easy meal on a budget ideas!?

Kark

Hi!

Does anyone know of any cheap easy meals to make?
I want to cook something for my partner. I'm not a great cook, anyone have any ideas?

PirateShampoo

Super Value are doing Half price chickens at the momment. Cant go wrong for a whole chicken for 3 euro.

Susie_Q

I always cook with chickpeas when I find myself low on funds. Chickpea curry is mad cheap, very very healthy and ridiculously easy to make.

Just heat a good glug of olive oil in a pan on a medium heat and add in a chopped onion, 2 cloves chopped garlic and cook for 2 mins. Throw in one tablespoon garam masala (find it in the herbs/ spices section of your supermarket) and half that amount of ground cumin, and a good pinch of salt and pepper and as much or as little fresh chilli as you like. Cook for another couple of mins. Throw in a tin of chopped tomatoes. Drain a tin of chickpeas and add them in along with any veg you want - I like broccoli or courgette or cauliflower in this. Add a teaspoon of sugar, another pinch of salt and cook for 15 - 20 mins until the veg are soft. That's literally it.

Serve with rice or pitta bread. If you've put in too much chilli by accident, serve with big dollops of natural yogurt to cool your face down.

luv-eirexx

Breasts of chicken are only 1.50 each where i live. Bake them in the oven with a rasher wrapped around it and just some mash/chips on the side

Very cheap and the chicken always tastes great!!:D

NapoleonInRags

Susie_Q wrote: »

I always cook with chickpeas when I find myself low on funds. Chickpea curry is mad cheap, very very healthy and ridiculously easy to make.

Just heat a good glug of olive oil in a pan on a medium heat and add in a chopped onion, 2 cloves chopped garlic and cook for 2 mins. Throw in one tablespoon garam masala (find it in the herbs/ spices section of your supermarket) and half that amount of ground cumin, and a good pinch of salt and pepper and as much or as little fresh chilli as you like. Cook for another couple of mins. Throw in a tin of chopped tomatoes. Drain a tin of chickpeas and add them in along with any veg you want - I like broccoli or courgette or cauliflower in this. Add a teaspoon of sugar, another pinch of salt and cook for 15 - 20 mins until the veg are soft. That's literally it.

Serve with rice or pitta bread. If you've put in too much chilli by accident, serve with big dollops of natural yogurt to cool your face down.

Just made this - it was yummy and very easy - thanks!

Kark

Susie_Q wrote: »

I always cook with chickpeas when I find myself low on funds. Chickpea curry is mad cheap, very very healthy and ridiculously easy to make.

Just heat a good glug of olive oil in a pan on a medium heat and add in a chopped onion, 2 cloves chopped garlic and cook for 2 mins. Throw in one tablespoon garam masala (find it in the herbs/ spices section of your supermarket) and half that amount of ground cumin, and a good pinch of salt and pepper and as much or as little fresh chilli as you like. Cook for another couple of mins. Throw in a tin of chopped tomatoes. Drain a tin of chickpeas and add them in along with any veg you want - I like broccoli or courgette or cauliflower in this. Add a teaspoon of sugar, another pinch of salt and cook for 15 - 20 mins until the veg are soft. That's literally it.

Serve with rice or pitta bread. If you've put in too much chilli by accident, serve with big dollops of natural yogurt to cool your face down.

YUM! Will definately try this! Thanks a lot!

Susie_Q

No problem - that curry recipe is one of my staples! Glad you like it!

NapoleonInRags

Susie_Q wrote: »

No problem - that curry recipe is one of my staples! Glad you like it!

It was great. Any more recipe nuggets Susie?

detoxkid

Ya it sounds yummers:) And most of the stuff you have in the store press.

Susie_Q

NapoleonInRags wrote: »

It was great. Any more recipe nuggets Susie?

Another favourite of mine is homemade burger and chips. Much healthier than takeaway and tastes tons better. Again, very easy to make.

For the burger, put some mince in a big bowl (I find that 1/2 pound will make 4 burgers but obviously depends on how big you like them). Add in a tablespoon of tomato ketchup, the same amount of worchestershire sauce, a dash of mustard, pepper and some fresh herbs (whatever you have to hand). Mix together well and form into burger shapes in your hand. (If the mixture is a bit dry and falls apart then add in a bit of beaten egg to help it bind). Stick the burgers in the fridge for a few mins while you make the chips.

Put the oven on to 180 degrees. Cut some potatoes into chip shapes (no need to peel) and rinse them in cold water. Pat dry on a teatowel and put on a baking tray in a single layer. Drizzle over some olive oil and swoosh it around with your hands to make sure all the chips are coated. Put in the oven for 30 - 40 mins until cooked through.

To cook the burgers, sprinkle them with salt and put the grill on a medium heat. Cook on each side for 10 mins or so until nicely browned and juicy.

Easy to make, very cheap and a nice weekend treat which won't make you bulge at the waist!

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tins of tomatoes are very cheap, as are onions and garlic. Sweat a chopped onion and a couple cloves of garlic, dump in a tin of tomatoes and reduce down. For extra flavour, use about 300ml of stock (use an oxo, also cheap, or else splash out for the knorr stock pots) and reduce to a nice consistency. You could also add whatever herbs you have around the place to this, oregano is always good, some people like basil too, and maybe some red wine. A teaspoon of sugar too.

Not everything is essential, so you can leave out a lot of those ingredients, really all you need is the onion, garlic and tomatoes. If you go into Lidl you can even get cheap tins of tomatoes with added flavours (onion & herb, arabiata (which is chili), basil etc etc).

The resulting sauce is better than any jar of dolmio, and you can add mince, cubed chicken breasts, meatballs or anything for a cheap, tasty meal. Served with pasta or rice.