideas girls!!!

Jillian - I LOVE that quiche recipe... I used to make quiche a fair bit for DP, but this recipe you have sounds much more interesting and yummy! I might even give that one a go tonight, as I already have most of the ingredients for it :)

Cailin - I'd love it if you could email me some of the recipes... I think things turn out much better for me when I follow some sort of instructions ;) Thanks :D

ok here's an old standard here... tuna mornay...I hope you like tuna!

2 cups milk
90gm cheese
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 tbsp parsley chopped
1 large tin tuna in springwater
2 cups cooked pasta
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1 nob butter
2 tbsp plain flour
2 hard boiled eggs

melt butter in pan, add flour and stir until pale & foamy. Add milk and stir continuously until boiling and then turn down heat and stir and simmer for another minute. Take off heat, whisk in mustard and 60gm cheese. add drained tuna, parsley and chopped boiled eggs, mix with cooked pasta. Put into cassarol dish and top with bread crumbs and remaining cheese. Cook for 15 minutes on 200 or until slightly brown on top.... yum! And cheap, because you usually have the eggs,milk and cheese on hand...

Ooooh Christy......I love tuna mornay but we haven't had it for ages.......your recipe is exactly the same as I make.........you have inspired me for what to cook for diner tonight now!

oh yummo ive never made a quiche before but i might try that recipie for tomorrow.. yum yum

take care
Lesley

LOL I love tuna recipes! So easy & cheap!

Ok ok ... I've got another one... Tuna Fritatta

1 large can tuna
1 375-400gm can creamed corn
6 eggs
2 cups grated cheese
2 potatos
fresh herbs

ok ready, dibble some olive oil in a fry pan, chop potatos & fry up for 5-10 minutes or until they start to go soft, beat the eggs together & add cheese, tuna,creamed corn, herbs, salt & pepper, pour over potatos, cook around 15 minutes, then put under grill to brown the top. yummm

I'm going to try it too! Sounds yummy!

Ambah I can totally relate to where you're coming from. I'm so over it. Cant be bothered cooking, only go to the supermarket to get coffee, milk & bread, cook the same boring stuff all the time. The kid doesn't mind, she loves spaghetti & she loves toasties so that's pretty much all we eat.

I'm in dire need of inspiration! I have no appetite for anything. Except chocolate, natch.

Keep em coming ladies...

Try homemade hamburgers, the frozen pattys are pretty cheap. I just cook them up and chop some lettuce, onion, tomato and some sauce and cheese all out on the bench, grill some buns. and then it's self assembly. DP loves them.

My current obsession is quesadillas, very cheap and super easy. The mix can be whatever you want, I use shredded chicken, grated cheese, fresh coriander, red onion and a bit of chilli, but really you can throw in whatever you feel like at the time. You stick a couple of handfuls on a tortilla, top it with another tortilla and squish it down a bit, then into a frypan. When one side is toasty, flip it. Then when its nice and crispy, take it out, cut it into wedges, and serve it with sour cream and guacamole and salso, the usual stuff for dipping.

Last night we had a super easy and yummy omlette. With soy chicken, fried tomato, mushrooms, chives and cheese in the middle :)

Jillian, your quiche was a huuuuge success on Friday night. I made it for me & Aaron and my parents. My dad is ssoooo fussy & he went back for seconds!

Yep, I made it last week too and it was a big hit - thanks Jillian!

Here is another easy recipe I tried out and it was a success...

Sweet Potato and Spinach Frittata

- 2 sweet potatoes, peeled, thinly sliced
- 1 x 250g packet frozen spinach, thawed
- 8 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup cream
- 1/2 cup grated tasty cheese
- salt and pepper to taste

1. Grease a 20cm x 30cm baking dish/pan. Boil, steam or microwave sweet potatoes until just tender. Drain well. Cool.

2. Squeeze excess water from spinach. Combine spinach, eggs, cream and cheese in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper; mix well.

3. Layer potates over base of prepared dish. Pour over spinach mixture.

4. Cook, uncovered, at 180 degrees C for about 20 mins, or until lightly browned and set. Stand in dish for 5 mins.

5. Cut into triangles and serve with green salad.

Anyone else got any cheap and easy recipes? Keep 'em coming!

Awww yum Beth. Going to try that one next week I think :)

I like these dishes:

All-in-one pasta bolognaise

Serves 4
Preparation 5-10 mins; cooking 30 mins

3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and diced
500g beef mince
1 cup red wine
400g can diced and peeled tomatoes
400g can tomato puree
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups small pasta shapes (such as penne)
salt and pepper
grated parmesan cheese
fresh basil, chopped
(We also add in things like chopped carrot, celery and capsicum)

Heat oil in a saucepan and cook onion until softened but not coloured. Add mince and stir-fry to brown.

Stir in red wine and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add tomatoes, puree and water and bring to the boil.

Add pasta and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring regularly to prevent sticking until pasta is cooked and sauce has thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with grated parmesan and fresh basil.

~~~

Beef and vegetable bolognaise

Serves 4

Combine one diced onion with 2 cloves of chopped garlic, 500g lean minced topside, 1 large grated carrot and 1 stick chopped celery.

Cook until golden.

Add 2 tbsp tomato paste, 2 cups beef stock, 800g chopped tinned tomatoes.

Cover and cook for around 45 minutes.

Serve over steamed zucchini or broccoli tossed with chopped parsley and freshly squeezed lemon.

~~~

Potato and Red Pepper Frittata

Ingredients
Serves 3-4

450g small new potatoes
6 eggs
30ml/2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
30ml/2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic gloves, crushed
2 red peppers, seeded and roughly chopped
salt and black pepper
mint sprigs, to garnish

1. Scrub potatoes, then cook in a pan of boiling salted water until just tender. Drain the potatoes, leave to cool slightly, then cut into thick slices.

2. Whisk together the eggs, mint and seasoning in a bowl, then set aside. Heat the oil in a large frying pan.

3. Add the onion, garlic, peppers and potatoes to the pan and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.

4. Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables and stir gently.

5. Push the mixture into the centre of the pan as it cooks to allow the liquid egg to run on to the base.

6. Once the egg mixture is lightly set, place the pan under a hot grill for 2-3 minutes, until golden brown. Serve hot or cold, cut into wedges and garnished with sprigs of mint.

That pasta & herb quiche is soooo yummy, Ive made it 10+ times now and i love it....

I could never find this thread tho to post about it lol

We love it too Colleen. I've made it with chicken added in too which was great.

Hmmm. might have to try this tonight!!!!!...

But... how do you get a DH to eat it that dislikes rice & pasta (Grrrr he is a pain at times..) 8-[

Im making this tonight. homemade pizza. Cheap and easy.
Just get a lebanese bread (DH and I have one to one and a half each) and spread with tomato sauce (better than paste) and add on top what you want. I like tomato, basil, red onion, mushroom, zuchinni, pineapple and cheese. DH has ham as well. Really delish. Just pop in the oven until cheese melted and bread crisp (prob 15-20 mins) xo

Tortilla Pie

Serves 4-6

1 tablespoon of oil
500g beef mince
50g packet burrito seasoning mix
1/4 cup water
420g can corn kernels, drained
1 red capsicum, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup chopped coriander
250g packet burrito tortillas
375g jar tomato salsa
2 cups grated tasty cheese
1 tomato, finely diced
1 green onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup sour cream

1. Heat oil in pan. Add mince, brown well over high heat, breaking up with spoon as it cooks.

2. Stir in seasoning mix and water. Simmer for 10 minutes or until cooked through. Add corn, capsicum and coriander.

3. Place a tortilla in a 23cm pie dish. Spread with 2 tablespoons of salsa. Top with 1/2 cup mince mixture and sprinkle with a little cheese. Repeat with remaining ingredients, finishing by sprinkling remaining cheese over tortilla.

4. Bake in a moderate oven (180 degrees C) for 15 minutes or until cheese is golden. Rest for 3 minutes before cutting into wedges.

5. Spoon combined tomato and onion onto tortilla. Top with sour cream to serve.

Cost per serve $3.10.

Oooh that sounds good Fee!

Ok I am so addicted to these, I am having a craving for it right now so I thought Id share the recipie.

Obviously amounts all depend on how many you wanna make so you can figure that bit out

Teriyaki Chicken or Beef Skewers

Diced beef or chickent
Capsicum (I prefer the red or yellow ones more flavour)
Onion
Tekiyaki Marinade (The water liquid type not the thick stuff you can buy it from Coles or wherever the one I used has an orange label)
Skewers

Marinate meat in teriyaki liquid for 1-2 hourse (depending on how much time you have you could leave it longer say pop the meat in a bowl cover with the marinade leave in fridge all day while at work or whatever)

Then thread on meat square of capsicum meat piece of onion simple and even the kids could have fun doing this.

I cook them under the grill usually but Dh loves them on the bbq just cook till they start to go brown and eat with rice salad or whatever oh so yum and oh so simple.

Pulled out some chicken breasts last night and didn't feel particularly impressed with my usual options. Found a recipe on the internet for baked chicken and thought I'd let you all know that it was SCRUMPIOUS! :)

Rub chicken breasts with a little olive oil, season with salt & pepper and put some garlic granules or minced garlic over the chicken breasts. Place in baking tray. Pour about 90mls of worsteshire sauce over the chicken and cover the lot with alfoil.

Bake in oven for about 45mins at 175 degrees. At the same time, I boiled some potato, pumpkin & sweet potato. With 15 minutes to go, I put the vegies on a tray and into the oven with the chicken.

When the time is up, remove the alfoil and check to see how chicken is cooked. As they suggest skin-on chicken breasts; I gave them another 15 minutes in the oven with the foil off and the skin browned well.

Nothing exciting but relatively cheap and I served the chicken breasts with the roast vegies and steamed broccoli. The chicken had a beautiful moist texture.

As an added note, I was fairly free-lance with the amount of sauce I added to the baking dish. Plus, rather than using a large baking tray, I used individual little baking dishes just bigger than the breasts. The sauce seemed to coat it more on the bottom and it meant the chicken almost steamed rather than roasted. :)

This is a VERY simple and cheap meal I do when I am really busy, which seems to please everyone, especially me when I am in a rush! All I do is combine 1 x can minestrone soup (usually country ladel as it's very chunky - anything with chunky vegies to keep it healthy or add extras of your own!), a can of tomato soup and I cook up 4 sausages, chop them up and whack them in. You can add extra water if you like to get the consistency you want but I like it thicker with the little ones.

Especially when you leave this overnight it tastes yummo and it keeps the men of the house happy with the meat, and mum with vegies. To thicken it up for Elijah I put in lots of small pieces of country grain bread and he LOVES it and healthy too! So a very quick, cheap and yummy meal, I always love it the next day for flavour but still tastes fine after you make it. Kids love it.

ok i have heaps of easy recipes - i make them up myself

one of mine and hubbys favourite

i dont have exact measurements but there is no such thing as too many vegies or not enough

mince (either 500gm or 1 kilo)
carrots
broccoli
beans
mushrooms
cauliflower
onions
garlic
big bottle of pasta sauce
salt
pepper
chilli flakes (optional)
parsley(optional)
basil (optional)

ok so brown your onion and garlic then throw in the mince and brown it all together. then throw in the harder vegies like cauliflower and carrots, then you can throw in the rest of the vegies.

Add flavourings and condiments, then pour in the pasta sauce.
let it simmer for a little bit to make sure all the vegies have soften and then add cooked rice to it or sometimes we add 2 minute noodles (cheap) or hokien noodles.

it is much nice than it sounds, especially if you had herbs---its delicous.
hope you love it as much as we do

Thankyou Beth for your Spinach & sweet potato fritatta recipe, and Kelly for your sausage and soup recipe... they both turned out great and were really yummy - and DP likes them too, which is a big thing - as he is usually so fussy! :)

Yummo....tried out the pasta & herb quiche earlier this week although I had to substitute the zucchini with red capsicum because there was a bit of a shortage in the local shops and I couldn't buy any zucchini. Typical...can't stand the stuff normally and never have a problem finding that vegie when I don't want it! *L* :confused:

Was quite the success, DH had leftovers the next two days afterwards! *L*

Have just baked the Sweet Potato & spinach frittata and it smells SOOOO yummy! :)

hey guys...jillian in particular- am very keen to try your pasta and herb quiche but after you boil the pasta, it says to fry the vegies until the liquid evaporates...what liquid are you talking about?]

sorry for being a try hard blondie! :(

The fritatta has been a huge success in our house although both DH & I felt the sweet potato was a bit odd tasting in with the spinachy part if that makes sense? I baked one again last night, this time using plain potato and sprinking bacon over the top of the potato before pouring the spinach quiche mixture over the top. SCRUMPTIOUS! :)

Here's one of my favs :)

Sausage penne with tomato and basil (serves 2)

Cook 1/2 packet of pasta. Cook 4 thin sausages and slice into pieces. Fry 1 tablespoon of minced garlic and a bunch of chopped shallots until soft, add 1/2 cup of white wine and simmer until reduced by half. Add a handleful of sliced black olives, a tin of crushed tomatoes and the sausage to the fry pan and simmer for 10 minutes. Put pasta and fry pan contents into a large bowl, mix through and add shredded basil leaves. Yummo!

Mince, what more can I say, it is one of the most versitile meats out, and if you grab a few kilos when they are on special (bilo regularly sells it for only $4.95 a kilo:eek:)it is by far one of the cheapest to stock up on.
Here are some of the things we use it for:
Shepards pie (you can just brown the meat, add a little gravy or cornflour, and then either top with mashed potato, or deb potato)
spaghetti bollognaise (if you put a little sour cream, or plain yoghurt in it, it is absolutely yummy
Meatloaf
rissoles
sweat and sour meatballs and rice (we just use a bottle of the homebrand sweet and sour)
lasagna (simple spaghetti bol base, make up a white sauce, and layer it with the sheets of lasagna, very cheap, and a sure fire winner)
home version of beef stroganoff with pasta (brown your mince, add some sliced zuchinni, corn kernals and sliced beans (frozen homebrand is ok). When the veges are soft, add a 300ml carton of sour cream and turn down to the lowest heat setting, and then cook a whole pack of spiral or shell pasta. (homebrand sell it for like 59 cents a pack) then when cooked, mix through the meat and vege cream base. this is one of my family's favourites, and it freezes so well, so you can always have a couple of nights worth in the freezer, and it is really cheap to make.
home made pasties (just make gravy mince, with some homebrand mixed veges in it, and roll it up into little parcels using homebrand puff pastry, cook in the oven until nice and puffy.
Beef Roulades I use also pork mince for this, but you just take your raw mince, maybe some crushed garlic if you like it, add a little salt, an egg and a handful of flour so it doesn't crumble when cooking, and you spread it onto a sheet of puff pastry, leaving a couple of cm's on top without the mince on it. Roll it into a log, and put in the freezer for like 20 minutes to stiffen up so you can cut it. Slice the logg into about 1-2cm thick slices, and pan fry in a little butter or oil (i have tried just using the spray oil, but if you dont have a nonstick pan, they will stick and burn) turn and cook the other side, serve with veges, really yummy.

There are others we do, but i would be here all day.
Good luck with it hun, I think we have all gone through a spot where funds are low, and we have to get imaginitive with our meals to make our budget stretch further.

Oh there are some really good ideas in there.

Does any one have ideas along the same line (cheap and easy LOL) but are good to freeze/reheat? I live by myself so I like to make things that I can freeze and reheat later. I do alot of stirfrys, spaghetti, lasagne etc. Any other ideas?

casseroles, soups and stews are great for reheating. Do you have a slow cooker? if not, you need one! Have a wander over to our chatter and recipe thread and see what your missing out on :)

LOL just about to say the same. I make massive lasagne to reheat. I also do huge amounts of bolognaise & then freeze them in serving sizes so all we have to do is make the pasta and defrost the bolognaise.

I make soups that I can freeze and casseroles. Most of the recipe's I have in the SC thread can be done and then frozen afterwards.... HTH!

No Danni I don't have a slow cooker.

Thanks guys I will check it out!

There is a great website at Taste.com.au - it has all the recipies from AGT, SUprerfood Ideas, ABC Delicious and I think Australian Gourmet Traveller. It is free and searchable - it also has cateogories - lo-carb, low fat etc - I have been trawling my way through the "Budget" section - there are HUNDREDS of pages of recipies in there, no kidding and some very nice ones as well!

Hi Guys,
I know this is a rather old thread but i thought i would just add a couple of my most fave easy recipes.

Mango Chicken

Chicken (however much per person you want)
French onion soup (powdered mix)
Tin Mangoes
Tin Coconut milk/cream
Rice

Brown the chicken...
Add the soup, mangoes and coconut milk
simmer for 15 mins or so

Serve with rice...

So Simple yet delicious.

Chicken and sweet corn soup

Chicken stock
Chicken
Onion
Tin Creamed Corn
Tin Corn

Boil the chicken stock and water.
Add the chicken and onion and both corns, let simmer for as long as you like.

Fantastic with fresh bread when its cold, and i sometimes make it more of a soup and add potato and stuff to it...

The risotto works well with pumkin soup as well, and chopped onion and/or leek, pumpkin and a cup or so of peas if you like them. Depending how think the soup is you might add some water.